From a euphoric buzzer-beater in Dallas, to a stunner in the Premier League and a startling knockout, here are the top five videos of the week from around the sports World.
This article contains the Top Five Sports Videos of the Week in the 2nd May edition. Videos are featured from the NBA Playoffs, UFC 172, Premier League, a renowned press conference and more. These videos are powered by YouTube. Playback through the article may not work on some devices. If this is the case, each video is provided with an external link below, forwarding you to the actual YouTube webpage. NBA Playoffs: Dallas Triumph From Vince Carter’s Last-Gasp Winner For a few moments, as the ball drifted in the air towards the rim, and the clock expired, the American Airlines Center was silent. That would all change a split second later. After Vince Carter got the final shot off in the game following an inbound pass, it did in fact go in, meaning Dallas Mavericks defeated the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of their NBA Playoffs clash.
Swansea’s Jonjo Shelvey stamped down a Goal of the Season candidate up against Aston Villa in the weekend, firing it from incredibly long-range. Did anyone expect that?
UFC 172: Full Coverage – Jones Shuts Down Teixiera In Bolstering Baltimore » NBA: The Stand Against Racism After a tape of LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling expressing racial remarks surfaced, the league was thrown into an uproar, with players’ protest, sponsorship deals collapsing, and Playoff games were on the verge of cancellation. Then, it was the opposite. Adam Silver issued a lifetime ban to Donald Sterling along with a hefty fan and much more limitations.
NBA: Clippers Bounce Back From Controversy » Football: Dani Alves Eats a Banana Barcelona footballer Dani Alves responded to racism with humor – after a banana was thrown towards him on the pitch as an act of racism, the Brazilian simply opened it up and took a big bite. It went viral on social media as people backed the Barcelona full-back for his response and also prompted a #WeAreAllMonkeys campaign.
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There was plenty of wholesome sporting action in the month of February, including the Super Bowl, NBA All-Star weekend, Champions League and more. We look back at it all in this comprehensive monthly review.
In this article, we take a look back at the best news stories and biggest sporting events for the past month of February 2014, including the best football news, stories from American Football, wrestling, F1, UFC and many more. There was some blockbuster football action with big Premier League games including Arsenal vs. Manchester United, Liverpool vs. Arsenal and Manchester City vs. Chelsea, with the two latter games also being played in an entertaining FA Cup fifth round. As for football around Europe, the cups took shape along with a topsy-turvy spell at the top of La Liga – plus the return of the Champions League with some mouth-watering European ties. At the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the Super Bowl culminated the NFL season in surprising fashion, with the Seattle Seahawks’ rout of the Denver Broncos. New Orleans played host to a fun weekend that would mark the halfway point of the NBA season. The East All-Star team would prevail in the highest-scoring All-Star game of all time in the 63rd annual edition of its kind. The Octagon was also catapulted into the spotlight featuring three title fights as the Bantamweight, Featherweight and Women’s Bantamweight Championships were defended across two PPV events along with another main event in Jaragua, Brazil. There was all that, and plenty more. Here’s an in-depth look at the best sporting action in February. Football: Champions League returns, title races, sackings and more
Manchester City’s impeccable home record was tarnished by Branislav Ivanovic’s lone goal of the game as Chelsea leapfrogged them and eventually would finish the month atop the Premier League. At Anfield, Liverpool sent shockwaves through the nation with a dominant 5 – 1 win over then-League-Leaders Arsenal – on that same weekend, TheSportMatrix team were in attendance for Aston Villa vs. West Ham – where the Hammers would triumph in one of four consecutive league wins as they bounced back. Fulham thwarted Manchester United’s hopes in a very turbulent month for the Champions. There would be two managerial-changes in the Premier League – Michael Laudrup (Swansea) and Rene Meulensteen (Fulham) were relieved of their duties. Another blockbuster game was featured at Old Trafford, although it was far from a good game, Arsenal drew goalless with Manchester United – while storms delayed two other games on the same night. In the final gameweek of the month, the top four would keep up the pressure on one another with wins at home – topped off with a thrilling 3 – 2 win for Liverpool over Swansea in the game of the month.
