From midterm elections to $2 trillion lottery jackpots to unsolved crimes, 2022 was a crazy year by most measures. And the sports world was not immune.
So what craziness has gone down in the sport over the past 12 months? We’ve stayed away from the biggest tangential sports stories this year, like the arrest of Brittney Griner in Russia and the resulting political conflict, and, all too tragically, the senseless murders of three Virginia football players. And while Serena Williams’ retirement was certainly global news, it’s not entirely crazy to see the 41-year-old retire from tennis.
But there were still many stories to choose from.
The honorable mentions are also so full that we have to name a handful: Ash Barty, the women’s world No. 1, has suddenly retired from the top tier of the tennis world; Aaron Judge has hit the most home runs ever* (*non-steroid category); The women’s winner of the 2021 Boston Marathon was stripped of her title 20 months later; Phoenix Suns players openly revolted against their owner, Robert Sarver, who then sold the team for an insane $4 billion; Bucs’ All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown rips off his pads on an onside hit; Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley has been suspended for one year for sports betting, including on his own team; and a huge cheating scandal in chess!
Here are the 10 craziest stories in sports for 2022:
10. Messi and Argentina make World Cup final magic
Entering the thread, the World Cup final was one of the biggest sporting events in years, not just football, but the sporting season. You didn’t have to be a long-time viewer to know that Lionel Messi is a sports legend. And if you only heard Kylian Mbappe as one of the game’s brightest young stars, you saw it on display in the second half.
Messi, who had not won a World Cup since Diego Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal (and yes, “Goal of the Century”) in 1986, got Argentina on the board first with a penalty kick in the 23rd minute. Angel Di Maria scored the second goal for Argentina in the 36th minute. This may interest you : ‘Hunker down’: British travel companies brace themselves as new storm clouds gather. And frankly, it looked like Argentina would be on their way to their third world title. But not in Mbappe’s watch.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates with the trophy and teammates after winning the World Cup in Lusail, Qatar, on December 18, 2022.
Mbappe took charge of the game in the final half of regulation, scoring a penalty in the 80th minute and a sick aerial shot in the 81st minute to tie the game and surprise the Argentina fans. The game went to extra time and Messi looked to have rescued Argentina again with a goal in the 108th minute. Argentina fans returned to celebrate the sure victory. All they had to do was hold on for 12 more minutes. But back came Mbappe, who won a penalty and scored another stunning and memorable goal against the Argentines in the 118th minute.
It almost seemed crazy that the match would go to penalty kicks. Both Messi and Mbappe had their shots, but it was actually Argentinian goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, surely in his last World Cup game, who excelled to secure Messi’s victory.
9. Ime Udoka loses Nia Long and gets suspended
Cheating on one of Hollywood’s most beautiful women is bad enough, but somehow it was even worse for suspended Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka. He had an affair with a Celtics employee that broke up in September after an independent investigation by the organization, and the affair cost him his job — at least for the season — and his longtime relationship with Nia Long. The two, who have a son together, reportedly separated earlier this month after 12 years together.
Former basketball player Ime Udoka and Nia Long attended an event on June 30, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. On the same subject : Magic Johnson invests in a Metaverse game mashup of sports, esports, games and Web3.
Allen Berezovsky/WireImage via Getty Images, FILE
Udoka’s tenure as Celtics coach in 2023-2024 remains up in the air. The Brooklyn Nets considered signing Steve Nash after they fired him, but ended up going in a different direction. And so Udoka is sitting somewhere without a coaching job, and without Nia Long.
8. Vince McMahon steps away from WWE
No company owner was more involved in the day-to-day activities of World Wrestling Entertainment than Vince McMahon. The 76-year-old drew all the stories, approved all the signatures and shouted instructions into the broadcasters’ headsets on every show. See the article : ‘Invest in women’: Female athletes are changing the ownership of professional sports. He was the king of micromanagers during his four decades at the helm of the company founded by his father, Vince Sr. But that all came to an abrupt end in June, when he stepped down as CEO and president of the biggest wrestling company. in the world
After surviving several controversies over the years, most people believed that only a visit to the undertaker (the real one, not The Undertaker) would end the company’s reign. instead, McMahon stood under investigation by the company’s board after The Wall Street Journal reported that he had secretly paid a former female employee $3 million over allegations of misconduct.
