The 52 favorite sports moments of the Ringer of 2022

2022 was a year of long-awaited triumphs: Lionel Messi. Matthew Stafford. Georgia football. It was a year goodbye: Serena Williams. Roger Federer. Coach K. And it was a year of highlights: Aaron Judge. Yes Morant. The butt point.

With the calendar turning to 2023, The Ringer looks back at the most iconic sporting moments of the past 12 months. Here, in no particular order, are the 52 that stand out the most:

Lionel Messi Kisses the World Cup Trophy Before He Has Actually Been Awarded the World Cup Trophy

Brian Phillips: The cheekiness of it. The pure impish abuse of it. My God, the audacity of it. Lionel Messi, 35 years old, a grown adult, a father, a casual if unenthusiastic taxpayer, a man with responsibilities, a businessman, a role model, wins his first World Cup, and what does he do? Is he waiting? Does he follow the carefully choreographed ceremony that was planned months in advance to ensure that the trophy presentation made the maximum brand impact for FIFA and Qatar possessed the right gravitas? Does he say to himself: “This is a serious moment. A historic moment. As the greatest male footballer who ever lived, I should approach this moment with due respect”?

Like hell he does. I’m sorry, Emily Post, but patience, respect and careful choreography are for people who haven’t just tried to shadow Diego Maradona after years (and years, and years). What Messi does instead is this: He walks up the sort of laser-catwalk-twisty-neon-dais to accept the Golden Ball award he won as the tournament’s best player — a very chilling moment, nbd. And the World Cup trophy just sits there, unattended, in front of the laser dais. To see also : 8 Books That Will Challenge, Deepen, And Change Everything You Know About Video Games. And he mocks it. And he can not resist.

Carlos Alberto, the captain of Brazil’s 1970s side, widely regarded as the greatest soccer team of all time, started the tradition of kissing the trophy because, he said, it just looked too nice not to. A little glint comes into Messi’s eyes, a look that generally means a defender or six is ​​about to lose their health insurance. But now, when he passes the trophy, he sits up and gives it a peck. He kisses it. He stretches it. He looks down on it with a look of pure, radiant love. When you adopt a new puppy, you would treat this puppy exactly the same way it looked the day you brought it home.

And look, it’s just a moment. It didn’t add meaningfully to the drama of what was, I’m sorry, the most dramatic sporting event I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t even the most disrespectful thing that happened on the laser dais. (Shout-out to Emiliano Martínez for clutching his Golden Glove award against his crotch like he was… well, let’s just say it was the first time Martínez looked like a single fuck to be given in Qatar .)

But Messi’s stolen kiss felt so good. It felt so freeing. It was imbued with the ease of impossible expectations absolutely satisfied. And it made you feel for a second that this complicated, compromised tournament does not really belong to FIFA executives and Qatari oligarchs. In that moment it belonged to Messi. It belonged to us.

Kelee Ringo’s Pick-Six Gives the Dawgs Their Day

Jordan Conn: I spent the day of January 10, 2022, as I spent so many days before the football game between Georgia and Alabama: with a familiar and comfortable feeling of dread. I’m a Bulldogs fan, married into a family of Crimson Tide fans, and I learned a long time ago that fear is the only appropriate response to an upcoming matchup between the teams. On the same subject : Disney Dess Records Company $9 Billion in Advance Sales Thanks to Sports and Travel. I had previously allowed myself dalliances with hope; every time that hope was justly punished.

In 2008, there was the famous “Blackout” game, in which a Georgia team with Matthew Stafford, A.J. Green, and Knowshon Moreno were buried by the half. (“They’re wearing black because they’re coming to their own fucking funeral,” then-Alabama strength coach Scott Cochran told the Tide that week. A prophet.) In 2012, it was the SEC championship game; I watched it from the stands in the Georgia Dome, and after the Bulldogs’ final drive fell short, my Tide-supporting brother-in-law, a teetotaler, offered to buy me a sympathy beer. (He seemed like he almost wanted Georgia to win that night, because that’s what it means to be a Bama fan: to have so many championships, you sometimes feel the urge to give one, as a treat.) 2018 there was the national title game Georgia led 13-0 at halftime; Tua Tagovailoa came off the bench to mount a furious comeback, and my wife later found me sitting upright in bed, mumbling why? what for? what for? over and over. I had no memory of this the next morning.

The tides were inevitable. They lost sometimes, but always to someone else. And so, late in the fourth quarter of January’s national championship game, when Bryce Young floated a hot air balloon of a pass into the air in Indianapolis, surely somehow, a Tide receiver would catch it. And if the ball landed in the arms of Kelee Ringo, a five-star Georgia cornerback who was 4 years old the last time the Dawgs beat Alabama, surely he would drop the choice. And when Ringo took off running, with head coach Kirby Smart yelling at him to “Get down!” surely he would fumble, or find some previously undiscovered way to give up the ball in the game.

But then Ringo ran into the end zone with his blockers, and there were no flags, and the game was tied. My fear was replaced by the most unfamiliar of emotions: giddy and uncomplaining joy.

Thirteen Seconds That Changed Everything

Danny Heifetz: The Bills-Chiefs divisional round playoff game redefined what it means to leave too much time on the clock. See the article : Sports Day Gift Book: Sports – WSJ.

Featuring the league’s two most explosive offenses, Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Buffalo’s Josh Allen combined for 31 points after the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter.

With one minute and 54 seconds left in the game, Allen hit Gabe Davis for a 27-yard touchdown to give Buffalo a three-point lead.

Just 52 seconds later, Mahomes answered with a 64-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill, retaking the lead for the Chiefs. Then Allen hit Davis again for a 19-yard touchdown, once again to give the Bills a three-point lead. But this time, the Bills beat the Chiefs with just 13 seconds left to tie the game. Dejected Chiefs defenders sat on the bench, bedraggled and in disbelief. The bills had finally slain the dragon.

The Chiefs won the overtime coin toss and drove down to score a touchdown, winning the game without the Bills touching the ball. A few months later, the league changed the overtime rules for the playoffs to ensure that both teams touch the ball at least once. While none of those teams made it to the Super Bowl, this game literally changed the sport — and raised the bar for quarterbacking.

Matthew Stafford’s No-Look Pass Lifts the Rams to Glory

Steven Ruiz: Matthew Stafford may not be a historically great quarterback, but he is a historically cool one. He is capable of throwing a football pretty much anywhere on the field. He can throw from any arm angle, and he doesn’t even have to look at his intended receiver to get the ball to his target. Now, this combination of skills has its downsides, and Stafford hasn’t won much in his career. But he is objectively fun to watch. And for at least one night, Stafford’s unorthodox creativity was exactly what his team needed.

I’m talking, of course, about Super Bowl LVI. The Rams won thanks largely to Stafford’s no-look throw to Cooper Kupp on second down in the fourth quarter to extend what would be the championship-winning drive.

It’s not the first no-look pass we’ve ever seen. Other quarterbacks, like Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, and even Ryan Fitzpatrick, have this tool in their pockets. But Stafford had enough confidence in himself to rely on the fancy technique on THE BIGGEST GAME OF HIS CAREER. It was a bold move, and I’m glad it paid off. Not because I wanted the Rams to win the Super Bowl – I didn’t care what the outcome was – but because it prevented football coaches who hate fun from pointing to it as proof that quarterbacks should just stick to their fundamentals instead of trying to be cool Shit. Stafford made the coolest option possible and it helped him win the biggest football game of the year.

Saint Peter’s and a March Madness Run for the Ages

J. Kyle Mann: I hope you are all happy. I watched this fucking game again today, and as a Kentucky fan the whole time, I considered soaking my clothes in chicken broth and falling over the rails into the polar bear exhibit at our local zoo. “Saint Peter? Never heard of it,” I’d say, in all-consuming, mentally-dowsing denial as the bear starts sniffing around my face. If I could, I’d pull a George Lucas and destroy every trace of this tape, preferably on kind of big fashion with a sledgehammer. In the waning seconds of the No. 15-seeded Peacocks’ 85-79 victory over second-seeded Kentucky, I screamed like the crooked cop from the first season of True Detective who forced the was watching that horrible VHS on a boat. Look, I’m not equating the tapes, I’m just trying to paint a picture of the trauma. Well, I’ll be honest: I had to think for a second about equating the tapes wanted

Did it make me feel better when head coach Shaheen Holloway’s brass-balled team also knocked off Murray State and Purdue to get into the bracket? A little, but not really. The reality is that I—like any other fan of Kentucky, Murray State or Purdue—must serve as a sad character in this glorious story. We were a necessary sacrifice on the altar of the feel-good March Madness narrative, and this had the makings of an all-timer. There was the fearless, mustachioed Doug Edert, making wildly contested floaters, rolling 3-pointer after 3-pointer and landing himself an endorsement from Buffalo Wild Wings before the tournament even ended. There were undersized bigs like KC Ndefo in the drama twins who finished strong against Zach Edey and Oscar Tshiebwe. It was the god-forsaken (and admittedly awesome) mascot. It was the ecstasy of the school’s small student body to celebrate without giving up.

In the history of the men’s tournament, there are many stories about mid-majors who, despite the event, entered without respect from their higher opponents. But this situation becomes more bizarre the more you zoom out. Saint Peter has not broken .500 until halfway through its 2021-22 schedule. It had to win its conference tournament to even get into the field. It’s crazy stuff considering the Peacocks keep getting the first no. 15 seed ever to reach the Elite Eight.

