BY: Tony Liebert2018 has produced some terrific sports moments, some that us as sports fans will never forget. There were some moments that were literally unbelievable. Now let's go through the best of the year. Honorable Mentions
10. Baker Mayfield getting drafted 1st overall Leading up to this years draft, I don’t think anyone other than the GM of the Browns knew who they were going to take first overall. After the college football season I don’t think anyone thought that Baker may even go in the first round. After having a terrific college football career, Baker proved everyone wrong by being the first walk on selected first overall, and then proving that he can be a franchise quarterback for the dumpster fire of the Browns. This was one of the more shocking first overall picks of recent memory, and has so far paid off for the Browns. 9. J.R. Smith making huge mistake in the NBA Finals Wow… Just WOW! I think this was everyone's reaction after seeing this play happen real time. If Cleveland were to win this game, it would have been a LeBron James unreal 50 point near triple double performance against the all star team Warriors. After a 50 point triple double win against the Golden State Warriors, I think we would’ve seen a much more competitive series. For a professional basketball player to forget the score of the NBA Finals is just ridiculous. I just don’t know how that can happen. I think this play was LeBron’s last straw in Cleveland and just reassured that he was going to make a huge move in free agency and leave to go to the Los Angeles Lakers. This play will forever be mentioned when you talk about J.R. Smith. 8. Tua Tagovailoa-Jalen Hurts This was another one of those moments that just left you in awe while watching it in real time. For the dominant Alabama Crimson Tide, to take out their starting quarterback Jalen Hurts, who had only lost two games in his two year career in the National Championship and put in a true freshman in Tua Tagovailoa at half time is ridiculous in itself. And then for Tua to lead Alabama to a comeback and beat Georgia by a game winning touchdown in overtime is a sports moment that I will never forget. But then Tua having the controversy of starting or not leading up to this season, had one of the greatest statistical seasons of recent memory, and leading Alabama to another SEC championship. But then to get hurt in the SEC championship and get replaced by Jalen Hurts and Hurts lead them to victory and the number one seed in the College Football Playoff and come full circle is just overall ridiculous. 7. Nick Foles leading the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl This story was nothing short of ridiculous. For Nick Foles, the backup quarterback taking over the 11-2 Eagles from probable MVP Carson Wentz, and then leading them to the Super Bowl while being an underdog in every game and then having one of the great performances in the Super Bowl against the dominant Patriots is insane. Nick Foles was even contemplating retirement a season before and then coming back to football and being the Super Bowl MVP the next season which is just ridiculous. 6. France wins the world cup, Kylian Mbappe Arrives France was clearly the most dominant team in the world throughout the entire World Cup. Kylian Mbappe was their best player in the tournament while being… 19 years old. Most 19 year olds spend most of their time sitting in a college dorm watching Netflix, while Mbappe was busy putting together one of the greatest World Cup performances of all time with nearly 4 billion, yes 4 billion people watching across the world. Mbappe has now asserted himself as one of the best players in the world. 5. Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor Mcgregor UFC 229 This was the type of sporting event that does not come around very often. The fight itself was between Conor McGregor probably the greatest entertainer in all of sports, and Khabib Nurmagomedov, who wrestled bears as a child and probably one of the greatest UFC fighter of all time. Then after the fight, people always joke about what if they just took the fight outside of the octagon, and had no rules. But they actually did, Khabib jumped out of the cage and began to fight McGregor’s team and then chaos ensued. This was an event that took a while to register what you had just seen. This is the Tyson-Holyfield “moment” of this generation. 4. Tiger Woods’ resurgence I think that everyone knows that golf is more fun to watch when Tiger Woods is at the top of his game. Watching possibly the greatest golfer of all time start his comeback tour was nothing short of entertaining. From Tiger being in contention on Sundays for majors, playing against Phil Mickelson in a pay-per-view event. and even winning the Tour Championship. I think everyone felt somewhat happy for Tiger, no matter what your opinion is on him. Now we’ll see if he can start winning majors again in 2019. 3. USA Men's Curling winning gold This was a very unique sporting event. The majority of sports fans in America got to get behind a team playing a sport that not everyone even knew how to play. For a team of really just basic Dads who wanted to pick up a hobby, to have the whole country of America rooting for them is nothing short of remarkable. This was a moment that a normal sports fan does not normally see but it was something that will be quite memorable. 2. The Minneapolis Miracle I will admit this is a very bias ranking, at the end of the day it was just a game winning play in a divisional round game, for a team that didn’t make even make it to the Super Bowl. But… during that play it might have been the best sports moment of my life. Being a Vikings fan, I was expecting another letdown which is quite common being a Minnesota sports fan, but then I received one of the most improbable plays of all time, and then for the next week leading up to the NFC Championship game, my sports fandom was at an all time high. I thought I was going to see the Vikings play in a Super Bowl in Minnesota. This was definitely a moment that I won't ever forget. I think Joe Buck's call, "DIGGS, SIDELINE, TOUCHDOWN!" is something the Minnesota sports fans will never forget. 1. #16 UMBC beating #1 Virginia This was something that I never thought I would see in my lifetime. The UMBC Golden Retrievers who were 25-11 in the America East conference defeated the Virginia Cavaliers who were 31-3 in the ACC. UMBC won by 20 points and completely dominated the whole game. Watching this in real time, I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing. For a 16 seed to never beat a number 1 seed in a March Madness game, and then UMBC to completely obliterate Virginia in the fashion that they did was the greatest sports moment of 2018. UMBC forward Nolan Gerrity after the game said, "It's like your first Fortnite victory." I think this quote exemplifies 2018 perfectly.
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May 2020
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