As new music isn’t my vibe and I can sing or rap along with most songs because it feels like I’ve heard every track ever made, many times, I’ve deep dove into podcasts over the last few years.

Although I first started listening to people talk about sports, music, movies, historic events, historic people, and crime in the mid-2000s, I’ve spent the last four or five years listening to at least one show a day.

One of my favorites is The Dan Patrick Show.

Every episode, Dan and the Danettes (Paul, Fritz, Seton, Marvin whic,h were coined the Danettes by Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame member and current NBA broadcaster Reggie Miller) have a poll question or sometimes numerous ones during their three-hour program aireed Monday through Friday.

A week or so ago, they asked a hypothetical, “If you could only go to one national sporting event, which one would it be?”

Some of the options brought up were the NFL Super Bowl, MLB World Series, NBA Finals, PGA Masters, a tennis event such as the Austrailian Open, French Open, U.S. Open, or Wimbledon, the NCAA CTP football championship, or the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four.

If I remember right, Patrick and one of the Danettes said the Super Bowl and the other three said the NCAA Final Four.

I agree with Paul, Seton, and Marvin, I’m going to the Final Four.

At one point in life I would have said the NBA Finals.

At a different point, I would have said the Super Bowl.

At one exact, distinct point, I would have said the World Series.

I never would choose the Masters, anything tennis, or college football.

But with NBA basketball being boring as players chuck up 3-pointers while the rest of the team stands around, the Super Bowl contains either the team who avoided injuries or spent the most money, the culmination of the baseball season is all about which owner spent the most money, and college basketball always being awesome, my obivious answer is the Final Four.

Sure, there were years the Final Four or the NCAA Championship wasn’t the best, but all of them have intrigue. Add brackets and trying to take jelly beans from friends, family, and co-workers and it’s the winning solution for the best sports event of the year.

Just to make sure my answer was legit, I went through the web archives of each sports’ (NBA, MLB, NFL, and NCAA hoops) big event since I was in junior high in the late 1990’s until now, which is when I’ve really, really paid attention to who was/is winning what.

I took tallies of what championship games or series I didn’t watch and which ones I remember.

World Series came in last. From 1997 until now, I’ve only watched 13 World Series and I remember huge moments, whether at the plate, on the mound, or media circus from about eight of them.

Of course, the White Sox in 2005 (the one exact moment I referenced before), the Cubs in 2016, and the Cardinals in 2006 (I was attending Southern Illinois University, closer to St. Louis than Chicago, and watched with a Cardinals fan at an establishment with 100s more Cardinal fans), are three of the eight.

I went a little further back with the Super Bowl since I watched the Dallas Cowboys win ships with my uncle (a huge Cowboys’ fan to this very day) when I was a little kid. 

From 1993 until now, I’ve only missed two of NFL’s last game of the year, 2010 when the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts and 2018 when the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England Patriots.

I remember where I was at and big moments of all of the Super Bowls I did watch.

Being the NBA has been my favorite association since I became a sports fan, thank you Michael Jordan and 1990s basketball, I thought the league would win my little research adventure.

I watched bits and pieces of the Bulls win in 1992 and 1993, at the age of six and seven, but with the blend of my memory into all of the clips I’ve watched over the years, I couldn’t tell you what is my brain and what is YouTube and ESPN.

However, I remember all of the second Bulls’ three-peat as I still have scars from the floor in front of the TV as I was glued. 

There was a promotion along the way to the couch, a chair, dorm room or dorm lounge seating, and then my own furniture as I witnessed every NBA Finals from 1996 until 2018 when I became sick of the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who played in four straight finals. 

Since then, 2019-2024, I’ve watched at least two games from each finals. 

I wish I would have gotten a chance to see John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins win NCAA championships, or Bob Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers, or the North Carolina’s win on Jordan’s big shot, or Patrick Ewing in Georgetown, or the mighty Duke teams in the early 1990s.

However, since Mateen Cleaves, with a bum ankle, led the Michigan State Spartans to the ship in 2000, I have participated in either viewership numbers, filling out brackets, or bandwagoning teams after SIU or Illinois is elimanated, every single year.

Watching Carmelo Anthony and the Syracuse Orange with the championship trophy as i was a junior in high school, I thought he was going to be better than LeBron James. I thank a friend for getting me a signed photo of “Melo” playing in the 2003 big game.

Through Illinois’ awesome run to the ship my freshman year in college, the back-to-back Florida wins, Bill Self rallying Kansas, John Calipari doing the same for Kentucky, Rick Pitino sharing his magic with Louisville, Jay Wright and Villanova in 2018, Bill Self and the Jayhawks reclaiming in 2022, and the back-to-back University of Connecticut celebrations...I’ve been there for it all.

Honestly, in the last 15 years, I don’t think I’ve missed a single Sweet 16 contest. If I didn’t have it on the TV, I listened to it since I’m always trying to improve on my radio broadcasting skills by listening to the professionals. 

Some research, I absolutely hate doing, but I do it because it’s my job.

Other research, I jump into because I love it.

Going through my mental schemas of games and sports moments was awesome. And it’s cool the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four is my go-to, always, no matter who is in the last three games of the season.

Your turn to answer the question.

If you could only go to one national sporting event, which one would it be?