Wow, following the jam-packed month of sporting action in August the global sports shutdown now feels like a distant memory. In fact there was so much going on it would be impossible to include it all, so here’s an attempt at summing up all the best bits. Let’s jump right in…
(1/2)#Sports returning to action & key dates in August…
🏒 | 1/8 | 🇺🇸🇨🇦 | #NHL
⚽ | 1/8 | 🇬🇧 | #FACupFinal
🏎️ | 2/8 | 🇬🇧 | #BritishGrandPrix
🎾 | 3/8 | 🇮🇹 | #WTATour
🏌️ | 3/8 | 🇺🇸 | #PGAChampionship
🏄 | 9/8 | 🇺🇸 | #WSL#WSCsports | #ItsAutomagical | #ReturnToAction— WSC Sports (@WSC_Sports) July 29, 2020
NHL
The ‘biggest’ sport to make its comeback in August was of course the NHL, which has been delighting hockey fans since players returned to the ice ready to face-off on the very first day of the month.
Like we’ve seen with other major US sports, the NHL chose to return to action behind closed doors with games being played in two host cities, Toronto (for the East) and Edmonton (for the West), thank you Canada!
Right from Game 1 we saw some amazing plays, just like this one which sees Colorado Avalanche winning the game with just 0.1 seconds left. They don’t come closer than that!
W😲W. #StanleyCup Round Robin pic.twitter.com/F862gpdN0j
— NHL (@NHL) August 3, 2020
Here’s Bo Horvat of the Vancouver Canucks making scoring look easy…
Soooooo clean. #StanleyCup
Cc: @BoHorvat pic.twitter.com/D7zmL5gNit
— NHL (@NHL) August 13, 2020
Thought that last shot was impressive? How about this stunning save from Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens?…
One question, Carey Price (@CP0031)…
How?! 😲 #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/lncDuFzukh
— NHL (@NHL) August 13, 2020
Last up it’s this majestic play from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Take a bow fellas…
ABSOLUTELY UNREAL, BOYS. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ywFULOuTah
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) August 25, 2020
We look forward to a lot more to come from the Stanley Cup in September.
UCL Final
Let’s jump across the pond for a minute or two and take a look at how Europe’s elite football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, went down.
Fans were treated to a rare tweak in the tournament’s scheduling, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, with part of the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and final, all being played in a two week period, following the conclusion of domestic leagues. Normally these games (except the final) would be played alongside the regular league seasons, so the UCL in 2020 resembled more of a summer tournament feel.
The French FTA broadcaster notched up a 46.2% audience share, while Germany’s ZDF coverage peaked at 13.7m in the closing stages of the game. In the US, the match was the most-watched Champions League final since 2015 #UCL #SportsBizhttps://t.co/XELYHrUlIL
— SportsPro (@SportsPro) August 25, 2020
Lisbon, Portugal played host to the final game of the jewel in the crown of European football, and saw French powerhouse PSG take on the Bundesliga’s mighty Bayern Munich.
Bayern looked unstoppable at times this season both in Germany (where they bagged their 8th league trophy in a row, in addition to the German cup) as well as in the UCL where in they smashed outgoing Lionel Messi’s Barcelona 8–2 in the quarter-finals. Still, the UCL final is just one game and anything can happen and star-filled PSG were on the hunt for their first ever UCL trophy.
But Neymar, Mbappe and co. just could get past the German wall of Manuel Neuer who made the difference on the night. In fact, he was simply brilliant all tournament…
🙌 Manuel Neuer in 2019/20 = _______@FCBayernEN | #UCL pic.twitter.com/LM2v6Ut9rs
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 1, 2020
To make things worse for PSG it was a Parisian and former PSG player, Kingsley Coman, who scored the only goal of the evening for Bayern. Just listen to Thomas Müller’s “Jaaaaaa”…
🔴 The moment Kingsley Coman became Mr. Lisbon ⚽️🏆@FCBayernEN | #UCL pic.twitter.com/r4nfO2OQQj
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 27, 2020
If you haven’t already had enough of Bayern Munich, here’s how they secured the treble in 2019/20…
Our journey to ultimate glory 🏆🏆🏆 #MiaSanChampions #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/LQ8tLLHZvJ
— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) August 23, 2020
NBA
The NBA never lets us down, and the bubble has been keeping us entertained with some brilliant basketball throughout August. There’s been much to discuss, both on and off the court, but one of the absolute stars the shone brightest in August was last year’s Rookie of the Year, Luka Doncic.
