By Jared Brush ’15 | Staff Writer

Return of the King

After being defeated by the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals, many did not know what the future held for Lebron James; for a month there was speculation that he was going to return to Cleveland after he opted out of his current contract with the Miami Heat. On July 12, James made the decision to return to his hometown and rejoin the Cleveland Cavaliers. It only took eight hours after the announcement to sell out the season tickets.

The New and the Old

In his sophomore season, Damian Lillard hit a series-clinching three point shot with less than a second left on the clock to help the Portland Trail Blazers defeat the Houston Rockets, 99-98 in six games. It was the first time that Portland had won a playoff series in 14 years. In a different series, veteran Vince Carter hit a game-winning three to take a 2-1 series lead against the San Antonio Spurs. San Antonio would eventually win the series in game seven, but many experts did not believe the series would be as close as it was.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mejFtEY5faU]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSVzjUP8dVs]

UConn’s Magical Runs

For the second time in Division I history, a college has won both the men’s and women’s basketball national championship.  University of Connecticut first did this in 2004 and once again 2014. On Apr. 7, the seventh ranked men’s basketball team completed their Cinderella story by defeating Kentucky, 60-54. It was unlikely that Connecticut was going to make it to the championship but they did, knocking off #4 Michigan State and #1 Florida on their way there, led by senior point guard Shabazz Napier. The women’s bracket it was different story. Connecticut came into the championship undefeated facing Notre Dame, who was also undefeated at the time. On paper, this game was going to be historical showdown but UConn came out strong and defeated Notre Dame by 21.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mFSArCY3To]

Throwing Like a Girl

In the Little League World Series, 13 year old Mo’ne Davis became the first female pitcher to win a Little League World Series game. Not only did she win, but threw a shutout in her first game for the Taney Dragons of Philadelphia, and even threw a remarkable 70 mile per hour fastball. The all-star drew media attention and became the first Little Leaguer to appear on Sports Illustrated cover. In her last game against Nevada, she drew ESPN’s biggest audience for baseball in seven years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL8o9OA30c0

The Catch

New York Giant’s Odell Beckham Jr. had historical rookie season, but what really defined his season was the touchdown catch he made against the Dallas Cowboys. Jumping and extending his arm, Beckham only needed three fingers to snag the football and land into the end zone. Even though the Cowboys won 31-28, the highlight of the game was the catch and was everywhere on social media. Odell Beckham Jr. became a household name throughout the nation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqkQynkYDgs

American Hero

In the winter Olympics, U.S. Men’s hockey team faced national rival Russia and went into a shootout. With a win, the U.S. would clinch their group and move on. In the eight-round shootout, T.J. Oshie took six shots for the U.S. scoring on four of them including the game winner. To cap off this historical performance, Oshie went to say after the game, “The American Heroes are wearing camo. That’s not me.”

The Brick Wall

U.S. Men’s soccer entered the 2014 World Cup with no chance in Group F, or also known as the “Group of Death”. Beating Ghana, drawing Portugal and losing to Germany, the U.S. unbelievably advanced into the round of 16 against Belgium. Unfortunately losing 2-1 in extra time, the U.S. was defeated. The only reason why it went into overtime was because of U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard. Belgium dominated on offense, and forced Howard to make 16 saves, a world cup record. Putting the team on his back and keeping the ball out of the net, Howard made this game one of the best in U.S. history

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRV1hZ0eCas

The Last Hit

In his final at bat in Yankee Stadium, New York Yankee legend Derek Jeter hit a walk-off RBI single to beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5. Jeter was then congratulated by numerous Yankee legends on the first base line. It was a fitting end for this legend to cap off his last home game with a walk-off hit.

The Best Damn Corner In the Game

The NFC Championship game between two divisional rivals, the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, came down to one game-deciding play. With 40 seconds left to play, Colin Kaepernick threw the ball intended for Michael Crabtree but tipped by Richard Sherman and into Malcolm Smith’s hands to win the game 23-17. After the game, Erin Andrews found Sherman, who then gave one of the most emotional and controversial post-game interviews in NFL history. He claimed to be the best cornerback in the game and called out Crabtree for being a “sorry receiver”.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R538VQ3ucY4]

A Not So “Bummy” Performance

A dynasty was created when San Francisco Giants won their third world series in the last five years. This championship was greatly contributed by Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner’s pitching performance. Pitching 52.2 innings, an all-time record, Bumgarner achieved a 1.03 ERA over the whole postseason which ranks as the third lowest in major league baseball history. His championship performance was near perfection when he pitched a 0.43 ERA, and shutout the last five innings of game seven, clinching the world series. It was truly one of the greatest championship performances of all time in all sports