If Super Sports Saturday of May 2, 2015 was any indication, then we are in one of the best times of the year for sports fans. Postseason is ongoing in the NBA and NHL, baseball is starting to hit its stride, the NFL just had its Draft, horse racing's Triple Crown is once again taking shape, and boxing is bigger than ever. And on the horizon is the traditional Summer of Sports with not only those events, but also major golf and tennis, big UFC fights and the world championships & Grand Prix seasons in Olympic sports as preparations for Rio 2016 approach the "one year to go" marker.
For fans of soccer - football or futbol outside anglophone North America, this is the best time of the year. The domestic European league seasons have reached their conclusion, and the annual international summer soccer tournaments have arrived. This year in the post-men's World Cup summer of 2015, the FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada and the Copa America in South America will take center stage starting this weekend, along with the FIFA Under-20 World Cup currently ongoing in New Zealand. And while playoff fever sets in for those in arenas in North America, it's Cup Fever that has spread throughout the continents, with the finals of the cup competitions to be played at the end of the season.
For fans of soccer - football or futbol outside anglophone North America, this is the best time of the year. The domestic European league seasons have reached their conclusion, and the annual international summer soccer tournaments have arrived. This year in the post-men's World Cup summer of 2015, the FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada and the Copa America in South America will take center stage starting this weekend, along with the FIFA Under-20 World Cup currently ongoing in New Zealand. And while playoff fever sets in for those in arenas in North America, it's Cup Fever that has spread throughout the continents, with the finals of the cup competitions to be played at the end of the season.
Outside of the FIFA World Cup, the English Premier League and Spain's La Liga, it has become the most followed football competition in the world. It has one of the most prestigious prizes in all of sports, and is the epitome of soccer at its very best. Elite clubs from all over the continent that is at the heart of the world game play every year over an entire season to find who is the best club in all of Europe. It culminates with the sport's equivalent of the Super Bowl: an event watched by more people than any other annual sporting event, exceeding that of America's biggest unofficial national holiday.
The UEFA Champions League is the blue-riband event of European football, where the best clubs in Europe compete on a stage unlike any other in soccer. Organized by the governing body of the sport in Europe, the Union of European Football Associations, it's become a phenomenon that has seen the continent's greatest teams and many of the world's biggest players play under the lights. It brings together countries both big & small in a season-long competition mirroring that of national team competitions comprising of qualifying, group play and knockout matches, all leading up to a beginning of summer final match in Europe's greatest stadiums.
And when you hear the operatic theme music play at the beginning of matches when the players walk onto the pitch, you know it is the best atmosphere in all of sports. And the ones who emerge as the one receive glory and a financial windfall, but most importantly, the title of being Europe's best.
And when you hear the operatic theme music play at the beginning of matches when the players walk onto the pitch, you know it is the best atmosphere in all of sports. And the ones who emerge as the one receive glory and a financial windfall, but most importantly, the title of being Europe's best.
