Claire McArthurI love end of the year countdowns, especially when they’re about sports. The top dunks, the top catches and the top runs are all thrown into a list that makes even my mom want to watch the sports channel–Thank God. These do a great job of showcasing everything that happened to sports on the court, ice, field, whatever. But what happened off the playing area? How did sports influence pop culture?
Believe in the Underdog
VCU final four
If the Cardinals can win the series, with a payroll that sits a 100 million dollars less than the Yankees, VCU can make the final four during March Madness and the Mavs can silence the cockiness that is the Miami Heat–it should be noted that 2011 may have been the year of the underdog. This is what makes sports so phenomenal. No one, not Scorsese nor Nolan, could have directed a better sports movie than the stories that unfolded during the year.
Tebowing
Tebowing at a young age
A quarterback single-handedly turned his last name to a verb and brought a struggling Bronco’s offense back to its feet. Tim Tebow came out of Florida (ew) in 2010 as the 25th draft pick in the first round. He started the last three games of his rookie season, then became the starting QB for the Brancos in game 6 of the 2011/2012 season. Due to his ability to carry his team on his back in the fourth quarter and come from behind to win it, the masses have now dubbed his late game rush as Tebow Time. But maybe the most well known aspect of Tebow was him Tebowing, as it’s called. Now people Tebow consistently–At an exam mark, at the price of paper towel in the grocery store, after hearing that How to Make it in America got canceled.
Kris Humphries
Kris had a big year. He got married to a Kardashian and then his cray-cray wife filed for divorce. Kim, no boy is actually going to put up with you who has an IQ higher than you and Kris was one of only four people that qualified. Luckily, Kris wasn’t smart enough to realize he probably shouldn’t get involved with a Kardashian, so in the end he finally got what he’s always wanted…Court time.
Name-Changing
Okay, so I guess this only happened once, but back in the summer when Ron Artest changed his name to Metta World Peace no one quite believed it. I thought it was a joke or some publicity stunt, but when Metta showed up in his Lakers’ jersey with World Peace on the back, it solidified that this was not a joke. It still kills our faithful Editor-in-Chief, Lauren Chan, when the announcer says “World Peace with the rebound.” She laughs for days.
Wayne Gretzky’s Daughter… Whatever her name is… It’s Paulina
Being born and raised in Brantford, Ontario, Wayne Gretzky is a name I’m used to hearing. But this past year another Gretzky took the spotlight. Wayne’s oldest daughter, Paulina, got the fabulous idea in her head to post selfies (My regular readers know how I feel about this) in slutty outfits on Twitter. You just can’t do stuff like that when your dad is Wayne Gretzky. You’ve gotten everything you could ever want in life, Paulina, so yes because of that you can’t just throw up pictures like that. Sorry. It had to be said.
Sports continue to influence pop culture and our every day lives. Even if you’re watching Oxygen instead of ESPN, you can’t deny that these stories made a huge impact.
