Most Iconic Sports Moments of the Year

Throughout NFL history, many of the most heartbreaking moments came when kickers missed hugely important field goals in the playoffs. That trend repeated itself in early 2019, when the Philadelphia Eagles met the Chicago Bears in a wild card round playoff game. Down 16-15 with 10 seconds left in the game, Bears kicker and former Eagle Cody Parkey trotted out for a 43-yard field goal attempt. His kick clanged the left upright, tumbled down to the crossbar, and bounced off it and bounced back onto the field, no good — ending the Bears’ season.

After years of dominance by the UConn Huskies, several other programs began to come to prominence in NCAA women’s basketball. The 2019 championship game pitted reigning champion Notre Dame against Baylor. Notre Dame overcame a 12-point halftime deficit to draw level in the final minute. Baylor’s Chloe Jackson gave the Bears an 82-80 lead with six seconds remaining. Arike Ogunbowale, who hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give Notre Dame the 2018 title, drew a late foul, but could only hit one of two free throws — and Baylor held on for a dramatic 82-81 win for the school’s third national championship.

The fact that 15-year-old American tennis player Coco Gauff qualified for Wimbledon, becoming the youngest player to do so in the Open Era, is remarkable. But Gauff showed she is the future of tennis when she upset legend Venus Williams in the competition’s opening round. Williams, who was 39 during the match, had already won four Grand Slam titles before Gauff was even born.

Though the 2019 Super Bowl was a dud of a game, its importance in NFL history is clear. The New England Patriots smothered the Los Angeles Rams 13-3, giving Tom Brady his sixth Super Bowl ring. He is now the only player with as many championships.

Damian Lillard added to his well-earned reputation as a clutch performer in the 2019 NBA playoffs. In the first round, the Portland Trail Blazers matched up against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Up 3-1, Lillard and the Trail Blazers wanted to end the series at home. Tied at 115 with the clock winding down, Lillard pulled up from 37 feet away from the basket and buried a 3-pointer, giving him 50 points in the series and clinching victory.

Heading into the 2019 NHL playoffs, the Tampa Bay Lighting looked to be the best team in hockey by a mile. The Lightning won 62 regular season games — no other team had more than 50. Tampa Bay also scored 325 goals, while no other team had more than 289. Yet the Lightning were swept out of the playoffs by the eighth-seed Columbus Blue Jackets. In what may be the biggest upset in NHL playoff history, Columbus looked by far the better team, winning three of the four games by multiple goals, including a 7-3 blowout to end Tampa Bay’s season.

Plenty of longshots have won the Kentucky Derby, but the 2019 edition featured something entirely new to the Run for the Roses — a winner being disqualified for a foul. Maximum Security initially appeared to triumph, but stewards noticed something was amiss. During the race, the horse appeared to have committed a “race riding” violation, meaning it cut across the path of another horse. This can be dangerous and is forbidden, and several jockeys lodged objections after the race. After a 22-minute review, Maximum Security was disqualified and Country House was given the Kentucky Derby victory.

With 1:49 left in the NFC Championship game, tied 20-20, New Orleans drove down to the Los Angeles 13-yard line. On 3rd and 10, wide receiver Tommylee Lewis was laid out by Rams defensive back Nickell Robey-Coleman while running a route — a clear foul. Yet no flag was thrown. Had a foul been called, New Orleans could have run down the clock and set up for a late chip-shot field goal attempt. Instead, the game went into overtime, where the Rams eventually won. The controversy led to changes in the NFL’s pass interference rule, but the Saints will forever feel aggrieved by the blown call.

Year after year, tennis legends Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer provide us with epic moments and thrilling finishes. Their showdown at the 2019 Wimbledon Final was one for the ages. In the decisive fifth set, both players refused to lose, and the match had to be decided by the first-ever fifth-set tiebreak in Wimbledon history. Djokovic eventually triumphed in that set 13-12 (7-3) to earn his 16th major. The final was just a few minutes short of five hours — the longest Wimbledon championship match.

Andy Ruiz Jr. provided boxing fans with an underdog story for the ages. After gold medalist boxer Anthony Joshua’s planned opponent failed a drug test ahead of their heavyweight bout at Madison Square Garden, he needed a new one. Ruiz was selected and came into the fight as a heavy underdog — emphasis on heavy. The rotund Ruiz proved to be more than ready, though, as he pummeled Joshua over the course of the fight. Ruiz knocked Joshua to the canvas twice in the seventh round, and the referee stopped the fight, making Ruiz the heavyweight champion of the world.

