CAROLYN MULLARKEY and DANTE LASTING
Staff Writer and Sports Editor
We are now more than a full month into 2020.
For the last decade, across all sports, many firsts have happened. Athletes have blossomed, retired and it seems as though it would be virtually impossible to rank the top five sports moments from 2010-2019. All sports were taken into account from amateur to professional, from college to the Olympics and so forth.
5. NCAA 2018 tournament UMBC vs. Virginia
This event made Jairus Lyles an overnight star. This was the first time in Division I college basketball history that a No. 16 seed defeated the No. 1 seed. In 134 years, this had never occurred. It was a game that shocked the nation and made history. The UMBC Retrievers not only defeated the Virginia Cavaliers, but by a whopping 20 points.
The final score was 74–54.
4. There’s a first time for everything
In the last 10 years, across various sports, many teams have won their first championships in franchise history. The Raptors, Blues, Cavaliers and Eagles all were the top team in their own leagues for the first time in their own franchise history.
The Toronto Raptors won their first NBA championship this past spring after beating the Golden State Warriors four games to two. With the help of finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, the city of Toronto got its first major sports championship since the Blue Jays in 1993.
The St. Louis Blue won the Stanley Cup for the first time in their 2018-2019 season, also just making it into the decade. They won four games to three against the Boston Bruins, rematching from 1970, the last time the two teams faced each other for the championship when Boston came out on top. At the time, the Blues were the oldest franchise to have never won the cup.
This title is now shared between the Sabres and Canucks.
The 2016 NBA finals between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers marked the first championship win for the Cavs. This is still LeBron’s most recent NBA championship, as he brought a title back to his hometown. His block that shut down Andre Iguodala in game seven earned the Cav’s first title and brought a championship trophy back to Cleveland for the first time since 1964.
The 2017 season was a huge one for the city of Philadelphia. The Eagles beat the New England Patriots in a high-scoring affair. The Eagles won 41-33 and made famous one special play, the Philly Special. For the underdog Eagles, this was their third Super Bowl appearance and a rematch with the Patriots from the 2004 Super Bowl.
3. Retirements and final games
Athlete reigns come and go, and some pivotal careers met their ends this last decade with some very impressive final shows.
Peyton Manning retired in 2016 after winning his second Super Bowl in his 17-year career. He holds 20 NFL records, including most MVP awards with five and most touchdown passes in a single season with 55. The former first overall pick had one of the best NFL careers and will definitely be a first-ballot Hall of Famer next year.
2014 was a huge year for baseball. It was the captain’s last season and the year of Derek Jeter’s amazing final game. Easily ranked as an elite final game ending Jeter’s final at-bat with a game-winning walk-off home run. Baseball fans alike, not just Yankee fans, remember that moment and the end of a great era in baseball.
The last influential retirement/stellar final game performances would not be a complete list without the late Kobe Bryant. In his final game, he was still breaking records, scoring 60 points.
He was the definition of an athlete with grace and grit. Recent events are remembered in the sports world even more, and that night will always stand out.
2. Tiger Woods wins the Masters
At the tail-end of the decade, Tiger Woods managed to win the Masters in 2019 and get to put on that green jacket for the first time since 2005.
Woods’ win came at the end of a five-year drought filled with numerous health issues and back surgeries. Upon his return in 2018 after recovering, he played as if it was 1996 again.
Those who are at the top have the furthest to fall, and the Tiger was at an all-time low and managed to make it back on top, proving he still is the best golfer to date.
1. Cubs curse finally broken
The 2016 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians has been deemed one of the greatest of all time. The series was monumental for baseball fans all over the world. The Chicago Cubs won the World Series after a 108-year drought, including the 71-year span of the curse of the Billy Goat. The game was the first to have a rain delay and the fifth time in history for a game seven to go into extra innings. Chicago fans and even people who just like to cheer on the underdog had a lot to celebrate during the whole series.
The 2010s were a progressive time for the world of sports with many positives and negatives.
Many more highlights occurred, but the top moments are a hard topic to debate about. Now that it is 2020, the sports world has a fresh new decade for more memories to be made.
With so many big sports moments throughout a decade, it was so hard to just choose five. Here are two honorable mentions that just missed the cut.
Honorable Mentions
The Fastest Man Alive – Usain Bolt was put in the spotlight around the world in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. However, he is still the fastest man alive and received six Olympic gold medals and eight gold medals at the World Championships in the last decade before his retirement in 2017.
The United States Women’s Soccer Team – The women’s team made headlines by winning the World Cup, not once, but twice in the last 10 years, with the championship in 2018 being the most recent. This was a huge accomplishment that made strives for female athletes everywhere.