This was an item on the bucket list I never expected to complete so early in my life.
As with many of my bucket-list items, No. 99 required me to travel to a foreign country. Even though Canada is but a border-crossing away, to a 17-year-old who just created a bucket list, it was light years from reality.
Then I got lucky. Getting a full ride to come and study here at Ohio University freed up some of the money I had personally set aside for college. So I now had an enigma: As a high school senior in 2010, where should I go for my senior trip? So I went to my bucket list for guidance.
Three different locations fell through, and with two months until graduation, I was running short on time. Then, the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced a fight card in Vancouver, Canada. Now, I know my parents believed it would never happen - and maybe that was a small motivator - but months later, I found myself flying to the harbor city of Vancouver.
One reason for my attending UFC 115 was my fellow Ohioan Rich Franklin was fighting the sports icon of Chuck Liddell. Landing in Vancouver, I soon realized I was in the minority and was not rooting for the hometown favorite. People throughout the airport and hotels were all sporting a shaved mohawk (personally, I preferred to call it a shavehawk popularized by Chuck Liddell). The weigh-ins were the day before the fight, and afterward my travel partner Brandon - mind you sporting the shavehawk - and I went into a local sports bar to have a bite to eat.
It was at that time that I took the opportunity to get a burger, with of course, Canadian bacon. Boom - bucket-list item 99. It was when I was eating this burger that a gentleman bearing Rich Franklin garb came up and asked us if we were from Ohio. I suppose I did stick out wearing an Ohio State shirt, but for this day, I'm glad I stuck out. The man gave us two tickets to Rich Franklin's after-party at the River Rock Casino.
The next day, we went to the fight, and when the lights went out and my fellow Ohioan walked out, my hair was standing up. When the fight began, Rich, well, he was getting himself rocked. However, with less than two minutes left in the first round, the unexpected happened; Rich connected, and Chuck Liddell and his shavehawk were out.
Getting to the casino with the after-party tickets in hand, I saw my fellow statesman in a sling, because he had broken his arm in the fight and continued until his victory. So thanks to No. 99, I found myself sitting at a prizefighter's after-party with another item crossed off the list.
I couldn't ask for anything more. Until next time, you stay classy Athens.
Austin Wyant is a freshman studying international studies and a columnist for The Post. Do you want to drink Irish coffee in Ireland? E-mail Austin at aw149110@ohiou.edu.
4 Opinion
Austin Wyant
#99 Eat Canadian Bacon in Canada
