9. The Prime Time Players win WWE Tag Team Championships, Darren Young makes history
Say what you will about WWE, the wrestling juggernaut very quietly pulled off a first when superstar Darren Young became the first openly-gay athlete to win a championship in a major professional sport.
Teaming up with longtime friend Titus O’Neil to re-form the popular tag team “The Prime Time Players,” Young and O’Neil challenged defending Tag Team Champions “The New Day” at WWE’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view and emerged victorious thanks to a spinebuster from O’Neil to seal the win.
Whether or not one chooses to acknowledge professional wrestling as a sport, it doesn’t diminish the fact that it was a major step forward in professional sports, which have precious few openly gay athletes.
8. A-Rod’s gets 3,000th hit on home run
The controversial New York Yankees slugger joined one of the most exclusive clubs in American sports by hitting a home run against the Detroit Tigers to get his 3,000th career hit. Though his career and statistics will forever be marred by his reported steroid use, it was undoubtedly an incredible sight to see.
Naturally the initial reaction was to put a gigantic asterisk next to the number, but it doesn’t diminish the fact that it takes a lot of hard work and a lot of burning desire to reach that massive milestone.
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