Slate Daily Feed Hang Up | 2025: The Year in Sports
Dec 23, 2025
Reflecting on a thrilling 2025 in sports, the hosts dive into the shocking Luka Doncic trade and its impact on Mavericks fans. The torpedo bats craze ignited debates around baseball fairness. Rory McIlroy's Masters win brought emotional depth to golf, while Coco Gauff's triumph highlighted gender issues in tennis. The Oklahoma City Thunder's rise hints at a new dynasty, and the Ryder Cup's political drama, featuring Trump, stole the spotlight. As the year concludes, controversies, WNBA labor disputes, and baseball's exciting playoffs leave a lasting impression.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Expanded Playoffs Changed The Landscape
- The first 12-team College Football Playoff felt like a short-term vindication of expansion and energized debate about even larger playoffs.
- Its success reset expectations across sports about expanding postseason fields and sparked immediate rule tweaks.
Shock Trade Overshadowed Super Bowl Week
- Nico Harrison's trade of Luka Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis stunned fans and overshadowed the Super Bowl week.
- The fallout included fan backlash, franchise turbulence, and long-running media cycles about how and why it happened.
Torpedo Bats Became A Brief Moral Panic
- Yankees' early-season homers exposed 'torpedo bats' that were legal but sparked moral panic and media furor.
- The craze faded quickly, showing how novelty can create outsized short-term controversies in sports.