In this Oct. 30, 2010 file photo, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon addresses the audience at a WWE fan appreciation event in Hartford, Conn.
But of course, since this is a fight, McMahon is planning a comeback. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that despite more allegations of sexual abuse, McMahon believes he was given bad advice to resign and would like to take it back.
7. LIV and let die?
Golf is known as the “gentleman’s game”, but during 2022 it was not gentlemen, LIV Golf, as a new tour, head to head with the PGA Tour. The LIV Golf tour, backed by the Saudi monarchy’s unlimited checkbook and limited scruples, has announced a number of big-name signings for 2022. It was signed by major champions such as Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Bryson DeChambeau, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel. Dotted line for guaranteed contracts — as in most team sports. The PGA, on the other hand, only offers prizes for competing in events. But it also has the prestige of history and the four majors.
The PGA immediately banned anyone who signed up for the LIV Golf tour from competing in its sanctioned events. But LIV golfers were still allowed to compete in the majors. That may change next year, but many decisions are still up in the air as media buzz continues. Controversy has also entered politics with former President Donald Trump hosting LIV Golf tournaments at his courses and playing in pro-am events.
And, of course, there was Phil Mickelson, who discussed joining the LIV Golf tour with biographer Alan Shipnuck and caused a lot of controversy by saying he could join the tour despite the terrible things the Saudi government has done – specifically citing Jamal’s murder. Khashoggi and the death penalty for homosexuality — to retain the PGA Tour. In August, Mickelson was joining a number of top golfers in suing the PGA for antitrust violations.
Phil Mickelson tees off on the 18th hole during the first round of the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament in Bedminster, N.J., on July 29, 2022.
6. The Winter Olympics just ended 2 weeks ago
Sure, you think the Beijing Winter Olympics ended 10 months ago. But it wasn’t. The last Olympic medals were awarded on December 13. When the women’s ski cross final was held on February 17, it lasted just 1 minute and 15 seconds. But the bronze medal in the event was held for 10 months between Germany’s Daniela Maier and Switzerland’s Fanny Smith.
Maier and Smith collided in the race, with Smith crossing the line third and Maier crossing the line fourth, out of the medals. After an immediate review, Smith was disqualified and Maier was awarded the bronze medal. Oh, but that was just the beginning. Once the Olympics were over, Smith appealed the DQ and was re-awarded the bronze medal and Maier placed fourth. Maier then appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and we finally got a winner (well, third place) a week ago, somehow. CAS reported that the two sides had come to a “reconciliation” and decided to split the baby and award Maier and Smith each a bronze medal.
By the way, Sweden’s Sandra Naslund took the gold and Canada’s Marielle Thompson got the silver and probably by the time the bronze was handed out they had fully moved on with their lives.
5. Tom Brady is retired. Now unretired. And finally, divorced.
When the movie about Tom Brady’s life is made, 2022 will be the so-called “dark night of the soul” at the end of Act 2. (It won’t be played by Zachary Levi, to be clear.) Brady’s Bucs finished. 13-4 in 2021-22, but fell short to the Super Bowl champion Rams in the divisional round. It wasn’t the Super Bowl follow-up the team had hoped for and Rob Gronkowski soon announced his second retirement from football. Rumors about Brady joining him started almost immediately. In fact, Brady’s company announced on Twitter that the QB would be leaving after 22 seasons and outlets began reporting it the week before the Super Bowl. Finally, he announced it three days later.
Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers reacts during the first half against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on Nov. 27, 2022, in Cleveland.
But wait, the 44-year-old wasn’t ready to hang up. After 40 days of being told it was over, he decided he couldn’t quit. We may never fully know the drama that followed, but after months of rumors that his wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, was unhappy with Brady’s return, the two announced they were calling it quits in October.
The divorce came in the midst of a one-season hiatus, with Brady posting his worst stats in years and in the midst of a three-game losing streak.
4. From Russia…with controversy
Before Russia ruined its global standing by invading Ukraine, the Winter Olympics gave sports fans another reason to dislike the country. The Beijing Games were supposed to feature the women’s figure skating quads and the queen of the quads was 15-year-old Kamila Valieva. The teenager burst onto the scene last season, not making his senior debut until five months before the 2022 Winter Olympics. He was immediately one of the top contenders, however, with a dizzying array of quadruple jumps and a rarely landed triple axel (that’s 3 1/2 turns). At the 2022 Russian Championships (held in December 2021) she dominated a stacked field, taking gold in the mile (spoiler alert!) to earn gold and silver medals in Beijing.
