#Matchup & Legacy Hashtags

[freshthoughts2020]

[onlinesocialsports]

Breaking the Internet: Memorable Moments in Social Sports History

The intersection of sports and social media has given rise to a new era where iconic moments don't just unfold on the field but reverberate across the internet, creating a digital tapestry of shared experiences. From jaw-dropping plays to heartwarming celebrations, this article delves into the memorable moments that have broken the internet, shaping the landscape of 2up social sports history.

The LeBron James Block (2016 NBA Finals)

In Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, LeBron James delivered one of the most memorable plays in basketball history. With less than two minutes remaining, the Cleveland Cavaliers were clinging to a slim lead. In a pivotal moment, LeBron executed a chase-down block on Andre Iguodala's layup attempt, a feat that not only solidified his legacy but also sent shockwaves across social media. The replay of the block flooded timelines, sparking hashtags and memes that celebrated LeBron's athleticism and determination, breaking the internet with a collective gasp from fans worldwide.

The "Philly Special" (Super Bowl LII)

Super Bowl LII gave us the "Philly Special," a trick play executed to perfection by the Philadelphia Eagles. In a moment that epitomized the underdog spirit, quarterback Nick Foles caught a touchdown pass in a bold and unexpected move. The sheer audacity of the play captured the hearts of fans, and social media erupted with GIFs, memes, and celebratory posts. The "Philly Special" not only secured a historic Super Bowl win for the Eagles but also etched its place in the annals of internet-breaking sports moments.

Usain Bolt's Lightning Pose (2016 Olympics)

Usain Bolt, the fastest man on the planet, not only dominated the track but also became a social media sensation. During the 2016 Rio Olympics, a photograph of Bolt smiling for the camera while leading in the 100m semifinals went viral. The image, now famously known as the "Lightning Pose," encapsulated Bolt's charisma and dominance. Social media platforms were flooded with memes and recreations of the pose, showcasing the global appeal and influence of social sports moments that transcend national borders.

The "Hand of God" Goal (1986 FIFA World Cup)

While not a product of the digital age, Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal during the 1986 FIFA World Cup remains a timeless moment in sports history. In an era before social media, this iconic incident sparked debates and discussions globally. If it happened today, the internet would undoubtedly break under the weight of memes, reactions, and analyses. Maradona's audacious handball goal and subsequent solo run, both celebrated and controversial, exemplify the lasting impact of sports moments that transcend generations.

Kobe Bryant's Farewell Game (2016)

In his final NBA game, Kobe Bryant put on a performance for the ages. Scoring an astonishing 60 points against the Utah Jazz, Bryant bid farewell to his illustrious career in a manner that captivated fans and broke the internet. Social media platforms overflowed with tributes, highlights, and emotional messages from fans, fellow athletes, and celebrities. The hashtag #MambaOut trended globally, underscoring the power of social media to unite fans in celebrating the legacy of a basketball icon.

The "Handshake Game" (2017 NBA Playoffs)

In the 2017 NBA Playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers faced off against the Boston Celtics in a highly anticipated matchup. What ensued became known as the "Handshake Game." As the Cavaliers dominated the Celtics on the court, LeBron James and his teammates celebrated by creating elaborate, synchronized handshakes. This seemingly spontaneous display of camaraderie went viral, with fans attempting to replicate the handshakes and turning the Cavaliers' celebrations into internet memes and gifs, showcasing the lighter side of social sports moments.

Serena Williams' 23rd Grand Slam Victory (2017 Australian Open)

Serena Williams' record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam victory at the 2017 Australian Open was a moment of historic significance. Her triumph, coupled with the fact that she was pregnant during the tournament, resonated beyond the tennis court. Social media erupted with messages of congratulations, admiration, and empowerment. Williams' post-match Snapchat photo showing her baby bump added a personal touch to the historic moment, amplifying the emotional impact and making it a standout in the realm of internet-breaking sports events.

Conclusion

In the age of social media, sports moments have transcended their immediate context, becoming cultural phenomena that break the internet. From jaw-dropping plays to heartwarming celebrations, these moments not only capture the essence of sports but also unite a global audience in shared experiences. As technology continues to evolve, we can only anticipate that the intersection of sports and social media will give rise to more iconic moments that reverberate across the digital landscape, shaping the narrative of social sports history for years to come.

