Everything That Happened During Jordan Bohannon's College Basketball Career
The world has changed a ton since the sixth-year senior first stepped foot in Iowa City
Freshman Year
August 22, 2016: The first day of the Fall 2016 semester at the University of Iowa and, presumably, Jordan Bohannon’s first day of class
August 26, 2016: San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sits during the national anthem played before their preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. Asked about it in the postgame interview, he states, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. … There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.” He’ll kneel for the anthem before every game from then on.
September 6, 2016: Donald Glover’s Atlanta premieres on FX.
September 6, 2016: I begin my sophomore year at the University of Minnesota.
September 8, 2016: German Márquez makes his major league debut for the Colorado Rockies.
September 12, 2016: Matt Olson makes his major league debut for the Oakland Athletics.
September 19, 2016: The Good Place premieres on NBC.
September 20, 2016: This Is Us premieres on NBC.
September 21, 2016: Designated Survivor premieres on ABC.
September 23, 2016: Kevin Garnett retires from the NBA.
September 25, 2016: Miami Marlins pitcher José Fernández, heavily intoxicated, crashes his boat off the coast of Miami Beach, tragically killing himself and two others. Hall of Fame golfer Arnold Palmer dies later that day.
September 30, 2016: Indie folk artist Bon Iver releases his third studio album, 22, A Million, to critical acclaim.
October 2, 2016: The Atlanta Braves play their final game at Turner Field. The stadium will be purchased by Georgia State University the following month. Additionally, Vin Scully calls his final game for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dick Enberg calls his final game for the San Diego Padres.
October 7, 2016: Musician Bruno Mars releases “24K Magic”, the lead single from his upcoming third studio album of the same name.
October 9, 2016: Ken Bone becomes a minor celebrity after asking a question at the United States presidential debate in St. Louis.
October 10, 2016: David Ortiz plays his final MLB game.
October 22, 2016: In football, Oklahoma defeats Texas Tech, 66-59. The teams combine for 1708 yards of offense, an FBS record. Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes notches 819 yards of offense by himself, also an FBS record, and 734 of those yards come in the air, tying an FBS record. Oklahoma has a 500-yard passer (Baker Mayfield), a 200-yard rusher (Joe Mixon), and a 200-yard receiver (Dede Westbrook), a first in FBS history.
October 28, 2016: Hip hop trio Migos releases “Bad and Boujee”, the lead single from their upcoming second studio album Culture. It immediately gets memed into oblivion.
October 31, 2016: Andre Johnson retires from the NFL.
November 1, 2016: Ray Allen officially retires from the NBA, though it’s been over two years since he played in an NBA game.
November 2, 2016: The Chicago Cubs prevail in a thrilling, 10-inning Game 7 against the Cleveland Indians to win their first World Series since 1908.
November 4, 2016: The Mannequin Challenge goes viral.
November 8, 2016: Donald Trump is elected the 45th President of the United States, defeating Hillary Clinton.
November 11, 2016: Jordan Bohannon plays his first of 179 career games for Iowa. In a non-conference home win against Kennesaw State, Bohannon comes off the bench to play 21 minutes, score six points, and dish out two assists.
November 17, 2016: Musician Childish Gambino releases “Redbone”, the second advance single from his upcoming third studio album Awaken, My Love!. It immediately gets memed into oblivion.
November 23, 2016: Walt Disney Animation Studios releases Moana to critical acclaim and widespread commercial success.
November 25, 2016: Former President of Cuba Fidel Castro dies.
November 29, 2016: Jordan Bohannon starts his first of 169 career games for Iowa. In the ACC/B1G Challenge loss at Notre Dame, Bohannon records 23 points, seven assists, and two rebounds. He’ll start every game for the remainder of the season and he’ll only come off the bench four more times in his career.
December 2, 2016: Comedy Bang! Bang! airs its final episode.
December 12, 2016: Rapper Ja Rule and entrepreneur Billy McFarland announce Fyre Festival, a luxury music festival in the Bahamas, with backing from several popular social media influencers.
December 15, 2016: Reporter Craig Sager dies of acute myeloid leukemia.
December 25-28, 2016: Singer George Michael, actress Carrie Fisher, and actress Debbie Reynolds all pass away in the span of four days.
January 2, 2017: Steve Smith Sr. retires from the NFL.
January 6, 2017: Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran simultaneously releases “Castle on the Hill” and “Shape of You”, the lead singles from his upcoming third studio album ÷. Inexplicably, it’s the latter that becomes a worldwide smash hit despite the former being the far better song.
January 7, 2017: Salt Bae goes viral.
January 7, 2017: Regular Show airs its finale.
January 12, 2017: San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos announces the team will move to Los Angeles beginning with the 2017 season.
January 20, 2017: Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States, replacing Barack Obama.
February 3, 2017: Michael Vick retires from the NFL.
February 5, 2017: The Blinking White Guy meme goes viral.
February 5, 2017: The New England Patriots win Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons in overtime after trailing 28-3 late in the third quarter.
February 15, 2017: “issuing correction on a previous post of mine, regarding the terror group ISIL. you do not, under any circumstances, ‘gotta hand it to them’”
February 24, 2017: Universal Pictures releases Get Out, the directorial debut of comedian Jordan Peele.
February 26, 2017: At the 89th Academy Awards, actress Faye Dunaway incorrectly announces La La Land as the winner of the Best Picture award. After the cast and crew take the stage and give multiple speeches, the producers finally notify them of the error and give the award to the true winner, Moonlight.
March 2, 2017: Jordan Bohannon hits a game-winning three-pointer with 9.7 seconds remaining to lead Iowa to an upset road victory over Wisconsin, 59-57.
March 3, 2017: Nintendo releases the Switch. They also release The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as a launch title.
March 9, 2017: Jordan Bohannon records his first double-double (24 points, 10 assists) in a B1G Tournament second round blowout loss to Indiana. Iowa will be selected to the NIT and Bohannon will also notch double-doubles in both of Iowa’s NIT games.
March 12, 2017: Northwestern is selected to their first ever NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament as an 8-seed at-large. They’ll defeat 9-seed Vanderbilt in the Round of 64 before falling to 1-seed Gonzaga two days later.
March 13, 2017: DeMarcus Ware retires from the NFL.
March 15, 2017: “turning a big dial taht says ‘Racism’ on it and constantly looking back at the audience for approval like a contestant on the price is right”
March 15, 2017: Workaholics airs its finale.
March 18, 2017: Rock and roll icon Chuck Berry dies.
March 27, 2017: The NFL approves the Oakland Raiders’ request to move to Las Vegas. There’s no NFL stadium in Las Vegas yet -- in fact, they haven’t even broken ground -- so the Raiders will still play their next three seasons in Oakland.
April 4, 2017: Atlus releases Persona 5 worldwide.
April 4, 2017: Tony Romo retires from the NFL.
April 4, 2017: Pepsi debuts a hilariously misguided “activism” advertisement featuring Kendall Jenner. They pull it the next day after universal backlash.
April 5, 2017: Hank Azaria’s Brockmire premieres on IFC.
April 7, 2017: Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook finishes recording enough points, rebounds, and assists over the course of the NBA season to ensure he’ll average a triple-double, the first time this has been done since 1962.
April 10, 2017: Legendary college basketball coach Steve Fisher retires.
April 14, 2017: Roddy White retires from the NFL.
April 14, 2017: The Atlanta Braves play their first regular season game at SunTrust Park (now known as Truist Park).
April 17, 2017: 2 Broke Girls airs its finale.
April 25, 2017: Cody Bellinger makes his major league debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
April 26, 2017: The Handmaid’s Tale premieres on Hulu.
April 27, 2017: A brutal rainstorm strikes the Bahamas just as Fyre Festival is scheduled to begin. Those who’ve already made it to the festival become stranded with none of their promised accommodations and, because the festival was advertised as “cashless”, no money to purchase their own. The festival is a total failure and is almost universally branded as a scam.
April 27-29, 2017: The 2017 NFL Draft occurs. Notable picks: Myles Garrett (1), Mitchell Trubisky (2), Leonard Fournette (4), Jamal Adams (6), Christian McCaffrey (8), Patrick Mahomes (10), Marshon Lattimore (11), Deshaun Watson (12), Marlon Humphrey (16), Jonathan Allen (17), Evan Engram (23), Tre’Davious White (27), T.J. Watt (30), Budda Baker (36), Dalvin Cook (41), Joe Mixon (48), JuJu Smith-Schuster (62), Dion Dawkins (63), Alvin Kamara (67), Cooper Kupp (69), Chris Godwin (84), Kareem Hunt (86), Shaquill Griffin (90), Kenny Golladay (96), Trey Hendrickson (103), James Conner (105), Eddie Jackson (112), Tarik Cohen (119), George Kittle (146), Jake Elliot (153), Aaron Jones (182)
April 28, 2017: Nintendo releases Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It becomes the best selling game for the Switch by far.
May 5, 2017: The “Mocking SpongeBob” meme template goes viral.
May 12, 2017: Rock band Paramore releases their fifth studio album After Laughter, an entirely underrated gem that deserved better, dammit.
May 14, 2017: The New York Yankees retire #2 in honor of Derek Jeter, making every single-digit number unavailable to be worn in the organization.
May 19, 2017: Cold War hero Stanislav Petrov dies.
June 2, 2017: Singer Dua Lipa releases her eponymous debut studio album.
June 5, 2017: The “Stonks” meme is first posted.
June 7, 2017: Hall of Fame Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops retires.
June 9, 2017: Singer Katy Perry releases her fifth studio album Witness, which flops heavily and will become widely considered a career killer.
June 9, 2017: Actor Adam West, famous for playing Batman, dies.
June 15, 2017: Matt Chapman makes his major league debut for the Oakland Athletics.
