2022: The Year In Sports

This is my final blog post of 2022.  In the past, I've done my year-in-review as some sort of countdown (usually the games of the year), but always end up missing something!  So, this year I've decided to do it a little differently.  I'm gonna break things down month-by-month, which will hopefully allow me to highlight all of the important events/stories/games.

January: It didn't take long for us to get our Game of the Year, that incredible Chiefs-Bills AFC Divisional Playoff in Kansas City, a game that led to the NFL completely changing its playoff overtime rules!  Then we had the Novak Djokovic Australian Open saga.  He first wasn't allowed into Australia because of his status as an unvaccinated foreigner, got a temporary injunction so that he could play, then, finally, was deported and given a three-year ban on entering the country by the Australian government (they won't enforce the ban and he'll be able to enter the 2023 tournament). 

February: We had our first-ever simultaneous Super Bowl/Winter Olympics, which ended up being a great day for NBC!  The Rams won the Super Bowl at home (becoming the second straight team to do that), then it was off to Beijing for the Olympics.  An Olympics that was controversial because of its location, we got perhaps the biggest sports controversy of the year when Russian figure skater Kamila Valiyeva failed a drug test, but was still allowed to compete, leading to a dramatic women's free skate where she completely fell apart and finished fourth.  Shortly after the Olympics ended, Russia invaded Ukraine, which would have a long-lasting impact on the rest of the sports year, including Brittney Griner's arrest in said country.

March: The ridiculous and longer-than-it-should've-been MLB lockout finally ended, preserving the 162-game season the day after the owners said they would start cancelling regular season games.  After missing out on the 2018 World Cup, the U.S. Men's National Team officially qualified for the 2022 edition in Qatar.  Saint Peter's became national darlings with their run to the Elite Eight as a 15-seed (MAAC love!).  Also, after a six-week retirement (and landing a job with FOX as its No. 1 game analyst), Tom Brady announced that he would, indeed, return for his 23rd NFL season.

April: Baseball season got underway a week late.  The NBA and NHL both ended the regular season and started the playoffs, as their schedules finally got almost back to normal after two straight COVID disruptions.  Coach K coached his final game against rival North Carolina in the Final Four, with North Carolina going on to lose to Kansas in the championship game.  In the women's NCAA Championship Game, South Carolina beat UConn, which lost the title game for the first time ever.

May: May's traditional standalone sporting spectacles were back to their full, sold-out glory for the first time since 2019!  Horses ran for roses in Louisville and black-eyed Susans in Baltimore, while cars drove 200 laps around the Brickyard in Indianapolis, part of the 1100 miles of racing on Memorial Day weekend that also included NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600.  Baseball season continued, the NBA and Stanley Cup Playoffs were in full swing, and the WNBA started its season amid the dark cloud of Brittney Griner's imprisonment in Russia.

June: After winning two straight Stanley Cups, the Tampa Bay Lightning lost in the Final to Colorado.  The Golden State Warriors, meanwhile, were back on top after beating the Celtics in the NBA Finals.  LIV Golf, the new breakaway circuit backed by the Saudi royal family that lured a number of top golfers away from the PGA, held its first event in London.  Speaking of London, Wimbledon banned all Russian and Belarusian players, and was penalized by the ATP and WTA by having all ranking points stripped from the tournament.  The biggest sports story of June, though, was also by far the most unexpected...UCLA and USC announced they were leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten.

July: Two years after it was supposed to host the All*Star Game, Dodger Stadium finally did (and held a wonderful tribute to Jackie Robinson as part of the festivities).  The World Athletics Championships, which got pushed back a year when the Tokyo Olympics were delayed, took place in Eugene, Oregon, the first time the event was ever held in the U.S.  They were shoehorned into an already busy schedule that continued just a few days later when the Commonwealth Games got underway in Birmingham, England.  (Not to be confused with the World Games, which were held in Birmingham, Alabama.)

August: With UCLA and USC now in the fold, the Big Ten signed its new $7 billion TV contract with FOX, CBS and NBC, which will give them an NFL-like all-day schedule of national TV games on Saturdays starting in the fall of 2023.  The biggest on-field event of August was the return of MLB at Field of Dreams, with the Cubs beating the Reds in the second game at the Iowa movie site.  The Little League World Series also expanded to 20 teams and welcomed back international teams after being cancelled entirely in 2020 and only being open to U.S.-based teams in 2021.

September: Announcer roulette was the story of the NFL offseason.  Troy Aikman and Joe Buck both left FOX for ESPN.  FOX promoted No. 2 team Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olson to replace them as the broadcast crew for this season's Super Bowl.  Al Michaels left Sunday Night Football for Thursday nights, which are now streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime, and Mike Tirico officially moved into the SNF booth as his replacement.  All of the new booths made their debut as the NFL season kicked off.  Week 1 also saw the former Washington Redskins play their first game as the "Commanders."  Serena Williams capped her career at the US Open, were a new men's champion, Carlos Alcaraz was crowed (and became No. 1 in the world).  Roger Federer also called it a career, playing his final match at the Laver Cup.  A'ja Wilson led the Las Vegas Aces to their first WNBA title before heading to Australia with Team USA for the World Cup.

October: Aaron Judge hit his 62nd home run to set the American League record and the Dodgers finished off a 111-win regular season.  MLB's newly-expanded playoffs then got underway, and the format paid immediate dividends, as we got an NLCS between the fifth-seeded Padres and sixth-seeded Phillies.  The NFL resumed having international games with three in London.  And the NHL and NBA, after having three straight seasons impacted by COVID, began their campaigns at the usual time for first time since 2019.

November: An eventful month began with a World Series no-hitter!  Four Astros combined for the second no-hitter in World Series history, 66 years after Don Larsen's perfect game.  Houston would go on to win its first untainted title three days later.  The NFL returned to Mexico City and played its first-ever game in Germany.  Meanwhile, the CFL's Grey Cup between the Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers came down to a blocked extra point.  Most significantly, the biggest sporting event of the year, the World Cup, finally got underway in Qatar.

December: In perhaps the greatest World Cup final ever, Lionel Messi and Argentina dethroned defending champion France.  It's not just the final that might've been the best in World Cup history, either.  The final matchday in pretty much every group was full of drama, and the knockout rounds featured multiple comebacks, penalty kick shootouts, and Morocco becoming the first African nation to reach the semifinals.  Brittany Griner was released as part of a prisoner exchange after spending nine months in a Russian jail/penal colony.  And, in a victory for everybody, Congress passed a bill that guarantees equal pay for all U.S. national team members, regardless of gender or sport.

So, there you have it.  The year in sports, 2022.  Did I still miss something?  Almost certainly!  But that's what happens when there are so many great moments.  Just like any other year, and just like we'll see again in 2023.