Viral Sports Moments of 2012

When a sports moment captures the world, it transcends its sport and becomes a cultural touchstone. Whether it is Michael Jordan’s tears, Dell Curry’s genetics or the NBA’s avatar-building that turns its players into symbols and paragons, there are moments in the game that are so awe-inducing that they leave everyone in attendance—from athletes to spectators—in disbelief, amazement and utter joy.

Viral sports moments are a rare thing indeed and can take many forms, from an athlete’s impromptu dance-off to a sports league mascot going bonkers or a star athlete showing some skin on social media. But there are certain criteria that any viral sports moment must meet to be considered one of the best. These include the Awe Factor, the Ubiquity Factor, the Holy Shit! Factor and the Will You Talk About This in 25 Years? Factor.

This Olympic Games was no exception, with head-scratching moments all over the place. From the casual Turkish shooter to the polarizing performances of Rachael Gunn, this year’s Olympics has had plenty to get people talking.

There were also a few off-field moments that went viral this year, including a darts player’s drunken antics and the slapdown between former heavyweight champions Jake Paul and Mike Tyson. Trying to pick the best ones is a tough task, but these wacky moments captured the lighter side of sport and got people talking.

The Masters Leaderboard – Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau Are All Within Six Shots of Rose

The Masters leaderboard is stacked as the top-10 players in the world are within six shots of Justin Rose at Augusta National. That means the dream of a Rory McIlroy or Scottie Scheffler winning three green jackets before turning 29 is very much alive.

Overnight rain softened the conditions at Augusta National for Round 2 on Friday, and the players took advantage of a course that yielded low scores all around. Overnight leader Justin Rose had to work for his 1-under 71, but he managed to hold on to the top spot.

McIlroy, seeking to complete a career Grand Slam at the Masters, flipped the script on Thursday’s second-nine meltdown by firing a second-round 6-under 66. The defending champion made six birdies and had one of the best iron shots in the tournament on No. 13, a 4-iron from the pine straw that wasn’t meant to go straight at the flag but did and barely found the green.

He is tied with Corey Conners in third at 6 under, while U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau is one back after posting a second-round 4-under 68. The two-time Masters winner is in contention after battling a rib injury, and his bid to win a third green jacket before turning 29 has the look of a major classic.

There are plenty of other names to watch for, too, including Viktor Hovland and Jason Day at four under through 15 holes. Hideki Matsuyama, Collin Morikawa and Patrick Reed are in the group at five under. All three are former Masters champions, and Matsuyama and Reed have both won majors this year. If no player wins the Masters after 72 holes, a sudden-death playoff begins on the 18th hole and then moves to the 10th if needed.

Asian Games 2026

The Asian Games is Asia’s biggest multi-sport event, held every four years and involving 45 participating countries and regions. The Games foster friendship across borders and contribute to world peace by celebrating diversity in sports.

The 2026 Asian Games will be hosted by Japan in Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya City from September 19 to October 4. This is the third time that the country has hosted the multi-sport event, after 1958 and 1994.

During the Games, more than 15,000 athletes and officials from all over Asia will gather in Aichi-Nagoya. They will stay at the ‘Games Village’, where they will get all the amenities that they need to compete and feel like home away from home. The venue will also feature a ‘floating village’, where 4,600 athletes and officials, or one-third of the total, will stay aboard a luxury cruise ship docked at the Kinjo Pier in Nagoya Port. The float will offer all the usual services that athletes can expect from the Games Village, and it will have a view of the beautiful ocean and sky.

The ‘floating village’ is expected to help athletes have a unique experience of the Games, which will be held in the peak typhoon season. Athletes will be briefed on what to do if the weather turns bad during their stay. For instance, they will be taught how to use life vests and the safety measures that should be taken if they are in danger in the water.

2025 NFL Draft

With a busy free agency period now behind them, NFL teams turn their attention to shoring up their rosters through the draft. With a number of high-profile prospects expected to go in the top 10 picks, 2025’s NFL draft could be one of the most entertaining ever.