June 22, 2017: The 2017 NBA Draft occurs. Notable picks: Markelle Fultz (1), Lonzo Ball (2), Jayson Tatum (3), De’Aaron Fox (5), Donovan Mitchell (13), Bam Adebayo (14), John Collins (19), Jarrett Allen (22)
June 23, 2017: The Dancing Hot Dog Snapchat filter is introduced.
June 23-24, 2017: The 2017 NHL Entry Draft occurs. Notable picks: Nico Hischier (1), Nolan Patrick (2), Miro Heiskanen (3), Cale Makar (4), Elias Pettersson (5), Martin Necas (12), Nick Suzuki (13), Robert Thomas (20), Jason Robertson (39), Drake Batherson (121)
June 27, 2017: Pretty Little Liars airs its finale.
July 17, 2017: Paul Pierce retires from the NBA.
July 21, 2017: Ozark premieres on Netflix.
July 26, 2017: The Fairly OddParents airs its finale.
August 9, 2017: Vince Wilfork retires from the NFL.
August 12, 2017: Unite the Right rally goers in Charlottesville, Virginia, strike and kill counter-protester Heather Heyer with a car.
August 19, 2017: The “Distracted Boyfriend” meme template goes viral.
August 20, 2017: Pop culture icon Jerry Lewis dies.
Sophomore Year
August 21, 2017: The Great American Eclipse occurs, treating much of the country to a rare total solar eclipse.
August 24, 2017: Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift releases “Look What You Made Me Do”, the lead single from her upcoming sixth studio album Reputation. The song is met with utter confusion; the album will end up flopping heavily.
August 25, 2017: Hurricane Harvey makes landfall on the United States, wreaking havoc on the gulf coast of Texas, including Houston.
August 30, 2017: Shane Doan, the last active player to have played for the original Winnipeg Jets, retires from the NHL.
September 1, 2017: Joe Nathan retires from MLB.
September 2, 2017: Coastal Carolina plays its first football game at the FBS level. UAB plays its first football game since reinstating the program after a two-year hiatus.
September 7, 2017: Walker Buehler makes his major league debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
September 10, 2017: Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville premieres on Fox.
September 14, 2017: The Cleveland Indians win their 22nd consecutive game, the last in a win streak that becomes the longest in American League history and the second longest in MLB history.
September 25, 2017: Young Sheldon premieres on CBS to the dismay of many.
October 1, 2017: New York Mets manager Terry Collins announces his retirement from MLB following the Mets’ final game of the season later that day.
October 1, 2017: A gunman opens fire at a music festival on the Las Vegas strip, killing 60 and injuring 867 in what is at the time the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
October 2, 2017: Rock and roll icon Tom Petty dies.
October 6, 2017: The Vegas Golden Knights play the first game of their inaugural season in the National Hockey League. In doing so, they become the first major league sports franchise to call Las Vegas home.
October 13, 2017: Mindhunter premieres on Netflix.
October 17, 2017: The 2017-18 NBA season begins and, for the first time in any of the Big Four American pro sports leagues, some teams debut jersey advertisements.
October 23, 2017: Metta Sandiford-Artest (then known as Metta World Peace) retires from the NBA.
October 27, 2017: Nintendo releases Super Mario Odyssey.
November 1, 2017: On a conference call with investors, Papa John’s founder John Schnatter blames national anthem protests in the NFL for poor financial performance in his company, leading the NFL to cut ties with the company. Amidst the controversy, he’ll also step down as CEO when the calendar flips to 2018.
November 1, 2017: The Houston Astros defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series to clinch their first ever championship.
November 7, 2017: Microsoft releases the Xbox One X.
November 7, 2017: Retired pitcher Roy Halladay, heavily intoxicated, crashes his plane off the Gulf Coast of Florida. The resulting blunt force trauma and drowning kill Halladay.
November 10, 2017: Jordan Bohannon records 12 points and six assists in Iowa’s season-opening non-conference home win over Chicago State.
November 13, 2017: Carlos Beltrán retires from MLB.
November 19, 2017: Cult leader Charles Manson dies.
November 22, 2017: Jordan Bohannon notches his first 30-point game, scoring exactly 30 while winning the seventh place game of the Cayman Islands Classic against UAB.
November 24, 2017: Sony Pictures Classics releases Call Me by Your Name to critical acclaim. The film’s success breaks star Timothée Chalamet into the mainstream.
November 24, 2017: In football, Texas A&M defeats LSU, 74-72 in seven overtimes. The combined 146 points are an NCAA Division I record. It’s the fifth game in FBS history to reach seven overtimes.
December 1, 2017: Football head coach Jimbo Fisher leaves Florida State for Texas A&M.
December 8, 2017: Pitcher Shohei Ohtani signs with the Los Angeles Angels. He’ll make his major league debut on March 29, 2018.
December 12, 2017: Devin Hester retires from the NFL.
December 14, 2017: The Walt Disney Company acquires 20th Century Fox.
December 15, 2017: Reggie Bush retires from the NFL.
December 29, 2017: The “Off Ramp” meme template goes viral.
December 31, 2017: The Buffalo Bills clinch an NFL playoff berth for the first time since 1999.
Dec. 2017-Jan. 2018: The “Tide Pod Challenge”, in which idiots eat plastic pods of laundry detergent, reaches its peak and becomes widely condemned by national media.
January 1, 2018: In football, UCF -- inexplicably ranked #12 in the College Football Playoff rankings -- defeats Auburn in the Peach Bowl to finish their season a perfect 13-0. Postgame, UCF athletic director Danny White declares the Knights national champions.
Jan. 4-Feb. 25, 2018: Over the course of 15 games, Jordan Bohannon makes 34 consecutive free throws, tying the Iowa record held by the late Chris Street. This includes a perfect 10-for-10 at Illinois on January 11, but also somehow includes five games in which he did not shoot a single free throw. Bohannon intentionally misses the would-be record-breaker in Street’s honor. “That’s not my record to have.”
January 14, 2018: The Minnesota Vikings defeat the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Divisional Round, 29-24, on a last second touchdown pass from Case Keenum to Stefon Diggs, immediately dubbed the Minneapolis Miracle.
January 25, 2018: What is now known as Extremely OK Games releases Celeste.
February 4, 2018: The Philadelphia Eagles defeat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII, 41-33, to claim their first ever Super Bowl title.
February 9-25, 2018: The 2018 Winter Olympics are held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Norway finishes on top with 39 overall medals (first by a mile) and 14 gold medals (tied for first with Germany).
February 14, 2018: A school shooting occurs at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 and injuring 17 more. It will spawn a nationwide high school walkout in protest of gun violence on March 14 and an international gun control protest on March 24.
February 16, 2018: Political blowhard Steven Crowder sets up shop on TCU’s campus with a sign reading “Male Privilege is a Myth: Change My Mind”. It immediately becomes a meme template.
February 16, 2018: Marvel Studios releases Black Panther to widespread critical and cultural acclaim.
February 23, 2018: Antonio Cromartie retires from the NFL.
February 28, 2018: MythBusters airs its final episode.
March 6, 2018: Billy McFarland pleads guilty to two counts of wire fraud related to Fyre Festival. He’ll be fined $26 million and sentenced to six years in prison in October.
March 9, 2018: The “Gru’s Plan” meme template goes viral.
March 14, 2018: Joe Thomas, the first offensive lineman in NFL history, retires.
March 14, 2018: Physicist Stephen Hawking dies.
March 16, 2018: UMBC becomes the first 16-seed to defeat a 1-seed in the men’s NCAA Tournament, blowing out #1 overall seed Virginia, 74-54.
March 21, 2018: The X-Files airs its finale…probably.
March 22, 2018: Portlandia airs its finale.
March 22, 2018: The “Tired SpongeBob” meme template goes viral.
March 25, 2018: Barry premieres on HBO.
March 27, 2018: The “American Chopper Argument'' meme template goes viral.
Mar. 22-May 27, 2018: The Roseanne revival airs on ABC.
March 29, 2018: Warner Bros. Pictures releases Steven Spielberg’s wildly hyped Ready Player One, which performs decently both commercially and critically, but does not quite live up to expectations.
March 30, 2018: Singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves releases her fourth studio album Golden Hour to widespread critical acclaim and accolades.
April 2, 2018: ESPN’s Get Up! premieres.
April 3, 2018: Daniel and Henrik Sedin retire from the NHL.
April 12, 2018: Disney launches the ESPN+ streaming service.
April 16, 2018: The “Who Killed Hannibal?” meme template goes viral.
April 16, 2018: James Harrison retires from the NFL.
April 19, 2018: Dwight Freeney retires from the NFL.
April 20, 2018: Musician Avicii dies by suicide.
April 25, 2018: Ronald Acuña Jr. makes his major league debut for the Atlanta Braves.
April 26-28, 2018: The 2018 NFL Draft occurs. Notable picks: Baker Mayfield (1), Saquon Barkley (2), Sam Darnold (3), Denzel Ward (4), Bradley Chubb (5), Quenton Nelson (6), QB Josh Allen (7), Minkah Fitzpatrick (11), Vita Vea (12), Tremaine Edmunds (16), Derwin James (17), Jaire Alexander (18), Leighton Vander Esch (19), Frank Ragnow (20), D.J. Moore (24), Calvin Ridley (26), Lamar Jackson (32), Nick Chubb (35), Darius Leonard (36), Courtland Sutton (40), Harold Landry (41), D.J. Chark (61), Brain O’Neill (62), Fred Warner (70), Orlando Brown (83), Mark Andrews (86), Josh Sweat (130), Michael Dickson (149), Wyatt Teller (166)
April 27, 2018: Singer/rapper Janelle Monáe releases her third studio album Dirty Computer to widespread critical acclaim.
April 27, 2018: Singer/rapper Post Malone releases his second studio album Beerbongs & Bentleys to breakthrough success.
