Banner sports: The year in review

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There are so many great highlights of the 2024 sports year that there may be some omissions.  There is only so much space on the sports page to cram in all the events that transpired in the world of fun and games this past year.

Celtics

Boston Celtics fans are still in a celebratory mood following their team’s return to NBA Championship glory and the raising of title banner number 18 to the rafters of the TD Garden.  Jalen Brown would capture MVP Awards in the Eastern Conference and the NBA Finals series. 

Jrue Hollidy and Derrick White of the Celtics talk strategy. PHOTO: BOSTON CELTICS/NBA

Celtics teammates Jason Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Al Horford, Krystaps Porzingis, and Payton Pritchard all played key roles in the team’s march to NBA title number 18. Porzingis, returning from injury to play a starring role in game one of the finals with 20 huge points, and Pritchard, coming off the bench hitting multiple buzzer-beating shots to spark the C’s, were key contributors.

Jason Tatum, who had 31 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, and two steals in 45 minutes, and Brown, who scored 21 points and had eight rebounds, six assists, and two steals in 44 minutes, were the principal stars in the Celtics 106-88 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in game five of the best of seven NBA Finals series. 

One of the key ingredients to Celtics’ title number 18 was the off-season acquisitions of guard Holiday and forward Porzingis. Holiday proved to be the glue player that brought everything together.  Coach Joe Mazzulla, the NBA’s youngest championship-winning coach since Bill Russell in 1969, spoke volumes when he said, “You get very few chances in life to be great, and very few chances to carry on ownership and responsibility of what these 18 Celtics Championship Banners mean.”    

What is just as significant to many Celtics fans is that banner number 18 puts the franchise one ahead of Los Angeles (17) for the top spot on the all-time NBA Championship list.

College football

The year began with controversy in college football as the University of Michigan got caught in a cheating scandal that helped the Wolverines win a national college football championship. The beleaguered head coach, Jim Harbaugh, who was suspended for multiple games during the regular season for rules violations, stuck around long enough to see his team crowned as national champions before sprinting back to the National Football League to coach the Los Angeles Chargers.  He left behind a certified mess that forever stained the image of Michigan football.  The powers that control college football continue to investigate the blatant signal-stealing-cheating that Michigan used to win their NCAA Division One college football title. 

Pro football

Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs PHOTO: ALL PRO REELS

In pro football, the Kansas City Chiefs won their second straight Super Bowl title behind the late-game heroics of star quarterback Patrick Mahomes and a big play defense led by All-Pro Chris Jones, one of the most impactful defensive linemen in the National Football League. 

Jones battled Chiefs management for a better contract, got what he wanted, and proved he was worth every dollar paid to him as the anchor of a Chiefs defense that shut down the high-powered offenses of the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens on their homefields during the team’s Super Bowl run.

Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense did enough to grab many of the headlines. Still, the Chiefs defense deserved its share of glory for the teams’ back-to-back Super Bowl title runs over the last two NFL seasons, making them the first repeat Super Bowl Champions since the 2003-04 New England Patriots. Currently, the Chiefs are 14-1 as they attempt to become the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Titles. 

Baseball

The Los Angeles Dodgers are 2024 World Series Champions. PHOTO: LA DODGERS, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

The top baseball news centered on the magical season produced by the Los Angeles Dodgers and their transcendent star, Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani signed a record free-agent contract of 10 years/$700 plus million and avoided a gambling scandal before producing the first 50 home run/50 stolen base season in Major League Baseball history.  The Dodgers would ride the heroics of Ohtani, World Series MVP Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and a magnificent bullpen to beat the New York Yankees in five games to win the World Series. 

The Yanks lost more than the series when Juan Soto, the preeminent free agent, bolted to the crosstown New York Mets for a record $765 million deal.  One rumor surrounding the 26-year-old Soto’s decision to leave the Yankees centers on a story by New York Post’s Jon Heyman, who said that the stadium security official disrespected his family during the season. Soto, interviewed on the social media platform X, said, “That’s a lie.” Only time will tell.

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen offered the outfielder a 15-year, $765 million contract, making Juan Soto the highest paid player in Major League Baseball history. For now, the Yankees and their fans are trying to recover from one of the biggest losses in the history of their storied franchise.

Basketball

The 2024 basketball season had special news in other areas. The New York Liberty captured their first title in the 28-year history of the WNBA franchise, beating the Minnesota Lynx 67-62 in overtime of the fifth and deciding game of their Championship Final series. Jonquel Jones was named the Most Valuable Player of the series.

MiLaysia Fulwiley makes a layup for the Gamecocks. PHOTO:

In the women’s NCAA Championship game, The Lady Gamecocks of South Carolina ran the table enroute to their second straight NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Championship. Coach Dawn Staley’s team completed a perfect 38-0 season, beating back the challenge of Caitlin Clark and the Lady Hawkeyes of Iowa with their 87-75 victory in the championship game. It is the third national title for Staley at South Carolina, and they join Texas, Baylor, Tennessee and UConn as the only women’s teams that have had undefeated seasons.

