A Year in Review
You Heard It Here Last
The end of 2018 is upon us and what a year in sports it’s been.
The year started with the Philadelphia Eagles charging through the playoffs and ultimately winning the Super Bowl with their backup QB under center (or rather playing receiver, in the case of the game’s pivotal play.)
At the Winter Olympics, we were treated to countless storylines and exciting moments, but watched in collective disappointment as the United States underperformed throughout the games.
We then saw the first 16 seed upset a 1 seed in UMBC over Virginia during March Madness for the first time ever, busting nearly the entire nation’s brackets in the process.
Fast forward a few months and we saw the Vegas Golden Knights (in their inaugural season) battle their way to the Stanley Cup Finals and although they ultimately came up short, their season was one that defied all odds and is unparalleled among expansion teams in any sport.
In baseball, we watched as two divisions came down to a one-game play-in game, because somehow 162 games weren’t enough to decide either division.
Tiger Woods made his presence felt throughout the golf season and it culminated with him winning his first event since 2013. His resurgence this year has made golf relevant again and regardless of what happens in the coming years, his presence will continue to make a positive impact on the game for as long as he plays.
We saw the most iconic players in soccer (Cristiano Ronaldo) and basketball (LeBron James) take their talents to new teams during their respective offseasons. And we’ve seen just how much of an impact they made by how poorly their former teams have played in their absence.
At the Union College level, the big story was the addition of a soccer team. I think it’s interesting to also note just how much turnover has taken place across the other sports on campus. The future seems to be pretty bright for Union athletics as a whole.
While I must admit, selfishly, this was not the best year for my sports teams, I thoroughly enjoyed the year anyway and I hope you did too.
Tyler Dean is a senior studying finance and math.