April 27, 2018: Marvel Studios releases Avengers: Infinity War, which performs well commercially and critically while spawning several memes.
May 2, 2018: Cobra Kai premieres on YouTube Premium.
May 5, 2018: Childish Gambino releases the music video for his single “This Is America”, which goes viral by bluntly addressing the issue of gun violence.
May 12, 2018: Yanny or Laurel? goes viral.
May 15, 2018: New Girl airs its finale.
May 18, 2018: South Korean boy band BTS releases their third Korean-language studio album Love Yourself: Tear, which debuts at #1 on the US Billboard 200 and becomes the highest-charting album on the chart by any Asian act.
May 19, 2018: Marian Hossa retires from the NHL.
May 20, 2018: Juan Soto makes his major league debut for the Washington Nationals.
May 22, 2018: John Schnatter drops the N-word on a conference call, leading to his eventual resignation both as chairman of the company’s board of directors and from the University of Louisville board of trustees.
May 29, 2018: Maryland offensive lineman Jordan McNair collapses of heat stroke during practice. He’ll tragically die on June 13, resulting in the eventual firing of head coach D. J. Durkin.
May 29, 2018: The Houston Rockets miss 27 consecutive three-pointers in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors. They lose, of course.
May 29-Aug. 31, 2018: I complete my first professional summer internship.
May 31, 2018: Shane Bieber makes his major league debut for the Cleveland Indians.
May 31, 2018: With 4.7 seconds left in regulation of Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, and the score tied at 107, Cleveland’s George Hill misses a free throw and J.R. Smith grabs the offensive rebound, but dribbles the clock out thinking the Cavaliers are in the lead. LeBron James’ reaction is memed into oblivion.
June 1, 2018: Rapper Ye (then known as Kanye West) releases his eighth studio album Ye. The cover is memed into oblivion.
June 3, 2018: Succession premieres on HBO.
June 4, 2018: Pablo Torre and Bomani Jones’ High Noon premieres on ESPN.
June 8, 2018: Chef Anthony Bourdain dies by suicide.
June 15, 2018: Disney/Pixar releases the insanely hyped Incredibles 2 to commercial success and critical acclaim.
June 18, 2018: Rapper/singer XXXTENTACION is murdered.
June 21, 2018: The 2018 NBA Draft occurs. Notable picks: Deandre Ayton (1), Marvin Bagley III (2), Luka Dončić (3), Trae Young (5), Mikal Bridges (10), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (11), Mitchell Robinson (36)
June 22-23, 2018: The 2018 NHL Entry Draft occurs. Notable picks: Rasmus Dahlin (1), Andrei Svechnikov (2), Jesperi Kotkaniemi (3), Brady Tkachuk (4), Quinn Hughes (7), Joel Farabee (14)
June 28, 2018: “Overheard in Cavs locker room after Game 7: ‘He got me,’ LeBron said of Tatum’s dunk over him. ‘That f***ing Tatum boomed me.’ Lebron added, ‘He’s so good,’ repeating it four times. LeBron then said he wanted to add Tatum to the list of players he works out with this summer.”
July 1, 2018: Kam Chancellor retires from the NFL.
July 10, 2018: Corbin Burnes makes his major league debut for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Jul. 15-Aug. 26, 2018: Sacha Baron Cohen’s Who Is America? airs on Showtime.
July 19, 2018: Darrelle Revis retires from the NFL.
July 25, 2018: Scientists discover a subglacial lake on Mars, the first known body of water on the planet.
July 26, 2018: The Jerry Springer Show airs its final episode.
August 3, 2018: Rapper Travis Scott releases his third studio album ASTROWORLD to critical acclaim and mainstream breakthrough success.
August 10, 2018: Rapper/singer Doja Cat releases the music video for “MOOO!”, colloquially known as “Bitch I’m a Cow”. It immediately gets memed into oblivion, but also eventually establishes Doja Cat as a mainstream artist.
August 10, 2018: Focus Features releases Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman to widespread critical acclaim.
August 17, 2018: Singer Ariana Grande releases her fourth studio album Sweetener to critical acclaim and commercial success.
Junior Year
August 21, 2018: Victor Cruz retires from the NFL.
August 24, 2018: BTS releases their third Korean-language compilation album Love Yourself: Answer, which becomes their second consecutive release to debut at #1 on the US Billboard 200.
August 25, 2018: U.S. senator John McCain (R-AZ) dies.
August 27, 2018: Manu Ginóbili retires from the NBA.
September 1, 2018: Idaho plays its first football game as a member of FCS after voluntarily dropping down from FBS, while Liberty plays its first football game as a transitioning member of FBS.
September 3, 2018: Adventure Time airs its finale.
September 4, 2018: Ryan Howard retires from MLB.
September 6, 2018: Elon Musk smokes some weed on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
September 7, 2018: Rapper Mac Miller dies of accidental drug overdose.
September 9, 2018: You premieres on Lifetime.
September 16, 2018: Dwyane Wade retires from the NBA.
September 16, 2018: Vontae Davis starts a game against the Los Angeles Chargers at cornerback for the Buffalo Bills. At halftime, with the Bills trailing, 28-6, Davis changes into street clothes, announces he’s retiring from the NFL, and walks out of the stadium.
September 19, 2018: “Marquise Goodwin on who’s faster: Him or KC’s Tyreek Hill. ‘I don’t compare myself with anybody,” Then he rolled up his sleeve and showed a tattoo of the Olympic rings. ‘I’ll let you interpret that however you want,’ Goodwin said.”
September 22, 2018: Víctor Martínez plays his final MLB game.
September 24, 2018: The Philadelphia Flyers introduce their new mascot, Gritty.
September 26, 2018: Surprised Pikachu goes viral.
September 29, 2018: David Wright plays his final MLB game.
September 30, 2018: Chase Utley plays his final MLB game.
September 30, 2018: God Friended Me premieres on CBS.
October 2, 2018: Xbox Game Studios releases Forza Horizon 4.
October 5, 2018: Warner Bros. Pictures releases Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born, starring singer-songwriter Lady Gaga. The film and its soundtrack become widely beloved.
October 10, 2018: “At one point in a scrimmage, sources said, Butler turned to GM Scott Layden and screamed, ‘You (bleeping) need me. You can’t win without me.’ Butler left teammates and coaches largely speechless. He dominated the gym in every way. Jimmy’s back”
October 13, 2018: Richard Jefferson retires from the NBA.
October 26, 2018: Rockstar Games releases Red Dead Redemption 2.
November 2, 2018: House of Cards releases its final season.
November 3, 2018: Less than three months after releasing her last album, Ariana Grande releases “thank u, next”, the lead single from her upcoming fifth studio album of the same name. The line “one taught me love, one taught me patience, and one taught me pain” becomes a meme template.
November 9, 2018: Joe Mauer retires from MLB.
November 12, 2018: Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee dies.
November 20, 2018: Adrián Beltré retires from MLB.
November 24, 2018: In football, Minnesota defeats rival Wisconsin, 37-15, claiming Paul Bunyan’s Axe for the first time since 2003.
November 26, 2018: Cartoonist Stephen Hillenburg, creator of SpongeBob SquarePants, dies.
November 27, 2018: I celebrate my 21st birthday.
November 27, 2018: Hall of Fame football coach Mack Brown returns to North Carolina after 21 years away from the team.
December 2, 2018: Hall of Fame Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder retires.
December 4, 2018: The NHL votes to grant an expansion franchise to Seattle, to begin play in the 2021-22 season.
December 7, 2018: Nintendo releases Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
December 14, 2018: Marvel Entertainment releases Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse to widespread critical acclaim and commercial success.
January 2, 2019: “Each day on twitter there is one main character. The goal is to never be it”
January 10, 2019: Venezuelan politician Juan Guaidó declares incumbent president Nicolás Maduro “illegitimate”, sparking a still-ongoing presidential crisis in the nation. Guaidó will declare himself president on January 23, and will gain the favor of many powerful nations, including the United States.
January 11, 2019: Rick Nash retires from the NHL.
January 14, 2019: Hulu releases Fyre Fraud, the first of two competing documentaries about Fyre Festival.
January 18, 2019: Netflix releases Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, the second of two competing documentaries about Fyre Festivals.
January 20, 2019: In the NFC Championship Game, with 1:49 remaining and the New Orleans Saints tied at 20 with the Los Angeles Rams and facing 3rd & 10 from the Rams’ 13, Drew Brees throws a pass to TommyLee Lewis, who gets blown up by Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman on the most obvious pass interference of all time. The officials inexcusably keep their flags in their pockets. The Rams eventually win, 26-23 in overtime.
January 25, 2019: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt releases its final season.
January 29, 2019: Square Enix releases Kingdom Hearts III.
February 1, 2019: Julius Peppers retires from the NFL.
February 4, 2019: Electronic Arts releases Apex Legends.
February 7, 2019: Jordan Bohannon scores the final 11 points for Iowa in just 90 seconds in a 77-72 road win over Indiana.
February 10, 2019: Jordan Bohannon scores all 15 of his points in the final 5:28 of an 80-79 win over Northwestern, capped off by a game-winning three-pointer drilled with 0.6 seconds remaining.
February 22, 2019: Jordan Bohannon tortures Indiana again, this time scoring 17 second-half points to force overtime and hitting three three-pointers in overtime to win the home contest, 76-70.
February 26, 2019: I am accepted to the Master’s degree program in the University of North Carolina’s Department of City and Regional Planning.
March 1, 2019: Rapper Da Baby releases his debut studio album Baby on Baby to breakthrough success.
March 11, 2019: Jordan Bohannon is named to the All-Big Ten third team by the coaches. It’s the only time he’ll be selected to an all-conference team.
March 12, 2019: “Me sowing: Haha fuck yeah!!! Yes!!! Me reaping: Well this fucking sucks. What the fuck.”