Re-living it, I am still amazed by their phenomenal balance: they fought in defense and never deviated from their plan to attack, which resulted in a fantastic shot attempt on almost every trip. North Carolina laid them out in the regional finals like Yokozuna, but who cares? The glory of St. Peter will resonate for a long time. Much respect, Peacocks. Great respect.

Steph Curry and the Warriors Return to the Mountaintop

Logan Murdock: A few minutes after Steph Curry clinched his fourth NBA championship, I found him along the south end of Boston’s TD Garden, standing on the undulating floor that might as well be the top of the basketball world.

After a 34-point, seven-rebound, seven-assist series-clinching performance, he weaved in and out of press duties, engaged in spontaneous chats with teammates, and even took a call from former President Barack Obama. “This one hits differently, man,” he whispered to me as he walked through an arena tunnel, trophy in hand, and a mixture of sweat, champagne and tears streaming down his face. “This hits differently.”

Curry’s words expressed the general sentiment of everyone in the team’s colossal orbit. Those who persisted when Kevin Durant left for Brooklyn in 2019, and those who endured Golden State’s two-tier recovery approach that saw Curry and teammate Klay Thompson return from extended rehab assignments. On the final night of the 2022 season, Curry proved that the wait was worth it when he shot the Warriors to the top of the NBA, and the Vols back to the top of the NBA, and the opportunity with the first NBA Finals MVP trophy of his career.

“I think I knew if we were going to get the big trophy, I had to do what I had to do to lead the team,” he told me, before looking at the trophy. “And that would obviously mean that this would take care of itself.”

Curry’s tone revealed a deeper motivation. In the six months leading up to his garden triumph, his signature calm was tested by injury, family division, and inner doubt that reflected public pessimism that he would ever reach this stage again. “When you hear all that talk, a lot of talk, over and over and over again, even when you’re doing great things in the league, it’s like what don’t you have?” he said. “I hear everything and I carry it, and just do my job, and come to each day with the right perspective. And God takes care of the rest.”

The Transcendence and Devastation of Kamila Valieva

Zach Kram: Kamila Valieva’s short program is the best figure skating routine I’ve ever seen. But don’t take my word for it-I’m just an occasional spectator, checking the sport for one week every four years. Instead, listen to Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski, the veteran announcing duo, who both said the 15-year-old Russian phenom was the best skater they’d ever seen.

Her first skate at the 2022 Olympics showcased all of her historic talents in a three-minute display of pure beauty. Her jumps were clean, her swings controlled, her every movement filled with balance and rhythm, precision and grace. That Valieva blew away the rest of the field in the standings was almost on point; she had delivered on the full force of the Olympic Games, facing the ability of a relatively unknown athlete in a relatively unknown sport to fill my eyes with tears.

Valieva, of course, did not medal. She left her final skate of the Olympics in tears of her own, after a positive test for a banned substance upended the competition and sparked a scandal in which, as Michael Baumann wrote, “Valieva herself, as 15 years old, [was] a victim and not a villain.” But in this year-end celebration, I don’t want to focus on her positive test, per se. I don’t want to focus on Valieva’s error-prone final skate, or the fact that the fallout remains murky months later, or the legacy of her controversial coach and the added Russian complications at this point in history. (Valieva wasn’t even competing under a Russian flag, technically, because of a previous doping scandal involving the Russian Olympic Federation.)

Because in 2022, at the Olympics and beyond, sports will have to make significant moral compromises with the ethical quandaries that have invaded our courts, rinks and fields. This was the year the men’s World Cup delivered its most entertaining product ever, capped off by the best final of all time – set against a backdrop of corruption and human rights abuses. This was the year that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens fell short of their final inclusion on the Writers Hall of Fame ballot. This was the year the NFL — again — mishandled player safety.

But I can still rejoice when Messi raises the World Cup trophy. I can still marvel at YouTube clips of Bonds’ Titanic home runs. And I can still watch Valieva transcend her sport for three tainted minutes and feel like I’m witnessing true, rare art, even if her Olympic arc encapsulates the conflicted experience of the modern sports fan.

The Greatness and Redemption of Nathan Chen

Cory McConnell: The narrative that Nathan Chen was looking for redemption at the 2022 Winter Olympics because of his disappointing showing in 2018 in Pyeongchang was largely broken before he took the ice in Beijing. At the start of 2022, the figure skater was already in the midst of a legendary run, having captured three straight world championships and five straight US titles, all while breaking decades-old records – records from an era of figure skating almost unrecognizable to modern times Viewers get to see the acrobatics and athleticism required of today’s competitors.

So what was left to prove in Beijing? Although it would have been unfair to ask more of the best men’s skaters in the world, legacies are made at the Olympics. And for as cruel as 2018 was for Chen, 2022 was glorious. He set a new world record in the short program, then landed five quad jumps in the free skate (one coming at a particularly climactic moment of Elton John’s “Rocket Man”). His skating was as daring as it was emphatic. He won gold by a wide margin in the men’s singles competition, the first individual medal for an American figure skater in more than a decade.

Many people remember the 2022 Olympics for the authoritarian framework and the scandal in the women’s skating program, and perhaps that is fair. But Chen’s skating was a bright spot of extraordinary talent displayed at the highest possible level, as well as a spectacle I won’t soon forget. He has nothing to prove, but he proved his greatness anyway.

Serena Williams’s Bittersweet Last Stand

Alan Siegel: There are few things as satisfyingly romantic as a legendary athlete going out on top. That’s what I was hoping for this summer when Serena Williams, on the verge of turning 41, began her final US Open run. Her victory in the second round was exciting, but in the third set of her next match, against Ajla Tomljanovic, it became clear that the ending would not be cinematic. However, as people watch—the fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium, sportswriters on Twitter, hell, even the little people in the non-sports bar I ducked into the sports bar to watch—are over every point of which have formed. Loss was a testament to what Serena meant to so many.

As much as we desperately wanted it for her (and us), Williams never got her Michael Jordan-over-Bryon Russell moment. But that’s OK. After winning 23 major titles, the No. 1 had nothing left to prove or give. I’m just glad we have one last chance to draw her.

Roger Federer’s Emotional Goodbye

Alex Stamas: When Roger Federer announced on social media that the 2022 Laver Cup would be his last event, it marked the end of an era in men’s tennis. It was only fitting that his final match involved him playing doubles alongside Rafael Nadal, his biggest rival throughout his career. Both eventually lost, but it was the emotional display that followed that everyone will remember the most.

Normally cool under pressure on the court, Federer broke down. Both his biggest rivals and the young stars he undoubtedly inspired all took in the moment. It was a beautiful representation of how great Federer was as arguably the greatest to ever play, and also as a global icon. We may not get to watch the Swiss maestro compete again, but his impact on the game will last forever.

The Swing of Bryce Harper’s Life

Aric Jenkins: The Phillies shouldn’t be here. They just barely made the playoffs, two separate five-game losing streaks in their last 20 regular-season games, including a horrific tailback at the hands of the well-under-.500 Cubs. All the while, Bryce Harper was playing through a torn UCL. Still, the Phillies swept the Cardinals and 101-game winning Braves in the first two rounds of the postseason, and Harper was suddenly on fire. The Phils’ $330 million star has already smashed four homers in the 2022 postseason — nine in his career — but none would be bigger than the “swing of his life.”

Harper’s go-ahead two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Padres may have been a walk, too — there was no way the baseball gods were going to lose Philly Game 5, or the NLCS, after that. The pennant-winning blast cemented Harper as a legend in Philadelphia, even as the Phillies lost the World Series to the Astros. That night “Bedlam at the Bank” will live on forever, and will set the tone for the team to join again in 2023.

The Home Run That Sent Aaron Judge Into History

Ben Glicksman: I started out thinking it wasn’t going to happen. After hitting his 61st home run of the season in an 8-3 win over the Blue Jays on Sept. 28, Aaron Judge went on a long hitting streak, hitting five straight games. Not only that, but the opponents also clearly avoided him. He walked twice in one game against the Orioles on September 30; he walked twice in one game later that day. No one wanted to be on the wrong side of No. 62.

Then the judge went to the plate in the first inning of the second game of a doubleheader against the Rangers on October 4. And he deposited a Jesus Tinoco offer 412 feet away in left field.

There are countless aspects of this moment that are special, but three in particular stand out. The first is what the umpire does after taking the second pitch of the at bat for a strike. He steps out of the batter’s box, looks off into the distance, claps his feet, then collects himself before sitting back down. Many players have between-pitch routines; however, this was completely atypical for judges. He picked up something. He realized that if he got another slider, he would break an American League record that had stood for 61 years. It’s one thing to see someone make history; it’s another to see the moment they know they’re going to make history and take a shot to calm themselves so nerves don’t get in the way of it happening.

The second thing is the palpable joy of virtually everyone in the ballpark: from Judge as he circles the bases, from his Yankees teammates mobbing him at the plate, from the fans who marvel at the explosion before giving Judge a standing ovation . Special shout out to the guy who waved over the fence in an instinctive attempt to catch the ball even though he was nowhere near it. He will forever be etched in my memory.

The third thing is the image of the judge making eye contact with his mother, who was in the front row. He sees her as he walks to third base. She blows him a kiss as he walks into the dugout; he points at her and breaks out the widest grin. Look, I’m not here to say Judge has the right home record. Barry Bonds hit 73 in 2001. I just want to bask in the rare moment when all the clichés about the beauty and unifying power of sports feel right. How can you not be romantic about baseball?

