Wrapping Up the 2024-25 Sports Year

We still have four more Saturdays before the new Sports Year kicks off on August 30 with a football game between Ohio State and Texas.  Still plenty of time to go to the driving range, play frisbee at Nobel Park, or go down to the lakes.  Enjoy it while you can.  In the meantime, here's a brief wrap-up of the Sports Year just passed:

Congratulations to the University of Kentucky, where the men's basketball team made it past the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since COVID.  Congratulations to Scottie Scheffler, who is playing the best golf we've seen since the heyday of Tiger Woods.  Congratulations to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the first Dodgers/Yankees World Series since 1981.  Congratulations to the Washington Football Team, who reached the NFC title game for the first time since the 1991-92 season.  Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs, who went to their fifth Super Bowl in six seasons.  Congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles, who gave us a type of old school dominating performance we don't often see in the NFL these days.  Congratulations to Western Kentucky, who reached the C-USA title game and played in the Boca Raton Bowl.  Congratulations to the Florida Gators, who are both the NCAA men's basketball champions and the holders of the Unofficial College Football Championship.  Congratulations to the Louisiana State Tigers, who won the College World Series.

But most of all:

Congratulations to Paducah Tilghman, who won the KHSAA 4A football championship with a stirring 27-20 victory over Franklin Co.

Congratulations to Vanderbilt, who beat Alabama and Auburn in football, went to the men's basketball tournament for the first time since 2016, and won the SEC Tournament in baseball.

Congratulations to Murray State, who beat Ole Miss at Ole Miss and beat Duke at Duke to be one of only eight schools to reach the College World Series.  Going out to Omaha, and seeing the Murray State gear for sale next to that of LSU, Arkansas, UCLA, and other college baseball powerhouses was the high point of the Sports Year for me.

Enjoy the rest of the summer -- if you get to Paxton Park, and they still have Nu Grape Soda, please have one for me.

NFL23 Update: Hail to the Chiefs (Again)!

Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs! When I searched "Kansas City Chiefs" on Google a second ago, fireworks flew across the screen of my laptop.

And deservedly so! For my money, not I of the previous LVII Super Bowls was any more entertaining than last night's event featuring the Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, Travis Kelce, Harrison Butker, Chris Jones and the rest of the victor Chiefs; the worthy San Francisco 49ers; Taylor Swift and (hopefully) her future in-laws; Jim Nantz and Tony Romo; Andra Day, Post Malone and Reba McEntire; Dan Marino; Usher and Alicia Keys, and the rest. Starting at about 5 Central, I watched with my family virtually every second of CBS's remaining five hours of TV coverage from Las Vegas, and, my gosh, I felt so thankful to have gotten to experience the thing.

Furthermore, the Chiefs have now won two Super Bowls in a row, played in four since 2019 (winning three) and now are now 4-2 in all-time Super Bowl appearances. All time, that's the sixth-most Super Bowl appearances and fifth-most victories (along with the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants) for Kansas City, which also won more AFL championships (three) than any other team. What a franchise!

Did you know that the Chiefs' defense from 1966 through 1971 was apparently nicknamed "The Redwood Forest?" I did not. In fact, I don't think I exactly knew that the Chiefs' offense from 2018 through 2021 was apparently nicknamed "The Legion of Doom." I remember hearing Nantz and others say "The Legion of Doom" when I happened to be watching football games off mute during that time period, but I guess I always figured they were just making something up out of thin air to promote some comic-book movie that was out at the time and never paid much attention. Anyway, I learned both of these notes this morning from the Chiefs' Wikipedia page, which I intend to read over the next several days as I think back over my favorite memories from my very fun Sunday night.

Of course, at my typical HP pace, that will likely take me right through to kickoff of the Miami Dolphins' victory in Super Bowl LIX (Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans). Hail to the Chiefs, and comments flow!