Sports
This Week in Sports: Party in Tampa Bay damages priceless hockey relic
BY MARCEL MARIAK
Soccer: Italy Clutches Euro Cup in dramatic penalty shootout
The 2021 Euro Cup Finals ended spectacularly as Italy won the match in a tense penalty shootout.
On July 11th, the stands of Wembley Stadium were packed with English football fans gathered to watch their team compete for the cup.
Started in 1958, England has never won the European Cup, only coming as close as winning third place in the 1968 Euro Cup against the Soviet Union. With that being the case, English fans were ecstatic that they might not only win the Cup for the first time but also do it at their home stadium.
For weeks, the English national team had been fighting their way through formidable opponents for the chance to win the world-famous prize. After defeating Germany and Ukraine, and just barely squeezing by Denmark with a game-winning penalty, the only thing left to do for the English was to win the cup and go home victorious. Unfortunately, Italy had different plans. Hardened by having fought their way through Austria, Belgium, and Spain, the Italians went into the final match ready for battle.
At first, it looked as though England might secure a victory, as left-back Shaw opened up the scoring after only two minutes of play. The English were able to retain this lead for over an hour of play before Italian centre-back, Leonardo Benucci, tied the game at 1-1. The teams remained locked into a tie for the remainder of regular time and throughout the half-hour of extra time. After 120 minutes of play, the match would be decided with penalties.
Both teams had their fair share of penalty shooting errors, but Italy was able to make one less mistake as they won the shootout with a score of 3-2 after England missed three penalties in a row.
Hockey: Montreal loses NHL finals but still gets the Stanley Cup!
English soccer fans weren’t the only people disappointed to have the final slip through their fingers. After losing the first three games of the finals series to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Montreal Canadiens were under pressure to perform.
With the Canadiens competing in the NHL finals for the first time in over two decades, Canadian hockey fans were thrilled that the famed Stanley Cup could finally make it back to its home city.
With Montreal’s impressive performance leading up to the finals (which included a 4-game-sweep of the Winnipeg Jets), the Habs looked strong headed into the finals against 2020’s NHL Champions, the Tampa Bay Lighting.
Despite being from Florida, a place not usually renowned for its prowess in winter sports, The Lightning had seen a shocking amount of success in the past two seasons. Boasting some of the biggest names in the NHL, Tampa Bay would be a worthy and challenging opponent for the Canadiens.
To the sorrow of Canadian hockey fans, the series got off to a rough start for Montreal. With the Lightning putting on an impressive offensive display and securing a 5-1 win in Game 1, the pressure started to mount on the Habs. Montreal’s spell of bad luck continued as they lost Games 2 and 3, putting them at risk of losing the finals in an embarrassing sweep. Montreal managed to barely squeeze past the Lightning in Game 4 with an overtime victory, but it was too little too late. Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup in Game 5 in front of their hometown fans.
While Montreal went home in tears, the party picked up in Tampa Bay. The Lighting’s players even got so rowdy that the Stanley Cup got severely damaged during the festivities.
The 129-year-old sports relic was promptly taken out of the hands of drunken hockey players and is now undergoing repairs in Montreal. The Habs might not have won the Stanley Cup, but at least it still came home – albeit in slightly worse shape.
UFC: The end of Conor McGregor’s career?
When Conor McGregor’s teammates told him to “break a leg” before his UFC 264 fight against Dustin Poirier, they didn’t mean it literally. But Notorious doesn’t follow the rules. So, he broke it anyway.
Leading up to his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor was back to his antics. The brash attitude and heavy-handed insults that McGregor is known for were on full display in the weeks before the bout.
After being respectful and cordial in his second fight with Poirier resulted in a KO loss, McGregor figured it would be a good idea to resort to the schoolyard insults that got under his foe’s skin in the first fight. This time, Poirier wasn’t having any of it. Even when McGregor threatened to kill him and implied that Dustin’s wife was cheating on him, Poirier remained unphased. McGregor’s trash talk was falling on deaf ears.
During the fight, Poirier quickly took the upper hand, continuously pressuring McGregor and even knocking him down at one point. In the final moments of the first round, things took a turn for the worst for McGregor. He stumbled back during a punch and twisted his ankle. The pressure caused his leg to snap a few inches above the ankle. The referee stopped the fight and Poirier won by TKO.
As Poirier got his hand raised, McGregor continued to hurl insults while being treated by doctors. For Conor, the fight is far from over.
Despite his enthusiasm to keep fighting, there’s a high chance that McGregor will end up finishing his fighting career. Between having an injury, three children, a fiancé, multiple business ventures, and more money than he can count, there isn’t much keeping Conor in the Octagon. As younger, more dangerous fighters get added to the UFC roster daily, it might be time for McGregor to consider hanging up the gloves while he’s still in relatively good health. As sad as it would be to see a UFC legend like Conor retire, it would likely be for the best.