An Exorcism on the Third Saturday in October

Kevin Clark: The mark of any really great team is that you remember where you were when they lost. This goes for Florida State in the 90s, Miami in the 2000s, USC in the Pete Carroll heyday, and Ohio State in the early part of the 2010s. But it is especially true for Nick Saban and Alabama. Since the head coach’s second season with the Crimson Tide in 2008, all of his team’s losses have felt like cultural events.

I was sipping Bud Lights at a bar in Blacksburg, Virginia when it became clear that Tennessee was going to at least give Bama a scare on the third Saturday in October. A handful of Virginia Tech fans nearby started playing “Rocky Top” on the jukebox, and my wife took it upon herself to ask a pretty good question: Why was everyone in this bar crazy, even though no one had anything to do with Alabama or Tennessee? what did you do? The answer lies within the very fabric of college football and turns to this: Everyone outside Tuscaloosa has grown to hate Alabama and its near perfection. For 15 years, the Ties have stood in the way of every team and fan base to have a beautiful and fun Saturday.

And so Tennessee achieved the dream of almost everyone in college football: After more than a decade wandering in the desert, the Volunteers announced their return to the national stage on a brisk fall afternoon in their home stadium. It was as loud as a stadium could get in every aspect. Tennessee informed a massive crowd that Josh Heupel could coach in the SEC, that Hendon Hooker was a great college quarterback, and that Jalin Hyatt (who had 207 yards receiving that day) was one of the best players at his position in the country . The Vols did all that while embarrassing Saban’s team doing what it does best: playing defense.

Tennessee 52, Alabama 49. The Vols lived every program’s dream. They will never forget it. And neither will we. That’s college football.

An Almost Glorious Tie in Week 18

Lindsay Jones: In almost every scenario imaginable, a strength is the worst outcome in sports. But that’s exactly what almost all of us (except for the Steelers and their fans) were rooting for when the Raiders and Chargers faced off in the final game of the 2021 regular season last January.

It was not a traditional win-win scenario. Both of these teams and hated AFC West rivals would advance in the playoffs with a tie. Speculation ran rampant in the days and hours before the game about whether the teams could actually do it. It was fun thinking about the ways this tie could happen. Also, it is against NFL rules for teams to fix the outcome of a game; The No Fun League would have agreed on all the gentlemen between Brandon Staley and Rich Bisaccia to trade field goals or take security or just kneel down and over to 60 minutes plus overtime expired. No, the coaches said, they would play for victory. boring.

But here’s where things come to a head: The teams are almost always tied.

The fourth quarter was especially chaotic: The Chargers rallied from a 15-point deficit, with Los Angeles converting six consecutive fourth-down attempts, including a 23-yard touchdown from Justin Herbert to Mike Williams on a fourth-and-21. Herbert threw the game-tying touchdown to Williams as time expired in regulation.

It might have been foolish to think that the coaches would get together before the game. But before overtime? They should make it happen. Instead, the Raiders at least held on for the win, and Staley’s defense was helpless to stop Josh Jacobs, whose 10-yard run on a third down put the Raiders into field goal range on the final minute of overtime brought. (Supposed analytics god Staley also oddly called a timeout before that third down, but it really didn’t matter as his defense cratered.) Daniel Carlson kicked the 47-yard field goal, and the Chargers home to the Raiders and Steelers and sent to the playoffs. . It was the least satisfying game-winning field goal ever, but it was a night we will never forget.

The Scandal That Rocked the Chess Universe

Benjamin Cruz: Until 2022, the most dramatic chess moment I’ve seen in my life was a scene from the bowels of Hogwarts Castle. Ron Weasley’s heroic sacrifice to set Harry Potter free to dispatch her invisible Wizard’s Chess opponent on his way to retrieve the Philosopher’s Stone was an absolute GOAT moment.

And then the Magnus Carlsen-Hans Niemann feud hit the chess world. Sure, other scandals have rocked the chess world, but this one in particular sticks out like a Barnes opening.

It’s simple, really: When a story involves the top-ranked chess player in the world (Magnus Carlsen) and the accusation that an up-and-coming competitor (Hans Niemann) used anal beads to cheat in matches, well, that’s a headline that will turn heads.

This all started when Carlsen lost to Niemann at the Sinquefield Cup in September. The next day, Carlsen dropped out of the tournament completely.

A few weeks later at the Julius Baer Generation Cup, Carlsen left a match against Niemann after just one move, as if he was in a Zoom meeting with a bad internet connection. The announcers (yes, high-profile chess matches have announcers) were left in total shock:

What unfolded from there is a documentary that awaits. Carlsen was vague about explaining why he dropped out of the match, but threw some not-so-subtle shade at Niemann, linking him to known chess cheater Maxim Dlugy. Carlsen refused to say it directly, but his implication was clear: Niemann was a cheater.

How to cheat in chess? It is not easy. A theory soon arose that Niemann was wearing anal beads connected to a computer that would track the match live and send the next move in Morse code vibrations.

On the surface this sounds absurd. But if it was so absurd that it had no merit, why did Niemann scan his butt cheeks at the US Chess Championships? Niemann even said he plays sticky to prove he’s not cheating.

There are so many layers to this storm, including a 72-page report by Chess.com that says Niemann likely cheated in some form in over 100 online games, as well as Niemann’s $100 million lawsuit against Carlsen and others in submit to the chess world. . Chess is fun again, everyone.

The Slap Heard ’Round the Baseball World

Claire McNear: You might think you know what this year’s most notable hit was. You’re wrong: That (un)honor belongs to one Tommy Pham, the former Reds outfielder who, on a quiet May afternoon at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, fired Joc Pederson during a pregame warmup for an open palm to the Face of the Giants outfielder to deliver. .

One can imagine many reasons that could at least begin to explain a grown adult striking a colleague like that (and incurring a three-game suspension in the process). A terrible insult, perhaps with a mother! A love triangle gone wrong! A vicious family blood feud that stretches back generations! A shady baseball conspiracy with shield claws or weighted bats or the crazy abyss behind Mr. Red’s bulbous eyes!

But the cause was none of these: Pham, it soon turned out, beat Pederson over a fantasy football dispute. As it turns out, the two players were in the same fantasy league — one presided over by none other than Mike Trout as commissioner. Pham reported when Pederson moved a player listed on IR to accommodate another; Pederson sheepishly admitted he fanned the flames further by sending the league’s group chat a GIF mocking the San Diego Padres, who were Pham’s team at the time. Cue the Giants working out in t-shirts that read “Interfering with players on the IR is not cheating” and Pham apologizing to Trout in the press. “Trout did a terrible job, man,” he said. “Trout is the worst commissioner in fantasy sports because he allows a lot of shit to go on, and he would have solved everything. I don’t want to be the fucking commissioner; I have other shit to do.”

The Ja Morant Show Reaches New Heights

Michael Pina: Yes Morant is a TV show. Each of his games is a different episode. And what happened on February 28, 2022 deserves every available Emmy. Morant entered that contest against the San Antonio Spurs as an electrifying talent in the midst of a breakout season. He left it as a messianic figure.

His career-high 52 points and his 73.3 percent shooting from the field are kind of an afterthought. What’s more important is the indelible stamp Morant put on the scariest night of his life — one of the most entertaining individual performances any NBA player has ever had.

His dunk on hapless Spurs center Jakob Poeltl was brought down with enough force to stop the game. Thank God the teams continued to play. A few minutes later, with 0.4 seconds left in the first half, Morant destroyed social media when he turned a full-length pass from Steven Adams into an alley-oop jumper right in front of his own bench. (The game was described as “something I’ll probably never do again” by the ridiculously confident man who made it.)

When the credits roll on Morant’s career and he is inducted into the Hall of Fame, the two plays lead the 29-minute highlight reel that precedes his enshrinement speech. A few more from this game alone will crack it. (He went 4-for-4 from behind the 3-point line and one was launched by Logo!) After this particular episode, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich summed up what he saw with words that will have everyone watching thinking: “He’s a beautiful player.”

The JRod Show Takes Over the Home Run Derby

Danny Kelly: For hardcore Mariners fans, Julio Rodríguez was seen as something of a messiah entering the 2022 season, a can’t-miss prospect whose promotion to the team’s Opening Day roster marked the first step to deliver the franchise from non-playoff purgatory. To me, a poor, almost completely lost Mariners fan, Rodríguez was more representative of the false hope that came with an unprecedented two-decade-long rebuild. Cynicism took the wheel: I assumed he was another in a long line of exciting prospects who would eventually ruin the team and/or trade to the Yankees and decided he wasn’t worth investing in, emotionally. Despite the buzz growing in my usually Seahawks-focused group texts, I decided to double down and wrap myself in the warmth and familiarity of Mariners ambivalence.

All of that went out the window in July when the 21-year-old phenom blasted 81 dingers in his Home Run Derby debut.

I don’t care that he didn’t technically win. Watching him rip 32 homers in the first round alone was enough to rid me of my Mariners cynicism. It was all so clear: This dude is real. This friend has it. He is a cold superstar. My cold, black, crazy heart started beating again. At that moment I decided that I was ready to die for Julio Rodríguez.

Of course, Rodríguez went on to win Silver Slugger and AL Rookie of the Year honors while leading the Mariners to the playoffs for the first time in over 20 years — all undeniably more meaningful feats and, like, real Games that actually mattered. But I will never forget Rodríguez’s ridiculous Home Run Derby performance. That was the moment, for me, that Mariners baseball became fun again.

