Patrick Mahomes threw a walk-off pass to win the Super Bowl. Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off grand slam to win a World Series game. Stephen Curry said 鈥渘uit, nuit鈥� to win an Olympic basketball title in Paris, Noah Lyles won 100-meter gold by about the smallest margin possible, and Sabrina Ionescu won a WNBA Finals game with a 30-foot heave.
Depending on who you rooted for, some made you cheer, some left you crushed. Some were the sort that have never been seen before, in a good way: Shohei Ohtani, on the night he started baseball's 50-50 club, drove in 10 runs in a performance for the ages. Some were the sort that have never been seen before, in a jarring way: Scottie Scheffler, the world's No. 1 golfer, got arrested before the second round of the PGA Championship and taken away in handcuffs to jail 鈥� where he had a sandwich and started warming up for the tee time he ended up making.
And maybe the best way to describe what we had, when all these things happened, are the words Washington Commanders right guard Sam Cosmi used after his team beat the Chicago Bears with a Hail Mary pass:
鈥淔ront-row seats," Cosmi said, "to something amazing.鈥�
"Nuit nuit"
made his Olympic debut one to remember and saved his best for last. He hit four 3-pointers in the final minutes, each shot more dramatic than the last, to seal the U.S. win over host France for gold.
Curry's signature celebration is the 鈥渘ight night," where he puts his hands together at the side of his face, as if it's time to go to sleep. In Paris, he brought shirts that made it perfectly clear to the French what that meant 鈥� yes, the message written on the shirts was "nuit nuit.鈥�
A Super walk-off ...
Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes did something no one has ever done: on the final play of the title game.
San Francisco kicked a field goal to open overtime of Super Bowl 58, and Mahomes had 75 yards to go to try and answer. He scrambled for eight yards on fourth-and-1 to keep the drive alive 鈥� a huge play that probably very few remember. He went 8 for 8 on passes in overtime, engineering a perfect drive.
The finale: a 3-yard toss to Mecole Hardman with 3 seconds left in overtime, and the Chiefs were back-to-back champions.
... and an Olympic walk-off
OK, technically, the won the Olympic bronze medal with a kick (a conversion, they call it).
running the length of the field and into history.
Sedrick got the ball with about 8 seconds left, ran through three Australia defenders and took it all the way down the field for a try that tied the game at 12-12 with no time left. Her kick won bronze for the Americans, a result that made star Ilona Maher 鈥� the undisputed face of the sport in the U.S. 鈥� an even bigger name and breathed new life into the sport in a country where it still has tons of room to grow.
The women's Final Four
In this case, let's make three games 鈥� Iowa vs. UConn, South Carolina vs. N.C. State, then South Carolina vs. Iowa for the title 鈥� one moment.
Maybe a movement is the better word.
Caitlin Clark's record-setting year, South Carolina's undefeated run to the national title, UConn's return to the Final Four, they were all part of a scintillating year for women's basketball. The WNBA saw enormous growth 鈥� Clark, its rookie of the year, helped fuel that in a big way 鈥� and more eyeballs were on the game than ever before.
On the track
Everything at an Olympics is a moment for someone; a lifetime of work typically coming down to a few seconds.
But in Paris, a few stood out more than others.
Start with of the marathon to win her third distance medal 鈥� this one gold. Or Cole Hocker, looking like Forrest Gump in to beat the two favorites in the men鈥檚 1,500-meter run.
The highlight, of course, was in the 100-meter dash. He ran the fastest time of his life and didn't take the lead until the absolute last instant, a finish that even had commentators guessing wrong about who actually prevailed.
The big swings
Of the 346,000 swings taken by batters in Major League Baseball this year, three probably jumped out more than the rest.
There was in World Series history to move the Los Angeles Dodgers a step closer to beating the New York Yankees and winning the title.
There was for the New York Mets with a home run to lift them past the Milwaukee Brewers in the deciding game of an NL wild-card series.
And then there was in a season like none other. On the night in Miami when he joined 鈥� created, really 鈥� baseball's 50-homer, 50-steal club, he hit three home runs, stole two bases and drove in 10 runs on a 6-for-6 night.
From way downtown
... down by one, time running out, let-it-fly ... a 59-footer to give the Cavaliers a 121-119 win over Dallas.
But the buzzer-beater of the year: From just inside of the logo, her 3-pointer with 1 second left gave the New York Liberty a win over the Minnesota Lynx in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals 鈥� and the Liberty would win the title in five games.
Scheffler's year
World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler had a year of moments 鈥� most of them great (nine wins worldwide), one of them bizarre (the arrest at the PGA Championship).
But the signature moment of 2024 for Scheffler might have been weeping as 鈥淭he Star-Spangled Banner鈥� played in honor in Paris. He rallied from six shots back with a final-round 62 to win the gold.
A 鈥楤obbery鈥�
On the way to winning the Stanley Cup, Florida Panthers goalie
Bobrovsky 鈥� out of 鈥渄esperation,鈥� he鈥檇 say later 鈥� dove backward across the goal mouth, reached out blindly with his left wrist and somehow got his glove side in the way of Tampa Bay's Matt Dumba鈥檚 shot to keep the game tied at 2-2. It wound up being a game-saver; the Panthers got a goal from for a
Saquon goes up, up and away
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley used a spin move 鈥� and a leap 鈥� on the same play. was one of the signature moves of 2024 in the NFL.
It made a 14-yard reception unforgettable. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said.
A prayer answered ... and not answered
They call it a 鈥淗ail Mary鈥� in football, the desperation pass into the end zone with no time left to try and win a game.
pulled it off against the Chicago Bears, Jayden Daniels' throw going into team lore. And against Miami, only to have officials 鈥� who originally said the Hokies won 鈥� overrule the call after replay review, sealing a win for the Hurricanes.
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AP sports:
Tim Reynolds, The Canadian Press
