2022 In Review: My 5 Favorite Sports Moments

2022 was a year of long-suffering triumph. 

Lionel Messi finally won his World Cup. Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald, and Andrew Whitworth became Super Bowl Champions. Dusty Baker added a World Series to his resume after nearly 4,000 games as a Major League manager. The Colorado Avalanche and Las Vegas Aces broke through for championships after each being agonizingly close for the better part of the last decade. Georgia football slayed the Alabama dragon and won their first college football national championship since 1982. On and on it goes. 

As the calendar turns to 2023, I am looking back at the year which was and commemorating the sports moments I cherished and enjoyed the most. Here, in no particular order, are my 5 favorites. 

5 Minutes in Manchester

What is it about Manchester City and final day drama?!

Hell hath no fury quite like international soccer heartbreak. Manchester City fandom has pushed me to some (comparatively) dark places. My days have been ruined by shock losses to Leeds United before 7 AM central time. I have an irrational dislike of Tottenham Hotspur and Fernando Llorente from a 2019 Champions League game – to this day, still the most gut wrenching sports result I have ever experienced. Being a Manchester City fan means anticipating disaster, yet believing anyway. Somehow, despite 4 consecutive league cups, 4 league titles in 5 years and an unparalleled run of domestic dominance, ‘Typical City’ remains the default mindset. 

So when City, needing a win to clinch the league title, went behind by 2 goals to Aston Villa on the final day of the Premier League season, it felt all too believable and painful. This game was happening with the wounds of a heartbreaking Champions League loss in Madrid still fresh and stinging. I remember sitting in front of my tv feeling utterly despondent. My mind filled with the sinking realization that Manchester City were about to be the team who blew a double digit points advantage and lost the title on the final day to Liverpool. How could they crash out of the Champions League and choke the league like this. 

And then? Ilkay Gundogan cemented his status as a club legend. 

76’

An Ilkay Gudogan header for the first goal seemed to make things even worse. Come on, man….it’s the hope that kills you. Don’t let me believe. The recent Madrid heartbreak still stung and despite feeling confident about a positive outcome before today’s game, Villa’s 2 goal lead with less than 15 minutes remaining had sapped whatever remaining optimism I had for the season. 

78’

Stunned silence. They tied it??? How on earth have they done that. They TIED IT?? In the span of 2 minutes, City had given themselves a chance. Could…could they really do this? On the 10th anniversary of 93:20, could they really be about to pull off another miracle?

81’

Euphoria. Pure joy. I ran into the street outside. I jumped. I crumpled to the floor in tears. The 12 minute emotional rollercoaster this game had sent me on – from Philippe Coutinho’s goal to put Villa up 2-0 to Ilkay Gundogan’s tap in to miraculously put City up 3-2 – was unlike anything I had felt in years. There were still some 10-15 minutes left, but the outcome was never in doubt. The game ended 3-2 in favor of Manchester City, clinching a 4th league title in 5 seasons. Pep Guardiola was in tears at full time. The players collapsed on the pitch. Kevin De Bruyne, the footballing robot himself, jogged to the dressing room while letting out screams of relief and joy that fully represented the catharsis of one of the wildest football matches ever. 

My favorite sports moments are the ones that make me cry. The ones that so fully remove me from my current reality and transport me to a place where all I can do is feel. These 5 minutes on a May Sunday in Manchester took me to that place and will forever be etched into my heart because of that. 

City ’til I die. 

……….

Jordan Kyrou’s Game Winner That Wasn’t

Sports do not exist in a vacuum. Our enjoyment of the moments which comprise this or any other list depend entirely upon the context in which we experience them. 

On May 27th, 2022, just 5 days after Manchester City’s epic, agonizing victory had taken me on the emotional journey of the year already, my dad and I were in the Enterprise Center for game 6 of the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche’s 2nd round Stanley Cup Playoff series. I had bought tickets the night before, following an inspiring Blues comeback victory in game 5, and I was letting myself believe that my favorite hockey team actually could come back from a 3-1 series defecit against the world beating Avalanche. 

The building was deafening that night. We barely sat down through nearly 2 and a half hours of breathless playoff hockey. To be there with my dad made the game and experience all the more special. 

Midway through the second period. Brayden Schenn pounced on a Jack Johnson miscue and raced up the ice towards the Avalanche goal in a 2-on-1 rush with Jordan Kyrou in tow. Directly in front of where we were sitting, Schenn patiently bided his time before dishing a perfect pass for Kyrou to fire into the back of the net to give the Blues a 2-1 lead. 