North Carolina Spoils Coach K’s Farewell Tour

Rodger Sherman: College hoops in 2021-2022 generally felt less like a basketball season than a lengthy televised tribute to retired Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. We were treated to video essays and pregame ceremonies; his wife, Mickie, has about as much airtime as the eventual No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, Paolo Banchero. When Coach K did something for the last time, people talked about it endlessly: his last game coaching at Madison Square Garden, his last ACC tournament, his last time with a public airport bathroom because he forgot to poop before he leaves his house. (OK, maybe not the last one.) And for most of the season, basketball worked because the Blue Devils had one of the best teams in the country. Heading into their final regular season game, they were 26-4 and ranked fourth in the AP poll.

And then they lost, 94-81, to a seemingly mediocre North Carolina team led by first-year coach Hubert Davis. It was the one game Duke could not afford to lose, and the Blue Devils were blown out. The Cameron Indoor Stadium crowd, who had paid record ticket prices to bid farewell to Krzyzewski in his final home game against his archrival, sat in stunned silence during the post-match ceremony, in which Coach K half-heartedly accepted gifts while clearly over the loss smoked.

But the Tar Heels had an even meaner goodbye planned. The same group team went on a surprise NCAA Tournament run as a No. 8 seed, and fate has them match against the second Duke in the Final Four. It was the first March Madness meeting between the two biggest rivals in college basketball and a chance for Coach K to reverse the damage from his last game at Cameron or bring eternal shame to Durham.

He has the eternal shame option. This should have been a mismatch: Duke had four starters selected in the first round of the 2022 NBA draft; UNC has no players selected. Duke boasted a Hall of Fame coach; UNC had a guy who was on the job in his first year. But the Tar Heels outscored the Blue Devils in an 81-77 victory, highlighted by a second-half shooting performance by Caleb Love.

Duke and UNC will play each other thousands of times again until college basketball ceases to exist, but they will never play that game again. And the Tar Heels will forever cherish sending Duke’s iconic leader-hero-god-king into retirement on sports’ biggest stage.

Edwin Díaz and Trumpets Invigorate Queens

Bobby Wagner: For a not insignificant stretch of the middle of the summer, Edwin Díaz was the biggest story in baseball. Yes, the closer had one of the best relief pitching seasons in MLB history amid a sensational Mets regular season run, but elite whiff rates alone aren’t enough to dominate the baseball internet (only the cool parts of it) . No, Edwin stood in the middle because of the trumpets. And especially a trumpet.

Timmy Trumpet is what happens when you turn the “vibes” slider all the way up and the “self-awareness” slider all the way down on a human. A match made in heaven for Citi Field, and something baseball could use a lot more of. Some said it was a curse. NPR called it the “latest craze.” You know what I call it? Camp. I will never forget it.

The Sin City Miracle (or the Vegas Vomit)

Justin Sayles: In any YouTube compilation of the worst NFL plays, you’re bound to see Patriots jerseys. Typically, however, the Pats appear as supporting characters as their opponents make a play with a knuckleball. Take, for example, the Colts’ bizarre punt formation in 2015, when most of the offensive line moved to the right, sacrificing a gunner and an upback to a swarm of crazy Pats defenders. (The game has a name: the Colts Catastrophe.) Or, more famously, remember Thanksgiving in 2012, when Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez rammed right into an offensive lineman’s ass and picked up the ball, only for New England to run it. touchdown. (You’ve definitely heard of this play: It’s the Butt Fumble.) It makes sense that the Patriots would be on the field for moments like this: For nearly two decades, they dominated and the Belichick spirit haunted their competition. For the Pats, the trail of war included front-row seats to their opponents’ greatest comedies of error.

But that was then. Things have changed in the three seasons since Tom Brady migrated south for the winter of his career. The Pats are no longer the monolith that blows out the sun; are firmly averaged. In 2020, they fell to 7-9. In 2021, they backed into the playoffs only to be embarrassed by a team they used to routinely hurt. In 2022, they appear headed for a sub-.500 finish thanks to the Matt Patricia-Joe Judge Brain Trust, a half-dozen Mac Jones tempers, and Bill Belichick’s Nepo Babies leading the defense. The patriots had already gone from kings to peasants. In December, they went from farmers to farmers.

Let’s talk about the game at the end of the Week 15 matchup between the Pats and the Raiders, which will give me a name — either the Sin City Miracle or the Vegas Vomit, depending on your faith. We’ve seen plenty of teams try the thousand-lateral, last-gasp routine at the end of regulation. Usually the lateral team is after the time of this prayer. But in New England – Las Vegas the game was even. The Pats just had to take a knee to get into overtime. Of course, that’s not what happened…

As the clock ticks down to zero, running back Rhamondre Stevenson takes a handoff, runs through the guts of a blocking defense, and cuts to the right. He turns the ball back to wideout Jakobi Meyers. Meyers — the Patriots’ emergency QB, it should be noted — looks back and sees an open guy. Except that open guy is Mac Jones. And in front of Mac Jones, Raiders pass rusher Chandler Jones is waiting. Meyers throws the ball, and it lands right in the Raiders defender’s breadbasket. Jones turns towards the end zone and sees only Mac Jones standing between him and paydirt. Chandler stiff-arms Mac into another dimension, he shoots, and the Raiders win, the Pats fall out of playoff seeding and a million memes. It’s the kind of disaster the Pats are used to being the supporting cast. But again, that was then. Welcome to now.

Put it on the Titanic song. Hell, put it on the Benny Hill theme. Better yet, put it in a new compilation of the worst NFL plays ever. We are already used to seeing Pats jerseys in those. It will just take some getting used to seeing them on this side of the game.

The Harry Caray Hologram (or the Weirdest Nostalgia Play Ever)

Matt James: On August 11, a dead man chanted during the seventh-inning stretch of the Reds and Cubs Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa. Legendary sportscaster Harry Caray, who has since died in 1998, delivered a soulful version of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” to 8,000 adoring baseball fans. Was it a ghost? A bit of a janky digital mind, perhaps. An incredible valley has emerged from a “field of dreams”. The Harry Caray hologram was simultaneously touching and off-putting. It didn’t look great. But if you’ve checked off for a bit, or more likely taken off your glasses or downed another beer, maybe the modern magic of computers has briefly taken you back in time and reunited you with an old friend.

Did baseball, the American sport most associated with nostalgia, lean a little too heavily into nostalgia at its nostalgia event? As impossible as that sounds, the answer is probably yes. We really shouldn’t get into the habit of reanimating dead people for our amusement. But it sure was fun. In the 8,000 people in Iowa that night, Harry Caray sounded even better than Tupac’s ghost at Coachella.

The Butt Punt

Nora Princiotti: Look, butts are funny. Stuff that breaks off butts is funny. These are simple rules of comedy. These rules held during the sports highlight (lowlight?) of the year, by Dolphins punter Thomas Morstead during a September game against the Bills. The Dolphins won 21-19, moving to 3-0 at the time, but not before giving up the safety after Morstead’s punt with 1:37 to go was blocked not by a defender, but by teammate Trent Sherfield’s derriere.

That’s right, from the division that brought you the butt fumble, it’s the butt punt!

The Butts That Became the Talk of Baseball

Ben Lindbergh: Catchers squat for a living, making them prime beneficiaries of the fabled “baseball butt,” an occupational advantage enhanced by ballplayers’ cheek-flattering leather and love of hitting posteriors. This year, two callipygian catchers in the AL West finished the MLB regular season with well-rounded displays of lower-body strength, producing two of the most memorable highlights of the year for fans of baseball and booty. Shortly after Opening Day, then – Oakland A’s catcher Sean “Cakes” Murphy backed his ass into a 74 mph slider by Rays righty Chris Mazza, who turned slowly enough toward his obstructions for Murphy to call it a “Stupid Sexy Flanders” to twerk. -esque flourish. The most viral of the many Murphy tweets has been viewed 22 million times, almost certainly making it the most viewed A’s related media since Moneyball.

“I could have hit four home runs yesterday, four grand slams, and it wouldn’t have had the attention I had last night,” Murphy said of his newly famous fanny the day after he took one for the team — and , by extension, for anyone who has a penchant for fine dogs. The plunking may have left a bruise, but it also made Murphy an overnight sex symbol.

Months after Murphy broke the baseball Internet, on the eve of October, comparatively bootylicious Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh – or, as he is more commonly called, “Big Dumper”, thanks to a legendary hack that one of his teammates proved to be ” as big as a trailer” — launched a pinch-hit, walk-off homer against the A’s at T-Mobile Park that clinched a wild-card berth for the M’s. The historic homer, caught by a 17-year-old fan, snapped a 21-year playoff drought for the Seattle franchise, the longest in major North American sports. It also inspired great relief and joy, two incredible appeals, and countless cake, peach, and dump-truck emoji.

Murphy sent Twitter into a tizzy; Raleigh sent Seattle to the postseason, where the thick, cheeky catcher cemented his standing as a folk hero by adding more big hits. Baseball has the best cabooses, and this year, the most notable, most valuable bunts in MLB belong to two West Coast catchers whose tushes took the cake.

A’ja Wilson Is the Press Conference GOAT

Kellen Becoats: A’ja Wilson is great at a lot of things: defending your team’s best player, making you question if she can be stopped anywhere on the perimeter, and making the lefty fall-away jumper so damn nice. But there’s one thing the Aces star is the undisputed GOAT at, and that’s delivering on post-game press conferences. Behold, the best 86 seconds of athletic performance your eyes will ever see.

