Need One!: A Lunatic’s Attempt to Attend 365 Games in 365 Days

Got a sports bucket list? His parents told him he was crazy. His friends said he’d never do it. #HoldMyBeer In September 2013, Jamie Reidy set out to complete Sports Year, his Hail Mary attempt at a return to literary success while also recusing himself from self-inflicted midlife and debt crisis.

With very little planning and even less funding, the itinerary called for Reidy to hit a sports event every day, ranging from the Super Bowl down to a six-year-old girls’ basketball game. (FYI: the refs don’t call traveling.) Along the way, he’d visit all the iconic venues like Lambeau, Fenway, Rupp, et al.

He saw a Heisman Trophy winner play… hoops … in a men’s rec league. Jamie tailgated with strangers at The Grove, The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, and Army-Navy. He discovered his favorite new sport: women’s indoor volleyball. He also witnessed sports that didn’t really qualify as such: inner-tube water polo and Cleveland Browns Football.

Not to go to all Tom Rinaldi on you, but it got a little dusty at times. Reidy watched in awe as wheelchair bowlers and amputee softball players transcended any so-called limitations. He also brought wounded veterans to games on their sports Bucket Lists, giving him much needed perspective on what constitutes actual problems.

So, Jamie actually made it the entire year?! Yeah, no. He fell shorter than a Shaq free throw.

But, but for five magical months, the author was a daily spectator of the human condition, and the result - Need One! - is a hilarious and heartfelt road-trip memoir. Reidy learned that while scoreboards don’t allow for moral victories, life sure does.