I will never forget the noise that erupted from Enterprise Center when Kyrou scored. The utter bedlam of 20,000 people all celebrating, believing, willing the Blues to victory. I hugged a stranger. I high-fived anyone within arm’s reach. I celebrated with my dad. 

The Avalanche ended up winning the game, and the series, on a Darren Helm goal with less than 5 seconds remaining in regulation – the latest series winning goal in Stanley Cup Playoff history. The night ended in heartbreak and despondence, but for one brief, glorious moment there was belief. I will forever cherish that moment from a special night. 

……….

Everybody Loves The Acclaimed

I represent the story of so many wrestling fans. As a young boy, I was captivated by the stories and drama I could watch week in and week out. I immersed myself in the characters and believed in all of it. I loved it because it felt real. Eventually, I learned the ‘dirty truth’ of wrestling being a pre-scripted show being played out by trained actors. I fell out of love with it and eventually stopped watching all together for years at a time. I would tune in sporadically and keep tabs from a distance, but it had gone from a fandom to a casual interest. 

My fandom returned in August of 2021 when CM Punk, my favorite wrestler and a childhood idol, made his grand return to wrestling at AEW’s debut episode of ‘Rampage’ after 7 years away. I tuned in each week to be reunited with my hero, to be reminded of why I had fallen in love with this whole thing in the first place. CM Punk’s return captivated me and fully immersed me in AEW, a promotion that I had only been familiar with from a distance. 

CM Punk’s return may have been what brought me back to wrestling, but The Acclaimed are the thing that keeps me. 

The catchphrase shouting, freestyle rapping, uber charismatic homegrown stars of Tony Khan’s promotion captured my heart and felt like a breath of fresh air from the moment I first saw them. I had never seen anything quite like The Acclaimed and I loved them for it.

Featuring the openly gay Anthony Bowens, The Acclaimed are the kind of act that wrestling and its history of outright and ingrained homophobia has traditionally been hostile and unkind towards. But with their bright pink ring attire, signature war cry, freestyle raps, wrestling style, and unabashed personality, The Acclaimed have not only not shied away from their status as an LGBTQ+ surrogate, but they seem to intentionally lean into it – to rapturous adoration and wild popularity. The Acclaimed are incredibly fun and great in their own right, but they also represent everything that wrestling can and should be. 

Their homegrown, authentic popularity was justly rewarded in September of this year with an AEW Tag Title match against the similarly excellent team of Swerve in Our Glory. Everyone watching only wanted one outcome and each move was greeted with a white hot crowd desperate for a coronation of AEW’s hottest tag team. A wonderful match ended the only right way, with The Acclaimed standing tall and earning their first title reign. 

Wrestling, at its best, is perfect. This was wrestling at its best.

……….

The Albert Pujols 700 Chase Becomes Real

“5 wants back.”

I have been searching all year for the words to describe what Albert Pujols’ Cardinals farewell tour meant to me as a baseball fan. My childhood hero, my favorite baseball player, the one who made me fall in love with baseball in the first place, returning back to St. Louis after 10 years away, for one final season. When the news first broke, I had the same answer for anyone who asked me how I felt about it: “I don’t care if he strikes out every at bat, I get to cheer for my childhood hero one last time.”

Sure, he may have been only 21 home runs shy of 700, but this was not the player we had last seen wearing Cardinal red 10 years ago. This was a 42 year old slugger, hampered by injuries, some 6 years removed from his last league average offensive season. The possibility of Pujols reaching 700 just did not feel reasonable. 

But then things changed. Pujols had a wonderful home run derby that could have been a moment of its own on this list, which seemed to serve as the catalyst for a second half renaissance. Quite plainly, he just…started going off. He hit a ball to the moon against Toronto, he had a 4 hit game in Colorado, he unleashed the swaggiest pimp job of his career after sinking the Brewers with 2 home runs on an August Sunday, he tagged a pinch hit grand slam against the Rockies. Suddenly, Albert Pujols was a mere 10 home runs shy of 700 with some 40 games left to play. 

Could it really happen? Surely not. Surely Pujols was merely in the middle of a brief surge and he would regress quickly back to his pre-All Star break struggles. Surely he was still too far away. But…it was only 10 home runs!

On August 20th, against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field, the chase became real. 

