ATVS Roundtable: Best of 2019

What was your favorite moment from 2019?

Kennedi

Excluding this football season being crazy, I have to go with every time Sarah Finnegan stepped on the gym floor during the 2019 gymnastics season, in which LSU finished the national runner up for the third time in four years. My absolute favorite would probably have to be when Finnegan anchored the floor lineup at the SEC Championship meet at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. It was LSU’s third straight year winning the SEC Championship meet and Sarah Finnegan once again solidified that she is probably the greatest gymnast in the 42 years of the D-D Breaux program.

Honorable mention to me accidentally spending a week in the Hoover Met during the SEC baseball tournament and covering in 17-inning game against Mississippi State that lasted 6 hours, 43 minutes and ended at 3:03 a.m.

Billy

Who can forget beating Auburn in Hoover on a walk-off wild pitch?

And who could forget the hit that launched a Heisman campaign?

Since this moment Joe Burrow has thrown 59 touchdowns against six interceptions. Think he sent Joey Connors a Christmas card?

And who could forget basketball’s whole renegade run to the Sweet Sixteen? Suspended coach and all.

This football season’s almost felt like a dream but the big moment that sticks out is 3rd and 17 in Austin. Such a huge throw, with a great game from Justin Jefferson as well, at such a huge moment, when the offense had to have a big play. It kind of encapsulates everything that was great about Burrow and this offense this season.

Corey

There’s way too many to list, but if I had to pick a few it would have to be:

• The win over Alabama to finally get the football team over that hump and to do it on the road.
• Burrow’s throw at Texas to seal the deal and show this football team is for real.
• Kavell Bigby-Williams tip-in to beat Kentucky at Rupp Arena just proved that basketball team was legit.

• Waters hitting the layup to beat Maryland after all the Will Wade turmoil.
• And most recently (and probably most heart-breaking) was seeing Ensminger walking around the field before the semifinal game that just tugged at the heartstring before helping call a masterpiece with Edwards-Helaire out.

Jake

Heard a lot about that Joe Burrow fella, he wasn’t half bad.

Saltzman

As the softball rep, I’ll say the team as a whole pretty much exceeded expectations, given the loss of Carley Hoover and Allie Walljasper. The team was voted sixth in the SEC poll, finished third and spent most of the year near the top of the SEC standings. One game in particular that stands out is the walk-off, series winning victory over Florida at home. Not only was it an incredible win, with Aliyah Andrews running through Beth Torina’s hold sign (while Torina was mic’d up for TV) to score the winning run, but it was especially big given how much LSU had struggled against the Gators. On the football side, Joe’s Heisman speech would be my highlight for 2019. The entire 2019 campaign for men’s basketball was awesome. Seeing Will Wade suspended sucked, but it just made it that much more satisfying when they started wrecking people.

Zach

I’ll always remember the run the men’s basketball team went on. Beating Kentucky in Rupp for the first time in ages; the comeback against Missouri; beating a top-5 Tennessee; Tremont Waters going coast to coast to force overtime in Gainesville and then his last second layup to beat Maryland in the Round of 32; an absolutely unhinged PMAC in the first game after the Will Wade suspension, the arena turned into the Roman Coliseum and fans wanted Joe Alleva fed to the lions.

And of course, 2019 was Joe Burrow’s year. Torching UCF after taking that cheap shot. Then orchestrating the best college offense I’ve ever seen. 3rd and 17 against Texas. Telling Vanderbilt how many touchdowns he’s thrown on them. The knockout punch he threw to Jamar Chase against Florida. Beating Alabama. His Joe Burreaux jersey he wore on senior night. The 71-yard throw to Jordan Jefferson against Georgia. And, I can’t emphasize this enough, he threw seven damn touchdowns against Oklahoma in a half. A half! I mean I’m out of superlatives to describe this team and this quarterback. It’s the most fun football season I’ve ever had. I feel lucky to have witnessed it.

Seth

I don’t watch much basketball so it was fun when the LSU basketball team made a deep run in the post season. It was nice to have interest in a different sport.

The rest of the year was OK. LSU is undefeated. Whatever. Their quarterback won the Heisman. Meh. They dropped 46 on Alabama, 63 on Oklahoma and 37 on Georgia but only 23 on Auburn so.

Not in my wildest dreams could we have imagined what the football team did this year. What a damn ride it’s been.

PodKATT

• Finally beating Bama
• 17 innings against Mississippi St
• Soccer brought the kits back

• Emmitt Williams

• After 10 years, 10 LONG years, of hard work, this humble blog reached peaks unimaginable. If it happened, WE WERE THERE.

I want to thank each and every one of you who keeps coming back to read us every week. None of what we have accomplished would be possible without it.

Thank You.