Best Sports Moments of 2020
Nothing in the world of entertainment invites partiality the way sports do. By nature, you have a rooting interest in any game or match you watch. As such, it can be difficult to separate the subjective from the objective when considering the quality of the year in sports. That said, rest assured, my personal opinion doesn't matter all that much in the context of this piece. I will do my best to take off my fan cap, and assume the role of the objective, uninvolved sports reporter.
It's hard to think of a cultural arena that was more inextricably linked with the coronavirus pandemic than Sports. The event that essentially touched off the shutdown across the United States was the NBA suspending all games in the wake of Rudy Gobert's positive COVID test, with the NCAA following suit by cancelling all Spring sports shortly thereafter. From there, the rest of American sports and soccer leagues across the World suspended play, Even when they resumed, at various times for various sports, the sight of empty stadiums with cardboard cutout fans became the visual representation of the COVID-19 era, and artificially piped-in crowd noise the audial. Still, even in a year as hard, bizarre, tragic and abnormal, Sports found ways to excite, inspire, and thrill us. Below are my Top 10 moments from this year in the sporting world.
But first, to make a perfect 20 in 2020, here are ten noteworthy events that just missed the list (in chronological order):
Joe Burrow and LSU cap off the greatest single season in modern history with a dominant National Championship
Collin Morikawa stuns the field to claim PGA Championship
The new guard reigns at the US Open, as Naomi Osaka and Dominic Thiem take the singles titles
The college football season sees one of the most competitive Heisman Trophy races in recent history
Dustin Johnson breaks through, claims 1st Masters green jacket
Coastal Carolina football finishes ranked in the Top 12 with an unbeaten season, just three years after being promoted to Division I
The Columbus Crew win MLS Cup just two years after nearly folding and relocating as a franchise
Aaron Rodgers turns in a vintage, MVP-worthy season at the ripe old age of 37
Robert Lewandowski wins the FIFA Best Men's Player, snapping the duopoly of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
The Buffalo Bills clinch their first division title in 25 years
Now, to the top 10:
10. King Rafa reigns again
Rafael Nadal winning at Roland Garros is seemingly inevitable at this point. He's known as the "Clay King" for a reason; his 13 French Open titles shatter any other tennis player's record, male or female, for dominance at a particular Grand Slam. But #13 was something special, and not just because it drew Nadal level with Roger Federer for all-time Grand Slam titles. For Rafa to win this edition of the French Open? Played with minimal fan support, later in the year with colder, breezier conditions that don't favor his game, after a nearly 6-month hiatus from tennis, at the age of 34? And to win it so dominantly? Well, that was a friendly reminder that we are lucky enough to be watching one of the sport's greatest-- perhaps even THE greatest.
9. Sarah Fuller makes history
There weren't a whole lot of bright spots for Vanderbilt's football season this year. The Commodores finished 0-9, which resulted in their head coach being fired. They will forever be linked to one positive piece of history, though; more specifically, Sarah Fuller will be. When Vanderbilt lost both scholarship kickers on the depth chart due to injury and COVID diagnosis, they turned to Fuller, a keeper on the women's soccer team. The usual cries from the cynics accused Vandy of doing this for publicity alone, but they were quickly proven wrong. While Fuller did not get a chance to attempt a field goal, she did make history by becoming the first woman to play in a Power 5 football game with her kickoff against Missouri, then two weeks later against rivals Tennessee, became the first woman to score in a Power 5 football game, knocking through two extra points.
8. Mahomes Magic gives Chiefs a rare Super Bowl
A lot of people expected Patrick Mahomes to be a good quarterback when he was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017. Few expected him to be the best quarterback in the league. However, Mahomes has rapidly proven to be just that, combining agility with a ridiculously strong and accurate arm, dazzling and delighting fans and commentators alike. The young "next great thing" fell heartbreakingly short of getting a chance to play for the Super Bowl last year, losing in overtime in the AFC Championship to the eventual champions New England. But he and his teammates began 2020 making sure things would be different; the Chiefs romped through the playoffs before falling behind in the Super Bowl against the 49ers. When things looked dire, though, a previously stifled Mahomes found his footing just in time to rally Kansas City in remarkable fashion, leading a 21-0 run over the final 6 minutes to hand the city its first Super Bowl in 50 years.