[rickhorrow]

Rick Horrow’s 10 to Watch : Week of Februrary 18th

MAYORS EDITION

MLB in 2019 will "commemorate the 150th anniversary of professional organized baseball with a season-long series of uniform features and content integrations across its league-run media platforms." According to Sports Business Journal, the league's celebration will begin on Opening Day in late March with "special cap patches worn by every player." The cap application has "never been done to celebrate a major anniversary in baseball, but it will be similar to special postseason patches worn on the side of player caps." There also will be a "uniform patch worn all season on the right sleeve of player jerseys." Those sleeve patches "recall similar ones used to celebrate baseball's 100th anniversary" in 1969 and 125th in 1994. MLB also is planning an "extensive series of anniversary-driven multimedia content commemorations of great moments in baseball history that will run on MLB Network, MLB.com and the league's official social media channels.” It truly is a celebratory year, as the NFL is also celebrating its 100th anniversary and other key milestones of sport also unfold, which we will document throughout the year.

Overtime banks $23 million from Carmelo Anthony, Victor Oladipo, Spark Capital, and others. According to Hashtag Sports, the digital sports media startup focused on high-school athletes has raised $23 million in Series B funding. Venture-capital firm Spark Capital led the round, which brings the two-year-old company to $33.5 million raised to date. Others participating include MSG Networks and NBA players Victor Oladipo and Carmelo Anthony. With the latest funding, Overtime has a valuation of around $100 million. The company launched with short-form content centered on high-school basketball stars, and over the past year has expanded its coverage to include soccer, football, esports, and women’s basketball. Overtime also is looking to launch live in-person events and activations and is eyeing international expansion. People continue investing in Overtime because they’ve smartly monetized through branded-content deals and nascent ecommerce and merchandise business, and look to be a rising star in the youth sports digital media space.

U.S. Club Soccer and LaLiga North America have announced an expansion of their technical partnership first signed in August, 2015. The long-term extension continues a valuable relationship in youth soccer that has provided various coaching education resources to the American game, directly educating thousands of coaches and impacting even more players. It also points to LaLiga North America’s commitment to growing soccer in the U.S. LaLiga North America is a joint venture between LaLiga and Relevent Sports, which serves as the exclusive representation of LaLiga in the U.S. and Canada for all business and development activities. The operation supports the league’s growth in the U.S. and Canada through consumer-related activities including youth academies, development of youth soccer coaches, marketing agreements, consumer activations, exhibition matches, a coaching education series, and plans to have an official LaLiga Santander match played in the U.S. In 2019 and beyond, the two organizations plan to increase their Players First commitment by creating additional coaching development opportunities, extending LaLiga scouting to U.S. Club Soccer members, and offering exclusive benefits to Players First-licensed clubs and others.

The Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA), the non-profit association comprising 2,700 men and women professionals overseeing sports fields worldwide and critical to athletes’ safety, received outstanding participation at its 30th annual Conference and Exhibition in Phoenix. Visit Phoenix confirmed the community received over $3 million from total estimated direct expenditures from conference participants including event attendees, exhibitors, and organizers. The Phoenix Convention Center housed more than 2,300 participants including 1,400 sports turf leaders and 900 exhibitors from 14 countries for four days of industry education, networking events, and product demonstrations. The event was highlighted by a volunteer rebuild of Lindo Park baseball field, two ���Seminar On-Wheels” tours of Phoenix area sports complexes, SAFE fundraisers, and the STMA Awards Reception and Banquet. SAFE, the association’s charitable foundation, raised nearly $41,000 through a bowling competition, live and silent auctions, raffles, and a golf tournament at Grand Canyon University Golf Course. Proceeds benefit educational programs, scholarships and grants enriching communities through safe, sustainable sports and recreation fields.

NASCAR goes all in on media advertising and teams up with Barstool Sports. With an aging fan base and no consistent uptick in ratings, NASCAR needs a serious revamp. To deal with this, NASCAR is launching an ad campaign for nearly 20 TV markets throughout the United States and has struck a digital partnership with Barstool Sports. According to Sports Business Daily, NASCAR is set to spend between $10 million-$20 million for this advertising campaign set to run throughout 2019 with a new technique of advertisements to be shown during non-NASCAR related programming. NASCAR is planning to launch locally themed ads on local Fox and NBC affiliates in NASCAR markets such as Atlanta, Charlotte, Kansas City, and Orlando/Daytona and such cities as Cleveland, Milwaukee, Raleigh, and Tampa where NASCAR doesn’t yet race. NASCARS’ overall marketing goal will be to tell the stories of its drivers and accompanying teams in hopes of bringing in new fans to the sports while retaining its core fan base.