March 18, 2019: Haloti Ngata retires from the NFL.
March 22, 2019: Jordan Bohannon makes his NCAA Tournament debut, scoring 13 points for 10-seed Iowa in a win over 7-seed Cincinnati.
March 24, 2019: Jordan Bohannon leads the Hawkeyes with 18 points, but it’s not enough to upset 2-seed Tennessee, as Iowa falls, 83-77 in overtime. In the game, Bohannon hits his 263rd career three-pointer, moving him ahead of Jeff Horner for the all-time Iowa record. Remember: he’s still a junior.
March 26, 2019: Chris Bosh, who hasn’t played in an NBA game since 2016, officially retires.
March 27, 2019: Jordy Nelson retires from the NFL.
March 28, 2019: Fernando Tatis Jr. makes his major league debut for the San Diego Padres. Pete Alonso makes his major league debut for the New York Mets.
March 29, 2019: Singer-songwriter Billie Eilish releases her debut studio album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? to breakthrough commercial success and critical acclaim.
March 31, 2019: Rapper Nipsey Hussle is killed by homicide.
April 1, 2019: Legendary Belmont basketball coach Rick Byrd retires.
April 5, 2019: Rapper/singer Lil Nas X releases the Billy Ray Cyrus remix of “Old Town Road”, which shoots up to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the next week and stays there for 19 consecutive weeks. It’s by far the longest stay atop the Hot 100 in the history of the chart.
April 8, 2019: Virginia completes one of the greatest redemption arcs of all time, defeating Texas Tech, 85-77 in overtime, to win their first national title a year after becoming the first men’s 1-seed to lose to a 16-seed.
April 9, 2019: Dirk Nowitzki announces his retirement from the NBA.
April 10, 2019: Scientists release the first ever image of a black hole, located in the center of the M87 galaxy. Obviously, it becomes a meme.
April 12, 2019: BTS releases their sixth extended play Map of the Soul: Persona, which becomes their third consecutive release to debut at #1 on the US Billboard 200, making them the first band since the Beatles to have three #1 albums in less than a year.
April 16, 2019: The Tampa Bay Lightning, winners of an NHL-record-tying 62 regular season games, are swept out of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Columbus Blue Jackets. “We don’t have any words and we know you don’t want to hear them. We understand your anger, your frustration, your sadness. Everything you’re feeling – we get it. This isn’t the ending we imagined, and certainly not the one we wanted. Thank you for being there the entire way.”
April 19, 2019: Rapper/singer Lizzo releases her major label debut studio album Cuz I Love You to breakthrough acclaim.
April 20, 2019: Bryan Reynolds makes his major league debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
April 23, 2019: I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson premieres on Netflix.
April 25-27, 2019: The 2019 NFL Draft occurs. Notable picks: Kyler Murray (1), Nick Bosa (2), Devin White (5), Daniel Jones (6), OLB Josh Allen (7), T. J. Hockenson (8), Brian Burns (16), Jeffery Simmons (19), Josh Jacobs (24), Deebo Samuel (36), Elgton Jenkins (44), A. J. Brown (51), Mecole Hardman (56), DK Metcalf (64), Diontae Johnson (66), Maxx Crosby (106), Matt Gay (156), Hunter Renfrow (149), Jake Bailey (163)
April 26, 2019: Marvel Studios releases Avengers: Endgame, which goes on to gross $858.3 million in the United States in Canada, placing it second all-time in this category. It grosses $2.798 billion worldwide, making it the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time worldwide.
April 26, 2019: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. makes his major league debut for the Toronto Blue Jays.
April 28, 2019: Sebastian Janikowski retires from the NFL.
May 1, 2019: Jamaal Charles retires from the NFL.
May 1, 2019: The “Woman Yelling at a Cat” meme template goes viral.
May 5, 2019: I run the Eau Claire Marathon in 3 hours, 42 minutes, 44 seconds. It’s my first and, to date, only completed marathon.
May 5, 2019: In Season 8, Episode 4 of Game of Thrones, a Starbucks coffee cup inadvertently makes it into the final cut.
May 10, 2019: Singer Tones and I releases “Dance Monkey”, the second advance single from her upcoming debut EP The Kids are Coming. Please, god, make it stop.
May 10, 2019: Warner Bros. Pictures releases Pokémon Detective Pikachu.
May 12, 2019: Veep airs its finale.
May 12, 2019: In Game 7 of the Toronto Raptors’ Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Philadelphia 76ers, with 3.6 seconds remaining in regulation and the score tied at 90, Marc Gasol inbounds the ball to Kawhi Leonard, who sprints to the right corner and hoists up a fadeaway prayer over Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid as time expires. The shot bounces on the rim four times and goes in, winning the game and the series for Toronto.
May 15, 2019: Austin Riley makes his major league debut for the Atlanta Braves.
May 16, 2019: The Big Bang Theory airs its finale to the relief of millions.
May 17, 2019: Singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi releases his debut studio album Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent to …mixed? reviews, but widespread commercial success.
May 17, 2019: I graduate from the University of Minnesota with my Bachelor of Arts in Geography, double-minoring in GIS and Urban Studies.
May 19, 2019: Game of Thrones airs its finale.
May 22, 2019: Jordan Bohannon undergoes surgery to repair a labral tear in his right hip. When asked whether he’ll recover in time to play his senior season, he answers, “I want a shot at playing, but I’ve been hurt so much these past couple years, I just want to take some time and get my body right. Especially having just one year left, I want to make sure I’m 100% going into the season for once.” Lol.
May 24, 2019: Annapurna Pictures releases Booksmart, the directorial debut of Olivia Wilde, to widespread critical acclaim.
May 30, 2019: CJ Entertainment releases Parasite to near-universal critical acclaim.
June 4, 2019: NaVorro Bowman retires from the NFL.
June 7, 2019: Designated Survivor airs its finale.
June 9, 2019: Yordan Álvarez makes his major league debut for the Houston Astros.
June 10, 2019: Tony Parker retires from the NBA.
June 13, 2019: The Toronto Raptors defeat the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to win the series, 4-2, and claim their first ever championship.
June 14, 2019: Taylor Swift releases the music video for “You Need to Calm Down”, the second advance single from her upcoming seventh studio album Lover. It briefly breaks the internet and also somehow spawns rumors that Swift is gay.
June 16, 2019: Euphoria premieres on HBO.
June 20, 2019: The 2019 NBA Draft occurs. Notable picks: Zion Williamson (1), Ja Morant (2), RJ Barrett (3), Darius Garland (5), Jaxson Hayes (8), Cam Johnson (11), Brandon Clarke (21), Daniel Gafford (38)
June 21, 2019: Disney/Pixar releases Toy Story 4, the final entry in the beloved series.
June 21-22, 2019: The 2019 NHL Entry Draft occurs. Notable picks: Jack Hughes (1), Kaapo Kakko (2), Kirby Dach (3), Dylan Cozens (7), Trevor Zegras (9)
June 24, 2019: The Amazing World of Gumball airs its finale.
June 27, 2019: Matty Roberts firsts shitposts the Facebook event for a raid of Area 51. It blows up, with more than two million users responding that they will go to the event. A music festival, Alienstock, is planned near the base to celebrate the event.
June 27, 2019: Roberto Luongo retires from the NHL.
July 7, 2019: The United States defeats the Netherlands, 2-0, in the final of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
July 9, 2019: Love Island premieres on CBS.
July 11, 2019: Internet personality Belle Delphine announces that she will sell her bathwater.
July 12, 2019: Ed Sheeran releases his fourth studio album No.6 Collaborations Project, a wack LP featuring a bunch of collaborations that make no sense.
July 25-26, 2019: I move from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
July 26, 2019: Orange Is the New Black releases its final season.
July 29, 2019: Bo Bichette makes his major league debut for the Toronto Blue Jays.
August 4, 2019: “Legit question for rural Americans - How do I kill the 30-50 feral hogs that run into my yard within 3-5 mins while my small kids play?”
August 5, 2019: Author Toni Morrison dies.
August 6, 2019: The “Kombucha Girl” meme template goes viral.
August 6, 2019: Drunk History airs its final episode.
August 10, 2019: Sex offender Jeffrey Epstein dies by “suicide”.
August 16, 2019: Mindhunter releases its final season.
![Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon warms up before an NCAA college basketball game against Nebraska, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020, in Iowa City. [Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe4f76ac9-a300-4462-bec6-2523276d8322_660x440.jpeg "Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon warms up before an NCAA college basketball game against Nebraska, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020, in Iowa City. [Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press]")
Senior Year
August 20, 2019: I begin my first year of classes at the University of North Carolina.
August 24, 2019: “Old Town Road” is finally dethroned on the Hot 100 by Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy”.
August 24, 2019: Less than two weeks before the season is set to begin, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck shockingly retires from the NFL at age 29 after playing just seven seasons.
September 1, 2019: Hurricane Dorian strikes The Bahamas as the strongest hurricane ever recorded in this part of the Atlantic Ocean.
September 13, 2019: Musician Eddie Money dies.
September 13, 2019: Dustin Byfuglien, the first Black American ever to win the Stanley Cup, is granted a leave of absence by his Winnipeg Jets. He’ll never return to the team or play another game in the NHL.
September 17-21, 2019: The Area 51 raid flops, with only about 1500 people showing up to the Alienstock music festival and only about 150 people trying to access Area 51 itself.
September 29, 2019: The Texas Rangers play their final game at Globe Life Park (now known as Choctaw Stadium). Meanwhile, the San Francisco Giants’ Bruce Bochy and the Kansas City Royals’ Ned Yost, managers who opposed each other in the 2014 World Series, each manage their final MLB game before retiring.
October 4, 2019: Warner Bros. Pictures releases Joker to mixed critical reviews but incredible commercial success. It becomes the first R-rated movie to gross over $1 billion worldwide.
