As we end the 2024 sports year, we at NEOSportsInsiders wish to take you back to some of the funny, strange and weird events that happened the past 12 months. It’s been a crazy, fun year so we might need two articles!
FUN: Welcome home, Los!? Need a realtor?
Carlos Santana was just signed again by the Guardians, his third stint with the club. But for those of you who didn’t know something odd happened the day prior to his move. Santana had been a Cleveland homeowner since his first time with the club. He and his wife finally sold his Brathenal home for $700,000 after three long years on the market.
But (Car)LO(s) and behold, the next day the former Cleveland draft pick resigned with his first club! He might be on the move for a new place…so realtors? What can you find for Slamtana?
CRAZY: Norwegians with ringers on their Nations League squad?
The Norwegian Anti-doping Agency was tasked with drug testing their athletes prior to the Nations League competition in soccer recently. Stars like Erling Haaland and Antonia Musa were on the list. But also on the list were Einar Gundersen and Jorgen Juve. So what’s so big about that? Juve was famous for scoring the winning goal over Germany…in 1936…in front of Adolf Hitler! Gundersen and Juve have been dead since at least 1982! Might need to update that spreadsheet!
Juve is third from the left. Picture taken 1936!
FUN: The Turkish John Wick!
Yusef Dikec was NOT a newcomer to the Olympics. The gentleman from Turkey had competed in the international event since 2008. But the 51 year old became the “John Wick” of the tournament with his tee shirt and simple glasses as he grabbed the silver medal with a hand in his pocket!
In Olympic shooting, they use equipment like:
> A lens to avoid blur
> A lens for better precision
> ear protectors for noiseThen a Turkish guy (Dikeç) came and won a silver medal with just a pair of GLASSES. pic.twitter.com/tobbeIifiS
— Turkish Archives (@TurkishArc) July 31, 2024
His story sparked many to use his pose in their celebrations.
WILD: Just give Josh the MVP after this!!
Josh Allen is a Fantasy Football machine. The quarterback for the Buffalo Bills became only the 2nd player in the past 19 years to accomplish this feat: a rushing touchdown and later, a passing touchdown and a TD reception all on the same play? Confused? Watch this!
Josh Allen tonight now officially has a:
• pass TD (2)
• rush TD
• rec TDAllen becomes the first QB in NFL history to EVER do all the three in the same game.
Historic in the snow. pic.twitter.com/erOAF2hCeZ
— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) December 2, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
WEIRD: DWade…as good as Ronaldo? Not the way you THINK!
Dwayne Wade was an NBA superstar in his 17 years in the league. The Marquette grad and Chicago native was arguably the Miami Heat’s most important draft pick, bringing a championship to South Beach. And his team awarded him with what could be the absolute WORST statue ever!
D.A. Varela/Miami Herald / Getty Images
I think it looks more like Morpheus from The Matrix. What do you think?
But was this worse than Ronaldo’s?
Adam Davy – PA Images via Getty Images
DUMB: LPGA had a chance to be THE story of the year…but THIS killed it!
The Solheim Cup is the women’s version of the Ryder Cup. And with the awesome stories of the LPGA this past year with success stories like Charley Hull and Nelly Korda, the LPGA had a chance to finally make headway into the crazy golf storylines this year. But alas, former commissioner, Mollie Marcoux Samaan, dropped the “golf ball” with this fiasco at the international event in Virginia this summer.
The first day of the event was marred by small crowds. But why they were small was the story and the slow reaction by the organization and Samaan sealed her fate.
Here’s the gist of day one from Max Scheiber of Sports Illustrated.
“Many fans heading to Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., used the event’s shuttle service from Jiffy Lube Live, an outdoor concert venue about five miles from the course that was serving as a parking lot. Those fans, after paying $30 for parking and much more for tickets, ended up waiting hours Friday morning in a line that stretched over a mile long.
The outrage was swift. The LPGA’s response was not.”
The transportation issue was one thing, but the response was poor. First, an email was sent Friday afternoon to customers with free tickets for the weekend and promises to do better. (Taken from the Kevin Stefanski playbook!) But the response from Samaan, which came an entire day later, was pretty tone deaf. Spreadsheets? REALLY?
“It’s a complicated question, and again, we were writing spreadsheets and trying to figure it all out…We didn’t have enough buses in the morning, clearly.”
You needed a spreadsheet to tell you…there weren’t enough buses? Almost as tone deaf as the entire Cleveland Browns organization. Well, that’s for another day.
Part two coming…
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