Much like the first 57 times I had sex, I might be a little premature here. But with time running out in 2015, odds are we've already seen the best the sporting world has to offer this year. I mean, the first horse racing Triple Crown winner in 37 years. The NFL's largest second-half comeback in conference title game history. The biggest upset in UFC history. What a year!
Here's what we deemed the best sporting events for each month of 2015. Enjoy.
January 18, 2015 - Seattle Stuns Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game![2015 NFC Championship Game]()
Thanks to four first-half turnovers, including three Russell Wilson interceptions, the Seahawks were down 16-0 at halftime to the visiting Green Bay Packers. And still down 12 points with just 3:52 left to play in the game, it looked as though Kirk Douglas had a better shot at running a marathon than Seattle did at advancing to the Super Bowl. But a quick touchdown followed by an onside kick, another touchdown, a ridiculous two-point conversion and a six-play, 87-yard touchdown drive in overtime changed all that.
February 1, 2015 - New England Wins Super Bowl 49 Thanks to Late Interception![Malcom Butler Super Bowl 49 pick]()
The Seahawks needed just one yard for the go-ahead score and still had a timeout in their pocket with 25 seconds left when Russell Wilson surprisingly threw the ball on 2nd down instead of handing it off to Beast Mode. Oh, and the guy he threw it to was Malcom Butler, a cornerback for the New England Patriots. The Patriots held on to win 28-24, and Seattle head coach Pete Carroll's play call was ridiculed by everybody from Al Michaels to my mom.
March 19, 2015 - Georgia State Upsets Baylor 57-56 in the NCAA TournamentGeorgia State head coach Ron Hunter tore his Achilles just four days earlier when his Panthers won the Sun Belt Conference championship game, so he had to coach this his team's second-round NCAA Tournament game on a rolling chair. Down two points to the heavily-favored Baylor Bears with less than five seconds to play, Hunter's son R.J. launched a three-ball that would have been plenty good in the NBA. And when it found nothing but the bottom of the net, his dad was so excited that he fell out of his chair, providing us with one of the greatest and funniest father-son sports moments of all time.
April 4, 2015 - Wisconsin Ends Kentucky's Undefeated Season With 71-64 Final Four victory![Badgers beat Kentucky in Final Four]()
Perhaps the best game of the 2015 NCAA Tournament was a Final Four rematch between two schools who met for another thriller last year. The Kentucky Wildcats entered the contest 38-0 and looked to be an even deeper, more talented and somehow younger team than the previous year's squad. The Badgers had been heralded by experts as the one team who could potentially end the Wildcats' run. The game featured 11 ties, seven lead changes and piss-poor officiating, and when the dust had settled, it was the Badgers who emerged victorious this time around.
May 15, 2015 - Steph Curry Hits 62-foot Three-Pointer to Bury Grizzlies in NBA PlayoffsIf you were unaware that Golden State's Steph Curry is the best player in the NBA, welcome back from your coma. The eventual NBA champions were clinging to a 3-2 series lead over the Memphis Grizzlies, and late in the third quarter Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals, it looked as though Memphis might have enough in the tank to send it back to Oaktown for a deciding Game 7. What was once a 14-point Warriors lead was now just five, and Jeff Green had a chance to make it a three-point game as the quarter drew to a close. But pretty much the exact opposite happened when Curry picked up a loose ball and drained one from 62 feet away at the buzzer, crushing the souls of both the Grizzlies and their fans in the process. The Warriors closed out the series with a 108-95 win, and the rest was history.
June (tie) - American Pharoah Wins Triple Crown and Jordan Spieth Wins Second Consecutive Major![sports events of the year]()
Both a human and a horse had one of best years their respective sports had ever seen in 2015. American Pharoah became the first horse to
win the Triple Crown since Affirmed did it way back in 1978. After winning the Kentucky Derby by just one length, AP blew out the field in both the Preakness and Belmont Stakes to make horse racing history and then went on to win the Breeders' Cup for good measure, making him the only horse to ever win the sport's "Grand Slam."
![sports events of the year]()
Not to be outdone, Jordan Spieth won both the Masters and U.S. Open before the age of 22, making him the youngest golfer ever to win those majors in the same year and just the sixth overall. While his Masters performance in April was one of the most dominant the PGA Tour had ever seen, his U.S. Open victory was a tad more suspenseful. After birding the 18th, Spieth entered the clubhouse with the lead at -6, but Dustin Johnson was just one shot back and had a chance for an eagle to win it. The putt stayed high and left Johnson with a short birdie attempt that would have forced an 18-hole playoff the following day. He didn't hit that one either. Spieth won the trophy, but Johnson still got to go home with Wayne Gretzky's daughter.
