NFL
By: Greg Rector
2023 has been an interesting year in the world of sports. No Olympic Games and no more COVID-19 outbreaks which has certainly made for a much better landscape for the world of sports. Notice I used WORLD twice so far? That means I will talk about sports stories that aren’t the NFL MLB NHL or NBA related only. Here are my top five stories in the world of sports in 2023.
Women’s World Cup of Soccer
Australia and New Zealand hosted the Women’s World Cup of Soccer and it was a magnificent display to be certain even if Team USA didn’t win and neither did Team Canada. The global growth of the women’s game has been phenomenal and Spain was a well-deserving champion as they defeated England 1-0 in the final. The host side placed fourth and that’s their highest finish ever. The Australian government immediately afterward put up 200 million Australian dollars towards growing the women’s game. Dear US and Canadian sponsors and governments please follow suit.
Why is this my number one story for 2023 you might be asking? Simply put these athletes display more character and determination than I see in any other professional sports league. So often relegated to being the second banana to the men’s game something I have fought against up here in Canada as our ladies actually score goals and have been far more competitive than the men have been in Canada and the USA.
Yes I know both Canada and the US men are going to be in the next World Cup in 2026 as hosts but I hold out zero hope for either side. What made me appreciate this Women’s World Cup of Soccer was seeing non-traditional teams make the finals and actually beat the US and Canada who had won the Olympic gold in 2021.
The global growth of the game is a huge sign that times they are changing. For me it’s about damn time that it happened.
Professional Women’s Hockey League
Billie Jean King is involved with this new league and yes the reasons I stated above for putting the women’s games on this list are similar as to why I support the women and this new league. There will be six teams just like the good old NHL was for many years.
Why do I support this new league so much? Because I despise the brand of hockey played by the men in the NHL and I have for a very long time. I don’t like seeing the size of the players in the NHL anymore. The women’s game resembles the game I grew up loving where the skills aren’t taking a second seat to the physicality of the NHL game.
Hockey that I learned to play was based upon skating passing and shooting the puck and these women play that style of hockey. Just a shame so many great players of the past like Hayley Wickenheiser or Cammie Granato didn’t have a true professional league to call home. I certainly hope for much better with the PWHL.
Christine Sinclair
Yes I’m back to the women’s world of soccer. Last night I turned 59 and I celebrated by watching the final fixture for the leading goal scorer ever in women’s international soccer. Christine Sinclair played for Team Canada for 23 years and scored 190 goals for Team Canada.
She is personally responsible for making the women’s game grow to the degree it has in Canada and because of her efforts Canada will finally also have a women’s professional league starting in April of 2025.
48.112 fans watched her final fixture live for one night only at Christine Sinclair Place normally the place where she first played soccer as a five year old is called BC Place. She played for 57 minutes which symbolized playing the first 45 minutes and her famous number 12 and it was still incredible to see her playing soccer. I can tell you this much when the TV ratings come out the numbers will be huge.
Christine Sinclair isn’t a spoiled rich kid the lady has earned everything she has gotten just like you and I do every day. To have played 331 matches for Canada and always displaying a sense of sportsmanship and seeing her fight for equal pay for women has been a pleasure to watch.
World Cup Of Basketball
So Team USA how did you manage at the World Cup of Basketball? Not very well and I loved seeing it happen. Why? Because the growth of the game has again grown and folks in the United States best not consider themselves to be the rulers of the world of basketball anymore.
Team Germany won the tournament and Team USA lost to Team Canada and finished fourth. Now don’t go crying and whining that LeBron James Kevin Durant and Steph Curry would have made it an easy victory for Team USA. Yes the big boys all said they want to play in the Paris Olympic games next summer. I have some sad news for those who believe the old guys can keep up in the FIBA rules of the game.
Can Team USA win the Olympic gold? Certainly it’s possible but you don’t think that Serbia Germany and Canada aren’t loaded to shoot down the big boys? Then you’re crazy in my opinion. The growth of the game of basketball shows through in the NBA and every team has international players who all grow up wanting two things that none of the American players grow up with and that’s the fact in the rest of the world these players dream about playing in the NBA but they also dream and work their butts off to be world champions or Olympic champions to a huge degree.
Now make no mistake I still love Team USA as I am a dual citizen but seeing my other country (Canada) knock off the United States for the bronze medal was so satisfying. How can a nation of just 37 million people compete with the USA in basketball? How are these European players so good? It all goes to go back to the fact that the rest of world treasures world championships and Olympic gold medals more than the Americans do.
Shohei Ohtani
Okay my final top story involves a professional sport. Ohtani is about to sign a new contract and the numbers being discussed are astronomical. His contract will be over $500 million dollars and could go quite higher.
I’m only showing Ohtani as a hitter since that’s all he will be doing in the 2024 MLB season thanks to elbow surgery he won’t be pitching until 2025. His 2023 season led to his second consecutive MVP Award. The reason he is going to break the bank when his next deal is announced likely next Monday.
His international appeal is amazing especially, since he is a very quiet man who eschews being in the spotlight. Whoever lands Ohtani will be in a prime position to win a World Series or two or three.
So those are my top five sports stories for 2023. Let me know what your top sports stories in the comments.
