Like every year, 2025 offered us a wide-assortment of stories from the world of sports. This is my look back at the year that was. Keep in mind this is not just a traditional list of events and winners - although those are included as well - but more of a testament to those people, events, stories and occurrences that affect sports and how we view it. With that, let's start the list.
25. Cam Little's 68-yard field goal. The Jacksonville Jaguar kicker successfully hit the longest field goal in NFL history, breaking Justin Tucker's record of 66 yards. This is important because it came after the institution of the K-Ball, which allows the kickers to kicker longer field goals more accurately, provided they have the requisite skill and leg strength. I would not be surprised if this record is broken next season.
24. TGL Debuts. The Golf League debuted from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, in which teams of 4 players compete against each other, indoors, electronically and with a rotating and revolving green to simulate different holes.
23. J.J. Spaun wins the U.S. Open. Not only is this Spaun's first major, but he won in dramatic fashion nailing almost every putt from any distance, and announcing himself as a legitimate threat on the PGA Tour for any tournament.
22. Florida Panthers win second straight Stanley Cup. The team brough a unique combination of skilled players, and brutally tough players - oftentimes the same players - to keep Lord Stanley in Fort Lauderdale.
21. Inter Miami FC wins the MLS Cup. Nobody really cares about the MLS, but Leonel Messi is the greatest soccer player of all time, and he capped a season in which he won the League MVP with a playoff MVP and a championship.
20. Carlos Alcaraz wins French Open over Janik Skinner in Epic 5-Setter after being down 0-2. This is seriously one of the best tennis matches of all time. Only ranked this low because it was on clay.
19. Scottie Scheffler wins The Open Championship. The World's Best Golfer wins the World's most popular and oldest tournament.
18. Mavericks trade Luka Doncic to the Lakers. This absolutely shocking, astonishing, spell-binding trade was expected by absolutely nobody, and will likely affect the NBA for a decade plus.
17. Clayton Kershaw's 3,000th strikeout. As baseball strategy changes, after the current crop of aging stars, it may take an extremely long time to see another pitcher hit this plateau, if ever.
16. Torpedo Bats. The use of torpedo bats was the talk of the entire league in the spring, and the home runs flew out of ballparks because of it. (See number 12).
15. Janik Skinner wins Wimbledon. As we transition away from the Big Three (Federer, Nadal and Djokovic - with Djokovic still hanging on to his top form a bit), all tennis fans are loving the Janik Skinner/Carlos Alcaraz future. Skinner is on top now, but Alcaraz will be gunning for him in EVERY tournament.
14. Sherrone Moore fired as Michigan football coach/then detainer by authorities. Out of the blue, Michigan fired Moore for impregnating a staffer (allegedly), and he did not take the news well as he was later picked up for stalking. This story is still playing out.
13. Las Vegas Aces sweep Phoenix Mercury for WNBA Title. The Aces cement their status in the pantheon of dynasties with this victory behind superstar and Athlete of the Year candidate A'ja Wilson.
12. Shohei Ohtani/Aaron Judge MVPS. This is the 4th MVP for Ohtani, and 2nd consecutive. Judge won his 3rd, and 2nd consecutive. This is the first time ever that both MVPs have won their league's award in back-to-back years.
11. Inaugural 4-Nations Cup. This international hockey tournament was a resounding success, especially with Conner McDavid scoring an OT winner for Canada over the United States in the final.
10. NBA/WNBA Legends retire. Diana Taurasi and Gregg Popovich retire, leaving the game as among the best player/coach to ever do it.
9. Around the Horn's last show. This remarkable run giving sports journalists a television way to present their argument on the day's sports happenings aired its last episode, and the sporting world will never be the same - especially in how it is covered by journalists.
8. LA Dodgers win Epic 18-inning World Series game (and the Series). Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the World Series MVP after winning three of the four games in the series.
7. Katie Ledecky at the World Swimming Championships. Ledecky won her 7th consecutive gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle event - her 30th overall.
6. Alex Ovechkin passes Wayne Gretzky for goals scored. One of the more remarkable records in sports was taken by the Russian legend.
5. Ryder Cup. Europe continues its dominance over the United States, despite constantly being outranked by the US players.
4. Lane Kiffin leaves Ole Miss for LSU. So what - it's just a coaching change. No, it isn't. Kiffin's decision left the entire country on edge as he decided between staying, going to LSU or going to UF. When he decided to coach in Baton Rouge, the Mississippi administration immediately gave him his walking papers, leaving the 6th-ranked team without its head coach for the upcoming playoffs.
3. Plane Crash outside Washington National kills 67. A military helicopter collided with a commuter plane carrying athletes, coaches, trainers, and family members from a national gymnastics competition as the plane approached Washington National Airport in suburban DC. This accident unleased a political and socio-economic firestorm on the country.
2. FBI arrests Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier in Illegal Gambling Probe. And no, it wasn't for fixing games. Billups and Rozier reportedly recruited whales to play in illegal, underground, fixed poker matches for some alleged organized crime members. This story will go for a couple of more years and I think we are going to hear a lot more details about this scheme.
1. Rory McIlroy wins Masters. The Northern Irish golfer finally earns the ever-elusive green jacket.