In 2019, two all-time NBA greats retired with an All-Star sendoff worthy of their tremendous careers. Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki are far and away the most beloved players in Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks history, respectively. The NBA made each of them a special roster addition to the two NBA All-Star teams in recognition of their contributions to the game, much to the delight of fans.

The Washington Nationals’ improbable 2019 World Series run nearly fell short so many times — including in their first postseason game, a win or go home wild card matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers. Down 3-0 in the second inning and 3-1 going into the eighth, Washington’s season seemed to be in serious peril. With two outs in the eighth, the Nats loaded the bases against All-Star reliever Josh Hader, with 20-year-old outfielder Juan Soto coming to the plate. Soto lined a single into right field, and the ball skipped under the glove of the right fielder, allowing all three runners to score. The Nats would defend the 4-3 lead and continue their run that would result in a World Series title.

After becoming the first No. 1 seeded team to lose in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in 2018, the University of Virginia Cavaliers were in search of redemption. After reaching the Final Four, they faced a huge test in the Auburn Tigers. The Cavs were down 62-60 with just seven seconds remaining. Kyle Guy went up for a 3-pointer, but was fouled with less than a second left in the game. Under a remarkable amount of pressure, Guy sank all three free throws, and Virginia prevailed on its way to the NCAA Championship.

Perhaps sports fans were spoiled by how exciting the three previous NCAA title games have been, as most were expecting another classic when Alabama and Clemson squared off for the third time in four seasons. It appeared the Tigers and Tide would play another close game, when the first quarter ended 14-13 in Clemson’s favor. But then the Tigers took their play to another level. When all was said and done, Clemson won 44-16 — Alabama’s largest defeat by far under coach Nick Saban.

Simone Biles has already established herself as a gymnastics legend, with four gold medals in the 2016 Olympics. Yet her legend continues to grow. In the summer of 2019, Biles did something no other gymnast has done. She completed a triple-double, meaning she did a double backflip with three twists — a move known as the Biles II — enroute to winning her sixth women’s title at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships.

When the St. Louis Blues finally hoisted their franchise’s first Stanley Cup, it represented the culmination of a season’s worth of hard work. At the beginning of the year, the Blues were a mess — their coach had been fired in November and they were in last place on Jan. 3. But the team did not give up and managed to earn a spot in the playoffs, beating all comers on the way to the Finals. The team’s tenacious defense smothered the Boston Bruins in a road Game 7, leading to a 4-1 victory and the conclusion to one of the most remarkable season-long turnarounds in sports history.

The Washington Nationals have known only heartbreak in the postseason, but that all changed in 2019. Utility player Howie Kendrick was already a postseason hero for hitting the 10th-inning grand slam that sent the Nats to the NLCS. Kendrick came up huge again in game seven of the World Series, when he hit an opposite-field two-run shot off reliever Will Harris in the seventh inning that clanged into the foul pole. The homer turned Washington’s 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead — a lead they would not relinquish on their way to the franchise’s first title.

Toronto Raptors followed the bouncing ball to their first NBA championship this past spring. One of the biggest wins Raptors history occurred in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinal against the Philadelphia 76ers, when forward Kawhi Leonard poured in 41 points for the Toronto victory. His final basket would prove to be legendary. With four seconds left, and the score tied at 90-90, Leonard launched a jump shot that bounced on the rim four times before falling through the basket to give Toronto the victory as time ran out. The Raptors would go on to win their first NBA championship.

The U.S. Women’s National Team was bold, brash, and by far the best team in the 2019 Women’s World Cup. Perhaps no moment better personified the team’s swagger than when star Alex Morgan scored a sublime header against England in the semi-finals and celebrated by pretending to take a sip of tea. The USWNT would go on to win the Final against the Netherlands, 2-0. The team was unstoppable, outscoring their opponents 26-3 throughout all their World Cup matches.

In one of the greatest comeback stories in sports, Tiger Woods overcame years of injuries, multiple surgeries, and personal problems to win the 2019 Masters. Until Woods’ triumph at Augusta, he had not won a major since 2008 and had not won the Masters since 2005. The 2019 Masters title was his fifth, giving the 43-year-old Woods 15 major victories, three behind all-time leader Jack Nicklaus. Unlike his prior 14 major wins, Woods’ victory at the 2019 Masters was the first time he had to rally to win a major. Previously, Woods was either tied or ahead going into the last round.