She was expected to dominate again in Beijing, and she did just that in the team competition, when she won the triple axel in both the short and long programs and became the first woman to land a quad jump at the Olympics. His performance propelled Russia to gold.
But then it was revealed that Valieva had tested positive for a banned drug when the team competition medal ceremony was mysteriously postponed. A sample collected from Valieva at the Russian Championships tested positive for trimetazidine. It wasn’t tested until February due to the COVID-19 outbreak at the Swedish lab. Then began the back-and-forth suspension game between Russia’s Anti-Doping Agency, who first banned him from competing in singles and then overturned it and said he could compete on appeal. At the center was a 15-year-old who was a pawn in a political game he did not control.
Kamila Valieva of the Russian Olympic Committee reacts after her disappointing performance in the women’s free skate in Beijing, February 17, 2022.
Valieva went on to compete, taking first place after the short program, despite a few stumbles, before falling several times in the long program and missing out on the medals. But if you thought it took a long time for Fanny Smith and Daniela Maier to medal, that delayed team medal ceremony is still going on. Upset that RUSADA had dragged its feet, last month the World Anti-Doping Agency asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to ban Valieva for four years and strip him and Russia of their team medals. The verdict is still pending.
And so we are waiting for that team medal to be handed out. Second-placed United States may actually end up taking the gold.
3. Brian Robinson Jr. returns to play 42 days after being shot multiple times
There have been many tragic stories of athletes being shot to death, perhaps most famously Washington Pro Bowl safety Sean Taylor in 2007. Brian Robinson Jr. is a small piece of grace. rookie running back, who also plays for Washington, who survived. At the end of August, several shots were fired during an attempted robbery.
The 23-year-old was shot in the right knee, but miraculously suffered no bone or tendon damage. Amazingly, especially considering his job depends on his knee, he returned to practice by Oct. 5 and played his first game exactly six weeks after the shooting.
Oh, and he leads the Commanders in rushing yards and is fourth among all rookies in rushing yards per game. Not bad for making a comeback before playing a single NFL game.
Brian Robinson Jr. of the Washington Commanders. He is pictured before the game against the New York Giants at FedEx Field on December 18, 2022 in Landover, Maryland.
2. Novak Djokovic passes on vaccination, and a shot at history
Tennis star Novak Djokovic has become the latest public figure to self-sabotage by deciding not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in early 2022. If he had just hit like a billion other people in the world, he could have competed in the first of the year. major in Australia. Instead, he did not and decided to turn his vaccine denial into an international incident.
Djokovic traveled to Melbourne in early January to cancel his visa to enter the country when he could not prove that he had been vaccinated, which, as we would later learn more clearly, he had not. He was left in limbo after trying to argue that he had recently had COVID-19 in an isolation hotel and was therefore immune. Remember, Djokovic had a combined record of 20 major titles and as Melbourne champion he wanted to hold the record alone.
Novak Djokovic looks at his documents after landing in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. Djokovic arrived in the Serbian capital on Sunday after being kicked out of Australia after missing out on staying in the country to defend his Australian Open title. Lack of a vaccine against COVID-19.
In the end, officials ruled that his alleged recent bout with the virus did not qualify, and Djokovic was expelled from the country after 10 days of drama a day before the tournament began.
Djokovic was cleared to compete at the French Open, tennis’ second major of the year, but bounced back in the quarter-finals and was beaten by Rafael Nadal for his 21st career title. Djokovic won to re-enter Wimbledon in a tie for all-time majors, but reiterated his anti-vaccine stance when he chose not to attend the US Open because he needed the vaccine. Australia has dropped its vaccination requirement for 2023, so at least we won’t have to deal with another year of will-it-or-won’t-it drama.
1. Kyrie Irving won’t get vaccinated, apologize for antisemitism or play basketball
Speaking of not getting the COVID-19 vaccine — even though a billion (with a “b”) people around the world have, Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving also went that route during last year’s NBA season. His craziness trumps Djokovic, who returned in the fall with a completely different scandal. I’ll have to step up your game next year, Joker.
