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 sports world shut down and we were forced to watch “Tiger King,” there still was plenty to talk about in 2020.
In a lot of ways, it was business as usual.
LeBron James eventually got another ring. Alabama and Clemson headed back to the College Football Playoff. Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred was booed at the World Series. And Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield appeared in every other TV commercial.
But it also was 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 year was the ubiquitous “opt-out.”
If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool fan, chances are you stuck around for most, if not all, of your favorite sports, even if you couldn’t watch games in person. So congratulations are in order to you for surviving 2020, the year we’ll never forget even if we wanted.
As we 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.
After a longand grueling rehab, Smith started the year as Washington’s third-string quarterback but eventually became the starter in the second half and led the newly named “Washington Football Team” back into the hunt for a division title.
Smith told “The Today Show” he learned in hindsight “how resilient we are moving forward and how much better off we are because of it.”
A lesson of perseverance for all of us.
“We’re playing in unusual circumstances,” Rizzo said afterward, adding he meant no disrespect to the Brewers.
None was taken. In a year as stressful as 2020, everyone needed a good laugh.
Big Ten honchos promptly shot down that notion.
“President Trump had nothing to do with our decision and did not impact the deliberations,” an unnamed Big Ten president told a Columbus, Ohio, TV station. “In fact, when his name came up, it was a negative because no one wanted this to be political.”
A video of Jackson’s strained jog to the clubhouse sparked rumors the real reason for his exit was related to a dicey digestive system.
“I was cramping, I didn’t pull a Paul Pierce,” Jackson protested.
Pierce famously left Game 1 of the 2008 NBA 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.
But in the year of the pandemic, the title of worst role model has to be a tie between Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner and Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert.
Turner came back on the field to celebrate winning the World Series after being removed from the 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 straw that shut down the NBA season and, in turn, the entire sports world.
No one agreed much on anything in 2020, but almost everyone agreed Cash made a very poor decision.
The move backfired, the Rays lost the game and the World Series, and two months later the move hasn’t gotten any easier to swallow.
“I did grind on (the decision in the offseason),” Cash said last week. “To some extent, I still am.”
Indeed, the sports world was a grind for all of us this year — and to some extent, it still is.
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