It’s impossible to pick a favorite moment here, so let’s go through the entire sequence. A’ja immediately takes a swig of champagne after sitting down – with Chelsea Gray giving her looks of ‘Are you really that lit right now?’ Kelsey Plum rolls through with a speaker on her shoulder like a character in an 80s movie. A’ja burps, apologizes, and then she laughs as she proclaims that she’s “six bottles deep.” MVP tells fans “if you’re not four shots [at the Aces’ championship victory parade], don’t come. Stay in the house!” (Children are advised to drink ginger ale.)

Chelsea’s trepidation throughout the presser is the perfect yin to A’ja’s chaotic yang; 12/10, no notes. Make it a rule that no matter who wins the WNBA Finals, A’ja gets a podium speech at least four shots of tequila deep.

Stetson Bennett Is a Good Morning America Sensation

Austin Gayle: Stetson Bennett did something almost no one else could have done, and then with an interview for the ages. Hours after leading Georgia to its third-ever football national title and its first victory over Alabama since 2007, the quarterback delivered five minutes of pure television gold in a conversation on Good Morning America.

Bennett was named the game’s MVP after passing for 224 yards with two touchdowns. He carried that momentum into Georgia’s celebration when he was pictured drinking thousand dollar bourbon straight from the bottle. His GMA performance will be remembered as a continuation of the party: “I really couldn’t care less about a free drink,” he told Michael Strahan in a segment that was, uh, mostly understandable. It was an iconic capper on an iconic night.

The Third Inning That Created a Forever Fan

Sheil Kapadia: I will never forget the moment my daughter got the disease.

Naya, 10, had previously held a casual interest in sports, but she wasn’t obsessed like I was as a child. This year she played softball for the first time and started watching Phillies games with me. Good timing! They were a fun team that swept in the playoffs and upset the Cardinals to advance to the divisional round.

The NLDS against the Braves was tied at one game when it moved to Philly, and I was lucky enough to get some tickets for her, my dad and me. Three generations of fans hope something special can happen. It marks the first time the city has hosted a playoff baseball game since 2011 — before Naya was born. My dad is 77 and has spent countless hours watching bad Phillies teams. The legendary play-by-play man Harry Kalas provided the soundtrack for our summer.

In the third inning, Rhys Hoskins came in with two men on base. He launched a Spencer Strider fastball into the left field seats. The place erupted as Hoskins spiked his bat. It had been a long time since any Phillies fan could celebrate such a moment. Two batters later, Bryce Harper hit a two-run home run.

That was the moment. I looked at Naya, and she was smiling, squealing, and jumping up and down while high-fiving me, my dad, and every complete stranger within arm’s reach. She was overwhelmed with excitement in the way you dream of, but rarely experience as a sports fan.

The Phillies won 9-1. Naya didn’t miss a pitch the rest of the postseason. I recently caught her watching a YouTube compilation of every Phillies home run last year. She asked me to send her articles about Trea Turner and wants me to provide nightly updates on whether the team is making other moves in free agency. We talked about going down to Florida for spring training or maybe even getting a partial season ticket.

For us, that third inning changed everything.

The Celebration That Set Up a Fatherly Flex

Bryan Curtis: So it wasn’t the biggest sports moment of the year. It was just the one that made me feel the most powerful. I was at the Cowboys-Giants Thanksgiving Day game with my son. Parents know it’s easy to trick young kids into thinking you’re a soccer asset. “Holding, offensive, 10 yards,” you say, seconds before the ref. Blows their minds every time.

My son is now 9 years old. It’s getting harder and harder to convince him that I’m the fatherly version of Tony Romo. On Thanksgiving, before the game started, I pointed to the big red Salvation Army kettle behind the end zone at AT&T Stadium. “You know,” I said, “Zeke Elliott jumped in there a few years ago.” Fast-forward three and a half quarters. Three Cowboys tight ends dove into the kettle after a Peyton Hendershot touchdown and played Whac-A-Mole. “Told you so!” I screamed, now sounding less like Romo than the late Hollywood scoopmeister Nikki Finke. My son looked semi-impressed. He forgot about it five minutes later. I never will.

Jocelyn Alo Smashes No. 96

Ben Solak: The best hitter in college softball history graduated this year. Let’s try that again: The best hitter in the history of bat-and-ball collegiate sports graduated this year. Her name is Jocelyn Alo.

D’Alo ends her career with 122 home runs, 22 more than Pete Incaviglia and 27 more than Lauren Chamberlain, her predecessor as the signature slugger of Oklahoma Sooners softball. Alo’s record home run came in her home state of Hawaii, after she walked 16 times as the pitcher refused to give her the record pitch.

The state of Hawaii has almost as much, if not more, love for Alo as Sooners fans do. That’s because Alo has brought just as much national visibility to Hawaii high school sports as she has to women’s collegiate softball. Alo is a sensation, a superstar, a defining player of the sport and of the young, rising generation of future softball fans and stars.

Albert Pujols Connects on No. 700

Isaac Levy-Rubinett: Before the MLB season, a friend asked if I would rather Albert Pujols hit 700 career home runs or the St. Louis Cardinals. Louis Cardinals make the playoffs. Even the strongest why-not-bothers could clearly see that these two results were largely at odds. No serious team would give the requisite at-bats to a player who entered the year with 679 homers and hadn’t posted an above-average at-bat in five years — even one with a claim to being the best of his generation. Would the Cardinals orient their season around giving Pujols every opportunity to make home run history? Or would they do whatever it takes to earn a postseason berth, even if it meant for example Pujols in important moments? As excited as I was for Pujols’ homecoming, I also felt a little awkward imagining the awkward — and not unlikely — scenario in which one of the team’s biggest legends became its biggest obstacle.

But Pujols has dismissed such doubts as so many hanging sliders. In the second half of the season, he hit a mind-boggling .323/.388/.715 with a wRC+ second in the majors only to Aaron Judge. Somehow, at 42 years old, Pujols has surpassed even the most dominant stretches of his first card season, when he was a perennial MVP candidate and the best hitter in the sport. And when the team topped the Brewers in the NL Central, it wasn’t in spite of Pujols. It was because of him.

On September 23, at Dodger Stadium, where Pujols himself said he rediscovered his joy for baseball, the slugger hit home runs Nos. 699 and 700. One was a moon shot and one was an absolute rocket.

I can barely wrap my head around how unlikely this season has been. I was happy just to see Pujols don the birds at bat again; I never imagined he would inspire the same fear in pitchers or the collective anticipation in fans that he did more than a decade ago. In life and sports, just because something makes for a great story doesn’t mean it will happen. Too often it is not. But in 2022, Albert Pujols reminded us that it can.

Michael Jordan Steals the Show at NBA 75

Matt Dollinger: Even NBA commissioner Adam Silver admitted he wasn’t sure Michael Jordan would show up. It was halftime of the 2022 NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland, and the league honored the members of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team. One legend after another was called to the stage. magic. bird. Kareem. LeBron. Shaq. Hakeem. Oscar. Dwyane Wade called it “basketball heaven.” But the night was done when the GOAT himself was announced last. Because even for the greatest basketball players of all time, it is a pleasure to see Mike.

Just to give you an idea of ​​what Jordan means to people, there’s a moment at the 40-second mark above when LeBron, who is fucking James, is legitimately too shy to say hello (don’t Worry, he has his moment later). A few minutes later, Jordan changes the atmosphere backstage once he enters the room. Even in a room full of legends, his aura is on another level. MJ calls Magic “old dog” and challenges him to a game of one-on-one, turning the Lakers legend into a squealing child.

MJ’s presence effectively turns the biggest NBA stars in history into role players. Seeing Mike show up and get his flowers was the highlight of All-Star weekend and a reminder of where he stands in all-time debates.

Jayson Tatum Steals the Nets’ Soul in the Playoffs

Jack McCluskey: The amazing thing is that he’s already spinning. Jayson Tatum hadn’t caught the ball yet, but he already knew how to get past Kyrie Irving and win Game 1 of the Celtics’ first-round playoff series against the Nets.

With Boston trailing by one point and 17 seconds on the clock, Tatum took over the defensive assignment against Kevin Durant. He contested KD’s 3-point attempt at the shot-clock buzzer and disturbed the future Hall of Famer enough to produce a miss. Then Tatum settled in near the top of the key as the rest of the Celtics probed the Brooklyn defense for an opening and the clock ticked down.

Five seconds left: Jaylen Brown drives into the paint and hits Marcus Smart on the wing.

Four seconds left: Smart up-fakes and takes a hard dribble through two aggressive closeouts by Nets defenders. Tatum dives to the basket and catches Smart’s eye.

Two seconds left: Smart’s pass trails behind no. 0, so the All-Star starts turning, turning his back on Irving and the basket as he grabs the rock.

One-point-five seconds left: Irving flails at Tatum’s memory as the Celtics star completes his spin and regains sight of the basket.

One second left: Tatum lays the ball up from the square, his momentum drives him out of bounds and under the basket.

Half a second left: The ball drops through the hoop. Then the buzzer sounds.

This all happened in less than 20 seconds and foreshadowed the big run that Tatum and the Celtics were about to go on. And while that run didn’t end the way Boston wanted, this one was immaculate.

“Holy Cannoli”

Rob Mahoney: Klay Thompson is so many things to the Warriors: splash brother, icon, (sea) captain, spiritual advisor. But for 941 days and through multiple devastating injuries, he worked on the fringes of the frame, technically part of the team and yet completely alone. Thompson was as candid about the psychological toll of injury and recovery as any athlete we’ve ever seen; when Charles Barkley made it clear that Klay wasn’t the same player he was, Klay made a point to respond — and disagree. (To quote Klay: “No duh.”) He just wanted to express how much it hurt Barkley to hear that.