July 5, 2015 - The USWNT Defeats Japan 5-2 to Win the World Cup![US Women win World Cup]()
It was Heartbreak City four years earlier when Japan defeated the U.S. women in an epic shootout to win the World Cup, but Lady Liberty wouldn't be denied this time around. As far as suspense goes, this one was pretty much the exact opposite. Carli Lloyd scored the fastest two goals in FIFA history, and the U.S. was up 2-0 just five minutes into the game. Lauren Holiday scored a few minutes later to make it 3-0, and then Lloyd scored again from midfield to make in 4-0 just 15 minutes into the game. And then everybody in America changed the channel to watch something else.
August 30, 2015 - Chicago Cubs Ace Jake Arrieta No-hits the Los Angeles Dodgers![Jake Arrieta throws no-hitter against Dodgers]()
Asking to pick one baseball game to sum up your season is almost as difficult as being a Cubs fan. Although by the looks of things, the North Siders seem to be on the verge of bringing an end to their fans' pain and suffering in the very near future. After averaging more than 94 losses the last four seasons, the Cubs were one of baseball's best stories in 2015, as new manager Joe Maddon led his young team to the NLCS for the first time since the Bartman episode. And a lot of it was thanks to the right arm of Jake Arrieta, who put together one of the most dominant second halves of the season the game has ever seen. In 15 starts, Arrieta went 12-1 with a 0.75 ERA and 113 strikeouts in just over 107 innings of work. One of those victories and 12 of those strikeouts were registered at Chavez Ravine on the final night of August when Arrieta's dominance was on full display as he
no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers.
September 19, 2015 - Ole Miss Upsets Alabama 43-37 in TuscaloosaAlabama's only loss of the season came in a game that featured 80 points and 936 total yards. Despite committing five turnovers, the Crimson Tide still had a chance to pull this one out thanks to 20 fourth-quarter points. The entire 60 minutes were almost as entertaining as watching an Ole Miss grad try to read, as every time you thought the Rebels were going to pull away, Alabama would rally to make it close. And every time you thought Alabama was finally going to take charge, something like the tipped prayer for a touchdown would happen instead. It was by far the craziest play in college football until, well, the following month. See what we did there?
October (tie) - Toronto Defeats Texas in Epic Game 5 of ALDS and Michigan State Beats Michigan on Blocked Punt Returned for Touchdown![Jose Bautista in ALDS Game 5]()
Game 5 of the ALDS had it all, but it was the 7th inning that will live on in infamy. It took 53 minutes to complete and featured a rule so stupid that even the umpires didn't know what in the hell was going on out there, an 18-minute delay because fans littered the field with garbage and $12 beers, three errors by the same team and a three-run home run and
bat flip for the ages. Toronto would win 6-3 and advance to the ALCS.
But if you thought it couldn't get any crazier than that inning, well, you're wrong. Just three days later, Michigan hosted Michigan State at the Big House in a battle of two of the top football programs in the country. Michigan led the entire game, and with just 10 seconds remaining, all they had to do was punt the ball away for the victory.
Yeah, that didn't happen:
Sadly, when Michigan State's Jalen Watts-Jackson was tackled into the end zone, he broke his hip. And that's probably exactly what happened to many elderly fans who fell out of their chairs after watching that play.
November 14, 2015 - Holly Holm Upsets Ronda Rousey![Rousey knocked out by Holm]()
On November 14, the impossible happened:
Ronda Rousey lost a fight. When Holly Holm's kick knocked Rousey out cold in the second round, it marked the most devastating loss for Las Vegas sports books of any fight in history. One representative for the Golden Nugget said, "Everything we won on college football, we gave back on that fight." So if you had the stones to lay a hundred bucks on Holly Holm before the biggest upset in UFC history, then congratulations on your $1,250 payday.
December 3, 2015 - Aaron Rodgers Finds Richard Rodgers for 61-yard Hail Mary to Win![aaron rodgers hail mary]()
Packers fans will be the first ones to tell you that they have no idea what in the hell is going on with their beloved team this year. After losing back-to-back home games to the Lions and Bears (oh my), it looked as though Green Bay was about to get swept by Detroit for the first time since 1991. Well, unless Aaron Rodgers could throw the ball to one of his receivers 61 yards down the field with no time left on the clock. That's
exactly what happened, and now you know why he crawls into bed with
Olivia Munn and you don't.
The "Best of 2015" train rolls on with a lot of nudie pics that shouldn't have been sent: The Wildest Snapchat Stories Of 2015