The basic order of the draft starts with each team’s win-loss record from the previous season. The team with the fewest wins gets first pick, then the next lowest, and so on. Teams can trade their picks up to and during the draft, but no team has yet done so with their first round pick.

The 2025 draft begins Thursday April 24 with the first round, followed by rounds two through seven on Friday and Saturday. Each round lasts an hour and a half, with the exception of the seventh round which only takes 45 minutes.

In addition to selecting new players, the three days of the draft also include a host of in-venue fan engagement moments that keep the energy up in the venue. These can include team roll calls, t-shirt tosses and live fan cams, as well as special guest appearances.

In the case of the first round, there’s a clear favorite for the No. 1 overall pick in the Tennessee Titans’ Cam Ward. Ward, a Miami Hurricanes quarterback, is considered to be the best player in the class and could become an instant star for the franchise. He is a gunslinger who has some growing to do, but has a huge ceiling in the league.

Olympic Ice Hockey

Hockey is played on ice between two teams of five players each, using curved sticks to maneuver the rubber puck into their opponent’s goal. A game consists of three 20-minute periods with two 15-minute intermissions. In Olympic competition, games cannot end in a tie; deadlocks are broken by either a four-on-four overtime period or, for playoff games and the gold medal game, a shootout.

The 1980 Lake Placid “Miracle on Ice” game was a major upset that sent shockwaves across the United States and shook the Soviet Union, which had won all of the previous gold medals in men’s ice hockey. The American team featured future NHL stars like Wayne Gretzky and Eric Lindros, as well as the legendary goalie Vladislav Tretiak.

After the first period, the Soviets took a 1-0 lead, but in the second period, Buzz Schneider scored to tie the game at 1-1. Then, with only a few seconds left on the clock, Mark Johnson sent a slap shot toward Tretiak’s net. It deflected off the left shoulder of the goalie and crossed the goal line, earning Johnson a spot in Olympic history and saving the Americans from defeat.

The 1998 tournament saw a change in the format, as an agreement was reached to allow NHL players to play in the Olympics. The tournament began with a preliminary round without NHL players or the top six teams (Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States), followed by a final round that included those players.

A Guide to International Sports

At its most noble level, international sports brings people together across borders and encourages friendship and exchange. But, at its basest level, the fervor sport invokes can trigger violence and even lead to illegal activities. This guide highlights a range of resources researchers can use to explore the many facets of international sports.

The most important and famous international sport is the Olympic Games. The first official international game in any sport was a cricket match played between the United States and Canada in 1844. The Olympics have a strong impact on the host cities and countries, largely because they are seen as a seal of approval from the world’s community that a city or country is a successful, open and well-developed society. This can have a significant economic effect as people travel from around the world to see the events and spend money in the local economy.

Other important international sporting events include the FIFA World Cup, which stirs national pride in fans around the globe, and a number of other multi-sport competitions such as the Universiade and Six Nations Rugby tournament. The Olympic Games and the World Cup are also influenced by political, economic and cultural factors that make up the larger global context in which they occur.

In addition to the global context, international sport is regulated on the national level by international governing bodies like FIFA and the IOC. These bodies are responsible for regulating the technical aspects of their sport at the Olympic Games and disseminating the values of Olympism through their activity.

How Athlete Endorsements Can Drive Conversions and Revenue

Millions of fans follow their favorite athletes, identifying with and even imitating them. These emotional connections translate into brand loyalty that can be leveraged to drive conversions and revenue. Athlete endorsements can be effective for a variety of products and services, including sports apparel and nutrition.

Endorsement agreements can include licensing or royalty arrangements, where the athlete earns a percentage of sales or a flat fee for product use. Royalty-based agreements can be more lucrative for athletes and may give them more control over how their likeness is used. They can also provide long-term partnerships that allow athletes to become true ambassadors of the brand, deepening the connection between them and consumers.