Pujols launched a 2nd inning home run off Madison Bumgarner. In the 4th inning, he launched another. In the 6th inning, he scorched a double off the top of the wall. In the 7th inning, he hit an identical double off the top of the left field wall. In total, Pujols finished the night 4-4 with 2 home runs, 2 doubles, and 4 batted balls with an exit velocity over 100 MPH. Now at 692 home runs, this was no longer just a player in the midst of a hot stretch, this was the Albert Pujols we had known 15 years ago. 700 was real. 

The Cardinals ended up winning the game 16-7. Paul Goldschmidt had 4 RBI’s en route to his eventual NL MVP. Lars Nootbaar hit an inside the park home run. Nolan Gorman hit an RBI single playing in his hometown for the first time. Nolan Arenado made an outrageous barehanded play. The Cardinals were in a stretch where they would win 15 of 16 games and take a division lead they would not relinquish. The Pujols 700 chase, combined with the announced retirement and subsequent farewell tour of Yadier Molina, along with the MVP level play of Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt came together to create the most fun season of Cardinals baseball I have ever experienced – and this night in Arizona was the most fun game in this blast of a season. 

The Albert Pujols 700 chase was my favorite sports story of 2022. August 20th in Arizona was the night that story became real. 

……….

Vegas, Seattle and the Wildest WNBA Playoff Game

2022 just had to be the Aces year. Entering the franchise’s 5th season in Las Vegas after relocating from San Antonio, the Aces were poised to finally break through their recent playoff agony and win that first WNBA championship that had proven so elusive thus far. The team had a superstar new head coach in Becky Hammond, whom they had lured away from the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs with the most lucrative coaching salary in W history. They had recently inked extensions with Chelsea Grey, Dearica Hamby, Kelsey Plum, and former league MVP A’ja Wilson. They rolled into the playoffs as the league’s #1 overall seed on the back of a 26-10 regular season before blasting their way through a depleted Phoenix team in the first round. This was a juggernaut of a team with every piece falling into place. 

Waiting for Vegas in the second round of the playoffs was the Seattle Storm. Armed with former league MVP Breanna Stewart and the legendary Sue Bird in her final WNBA season, the stage was set for an epic series. The dominant team of destiny Aces against the beleaguered but defiant Storm, hoping to send Bird (and Tina Charles) out on top while grasping onto the last bits of a fading dynasty. 

With a raucous Seattle crowd as the backdrop and a 1-1 series deadlock, the two teams engaged in the a game 3 for the ages and the most entertaining basketball game of 2022. 

The end of regulation was unlike anything I have ever seen. Just watch it for yourself. 

In a season where she would win her second league MVP along with her first DPOY, game 3 was A’ja Wilson at her best – playing all 45 minutes while scoring a game high 34 points to go along with 12 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. Sue Bird’s game winner that wasn’t nearly added an all time highlight to the reel of the greatest player in league history so far. 3 lead changes in the final 6 seconds. Clutch bucket after clutch bucket. Chelsea Grey taking over in overtime. This game had everything and left me utterly breathless and exhausted. 

In a year of great basketball, this was the best game of 2022 and the crown jewel in the WNBA’s 25th season. 

Thanks for reading.

-Ryan

The Time is Now for the Blues to Trade Kevin Shattenkirk

Wait, wait wait; hold on just a second. The Blues are 20-13-5, currently in comfortable possession of a playoff spot, and the biggest current team need is defense, as the Blues have a -3 overall goal differential. So, keeping all of that in mind, why on earth would the Blues want to trade Shattenkirk, one of their top 4 defensemen?

Well, first off and in all honesty, Kevin Shattenkirk is not re-signing with the St. Louis Blues when his contract ends at the end of this 2016-17 season. Obviously, as a complete outsider with no real knowledge of the negotiations, I can’t say that for sure. But, what I do know is that Shattenkirk is from New York, has clear interest in playing in New York, and has not signed an extension with the Blues yet.

I believe that if Shattenkirk was genuinely interested in staying in St. Louis, he would have already signed an extension. From what I’ve seen, Shattenkirk has a clear intent in testing his free agent market.

And for good reason.

Shattenkirk can serve as an absolute asset to any team. He is a bona fide top 4 defender, capable of putting up 50-60 points a season and captaining a power play. Offensive defensemen capable of playing top 4 minutes are sought after in this league like water in a desert.

The Blues have one of these commodities, and they can’t let him get away with nothing to show for.

Now, I love to win as much as the next guy, believe me, but sometimes a team simply has to sacrifice the present to secure a more successful future. This is one of those scenarios as the Blues, coming off of an appearance in the conference finals, are again in position to make a significant playoff run with a winning team.

