Photo: Cooper Neill/Getty Images
Joe Flacco leads the Browns to the Super Bowl
In the year of the backup quarterback, Flacco's encore performance was a real surprise. Just when it seemed like the 38-year-old father of five was done, he came off the bench to win five of six starts and lift Cleveland to their second playoff berth in 21 years.
Inside the University of Delaware, the product has looked every bit as elite as he did in his heyday in Baltimore, where devastating defense allowed him to control the bombs downfield. Now that the formula is much the same in Cleveland, what's stopping the former Super Bowl MVP from winning it all again with the Browns?
Consider: Cleveland has already beaten Baltimore, San Francisco and Jacksonville this season and has enough muscle on both sides of the ball to push Kansas City and Miami as well. The Browns were already high on the list of teams no one wanted to play, with DeShaun Watson's other backups filling in. But with Flacco under center they are now a serious title contender. ALREADY
Gabby Douglas wins Olympic gold (again).
While Simone Biles dramatically restored her dominance this year, another major comeback in gymnastics was quietly in the making. Douglas, the groundbreaking 2012 Olympic all-around champion, announced this year that she would return in 2024, having not competed since her own painful Olympic experience in 2016. Starting over after an eight-year layoff in such a technical sport as gymnastics is amazing. is difficult, there will be no room for error as she returns in an Olympic year and the depth of the US team means making it to the Olympics is several times harder than actually winning a team medal, with the US being heavy favorites will be . Yet Douglas, who turned 28 on Sunday, is a champion, a generational talent in her own right and she knows exactly what it takes to make a team. She will do it again with Biles in 2024. TC
The Saudis are meddling in the NFL business
The continued erosion of public investment funds in sports continues apace. To date, the Sovereign Wealth Funds have focused most of their attention on European football, boxing and golf. Next on the docket: the four major American professional sports leagues. Last year, the Qatar Investment Authority became the first Middle Eastern group to dip its toes in the water, purchasing a 5% stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the ownership group of the NHL's Washington Capitals, NBA's Washington Wizards, for $200 million and WNBA's Washington. Mystics. The biggest lingering question: Can an investment fund claw its way into the NFL's old boys club? Buying up some of the Sundays is difficult. Boardroom dealings in America's most prominent league tend to have less to do with money and more to do with backroom schemes - the league has had just one foreign owner, Pakastani-born Shahid Khan, a naturalized US citizen, who bought the Jags in 2012. But how much would it cost for Saudi Arabia's PIF to avoid the typical backroom politics? $8 billion? $10 billion? The Saints and Seahawks could both be available in the next twelve months, and an ownership group led by a traditional face (white, old, male, purveyor of an old brand) in partnership with a sovereign wealth fund feels like an inevitability. O.C
The story continues
At least one MLB team will threaten to move cities
In November, Major League Baseball owners unanimously approved the Oakland A's move to Las Vegas in 2028, an acrimonious end to difficult negotiations between the A's ownership and the city of Oakland. The city's lease on the A's home stadium was set to expire in 2024, and owner John Fisher negotiated a deal with Las Vegas that guaranteed more public financing for a new stadium than Oakland was willing to provide. Expect other owners to follow Fisher's playbook. The guaranteed-rate Chicago White Sox lease expires in 2029, and owner Jerry Reinsdorf was spotted leaving a meeting with Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell in December. The Milwaukee Brewers were rumored to be looking for a new home before the Wisconsin state legislature passed a $500 million bill to publicly fund renovations to their home base (the city is expected to sign a new 30-year lease soon sign with the team).
The stakes are clear: With cities like Nashville and Charlotte showing interest in hosting Major League Baseball teams (MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has indicated he would like to see a team in Nashville), owners expect to demand more public funding of cities as stadiums. rental contracts are about to expire. GB
The Dallas Cowboys hire Bill Belichick
The Hoodie will be the Cowboys' head coach to start the 2024 season. The future Hall of Fame coach, who turns 72 in April, has been unable to find success since Tom Brady left New England and will be let go after what has undoubtedly been his worst season on the sidelines. Another disappointing result for Mike McCarthy and the Cowboys has Jerry Jones looking to make a move. Jones, whose weakness for splashy hires is well documented, will try to hire someone through his friend Bill Parcells' coaching tree and get the Hoodie. Belichick, a six-time Super Bowl champion as a head coach, will inherit a proven quarterback and a talented roster that can help him capture Don Shula and become the league's all-time winningest coach. NL
Hikaru Nakumura wins the World Chess Championship
Nakamura enters 2024 ranked third in the world and has booked his place in April's eight-man Candidates tournament to determine the challenger to Ding Liren's world title in the fall. Ding has seen limited action since winning the crown vacated by Magnus Carlsen due to unspecified health issues, meaning April's double round-robin gauntlet in Toronto may be tougher to win than the World Cup match itself. It says here that Nakamura, at 36 and now that Carlsen has abdicated the throne, is ready for his moment. The five-time U.S. champion, whose main career is as a streamer with millions of followers, will become the second-ever U.S. champion in the 138-year history of world match play title and the first since Bobby Fischer, kick-starting a chess boom in the United States that make the Queen's Gambit effect seem strange. BAG
The NBA will see its first champion (again).
Yes, the National Basketball Association is an association of bluebloods. There's a reason why the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics have each won 17 championships in the league's 77-year history, accounting for about half of the total wins in the NBA Finals. Other teams such as San Antonio, Golden State, Miami, Philly and Chicago also have multiple rings. But recently, parody has become a reality in the NBA. Denver won its first Larry O'Brien Trophy in 2023, and we think the league will crown another first-time winner this year. That means teams like those mentioned above will have to sit on the sidelines while the confetti falls on a new champion. So, who could that be? The best bets are Oklahoma City or Minnesota, who currently sit atop the Western Conference. But don't look now - LA Hair clippers could come into the fold with newcomer James Harden as the running point and the freshly healthy (knock on wood) Kawhi Leonard and Paul George as the running point. Yes, anyone can win and we think it will be a first-time team again in 2024. JU
