Top 10 Best Sports Moments In 2016 by Camdyn Ames and Jake Martino

2016 has been a rough year for a lot of us, but I'm here to remind you that there were some bright spots in the year. Here are my top 10 sports moments this year! 10. Golden State Warriors Make Regular Season History

Last season the Golden State Warriors, led by MVP Steph Curry broke the record for most wins in a regular season going 73-9 in the 2015-2016 season, passing the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls team record of 72-10. 9. Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz Fights

Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz had two of the most anticipated fights of the year. The first fight ended via submission when McGregor tapped out at 4:12. McGregor would take the rematch though via decision in what some say was an all-time classic fight.

8. Leicester City Defies 5000-1 Odds, Wins EPL

7. Michael Phelps Cements Olympic Legacy

Phelps entered the 2016 Rio Olympics with 23 medals. He started off his historic last Olympics with a gold medal in the 4x100 freestyle relay. Two days later he won a gold medal in the 200 Butterfly, and a gold in the 4x200 freestyle relay. He would go one to win gold in the 200 medley, and the 4x100 medley relay. He won a silver medal in the 100 butterfly.

6. Peyton Retires a Champion

Peyton Manning ended a miraculous career with a Super Bowl 50 championship. The 18 year veteran finished the game 13/23 for 141 yards, and threw 1 interception. This Super Bowl was not highlighted by Manning though, it was highlighted by the defense led by Von Miller. Miller had 6 tackles and 2.5 sacks to lead Denver to a 24-10 victory.

5. Kobe Drops 60 In Final Game

Kobe Bryant is arguably one of the best basketball players ever. He finished his career with 5 NBA Championships, 1 season MVP, and 2 finals MVP. Kobe’s final game was on April 13th when the Lakers hosted the Utah Jazz. The Lakers won 101-96, Kobe finished 22-50 from the field, 6-21 from 3 point, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 60 points. Honestly I feel like Kobe could’ve put those numbers up any night he wanted to, but his body just wouldn’t allow him to.

4. Dee Gordon Homers After José Fernández Death

After the tragic death of 24-year old superstar ace pitcher of the Miami Marlins Jose Fernandez, teammate Dee Gordon took it to heart. The day Fernandez was announced dead, Gordon visited Marlins Park and took a knee while setting flowers and a Marlins cap on the pitching mound. The next day the Marlins played at home against the New York Mets. Gordon who led off for Miami took the first pitch from the right side of the plate, and in Fernandez’s helmet. Two pitches later he sent a Bartolo Colon fastball into the right field bleachers. Gordon got so emotional he cried while rounding the bases.

3. Kris Jenkins Wins College Basketball National Championship On Buzzer-Beater

Before the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament i selected North Carolina to go all the way and win the whole thing, and when they made it to the championship game I was pumped. I watched the whole game and was upset when UNC was down in the second half, but Marcus Paige led his team to a comeback with a three pointer to tie the game at 74 with 4.7 seconds left. After Jay Wright took a timeout Villanova came out onto the floor Ryan Arcidiacono caught the inbounds pass and sprinted down the court, as he turned his back to the basket I thought that there would be no shot that they won this game on a buzzer beater, but Ryan flipped the ball to Kris Jenkins as he put the ball up and the buzzer rang and everyone just stared at the ball as it fell through the hoop. At that moment i knew my bracket dreams had been busted.

2. LeBron Brings a Title To Cleveland

52 years, 52 long awaiting years. That is how many years the city of Cleveland had gone without a championship in any pro sport, until LeBron James, the hometown kid, the kid from Akron did what he promised to do, and that was to give Cleveland a championship. The 73-9 Golden State Warriors led the Cavaliers 3-1 in the NBA Finals series, until the Cavs won Game 5, and Game 6 to tie the series. LeBron had the epic block on Andre Iguodala, and Kyrie hit the game winner as the Cavs won Game 7 93-87.

1. Cubs End 108 Year Title Drought

The longest World Series drought in the MLB. The Chicago Cubs had not won a World Series in 108 years. Until this year when Joe Maddon managed the Cubs to a World Series championship, and it was a great one. After being down 3-1 (hmmm… sounds familiar) the Cubs battled back and played Game 7 in Cleveland against the Indians. Rajai Davis hit a homerun in the bottom of the 8th to tie the game at 6. The game finished tied, 6-6 still, but rain caused a delay going into the 10th inning. The Cubs came out hot scoring twice to make it 8-7, Rajai Davis struck again in the bottom half of the inning with a single to score Brandon Guyer, but that was all Cleveland could muster as the Cubs won the 2016 World Series. Jake Martino’s 2016 Highlight Reel

Hopefully you are still reading this article to catch my highlight reel of 2016. It was full of crazy events with teams and players rising up to defeat the odds and claim the victory. 2016 also showed us that anything is possible. Here is the (quick) rundown of what happened.

2016 broke my heart from the start when Villanova hit the game winner to beat North Carolina in the National Championship
Peyton Manning retired a champion beating the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50
The Black Mamba put up 60 in his final NBA game
The Golden State Warriors had the best regular season in NBA History
Lebron brought the championship back to the Cleveland for the first time in 52 years
Leichester City beat 5000-1 odds to stun everyone and capture the EPL title
UFC Champion Conor McGregor retired… For one day
Portugal beat France to win the European Championship in Paris
Rio became the center of the sports world
Then Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and Simone Biles made Olympic History
Kevin Durant changed teams and went to the team he lost to, the Golden State Warriors
Which then led to Russell Westbrook becoming unstoppable
Dee Gordon payed tribute to fallen teammate Jose Fernandez with a first inning lead off home-run.
Kaepernick took a knee
Cubs erased a 108 year drought and beat the curse and won the World Series after being down 3-1