This list came around a few months ago. I started it, but never found time to finish it up. Tom did it when it first came out, so I felt obligated. Some of it’s kind of fun, some of it is functionally retarded.

So without further ado, I present…

30 Sports Things To Do Before You Turn 30

1. See the Kentucky Derby. 2004. Check. (Though I was actually 30 for about 2 1/2 months when this happened.

2. Catch a foul ball. Yup. Though admittedly, the best of my three wasn’t barehanded, but one of them I caught in the crook of my elbow with my hands full.

3. Hole a shot from the fairway. I don’t think I’ve done this. Like Tom, I’ve chipped in (a few times, in fact), but never a full shot from the fairway, that I remember.

4. Attend a NASCAR event – Gimme a point for hitting the Indy 500 three times.

5. Attend a draft – Never did it, never felt the need to.

6. Hit the trifecta. This is the most reasonable of the “how the hell is this something you have to do” group in this list, and I don’t believe I’ve done it. Exactas, yes. Trifectas, not yet.

7. Win a title. In anything. It doesn’t matter what. I’ve won stuff. Spelling bee, soccer tournament, baseball tournaments (including gunning the tying run down at home from left field to end the game, and then not get credit for it from the coaching staff), and I bet there’s more, especially little titles.

8-10. Witness three championships in person. How does this get three spots? Why not say “Witness 100 championships in person” and change the list to “130 things you need to do before you turn 130”? Anyway, I’ve been to a World Series game, CCHA and MAC Tournament games, a World Cup soccer game, and I bet if I thought harder, I could come up with a couple more.

11. Bowl above a 200 (in one game). Don’t think I’ve done this. High 190’s is my best, if I remember, but that was YEARS ago. This one seems like a fair accomplishment to work towards. Unfortunately, my last bowling effort was a 94. (In fairness, that followed a couple 140’s, so I’m not THAT bad.)

12. Compete in a triathlon. Marathons take way too much training, and 5K’s are too easy. I don’t think I’d ever really do this. I have thought about trying to run a 5k, but then (with some help) I’ve realized that there’s not much of a point if all you’re doing it for is the t-shirt. Maybe a charity 5k or something, so the money goes to a cause and is deductible, but running five kilometers can be done anywhere “just to prove it to yourself.” A mini-triathlon might be a bit more of a challenge. But I’m not seeing it happening.

13-15. Witness late game heroics. Again, worth three? I’ve seen plenty of OT goals in hockey, buzzer beaters (or close to) in hoops, and with all the baseball games I’ve been to, I know I’ve probably seen a couple dozen walk-off homers, but three that come to mind are Greg “Boomer” Wells in 1983 (?) for the Toledo Mud Hens, which I believe sent them to the playoffs or set a record or something, Jack Daugherty in July 1990 for Texas against Boston in old Arlington Stadium (actually a lead-off homer to tie it in the 9th, Texas won in 11), and just a few months ago, Yurendell deCaster hit one for Indy to win the “Andy Tracy Game”.

16. Other baseball abnormalities. Never saw a no-no at the major league level, maybe in the minors? Cycle I’m sure I caught some where, but again, it might have been minor league. One of the most random occurrences I saw was last year at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, the Pirates and Devil Rays combined for three triples in the game.

17. Beat Mike Tyson. Not literally, but in video game form. I’m apparently not a good enough sports blogger, because I don’t think I’ve ever played Punch Out. Most of that is probably because I didn’t own a Nintendo, and liked to spend a considerable amount of my youth OUTSIDE. But I have won a Super Bowl with the Browns on various games, which has to be at least as improbable, if not a hundred times moreso.

18. Shoot par at Frisbee golf. Are you kidding me!?!?! This one doesn’t count.

19. Win an NCAA Tournament pool. Never did it. Came in the top 1,000 of the ESPN pool in ’98, and have been close heading to the Final Four a few other times, including leading the pack but without a winner this year.

20. Correctly predict the Final Four. Um, might have happened, but I’d be shocked.

21. Win a fantasy league. Yeah, I’ve done this. I’m sure a couple times.

22. Win a Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament. See Frisbee golf.

23. Become the best of everyone you know at something. Huh? Give me numbers to reach, goals to attain.

24. Score a hat trick. Ah, there’s another “championship”. I have a trophy for being the leading goal scorer in a co-ed dekhockey league years ago. I think I might have AVERAGED a hat trick that year.

25. See one of the great rivalries in person. Three or five OSU-Michigan games should suffice.

26. Gamble on sports in Vegas. I haven’t, and I regret it a little bit. I was all alone in Vegas on a college football Saturday (albeit the first weekend of December and a slate of maybe six games), took a few looks over the parlays, debated putting $10 on 100-1 Michigan to win the NCAA hoops title, and passed.

27. See a World Cup, or World Cup Qualifier. I’ve seen both.

28. Visit the various Halls of Fame. Football, baseball, basketball and hockey. I’ve been there. Add in the PGA HOF and the Indy 500 Museum, and gimme a point.

29. Spend a weekend celebrating the holiday of college football. Done that, and am 44 days from doing it again.

30. See a fight. Better yet, how about “do play by play for a bench clearing brawl in a college baseball game”? I win. And even though hockey fights supposedly don’t count, how about college hockey? And what if it was in the tunnel to the dressing room? And more play by play duties were involved?

Total: 15 or so, with four, maybe five categories I’m not counting, and four more that we’ll subtract for their “multiplicity”. So 15 of 22?