The year to end all years
2020 was rough on us all — but it had its moments. Here’s a look at some of the best and worst, from Lamar Jackson’s emergency exit to a Big Ten fabrication.
In a year in which the sportsworld shut downand wewere forced towatch “Tiger King,” there stillwas plenty to talk about in 2020.
In a lot ofways, itwas business as usual.
LeBron James eventually got another ring. Alabama and Clemson headed back to the College Football Playoff. Major League Baseball CommissionerRob Manfredwas booed at the World Series. And Cleveland Browns quarterback BakerMayfield appeared in every otherTVcommercial.
But it alsowas the year of COVID-19 outbreaks, postponed and canceled games, ratings drops and athletes protesting racial injustice. Major events such as the Masters and Indianapolis 500 took place in different seasons, and the hyphenated term that best defined the sports yearwas the ubiquitous “opt-out.”
If you're a dyed-in-thewool fan, chances are you stuck around for most, if not all, of your favorite sports, even if you couldn'twatch games in person. So congratulations are in order to you for surviving 2020, the yearwe'll never forget even ifwewanted.
Aswe march into 2021 with hopes of better days ahead, here are some of the people and moments that made this sports year one to remember.
Most inspirational comeback:
Washington quarterback Alex Smith underwent 17 surgeries after suffering a severe compound fracture of his right tibia and fibula during a
2018 game against theHoustonTexans. Doctors initially thought theywould have to
amputate Smith's leg, and he incurred an infection that could've cost him his life.
After a longand grueling rehab, Smith started the year asWashington's third-string quarterback but eventually became the starter in the second half and led the newly named“Washington FootballTeam” back into the hunt for a division title.
Smith told “TheToday Show” he learned in hindsight “howresilientwe are moving forward and how much better offwe are because of it.”
Alesson of perseverance for all of us.
Funniest moment: After Orlando Arcia singled in the third inning of the opening game of the restart atWrigley Field, Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo pulled some hand sanitizer out of his pocket and offered it to the Milwaukee Brewers infielder. Arcia gladly accepted.
“We're playing in unusual circumstances,” Rizzo said afterward, adding he meant no disrespect to the Brewers
Nonewas taken. In a year as stressful as 2020, everyone needed a good laugh.
During the first presidential debate with Joe Biden in late September, President
Worst fabrication:
DonaldTrumpthrew out this whopper: “By theway, I brought back BigTen football. Itwasme, and I'm very happy to do it, and the people of Ohio are very proud of me.”
BigTen honchos promptly shot downthat notion.
“PresidentTrumphad nothing to do with our decision and did not impact the deliberations,” an unnamed BigTen president told aColumbus, Ohio, TV station. “In fact, when his name came up, itwas a negative because no one wanted this to be political.”
Best game: The Baltimore Ravens' 47-42 win over the Cleveland Browns on “MondayNight Football” on Dec. 14 had just about everything you could ask for in a sporting event, including a fourth-quarter return by Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, who left with what was termed “cramps” in his arm.
Avideo of Jackson's strained jog to the clubhouse sparked rumors the real reason for his exitwas related to a dicey digestive system.
“Iwas cramping, I didn't pull a Paul Pierce,” Jackson protested.
Pierce famously left
Game 1 of the 2008NBA Finals in a wheelchair only to return later with no apparent injury, and 11 years later he finally admitted he had to go to the bathroom.
New White Sox managerTony LaRussa had a secondDUI arrest last February in Phoenix thatwas reduced to a reckless driving charge in December, while Patriots receiver Julian Edelman was arrested in January in Beverly Hills, Calif., for jumping on the hood of a car and damaging it.
But in the year of the pandemic, the title ofworst role model has to be a tie between Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner andUtah Jazz centerRudy Gobert.
Turner came back on the field to celebrate winning theWorld Series after being removed fromthe game for testing positive for COVID-19.
Gobert mocked the seriousness of the virus by jokingly touching reporters' phones and recorders after a news conference. Gobert later tested positive, the strawthat shut downthe NBAseason and, in turn, the entire sportsworld.
Worst role models:
Dumbest decision: Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash united the nation by removing starter Blake Snell fromGame 6 of theWorld Series despite a 1-0 lead and Snell throwing a one-hit shutout.
No one agreed much on anything in 2020, but almost everyone agreed Cash made a very poor decision.
Themove backfired, the Rays lost the game and the World Series, and two months later themove hasn't gotten any easier to swallow.
“I did grind on (the decision in the offseason),” Cash said lastweek. “To some extent, I still am.”
Indeed, the sportsworld was a grind for all of us this year— and to some extent, it still is.