7. The success of the NWSL Challenge Cup
It got very little attention-- are we shocked? --but America's return to sports amidst COVID-19 didn't begin with baseball, hockey, nor even the MLS. It started with women's soccer, which is perhaps fitting, given that it may be the sport our nation is most dominant at. From mid-June to late July, all but one of the National Women Soccer League's teams traveled to the Salt Lake City area and lived in a makeshift 'village,' playing a tournament in the meantime that would essentially take the place of the 2020 NWSL season. Even if the level of play had been poor, showing the country (and really, the world) it was possible to pull off an exciting tournament involving many professional athletes, even sans fans, all without a single positive COVID case would have been a huge symbolic victory. It didn't hurt, then, that the tournament saw some really high-quality football, with upsets and penalty shootouts galore, and some future women's national team stars getting some shine.
6. Dodgers finally get their World Series
You can argue that the vastly condensed season and first-ever 'neutral site playoffs' put a big ol' asterisk by the Los Angeles Dodgers' 2020 World Series banner. Guess what? They won't care in the least. After going 32 years without a pennant, they spent most of this decade being the dominant team in the National League (and at times, all of Major League Baseball), only to run into playoff disappointment time and time again, including losing back-to-back Series' in 2017 and 2018. This year, it appeared it would be more of the same, as they trailed the 2nd-seeded Atlanta Braves 3-1 in the NLCS. But they fought back to force a Game 7, and in said ultimate game, fought back from a 6th-inning deficit to clinch a stunning rally and ensuing berth to the World Series. This time, they would not let the opportunity slip, dispatching of the underdog Tampa Bay Rays in 6 games and finally bringing home that long-absent trophy.
5. The NBA Bubble
The NWSL walked so the NBA could run! Seriously, it's not hard to argue that the NBA's framework to finish their postponed season and crown a champion was likely made possible by the success of the aforementioned Challenge Cup, but it's also not hard to argue that Adam Silver and co. perfected it more than any other league has. 'The Bubble' involved bringing all NBA franchises still in playoff contention to the ESPN/Disney complex in Orlando, quarantining all involved players, staff, officials and commentators from the rest of the outside world, and then playing all regular season and playoff games across a couple different courts within the complex. Screens completely surrounded both courts to allow fans to be virtually "present," and piped-in arena noise helped lend some authenticity to the game experience. It was an organizational masterclass, resulting in zero COVID cases and one of the most enjoyable postseasons I can remember. Like the Challenge Cup, this incredible accomplishment was helped by some really memorable basketball: many a game was won in the final seconds, the Denver Nuggets twice rallied from a 3-1 series deficit, Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro led the Miami Heat went on a completely unanticipated Cinderella run, and in the end, the best team (LeBron and Anthony Davis' Los Angeles Lakers) won.
4. Redemption for the Lightning
Last year, the Tampa Bay Lightning entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs favored to bring home the Lord Stanley Trophy, as the Presidents' Trophy winners and overall #1 seed in the playoffs. Instead, they exited the playoffs with tails between their legs, as they not only failed to reach the Finals, they failed to even win a single playoff game, getting swept by wild cards Columbus in the 1st round. This year, it appeared atonement for their humiliation might be pushed back yet another year, as like all leagues before it, the NHL saw their season postponed by COVID-19 and under threat of cancellation. Fortunately, play was able to resume in August and September in a format not unlike the NBA's bubble setup, but spread across two zones in Canada, and when all the ice clouds and maple syrup had cleared, it was the Lightning who skated their way to their 2nd title in franchise history, sufficiently exorcising the ghosts of their 2019 embarrassment.
