By George B. Eichorn
What a Year in Sports! 2020 was a watershed year across America in Sports – some of it good and some of it bad.
Top ten national stories
- The national pandemic, CO-VID19, disrupts professional, college and amateur sports worldwide. Fans are banned from attending most events and the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games and March Madness NCAA Tournament are canceled.
- Sudden death of Kobe Bryant rocks the sports and entertainment world, one of nine persons (including his 13-year-old daughter) to perish in a California helicopter crash.
- Kansas City Chiefs win their second Super Bowl and first in 55 years.
- Los Angeles Dodgers end a 33-year drought to win the World Series in six games over the Tampa Bay Rays.
- LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers win the NBA World Championship over the Miami Heat, 4 games to 2, at the NBA “bubble” in Orlando. It’s LA’s first title in 10 seasons.
- College Football crowns a new national champion as the LSU Tigers, led by quarterback Joe Burrows, defeat Clemson 42-25 last January at New Orleans. Clemson’s 29-game winning streak was stopped.
- Alabama ends 2020 as the No. 1-rated college football team followed by Clemson, Ohio State and Notre Dame.
- Tampa Bay Lightning win their first Stanley Cup in 16 years, 4 games to 2 over the Dallas Stars, at a neutral site in Edmonton, Canada.
- Dustin Johnson dominates men’s professional golf by winning The Masters and the PGA Tour championship.
- (tie) Chase Elliott stuns NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with his championship season. At age 24, Chase joined his father, NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, as a Cup Series champion.
(tie) Takuma Sato wins the Indianapolis 500 yet loses the IndyCar points championship to Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing.
OTHERS TO MENTION: Authentic wins the Kentucky Derby; US Open men’s champ is Bryson DeChambeau; PGA Championship won by Colin Morikawa; US Open tennis champions are Dominic Thiem (men) and Naomi Osaka (women); Rafael Nadal (men) and Iga Swiatek (women) take the French Open; Sei Young Kim is the women’s PGA Championship and Rolex Player of the Year, and Liverpool captures the Premier League championship in Great Britain.
DEATHS: Herb Adderley, Fred Akers, Peter Alliss, Dick Allen, Aldo Andretti, John Andretti, Lou Brock, Kobe Bryant, Joe Bugel, Colby Cave, Ashley Cooper, Willie Davis, Fred Dean, Tom Dempsey, Chris Doleman, Terry Duerod, Pat Dye, Ed Farmer, Tony Fernandez, Whitey Ford, David Forney, Jim Frey, David “Smokey” Gaines, Bob Gibson, Phyllis George, Kevin Greene, Jim Hanifan, Sid Hartman, Dale Hawerchuk, Tommy Heinsohn, Paul Hornung, Eddie Johnson, Tarvaris Jasckson, Rafer Johnson, K.C. Jones, Al Kaline, Matt Keough, Jim Kiick, Pierre Lacroix, Don Larsen, Johnny Majors, Diego Maradona, Roger Mayweather, John McNamara, Howie Meeker, Bob Miller, Bobby Mitchell, Joe Morgan, Jeannie Morris, Stirling Moss, Curly Neal, Phil Niekro, Lute Olson, Ray Perkins, George Perles, Ron Perranoski, Maurice Petty, Henri Richard, Cliff Robinson, Pepper Rodgers, Travis Roy, Doug Sanders, Gayle Sayers, Tom Seaver, Jack Scott, Eddie Shack, Don Shula, Jerry Sloan, Pat Stapleton, Hank Steinbrenner, David Stern, Leo Sugar, Eddie Sutton, Kurt Thomas, John Thompson, Wes Unseld, Claudell Washington, Bob Watson, Tom Webster, Willie Wood, Mickey Wright, Sam Wyche, Jimmy Wynn & Bill Yeoman.
