SPORTS IN REVIEW
2013 was a year full of athletic achievement for the Boston region as a whole, with the upstart Red Sox winning the World Series and the Bruins winning the NHL Eastern Conference championship.
2013 US Sports in Review
The 2013 Super Bowl between the Ravens and the 49ers began with Baltimore taking early control of the game. Momentum changed completely, however, when an electrical failure caused the stadium to lose power, and allowed the 49ers to mount a furious comeback. San Francisco fell just short on the final drive of the game as Colin Kaepernick attempted a pass to Michael Crabtree in the endzone that fell incomplete. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was the MVP.
2013 MIT Sports in Review
After making it to the NEWMAC finals and barely falling to Wheaton College, the MIT Men’s Soccer Team earned a spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the second year in a row. Although the Engineers fell to Western New England University in the first round, they ended their spectacular season with a 13-5-2 record.
Broncos and Seahawks
It seems like a matchup that’s been coming for months now. The Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks have been the best teams in the NFL for the vast majority of the season, and they will meet on Feb. 2 in the Super Bowl. Denver beat the New England Patriots handily in the AFC Championship game, with Peyton Manning throwing for 400 yards and absolutely torching the Pats’ secondary while utilizing all of his weapons in his receiving corps. Their defense was also stout, holding the potent New England offense to only 16 points, after they’ve scored over 40 their past two games.
Brooklyn Nets to win NBA Atlantic Division
Brooklyn is absolutely in win-now mode. This offseason, they added to their already mega-talented starting line-up consisting of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez with a mega-trade with the Boston Celtics. They acquired future Hall of Famers Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, while also adding bench scorer Jason Terry. They have arguably the best starting five in the league, but it remains to be seen if their bench can be effective enough to make a significant push in the Eastern Conference. There have been plenty of outstanding starting line-ups over the years, but it’s been proven time and time again that a championship team needs a bench to succeed. Another question going into the season is how new coach Jason Kidd will handle his first coaching experience, especially with a team full of veterans. The Nets will have an interesting year, but they should win the East handily.
NBA finals: San Antonio Spurs vs. Miami Heat
Who will take this year’s NBA finals? The Tech’s Austin Osborne evaluates the positional matchups between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs.
Miami Heat expected to advance to Round 3
Miami comes into this series after a long rest following Round 1. They swept the Milwaukee Bucks convincingly and earned a week-long rest before Round 2. Unfortunately for the Heat, they are matched up against the Chicago Bulls after they upset the 4th seeded Brooklyn Nets. The Bulls are a bad matchup for Miami, as they play incredibly tough defense. Luol Deng will make life difficult for league MVP LeBron James, and Jimmy Butler will likely be matched up with Dwyane Wade for the majority of the series. Chris Bosh may be the key to the series. If he can dominate in his matchup against a hobbled Joakim Noah, the Heat will make quick work of the Bulls, but if Noah can play consistently well, Chicago could make things interesting, even without Derrick Rose. As a side note, the Bulls ended Miami’s 27 game winning streak earlier this season.
West wins ASG; Irving takes 3-Point Shootout
The NBA reached its unofficial halfway point last Friday with the beginning of All-Star Weekend. Unlike other professional sports, there are multiple events that the players participate in, namely the 3-Point Shootout, the “Shooting Stars” competition, the Skills Challenge, the All-Star game itself, and everyone’s favorite, the Slam Dunk Contest. Some of the biggest names in the league were on full display and there were definitely some surprise winners and losers.
Baltimore wins first Super Bowl game since 2001
In one of the most memorable Super Bowls in recent history, the “Outage Bowl” wasn’t short on excitement. Although they had a lackluster start, the 49ers picked up intensity in the third quarter after a power outage threw half of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome into darkness. The delay lasted 34 minutes, and it was obvious that the Ravens lost a lot of their momentum during the break. With so many storylines to follow throughout the game (the Harbaugh brothers coaching against each other, Ravens’ linebacker and leader Ray Lewis playing the last game of his Hall of Fame career, San Francisco QB Colin Kaepernick leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl in his first season as a starter), this game will go down as one of the best Super Bowls in the modern era.