The Year So Far: Best/Worst Sporting Events
I know August is a strange time to do some midyear rundowns, as we're in fact well over halfway through the year now. But, after a busy #hotgirlsummer for all of us (right? RIGHT?), it's time to prepare for the return of sports, shows, and critically-acclaimed films this Fall, with a look back on the year so far. Plus, due to the lingering effects of the pandemic, everything's been pushed back a bit, hasn't it? That's right, I'm taking a page out of Disney's legal approach against Scarlett Johansson and blaming the pandemic.
If I've said it once on this blog, I've said it a thousand times: no arena of culture and public life was as visibly altered by the pandemic as sports was. Masked coaches, officials, and players were one thing, but the lack of pre- and post-game handshakes, the socially distanced "benches," and the wild changes in venues and schedule took some getting accustomed to. And of course, nothing was more striking than the lack of fans in seats. As we sit here in the midst of the most abnormal Summer Olympics ever, truly nothing could have prepared us for seeing some of the world's biggest sporting events played in cavernous stadiums, with crowd noise artificially piped in for the broadcast, or sometimes just not present at all.
But, as most everything did, Sports found a way to press on in the 'new normal,' and into this new year, and as the year progressed, we saw the slow, delightful return of fans into seats, of top athletes from injury, and of real quality to the biggest sporting events. Here were the best and worst sports stories from the year so far:
Best of the Year
Euro 2020
For a summer of soccer that consisted of Manchester City delightfully failing to win the Champions League yet again, the United States defeating Mexico in thrilling fashion in not one, but TWO finals, the Canadian women securing a first-ever Olympic Gold, and Lionel Messi finally winning his long-awaited international title with Argentina, it would take something truly special for some other soccer-related event to be the sporting highlight of 2021. This summer's Euro Cup was indeed truly special.
The second-biggest international soccer tournament was, like most everything else, pushed back a year. But the final product was well worth the wait, even with the logistical headaches (multiple host cities had to drop out of hosting duties due to their COVID situations), and general lack of full-capacity stadiums. The fact that the first tournament to be played all across Europe, rather than in 1 or 2 countries, coincided with a global pandemic is cruel irony, because you could tell the vision was terrific. We got to see multiple nations that would almost never play host or even co-host, such as Azerbaijan, Hungary, Romania, and Denmark flex their hosting muscles. We also got to see a remarkable story of resilience, as Danish and Finnish players and fans came together to grieve the horrifying on-field collapse of Christian Eriksen; this ultimately led to the happiest Danish fairytale, as remarkably, Eriksen survived cardiac arrest, and Denmark were able to eventually bounce back and piece together a thrilling a semifinal run. The quality of play across the board was the best it has been in any major tournament in some time, and we the fans were treated to absolute thrillers in every round of play.
When all the dust settled, we also were treated to a final between two 'teams of destiny': the resurgent Italians who entered the championship on a 33-match winning streak a mere 3 years after missing out on the World Cup entirely, and the uniquely unshakeable English, who rode a wave of rejuvenated optimism from their fans and intrasquad harmony to a final being played in the friendly confines of London, in front of the largest crowd at any European sporting event since spring 2020, nearly all bellowing "IT'S COMING HOME!" There was one more twist for us, too, but a familiar one: after an instant classic, hard-fought match....England were to lose in penalties.
In recognition of the organizing committee's steadfast refusal to change the name of the tournament to reflect the correct calendar year, I'm rating this competition a 21/20.
Honorable Mentions: All the aforementioned soccer happenings, 17-year old Alaskan Lydia Jacoby wins Olympic gold in a thrilling upset, Giannis and Milwaukee finally win their NBA title, Gonzaga and UCLA play one of the great college basketball games of all time, Devonta Smith becomes the first WR in 20 years to win the Heisman Trophy
Worst of the Year
Super Bowl LV
Full disclosure: a lifelong Packers fan, I was already poised to not enjoy Super Bowl LV. I was fresh off watching the Packers suffer one of their most gut-wrenching losses in my life; the clear best team in the NFC pissing away a Super Bowl berth yet again, due to an age-old combination of lack of preparedness at the worst possible time and the league's officials seemingly having it written in their contracts that they must do everything in their power to ensure Tom Brady plays in the Super Bowl. But, to be fair, with the Packers' surprisingly consistent postseason futility in my life, I am more than used to be a neutral Super Bowl observer, and generally, we've had a fun go of it.
There were a couple exceptions sure, but nearly every Super Bowl from about 2007-2020 was an absolute thriller. I still remember where I was when Plaxico Burress hauled in Eli Manning's last-minute bomb to the end zone, when Santonio Holmes did the same from Ben Roethlisberger the following year, when Tracy Porter took Peyton Manning's throw back to the house for a game-clinching Pick Six, when the Falcons blew a 28-3 lead, when the Eagles broke out the "Philly Special," when Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs pulled off a 21-0 run in the last 5 minutes of the game....etc., etc. So I talked myself into getting excited for even this Super Bowl. After all, it's the Super Bowl!
But unless you're from Tampa Bay, or you're a Bostonite identifies as a Bradysexual, there was absolutely nothing to cheer about this game. This particular Kansas City Chiefs team, crazy as it may sound, was a shell of the version that had won the Super Bowl one year prior, and the Buccaneers had them under their thumb from the opening kick. It was a disaster of a game, essentially over by halftime. And at the end of it all, we were subjected to yet another year of media slobbering over the brilliance of Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski; it's a vicious cycle that seemingly has no end. Making matters worse was seeing thousands upon thousands of fans attending, at a time in the country where COVID-19 cases were still raging (and particularly in Florida, the host state of the event), and vaccines were far from widely available. It really was a Super Bowl without any highlights, unless you enjoyed The Weeknd's eerie halftime show-- which, in comparison to the game itself, I truly did.
Honorable Mentions: Relatively lackluster performances from American stars at the Summer Olympics, really just most of these Summer Olympics in general, Gonzaga laying an egg in one of the most-hyped College Basketball Finals in recent history, Liverpool's title defense consisting of nearly their entire squad suffering devastating injuries, yet another College Football playoff full of blowouts, Texas and Oklahoma's defection from the Big XII touch off another bout of greed-inspired conference realignment ploys
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