John Terry was imperative to a successful month for the Blues. IMAGE COURTESY: PremierLeague.com
It was a groudbreaking month of Spanish Football for TheSportMatrix.com, with correspondents in attendance for Real Madrid’s 4 – 2 win over Villareal, and Barcelona’s six-goal masterclass against Rayo Vallecano. The Copa Del Rey final was sealed for April, as two of the best in Spanish football secured a date with one another – Barcelona and Real Madrid were poised to face each other in the final on April 19. Real Sociedad would thwart Barcelona with a 3 – 1 win, while Real Madrid would take forward the momentum to top.
The fifth round of the FA Cup would feature two block buster games with the Top Four in the League. Manchester City defeated Chelsea 2 – 0 to get vengeance on their defeat at the start of the month, while Arsenal would bounce back one week after their 5 – 1 loss, to beat Liverpool. It was a weekend that indeed restored the importance of the FA Cup – that many thought had faded. Once again, the pinnacle club football would return. The first legs of the knockout stage would start of at the Etihad Stadium, where Martin Demicheilis’ sending off proved costly for City as they lost by two goals. Paris Saint-Germain would further reinforce their European intents with a four-goal away rout of Bayer Leverkusen. It would be a phase of the tournament where none of the top four English clubs would win, Arsenal had nothing to show for their efforts against Bayern, and Olympiacos stunned a lackadaisical Manchester United. As for Chelsea, they drew 1 – 1 with Galatasaray. In a steam rolling month for the Berneabeu occupants, Real Madrid thrashed Schalke 6 – 1. Dortmund beat Zenit 4 – 2 and Milan drew 1 – 1 with Atletico in the other Champions League games.
Real Madrid thrashed Schalke 6 – 1. IMAGE COURTESY: GOAL.com
In the Europa League, the last sixteen line-up was completed. Tottenham were the only English club to progress, joining Sevilla, Juventus and others in the second knockout stage. Everything seemed to edge closer to importance in one of the cornerstone months of the season. Its safe to conclude that La Liga and Premier League title races will be close ones, and domestic tournaments would embark on a resurgence. In addition, the Champions League delivered more dramatic football.
Sochi 2014: Russia Puts On A Show at the Winter Olympics
Throughout February, the Winter Olympics took center stage providing some remarkable moments. Shaun White’s failure in the Snowboard Halfpipe paved the way for a new Champion, in one of the biggest stories of the games. Meanwhile, Canada’s triumph in the hockey and the rise of curling popularity was part of Russia’s show. There was plenty more, which are summed up perfectly in these videos
Tennis: Top Stars Look to Bounce Back in Minor Tournaments There was plenty of tennis dotted around the Globe in the February. Venus Williams won the title in Dubai to continue to state herself as the best, while Rafael Nadal’s return in Brazil was a successful one, defeating Alexandr Dolgopolov in his forty-third clay title win.
NFL: Seahawks Rout Broncos at MetLife MetLife Stadium was poised for a SuperBowl showdown between the #1 seeds in the NFL – Denver Broncos’ best offense went toe-to-toe with the Seahawks’ best defense – but it would be far from a close battle. Although doubts of poor weather pushing the date of the SuperBowl back because of snowstorms, the game would go ahead and would be a problematic outing for Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos – losing points on the first possession. For the first time in franchise history, the Seattle Seahawks would lift the Lombardi Trophy after a 43 – 8 win over the Denver Broncos. History was made.