That’s why there was no sweeter moment in sports than seeing Klay back in full goofball mode, wearing another commemorative championship hat, as he jumped up and down with Steph Curry after Golden State pulled out the title. Not many people can blow out a knee and rupture their Achilles and still climb mountains. Thompson kept at it until he could, coming up with big shots and needed stops for the Warriors in the same signature ways he always has. If all of this seems inevitable, it’s not – and that’s exactly the point.

Thompson said it best in the championship celebration: “I knew this was a possibility. But to see it in real time? Holy cannoli.”

Steph Curry, Game 4

Seerat Sohi: Basketball has no anger like Steph Curry with his back against the wall. Fury, as it happens, was a surprising new part of the Curry experience in 2022. Three years of accumulated slights – starting with the departure of Kevin Durant – came out. He put opponents to sleep and yelled at refs through a season in which no one was sure if the Warriors would make it back to the top of the mountain. In Game 4 of the finals, the Celtics had a 2-1 lead. Their physicality, the foulmouthed TD Garden crowd (Draymond Green stemmed with deafening boos), and the creeping sense of early coronation only heightened the tension — and the Warriors’ sense that they were disrespected.

After watching a great athlete for as long as we watched Curry, you could tell early: This game was going to be different. His eyes were serious, his jaw hardened. No more baby face, just the assassin. Curry, basketball’s grand chancellor of chaos, thrives in the multivariate possibilities of the game. He rides the ebbs and flows. But here he took control, giving us four quarts of curry unplugged. Halfway through the first quarter, he was already in touch with the audience. Twenty-three points and seven triples later, the Warriors tied the series, and Curry made his statement: Wake the sleeping giant at your own peril.

Erling Haaland Invades the Premier League

Christopher Sutton: Diving into the Erling Haaland highlights is an exercise in appreciating beautiful football brutality. Even a quick incident unleashes countless clips of an unstoppable cyborg—apparently created from the DNA strands of Robert Lewandowski, a Terminator T-1000, and Leif Erikson—tearing elite centers mad, racing across pitches, and lustily blasting targets with glee.

So when it was announced last summer that the Norwegian was joining the ranks of Manchester City, arguably the best football club in the world, it felt like Voltron had just kicked a bicycle from a Premier League parity square in the nards. Much like when Kevin Durant fled the picturesque confines of Oklahoma City to immerse himself in the Warriors’ 73-win nirvana, Erling’s move from Borussia Dortmund to the cream of English football felt both expected and morally wrong. The Citizens were already faced with an array of elite creators (Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish), visionaries (Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez) and defenders (John Stones, Kyle Walker) who had Pep Guardiola’s Matrix-style schemes and titles have processed. and glorious passing for years. With the addition of Haaland, City now had the last cog in their Death Star.

Erling’s unprecedented goalscoring form fell slightly before the World Cup break. Still, with serious questions swirling around the other big six teams, including a rejuvenated but youthful Arsenal, it’s hard to imagine an end to the season that doesn’t see him hoisting a giant cup with powder blue ribbons in one hand. raise a hand. Boot to match his luscious blonde ponytail in the other.

Manchester United Beats Chelsea, 1-1

Micah Peters: One version of events is that Manchester United fought hard for a point against a vulnerable Chelsea side, which took them to fifth place in the Premier League table for about 16 hours. Another version of the same events: Suddenly unable to count on their big man in the big moments, United still had enough personality on the pitch to salvage a result they probably deserved on balance.

For weeks it has been a running joke that Scott McTominay – previously known for questionable positioning and needing to think a second or two before attempting a forward pass – has played so well for United that he is holding three-time Champions League winners, Brazil international, and 80-million-pound man Casemiro from United’s starting XI. Then, almost as if the result of karmic law, McTominay dragged a funny Armando Broja to the ground in the penalty area, not only an admirable United performance, but the head of steam that built the team.

Another United would have spoiled their midweek Europa League match, content to be admirable losers. But they continued to graft and chase and from a vanishing little window of daylight, Casemiro headed home an equalizer, destroying history, the celebrations somewhere between “enthusiastic” and “enthusiastic.”

Rory McIlroy’s Impossible Chip-In

Andrew Gruttadaro: When Cam Smith, in the final group on the final day at the Masters, lined up a putt on the 13th hole, CBS’s Nick Faldo lost all will. “I don’t want to spoil it,” he said, chuckling and throwing the transmitter’s rulebook into Rae’s Creek, “but something incredible happened.” Sir Nick shouldn’t say that; You don’t go to someone watching The Sixth Sense for the first time and say, “Dude, you’re never going to believe what happens to Bruce Willis.” But considering what Faldo had witnessed, you can forgive him for temporarily losing his mind.

Every time Rory McIlroy drives up Magnolia Lane on the first Thursday in April, he does so to the sound of whispers about how the fourth leg of the Grand Slam eluded him, at clips of him marveling like a boy, his ball into the trees the 10th hole and removes his name from the top of the leaderboard in 2011. For most of the 2022 edition of the Masters, it seemed that McIlroy would leave Augusta again, saying: “There is always next year. ” He had three conservative rounds for ninth and Sunday, 10 shots from Scottie Scheffler’s lead. But then he started playing like the prize for winning the tournament wasn’t a green jacket but the privilege of punching Greg Norman right in the face.

He had birdies on the first, third, seventh and eighth holes; a chip-in on the 10th; an eagle on 13. As Scheffler and Smith struggled to stay at even par, McIlroy went and posted 7-under through 17 holes. He was just three off the lead when he went bunker-to-bunker on the 18th, a seemingly fancy end to an otherworldly Sunday run. But then, with Faldo watching from a nearby tower, McIlroy skimmed his ball from the sand onto the undulating green and let it curve over a peak, roll down and play into the cup.

The sheer impossibility of this shot. The level of ecstasy. The throwing of the club. The weapons of the weapons. The roar of the crowd. It was as if Rory McIlroy had just won the Masters, finally, after chasing it for so many years. What makes this a perfect Rory moment is that he didn’t. Scheffler birdied 14 and 15 right after and basically went for the win.

Such has been McIlroy’s story since winning his fourth major in 2014: an unthinkable number of top-10 major finishes but never another victory; out of it after Friday, but eking out a return to the conversation with Sunday brilliance that two rounds too late. 2022 was really good for him: he won the Tour Championship in August (over Scheffler), reclaimed the top spot in the World Golf Ranking, and bravely defended the PGA against the scourge of LIV Golf for most of the year . But his best moment was out of the trap at Augusta, which didn’t guarantee victory but ensured those whispers would follow him the next time he stepped onto the course.

Aaron Donald’s MVP-Worthy Sequence

Lindsay Jones: With all due respect to Cooper Kupp, the MVP of Super Bowl LVI was Aaron Donald. It was clear to me that night last February at SoFi Stadium, and it’s a truth that hasn’t changed in 10 months.

Donald closed out the Rams’ win over the Bengals in classic Donald style. With the Bengals facing a fourth-and-1 with just under 45 seconds to go in a game that the Rams led 23-20, Donald split the gap between Cincinnati’s left guard and left tackle, the Joe Burrow wrapped around the waist and beaten. the quarterback to the ground. At the last second, Burrow managed to fumble the ball away – the errant, incomplete pass that prevented Donald from recording his third sack of the game. The stat total doesn’t matter; that moment capped off a very dominant postseason by the greatest defensive player of this generation.

Donald, a 280-pound defensive tackle, accounted for 23 pressures (the most of any player in a single postseason in the TruMedia database dating back to 2000), nine quarterback hits, and 3.5 sacks during the Rams’ ride to the Super Bowl. He closed out the NFC Championship Game victory by forcing Jimmy Garoppolo into an interception, and he pressured Tom Brady eight times in the Rams’ divisional round win against Tampa Bay. He often faced double teams, and even an occasional triple team in the Super Bowl, but managed two sacks (and this incredible one-armed tackle for a loss on a Bengals run play) anyway. But it was Burrow’s final push that was my favorite sports moment of the year — the best all-around player I’ve ever seen come up big on the biggest stage in American sports.

Donald took off his helmet and started celebrating by pointing at his ring finger. Until then, he hadn’t gotten over the Rams’ Super Bowl loss to the Patriots three years earlier. Winning a championship was really all Donald had left to achieve. It’s too bad Donald will never win a league MVP award, despite being the NFL’s best defensive player — and arguably best overall player — in nearly every season of his career. He deserved to be Super Bowl MVP, and I think he would have been if the votes were counted after the clock hit zero and not while the game was still in progress. Instead, he’ll have to settle for a spot here on our list.

Matt Ryan, King of Collapses

Justin Sayles: Matt Ryan is a former NFL MVP. He is tied for 10th on the all-time QB wins list. His career has been marked by the kinds of accomplishments most signal callers dream of. So how did his legacy become the face of the most famous collapse in football – and now the single biggest collapse in the sport’s 102-year history?

Ryan, of course, was the quarterback for the Falcons during Super Bowl LI against Tom Brady and the Patriots, leading Ryan’s team 28-3 before losing 34-28. Given the players, the Pats rally is the greatest comeback in the history of the sport. But on the other side of triumph there is heartbreak, and Ryan quickly became the avatar of that collapse (and the butt of more than a few memes). Half a decade has passed since that failure, and Ryan has changed teams and seems to be winding down a career that could eventually lift him to Canton. And while the stench of that game still lingers, it was easy to forgive. It was just one game and it came against the greatest QB ever. Surely we can all move on, right?

