Remember the days when we used to complain at the NBA and TNT for showing the abominable Knicks on national TV during March? Remember when we used to complain about Monday Night Football’s weak schedule and its broadcast team? Well now we don’t get to complain anymore as we continue to live in this world without sports. As we’re in this time, I can’t help but to think about some things/outcomes that haven’t happened and/or never will happen in sports that I wish did. Here’s a list of eleven, and if people like this, I’ll do a part two.
- Floyd Mayweather losing a fight
Between his boring fighting style, dodging top competitors, and history with domestic violence, Floyd Mayweather is one of if not the most despised athletes of the 21st century. The most annoying thing about Mayweather is he’s a villain that was never beaten. He went 50-0 in his career, and that undefeated record is something he’ll definitely brag about for DECADES to come. We never got to see him humbled. It really would’ve been nice to see him hit the canvas. Maybe he’ll get cocky and attempt a comeback where he suffers his first loss. If that never happens, I guess we can all wear 49-1 shirts and pretend he lost.
- LeBron James vs Kobe Bryant NBA Finals
It sucks that we never got to see the two biggest basketball stars in the post Michael Jordan NBA face off against each other in the NBA Finals. In the summer of 2009, Nike made multiple puppet commercials foreshadowing a potential Finals matchup between the two stars. Both of their teams were the top seeds in their respective conferences and made the Conference Finals. A matchup between the two megastars in the 2009 NBA Finals seemed inevitable. Unfortunately for everyone not in Central Florida, the Orlando Magic upset LeBron’s Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals, and we had to settle for a Magic vs Lakers Finals that definitely didn’t have the same appeal as LeBron vs Kobe. In 2010 the Lakers made the Finals again, but LeBron’s top seeded Cavs got upset in the second round by the Boston Celtics. In 2011 LeBron, now a member of the Miami Heat, made the NBA Finals, but Kobe’s Lakers who had made three straight NBA Finals at that point (08-10) ran out of gas and got swept by Dirk Nowitzki’s Dallas Mavericks in the second round. There was hope again for this potential Finals matchup heading into the 2012-2013 season as LeBron’s Heat were the reigning champions and Kobe’s Lakers had just completed an offseason where they acquired Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. The new look Lakers never meshed, and Kobe tore his Achillies towards the end of the season officially ending any hope we had at ever seeing this matchup on the league’s biggest stage. It’s still a bummer.
- The 2007 Patriots, 2015 Kentucky, or 2016 Warriors going all the way
One thing as sports fans we all want to see is the greatest teams, athletes, games, etc. As someone in their 20s, I’m sick of hearing from the older generation about the undefeated 1972 Dolphins or how the 1996 Bulls were the greatest team in NBA history. It’s not because I can’t appreciate the accomplishments of teams before my time. It’s because selfishly I want to witness the best for myself instead of hearing about it after the fact. There have been a couple teams in the 21st Century that have come close to having the best record of all time in their sport. The 2007 Patriots almost had the perfect 19-0 season had it not been for a receiver who was fourth on the depth chart catching a ball against his helmet. In college basketball Kentucky almost went 40-0 in 2015 until they lost in the Final Four to the Wisconsin team they beat in the Final Four the year before. The 2016 Warriors coached by a member of the 1996 Bulls in Steve Kerr set the best record in regular season history at 73-9 breaking the 20 year record of 72-10 previously held by the Bulls. Had it not been for Draymond Green’s suspension or Steph Curry’s decision to not drive on Kevin Love in game 7 during the 2016 Finals we could be having discussions on how the 2016 Warriors are the best team ever. There’s just something special about seeing the best ever. The fact that we came so close to seeing it multiple times without actually seeing it probably hurts more than Draymond’s punch that he got suspended for.
- Michael Jordan comes out of retirement to play for Charlotte
This one not happening isn’t a major disappointment, but I still wish it would’ve happened. The stories about Jordan’s killer instinct, competitiveness, and trash talking have become legendary. Shout out to all the self proclaimed hard core basketball fans who are just now learning about it in the overrated documentary where we’re just being rehashed information about Jordan that’s already publically known!!!!! Jordan alluded to possibly coming back at the age of 50 in his Hall of Fame speech. He’s 57 now, so it seems fair to say we won’t be seeing another “I’m Back” fax (or any faxes for that matter). Seeing Jordan come back and try to defy all laws of aging and actually compete would’ve been entertaining to watch. It’s like when Rocky makes a comeback in the sixth movie……..actually that movie sucked so maybe not the best comparison .
