The global sports scene has also had its share of notable moments in 2014. A lot of them have conspicuously involved incidents from out of the field of play, which goes to show how eventful the sports world has been this year. Hopefully, we see less of these types of news in the sports world or the coming year. Otherwise, prepare yourselves for more scandals, accidents, and the usual plate of Luis Suarez biting incidents.
#SochiProblems
I can’t decide if I should laugh at the Sochi for being so ill-prepared to host the Winter Olympics or 
laud Sochi for somehow surviving the three weeks without any catastrophic blunders. Since I’m in a giving mood at this time of the year, I’ll give credit to Sochi for getting through hosting the Olympics, even if it unintentionally gave rise to one of the world’s most popular hashtags this year.
Germany wins 4th World Cup title
It was one of the best World Cup tournaments I’ve ever seen. So many heroes, so many villains. So many triumphs, so many heartbreaks. In the end, it was Germany that won its fourth World Cup title, doing so by squeaking past Lionel Messi and Argentina in the Finals. Mario Gotze’s extra-time winner proved to be the difference in the game, resulting in exulted joy in Bavaria and a lot of pain and suffering in Buenos Aires.
Oscar Pistorius sentenced to five years after killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
More than a year after killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at their home in South Africa, Oscar Pistorius finally received the verdict from his heavily publicized trial. The Blade Runner was found guilty of culpable homicide by South Africa judge Thokozile Masipa, who also sentenced Pistorius to five years in jail. IT was probably the best scenario Pistorius could have hoped for given the circumstance, even as a throng of people continue to believe that he murdered his girlfriend and got a laughably light sentence out of it.
Luis Suarez: from hero to zero to hero again…
You know how weird the sports world is sometimes? Luis Suarez proved as much when he went from leading Uruguay to the World Cup to biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini in the tournament, to getting banned four months because of the bite, to getting bought by FC Barcelona for £75million ($117 million). Yep. the sports world is weird sometimes.
Michael Schumacher’s long road to recovery
This didn’t get a lot of publicity but Michael Schumacher is in dire straits these days after a skiing accident days before the New Year ended up with him being in a coma for six months. He’s since awaken from the coma, but he still has a long ways to go – if he ever does – before he can recover from the accident. We’re still praying that Schumi pulls through as he often did during his stellar Formula One career. But all signs seem to point to the greatest race car driver in history permanently sitting in a wheel chair.
FIFA embroiled in one scandal after another
You would think that there would be nothing but good vibes coming out of FIFA this year after a successful World Cup. But leave it to football’s governing body to throw away whatever goodwill it had because of more scandals coming its way. It’s not enough that its leaders are deemed corrupt to the core, but recent investigations have thrown some serious questions on the capabilities of FIFA’s top brass on leading the organization to any kind of sustained prosperity.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s historic run
His World Cup failure aside, Cristiano Ronaldo is having one of the most incredible years any athlete is having in 2014. He led Real Madrid to a Champions League title, a Copa del Rey title, and a FIFA Club World Cup title. And he did while breaking pretty much every goal-scoring record around. People will always debate on who’s better between him and Lionel Messi, but as far as their individual displays of dominance this year are concerned, it’s hard to argue against Ronaldo having the best year between the two. That’s a big reason why he’s the runaway favorite to win the Ballon d’Or in January 2015.
Real Madrid lifts “La Decima”
Speaking of Ronaldo, Real Madrid’s dramatic Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid cemented the team’s status as Europe’s greatest squad. It was the 10th Champions League title in team history, or as Madridistas would call it, ‘La Decima.’ Given the current shape of the team as it heads into the knockout stages of the 2014-2015 Champions League, an 11th title isn’t out of the question.
