The Sports Fan Project

This was my first full year on the road in pursuit of my Around the World in 80 Sporting Events goal of reaching 80 iconic venues and/or events by the time my biological clock hits 60 in June 2027.

As such, I saw a lot in 2025.

In total, I traveled 53,982 miles, set foot on two new continents (Asia and South America), witnessed 26 events, and spent many nights not in my own bed.

Here are my highlights from the year that’s about to have been.

Number 5 – A December Sunday at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field

My final event of 2025 was just about everything I could have hoped for.

The visiting Chicago Bears and host Green Bay Packers were playing for the NFC Central Division lead, both had winning percentages of over .700 this late in the season (the first time that’s happened since December 11, 1932), the skies were clear, and the temperatures felt like single-digits by the time the late afternoon game concluded.

The fact that the game came down to the penultimate play, a Caleb Williams pass to the end zone was intercepte by Keisean Nixon sealed the Packers’ 28-21 victory.

The only things that would have made this a game 10-out-of-10 would have been that final Bears’ drive heading into the endzone we were seated in and an occasional snowflake falling to create a total commemorative snow globe moment.

• All the Content from Event No. 34 Still Needs to be Created. Stay Tuned:-)

Number 4 – Lionel Messi’s (Likely) Final Competitive Home Match for Team Argentina

It’s widely assumed that the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the final international go-round for Argentine soccer legend, Lionel Messi.

If this in fact remains true, then I’m able to say I was among the 77,000 spectators in Buenos Aires’ Estadio Mas Monumental for one of the game’s greatest of all-time’s final competitive home match when Argentina defeated Venezuela, 3-0, in CONMEBOL’s Matchday 17.

I understood next-to-nothing the public address speaker said throughout, but what I did understand the unmitigated affection that crowd had for Messi. From the standing ovation he received as he stepped off the bus in the loading dock, to his first appearance on the pitch, to the two goals he scored (and even the one that was disallowed by an offsides call), to his exit from the pitch following post-match media.

That no one in the stadium considered leaving until he was off the field is a visual I’m unsure can ever be erased from my mind.

• Check Out All the Content from Event No. 24 at this link.

Number 3 – Arkansas Pitcher Gage Wood No-Hits the Murray State Racers in the MCWS

Like so many, I walked into Omaha’s Charles Schwab Stadium that steamy June 16 afternoon pulling hard for the Cinderella team of the Men’s College World Series, the Murray State Racers.

By the fifth inning, however, allegiances were subtly shifting.

Arkansas Razorback starting pitcher Gage Wood was DEALING! It looked like the Racers’ batters were swinging wet lasagna noodles against Wood as the strikeouts mounted.

By the seventh inning, I’m fairly certain everyone in the park knew what was happening.

That it happened was too cool for school.

Wood threw the first no-hitter in MCWS play in 65 years. His 19 strikeouts were the most in a 9-inning MCWS game … ever.

That I was there and, through the generosity of a stranger, had seats behind homeplate, is truly remarkable.

• Check Out All the Content from Event No. 19 at this link.

Number 2 – Indiana Class 4A High School Sectional Final in Historic Muncie Fieldhouse

I was born and raised in Indiana and, as such, have a special fondness in my heart for high school basketball.

It was a fairly regular part of my weekly life as a youngster before my family moved to Michigan before sixth grade.

So, of the many events I planned to witness in 2025, I eagerly anticipated taking in some Indiana high school tournament basketball action. The first round is known as Sectionals in the Hoosier state and I was underwhelmed by the competitiveness I saw at the first two sites visited.

But on Saturday of Sectional Week … well I saw a gem.

I went with my cousin, Brandon, and his daughter, Calah, to see the Class 4A Sectional Final at historic Muncie Fieldhouse on a warm March evening. That there was a line to get in boded well and that the favored team, Greenfield-Central, was a among the top five teams in the state also provided optimism.

What none of us knew until the game began is who, exactly we were seeing.

Greenfield-Central’s star, Braylon Mullins, would go on to win Indiana’s coveted Mr. Basketball honor a few weeks later. He was a 5-star recruit who was destined for Storrs, CT, and the then 2-time defending NCAA Champion Connecticut Huskies. Mt. Vernon’s standout was a junior who’d already committed to Purdue named Luke Ertel.

The two duked it out all night, Mullins scored 38 and Ertel 36, but the upstarts from Mt. Vernon came away with an 83-76 double-overtime win. A thriller to be sure and a terrific way to cap off my week feasting on basketball in hoop-crazed Indiana.

• Check Out All the Content from Event No. 14 at this link.

Number 1 – Witnessing the Setting Sun at the Rose Bowl on January 1

Odd, isn’t it, that I traveled nearly 54,000 miles in 2025 and my most memorable moment came on the very first day?

Never mind the football game (which The Ohio State won in a rout over Oregon), I was there for the environment, the pagentry, and the sunset.

I got it all!

The Tournament of Roses Parade shortly after dawn, the B-2 bomber flyover at the conclusion of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the ceremonial coin flip featuring the Grand Marshal (Billie Jean King), the Goodyear blimp hovering overhead throughout, and, of course, the sunset that was appointment viewing for me during my youth and – who am I kidding?!? – adulthood.

I won’t lie, it was a long day – especially considering I participated in the Run with the Roses 5K at midnight – but it was the best day of the year by a long shot.

• Check Out All the Content from Event No. 11 at this link.