3. Legends mourn a Legend
There's no way to think of the loss of Kobe Bryant as any "good" or "best" moment this year; it was a shocking tragedy, a loss of a healthy, vibrant, larger-than-life figure and his young daughter in the freakest of accidents. Even more tragic still is the way Bryant's untimely death in January seemed to set the tone at large. Had the year proceeded as 'normal,' his and Gianna's names would still be on all of our tongues throughout 2020. Instead, with the sheer amount of tumult, upheaval and loss of life this country saw, it at times became almost an afterthought to the year. Thankfully, before the spread of COVID-19, family, friends and fans all had the opportunity to pack into Staples Center to cheer for Kobe one last time. Instead of watching his brilliance on display, it was to hear tales upon tales of the athlete, man, and icon he was. If you had no concept of how influential Bryant was, you could probably learn just from the titans of sport that attended and spoke at his memorial service, Geno Auriemma, Diana Taurasi, Shaquille O'Neal and Michael Jordan among them. Former teammates and former rivals alike shed tears and hugged on one another during those few weeks; as is so often the case, tragedy was able to bring out the best in people.
2. Liverpool's long, famous wait is over
There's a little I can say about Liverpool's title drought that hasn't been already covered ad nauseum in the last two years, but let me at least give you the highlights: Liverpool, one of the most accomplished and historic football clubs in the World, hadn't won an English title in 30 years, and never in the Premier League era. This drought included many, many years of the Reds being among the best teams in the league, even the World, and multiple seasons of being heartbreakingly close. Mention the Steven Gerrard slip or the Kompany goal to a Liverpudlian, and they might sock you in the face (note: this theory has not been tested). After coming up one point short of the title in 2018-19, in an otherwise record-breaking year, many wondered whether Liverpool had enough in the tank to fight for a title yet again. Boy, did they ever; the Reds exploded out of the gates and ended the calendar year of 2019 about 15 points clear of their closest competitor. As 2020 began, it became more and more evident that this was going to be the year Liverpool finally brought an end to that famous drought; in mid-March, they were a shocking 25 points clear of 2nd-place Manchester City, within two victories of officially clinching the title. Then....well, I think you know what happened. The sudden abandoning of the Premier League season was of course a necessary move to adapt our COVID reality, but the uncertainty led to many a rumor and report that this Premier League season would be nulled and voided. It was enough to make any Liverpool fan sick to their stomach; they had finally felt as if there was no way this title could be lost, only for it to be snatched away from them by a worldwide pandemic. But when Project Restart saw the league resume play in mid-June, the dreams were back on, and thanks to a one-two punch of a dominant Liverpool win and a Manchester City loss, the evasive trophy was finally, officially theirs. I'm sure Jürgen Klopp and every single player were sad to not have an Anfield packed with fans to celebrate their trophy lift, and to have an offseason free of celebratory bus parades. But I'm also sure no Liverpool fan would have traded last season for anything.
1. Athletes lead the way for social justice
It sounds silly to say, but sometimes we avid fans need to be reminded that there's more to life than sports. This year was perhaps the most stark reminder of that fact any of us have had in our lives. The pandemic already had helped shape our priorities, but in the early days of summer, the senseless killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis policeman touched off a firestorm of protests across America. It also completely reshaped discussions on racism and prejudice across culture. The USSF rescinded their ban on kneeling for the national anthem. Just about every professional sports league offered support for the Black Lives Matter movement, including the notoriously stodgy NFL, which also agreed to play the Black National Anthem before each regular season game. In many ways, it was the words and actions of many athletes that led to significant change, whether it was Mississippi State running back Kylin Hill refusing to play unless or until the Confederate flag imagery was removed from the Mississippi state flag, or tennis star Naomi Osaka wearing a face covering before each match of the US Open (which she then won) with a different police shooting victim's name, or the Milwaukee Bucks organizing a protest instead of attending their game that started a trend of boycotts across all professional leagues, or teams in all European soccer leagues taking a knee in silence immediately after kickoff. Athletes readily catch a whole lot of flak when they are not being 'model citizens.' It's time we recognize and listen to them when they are.
I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I can't wait to see what 2021 has in store for us. We only have up to go from here, right?
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