DID YOU SEE THAT?!

Saturday, Dec. 29, 2007 | 7:29 a.m.

You don't have to be Jack Nicholson or Morgan Freeman to have a "bucket list." You can just be a sports fan with a hankering to witness a demolition derby in Islip, N.Y., or the World Wristwrestling Championships in Petaluma, Calif. You need not own ABC's "Wide World of Sports" boxed set to know the possibilities are virtually endless. Sort of like one of those cliff-diving competitions from Acapulco.

Even guys who write about sports have a list of events they'd like to see before they kick the bucket.

Here are ours.

RON KANTOWSKI

Thing I've seen

The Indianapolis 500. More specifically, the start of the Indy 500. To enjoy the rest of it, you'd have to be born with a pack of Camels rolled up in your T-shirt sleeve. But the start of the race is more exhilarating than a cold slap in the face with a palmful of Aqua Velva. That's because by that time, the cars and the drivers and the guys with grease under their fingernails who turn the wrenches have been there for close to a month, running around in circles, chasing speed. But when those gentlemen and Danica Patrick start their engines on race day, and all 33 cars scream toward you at full song for the first time, sounding like a bunch of hornets whose nest has been disturbed, see if the hair on the back of your neck doesn't stand up. Do not, however, be alarmed by those bombs. It's just the sound of fireworks signaling the 500-mile race is under way. It is not the sound a 230-mph race car makes when clouting the wall in Turn One. At least most years.

Thing(s) I'd like to see

Churchill Downs on Derby Day, Fenway Park when the Yanks are in town, The Road Hole at St. Andrews, the Palestra for a Big 5 game when it's really rocking and you can smell the perspiration of Big 5 games past, the Montreal Forum and Maple Leaf Gardens if only they still were being used for hockey, Ohio State vs. Michigan at The Big House or Ohio Stadium or a cow pasture near Toledo, Wembley Stadium for an FA Cup final ... the list goes on and on. But I'd trade a front-row seat to all of them for an opportunity to stand on the corner of Clark and Addison on the day the Cubs finally win the World Series.

ROB MIECH

Thing I've seen

We arrived at the corralillos in Pamplona an hour or two early to survey the land and the people. The cobblestone street was wet with more than just the overnight dew. The less you know, the better. Let's just say the annual San Fermin Festival is a 24-hour party. The runners were mostly serious. White pants and white shirts, with red bandannas around the neck and red sashes around the waist. Should we go? Ten years ago, an adventure through Europe with a close friend was perfectly timed to land us in the Basque country. It was the moment of truth. They were about to fire the rocket that starts each morning's encierro. Give us an asterisk - we sort of stayed behind a building at the first turn, a lazy left, as what looked like cows walked by. Huh? The following day, we'd dominate. Then, before the horn blew, we noticed many gold "M" pendants hanging from necks. The famous Miura bulls, responsible for many matador deaths throughout Spain, were about to be released. BOOM! And away they go! We couldn't escape through the throng-lined fence, but we were able to duck into doorways somewhere along Calle Estafeta as the cacophony zipped behind us. A day later, we were much more relaxed, drinking Heineken under the Eiffel Tower on Bastille Day.

Thing I'd like to see

A Champions League finale. The World Cup is full of pageantry and national pride and history, with the right matchup. But the Champions League is made up of the world's top club teams and players who deserve to be there. That can't realistically be said about more than half the teams in your average World Cup. Cameroon vs. Russia? Please. Manchester United finishing off the treble in Barcelona in 1999? Liverpool's amazing comeback against AC Milan in Istanbul in 2005? Those are my dream tickets.

BRIAN HILDERBRAND

Thing I've seen

For all the reasons detailed by Ron Kantowski, sitting above the front stretch at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the start of the 1982 Indianapolis 500 was hands down my most memorable moment in sports - that is, until Gordie Johncock held off Rick Mears by an eyelash at the finish line in that same race. Even if you're not a gearhead, every sports fans should experience the start of an Indy 500 at least once in his or her lifetime.

Thing I'd like to see

Following the last group during the final round of The Masters on a perfect spring afternoon in Augusta, Ga. Come to think of it, I'd give a week's salary and wear a gaudy green jacket just to be able to take a stroll around the grounds of Augusta National Golf Club - with the clubs in the trunk of the rental car.

MARK WHITTINGTON

Thing I've seen

My earliest sports memories are of baseball, so going to a World Series was always my dream.

I jumped when offered the chance to see a complete series. Was it heaven? No, it was California - the Dodgers vs. the A's in 1988.

I remember that first game in Los Angeles. We rented a turquoise '66 T-Bird - top down, sky blue, October sun warm - and drove to Gladstone's for oysters, then hopped on the highway to head to Chavez Ravine. It was even great when the T-Bird overheated on the offramp to the ballpark and we had to hitch rides into the parking lot. I thought I had the story to tell my grandkids long before the first pitch.

Then I settled into my seat in right field to feel that beautiful tension of fall baseball - Dodgers strike for two off Dave Stewart; Jose Canseco dents a TV camera in center field for a grand slam; Dodgers claw back to 4-3.

Dennis Eckersley comes in to finish off the Dodgers but walks a pinch hitter. You know what happens next: baseball history. Kirk Gibson limps off the bench. Eckersley's backdoor slider doesn't back up. And Gibson one-hands an arc across the night sky.

I can't remember how we got home from the game. I can't really remember the next four games. I barely remember asking Rollie Fingers, retired but still sporting a hellacious handlebar, to sign my ticket stub in Oakland.

What I do remember is the sound as the stadium gasps into silence then erupts as the ball plops into the right-field stands and gimpy Gibson pumps his fist as he rounds the bases.

Things I'd like to see

My dream would have to combine travel with sport.

How about the Summer Olympics in Beijing? I've always wanted to go to China. I missed the thrill of victory and the agony of L.A. because I was living in England. And don't those new venues look spectacular?

But I'm easy to please. I'm happy watching minor league baseball. Each new ballpark is an adventure. I've spent hours trying to figure out unfamiliar sports in faraway countries - snooker, pato, cricket, beach soccer, rugby (league vs. union), steeplechase horse racing, jai alai, boccie. Not a moment wasted.

JEFF HANEY

Thing I've seen

As a younger man, my two favorite books were "On the Road" (think Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady) and "The Baseball Encyclopedia" (more like Jack Chesbro, Neal Ball). It was a dangerous combination that spawned myriad baseball odysseys - including a whirlwind trip to see the 1990 All-Star Game at Wrigley Field. After acquiring tickets through a strange transaction involving a major league baseball executive and one of his golf caddies, a small group of like-minded fanatics and I drove 14 hours straight from the East Coast to Wrigleyville. We watched the game from seats in left-field foul territory, didn't sleep, and drove home. I recall cheering for NL leadoff hitter Lenny Dykstra (in an eerie foreshadowing, right around the point in his career when the Dude started using "them special vitamins" to bulk up), and sitting through an extensive rain delay when a monsoon came down Waveland Avenue. But I was privileged to experience the best all-star game in sports at the historic Friendly Confines, and it doesn't get much better. I don't take as many impromptu baseball road trips these days, mostly because I now have two young kids - Jack(son) and Cassidy.

Things I'd like to see

They're fictional and historical, but I'm taking "wish list" literally. I'm (unhealthily?) obsessed with the championship match at the Milledgeville tournament in "Cockfighter," the classic early '70s Monte Hellman character study; the 5-card stud showdown between Eric "The Kid" Stoner and Lancey "The Man" Howard in New Orleans; and of course Fast Eddie Felson vs. Minnesota Fats on the other kind of green baize.

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