The Connecticut Huskies men’s basketball program also achieved the back-to-back national championship title distinction, completing their two-year dominance of NCAA Division One men’s basketball under head coach Dan Hurley with a 75-60 triumph over the Purdue Boilermakers in the championship game.  This win was the sixth title for the Huskies, who have never lost in a finals contest.

Hurley made more news when he turned down a lucrative contract offer from the Los Angeles Lakers. He signed a multi-year extension to stay at Connecticut for a run at a third straight national, something no team has accomplished since the dynastic years of UCLA under legendary coach John Wooden.

A special note of mention for Penn State’s women’s volleyball coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley, who is the first woman to ever lead a college team to an NCAA Division One National Championship, as her squad beat the University of Louisville three sets to one to capture the eighth national title in school history. Coach Schumacher-Cawley also won a national title as a player at Penn State.  Jess Mrusik was named Most Outstanding Player, recording 20 winning shots in five straight games.

Paris Olympics

This past summer, the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, grabbed international headlines during the summer weeks.

Gymnast Simon Biles shows off her Olympic medals. PHOTO: Charlie Riedel

Simone Biles returned to her lofty position as the world’s top gymnast, bringing home four medals, three gold and one silver, while leading the U.S. women’s team.

The U.S. women’s and men’s basketball teams continued their championship ways to bring gold medals home.  The women dominated their competition until they squeaked by a wily French national team 67-66, while the U.S. men’s team had to withstand tough challenges from Serbia and France in the final to win gold.

The United States won the overall Olympic medal count with 126 medals (40 gold,40 silver and 42 bronze) thanks to strong performances that produced 34 total medals in track and field.

Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone became the most dominant female track and field athlete with her world record and gold medal-winning time of 50.37 seconds in the 400 hurdles.  It was the sixth time that Mclaughlin-Levrone had broken her world record.  She is also the only woman to win the event in consecutive Olympic Games.

USA women’s 4 x 400 team (from left), Alexis Holmes, Gabby Thomas, Shamier Little and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone PHOTO: USA TRACK AND FIELD

Sprinter Gabby Thomas won three gold medals in the 200 sprints in 21.83 seconds, and in the 4×100 and 4×400 relay sprints, the most by any track and field athlete in Paris.

Masai Russell upset defending Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico to win her first-ever Olympic gold medal in the women’s 100-meter hurdles.

Noah Lyles, Rai Benjamin, Ryan Crouser, and Grant Holloway grabbed headlines for the U.S. men’s track and field team, which won seven gold medals and 18 overall.

Crouser became the first shot putter in Olympic history to win gold medals at three consecutive Olympic Games.  The world record holder tossed the shot 75 feet, 1 3/4 inches, to win his third. Rai Benjamin won two golds, the 400 hurdles while anchoring the 4×400 relay team in an Olympic record time of 2:54.43. 

Noah Lyles’s dramatic photo-finish in the men’s 100 produced gold, but he contracted COVID-19 prior to the 200 final, which Leslie Tobogo of Botswana won.

Holloway, the top sprint hurdler this year, backed up that claim by dominating every phase of the competition, winning the 110-meter hurdles final in a gold-medal winning time of 12.99 seconds.

The legends we lost

Several sports legends of color departed this life during this year. Hall of Fame baseball players Willie Mays, MLB’s greatest all-around baseball player, and Rickey Henderson, the greatest leadoff hitter and base stealer in Major League Baseball history, are gone. Still, their memories of baseball excellence and their joy for the game will live on.

Others to leave this life were: Al Attles, an NBA Hall of Famer who coached the 1975 San Francisco Warriors to a championship and spent more than 60 years with the organization as a player, general manager and team ambassador; Dikembe Mutombo, who played 18 seasons in the NBA, is in the Basketball Hall of Fame,  was one of the best defensive players in NBA history, and was known for his humanitarian work outside the game; and Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican-born phenom for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who inspired “Fernandomania” while winning the National League Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981. Valenzuela was the World Series champion the same year.

Three-time All-Star and Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer Louis Tiant died this year at 83. PHOTO: COURTESY BOSTON RED SOX/MLB

Cuban-born baseball pitcher Louis Tiant had a stellar career in Major League Baseball over 19 years. He played for several teams, including the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox, where he became a fan favorite. Tiant was known for his distinctive pitching style, which included a variety of pitches. He was a three-time All-Star and a Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer, playing a key role in the Red Sox’s run to the World Series in 1975. Luis Tiant was 83.

Mercury Morris of the Miami Dolphins was best known as a running back with the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Although he played for multiple teams, he was best known for his crucial role in the Dolphins’ historic undefeated 1972 season, culminating in winning Super Bowl VII. He was also part of the Dolphins’ Super Bowl title in 1973.   

Each of these remarkable athletes left their mark on this life. Like so many who have touched our lives, we will miss them. Blessings to all as we count down the hours to 2025.