October 12, 2019: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic airs its finale.
November 8, 2019: Sony Interactive Entertainment releases Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding, his first game published since leaving Konami.
November 8, 2019: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series premieres on Disney Channel. Show star Olivia Rodrigo enjoys breakthrough success.
November 8, 2019: Jordan Bohannon does, indeed, play in Iowa’s season-opening win over SIU-Edwardsville, but he’s limited to 19 minutes off the bench as he’s still recovering from the offseason surgery. He’ll come off the bench for the next three games as well.
November 12, 2019: Disney launches its own streaming service, Disney+. One of its launch series, The Mandalorian, gains popularity for debuting “Baby Yoda”.
November 12, 2019: Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic publish the piece that breaks the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal wide open. In it, former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers provides firsthand accounts of the ways in which the Astros cheated during their World Series champion 2017 season. This scandal causes a ripple effect throughout MLB, resulting in several punishments for managers and front office staffers who have already moved on to other organizations. Most of the players get off without punishment due to an agreement through which commissioner Rob Manfred promised immunity in return for more information.
November 15, 2019: The Pokémon Company releases Pokémon Sword and Shield.
November 27, 2019: Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman premieres on Netflix to widespread critical acclaim despite its 209-minute runtime.
November 28, 2019: Jordan Bohannon returns to the starting lineup for good, playing 33 minutes and recording 20 points and six assists in a Las Vegas Invitational win over reigning national runner-up Texas Tech.
November 29, 2019: Singer-songwriter The Weeknd releases “Blinding Lights”, the second advance single from his upcoming fourth studio album After Hours to widespread commercial and critical success.
December 1, 2019: The first known human case of the novel coronavirus is recorded in Wuhan, China.
December 8, 2019: Rapper/singer Juice WRLD dies by drug-induced seizure.
December 8, 2019: Silicon Valley airs its finale.
December 9, 2019: Jordan Bohannon plays the weirdest game of his career, failing to score (0-4 FG, 0-0 FT), but grabbing five rebounds and dishing out 10 assists with zero turnovers in a blowout home win over Minnesota. He’s clearly playing through pain.
December 12, 2019: Jordan Bohannon plays his 10th and final game of the season, recording 12 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals in a win at Iowa State. He makes all six of his free throws and finishes the season a perfect 18-18 from the charity stripe.
December 15, 2019: The Raiders play their last home game in Oakland, a 20-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. They’re booed off the field.
December 18, 2019: President Donald Trump is impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
December 19, 2019: Jordan Bohannon undergoes season-ending surgery on his left hip for an injury discovered shortly after he completed surgery on his right hip. He’d been playing through immense pain since his return to the starting lineup in Las Vegas, but he was determined to play at Iowa State (what he thought at the time was) one last time. He’ll apply for a medical redshirt, the criteria for which stipulate a player must have played in fewer than 30% of their team’s games and in no games during the second half of the season, both of which he satisfies. He’ll be granted the extra year.
December 20, 2019: The Witcher premieres on Netflix.
December 28, 2019: Zach Randolph retires from the NBA.
January 1, 2020: Former NBA commissioner David Stern dies.
January 13, 2020: LSU completes one of the greatest college football seasons of all time, defeating Clemson, 42-25, in the College Football Playoff National Championship to finish the season a perfect 15-0 and claim their fourth national title.
January 15, 2020: The “I Am Once Again Asking” meme template goes viral.
January 17, 2020: Mac Miller’s sixth studio album Circles is posthumously released by his record label.
January 21, 2020: Dolly Parton starts the “LinkedIn/Facebook/Instagram/Tinder” meme template, which becomes known as the Dolly Parton Challenge.
January 23, 2020: The city of Wuhan falls under quarantine in an attempt to contain the novel coronavirus.
January 26, 2020: Basketball icon Kobe Bryant dies in a helicopter crash.
January 28, 2020: Arrow airs its finale.
January 30, 2020: The Good Place airs its finale.
January 31, 2020: BoJack Horseman releases its final season.
January 31, 2020: The United Kingdom and Gibraltar formally withdraw from the European Union.
February 2, 2020: The Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV, 31-20, to win their first Super Bowl in 50 years.
February 11, 2020: The World Health Organization officially names the novel coronavirus “COVID-19”.
February 14, 2020: Singer Justin Bieber releases his fifth studio album Changes, a record so bad it would easily kill the career of a less relevant artist. In good music news, psychedelic rock artist Tame Impala releases their fourth studio album The Slow Rush and indie pop band Tennis releases their fifth studio album Swimmer.
February 14, 2020: Paramount Pictures releases Sonic the Hedgehog, which becomes the highest-grossing video game film adaptation of all time in the United States and Canada.
February 19, 2020: Rapper Pop Smoke is murdered.
February 19, 2020: Criminal Minds airs its final episode.
February 25, 2020: Thomas Vanek retires from the NHL.
February 26, 2020: The “Dancing Pallbearers” meme template goes viral.
February 27, 2020: The Dow Jones plummets 1190.95 points in fear of the spread of COVID-19, marking the true beginning of over a month of volatility in the stock market. At the time, it’s the largest single-day point decline in the history of the index, but five worse declines will come in March. Additionally, seven of the top ten single-day point gains will come in March. Nobody had a clue what they were talking about.
February 28, 2020: Singer-songwriter Soccer Mommy releases her second studio album color theory to critical acclaim.
February 29, 2020: The United States and the Taliban sign the Doha Agreement, a conditional peace agreement through which the U.S. will begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.
February 29, 2020: I meet my current partner for the first time.
March 9, 2020: Italy implements a nationwide quarantine to slow the spread of COVID-19. They’re the first country to do so.
March 11, 2020: The World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a pandemic.
March 11, 2020: Film producer Harvey Weinstein is sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault.
March 11, 2020: The NCAA announces that its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will be played without fans in attendance.
March 11, 2020: Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tests positive for COVID-19, causing the NBA to indefinitely suspend their season following the conclusion of games scheduled for that night. It’s widely considered the cultural starting point of the pandemic in the United States. Most other sports leagues and cultural events will announce suspensions or cancellations in the weeks to come, including NCAA basketball which will course correct the next day and become the only culturally relevant sports league in North America not to name a champion in the year 2020.
March 11, 2020: In a game between the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks that was at halftime when the NBA announced the suspended season, a 43-year-old Vince Carter is hastily subbed into the game for the Hawks with 19.5 seconds left in overtime and the Knicks securely in possession of an irrelevant victory. Carter has previously announced he’s retiring at the end of the season, so this is likely his last chance to play in an NBA game. The Hawks feed him the ball on their final trip up the court and the Knicks decline to defend him as he drains a three-pointer from the top of the key. It’s the last shot he’ll ever take; he’ll officially retire on June 25.
March 13, 2020: Black EMT Breonna Taylor is fatally shot by Louisville police during a no-knock warrant raid.
March 19, 2020: Gal Gadot and a bunch of other celebrities combine for an absurdly tone-deaf rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine”. It receives universal backlash.
March 17, 2020: Quarterback Tom Brady announces that he will not re-sign with the New England Patriots, his team for the past 20 years. He’ll end up joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
March 20, 2020: Tiger King premieres on Netflix, spawning a million memes because everyone on Earth is locked in their homes and has nothing better to do.
March 20, 2020: Nintendo releases Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which becomes the defining video game of the early pandemic.
March 20, 2020: Singer-songwriter Kenny Rogers dies.
March 21, 2020: Henry Danger airs its finale.
March 24, 2020: The International Olympic Committee and Japan postpone the 2020 Summer Olympics, hosted by Tokyo, to 2021.
March 27, 2020: Dua Lipa releases her second studio album Future Nostalgia to widespread critical acclaim and commercial success.
March 27, 2020: High Noon airs its final episode.
March 30, 2020: Singer-songwriter Bill Withers dies.
March 31, 2020: Atlus releases Persona 5 Royal.
April 7, 2020: Singer-songwriter John Prine dies.
April 7, 2020: Schitt’s Creek airs its finale.
April 10, 2020: The “Gossip Girl Title Remix” meme template goes viral.
April 14, 2020: New York Yankees co-owner Hank Steinbrenner dies.
April 17, 2020: Singer-songwriter Fiona Apple breaks an eight-year hiatus to release her fifth studio album Fetch the Bolt Cutters, widely considered one of the best albums of the year.
April 17, 2020: Too Hot to Handle releases its first season on Netflix.
Apr. 19-May 17, 2020: The Last Dance airs on ESPN to widespread critical acclaim.
April 23, 2020: The Will & Grace revival airs its finale.
April 23-25, 2020: The 2020 NFL Draft occurs. Notable picks: Joe Burrow (1), Chase Young (2), Tua Tagovailoa (5), Justin Herbert (6), Tristan Wirfs (13), Jerry Jeudy (15), CeeDee Lamb (17), Justin Jefferson (22), Jonathan Taylor (41), Antoine Winfield Jr. (45), Trevon Diggs (51), Jonah Jackson (75), Devin Duvernay (92)
April 26, 2020: God Friended Me quietly airs its finale.
May 6, 2020: Brockmire airs its finale.
May 11, 2020: The 2021 World Baseball Classic is cancelled.
May 15, 2020: Singer-songwriter Charli XCX releases her fourth studio album How I’m Feeling Now, conceived over the span of just six weeks during the beginning of the pandemic.
May 16, 2020: Bundesliga resumes its season, becoming the first major sports league to do so worldwide.
May 19, 2020: Team17 releases Golf with Your Friends.
May 22, 2020: NBA coaching great Jerry Sloan dies.