The Alliance of American Football league is underway and the ratings show that it’s an early hit. The AAF debuted on February 9 on CBS. Surprisingly, according to Yahoo Sports, the new football league was able to pull off better television overnight ratings than a Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder NBA matchup and generally received positive reviews during its opening week. Although the early 2.1 overnight rating beat out the NBA numbers, there was certainly more curiosity about the AAF than a regular-season NBA game. In the past other startup football leagues such as the USFL and XFL performed well at the beginning before excitement quickly fizzled. The challenge for the AAF will be to keep the good times rolling as ratings will be harder to come by when the games are on CBS Sports Network and not CBS in primetime. Ultimately, compelling football will be what keeps fans engaged long term. The AAF will also be competing with the other new football league, the XFL, which is set to launch some time during 2020. The AAF will have to outperform other new football leagues in addition to well-established sports institutions such as the NBA and MLB during the spring and summer months.

Sports entities raise the bar on stylish celebrations of Black History Month. CBS Sports Network celebrates Black History Month with the premiere of “Althea & Arthur,” a documentary highlighting the legacies of Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe on February 18. The documentary is narrated by Tony Award winning actress Phylicia Rashad and chronicles the impact Gibson and Ashe made to the world of tennis and in advancing civil rights in America during a time of racism and segregation. In Phoenix, The Arizona Republic notes the Suns’ Mikal Bridges, Josh Jackson, Kelly Oubre, and Richaun Holmes have "each worn themed sneakers in February" to celebrate Black History Month. The shoes will be made "available for purchase at the end of the month with the proceeds benefiting Elevate Phoenix, a local non-profit that works with youth." The Suns "commissioned designers to create the custom sneakers, but the players had a say in the theme.”

The PGA Tour continues to drive philanthropy. Last week, insurance firm Burns & Wilcox launched its signature philanthropic initiative Champions & Charities with brand ambassadors Webb Simpson and Jimmy Walker. The company will give a minimum of $50,000 to the charity of the golfers' choice. And the just-completed PGA Tour Genesis Open "will get a big upgrade" beginning in 2020, according to sources, in no small part because of its affiliation with Tiger Woods’ foundation. According to ESPN, the event held at Riviera Country Club and run by Woods' foundation will receive “elevated status,” which means it will have a significantly higher purse – growing to $9.3 million, as well as offer  a three-year PGA Tour exemption to the winner (up from two years), and have an invitational field" of 120 players rather than 144. The best thing that Woods could do to boost its prominence? Win the event.

As the 2019 NASCAR season opens at Daytona, Dale Earnhardt Jr. volunteered on a chainsaw crew as they "cleaned up debris from Hurricane Michael" in Panama City, Florida. According to the Charlotte Observer, Earnhardt "joined a crew from Team Rubicon, the non-profit group of veterans that teams with first responders.” Likewise, NASCAR driver Kurt Busch will "pay for and give away 100 tickets" for each Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race this season to military members and veterans. The giveaway is in "partnership with the Veterans Tickets Foundation." NASCAR continues to be a team player and major contributor off the racetrack as well as working hard to keep sports fans’ focus on its racing circuit, state of the art facilities likeD, and high profile drivers.

USA BMX, Mongoose team up For STEM education initiative. USA BMX has signed a deal with the Mongoose bicycle brand to bring science, math, engineering and technology training to U.S. schools in a joint program that is projected to reach 225,000 students in 2019. Additionally, according to Sports Business Journal, Mongoose has hired nine-time USA BMX amateur national champion and USA BMX Foundation Marketing Coordinator Justin Posey as a sponsored rider and education ambassador. Interestingly, the Mongoose bicycle brand is owned by Pacific Cycle, a division of Montreal-based Dorel Industries.

[junker-town]

LeBron James never wanted to be a scorer. Now, he's the all-time leader in playoff points.

James, who has repeatedly said he’s not a scorer, just passed Michael Jordan as the all-time leading playoff scorer.

Hours before LeBron James scored 35 points on 72 percent shooting to bury the Celtics and pass Michael Jordan as the NBA’s all-time leader in playoff points, The King wanted to make one thing clear: He is not a scorer.

Even as he continues to climb the NBA’s all-time scoring list — now No. 9 after passing Shaquille O’Neal earlier in the year — James has been adamant that stockpiling points is not what he wants to be known for.