Well, about that. In Week 15, Ryan started at quarterback for Indianapolis in a game against the Vikings. While the Colts haven’t been an offensive juggernaut this season — the team ranks near the bottom of the league in points scored — they held a 36-7 lead in the third quarter. And Brady wasn’t on the opposite side — it was Kirk Cousins, a QB who’s disappeared under the bright lights of national broadcasts so often that he’s earned a nickname for his own choke jobs. The Colts should have cruised to victory. But the Vikings had other plans.

Over the course of the final two quarters and overtime, Cousins ​​led the Vikings to the most furious comeback in league history – surpassing the 25-point deficit the Pats overcame in February 2017 and passing the comeback record blown by 32 points set by the Bills against the Oilers nearly 30 years ago. They did it through perseverance, a methodical offensive attack, and strong second half defense. They did it on the back of cousins. They did at the expense of Ryan, who again finds himself the avatar of heartbreak in the butt of many more memes.

How much can Ryan be blamed for this epic collapse? Sure, his offenses tightened up immediately after the Pats and Vikings started their offense, but he didn’t throw an interception in any game. He wasn’t the one calling the plays, and he certainly wasn’t the one playing defense. On the other hand, Ryan’s teams have a tendency to do this: As my colleague Riley McAtee pointed out in 2020, Matt Ryan’s Falcons blew all kinds of seemingly unblemished leads after this Super Bowl loss. Perhaps the opponents look at Ryan and see an eminently movable object, thereby turning them into an unstoppable force. Perhaps Matty Ice’s biggest cooling effect is on his team. Or maybe he was simply in the wrong uniform at the wrong time.

Whatever the case, that’s who Matt Ryan is now: the King of Collapses. He will retire as one of the winningest QBs in NFL history. But we will remember him above all for two defeats – which he had no business losing.

Matt Ryan, Unlikely Lakers Savior

Jomi Adeniran: The Lakers season was all over.

When the Pelicans hit two free throws, up three, with less than two seconds left in their Nov. 2 matchup with Los Angeles, the Lakers were staring at the prospect of a 1-6 start.

Things looked cooked. One made freebie and the game, nay, LA’s entire 2022-23 campaign, appears to be complete.

But Pelicans rookie Dyson Daniels missed the first one. Then he clawed the second one. The Lakers had a lifeline, and the most unlikely hero emerged.

Matt Ryan, who was driving for DoorDash last year while looking for an NBA job, hit an improbable 3 to send the game to overtime. The Lakers went on to win, 120-117.

It doesn’t matter that the Lakers never really got on track or that they cut Ryan a month later. What is important is that at that moment Ryan L.A. gave hope. With a season going like this, what more could fans ask for?

The Bloodline Takes Over WWE

Khal Davenport: Ten years after his pro-wrestling debut, current Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns returned to WWE with a shocking heel turn, marking the beginning of what is now known as the Bloodline era, the top-tier Faction that includes Reigns. , his cousins ​​the Usos (who are the current, reigning, Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions), Solo Sikoa, the white-hot Sami Zayn, and Reigns’s advisor (both kayfabe and IRL) Paul Heyman. Each piece of the bloodline is a threat to the competition on its own; their forces combined created the hottest storyline in all of WWE, putting the Anoa’i family members (and, as Cheap Heat’s Peter Rosenberg would say, Anoa’i family members next door) into serious discussion as the GOAT WWE faction.

Reigns’s 2022 began with him becoming the longest reigning WWE Universal Champion of all time in January; that same month, The Usos broke their own record for holding the SmackDown Tag Team Titles. In April, Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38 to not only win the WWE Championship, but begin his reign (pun intended?) as Undisputed Champion. The following month, The Usos defeated RK-Bro to win the Raw Tag Team Titles, matching the Tribal Chief and holding the titles (while also making for fascinating television). From there? Things got interesting. Sure, Reigns and the Usos continued to take on (and defeat) every comer, but that’s when Bloodline started to take shape.

Zayn started hanging around, starting one of the consistently funny (and exciting) storylines of 2022, aka Zayn, the Honorary Uce. Meanwhile, Sikoa, already exerting his dominance as NXT North American Champion, officially joined the main roster (and became the stone-faced enforcer of the Bloodline) by helping Reigns secure the win across the pond at Clash at the Castle. Reigns, when he was active, created some of the biggest WWE moments of 2022, including defeating Lesnar (and Lesnar’s tractor) and giving Logan Paul his best show yet. The Tribal Chief only wrestled when he wanted to (deservedly), which meant that the ever-active Usos outshone Reigns on our power board.

One of the keys to the house that rule is built, that it is not only about where he rests; there are many avenues you can explore. At one point, the entire IWC wanted Sami Zayn to open Bloodline and focus on Reigns’ throne. (They’ll have to settle for Reigns and Zayn teaming up with Kevin Owens and John Cena on the final SmackDown of 2022.) Zayn also betrayed longtime frenemy Owens to help secure the Bloodline victory at Survivor Series WarGames, adding another layer (with another) capable player) to the mix. Outside of some dope pro-wrestling stories (we’re talking to you, MJF), it doesn’t get much better than Bloodline. And maybe bookmark this? We can have this conversation again at the end of 2023.

Bianca Belair Takes Back Her Championship Belt

Brian Waters: At SummerSlam 2021, Bianca Belair was supposed to defend the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks – the woman she took the title from in the main event of WrestleMania 37. However, Banks could not compete, so another former champion stepped in: Becky Lynch. The fans were excited to see “the man” back in the ring after 15 months, and Lynch grabbed the mic to challenge Belair. As the two squared off, Lynch held out her hand in a show of sportsmanship… unless it was actually a gambit to lure Belair. Lynch hit Belair with her finisher, the Manhandle Slam, and that was it. After just 26 seconds, Belair was no longer the SmackDown Women’s Champion. She had several opportunities to regain the title in the following months, but failed each time.

Fast-forward to February 2022 in the Elimination Chamber. Belair, now part of the Raw roster, scored the opportunity to win the women’s title at WrestleMania 38 when she defeated five other women. With Lynch also switching to the Raw brand, the SummerSlam rematch was primed to take place. Belair knew just how to take advantage of it.

She started the match with an epic entrance. She entered the ring behind the Texas Southern University marching band, which played their theme song, “Watch Me Shine.” Then she overcame everything Lynch threw at her, including a kick to the face that resulted in a swollen eye.

Belair beat her with her finishing move, the KOD, and became the WWE Raw Women’s Champion. Just like that, EST was back on top of the world.

Jannik Sinner Falls to Carlos Alcaraz (but Wins My Heart)

Katie Baker: Growing up as a tween in the mountains of northern Italy, Jannik Sinner, now 21, was a youth ski champion. Years later, all that downhill influence can still be seen in his international tennis game. He’s skilled at cornering and sliding sideways, knowing when to absorb a bounce and when to attack a drop line with chaotic grace. In his fourth season on tour, he has made it to three of four Grand Slam quarter-finals – the last being a match against 19-year-old sensation Carlos Alcaraz that started at 9.30pm. local time in New York City and didn’t stop until almost three in the morning. (The US Open is a tennis event designed to be watched by Californians.)

Watching Sinner and Alcaraz on the same court was like watching two soccer figures come to life. (The next Gerwig-Baumbach film?) They turned and parried; they played the acute and the obtuse equally; they never seem tired. Four hours into the US Open quarterfinals, in the fourth set, after endless topspins and slides and screamin’ groundstrokes, Sinner got ready to close out the match point. An hour later, in the fifth set, Alcaraz won the match instead. Alcaraz would go on to win the US Open, the first of what was destined to be many Grand Slam titles in the teenager’s future.

Seeing these two young guns fight each other made me appreciate them both more. (Between them, Frances Tiafoe, and Casper Ruud, men’s tennis finally has vibrant potential.) And watching Sinner lose to Alcaraz the way he did (and to Novak Djokovic in similar fashion at Wimbledon!) makes me very, very hopeless. invested in the desire that one day I will see him pull off a great victory. The sinner the skier once flew to the mountains. It will be a real pleasure to watch how the tennis player Sinner tries to climb them to the top.

Max Duggan Keeps TCU Going (but Falls in Overtime)

Kai Grady: Let me start by saying that I went to Texas Christian University, so if the next few paragraphs feel like TCU propaganda, that’s because they are.

TCU quarterback Max Duggan had a historic season full of impressive athletic feats, record-setting accomplishments, and incredible second-half comebacks (six, to be exact). “Mad Max,” as many of the school’s fans call him, led the Horned Frogs to an undefeated regular season and finished as the Heisman Trophy runner-up with 3,321 passing yards and 30 touchdowns in addition to 404 rushing yards with six scores. on the ground. Still, Duggan’s most impressive moment actually came in a loss to No. 10 Kansas State during the Big 12 championship game. Down by eight points with just under five minutes remaining, the senior QB mounted a memorable drive and sent the title game into overtime.

The eight-play drive started with a handful of steals from Duggan. With about three minutes left, he threw a 38-yard touchdown dart to wide receiver Jordan Hudson (and took a big hit in the process), only to have the play called back due to a pass interference penalty. Despite shaking and facing second-and-20, Duggan did his best “Greg Jennings” impression and slipped by some blitzing defenders in the pocket to break a 40-yard tightrope run down the sideline. On the next play, he went up the middle and dashed into the end zone for a touchdown, capping an 80-yard drive of which Duggan accounted for all but 5 yards.

At this point, Duggan was lying on the grass gasping for air, unable to even stand up without the help of his teammates. Then, with blood all over his arm, Duggan took the snap on the two-point conversion and flew a perfect pass to tight end Jared Wiley.

