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This was a big year in the world of sports. That's really the case every year, but this is the first year I get to review sports so I like to believe it was the biggest year in the history of sports. These events are listed in no particular order and are simply what I believe the "Top" sports moments were. I like to think of "Top" moments as sports moments that had the biggest impact, were the most surprising, or otherwise made me the happiest.
1) Unified Korea at Olympics
At the winter 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea we were able to witness something very new. It might have been only symbolic, it might mean nothing 10 years from now, but for one moment there was unity on the Korean peninsula. During the opening ceremony, North Korea and South Korea walked under a unified flag for the first time in most of our lifetimes. The peninsula has been on the brink of war, or actually engaged in war, for over half a century. The cultural and economic differences between the two countries are drastic. Here's to hoping the Olympics started that process of putting the differences aside.
2) Shohei Ohtani
Before Ohtani signed his first Major League Baseball ("MLB") contract I decided he was my favorite non-Chicago baseball player. Often referred to as the "Japanese Babe Ruth" he was a star in the second most competitive baseball league in the world because he was an ace pitcher AND a prolific hitter. Nobody in the MLB is good at both. People go crazy when a pitcher hits a home run exactly because it is so rare and strange. When the rumors came out that the L.A. Angels of Anaheim were going to let Ohtani pitch AND hit in America I pooped my pants. (Unclear if true.)
He responded to the hype by winning American League Rookie of the Year and the hearts of fans everywhere. He was as great as advertised on the mound and at the plate. If injuries hadn't derailed his season, he might have even been on track for an MVP. It will be interesting to see if he continues to both hit and pitch. Off season surgery recovery may dictate what he can and cannot do, but rest assured he broke enough MLB records in one year to cement his place in baseball history.
3) Golden Knights First Season
I really don't care about hockey that much. I jumped on the bandwagon when the Blackhawks became amazing in 2010 and the three Stanley Cups they won were incredibly fun but when they became bad again I literally didn't care. So it might be odd that I listed a hockey season on this list. However, the Las Vegas Golden Knights did something that just doesn't happen in professionals sports. In their first season ever, put together by players other teams didn't care about enough to keep, they won their conference and reached the Stanley Cup Finals. That's incredible! Teams don't come into existence and instantly contend. It was a truly great feel good story for the year.
4) Loyola Final 4
University of Loyola-Chicago is my dad's alma mater and KINDA my mom's. (Her school was bought by Loyola after she left.) My wife is currently getting her PhD at Loyola. We live a mile away from the school and I grew up two miles away from the school. So when Loyola, a small school by Division I standards, became a true dark horse and advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament I was 100% on board. They took advantage of the craziest sporting tournament of the year (more on that later) and became Chicago sweethearts. They were blessed and coached by a nun. None of them were getting NBA contracts anytime soon. My wife taught the starting center. Everything was great. One day, during the tournament, Cate and I were walking our dog and the Loyola team bus drove by with a police escort and we stopped and clapped while they went by. It was cute. We're cute.
5) Becky Hammon Interviews with Bucks
This might seem strange because Becky Hammon did not actually get the job as the head coach of the
Milwaukee Bucks but interviewing for the job was a huge enough deal. Becky Hammon was a WNBA star with the San Antonio Stars (now the Las Vegas Aces) and when she retired from the WNBA she became assistant coach to Greg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs. That was a big deal! A female assistant coach in he NBA was incredibly rare. Then a few years later she quite literally moved up the bench to be the primary assistant coach to Popovich. (I will take this time to point out that Popovich is one of the greatest coaches in NBA history so she has been learning from him for years now.)
During her time as a coach for the Spurs, Hammon coached the Spurs team in the Las Vegas Summer league, trying her hand at being a head coach for the first time, and was met with great success. In the summer of 2018 the Milwaukee Bucks were looking for a new head coach and they interviewed Hammon for the job. She didn't get it, but she was the first woman to EVER be interviewed for a NBA head coaching job. Not getting the job is probably for the best because Popovich is retiring in the next few seasons and Hammon will take his job, where she is already loved, and will show the NBA why she is the next great coach.
6) Serena Williams Makes it to the Wimbledon Finals Less Than a Year After Giving Birth and Pregnancy Complications
She is the G.O.A.T. What else is there to say? Every year I make a list like this will have her on there somewhere because, outside of LeBron James, I have never watched such continued excellence in a sport before.
7) The White Sox sign Bryce Harper and Manny Machado (To Happen)
I'm writing this to will it into existence. The Chicago
White Sox are my favorite team across all sports and they have been bad for many years. Since December 2016, they have been bad on purpose and have been waiting for their young prospects to come up. They have so much money to burn. They will sign these big names and be relevant again...please.
The NCAA tournament is the only reason to ever pay attention to college basketball. It's truly one of the greatest sporting events of the year. College basketball has such a high degree of variance there are literally millions of different outcomes that can happen during the annual month long tournament that is March Madness. The one thing you could always count on when filling out your bracket was that the four #1 seeds would beat the four #16 seeds in the first round. That is no longer the case. I am VERY confident that the players on the University of Virginia Mens Basketball Team had never even heard of University of Maryland-Baltimore County before they saw the schedule. They will never forget the name now. We may all live the rest of our lives and never see a 16 beat a 1 again.