However, the Blues are not a young, up and coming team that can realistically expect to be building their way towards a Stanley Cup. This is a team that looks to be right in their window of opportunity, and either needs to maximize that window, or start building towards the future.

Top line center Paul Stastny is 31 years old and 2017-18 is the final year on his contract. Top pairing defenseman Jay Bouwmeester is 33 and not getting any younger. Depth players such as Scottie Upshall and Kyle Brodziak are both in their mid-30’s, Alexander Steen is 32 as well and top players such as Jaden Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko, Alex Pietrangelo and David Perron are all in their primes.

The Blues definitely do have young talent such as Robby Fabbri, Colton Parayko, and even Vladimir Tarasenko, still just a young 25 years old, but the team itself cannot reasonably be considered ‘young’.

With that in mind, the Blues’ window is closing for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, I just named 9 players off the top of my head that are either in or past their primes, including 5 of those players that are on the wrong side of 30 years old.

Secondly, the Blues have very little money to spend and room to navigate with their payroll. The NHL salary cap is currently set at $73 million, and the Blues are sitting at roughly $71.9 million, which – if my math is correct – gives them $1.1 million to work with. Or, in hockey terms, the Blues have two Ty Rattie’s worth of salary cap space.

So, aside from the fact that I don’t believe he’s interested in re-signing in St. Louis, the Blues have virtually no chance of meeting Kevin Shattenkirk’s projected $7 million per year demand. And, like I said earlier, the Blues cannot let Shattenkirk simply walk away in free agency without anything to show for him.

Now, the most reasonable thing for the Blues to do right now would be to wait right up until the February 28th trade deadline, and then trade Shattenkirk then. However, the title of this article was not ‘The Blues Should Trade Kevin Shattenkirk on February 28th’, it was ‘The Blues Should Trade Kevin Shattenkirk Right Now’.

According to TSN insider Darren Dreger, the trade market for defensemen is hot right now, and Shattenkirk would presumably go straight to the front of the line. Dreger mentioned the New York Rangers as a particular team looking for defense help in a “tough market, with so many teams after the same thing.”

When I heard Dreger say as much on the first intermission report during NBCSN’s intermission report last night, my interest was immediately piqued.

Why? Well, Shattenkirk is from New York and has pointed out his interest in playing for the Rangers or Islanders in his hometown. The Rangers are looking for a defenseman, and Shattenkirk just so happens to be a defenseman, so this works out quite nicely, eh?

So why should Doug Armstrong trade Shattenkirk now instead of waiting until the end of February and getting a better handle on his team’s ability to compete for a Stanley Cup? Because the Rangers are interested now, and the Blues can take advantage of that for an overpay.

By openly making Shattenkirk available right now, the Blues could beat all other teams to the market and spark a bidding war, considering that “so many teams” are after a defenseman.

Will the Blues be able to contend better in 2017 without Shattenkirk? No, and there’s no argument to be made that the Blues will be better off this season without Shattenkirk. In that light, it’s tough to look at the current state of the Blues and decide that making a trade right now that will make the team worse is the thing to do.

But Doug Armstrong must look towards the future, and in the future his greatest commodity is about set to walk away from the team. The Blues need to swallow their pride with Shattenkirk, deal him now while the market is hot, and get what they can for him before it’s too late.

Winter Classic 2017: A Star is Showcased and Optimism is Born

What a way to start 2017, eh?

After slogging through a 2016 that included the Rams bolting for LA, no baseball postseason for the first time in 6 years, and another Blues season ending without a Stanley Cup, the city of St. Louis is clearly in need of a successful 2017 among the two professional teams.

And how about that for a start.

After uncertainty about weather rose over the past few days – the beginning of the game was unofficially delayed nearly 30 minutes because of a rainstorm this morning – the skies held off for St. Louis’ first outdoor game. And just like the name would have you believe, this game truly was a classic.

Now, don’t get me wrong, beating the Chicago Blackhawks is one of the greatest thing in the world just by itself. But in the Winter Classic? In front of a sellout crowd at Busch Stadium? On national television? By a hefty and dominant score line of 4-1?

It just doesn’t get much better.

Vladimir Tarasenko and Jori Lehtera celebrate the Blues’ 3rd goal. Photo by J.B. Forbes for St. Louis Post-Dispatch

After giving up a bizarre goal just 62 seconds into the game, the Blues settled in and dominated the Blackhawks in front of 46,556 fans, mostly wearing blue – the first time blue has ever significantly outnumbered red at Busch Stadium.