TCU eventually fell short after Kansas State hit a field goal in overtime, tearing the history books away from the Frogs. For me, though, that drive was the most memorable showcase of the year in terms of sheer grit, relentless determination, and a general unwillingness to quit.

The Sacramento Kings Become Fun Again

Riley McAtee: This was the day the beam team became something real.

The stage was set for a classic Sacramento letdown: a nationally televised game against Kevin Durant, with the Kings at 6-6 and looking to claw their way over .500 after an 0-4 start. Instead, the Kings blew the doors off a squad expected to be a title contender. A 27-4 run of the second quarter buried Brooklyn, and Sacramento continued with 32. And it wasn’t even De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis lead-Terence Davis scored 31 from the bench.

This season’s Kings team has given Sacramento the most fun basketball it’s had to watch in at least 15 years, if not 20. Between the beam, the Band-Aid, coach Mike Brown, Fox’s shot dropping, Sabonis’ Career years, a goofy postgame trophy, and some really bonkers memes, this was the most fun I’ve had watching basketball in my adult life.

There are fans in Sacramento who have been waiting their whole lives for this. There have been sparks before (Tyreke Evans’ rookie season, a couple of solid Boogie Cousins ​​seasons) but for the most part it’s been 15 years of absolutely terrible, completely unwatchable basketball. We are literally a generation removed from the crowd that made Arco Arena the most terrifying place to play in the early 2000s. Many wondered if that kind of local commitment would ever return to Sacramento and the new Golden 1 Center. But this season it’s tough again.

After demolishing Brooklyn, the Kings went on to win their next three games, winning seven games, the franchise’s longest streak since 2004. most of the season, and are firmly entrenched in the Western Conference playoff race. Simply put, the Kings are back.

LAFC Becomes Champion for the First Time

David Lara: There I was in New York City, wandering the streets looking for food. I had my iPhone out and YouTube TV streaming. I was stressed watching the MLS Cup final. And as an LAFC fan, I had a lot to stress about.

LAFC and the Philadelphia Union were tied 2-2 in overtime. Carlos Vela was dismissed; Gareth Bale came on. Philly took the lead on a Jack Elliott rebound goal in the 124th minute. That left about five minutes for LAFC to tie things up and force penalties — yes, there were nine minutes of stoppage time. As it turned out, that was just enough time for Bale to find some space in the box and score a goal that sent the fans into a frenzy.

LAFC missed its first penalty; the Union responds by sailing in its first attempt. LAFC took its next two kicks, during which goalkeeper John McCarthy turned into a wall and Philly continued to rally. With 2-0 to LAFC, Ilie Sánchez narrowly beat the Union keeper to ensure LAFC’s thrilling win.

Was the stress worth it? In the case of one of the best — if not the best — MLS Cup finals to date, simple.

Japan’s World Cup Moment of Triumph

Keith Fujimoto: Being a generally loyal Knicks fan, my favorite sports moment would have to be the franchise finally having a stable point guard. Thanks a million, Jalen Brunson. Or maybe it should be Tom Thibodeau’s Kirkland trademark beard. But no, the moment I have to highlight Japan beat Spain in the group stage in Qatar.

Selfishly, my emotions are not tied to my homeland, which makes impossible; they are linked to a silly proclamation I made on Twitter:

if japan wins maybe i will die my hair blonde

The Japanese national soccer team took my challenge personally. “How dare this nitwit underestimate us??” That must have been what Ritsu Doan was thinking when he equalized at 1-1. Ao Tanaka’s follow-up goal was one I will remember forever. This wasn’t just an improbable comeback against a top-tier opponent; it was a devastating memory never hypothetical bets on the Internet air out.

I will always remember 2022 as the year I went blonde for the Japanese national soccer team.

Harry Kane’s Penalty Kick Miss

Arjuna Ramgopal: In 1996, Lightning Seeds, a popular British band, released the song “Three Lions”. This song, it should be noted above all, is an absolute banger. It is hopeful and has become a rallying cry for fans of the England men’s national team. But the track has one line – “30 years of hurt” – that sums up England’s absolute heartbreak, pain and failure over the years. We don’t need to go through all the examples, because one moment from 2022 was representative enough.

Harry Kane’s brutal penalty in the 84th minute of this year’s World Cup quarter-final against France has hurt for several years. According to the Westwood Group, an average penalty kick has an 82 percent chance of success. Better than a coin flip, better than Tom Brady’s chances of going to a Super Bowl, better than the Rotten Tomatoes score for Avengers: Age of Ultron. But Kane’s attempt sailed well out of the net.

Barring England triumphing at UEFA Euro 2024, we’ll be hurt at 60 when the next men’s FIFA World Cup rolls around. Sixty! I was a young kid in England in the mid-1990s, so some of my earliest memories are hearing “Three Lions” and wondering, “How does this song update with each passing year?” Never did I think that the England men’s team would double the length of the drought.

England’s women’s side won UEFA Euro 2022, so the drought only applies to the men. Hopefully Kane and co.

Freddie Freeman and an Enduring Love for Atlanta

Dan Comer: When Freddie Freeman returned to Truist Park in June for the first time since signing a six-year, $162 million deal with the Dodgers, he cried in press conferences, teared up at the plate and talked about no closure search (to the chagrin of his Dodgers teammates). This was about ex-partner nostalgia — baseball fans were witnessing real-time post-breakup regrets from a Braves franchise icon whose smile once seemed unbreakable.

The moment was a rare glimpse into the psyche of a superstar athlete, as well as a liberating experience for born and raised ATLiens like me. Sure, the first baseman may be in LA for the rest of his career — and he’ll probably raise a banner or two at his former team’s expense — but there’s no doubt where his heart is. That is a victory in itself.

St. Bonaventure and an NIT Run at Redemption

Isaiah Blakely: I think I can speak for all St. Bonaventure alumni are speaking out and saying we had NCAA tournament-or-bust expectations for the 2021-22 men’s basketball season. That team had five senior starters back, was ranked in the AP poll during the preseason, and eventually climbed as high as no. 16 in the ranking. But bad injury luck and untimely losses kept the Bonnies out of March Madness. It was hard to see how this season could be remembered as a success when this tournament dream was shattered.

St. Bonaventure was invited to the NIT, which didn’t seem particularly exciting for a group that had been to the NCAA Tournament in the past. The Bonnies faced Colorado, on the road, in the first round. Expectations were low and enthusiasm for the event was even lower.

But things started to change after the Bonnies won. Then they beat Oklahoma on the road. Suddenly, it became clear that these seniors had one last moment of triumph before closing the book on their Bonaventure careers.

The quarterfinal matchup at Virginia was for the right to go to the NIT Final Four at Madison Square Garden. It wasn’t a pretty game, but Jalen Adaway and Dom Welch made big shots down the stretch. Jaren Holmes and Kyle Lofton hit some key free throws, and Osun Osunniyi finished things off with a massive block at the buzzer. The Bonnies won 52-51 and booked their tickets to MSG. Shortly after the game I booked mine as well.

Kickboxing’s Bad Boy Takes a Bow

Amaar Burton: At his best and worst, Badr Hari is the Mike Tyson of kickboxing. And he is blessed and burdened with all the electricity and absurdity that entails.

In October, the now 38-year-old Moroccan Dutchman nicknamed “Golden Boy” and “Bad Boy” strongly suggested he would retire after a unanimous decision loss to fellow martial arts legend Alistair Overeem. We all know how retirements can go in the fighting game, but this really felt like a goodbye.

Before, during, and even after his prime, Badr’s superpower was the superpower in his hands and legs, which could – and usually did – finish fights in a flash. Of the former K-1 heavyweight champion’s 106 professional kickboxing wins, 92 came via knockout. That ties into another Tyson parallel: Badr’s appeal transcends the sweet science of his sport and equates to something visceral. His strongest supporters, a key-up brigade known as Badr army, are kickboxing version of Raider Nation-show en masse whether their guy fights in Holland, Russia, or Japan. (And, yes, like Iron Mike, Badr has legal problems.)

The last five years of Badr’s career mirrored Tyson’s post-prime run of controversy and shocking results. Badr went 0-4 with two no contests during that stretch: In three of the losses he won before being stopped in the distance. One of the no contests occurred in March when, during Badr’s rematch with Arkadiusz Wrzosek, an altercation between fans escalated into a chair-throwing riot, forcing officials to evacuate the arena and postpone the rest of the show. to cancel

Badr’s last match was suitably chaotic. He dominated early against Overeem before fading late, allowing the former UFC stalwart to mount a comeback. In the ring afterward, Badr interrupted a look between Overeem and reigning GLORY heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven to casually inform the crowd that he was, well, probably done.

Just like Badr’s signature knockouts, his apparent retirement was sudden and expected. It was a fitting capper to another power-packed spectacle.

The Libero of the Year Makes a Save to Remember

Tyler Parker: Houston’s Kate Georgiades is the reigning American Athletic Conference libero of the year. Friday, December 2, in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Division I Volleyball Championship, she offered extensive proof of why that is.

This is one of the raddest individual games in recent memory. It is the definition of supreme desire. It’s a righteous, reckless, ridiculous, let-your-feet-full-extension-crash-into-furniture blind bolt of momentum. Georgiades does her best Jesus of Nazareth, performing miracles and flipping tables, treating South Dakota like she’s walking into Creighton’s Sokol Arena and discovered the coyotes selling pigeons.

Cut to Georgiades with a whip of cord and shouts, “This is a hen of spears.” Go ahead and clean that temple, Kate.