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Opinion | Caitlin Clark, Simone Biles, big men scoring TDs. How sports brought us joy

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Opinion | Caitlin Clark, Simone Biles, big men scoring TDs. How sports brought us joy

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Sports thrill, amaze and sometimes infuriate us. They fill our time and give us immediate connections to people. They teach us lessons in perseverance and cooperation.

Mostly, though, sports make us happy, and this year was no exception.

Here are a few of the things in sports that brought us joy in 2024:

Paris Olympics

After two Olympics under draconian (but necessary) restrictions — no fans, no families, rigorous COVID protocols — the Paris Games were a blessed return to normalcy. Arenas were packed, athletes were cheered on by their loved ones and fans were thrilled just to be there. By that measure alone, the Paris Olympics were a resounding success.

But Paris surpassed that. At a time when even supporters are questioning the cost of hosting the Olympics, Paris showed that shiny new arenas that are soon to be white elephants aren’t necessarily better. The temporary arena for beach volleyball at the foot of the Eiffel Tower became the signature backdrop of the Games, and the events in the Grand Palais provided spectacular visuals. Having so many events in the city center and reachable by Metro made the Olympics feel approachable.

And the athletic performances — ooh, la, la! Simone Biles cemented her legacy as the greatest gymnast her sport has ever seen with three more gold medals. Léon Marchand delighted the French with one dominant performance after another in the pool. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone shattered the record books. The U.S. basketball teams proved once again to be the gold standard.

The Olympics are meant to be both a celebration of excellence and a challenge to go beyond. Paris more than delivered on both accounts.

Rise of women’s sports

After years of increasing interest in women’s sports, this was the year they exploded with blockbuster TV ratings, record attendance and sponsors clamoring for a piece of the action. It was a beautiful thing to see — even if it was long overdue.

Women athletes have long been begging for more coverage and exposure, promising that if they were given the spotlight, they would deliver. And that they did. The NCAA women’s basketball tournament was far more compelling than the men’s version, so much so that the title game between Caitlin Clark’s Iowa and South Carolina outdrew the men’s championship, 18.9 million to 14.8 million.

That interest in Clark and fellow rookies Angel Reese and Cameron Brink carried over to the WNBA Draft and then the regular season, when 22 regular-season games averaged 1 million or more viewers. The WNBA Finals, which saw the New York Liberty defeat the Minnesota Lynx, had its highest ratings in 25 years, and each game was sold out.

The NWSL broke 2 million in attendance for the first time in the league’s 12-year history and the Kansas City Current opened the first stadium built specifically for a women’s team. Women’s NCAA volleyball continued to be a hot ticket, and not one, not two, but three professional leagues either began play or announced plans to do so. Nelly Korda created a buzz as she won tournament after tournament, ultimately tying Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam’s record with five consecutive wins.

And on and on it went. And on and on it will, hopefully, go.

“These people aren’t supporting women’s sports to check a box,” Clark said in an interview for TIME Magazine’s athlete of the year. “It’s going to be the new normal.”

Caitlin Clark

Few athletes have had a year like Caitlin Clark.

She had what seemed like the entire country watching as she became major college basketball’s all-time leading scorer. She dazzled fans with her logo 3s and “Oh my God, did you see that?” passes while leading Iowa to the national title game for a second consecutive season.

She was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft and the league’s Rookie of the Year. She brought a legion of new fans to women’s sports, the WNBA in particular, and helped ensure those “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” T-shirts weren’t false hope.

Clark knows her success is partly because of the foundation set by the women who came before her. But every sport has players who take the game to another level by transcending it — think Tiger, Magic and Bird, Serena — and Clark is now in their company.

Simone Biles

Watching Simone Biles shine never gets old.

Biles added three more Olympic gold medals to her haul in Paris, becoming only the third woman to win two individual all-around titles and the first to do it in non-consecutive Games. She led the U.S. women to another team title, and won gold on vault with a skill that might never be seen again.

It’s not only her athletic talent that’s awe-inspiring, though. Biles, who turned 27 in March, turned the notion that gymnastics is a sport for teenagers on its head. Being forced to withdraw from much of the Tokyo Olympics because of a case of “the twisties” exposed the mental health struggles that too many athletes — too many people — endure, and made it OK to have conversations about it.

“I accomplished way more than my wildest dreams, not just at this Olympics, but in the sport. So I can’t be mad at my performances,” Biles said in Paris.

“A couple of years ago, I didn’t think I’d be back here at an Olympic Games. Competing and walking away with four medals, I’m not mad about it,” Biles continued. “I’m pretty proud of myself.”

LeBron James and Bronny James

Regardless of whether you think Bronny James deserves a spot on the Los Angeles Lakers roster or not, seeing him and LeBron James take the floor together in the season opener was one of the loveliest and most heartwarming moments of the year.

