Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
January 1, 2009, Washington Post

For the New Year, a Winning To-Do List

At the beginning of every year, lots of people make lists of New Year's resolutions. Those are the promises we make to do something during the coming year. Some folks promise to lose weight or exercise more or be nicer to others.

I always make a list of New Year's sports resolutions. That's the list of sports stuff I want to do. Here are some that made my list for 2009.

· Go see a football game at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. The team is good, and everyone says you get goose bumps when the midshipmen (the academy's students) march into the stadium by the thousands before the game.

· Watch more college soccer. Tickets to the games are not expensive, and the play is exciting. And we have the defending men's national champions right in our back yard at the University of Maryland.

· Watch a Washington Nationals game from the cheap seats way up in left field at the new Nationals Park. If the game gets slow -- and games do get slow when the home team loses more than 100 of them (as it did last year) -- I'll just look out over the city and the monuments.

· Speaking of the monuments: I've been a golfer for years, but I've never played at East Potomac Park in Washington. This year I'm going to do it. I know it's not a fancy country club, but how many courses can you play where you can see the Washington Monument? That's way cool.

· As a golfer, I should also do more to help the U.S. Golf Association's First Tee program, which helps young people learn the game. Golf is great for teaching discipline, manners and honesty.

· This year I should go out and see the Landon School play Georgetown Prep in lacrosse. That game has become one of the great high school sports rivalries in the area.

· And I have to get down to Woodbridge this spring to see my nephew Zack play baseball for Woodbridge High School. Go Vikings!

Your to-do list for 2009 will differ from mine. Maybe yours will include hiking the Billy Goat Trail at Great Falls, mastering a new move on your skateboard or going to a nearby NCAA tournament game in field hockey. Or maybe this will be the year you and your family make a trip to a sports hall of fame somewhere in the country.

The important point is to get together with your family, talk about it and make your list. It should have about five to 10 sports items for the coming year. Put the list up on the refrigerator and mark the things off after you have done them.

That way, you are sure to have a great 2009.

Fred Bowen writes KidsPost's sports opinion column and is an author of sports novels for kids. To listen to Fred Bowen talk about writing, go to http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/bookcast.

© 2009 The Washington Post Company