- Tennis to have more than three players
Who’s sick of tennis now? It’s just so stale and uninteresting. The same guys (Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic) win every tournament. Every time I watch a Grand Slam it could easily be a rerun of a previous year and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. What’s fun about seeing the same three guys face off against each other year after year? The Clemson – Alabama matchups and Cavs-Warriors matchups got stale after four years just like these have. Murray and Wawrinka were supposed to make things interesting, but that never really happened. The sport needs some new blood mixed in with the existing top players to increase the excitement around it. Unless it’s Star Wars, we don’t need to see the same thing 1,000 times.
- Horse racing adds a fourth big race
In 2014 California Chrome won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes coming one win short of becoming the first Triple Crown winner since 1978. A year later American Pharaoh was able to win the Belmont Stakes along with the Derby and Preakness to capture the Triple Crown. This was incredible to see. The Triple Crown is supposed to be this elusive achievement that takes a special horse to win. Justify won the title in 2018 three years after American Pharaoh’s Triple Crown. Between two Triple Crown titles and an almost Triple Crown title in a five year stretch, this title suddenly didn’t mean as much. If the solar eclipse that happened in 2017 starts happening every other year, would you care as much? If horse racing had a fourth big race (assuming it’s physically possible to do so) on the same level as the other three Triple Crown races, and the title was renamed to the “Quadruple Crown” then maybe it would be more prestigious and harder to win. Until some changes are made to Horse Racing, the Triple Crown just doesn’t have the same luster I thought it did six years ago.
- Comeback for Derrick Rose
The comeback is one of the best things in sports. In the 21st century we’ve seen the following top athletes come back from devastating injuries: Tom Brady, Adrian Peterson, Peyton Manning, Paul George, and Tiger Woods. Sadly, not every serious injury results in a big time comeback. The biggest star to get injured and not have a successful comeback in recent memory is Derrick Rose. Rose won the 2011 MVP award when he was only in his third season in the league. For the sake of comparison, it took LeBron James six seasons to win an MVP award. D-Rose was supposed to be the heir to Michael Jordan as the next big superstar on the Chicago Bulls. During the first game of the 2012 NBA playoffs, Rose tore his ACL. He missed the entire 2013 season as a result and tore his meniscus 10 games into the 2014 season. By the time he came back from his knee injuries, the old D-Rose was gone. He never made an All-Star team again. Rose and the Bulls were supposed to challenge LeBron in the Eastern Conference for years to come. Instead of that happening, LeBron made eight straight Finals appearances while Chicago was left to wonder what could’ve been.
- Patriots to have played a different NFC playoff team in Super Bowl 51
Everyone knows about the historic comeback by the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 51 against the Atlanta Falcons. What I don’t think people remember is how there were four other NFC playoff teams (ignoring Detroit because well let’s be real) which the Pats could’ve played against that would’ve made for a much more interesting Super Bowl in terms of storylines. New England vs. Dallas would’ve been the battle for America’s team. A Patriots vs. Packers Super Bowl would’ve broken the record for most quarterback GOAT debates on sports talk shows in a two week stretch and possibly produced the greatest Stephen A. and Skip moment of all time. The excitement around a rematch had the Seahawks or Giants made it against the Pats would’ve been a great storyline. However, instead of all those outcomes we got a Falcons team that really had nothing interesting going for them from a storyline perspective. We got the greatest Super Bowl of all time, but is it not the storylines that really count? I’m kidding obviously.
- Elite college coaches going to the pros
I’m tired of watching college coaches dominate and never going to the next level. For coaches like Nick Saban, Geno Auriemma, and Mike Krzyzewski they’ve literally accomplished everything there is to accomplish at the college level. There are no more mountains left for them to climb in the NCAA. My opinion on Geno Auriemma isn’t going to change at all if he wins twelve titles with UCONN instead of eleven. Can they succeed on the professional level is what we’re all left wondering after watching their legendary college careers. Beating Super Mario Bros on the easy level 50 times isn’t that impressive. Sometimes you got to level up.
- The MLS, Little League World Series, College Baseball, and NASCAR all disband
Do people actually like watching these?
- Annoying soccer fans to stop being annoying
You know exactly which fans I’m talking about here. It’s the person who can’t help but tell you that soccer’s the most popular sport in the world. It’s the fan who thinks they sound so freaking cool every time they say the world “Nil” when telling you a score. It’s the guy who thinks he’s some sort of soccer expert because he won a couple FIFA matches. Somehow soccer turned into this hipster sport where a portion of its fans think they’re so much better and smarter than fans of other sports. It’s flat out annoying, and I wish they’d just give it up.