NBA: Best of East & West Take to the Court for All-Star Weekend in New Orleans
New Orleans played host to the most anticipated weekend on the NBA Calendar, the 2014 All-Star weekend featured prime talent from the league including a record-breaking All-Star game. John Wall was the victor in the Dunk Contest on the Saturday night, which featured Chris Bosh solidify his second shooting stars’ title, Spurs’ Marco Belinelli win the Three Point shootout and Lillard & Burke won the skills challenge. However, this line up of events with changed formats was against the preference as many, with calls for them to be reverted to the more entertaining and original. East finally beat West in a record-breaking All-Star game. It was the highest-scoring game of all time with Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving took home the MVP award, and there were plenty of extraordinary plays like we’d expect in a great game. There was a much bigger feel to it this time round, an excellent game to watch. On the first night of the month and on the last, Miami HEAT were victorious against the New York Knicks with convincing wins. LeBron James would break his nose in the same month against the Thunder, as he and Kevin Durant jockeyed for top spot in the MVP race. Russell Westbrook would make his return in the league also. The Trade Deadline would occur too, with rumors taking center stage although no ‘big’ ones came into fruition. UFC: Champions Shine With Three Title Defenses
Two major PPV events were featured in February in the Octagon, starting with Super Bowl weekend. Renan Barao and Jose Aldo were victorious at UFC 169 to defend their titles, defeating Urijah Faber and Ricardo Lamas respectively. In Jaragua, Brazil, Lyoto Machida – who now has a title shot against Chris Weidman in May – defeated Gegard Mousasi over five rounds. On February 22, Ronda Rousey kept hold of the Women’s Bantamweight strap after the quickest knockout in Women’s UFC, dispatching Sara McMann in just over one minute. Optimism was increased by tenfold when images emerged of Anderson Silva training after his severe leg injury at UFC 168.
In a groundbreaking month for WWE, The Undertaker and Hulk Hogan made their profound returns gearing up for WrestleMania 30, along with the Elimination Chamber PPV in February. Randy Orton would be victorious in the Elimination Chamber, and the Wyatt Family defeated The Shield in an epic tag team match. The launch of the WWE Network brought in great vibes for the company, with The Undertaker returning to conclude a phenomenal episode of Monday Night RAW on February 24, where he set a match with Brock Lesnar for WrestleMania 30. On that same night, Hulk Hogan returned, and prepared for his job as WrestleMania host. Former WWE King of the Ring, Nelson Frazier Jr. (also known as Big Daddy V, Viscera or Mabel) passed away at the age of 43, with an outpour of tributes for WWE’s larger-than-life superstar. Extras: F1 News, Cricket, Boxing Bernie Ecclestone was in the news for his F1 doings, as the rules, regulations and practice were hotly contested in the month preparing for the start of the season.
In cricket, Kevin Pietersen’s England career was ended, as the turnaround for England’s cricketing future continued. There was plenty of matchmaking in boxing too, with Amir Khan missing out on a chance to face Floyd Mayweather, while Froch vs. Groves II was set – possibly the biggest rematch ever seen in British boxing.
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It was a jam-packed month of sporting action that was great to watch. Look back for plenty more articles related to this in our archive. Well that is all for February in the sporting World. Keep checking TheSportMatrix for plenty more sporting coverage, reports, analysis, opinion and much more.
From more manic footballing transfers, to cricketing meltdowns, playoffs and more, its been a fitting month to kick-off 2014 in sport.
In this article, we take a look back at the best news stories and biggest sporting events for the past month of January 2014, including the best football news, stories from cricket, American Football, Basketball, Wrestling, Mixed Martial Arts and Formula One. Football: Transfer Window, Premier League, Ballan d’Or and more
Football in January was one heck of a way to start the year.
From the first game of the year between Manchester City and Swansea on New Year’s Day, it really set the tone for a great month of football. It was a table-topping month in the Premier League. Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea emerged as the real frontrunners in the title race, taking advantage of some bad results on each other’s parts along with the teams battling for European competition, if not higher.
Chelsea beat Liverpool by a goal in a tight game where refereeing could have played a pivotal role in the outcome, before the Reds went on undefeated for the rest of the month, along with a thrilling 5 – 3 win over Stoke City, and a demolition at the Merseyside Derby, defeating Everton 4 – 0.
