2022 Year End Review: Andy Hanselman
As we come to the end of 2022, we here at Claibs Online want to take a look back at the year and recap some of our favorite, and not so favorite memories from the past 365 days. Over the next several days, you’ll get to read the thoughts from many of our Claibs Online contributors
Andy Hanselman
Best Sports Memory of 2022
In a city rich in soccer tradition, the opening of the new MLS stadium in downtown St. Louis is my nominee for Best Sports Moment in 2022. In an otherwise dilapidated area of downtown St. Louis, the opening of the new stadium has sparked a resurgence of Downtown West with new restaurants, bars, event spaces, hotels, and a hustle and bustle vibe that hasn't been felt in St. Louis for a very long time. When the real MLS games begin in March 2023, the area will really get to watch a downtown area come to life - even if it is just for a few Saturdays between March and October.
Honorable Mention: The Cards signing of Albert Pujols for a swan-song season wearing the Birds on the Bat.
Worst Sports Memory of 2022
Most Influential Sportsperson of 2022
It was a neat little local story that turned into a national story after the MLB All-Star Game in Los Angeles in July - Albert Pujols returned to the St. Louis Cardinals for his final season in a major league uniform. It could have been a ho-hum season where Pujols traveled around the country to major league ballparks, tipping his cap, and saying thank you to the fans. However, it turned into way more than that, and Albert Pujols is my nominee for Most Influential Sportsperson of 2022. After spending a decade in the shadows of the Hollywood limelight in Anaheim, Pujols came home to St. Louis, donned his familiar No. 5 with the Cardinals logo emblazed on his chest, chased down history, and captivated the country as he made a chase for 700 home runs. Needing 21 round-trippers to secure his spot in Cooperstown, at the beginning of the season the feat seemed large and overwhelming for a 42-year-old specialty designated hitter. As the heat of July and August made its appearance, Pujols' bat heated up at the same time, and the nay-sayers (including this writer), began to backtrack their words in columns and blogs and on radio and podcasts around the country. On a Friday night in September, in the city where he had spent all of those years in the shadows of the Limelight, and on Apple TV of all places, he completed his task. 700. He would go on to hit three more dingers in 2022 to give him a career total of 703. Pujols influenced kids of all ages, grown men and women, writers, commentators, and pundits to believe in the magic of baseball once again in a very similar fashion to the way another Cardinal, Mark McGwire, influenced an entire country to love baseball again way back in 1998.
Honorable Mention: Peyton and Eli Manning star in the Manning-cast on Monday Night Football.
Stone Cold Lock- Prediction for 2023
The Buffalo Bills will win Super Bowl LVII in Phoenix in February. Josh Allen and company have grown by leaps and bounds in 2022 - and they were pretty damn good in 2021. The mighty Kansas City Chiefs are still at the top of their class, but they are no longer in a class of their own. The road to the Super Bowl will likely pass through Buffalo with a game against the Chiefs - whether it's a divisional playoff game or the AFC Championship is yet to be determined. However, the Bills will finally prevail and beat the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium on February 12.
Honorable Mention: The Cardinals will win the National League Central again.
Bold Prediction for 2023
Unfortunately, LIV Golf will pass the PGA Tour in popularity in 2023. Yes, that LIV Golf. The one that everyone said wouldn't make it. The one that local broadcasters basically called the locally-owned sports talk radio station of professional golf. With its goofy 54-hole format with no cuts, team games, and shotgun starts, the huge purses and signing bonuses will continue to lure even the most staunch supporters of the PGA Tour away. And shockingly, it's all because of Fred Ridley, the Chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club. This week, Chairman Ridley announced that players that have qualified for The Masters in previous years under the published criteria will again be invited back. In tradition, any player that has won the tournament has a lifetime exemption into the field. Otherwise, a player must have won a major tournament in the last five years or be in the Top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings. (There are a bunch of other criteria that allow players to enter the field at Augusta, but the aforementioned criteria are the ones most utilized to establish the field with the most contenders.) So now, at least for the time being, players on the LIV Tour will have the same opportunity to play in The Masters just like any other professional golfer in the world. Professional golfers getting to have their cake and eat it too? Get it while the gettin' is good, gentlemen.
Honorable Mention: The Chicago Bears will have a winning season in 2023.