No father and son have ever played together in the NBA, and only a handful have in other sports. While it’s amazing that LeBron James has had the longevity to make this milestone even possible, this was about more than him doing yet another thing unlikely to be matched.

The difficulties of James’ childhood are well-known, and he’s talked often about being raised without a father. His success in basketball has allowed him and wife Savannah to give their kids the advantages and stability he never had growing up, and he’s a proud and doting dad.

For him to stand beside Bronny on the court, it was an achievement that was as much personal as it was professional.

“Something I will never forget,” LeBron James said after the game. “No matter how old I get, no matter how my memory may fade as I get older or whatever, I will never forget that moment.”

Decoy, Shohei Ohtani’s dog

Sure, his human had a colossal year, winning his first World Series title and third NL MVP award after becoming the first player in MLB history with a 50-homer, 50-steal season. But you didn’t have to be a Los Angeles Dodgers fan — or even a fan of baseball! — to delight in Decoy, Shohei Ohtani’s adorable dog.

The world got its first glimpse of the brown-and-white Kooikerhondje in November 2023, when he was with Ohtani when the Japanese star learned he’d won his second MVP title. Since then, Decoy has been a fixture by Ohtani’s side, joining him at the ballpark, sponsor events and reprising his starring role in the MVP announcement. He even rode with Ohtani and his wife in the World Series parade.

Decoy is so popular the Dodgers immortalized him with a bobblehead and had him “throw” out the first pitch the night they were given away.

Ohtani might be baseball’s best player, but the game’s real MVP — Most Valuable Pup — is Decoy.

Pop-Tarts Bowl

The Gremlin-like proliferation of second-tier college bowl games is one of the more ridiculous occurrences of the last couple of decades, surpassed only by the ridiculousness of some of the names. The Cure Bowl? The Pinstripe Bowl? The 68 Ventures Bowl? What are we doing here, people?

There’s one, though, that is worthy of all the attention. That has brought joy and innovation and interest to the bowl season, along with a prize superior to all others.

I’m talking, of course, about the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

With three “edible” mascots and a fan vote to decide what flavor the winner gets, I think we can all agree the Pop-Tarts Bowl is a considerable upgrade from predecessors like the Cheez-It Bowl, the Camping World Bowl and the MicronPC Bowl. And that was before they retooled the trophy to make it a functioning toaster!

The trick for any bowl not in the College Football Playoff is to stand out and get people who don’t care about either of the teams playing to tune in. If you can’t get up for seeing a cartoon version of a Pop-Tart on the sidelines and watching college players revert to their Pee-Wee days when the ultimate post-game snack is brought out, you obviously hate fun.

Wrexham AFC

The Welsh soccer team with the Hollywood connection continues its meteoric rise, in position for promotion again this season. Stay on this trajectory, and Wrexham could be in the Premier League as early as the 2026-27 season.

Wrexham was in shambles when actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the team in 2020. The oldest soccer team in Wales, and third-oldest association team in the world, it had fallen out of the Football League in 2008 and was struggling financially. Making it to the Premier League seemed like a fantasy.

After promotions the last two seasons, Wrexham is now in League One, two levels below the EPL. The top two teams in League One automatically earn promotion to the Championship, as does the winner of a playoff between the next four teams. Wrexham has been among League One’s top teams all season, occasionally making it into the top two but otherwise sitting comfortably in a playoff spot.

Yes, the team is benefitting from Reynolds and McElhenney’s money and connections. But it’s still a feel-good story of a downtrodden team, and the city it represents, rising from the ashes.

Big men scoring touchdowns

It defies logic that a giant human could somehow evade a horde of smaller and theoretically faster opponents to make it into the end zone. Without passing out, no less. Kind of like a bumblebee flying when the physics are all wrong.

And yet, it happens. Not often enough, mind you. But this season we’ve had Leonard Williams (6-foot-5, 300 pounds) rumble 92 yards for a pick-six, and offensive tackle Dan Skipper (6-foot-9, 330 pounds) take a 9-yard pass to the house. Honorable mention to Khalen Saunders (6 feet, 324 pounds), who lumbered 35 yards after picking off Patrick Mahomes.

Glorious. Simply glorious.

Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets

The four-time MVP and the Jets heaped more misery on their long-suffering fans with yet another abysmal season. For the rest of us, Rodgers and the Jets were the gift that kept on giving.

Few athletes have destroyed their reputation as quickly or as thoroughly as Rodgers, whose arrogance, hypocrisy and enthusiastic embrace of conspiracy theories have worn beyond thin. Watching him get his comeuppance each week has been one of the great joys of the NFL season.

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