100 Sporting Events You Must See Live
An Insider’s Guide to Creating the Sports Experience of a Lifetime By Robert Tuchman
Click to purchase from Amazon
Every night I sit down to watch people around the world play in the snow. I love the Olympics. It brings back family memories of sitting around the television after dinner, watching Dorthy Hammil in her pink outfit with perfect hair, do the perfect Hammil Camel.
I got my own pink leotard and had my hair cut to match, and went to my skating lessons every week. However my fascination with skating quickly waned and I gave up before I could ever master going backwards. My Olympic hopes were dashed. However I still love to watch the Olympics and the whole new slew of winter sports around snowboarding and freestyle makes me dream of being young and fearless again!
Sports bring the world together whether it’s the Olympics, the World Cup, or the Tour De France. Nothing brings the world of sports together more than the Olympics. Sure, it’s great watching it every night on TV, however we all know that great sporting events are better live than via television. It’s my wish that in my lifetime I’ll be able to go as a spectator to the Games. So when I came across the book The 100 Sporting Events You Must See Live by Robert Tuchman I knew it would make my list of ‘must sees’ grow way beyond the Olympics!
Robert Tuchman is a sports addict. He is the founder of TSE Sports & Entertainment, a sports marketing company. He’s had the opportunity to attend many of the events in person.
Regarding live sporting events, Tuchman says, “For a brief moment in time, boundaries that separate members of society disappear. Cultural differences become meaningless. There are no differences in ethnicity, income level, or age. We are united in cheering, jeering, and just enjoying the sporting event. This is the greatest gift of sports, its ability to bring people together.”
Palio Horse Race Siena Italy
Consider this a bucket list for sporting events. It’s a tough job to try to pick out the top 100 events in the world – what criteria do you use? Robert Tuchman tells us that he didn’t look at ticket sales, nor is the list partial to any team or region. Objectivity was paramount in determining each selection. In the end it was about the energy of the event, not the number of people who attended it or the revenue it generated or the television ratings it drew.
The book brings together sporting events and travel; the entire experience. You’ll be able to find out the significance of the sporting event as well as the history behind it. In addition, you can find out how to buy tickets to the event, which airports to fly into, the best hotels to stay in, the perfect restaurants to enjoy a meal at, and all the attractions you’ll need to see while in town. I was quite impressed by the amount of useful information that was provided for each event. All easily summarized in one place.
Now…on to the list!
It contains big well-recognized events as well as small town sporting events. I like the variety that he chooses. Some traditional and some that people might even argue aren’t a sporting event at all! After going through the list I realized I had only attended 6 of the 100.
Some of my favorites were:
Iditarod
College Baseball World Series
New York City Marathon
Liverpool vs Manchester United at Old Trafford
Monaco Grand Prix
Some of my surprises events:
Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest
Westminster Dog Show
Harlem Globetrotters Performance
Events I wish were included:
The Palio Horse Race in Siena Italy run on July 2nd and August 16th. I actually attended this event in person and it was an energy that I will never forget.
Overall, I liked the book. It’s more of a reference than a book that you read cover to cover. You’ll certainly come away with some new travel plans! It’s a nice gift for the sport lover. Similar to the book 1000 Places to see Before you Die, there is also a checklist in the back so that you can keep track of your progress; that should satisfy the truly anal planners!
If you are interested in purchasing the book, go to Amazon and check it out!
The 100 Sporting Events You Must See Live: An Insiders Guide to Creating the Sports Experience of a Lifetime
Oh yes – the Winter Olympics are also on the list! I certainly wish I were in Vancouver now cheering on the athletes!
Let’s start our own list! Leave a comment and tell me what sporting events have you traveled the world to see?
I love watching the sporting event too. Sadly, the only sporting event I have ever attended was the Asian Game in Thailand about twenty years ago.
I definitely will check out this book. Looks like a great way to plan a trip.
I’ll be in Istanbul this August to catch the FIBA world basketball championships. Not quite the world cup, but I’m sure the Turkish fans will turn the stadiums upside down
Wow, I had no idea basketball was a big sport in Turkey!
Good to see a “list” book that is global. Too many of these books focus mainly on events near the author’s home country. Sport is one of the great cultural indicators of a nation and breaks barriers between nations. Apartheid was broken in South Africa with a large contribution from sporting sanctions. North and South Korea have marched together at Olympics. India and Pakistan compete at cricket and hockey. Israel competes with Arab nations at sport. I look forward to finding a copy of this book.
At first I thought it was a little North America centric…however once I really looked at the events – it was pretty well divided! I have an extra copy if you want it!
I live in Vancouver and have been to one Olympic event so far – women’s aerials. I was amazed at how high they got – something you never appreciate on TV. The Olympic experience and the downtown party atmosphere is almost as much fun to see as one of the sports events.
Oh- you are so lucky – it’s great that you were able to go see in your home town! I’m sure that most of those aerial type events are amazing to see in person since the television doesn’t scale very well! Do you have your cute red, maple leaf mittens too?!
This is a book I need to have! I have been scheduling my travels around the Olympics and World Cup since Beijing and plan to keep going all the way to Rio but it’s the smaller events that really capture my imagination. Thanks for the writeup!