May 25, 2020: Four Minneapolis police officers arrest George Floyd, a Black man, on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. During the arrest, white officer Derek Chauvin kneels on Floyd’s neck and back for nine minutes and 29 seconds while two other officers help restrain Floyd and a fourth holds off bystanders screaming for his release. The strangulation kills Floyd, sparking months of civil unrest and global protests against racism and police brutality and accountability: the largest civil rights movement in United States history.
May 26, 2020: Twitter finally starts labeling some tweets from President Donald Trump as “misleading”.
May 28, 2020: A state of emergency is declared in the Twin Cities in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. The third precinct of the Minneapolis Police Department is burned to the ground in protest.
May 29, 2020: Lady Gaga releases her sixth studio album Chromatica to mixed-to-positive reviews.
May 29, 2020: Space Force releases its first season on Netflix to mixed-to-negative reviews despite an all-star cast.
June 1, 2020: Donald Trump calls in the National Guard and tear gasses a bunch of peaceful protesters for no reason en route to a meaningless photo op holding a Bible in front of a church.
June 2, 2020: NBA Hall of Famer Wes Unseld dies.
June 3, 2020: Hip hop duo Run the Jewels releases their fourth studio album RTJ4 two days earlier than originally scheduled. “Fuck it, why wait. The world is infested with bullshit so here’s something raw to listen to while you deal with it all. We hope it brings you some joy. Stay safe and hopeful out there and thank you for giving 2 friends the chance to be heard and do what they love. With sincere love and gratitude, Jaime + Mike.”
June 8, 2020: Protestors in Seattle declare an autonomous zone in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
June 19, 2020: Sony Interactive Entertainment releases The Last of Us Part II.
June 22, 2020: Film director Joel Schumacher dies.
June 26, 2020: Pop rock band Haim releases their third studio album Women in Music Pt. III to universal critical acclaim.
June 28, 2020: The “I Am Going to Create an Environment That Is So Toxic” meme template goes viral.
June 30, 2020: Mississippi retires its state flag, the last state flag incorporating the Confederate battle flag into its design. A new flag will be selected in November.
July 1, 2020: MLB resumes Spring Training, branding it as Summer Camp.
July 3, 2020: Pop Smoke’s debut studio album Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon is posthumously released by his record label.
July 3, 2020: Facing corporate pressure, the Washington NFL team, then using a racial slur as its nickname, announces that it will conduct a thorough review into said nickname. Within the next month, they will announce both that the nickname has been retired and that the team will be known as the Washington Football Team while a new nickname is selected.
July 10, 2020: Juice WRLD’s third studio album Legends Never Die is posthumously released by his record label.
July 10, 2020: Palm Springs premieres on Hulu to critical acclaim.
July 15, 2020: NBC debuts its Peacock streaming service.
July 15, 2020: The Twitter accounts of numerous prominent powerful figures (including Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates) are hacked to tweet out some variation of “I am giving back to my community due to Covid-19! All Bitcoin sent to my address below will be sent back doubled. If you send $1,000, I will send back $2,000! <address redacted> Enjoy.”
July 17, 2020: Civil rights activist John Lewis dies.
July 18, 2020: The Canadian federal government disallows the Toronto Blue Jays from playing their home games in Canada during the 2020 season. The Blue Jays attempt to share a major league park with other teams before settling on playing in Buffalo, New York, at the home of their Triple-A affiliate.
July 23, 2020: The 2020 MLB regular season officially begins with every team except the Blue Jays playing at their normal home ballpark. Most teams disallow spectators.
July 23, 2020: The Seattle NHL franchise announces that they will be named the Kraken.
July 24, 2020: Taylor Swift surprise releases her eighth studio album folklore to universal critical acclaim.
July 24, 2020: Television personality Regis Philbin dies.
July 24, 2020: The Texas Rangers play their first regular season game at Globe Life Field.
July 24, 2020: Luis Robert makes his major league debut for the Chicago White Sox.
July 26, 2020: Jake Cronenworth makes his major league debut for the San Diego Padres.
July 29, 2020: José Reyes retires from MLB.
July 30, 2020: Former Republican presidential candidate and staunch COVID mask mandate opponent Herman Cain dies of COVID-19 after likely contracting the disease at a Trump rally he attended without a mask.
July 30, 2020: The NBA season resumes with 22 of the league’s 30 teams meeting in a bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando.
August 1, 2020: The NHL resumes its season, skipping the remainder of the regular season and starting an expanded version of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
August 4, 2020: An ammonium nitrate explosion kills over 220 people and causes over $10 billion in damages in Beirut, Lebanon.
August 6, 2020: Rappers Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion release “WAP”, a deeply sex-positive anthem, to widespread critical acclaim and cultural success. The song famously causes conservative commentator Ben Shapiro to inadvertently admit that he’s never sexually aroused his wife.
August 7, 2020: Indie rock band Glass Animals releases their heavily nostalgic third studio album Dreamland.
August 12, 2020: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs its finale.
August 14, 2020: Ted Lasso premieres on Apple TV+ to widespread critical acclaim and cultural success.
August 14, 2020: Wube Software officially releases Factorio after a four-year early access phase.
August 23, 2020: Jacob Blake, a Black man, is shot and seriously injured by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during his arrest.
August 23, 2020: In Game 4 of a first-round playoff series between the Utah Jazz and the Denver Nuggets, Utah’s Donovan Mitchell scores 51 points and Denver’s Jamal Murray scores 50. It’s the first time in NBA history that two players have scored 50 points in the same playoff game.
Fifth Year
August 24, 2020: 2018 video game Among Us begins to go viral. By this time next month, it’ll be everywhere.
August 26, 2020: Warner Bros. Pictures releases Christopher Nolan’s Tenet to mixed reviews. It’s the closest thing we get to an “event” film during the worst of the pandemic.
August 26, 2020: Mike Green retires from the NHL.
August 26, 2020: The Milwaukee Bucks stage a wildcat strike of their NBA playoff game against the Orlando Magic to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake three days earlier. Several other teams follow, shutting the league down for a few days. The Milwaukee Brewers and a few other MLB teams also postpone their games for the same reason.
August 26, 2020: Ian Anderson makes his major league debut for the Atlanta Braves.
August 28, 2020: Actor Chadwick Boseman dies.
September 1, 2020: Ke’Bryan Hayes makes his major league debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
September 18, 2020: Pop singer Ava Max releases her debut studio album Heaven & Hell to commercial success.
September 18, 2020: Nintendo releases Super Mario 3D All-Stars, a compilation celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Super Mario franchise. Controversially, it will be discontinued on March 31, 2021.
September 18, 2020: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies.
September 19, 2020: Manager Ron Gardenhire retires from MLB.
September 21, 2020: Microsoft purchases ZeniMax Media, the holding company of Bethesda Softworks, for $7.5 billion.
September 21, 2020: The Las Vegas Raiders play their first home game in newly constructed Allegiant Stadium, defeating the New Orleans Saints, 34-24.
September 23, 2020: The “How It Started vs. How It Ended/How It’s Going” meme template goes viral.
September 25, 2020: TikToker doggface208 goes viral lipsyncing Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” while skateboarding and drinking cranberry juice on his way to work in Idaho.
September 26, 2020: Hunter Pence retires from MLB.
September 27, 2020: Alex Gordon plays his final MLB game.
September 28, 2020: The Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals, clinching the title and completing yet another comeback arc.
October 2, 2020: All-time great pitcher Bob Gibson dies.
October 6, 2020: All-time great guitarist Eddie Van Halen dies.
October 6-7, 2020: The 2020 NHL Entry Draft occurs. Notable picks: Alexis Lafreniere (1), Quinton Byfield (2), Tim Stützle (3), Lucas Raymond (4), Jamie Drysdale (6), Anton Lundell (12), Seth Jarvis (13), Dawson Mercer (18)
October 11, 2020: The Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to win their 17th championship, tying them with the Boston Celtics for the most titles of any NBA franchise and officially ending the longest season in NBA history 355 days after regular season games initially began.
October 23, 2020: The Queen’s Gambit premieres on Netflix to critical acclaim.
October 25, 2020: On a whim and in the middle of my lease, I move out of my room in Chapel Hill and in with my partner in suburban Cary.
October 26, 2020: The Senate narrowly confirms Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.
October 27, 2020: “After 2 weeks of multiple health screens and asking everyone to quarantine, I surprised my closest inner circle with a trip to a private island where we could pretend things were normal just for a brief moment in time.”
October 27, 2020: The Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 6 of the World Series to claim their first World Series title since 1988 despite having won their division for the past nine years in a row.
October 31, 2020: Actor Sean Connery and rapper MF Doom die.
November 3-7, 2020: Joe Biden is painstakingly elected the 46th President of the United States, defeating the incumbent Donald Trump. His Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris, becomes both the first woman and the first person of color to be elected Vice President of the United States. Control of the Senate will come down to two runoff elections in Georgia, to be held in January.
November 4, 2020: The United States exits the Paris Agreement on climate change.
November 7, 2020: Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani accidentally hosts a press conference at Philadelphia’s Four Seasons Total Landscaping instead of the Four Seasons Hotel.
November 8, 2020: Game show host Alex Trebek dies.
November 9, 2020: Boston Celtics icon Tommy Heinsohn dies.
November 9, 2020: Pfizer announces that its COVID-19 vaccine is 90% effective in Phase III trials. In the week that follows, Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is proven 92% effective and Moderna’s vaccine is proven 94.5% effective.
November 10, 2020: Microsoft releases the Xbox Series X/S worldwide, beginning the ninth generation of video game consoles.
November 12, 2020: Sony releases the PlayStation 5 in Japan, South Korea, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. The worldwide release comes a week later.
November 18, 2020: The 2020 NBA Draft occurs. Notable picks: Anthony Edwards (1), James Wiseman (2), LaMelo Ball (3), Tyrese Haliburton (12), Tyrese Maxey (21), Desmond Bane (30)
November 20, 2020: Megan Thee Stallion releases her debut studio album Good News to critical acclaim.
