Sports is a gift to the world, a way to escape the constant negative news cycle. It unites, breaks down barriers, and rallies people to support their city and franchises. It is one of the few things that makes people exude passion, and even from home, people feel like they are in the stands watching. Sports also produces compelling drama better than some Hollywood scripts because it is reality television with an unscripted ending that has the audience at the edge of their seats. I decided to take this past week in sports as a litmus test of how sports can be thrilling, mesmerizing, and even absurd. In this article, we discuss some stories that you may have missed or overlooked from the past week.
1. World Baseball Classic- baseball is considered America’s pastime and has struggled to appeal to a younger audience. The World Baseball Classic in the past week proved that baseball can still command some level of interest. The tournament’s final game was a matchup of the two major powerhouse teams in the United States and Japan. The United States entered the final as favorites after destroying Cuba 14-2 in the semifinal, and Japan defeated Mexico in an exciting walk-off victory in front of a sellout crowd of 35,933 inside LoanDepot park. In the final, the US jumped out to an early lead when Trea Turner hit a solo home run in the second inning. However, by the fourth inning, Japan went up 3-1 thanks to two unearned runs and a solo shot by Kazuma Okamoto. The US cut the deficit to 1 when Kyle Schwarber hit a solo shot in the eighth inning. The tournament came down to a dramatic conclusion in the ninth when its brightest star, Shohei Ohtani, tried to close it out against three of the toughest batters in the American lineup. Ohtani started shaky by walking NL batting champion Jeff McNeil. However, he got 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts to ground into a double play. Finally, baseball fans got their heart desires in having Ohtani pitch against his Los Angeles Angels teammate and three-time AL MVP, Mike Trout. It was captain versus captain, and Ohtani got Trout to whiff at a 3-2 slider to end the game. According to Sports Pro Media, the telecast drew an audience of 5.2 million viewers which is a WBC record. Not bad at all!
2. NCAA Basketball-March Madness is a sports sensation on the American Sports calendar, and this year is no different. The tournament produces drama because of the unpredictability of a top college team getting eliminated by the underdog. The first round produced one of the biggest upsets ever when number 1-seeded Purdue lost 63-58 to Fairleigh Dickinson. Fairleigh Dickinson is a mid-major team in New Jersey that competes in the Northeast Conference. It was a stunning scoreline because Purdue became only the second No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament history to lose to a 16-seed. It was a massive upset because Purdue won the Big Ten regular season and conference tournament. However, FDU lost the conference tournament and made it to the dance only because its winner, Merrimack was ineligible to compete. Another stunning upset in the second round was the number 8 seed Arkansas’s stunning upset over number 1 seed Kansas 72-71. The Razorbacks came from a 35-27 deficit to take the lead with just a minute to go in regulation. According to ESPN, it is only the third time that multiple No.1 seeds have failed to reach the Sweet 16 since the NCAA expanded the tournament field in 1985. Now that is drama!
3. Soccer-Lionel Messi hit another stunning landmark in celebrating his return to the Argentinean national team following their World Cup victory by scoring his 800th goal in his career. After twice hitting the post from free kicks, Messi curled in his third attempt past Panama keeper Jose Carlos Guerra in the 89th minute sending the sold-out home crowd at the Monumental Stadium into ecstasy in a 2-0 victory. Messi scoring 800 career goals sounds like a record that will never be surpassed, and the man deserves his plaudits. On the other hand, across the pond in England, the sports world witnessed one of the most toxic postgame press conferences in recent memory delivered by Tottenham Hotspurs’ coach Antonio Conte. To provide context, Conte’s team imploded in a match his team led 3-1 with 16 minutes left, only to concede two goals and the game ending in a tie with Southampton. It was a stunning turnaround for a team winning a game decisively in a crucial match. After the game, Conte chastised his players stating, “I’m not used to seeing this type of situation. I see a lot of selfish players and I don’t see a team. We are 11 players that go onto the pitch. I see selfish players; I see players that don’t want to help each other and don’t put their heart [in].” He continued by chastising his club stating, “Because they are used to it here, they are used to it. They don’t play for something important, yeah. They don’t want to play under pressure, they don’t want to play under stress. It is easy in this way. Tottenham’s story is this. Twenty years there is the owner and they never won something but why? The fault is only for the club, or for every manager that stays here.” Wow! Clearly, Antonio Conte wants to get fired, and this has to be one of the greatest rants in sports history. The man chastised his players and disrespected the club’s lack of trophies for the past fifteen years. It would be like Mike McDaniels of the Miami Dolphins taking a shot at his franchise and players in North America. Yes, it would be a fireable offense because social media would have burned the house down. However, at 8:00 am on Friday, March 24, Antonio Conte is still the manager of Tottenham. My prediction is that it can’t be for too long.