It’s no big secret; 2016 has been a pretty dismal year.
An interminable, contentious presidential election; heaps of celebrity deaths; the theatrical release of the massively overhyped “Suicide Squad”; I’d imagine that the majority of Americans are looking forward to put the last 12 months in our rearview mirrors.
But with Thanksgiving this week, this just isn’t a time for people to dwell on the black cloud of bad news that seemed to hang over our heads all year; it’s a time to count our blessings.
And if you’re a sports fan, those blessings were plentiful, indeed.
2016 has been a phenomenal year from sports on just about every level.
The first honest-to-goodness great moment that comes to mind is the NCAA basketball finals between Villanova and North Carolina, a game that my Wildcats won on a last-second buzzer beater by Kris Jenkins, back in April. Sure, it was a fantastic game from my standpoint—a lifelong Wildcats fan who was too young to remember Nova’s last title in 1985—but for the average sports fan, it was nearly just as thrilling; an all-time great finish to a an all-time great game.
And that just seemed to set the stage for a number of wonderful championship scenarios. In May, Leicester City captured the English Premier League Crown after starting the season as 5,000-1 underdogs.
In June, the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off an amazing three-game comeback to topple the Golden State Warriors (who had just laid claim to being the best regular season NBA team of all time) and bring a major title to Cleveland for the first time in 68 years.
Earlier this month, the Chicago Cubs erased a similar 3-1 hole (against Cleveland) to win their first World Series title since 1908, setting off a massive victory celebration in the Windy City that drew some 5 million fans.
And as far as amazing individual accomplishments go, there were plenty to go around. American swimmer Katie Ledecky caught the nation’s eye with her record-setting performance at the Rio Olympics, and Yankees rookie Gary Sanchez launched homers at an unheard-of rate following his August call-up to the big leagues.
Sure, we said goodbye to a few giants of sport this year, too. But even the swan songs for some of our most accomplished pro athletes were amazing to watch. Red Sox slugger David Ortiz clubbed the most homers (38) in major league history for a player over 40 years old. Longtime Dodger announcer Vin Scully retired as well, but after only a long—and well-deserved—farewell tour that allowed fans all over the country to reflect on his unparalleled career. Even Peyton Manning said goodbye after “leading” his team to a win in Super Bowl 50.
But don’t worry, Peyton fans, you can still see him 200 times on Sundays, shilling for Nationwide Insurance.
So yeah, we may have had a few rough spots this year. But there’s also been a lot to cheer about.
And for that, we give thanks.