Meanwhile, Manchester United had an apparent answer to their woes over the New Year, acquiring Juan Mata from Chelsea for a near-£40m deal. The Spaniard would get an assist in his first game for the Champions. The deal was made over a week after Chelsea dominated Manchester City in a 3 – 1 victory. Manchester City finished the month on top of the table, taking advantage of Arsenal’s draw with Southampton, and beating Tottenham 5 – 1 to reach the summit of the league. A few days into the month and Cristiano Ronaldo won the FIFA Ballan d’Or Player of the Year award, seeing off Franck Ribery and Lionel Messi for the prestigious award. Earlier on, an emotional Pele accepted a monumental award, the Ballan d’Or Prix d’Honneur. In the Capital One Cup, two finalists in Manchester City and Sunderland would emerge. Manchester City eased their way past the Hammers with a 9 – 0 victory on aggregate. Sunderland would stun Manchester United in a game going down to the wire, and then to a very lackluster (and that’s putting it nicely) penalty shootout, where the Black Cats sealed the date with Manchester City in the final at Wembley.
Meanwhile, the League Cup picked up steam with the bigger clubs being introduced. With Manchester United eliminated, Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea were some of the big clubs to go through, with them surprisingly to be pitted against each other in the next round. In the rest of the football, controversy about Neymar’s transfer to Barcelona would shadow the Spaniard’s football over the month, La Liga’s title race would finish with a point between the top three teams and we geared up for a big year of football.
IMAGE COURTESY: CNN.com
Cricket: England’s Problematic Australia Tour Concludes Things got worse for England in January’s cricket, as their problematic Australia tour stole many-a-headline. Coach Andy Flower would resign after the humiliating defeat down under, with Alistair Cook’s captaincy also being brought into question. England showed glimpses of their original quality, but remained far from it. As Andy Flower said, England really do need a “fresh start”. India also battled New Zealand while Bangladesh and Sri Lanka squared off in International cricket series as the team prepared for the year of the Cricket World Cup. F1: Michael Schumacher Injury, Teams Get Practicing With Drastic Changes This month, we got our first look at the new F1 cars and saw them in action. With an aim of making the sport safer and more “greener”, cars were made more efficient and in practice questions were surrounding a debacle of a very open season come March.
“Not only is the sport adopting new 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engines, there are also tweaks to the rules concerning aerodynamics and a far greater emphasis on energy recovery systems.” – F1.com
Last season’s Champions Red Bull had a troublesome start to their practice, with a crash in their first session along with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton also getting his car wrecked. It’s clear. F1 changes will take a lot of getting used to. Also, Formula One fans were keeping track of Michael Schumacher’s condition following his Skiing accident at the end of last year. Doctors were slowly taking him out of his coma as the month came to an end.
IMAGE COURTESY: GETTY IMAGES
Tennis: Wawrinka Wins US Open, Davis Cup Begins In their 33rd encounter, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer battled in the US Open Semi-Final, with the Spaniard Nadal defeating his Swiss rival. However, Stanilas Wawrinka would triumph by defeating the Spaniard in a great final. An ‘exhausted’ Wawrinka would next win in the Davis Cup First Round tie. NFL: Road to SuperBowl Concludes With Dramatic Playoffs Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks sealed their date at MetLife Stadium for the SuperBowl as they prevailed in the Playoffs. San Fransisco 49ers would blaze their way through to the Divisonal Championships, only to crumble in the Fourth Quarter to the Seattle Seahawks, the #1 seed in the conference, as they secured their place in SuperBowl 48. Peyton Manning lead the charge for the Denver Broncos as they saw off the Chargers and Patriots to get to the SuperBowl. In what could have been the coldest SuperBowl in history, the two #1 seeds were poised to battle it out, amid talk all week long of the possible date of the game being moved. NBA: Pacers, Thunder Lead East & West Conferences to End Month, Forwards Break Into Scoring Form In a month where the NBA regular season passed it’s midpoint, Carmelo Anthony would score sixty-two points in a game, Kevin Durant would state his intent for MVP, NBA Commissioner David Stern stepped down and there were plenty of big games. Brooklyn Nets saw off last season’s Champions Miami HEAT, and also went on a five-game winning streak after a routing the Atlanta Hawks when the NBA featured a regular season game in London.