November 24, 2020: Tosh.0 airs its final episode.
November 25, 2020: Jordan Bohannon returns to the Hawkeyes, starting and scoring six points in their season-opening home win against NC Central.
November 30, 2020: Andrew Bogut retires from the NBA.
December 5, 2020: Russia becomes the first country to begin mass vaccination against COVID-19. The United Kingdom follows on December 8 and the United States and Canada follow on December 14.
December 8, 2020: Jordan Bohannon leads Iowa with 24 points in a home ACC/B1G Challenge win over North Carolina. He shoots 7-16 on three-pointers.
December 11, 2020: Taylor Swift surprise releases her ninth studio album evermore to yet more critical acclaim.
December 22, 2020: The 2020-21 NBA season begins a couple months later than normal. The Toronto Raptors are denied permission to play in their home arena and instead play their home games in Tampa.
December 25, 2020: Bridgerton releases its first season on Netflix to critical acclaim.
December 25, 2020: A suicide RV bomber strikes downtown Nashville, killing only himself but injuring eight others and causing several thousand dollars in damages as well as telecommunication service interruptions.
December 30, 2020: Vikings releases its final season.
January 2, 2021: Podcaster John Roderick tweets a thread in which he recounts the time he made his 9-year-old daughter spend hours figuring out how to open a can of beans instead of just opening it for her like a good father. The thread receives universal backlash and Roderick becomes a meme, branded as Bean Dad.
January 3, 2021: The Cleveland Browns clinch their first NFL playoff berth since 2002.
January 5, 2021: The two runoff Senate elections are held in Georgia. The Democratic candidates win both elections (Raphael Warnock over Kelly Loeffler, Jon Ossoff over David Perdue).
January 6, 2021: As Vice President Mike Pence is certifying the 2020 election, Donald Trump incites an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in a desperate attempt to retain power. Over 2000 of his supporters break into the Capitol Building, wherein they vandalize and loot the place while looking for lawmakers to harm. Five people die during the riot and four Capitol Police officers will later die by suicide in the aftermath.
January 7, 2021: Facebook bans Donald Trump from all of its platforms.
January 8, 2021: Olivia Rodrigo releases her debut single “drivers license” to unprecedented commercial success. It breaks numerous streaming records for non-holiday songs, amassing over 15 million streams on multiple consecutive days and over 65 million streams on Spotify in its first week.
January 8, 2021: Twitter suspends Donald Trump’s personal account.
January 9, 2021: Corey Crawford retires from the NHL.
January 10, 2021: Jordan Bohannon records his first double-double in almost three years, notching 19 points and 14 assists in a home win over Minnesota.
January 10, 2021: The NFL Wild Card playoff game between the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints is aired on Nickelodeon.
January 13, 2021: Donald Trump is impeached again, this time on charges of inciting the insurrection the week prior. He’s the first U.S. president ever to be impeached twice. He won’t be convicted of this one either, but his term will already be over by the time the Senate holds the vote.
January 13, 2021: The 2021 NHL season begins a few months later than normal.
Jan. 15-Mar. 5, 2021: WandaVision is released on Disney+. A screenshot of actress Kathryn Hahn winking goes viral as a meme template.
January 20, 2021: Joe Biden is inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States, replacing Donald Trump. Bernie Sanders goes viral for wearing a coat and mittens and sitting cross-legged at the ceremony.
January 20, 2021: Philip Rivers retires from the NFL.
January 22, 2021: Baseball legend Henry Aaron dies.
January 27, 2021: Jason Witten retires from the NFL.
January 27, 2021: The GameStop short squeeze occurs, resulting in major losses for investment funds and causing Robinhood to restrict the trade of GameStop stock the next day.
January 29, 2021: Daniel Murphy retires from MLB.
February 1, 2021: Dustin Pedroia retires from MLB.
February 2, 2021: Jeff Bezos steps down as CEO of Amazon.
February 7, 2021: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers become the first team ever to play in a Super Bowl hosted at their home stadium. They defeat the Kansas City Chiefs, 31-9.
February 9, 2021: Mikko Koivu retires from the NHL.
February 12, 2021: Maurkice and Mike Pouncey retire from the NFL.
February 17, 2021: Conservative blowhard Rush Limbaugh dies.
February 19, 2021: The United States rejoins the Paris Agreement on climate change.
February 26, 2021: For some reason unbeknownst to all but the highest deities, I accept an invitation to become a moderator of r/CollegeBasketball.
February 28, 2021: In a blowout road win over Ohio State, Jordan Bohannon records his 613th career assist, moving him ahead of Jeff Horner for sole possession of the career Iowa record.
March 1, 2021: Joakim Noah retires from the NBA.
March 4, 2021: Jordan Bohannon scores a season-high 26 points in a blowout home win over Nebraska.
March 5, 2021: Silk Sonic, a superduo consisting of Bruno Mars and rapper/singer Anderson .Paak, releases their debut single “Leave the Door Open”, which rises all the way to the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
March 7, 2021: Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle airs on CBS. Various screenshots of Oprah’s reactions go viral as meme templates.
March 12, 2021: Nick Markakis retires from MLB.
March 14, 2021: Drew Brees retires from the NFL.
March 20, 2021: Jordan Bohannon scores 13 points for 2-seed Iowa in their NCAA Tournament Round of 64 victory over 15-seed Grand Canyon. Meanwhile, opposite them in the bracket, 10-seed VCU is forced to withdraw from the Tournament due to positive COVID tests within their program, advancing 7-seed Oregon to the Round of 32 by forfeit.
March 22, 2021: Jordan Bohannon is held scoreless in 19 minutes as Iowa falls to Oregon in the Round of 32.
March 23, 2021: Container ship Ever Given runs aground and obstructs the Suez Canal, severely disrupting global trade. It won’t be freed for six days.
March 24, 2021: My partner and I each receive our first shot of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. We aren’t technically eligible to do this yet under North Carolina’s guidelines, but we catch wind of a clinic just across the border in Danville, Virginia, that has a bunch of extra doses it needs to administer before they expire, so we make the hour-and-a-half drive up to get our jabs. Hours later, for no apparent reason, the City of Danville releases a statement admonishing those traveling to the clinic and discouraging people from doing so in the future. My partner and I had already confirmed our appointment the following month to receive our second shots, so…tough luck, buddy!
March 25, 2021: College basketball coach Lon Kruger announces his retirement.
March 25, 2021: Superstore airs its finale.
March 26, 2021: Lil Nas X releases “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)”, the lead advance single from his upcoming debut studio album Montero. Its music video, beloved by many in the LGBTQ+ community, is denounced by conservative pundits for invoking Satanic imagery. The “Satan Shoes” he releases simultaneously don’t help.
April 1, 2021: Hall of Fame college basketball coach Roy Williams retires.
April 1, 2021: Jonathan India makes his major league debut for the Cincinnati Reds.
April 1, 2021: United States of Al premieres on CBS to nearly universal scorn for, among many other things, casting an Indian South African to play the Afghan lead character.
April 9, 2021: Taylor Swift releases Fearless (Taylor’s Version), the first of many albums she plans to re-record so that she can own the rights to her own songs.
April 9, 2021: Rapper DMX dies.
April 9, 2021: San Diego Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove no-hits the Texas Rangers. It’s the first no-hitter in Padres history, and with it, every franchise in MLB has now pitched at least one no-hitter.
April 11, 2021: Shameless airs its finale.
April 11, 2021: Edmonton Oilers centre Colby Cave tragically dies of a brain bleed.
April 12, 2021: Julian Edelman retires from the NFL.
April 14, 2021: Con artist Bernie Madoff dies.
April 18, 2021: 12 historically elite football clubs from the Premier League, Serie A, and La Liga announce a universally hated plan to break away and form The Super League. The backlash causes the idea to collapse within two days.
April 18, 2021: Jay Bruce retires from MLB.
April 19, 2021: NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter performs a powered flight on Mars, the first such flight on another planet in human history.
April 20, 2021: Derek Chauvin is found guilty on all counts in the murder of George Floyd. He’ll be sentenced to 22.5 years in prison on June 25.
April 20, 2021: Neil Walker retires from MLB.
April 29, 2021: Ryan Miller retires from the NHL.
Apr. 29-May 1, 2021: The 2021 NFL Draft occurs. Notable picks: Trevor Lawrence (1), Zach Wilson (2), Trey Lance (3), Kyle Pitts (4), Ja’Marr Chase (5), Justin Fields (11), Micah Parsons (12), Rashawn Slater (13), Mac Jones (15), Najee Harris (24),
May 7, 2021: I graduate from the University of North Carolina with my Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning.
May 19, 2021: Jeremy Lin retires from the NBA.
May 21, 2021: Olivia Rodrigo releases her debut studio album Sour hastily extended from an EP after the overwhelming success of “drivers license” a few months prior. It becomes one of the best-selling albums of the year.
May 23, 2021: Jordan Bohannon is physically assaulted at a bar in Iowa City and suffers a serious head injury.
May 25, 2021: The CDC announces that 50% of the adult population of the United States has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
May 26, 2021: Adam Vinatieri, the NFL’s all-time leading scorer, retires from the league at age 49.
May 30, 2021: Bo Burnham: Inside premieres on Netflix to near-universal critical acclaim.
June 4, 2021: Singer-songwriter Liz Phair breaks an 11-year hiatus to release her seventh studio album Soberish to generally positive reviews.
June 18, 2021: For the first time in franchise history, the Los Angeles Clippers advance to the Western Conference Finals.
June 20, 2021: Keeping Up with the Kardashians airs its final episode.
June 21, 2021: Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib becomes the first NFL player to come out as gay during his career.
June 21, 2021: The Supreme Court unanimously rules that the NCAA can’t limit education-related benefits that schools offer athletes.
