The Sports Year - 2015
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by NickF8
A little look at what might be going on in the world of sports in 2015.
January
The Dallas Cowboys, led by their lethal Romo-to-Vick combination, easily charge through the regular season, but hit a roadblock in the NFC Championship facing the rival Philadelphia Eagles. Vick, in his first year back from a long stay in the pen, has moved to WR at the request of owner Jerry Jones, to replace the recently retired Terrell Owens.
Much controversy is started when NFL Commish Roger Goddell, trying to end a recent run of NFL players’ drug troubles, informs all players that locker rooms will be sniffed down by police dogs before the game starts. The police dogs, apparently not having forgotten about Mr. Vick’s high crimes, decide to “mark” all of the equipment in his locker, rendering it unusable. Without their best weapon, the Cowboys get into a defensive struggle, and lose 3-0 after a last second field goal is placed perfectly by Tony Romo but pulled wide left by 47 year-old kicker Mike Vanderjagt.
March
The NCAA Tournament field, now containing 256 teams after another request by Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim that the field be extended (after his 10-19 squad got snubbed in ’14), is chosen after a grueling 72 hours (including one death and two minor injuries) of straight debating by the tournament committee. Apparently the main concern is that Alcorn St.’s road win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee didn’t really earn them a 24 seed in the East region with their RPI of just 196. .
The month-long tournament, now a crapshoot with so many teams involved, takes a grueling toll on all the players and coaches. It takes such a toll, in fact, it forces Roy Williams, coach of the champion North Carolina Tarheels, into an early retirement only one win away from passing Dean Smith on the career wins list.
June
The newest NBA expansion team, the Las Vegas Neons, wins the NBA Finals in six-games over the Portland Trail Blazers. Two-time MVP Greg Oden struggles in the series, fouling out in every game. Oden, known for his tendency to commit fouls in big games, says, “I was barely touching anyone out there. I’m not sure the referees were seeing things correctly.”
Many people around the country clean up after the Neons’ championship, as the team was going for 35-to-1 odds before the season.
July
Alex Rodriguez records his 800th home run, and announces that this will be his last year in baseball. A-Rod, having passed Barry Bonds in April of ’14, extends his home run lead to a point that many experts think will not ever be broken. Rodriguez reaches the mark as a New York Yankee, in his second stint in the Big Apple after winning three championships with the Los Angeles Angels.
Rodriguez says that the Yankees are forcing his 40-year-old body out the door, because the team is moving into rebuilding mode. With the youngest average roster in baseball, the Yankees currently own the worst record in the American League, but have many promising young prospects getting significant major league experience.
October
For the first time ever, the World Series will be played in a nine-game format, at the mandate of new commissioner Scott Boras. Boras has made many changes to the game since taking over for Bud Selig in 2010, including rewriting many rules regarding player salaries, arbitration, free agency, and MLB officials' salary limits. Boras, named the richest man in the world by Money magazine, has built his own stadium for the World Series to be played in, eliminating the need for an All-Star game to determine home-field advantage.
The Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays square off in the series, with the D-backs winning in 8 games. Because the series is so close and hard fought, brothers BJ and Justin Upton are named co-MVP’s, the first time ever a member of the losing team has won a part of the award.
