C122 Sports is back and better than ever. Now with plans to include more sports coverage, and soon to have many more video features. Summer in the sporting world was nothing short of action-packed, so let’s recap everything that happened.
LOCAL SPORTS:
The Las Vegas Golden Knights exited the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs during the second round while playing against future Finals contender, the Edmonton Oilers. VGK lost in game five with a record of 4-1, the only win being in game four with a score of 4-3, the last goal was scored with 0.4 seconds left.
The Raiders have lost all of their preseason games. Their first game of the season was against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field, where the two teams tied 23-23. Their second game was against the San Francisco 49ers at home, where star rookie Ashton Jeanty scored his first touchdown with the team. He was also able to average 4.7 yards per play. They took a loss this game, 22-19, bringing their preseason record to 0-1-1. Their third game against the Arizona Cardinals was yet another loss, 20-10.
The NBA Summer League made its dramatic return to Las Vegas at the UNLV Thomas & Mack Center. The Charlotte Hornets won their first Summer League championship, beating out the Sacramento Kings 83-78 in the final championship game. Kon Knueppel was named MVP of the championship game, while Utah Jazz player Kyle Filipowski was named overall MVP.
NBA:
The 2025 NBA finals were won by the Oklahoma City Thunder after a tight game seven, 103-91. Star Indianapolis Pacers player, Tyrese Haliburton, was set to be a key player in the final game and was expected to be the main force bringing the Pacers to their first championship. However, Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon early in the game and had to be helped off the court, with an expected recovery time of around nine months. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, regular-season and Finals MVP, led the final game with 29 points and 12 assists.
Gilgeous-Alexander later signed a four-year contract extension with the Thunder for $285 million. A deal that makes him the highest-paid player in the NBA, his average yearly salary being a staggering $71.25 million.
NFL:
The NFL is back with a dramatic preseason. It kicked off with the Pro Hall of Fame game between the L.A. Chargers and Detroit Lions. Being the first game, both teams started with rookies in their lineup. Isaac TeSlaa of the Lions was a main player to watch because of the strength he showed throughout practice as a late-drafted wide receiver. Detroit took first possession of the game after the kick by Cameron Dicker. Grant Stuard caught the ball and ran it down the field 25 yards before going down and fumbling it, giving possession to the Chargers six seconds into the game. L.A. took the game’s first touchdown after a fourth-down pass from Trey Lance to Will Dissly. The second kick of the game handed possession back to the Lions, with the ball making it down to the 35-yard line before going down–but not fumbling this time. This play was underwhelming and led to an almost immediate turnover on downs after two minutes. The Chargers quickly took advantage, with Lance finding success on a far pass that set up a short rushing touchdown to stretch the lead. Detroit’s offense couldn’t get much going in the early stages, with TeSlaa being limited to very short gains and the game stalling for the Lions. While Detroit broke through in the third quarter, it was too little too late, and both teams slowed in scoring, leading to a 34-7 victory for the Chargers.
The Buffalo Bills took an absolutely crushing loss to the Chicago Bears 38-0 at Soldier Field in their second game. Star QB Caleb Williams seemed unstoppable against the Bills’ defense, driving a 92-yard opening possession that ended with a 36-yard touchdown from Olamide Zaccheaus. Williams completed six of 10 passes for 102 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions before passing the torch to the backup. Tyson Bagent, the backup, continued the Bears’ incredible performance by completing 13 of his 22 passes for 196 yards as well as another touchdown. This win, however, can’t entirely be chalked up to the quarterbacks, as the running team shone bright. Ian Wheeler ran for 80 yards alone and two touchdowns, while Brittain Brown had a one-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The Bills succumbed heavily to Chicago’s defense this game, not even reaching the red zone during the game, and limiting them to a total of 180 yards. Buffalo chose to play without a majority of their starters and the backups they chose did not perform as expected by head coach Sean McDermott.
The Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Washington Commanders 31-17 in their week two game. QB Joe Burrow from the Bengals led an early drive that ended in a one-yard rushing touchdown on fourth down by Chase Brown. Washington didn’t waste time responding, however, quickly taking a 14-yard rushing touchdown by Jayden Daniels following a 27-yard run by Jacory Crosky-Merritt to tie the game. Star backup QB Jake Browning threw two remarkable touchdown passes to Mitchell Tinsley in the first half for the Bengals. Defensively speaking, Cincinnati had big plays from safety Tycen Anderson and rookie LB Barrett Carter, who both got key interceptions to set up scores for the Bengals. Washington seemed like a threat through the early stages, but couldn’t hold up against Cincinnati.
NHL:
The Florida Panthers became back-to-back NHL champions against the Edmonton Oilers in a rematch between the two 2024 contenders. Edmonton kicked off the Stanley Cup Finals with a 3-4 win against the Panthers before the series tied 1-1 after a 5-4 win for Florida. Florida took a very dominant win in game three, going 6-1 and taking the lead of the finals 2-1. The Oilers responded quickly, tying it again after another 5-4 win. Florida finally finished off the Oilers in game five, bringing the series 4-2 following their win in game four. The final game was won 5-1 by the Panthers while game four was won 5-2.
MOTORSPORTS:
The Formula 1 world championship is currently being led by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, going into their three-week summer break and mandatory factory shutdowns. Piastri has a nine-point gap to teammate Lando Norris and a 97-point gap to third-place Max Verstappen. Verstappen, notably, has not won a race since May at the Imola GP, and was rumored to be possibly taking George Russell’s Mercedes seat next year once the Brit’s contract runs out.
The two McLaren teammates have been trading wins back and forth throughout the months of summer–and season in general–with four going to Norris and two going to Piastri. Tensions boiled over for the two at the Canadian Grand Prix, where Lando Norris crashed into the back of Piastri’s McLaren, destroying his own front wing and front left suspension after contact with the wall. George Russell won that race ahead of Verstappen, with rookie driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli getting his first career podium. While Antonelli’s rookie podium was a shock to many, two races later at the British GP, veteran driver Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber took his first podium 249 races and 13 years into his career.
The NTT IndyCar Series championship was clinched two races earlier than the season finale in Portland by Chip Ganassi driver Alex Palou, taking his third win in a row and fourth in five years. The Portland GP itself was won by Will Power, who claimed the first win for Team Penske all season. This was amidst rumors that he would not return to the #12 Verizon Chevrolet next year in favor of youngster David Malukas from AJ Foyt Racing. It was, however, announced on September 2nd that Power would move to Andretti for 2026.
Four races before Portland, Pato O’Ward of McLaren took Chevrolet’s first win for the season, ending the streak of Hondas that lasted 10 races through Mid-Ohio. Iowa also saw McLaren’s #6 get taken out of contention in Race 2 due to a heavy crash in turn three that caused a red flag. The #6’s driver, Nolan Siegel, was declared unfit to race, and it was soon announced that former Chip Ganassi driver Linus Lundqvist would replace him–until news broke a day before the Toronto race weekend that Siegel had recovered and would return to driving.
PREMIER LEAGUE:
Liverpool F.C. won the 2024-25 Premier League season ahead of close rivals Arsenal and defending champions Manchester City. Liverpool ended the season with 84 points, following their subpar ending to the season with only one win coming in their last five games. The three teams promoted for the 2024-25 season, Leicester City, Ipswich Town, and Southampton, were all relegated back to the EFL, making this only the third time in Premier League history that all promoted teams were immediately relegated. Leeds United, Burnley F.C., and Sunderland–on the other hand–were the teams promoted to the Premier League.