IMAGE COURTESY: ESPN
Carmelo Anthony set a franchise record for most points in a single-game when he scored sixty-two points in a blowout against the Charlotte Bobcats, as the Knicks looked to get back on track after a recent slump on form that also featured a heavy loss on NBA’s special games lineup for MLK Day. On that day, Hawks also defeated the HEAT and Taj Gibson’s overtime buzzer-beating game winner saw off the Bulls at the United Center. In NBA’s first Sunday showcase of the season, Carmelo Anthony would put up thirty-five points as the Knicks saw off Lakers. Earlier, the HEAT dispatched NBA Finals’ opponents San Antonio Spurs with a third quarter runaway and standout performance by Chris Bosh. Rajon Rondo returned for the Boston Celtics just a week-shy of one year from his injury, where he tore his ACL. Rondo and the Celtics took time to get back to winning ways following the departure of key stars. It was a TD Garden reunion on GRAMMY Sunday, as Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce made an emotional return to the Celtics’ arena with their team defeating Boston 85 – 79. Oklahoma City Thunder would indeed extinguish the HEAT, taking the Champions by storm in a 112 – 95 victory, as Kevin Durant made his statement for MVP where he outclassed LeBron in the game. Other notables included Terrance Ross’ 51-point game for the Raptors, and huge trade rumours, only to be replaced by not so big trades in the month. Oh, and not to mention, Paul George’s INSANE dunk… UFC: Three Fight Cards from Singapore to Atlanta as the Octagon Starts the Year Slowly
January featured three fight cards in the UFC, starting with Singapore’s fights headlined by Saffiedine and Lim. A gutsy performance from Lim would go the distance, almost on one leg at times, but Saffiedine would triumphantly be raised the victor. Luke Rockhold reminisced of his Strikeforce days of dominance with a first round TKO of Costa Phillipou in the UFC’s Wednesday night fights in Atlanta. Rockhold landed a body-kick that would ground the Brazillian before Rockhold one with the referee’s stoppage. Benson Henderson won in controversial circumstances against Josh Thomson with the UFC taking over Chicago. Conflicting whether it was a good call or not, Henderson took one step towards another shot at the Gold. There were encouraging updates on Anderson Silva, as Dana White stated that Silva could be fighting by the end of the year and was healing well. UFC’s SuperBowl weekend card was set to go with two title fights to start the month.
WWE: Road to WrestleMania Begins, Batista Returns, CM Punk Leaves WWE? Its the time where the WWE really kicks off. Royal Rumble 2014 saw Batista – who returned a week prior – see off a record-breaking Roman Reigns in his final elimination to secure a WrestleMania 30 Championship match. The tag team Championships also changed hands to the New Age Outlaws, who lived out a resurgence with the Authority. Brock Lesnar ran riot through WWE, demolishing The Big Show and boldly claiming his contender-ship for the WWE strap. Old School Raw took place with many WWE Legends returning, most memorably Jake “The Snake Roberts”. WWE paid tribute to one pioneer in wrestling, Mae Young, who wrestled in eight different decades, passed away in January. One of the WWE’s biggest announcements, the launch of the WWE Network had critics sounding off about their groundbreaking initiative, with it set to launch in February, the WWE Network will provide unprecedented wrestling content for the WWE Universe. Other storyline features from the WWE were the Wyatt Family ruining John Cena’s opportunity, Kaitlyn leaving WWE and things being put in place for WrestleMania. Possibly the biggest and most overshadowing story in the WWE was the alleged departure of CM Punk from the WWE. Numerous reports stated that the former WWE Champion walked out following the Royal Rumble as he was frustrated at WWE’s creative choices and screwing out the hard workers. Whether this is a work, or actual real, time will tell.
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Well that is all for January in the sporting World. Keep checking TheSportMatrix for plenty more sporting coverage, reports, analysis, opinion and much more.
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