Out-shooting the ‘Hawks 35-22, controlling 64% of the face-offs, and scoring three late goals, the Blues left no doubt about who the better team was today. If it weren’t for a strange bounce on a Michael Kempny shot, Chicago would have been held off the board.

Aside from winning one of the biggest and most important games in franchise history, the Blues played as well today as they have in a long, long time.

This was the first time since December 9th that the Blues have held an opponent under 2 goals, and only the fifth time all season. Jake Allen, badly in need of a good performance, stopped 22 of 23 Chicago shots and looked absolutely fantastic all day. Allen made important saves when he needed to, including a wild glove save on a shot that had deflected up and resembled a pop fly, and never once seemed to be the shaky, uncertain goaltender he has been for the first half of this season.

Jake Allen makes one of his 22 saves on a Vinnie Hinestroza (#48) shot. Photo by J.B. Forbes for St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The Blues defense was steady and solid all day, allowing only 22 shots, including just 4 shots on Chicago’s 4 power plays, and holding the dynamic Chicago trio of Artemi Panarin, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to just 5 combined shots. And, while Chicago’s superstars were mostly invisible, St. Louis’ star shone brightest.

Vladimir Tarasenko was the best player on the ice all day long, and it wasn’t even close.

Aside from scoring two 3rd period goals, including the game winner, Tarasenko registered a game high 9 shots in 15:49 of ice time, and was a consistently dominant presence. Every time #91 had the puck on his stick, he was moving forward towards the Chicago net and looking to score.

But, for two periods, he was held off the scoresheet in frustrating fashion. Tarasenko was stopped by Corey Crawford on a 2nd period breakaway, and later rang a shot off the short side goal post. But his persistence was rewarded with two third period goals, and St. Louis star was awarded the game’s first star.

In the words of NBC’s Eddie Olczyk, “Every time Tarasenko touches the puck, this crowd get to the edge of their seats.” That’s not remotely exaggerated, and is a solid representation of the type of player Tarasenko is.

But, up until recently, St. Louis has been the only place able to truly recognize the transcendent talent that our #91 is. We’ve seen him score 40 goals, register 70 points in back to back season, and torment the Blackhawks with 9 goals and 13 points in his last 8 games against Chicago, including scoring 6 goals against the Hawks in the teams’ first round playoff series last year. However, among all of those accomplishments has never been a signature moment; one moment that can be looked back upon as the essence of Vladimir Tarasenko. At least, there hasn’t been a moment that occurred on a big stage.

Until now.

Vladimir Tarasenko celebrates his 2nd goal of the game. Photo by Christian Gooden for St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Aside from being a spectacle for the city, this game was made for Vladimir Tarasenko. St. Louis’ first outdoor game at Busch Stadium and a division rivalry against the hated Blackhawks on national television, the stage was set for Tarasenko to have his signature moment and ascend into the ranks of the hockey elite.

Scoring the winning goals in the Winter Classic is a pretty special ‘moment’, so consider Tarasenko’s status as a superstar officially validated. He has arrived, and the Blues have arrived with him.

Aside from proving himself as one of the game’s elite players, Vladimir Tarasenko helped provide the Blues and the city of St. Louis with the much needed optimism that I mentioned earlier in this article.

Having played inconsistently up to this point, the Blues finished 2016 on a particularly sour note, getting shut out for the first time this season at the hands of Nashville in an ugly 4-0 home loss. Just three days later, the Blues have utterly dominated the team holding the top spot in the entire western conference, and suddenly things feel different.

I hate to use this cliche, but the Blues haven’t lost yet in 2017, and that feels important for a team and a city coming off a rough year. The Blues had an opportunity to start off their 2017 year on a bright note, and they capitalized on it in an extreme way.

The Blues salute the home crowd after defeating the Blackhawks 4-1 in the 2017 Winter Classic. Photo by J.B. Forbed for St. Louis Post-Dispatch

This win feels like a launching pad for the Blues, putting their 2016 defensive woes behind them, fully embracing a winning brand of hockey, and maybe finally making that long awaited deep playoff run into June.

The Winter Classic was designed to be a spectacle that would bring the city together and showcase our passion and love for the Blues. What we got a was a dominant division win, a superstar showcase party for Vladimir Tarasenko, and renewed sense of optimism for the year to come.

Let’s just hope the Blues keep it rolling.