Sports
Year in Review - 2025
2025 Felt Like the Year of the Underdog
In tennis, the year started with the Madison Keys amazing winning the Australian Open and was followed by Coco Gauff’s first French Open final victory, both over world number one Aryna Sabalenka. During the summer, perennial competitors Chelsea upset Champions League winners PSG in style in the Club World Cup. On the homefront, the Seattle Mariners took the baseball world by storm after July, streaking all the way to game 7 of the ALCS and bringing the city of Seattle tremendous pride and excitement. Even Lando Norris unseated the 4-time champion Max Verstappen in the world of F1 racing.
But the biggest story of them all has to be the 2025 Indiana Hoosiers Football Team and their unexpected rise to the top of the NCAAF rankings. Cignetti’s cold, calculated confidence could have been misconstrued as unearned arrogance, but he spoke softly and played with a big stick. The Hoosiers were my favorite sports story of this year, and Cignetti my favorite sports personality to emerge from a surprising year in sports.
TENNIS
Australian Open - Women’s Final
As someone who has been watching tennis for years, Madison Keys has always been a favorite for her grit and style as she’s made many deep tournament runs. Like a lot of the American women who make an impressive showing in the majors, I didn’t think that Keys had the magic to make it all the way. So it was surprising and frankly brilliant when Keys went on the run of a lifetime to secure her first (and likely only) tennis major at the Australian Open in 2025. Working her way through Elina Svitolina, Iga Swiatek, and Aryna Sabalenka, Keys proved that her championship moment was no fluke.
French Open - Men’s Final
One of the best tennis matches I’ve ever seen? YES. This was such a memorable match, mostly because of the play on the court, but also due to the fact that I got to watch this with one of my best friends and fellow sports watcher enthusiast Jacob Southworth. For more than 5 hours we watched transfixed as Alcaraz and Sinner gave it their all, and expected Sinner to close it out up two break points in the 4th set. Alcaraz’s comeback is one for the history books and it was unbelievable to watch - part psychology, part magic shot maker. This will be a match I never forget.
College Football
NFAAF - Indiana 13 - Ohio State 10
In 2025, we witnessed one of the greatest college football seasons of all time. Curt Cignetti, Indiana’s Year 2 coach, took their historically losing football program and in two seasons has turned them into a Big 10 bully on the field and uncompromising winners. Despite the hype that built for Indiana over the season, leading them to a 12-0 start, there were still a lot of doubters as they prepared to face Ohio State (also 12-0) in the Big Ten title game. What followed was a brutally tough, courageous, and tactically brilliant performance by Cignetti’s Hoosiers and Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza.
Seattle Sports
Having lived in Seattle for more than 8 years now, I’ve come to have a growing affinity for the local sports teams and culture. My baseball loyalties used to lay with the Oakland A’s, until their ownership decided to abandon decades of legacy in their hometown in preparation for a move to Las Vegas. As a big football fan, the Indianapolis Colts will always be my team, but when the season isn’t going our way it’s always fun to have another team you can root for.
Of course the other aspect that always boosts local team support is winning. And in 2025 - the Seattle sports scene was magnetic.
MLB - Mariners 3 - Tigers 2
This game was obnoxious. What started as an electric game 5 and an excuse to gather at a local brewery with my friends turned into a 5-hour slog and a terrible headache at the end of the night. Amidst all of that, however, the Mariners managed to pull out a win (finally!) in the bottom of the 15th inning sending them to the ALCS. That series as well would go the full 7 games and only then end for the Mariners on a heartbreaking homerun. Still, no one can deny that it was an incredible season and October to remember for the Mariners.
NFL- Rams 37 - Seahawks 38
The Seahawks took the energy and momentum that the Mariners created and brought it to another level. Seattle sports fans were truly spoiled this year as the Seahawks went on a magical 14-3 regular season run. Such a record is impressive generally, but even more so in a division that featured two 12-5 opponents in the 49ers and Rams. One of those games - a week 16 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, was one of the best games of the seasons, across the league, period. Needing to win to hold onto the division lead, the Seahawks managed to squeak by in a 38-37 thriller.
Soccer
Club World Cup Final - Chelsea 3 PSG 0
Does the Club World Cup actually mean much? Meh, probably not. Was it very satisfying to watch Chelsea win the first ever running of the event against a clearly over-confident PSG? Absolutely.
Chelsea FC has been an absolute mess over the past couple of years with multiple manager firings, injuries, and underwhelming performances. But this summer tournament had us all believing that Chelsea was finally finding its form amongst the best clubs in the world. True, the qualification for the CWC was strange and Chelsea’s specific road to the final was against clearly less gifted (and lower paid) opposition. Even so, when it came to the final, most people expected Chelsea to finally be put in their place by the newly anointed European Champions PSG. Instead, PSG played far too open and enabled Chelsea’s free-flowing attack led by Cole Palmer to score 3 goals. I’ll miss Maresca now that he’s out as manager, but I’ll always appreciate this magical run.