Irving refused to be vaccinated for the 2021-2022 season and therefore missed 53 games. Before this season, he admitted the decision cost him a four-year, $100 million-plus contract extension. Remember: 268 million people in the US have received at least one dose and the number of people who suffer serious complications from getting the virus is infinitesimally less than the number of unvaccinated people who have serious complications from getting the virus.
Fans wearing a ‘Fight Antisemitism’ T-shirt watch Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving drive by during the first half of an NBA game against the Indiana Pacers, Monday, Oct. 31, 2022, in New York.
To make matters worse, everyone’s favorite flat earther decided to post a link to an anti-Semitic movie on Twitter. The decision rightly drew outrage from a wide spectrum of those inside and outside the sports world. Fans sat courtside at the Barclays Center wearing “Fight Antisemitism” T-shirts to demand his suspension. Irving was permanently suspended by the Nets after several media spats in which he refused to directly condemn anti-Semitism. Irving ended up apologizing and directly condemning anti-Semitism and returned to the Nets’ lineup after nine games.
The point guard’s erratic behavior not only cost him his contract extension, but also cost him his expensive endorsement deal with Nike.
Here are more unexpected sports stories of 2023. Maybe not from Kyrie Irving.
What is the simplest sport in the world?
Running – I think running is probably one of the easiest sports. Remember all you need is a good pair of running shoes to get you started. This form of sport has no rules unless it involves athletics.
What is the shortest sport in the world?
What sport is best for beginners?
The 5 best sports for beginners to try
- Football. One of the best sports for beginners is soccer. …
- Basketball. Basketball is also a great sport for beginners! …
- baseball Another of the easiest sports for beginners is baseball. …
- swimming …
- cycling …
- 5 best sports for beginners to try.
What is the least famous sport?
Unicycle Hockey, Chess Boxing, Indoor Kabaddi are the least popular sports among fans all over the world.
What does plus 750 odds mean?
If the test is minus (–), that amount must be wagered to win $100. (eg -150 means you have to bet $150 to win $100.) If the odds are plus (+), that amount would be won on a successful $100 bet. (eg +150 means you win $150 on a $100 bet.)
What does +200 odds mean? American money line odds are; for example, 200 represents the amount a bettor can win if they bet $100. If the bet works, the player would receive a payout of $300 ($200 net profit $100 initial stake).
What does +700 mean in odds?
What 700 Means in Betting: If a team is 700 in the game, it means they are underdogs with a 7/1 chance of winning. A winning bet of $100 would pay out $700. What 900 means in betting: If you bet on a team of 900, you will win $900 for every $100 you bet.
What does plus 175 odds mean?
The number means that you would have to bet $175 to win $100 on St. in Louis Then, at the other end, you have the reds at 150. The plus sign means the reds are underdogs in this matchup, so you can get them for a little more value.
What does it mean to be +100 in odds?
Odds with a plus sign are under bets. Also, the odds tell you how much you’ll win on a $100 bet. A $100 bet at odds of 200 results in a profit of $200 plus your original $100 bet. If you bet $20, you would win $40. For rare money odds, these may be listed as -100, 100, or EV.
How often do the best sports bettors win?
To be clear: the best sports bettors are losing about 45 percent of the time. So when you lose, and you will lose, remember that you are not alone.
How much do successful sports bettors earn? Some sports bettors like Billy Walters and Haralabos “Bobâ Voulgaris have won millions of dollars with this model. But the average gambler is looking for more modest salaries of $50,000 to $150,000 annually. The key to figuring out how much you can win is to determine your ROI like a poker pro.
Who are the most successful sports bettors?
Our selection of the top 13 sports bettors in the world
- Parlay Patz. Ben Patz, known as Parlay Patz for his successful parlay bets, was born in 1996 and began sports betting as soon as he came of age. …
- Billy Walters …
- Tony Bloom …
- by Steve Fezzi …
- So Money / Sonny Banks. …
- Bill Benter. …
- Zeljko Ranogajec. …
- Marco D’Angelo.
What percent of bets do professional bettors win?
In fact, many professionals who maintain profitability do so with win percentages around 53%, 54% or 55%. This means they are still losing 45%-47% of the time. And while professional sportsbooks do exist, you’re unlikely to become one.
