A "Normal" Year Ahead?

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to a "normal" sports year.  We haven't had one since 2019.  Everything got screwed up in 2020, we were playing catch up in 2021, and things kinda sorta started to get back on schedule in 2022.  Finally, in 2023, it looks like things will finally get back to "normal" for the first time in four years.

Of course, there is one additional event that wouldn't have been on the 2023 calendar had COVID not wreaked havoc on all of our lives three years ago.  The World Baseball Classic was originally scheduled for 2021, but was postponed until this March, when the United States will finally get the chance to defend its title six years after winning the 2017 tournament.  And the American team should be STACKED!

Otherwise, though, all of the events that were originally supposed to be this year will be.  That means World Championships in Olympic sports for the second consecutive summer and your traditional pre-Olympic multisport events (none of which were actually affected since they were all last held in 2019).  And World Cups in women's soccer and men's basketball.

So, beyond the World Baseball Classic, what are some of those events we have to look forward to in 2023?  Well, I already mentioned it, so I might as well start with the Women's World Cup.  This will be the biggest Women's World Cup ever, as 32 teams will head to Australia and New Zealand in July and August.  The U.S. Women's National Team will be going for its third straight title.

The U.S. men's basketball team, meanwhile, will get a chance to atone for its miserable seventh-place performance in 2019 at the Basketball World Cup in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.  Who'll make up the team is always the big question, but the tournament is also the primary qualifier for the Paris Olympics.  You know that'll be the priority, but heading into the Olympics as World Cup champions (especially after the disappointment of 2019) would make them the unquestioned favorites in Paris.

Team USA will also head to Santiago, Chile in October for the Pan Am Games.  Granted, the Pan Am Games are much bigger in the rest of the Americas than they are here, especially since they'll be taking place in October, but they're still important for Olympic qualifying in a number of sports.

One of the reasons the Pan Am Games aren't as big in the U.S. is because the top athletes in the marquee sports don't participate.  They, instead, will be at the World Championships, which are being held for the second consecutive year after the 2021 editions were pushed back when the Olympics were delayed.  And these are the pre-Olympic Worlds, with track & field set for Budapest, swimming in Japan, and beach volleyball heading to Mexico.

This year's hockey World Championships were supposed to be in Russia.  Except Russia is still banned from international sports (their doping suspension is over, but they're still on the outs because of the Ukraine invasion), so the tournament was moved to Latvia and Finland.

Back on home soil, this'll be the first season under Major League Baseball's new schedule format.  For the first time, every team will play at least one series against each of the other 29 teams.  This is something some owners have wanted for years, and it actually is a pretty cool change.  We'll also get the return of the London Series, with the Cubs and Cardinals doing the honors.  This year's All*Star Game, meanwhile, is in Seattle.

Another thing that 2023 will bring us is another attempt at the XFL.  XFL 3.0 relaunches in February and will give us a second spring football league that no one asked for.  Yep, that's right.  Two spring football leagues.  As soon as the XFL season is done, it's season two of USFL 2.0!  So, there'll be plenty of mediocre "professional" football all spring, starting right after the Super Bowl and running straight through to the Fourth of July.

In the league where the football is actually of good quality, for the first time in three years, the Super Bowl won't be won by the home team.  While the NFL will crown its champion in Phoenix, Georgia and TCU will play for the college National Championship at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, site of last year's Rams home Super Bowl triumph.  The Final Fours, meanwhile, are both headed to Texas.  Houston for the men, Dallas for the women.  The Men's Frozen Four, however, will be in a very unfrozen location.  Tampa.

We'll also see some big changes on the college sports front in 2023.  Specifically, we'll see the Big 12's expansion from 10 to 14 members.  Texas and Oklahoma aren't leaving for the SEC until July 1, 2025, so they'll spend two years in the expanded Big 12, which will include BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and Central Florida.  I'm especially excited for BYU, Cincinnati and Houston.  They're great fits, and I think the Big 12 is going to be a very, very good conference with them in the fold.

How is the golf thing going to unfold?  I ask this because it's a Ryder Cup year.  The U.S. is the defending champions after that dominant effort in 2021, but hasn't won a Ryder Cup in Europe since 1993.  That's 30 years!  And who'll be on the team?  Because I don't think this LIV/PGA rift is getting solved anytime soon, and Ryder Cup points are based on PGA results, so some of the best players are currently not eligible for the team (unless they change the qualifying procedure).

That's just a sampling of what 2023 has in store for us.  Above all, 2023 should be the year when sports return to "normal."  The calendar will be back on track, events will go back to when we expect them to take place, and fans will pack the stands once again.  Who would've thought the idea of getting back to normal would be so nice?!