While the 21-year-old Slovenian and his team the Dallas Mavericks are now eliminated from the NBA Playoffs his performances deserve a special mention. ESPN summed it up best…
Luka Doncic’s first playoff series was unreal:
🔹 31 PPG
🔹 9.8 RPG
🔹 8.7 APG
🔹 Youngest player to ever hit a playoff buzzer-beater
🔹 40-point triple-double in Game 421 years old and did it on a bad ankle 👏 pic.twitter.com/J1ajvB2sfk
— ESPN (@espn) August 30, 2020
Here’s the winning buzzer-beater shot that more than proved he’s ready for NBA domination…
LUKA OMGGGGG pic.twitter.com/v3gPhPzbie
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 23, 2020
That’s so good let’s hear it in every language (well almost)…
🗣️ This is awesome whatever language you speak! https://t.co/blKMq0Q78K
— WSC Sports (@WSC_Sports) August 24, 2020
And here’s what it meant to his teammates and the basketball community…
The shot heard around the 🌎 today. #dALLasIN #MFFL pic.twitter.com/fp54cs8lu3
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) August 24, 2020
MLB
Let’s kick things off with the ugly…
The brawl that took place in the Astros-Athletics game. pic.twitter.com/Ra27N86NYk
— ESPN (@espn) August 9, 2020
And move onto the bizarre and annoying…
save your artsy drone footage of Minneapolis for after the game, please.#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/EAYUjjqv5s
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) August 4, 2020
Now we get to the good stuff. Look at the speed of this huge hit…
That got out in a hurry.
(MLB x @GoogleCloud) pic.twitter.com/CPOTvwp3Ct
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) August 22, 2020
We saw some epic catches too…
YAZ HE DID! 😲
@mikeyaz18 | #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/6shb333svZ
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) August 23, 2020
.@LewisBrinson went all the way up. pic.twitter.com/9teZfU8Bcv
— MLB (@MLB) August 23, 2020
And let’s finish up with some simply brilliant baseball, what a throw!…
Baseball at its best. ⚾👏#MLB #NATITUDE https://t.co/1gaIJuvPLH
— WSC Sports (@WSC_Sports) August 27, 2020
WSL
The World Surf League held a special event ‘the Rumble at the Ranch’ in August, to the delight of surf fans, at legend Kelly Slater’s man-made wave pool in California. Female and male surfers paired up to form teams and were ultimately competing for bragging rights at the exhibition-style event.
Missed it live? Replay the @michelobultra #PureGold Rumble at the Ranch now, https://t.co/tYImiyrP2m. 🤠 pic.twitter.com/KObuQtYVEL
— World Surf League (@wsl) August 14, 2020
Your @michelobultra #PureGold Rumble at the Ranch winning team is .@coco_ho & @toledo_filipe. pic.twitter.com/tYNecLs5UF
— World Surf League (@wsl) August 9, 2020
Bonus Bits
There’s always a bunch of awesome content to add in this section but here’s what made the cut in August.
Let’s kick off with this wonderful goal from the KHL (Kontinental Hockey League) Europe and Asia’s professional ice hockey league…
That’s ridiculous! #KHLPreseason pic.twitter.com/YeWGm9jBrQ
— KHL (@khl_eng) August 12, 2020
Ridiculous indeed! More of that please guys. 🙏
Next up there’s the incredible story of Germany’s 28-year-old Sophia Popov, who went from caddying for her friend at the LPGA tour in July, to winning the Women’s British Open in August!
From caddie to major champion in a month! 🤯 https://t.co/IJTA6XGlFf
— WSC Sports (@WSC_Sports) August 24, 2020
Amazingly, Popov only qualified for the Women’s Open by securing a top 10 finish at the Marathon Classic, a tournament which she only joined as it was struggling for participants! Popov bagged a cool $675,000 winners prize from the British Open, a remarkable achievement for someone who didn’t even have LPGA status before the tournament started.
Last up, coming in right at the end of the month, we saw an 18 year WNBA record smashed. Funnily enough the new assists record (18) is now set at the same number of years in which it had previously stood. Will it take another 18 years for it to be broken?
#CourtneyVandersloot, the @chicagosky‘s veteran point guard set a #WNBA record with 18 assists surpassing #TichaPenicheiro‘s mark of 16, which had stood since 2002! https://t.co/uEb6oDwx5H
— WSC Sports (@WSC_Sports) September 1, 2020
Looking Ahead
(2/2)
⚽ | 12/9 | 🇬🇧 | #PremierLeague
⚽ | 12/9 | 🇪🇸 | #LaLiga
⛳ | 14/9 | 🇺🇸 | #USOpen
⚽ | 18/9 | 🇩🇪 | #Bundesliga
⚽ | 19/9 | 🇮🇹 | #SerieA
🏁 | 19/9 | 🇫🇷 | 88th #LeMans
⛳ | 21/9 | 🇺🇸 | #RyderCup
🎾 | 21/9 | 🇫🇷 | #RolandGarros
🏎️ | 25/9 | 🇷🇺 | #F1 #RussianGrandPrix— WSC Sports (@WSC_Sports) September 1, 2020
If you enjoyed this roundup be sure to take a look at all the best action from July .
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