[Winter] 2013
Sports
News In February, Pope Benedict XVI became the first pope to step down by choice in hundreds of years. On March 13th, Pope Francis was coronated, making him the first pope ever from South America.
Despite a mid-game power outage, the Baltimore Ravens staved off the San Francisco 49ers’ furious rally to win Super Bowl XLVII, sending Ray Lewis into retirement as a champion.
For the first time since 1965, the Wichita State Shockers men’s basketball team made an appearance in the Final Four by knocking out favorites Gonzaga and Ohio State along the way. In September, the US national soccer team successfully qualified for next year’s World Cup in Brazil by beating Mexico. USA went on to win CONCACAF, the North American group, proving they will be a force to be reckoned with next June.
In 2011, the Kansas City Wizards changed their name to Sporting Kansas City and built a new stadium. This July, they hosted the MLS All-Star game and later qualified for the MLS Playoffs for the third year in a row. After falling short the past two years, SKC fought through all five games and, on December 7 won the MLS Cup for the first time since 2000.
On April 15, two homemade bombs were detonated near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The blast killed three and injured 264 others. A manhunt ensued for the two suspects, with one dying and the other being apprehended four days later. Boston then rallied around their baseball team with the “Boston Strong” motto. In October, the Red Sox beat the Cardinals to win the World Series in six games, for their third World Series win in the last decade. On November 7, the deadliest typhoon to ever hit the Phillipines made landfall. The typhoon killed over 5,000 people and left almost two million homeless.
After being imprisoned for 27 years due to leading anti-Apartheid movements, Nelson Mandela was finally freed and later elected as the first black president of South Africa in 1994. He spent five years as president and many more helping South Africa to become a more peaceful and prosperous nation. Sadly, Mandela died on December 5 at age 95 after a long battle with a lung infection.