Summer Recap

Summer Recap:

What happened again this summer?

By Jack Toal

Olympians Bring Home Gold

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics were postponed due to the global pandemic. However, despite controversy, the International Olympic Committee was able to reschedule the Olympics to take place in 2021. In the Olympics, the U.S. finished with the most gold medals (39) beating China by one gold medal. In terms of total medals they swept the competition, finishing with 113 total medals compared to China in second place, finishing with 88.

COVID-2021

Although COVID-19 cases were on the downturn during summer, there was another spike as the Delta variant became a factor. There is a booster vaccine that will be available starting Sept. 20, to defend against the variant.

Rolling Loud

Rolling Loud Festivals came back after being canceled due to COVID-19 for a year. Rolling Loud Miami is a staple in music today, attracting many people in major cities to watch a collection of performances featuring some of the music industry’s biggest names. Headliners this year included A$AP Rocky, Travis Scott and Post Malone, along with many other artists following their sets. With no restrictions on attendance, listeners swarmed to the festival and got loud quickly.

Trophy Season

The Tampa Bay Lightning went back-to-back as Stanley Cup victors this year and last year, beating the Canadians in five games. Andrei Vasilevskiy won playoff MVP with a 0.939 save percentage in the finals. The Lightning are only the 16th team to go back-to-back since the creation of the NHL in 1917.

Over the summer, the 85th edition of the Masters Tournament took place at the National Augusta Golf Club; it was a rescheduled tournament from 2020. Hideki Matsuyama became the first Japanese and first Asian-born golfer to win a PGA Masters tournament by scoring a -10 at the tournament, edging out Will Zalatoris by one shot.

The Copa América took place in Brazil from June 13, 2021, to July 10, 2021, when it was originally scheduled from June 12, 2020, to July 12, 2020. The finals were between Argentina and Colombia. At the end of regulation the score was tied 1-1 and went into penalties, where Argentina won 3-2 in the penalty shootout.

The UEFA Euro took place across all of Europe rather than in one country to help avoid COVID-19. This ensured that, in case of a flare up, it wouldn’t be concentrated in one country, and there would be a broader spread. The final was between England and Italy; after regulation, Italy pulled out the victory by scoring 3-2 in penalties.

Of the teams in the NBA Finals, only one player had ever been to the finals before (Jae Crowder). The Suns have never won a NBA championship, while it had been 50 years since the Bucks had won the Finals. It made for an exciting matchup where the Bucks emerged victorious in game six, winning 105-98. Giannis Antetokounmpo won finals MVP averaging 35 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and 1.8 blocks.