BY DC CUEVA
Amidst this backdrop - and as The Challenge Final Reckoning just continues to get turned on its head, we'd like to share with you two stories of when two trophies that have been handed out this summer found itself in a bar and in the hands of two MTV Reality alumni. One has a bevy of history behind it and is one of the hardest trophies to win in sport, while the other was the object of everyone's affection during an incredible month of football in the world's largest country. And the alumni featured here are those who had her heart played with in Hawaii, and another who just made headlines this past week for getting replaced by a politician's daughter.
LORD STANLEY WALKS INTO A BAR...
The Stanley Cup is the oldest trophy in North American team sports, in pro sports worldwide and an icon of what's now the National Hockey League - which became its top prize during the Roaring Twenties. It changed quite a bit in its first half-century before it settled into its familiar barrel shape during the mid-stages of its Original Six era when only six teams comprised the entire league - a fifth of what its current roll call has now. And the trophy has so many traditions: players skating around hoisting it over the heads and champagne shots in the dressing room after the clinching game, players spending a day with it in the summer offseason, and names of all the players of all the teams who've won this proud trophy engraved for prosperity by hockey fans everywhere.
Lord Stanley is widely considered to be the toughest trophy to win in American sports: a full 82-game regular season proceeds the Playoffs, which has always been more wide open than its NBA counterparts, and where the intensity sixteen teams display in this two-month miniseries is almost unmatched. And since there are no penalty shootouts unlike the regular season, any Stanley Cup game that goes into overtime becomes a must-watch, where fans know it will end, but of how long it takes, who scores the winning goal and who wins are the only questions, as is whether or not there will be the sacred tradition of teams having a handshake line at the end of any postseason series.
A team who had a lot of baggage going into this year were the Washington Capitals. On so many occasions, they were a top team in the regular season including earning the President's Trophy, which goes to the team with the best record from October to April. But they and Alexander Oveckin would then be snake-bitten by failures to get past the second round and often to Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. 2018 was a totally different tale: they finally got over the hump with a Game 7 road win in OT over the 2-time defending champs, and went on to beat American sports' Cinderella story of the year, the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, to win their first Stanley Cup in Sin City.
All this summer, the Caps have spent precious time with the hardware - the first major sports title for the nation's capital since Super Bowl XXVI, with Oveckin recently taking it to Red Square in Moscow. And a day after they clinched the title during a magical sports weekend that saw the Warriors win back to back NBA titles, LeBron play his last game in a Cavs uniform before going to the Lakers, Justify's Triple Crown win and soccer's best gathering in Russia, the Cup made its first stop on its tour of the District at Don Tito's, a bar across the river from the Capitol in Arlington, VA. Ovi-8, recent signee John Carlson, 2014 Olympic hero T.J. Oshie, Nick Backstrom and now-former head coach Barry Trotz celebrated with their faithful fans whose patience was rewarded.
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| Instagram @KikiCoops |
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I'VE GOT THE WORLD IN MY HANDS...
Even without the presence of the world's largest country and powerhouses Italy and the Netherlands joining the U.S. on the sidelines, the 2018 FIFA World Cup once again brought fans of soccer, football and fútbol together in Russia for a tournament that lived up to its advanced billing and became one of the most unpredictable tournaments in its history. It also became one of its highest-scoring ever: only one match went scoreless in a month that saw 169 goals scored, and this year's final in Moscow was the highest-scoring affair in over 50 years. This was the first World Cup to include the Video Assistant Replay system, as well as the first for new FIFA head Gianni Infantino.
As it was with LeBron James, the notion that no superstar can propel a single team was proved, and Christano Ronaldo's Portugal and Lionel Messi's Argentina sides were eliminated earlier than expected as did past past champions Spain. The world was fascinated with what Neymar did as his acts of diving became a viral sensation as Brazil's World Cup drought continued, while hungry fans in England (including all five of Team GB on The Challenge) finally had hope that they would finally see it all come "home," though it came short in the semifinal to surprise finalists Croatia. But France extinguished those hopes of the ultimate Cinderella story as they won the final, 4-2.
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| Twitter @F1Abraham |
Perhaps the other most-notable guest in the house was the one who has just seen, of all people, Bristol Palin take her spot on the next season of Teen Mom OG: Farrah Abraham had a moment to make everyone jealous and make up for getting replaced by someone who never appeared on a 16 & Pregnant season beforehand by taking a selfie with a trophy that was lifted in the rain by Rami and his French teammates. Farrah captioned, "When your on top of the world #worldcup @fifaworldcup @maximmag #maximhot100 #frenchteam #france #livingmybestlife #lovemylife #legends #OG 🇾🇪 #2018".
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In the course of the past two nights, the MTV Reality world have been rocked by several big developments: a bar fight with potentially house-changing dynamics in Panama City Beach, while a Challenge season that already had a lot take place has more twists thrown their way. We'll bring you all of that when we go Inside MTV Reality coming up this weekend. We hope to see you then...
- I AM DC
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