When a brand partners with an admired athlete, it can gain a competitive edge and stand out in the market. When competing products offer similar features, the one endorsed by an iconic athlete can gain consumer preference due to its recognizable association with a well-known figure.

Athlete-backed brands can build a sense of authenticity with their audiences by sharing behind-the-scenes content, such as how the athlete uses the product in his or her daily routine. Athlete-backed brands can also create a sense of exclusivity and urgency with limited editions or exclusive signature gear. By using a suite of audience data and sentiment analytics, marketers can measure the success of their campaigns and optimize future efforts.

FIFA International Qualifiers Taking Center Stage Around the Globe

With just a handful of spots at next summer’s FIFA World Cup still up for grabs, international qualifiers are taking center stage around the globe. These intense contests serve to not only determine who plays in the final tournament, but also showcase the best talent that the game has to offer. And while qualification systems across the continents differ, they all aim to do the same: identify the top teams for each confederation.

The European qualification process began in September 2024, and is set to continue with double-headers in June, September, October and November before wrapping up in December. The 12 group winners qualify automatically, while second-placed teams move on to the second round of play-offs.

Sixteen nations (twelve group runners-up plus four of the best Nations League group winners, based on their overall ranking that finished outside the top two in their qualifying groups) are drawn into one of four paths, playing a single round of two-legged play-off ties (semifinals followed by finals). The winner of each path qualifies for the World Cup.

Meanwhile, in Asia, the first round of qualifications concluded Tuesday with Japan and Iran clinching their places in the next stage. The remaining eight countries — including Iraq, Oman and Saudi Arabia — will advance to the fourth round. The group winners and runners-up of each of the four groups will then compete in a two-legged tie to decide the two Asian qualifiers for the interconfederation playoffs.

World Athletics Championship

ATHLETICS

In the sport of track and field, there are few competitions more highly anticipated than World Athletics Championship. Held in odd years to avoid clashing with the Olympic Games, which are contested on a quadrennial basis in even years, Worlds offers the planet’s preeminent runners, jumpers and throwers a chance to become an Ultimate Champion in their event. The best athletes are able to produce their finest, most dynamic performances at this biennial competition.

A handful of years ago, as a member of the heritage department at World Athletics trawled through the archive to prepare for the new department’s launch, he came across a scrapbook that had been filled out by someone from the organization’s headquarters in London. It related to the inaugural World Championships in 1983, and it was a rudimentary piece of official documentation that spoke volumes about the event and the state of the sport in those days.

AUSTRALIA

Team Australia will be strong in Tokyo and will feature dual Olympians, including 20km race walker Jemima Montag and triple jumper Nicola Zagame. Further, teenage world 800m champion Cameron Myers (ACT) will lead an all-star line up of metric milers and the nation’s most promising long jumper, Delta Amidzovski, will also be in action in Japan.

Esports Tournament News

Esports tournament news can range from breaking news and in-depth match analysis to exclusive interviews and behind the scenes content. These stories shape the world of competitive gaming.

The esports industry has grown at a staggering pace in recent years, and today some of the biggest video game tournaments in history rival some of the most popular traditional sports events. Backed by major video game companies, esports competitions feature teams of professional gamers competing in highly specialized games to earn the right to play for millions of fans around the globe.

Teams are represented by organizations, sponsors or cities and play against other teams in scheduled matches. The best performing teams advance to the playoffs or championships, where they compete for massive prize pools and global recognition. Esports tournaments are played out on a wide variety of platforms and are organized according to defined rules. This consistency enables spectators to follow the action across all platforms, from streaming live events on their mobile phones while commuting to watching in-person at world class arenas.

The esports tournament landscape continues to evolve, with new technologies bringing the world closer together. Better internet infrastructure, especially 5G networks, allow participants to compete with players from anywhere in the world without having to worry about lag or connection issues. Meanwhile, some tournaments are now experimenting with AR displays for the live audience that show game information and player stats as overlays in the physical space.