June 22, 2021: Wander Franco makes his major league debut for the Tampa Bay Rays.
June 22, 2021: Socialist India Walton defeats incumbent mayor Byron Brown in the Democratic primary of the mayoral election in Buffalo.
June 23, 2021: Software programmer and overall weird dude John McAfee dies.
June 24, 2021: A 12-story beachfront condo in the Miami suburb of Surfside partially collapses, killing 98 and injuring 11 others.
June 24, 2021: Conan airs its final episode.
June 28, 2021: Demaryius Thomas retires from the NFL.
July 1, 2021: College athletes begin to be able to profit off of their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Jordan Bohannon, long an active advocate of NIL rights, holds his first sponsored event with Boomin Iowa Fireworks.
July 12, 2021: Actor Drake Bell is sentenced to two years of probation for child endangerment.
July 13, 2021: Pekka Rinne retires from the NHL.
July 17, 2021: A shooting occurs outside of Nationals Park in the sixth inning of a game, postponing the game.
July 23, 2021: The Cleveland Indians announce that they will change their name to the Guardians beginning with the 2022 season.
July 23-24, 2021: The 2021 NHL Entry Draft occurs. Notable picks: Owen Power (1), Matthew Beniers (2), Mason Mctavish (3), Luke Hughes (4), Kent Johnson (5), Cole Sillinger (12)
Jul. 23-Aug. 8, 2021: The now-misnamed 2020 Summer Olympics are held in Tokyo, Japan. The United States dominates, winning 39 gold medals, 41 silver medals, and 33 bronze medals, for a total of 113 medals. All four of these numbers lead the Olympics.
July 29, 2021: The 2021 NBA Draft occurs. Notable picks: Cade Cunningham (1), Jalen Green (2), Evan Mobley (3), Scottie Barnes (4), Jalen Suggs (5), Franz Wagner (8), Herbert Jones (35), Ayo Dosunmu (38)
July 30, 2021: Billie Eilish releases her second studio album Happier Than Ever.
August 11, 2021: J. R. Smith retires from the NBA and enrolls at North Carolina A&T State University to join the Aggies’ men’s golf team.
August 12, 2021: Kyle Korver joins the Brooklyn Nets coaching staff, which serves as a de facto retirement from the NBA.
August 12, 2021: Chris Davis retires from MLB.
August 14, 2021: The Milk Crate Challenge goes viral.
August 15, 2021: J. J. Barea joins the Dallas Mavericks coaching staff, which serves as a de facto retirement from the NBA.
August 20, 2021: Henrik Lundqvist retires from the NHL.
Sixth Year
Aug. 29-Sep. 4, 2021: Hurricane Ida strikes New Orleans and makes its way toward the northeast, its remnants causing mass tornado outbreaks and flash flooding everywhere it goes. In the United States, it is responsible for 95 deaths and over $75 billion in damages.
September 1, 2021: Texas implements the Heartbeat Act, banning abortions after nine weeks of pregnancy. The Supreme Court will refuse to block it.
September 10, 2021: Highly Questionable airs its final episode.
September 14, 2021: Ryan Braun retires from MLB.
September 14, 2021: California Republicans try and fail to recall Governor Gavin Newsom.
September 16, 2021: Brooklyn Nine-Nine airs its finale.
September 21, 2021: JJ Redick retires from the NBA.
September 23, 2021: The “Red Flag” Twitter trend goes viral.
September 26, 2021: Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker kicks a 66-yard field goal -- the longest in NFL history -- as time expires to defeat the Detroit Lions, 19-17.
September 28, 2021: Tyson Chandler joins the Dallas Mavericks coaching staff, which serves as a de facto retirement from the NBA.
September 30, 2021: LeSean McCoy retires from the NFL.
October 4, 2021: I publish the first episode of my YouTube series College Hoop Highway.
October 5, 2021: Microsoft launches Windows 11.
October 5, 2021: Pau Gasol retires from the NBA.
October 8, 2021: The Jump airs its final episode.
October 11, 2021: Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden resigns after old emails containing a cavalcade of bigoted remarks are leaked by The New York Times.
October 12, 2021: The Seattle Kraken play their first game, a 4-3 road loss against the Vegas Golden Knights.
October 23, 2021: In football, Illinois upsets Penn State, 20-18 in nine overtimes, the most overtime periods ever played in an NCAA football game.
October 23, 2021: The Seattle Kraken play their first home game at Climate Pledge Arena, a 4-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
October 26, 2021: Shea Weber retires from the NHL.
October 28, 2021: Facebook rebrands as Meta, a move met mostly with laughter.
November 2, 2021: The Atlanta Braves defeat the Houston Astros in Game 6 of the World Series to claim their first championship since 1995.
November 4, 2021: Buster Posey retires from MLB.
November 4, 2021: Marián Gáborík, the first ever draft pick and first ever goal scorer for the Minnesota Wild, retires from the NHL.
November 5, 2021: A crowd crush during Travis Scott’s set at his own Astroworld Festival in Houston kills ten attendees and injures more than 300 others.
November 12, 2021: Taylor Swift releases Red (Taylor’s Version), her second re-recorded album. It includes a 10-minute version of “All Too Well”, which becomes the standout track on the album and peaks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. At 10 minutes and 13 seconds, it’s the longest #1 hit ever.
November 12, 2021: Jamie Spears’ conservatorship of Britney Spears is legally terminated.
November 15, 2021: I begin my first full-time, professional job.
November 15, 2021: The “Two Guys on a Bus” meme template goes viral.
November 16, 2021: Dion Phaneuf retires from the NHL.
November 19, 2021: The Pokémon Company releases Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
November 24, 2021: Walt Disney Animation Studios releases Encanto to critical acclaim. Multiple songs from its soundtrack will become worldwide hits.
November 24, 2021: Wade Davis retires from MLB.
November 29, 2021: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey steps down.
December 1, 2021: The first U.S. case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is reported in California. Omicron will push COVID numbers to previously unimaginable heights over the two months to follow.
December 2, 2021: MLB locks out the players. It’s the first labor stoppage in baseball since the 1994-95 strike and the first lockout since 1990.
December 5, 2021: Cincinnati becomes the first Group of Five school ever selected to the College Football Playoff, earning the 4-seed after a 13-0 season. They’ll lose to #1 Alabama in the semifinals.
December 9, 2021: Demaryius Thomas dies.
December 11, 2021: Ben Bishop retires from the NHL.
December 16, 2021: Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry drills his 2974th three-pointer to overtake Ray Allen for the most three-point makes in NBA history.
December 17, 2021: Marvel Studios releases Spider-Man: No Way Home to global commercial success.
December 28, 2021: Football legend John Madden dies.
December 29, 2021: Kyle Seager retires from MLB.
January 10, 2022: #3 Georgia defeats #1 Alabama, 33-18, in the College Football Playoff Championship Game to win their first national title since 1980.
January 12, 2022: Jon Lester retires from MLB.
January 16, 2022: Tennis star Novak Djokovic is deported from Australia in advance of the Australian Open due to being unvaccinated against COVID-19.
January 17, 2022: Francisco Liriano retires from MLB.
January 18, 2022: Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, the largest acquisition of a tech company in history.
January 27, 2022: Ben Roethlisberger announces his retirement from the NFL.
January 28, 2022: The Pokémon Company releases Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
February 1, 2022: Tom Brady, widely considered the greatest football player of all time, announces his retirement from the NFL.
February 1, 2022: Football coach Brian Flores files a class-action lawsuit against the NFL and multiple franchises for racial discrimination. The lawsuit alleges, among many other things, that Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 for each game he lost while coaching the team.
February 2, 2022: The Washington Football Team announces that they will be known as the Washington Commanders beginning with the 2022 season.
February 4-20, 2022: The 2022 Winter Olympics are held in Beijing. Norway wins both the most gold medals (16) and the most total medals (37).
February 5, 2022: Adrián González retires from MLB.
February 8, 2022: I resign from my first full-time, professional job.
February 10, 2022: Jordan Bohannon hits an absurd 10 three-pointers in a road win at Maryland, tying his career high 30 points.
February 13, 2022: Eric Weddle retires from the NFL.
February 15, 2022: Ryan Zimmerman retires from MLB.
February 18, 2022: My partner and I leave the suburbs and move into Raleigh.
February 21, 2022: Arthur airs its finale.
February 24, 2022: Russia invades Ukraine, sparking vast international conflict that continues to this day.
February 28, 2022: My friends and I found The Low Major.
March 10, 2022: MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association agree on a new collective bargaining agreement, ending the lockout.
March 12, 2022: Jordan Bohannon banks in a game-winning three-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining to give Iowa an 80-77 win over Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
March 13, 2022: Tom Brady, widely considered the greatest football player of all time, announces his un-retirement from the NFL.
March 13, 2022: Jordan Bohannon scores seven points in Iowa’s Big Ten Tournament championship game upset victory over Purdue.
March 15, 2022: Andrew Whitworth retires from the NFL.
March 17, 2022: Jordan Bohannon is held to six points as 5-seed Iowa is upset by 12-seed Richmond in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 64. It’s his final game as an Iowa Hawkeye.
March 21, 2022: Jamal Crawford retires from the NBA.
March 23, 2022: Politician Madeleine Albright dies.
March 24, 2022: Andrew Miller retires from MLB.
March 25, 2022: In the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament, 15-seed Saint Peter’s defeats 3-seed Purdue, 67-64, to become the first 15-seed ever to reach the Elite Eight.
March 30, 2022: Malcolm Jenkins announces his retirement from the NFL.
March 31, 2022: Jordan Bohannon wins the College 3-Point Contest, defeating Wisconsin’s equally ancient Brad Davison in the men’s final and Florida Gulf Coast women’s player Kendall Spray in the Battle of the Champions.