This year there have been a lot of games played and a lot of games watched by Sports fans. From the World Cup to the NFL, teams have had a lot of fun this year. We hope 2023 will bring even more epic plays and big wins!!

NBA 2022 Recap

This past year in the NBA we have had a lot of memorable things happen. From highlight plays to record breaking to the league’s 75th anniversary celebration, an awesome NBA Finals series, fans of basketball were given everything that they could have hoped for and more.                   

In my mind, something that went way under-the-radar during the 2021-22 NBA season was Gregg Popovich becoming the NBA’s all-time winningest head coach. The Spurs were, and have not been anything special through the years, but when you think of coaching in the sport of basketball, it is hard not to think of Popovich, and all the accomplishments he has had in his coaching career.

When playing the New York Knicks, Luka Doncic recorded 60 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists, becoming the first player in league history to have a 60-20-10 game. Perhaps the most impressive part of this night was the fact that the Dallas Mavericks trailed the Knicks 112-103 with 33 seconds left, and they were able to come back and pull out the win in overtime.

Also this year a player came back from suffering a torn ACL. Klay Thompson missed 2 full seasons before returning from the injury in the 2019 finals. People thought he would never make a return but he beat the odds and returned.

One of the coolest moments of 2022 in the NBA was during the All-Star Game. To commemorate the league’s 75th year, the NBA announced their 75-man list featuring the greatest players of all-time, highlighted by names like Kareem-Abdul Jabbar, Bill Russell, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and so many other current and future Hall-of-Famers. All 50 members of the NBA’s 50th Anniversary Team were on this list, as were eleven active players in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Carmelo Anthony, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, James Harden, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook.

The last memorable thing that happened is the Warriors winning the Finals. Their team was full of injuries in the 2019-2020 season and after losing to Memphis in 2021 Curry said,“You don’t want to see us next year”

With Klay returning and a young star Jordan Poole rising, the Warriors were able to take down a tough Boston Celtics team 4-2. Curry had an amazing performance, and finally claimed the finals MVP trophy. 

Best Football Moments of 2022

SHAMS JAHANGIR-ARSHAD

Sports Editor

The 2022 year was a special one for football, there were many legendary moments during the year for us fans to enjoy, these were the top 5 moments of the year:

1. Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement.

 After an amazingly successful 17 year career he announced it was going to be his last year. He played his last home game on January 3rd with a 26-14 victory over the Browns, a fitting way to say goodbye to the Pittsburgh fans after 17 amazing years. He would then play his final career game January 9th at Kansas City in a loss. In his career he would finish with 64088 passing yards, and 418 career passing touchdowns.

2. Justin Tucker’s NFL long game winning kick. 

Baltimore visited the Lions in Week 3, during this game the history books would be rewritten. A closely contested game all the way through saw the Ravens down 16-17 late in the 4th quarter. With time winding down, Baltimore would opt to send out Justin Tucker in an attempt to not only make history, but win the game. Tucker put his incredible right foot through the ball. He watched it sail along with the fans and players in attendance only to see the ball doink off the woodwork. It crept over the bar and in to win the Ravens the game, 19-17, and cement his name in history. This 66 yard field goal make would be the longest in NFL history by 2 yards and a record that could stand for years to come. 

3. Aaron Rodgers would win his 2nd straight MVP award and the 4th overall during his career, nailing his legacy as one of the best in the league. 

During the season he would pass for 4115 passing yards with an extremely high completion rate of 68.9%. He would also have 37 passing touchdowns, to an extremely efficient 4 interceptions. This would give him the league leading touchdown percentage of 7%. This accuracy and ability to win games would give Rodgers his 4th NFL MVP. 

4. The Vikings would have the biggest comeback in NFL history this year. 

During week 15 of the NFL season. They were facing the Colts at home when they would fall behind 33-0 with 8 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. This is when everything would rapidly change. The Vikings would score, cutting the lead to 33-7, the Colts would then score a field goal making the lead 36-7, this would be the last time the colts would score during the game. The Vikings would score again at the end of the 3rd quarter cutting the lead to 36-14, heading into the 4th quarter. In the 4th quarter the Vikings would score 22 straight unanswered points, and tie the game sending it to overtime. The shattered Colts would receive the ball in overtime but just like the 4th quarter could not get anything going and had a quick punt, the Vikings rumbling with momentum would race down the field, and get into field goal range. This would set up Greg Joseph with a 40 yarder for the win, which he would drill giving the Vikings the win. This 33 point comeback was the biggest NFl comeback in history and will go down as one of the craziest moments of 2022.

5. Last but not least, the Super Bowl. 

This one an extremely good game that would give the Rams their 2nd Super Bowl in franchise history. They would face off against the up and coming Bengals at Sofi stadium in the 56th Super Bowl. This would be a back and forth game, with the Rams taking the lead with 1:23 left on a 1 yard touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp. The Bengals would need a huge drive to force Overtime. They would get near the 50, and face a fourth and 1. They would attempt to pass but Aaron Donald would force pressure and cause an incompletion leading to the Rams hosting the Super Bowl trophy. 

These were the top 5 moments for the NFL during the 2022 season, hopefully 2023 will be another great year for the NFl and lead to many successful moments and a great Super Bowl.