LeBron on nearing MJ for most playoff points: "I'm not a scorer. I don't want to be labeled as a scorer. I'm a playmaker." http://pic.twitter.com/wKNenPEb5t

— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) May 25, 2017

“I’m not a scorer,” he said during shootaround ahead of Cleveland’s Game 5 matchup against Boston. “I don’t want to be labeled as a scorer. I can put the ball in the hoop. I’m a playmaker, I’m a player. Put me on the court, and I’ll find ways to be successful.

This position isn’t a first from James. Rather, it’s a stance he has maintained as he’s carved out his legacy as the best basketball player on the planet and one of the greatest to ever touch a court.

January 2004 —- In an interview with InsideHoops.com during his rookie season, James was asked what his role on that Cleveland Cavaliers team was.

“I'm a leader. I'm the leader of this team, and they look for me at any point in the game, and that's not just scoring-wise, I do other things,” he said.

Christmas 2012 — James had two streaks running concurrently: scoring at least 20 points in each of the season’s first 23 games and not being called for a foul in five straight games. Which one was more important to him?

"The foul thing is more impressive to me," James said, via ESPN’s Tom Haberstroh. "I don't care about scoring as much.

"If I wanted to, I could lead the league in scoring, but that's not my job here. ... My job is to do a lot of everything -- rebounding, passing and defending so that takes away from my scoring. I've done (the scoring title) before. I'm capable of doing it, but my game sometimes doesn't allow me to have those big nights."

November 2016 — After passing Dan Issel for No. 10 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, James again said pouring on points was never a priority.

"Scoring has never been on my list of goals," James said via ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. "Facilitating, getting my guys involved and rebounding, defending, getting blocked shots and things of that nature always ranked above that."

He also posted a celebratory photo on Instagram, using the hashtag #ButImNotAScorer.

Thanks for the invite Boyz!!! Happy and humbled to be celebrating this achievement! Let's Party like it's 1999!! Lol. And Shaq make sure u cut Dream some cake as well! He's still a cool dude! #TopTenAllTime #ButImNotAScorer #StriveForGreatness #RWTW #TheKidFromAkron

A post shared by LeBron James (@kingjames) on Nov 6, 2016 at 8:07am PST

James has never wanted to be known as a scorer. After all, the term tends to come with a negative connotation. Some scorers get lumped together as a group of volume shooters who need to take 18 shots to score 20 points. James took note of that and wanted to steer clear.

“When you talk about scorers, we have a lot of great scorers in our league all-time. Guys who shot a lot of shots, volume shooters, and shot the ball at a high clip,” he said via Fox Sports Ohio. “I’m not one of those guys. I’m a guy who’s always gotten happy and excited by seeing my team successful.”

He couldn’t be any more different from a volume shooter. In fact, James surpassed Jordan’s all-time points mark on 118 fewer shot attempts, according to Basketball-Reference, though he’s shot 175 more free throws at a 74 percent clip.

James didn’t want to be “like Mike.” He acknowledged during his postgame press conference on Thursday that Jordan was why he chose No. 23. He looked at the Hall of Famer “as a god” and wanted to be Mike, but said didn’t believe he could get there.

That’s where James became less like Mike and more like Magic Johnson. He started focusing on other players, making his teammates better and leading his team to victory instead of gunning them there.

"He's more like me than he is like Michael," Johnson agreed in a 2007 interview with the New York Times. "He's more into controlling the game than he is dominating it with scoring."

LeBron knows he doesn’t have to score to make an impact.

The other facets of his game — the pinpoint passing, the defensive prowess, the on- and off-court leadership and, most of all, the desire to chase greatness — rub off and elevate his teammates to a different stratosphere. The scoring has just been an added bonus, a bonus that’s paid off with The King cementing his name atop Jordan’s on this playoff list.

Now, James faces his toughest task yet: A powerhouse Golden State Warriors team that reached the NBA Finals without a loss. A team that has two ex-MVPs, a sharpshooter that doubles as a lockdown defender, and one of the most versatile two-way players in basketball history. And a team that runs the game plan of an offensive guru and a defensive genius.

It won’t be easy, but James has been down this road before. He took down the Warriors last year after they posted the best regular season record in NBA history. But he only averaged 24.8 points through the first four games of that series while Golden State took a 3-1 series lead.

Then, James put up back-to-back 41-point games to tie the series at three apiece before posting a triple double in Game 7 to steal away a championship.

Putting up points might not be his priority, but repeating as NBA champion is. And if James wants that coveted fourth ring, it may take more scoring than ever before to do it.

[freshthoughts2020]