Image via Complex Original
1997 was quite the year for the sports world. Golf's new No. 1 player in the world was black (or "Cablinasian"), Michael Jordan and the Bulls were in the midst of another three-peat run, and Brett Favre was known as that badass gunslinger (*Madden voice*) rather than the creeper type who sends dong pics and rocks Crocs.
Back then you could snag pro sports tickets for about the same price you pay for parking at a game today. As much as things change some remain the same though. Athletes were still making crazy bank back then (MJ made a cool $78 mil) and ballers were still baggin’ the baddest WAGs (The Captain had Mariah Carey before the twins and corny ass Nick Cannon). So, take a trip down memory lane with Retro Year in Sports: 1997.
WAGs
In 1997, Andre Agassi was married to Brooke Shields (they divorced two years later). Several years before dating Vanessa Lachey and Minka Kelly, The Captain spent his nights on the town with Mariah Carey. And Dennis Rodman was courting Vivica A. Fox (because women be up on dudes who dress like that).
Cost of Living for Fans
The life of a fan in 1997 was—as expected—less expensive back then. An average MLB game was $12.06, the average NBA game was $34.33, a much more reasonable NFL charged $39.69 per ticket (compared to nearly $80 last season), and the most expensive was actually the NHL averaging $42.78 a contest.
From the Court to the Courtroom
In 1995, OJ may have beat the rap for murder (therefore putting that issue to rest once and for all) but he couldn't beat a civil lawsuit brought about by Ronald Goldman's family, that came to a conclusion on February 5, 1997. On that day, O.J. was found liable for a wrongful death of and battery against Goldman and battery against his ex-wife Nicole Brown. The Juice was ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages. The ultimate consequence of this was O.J. moving from California to Florida to avoid having his NFL pension garnished to pay the Goldman's. Years later the Goldman's got a paltry sum when O.J. inexplicably ghost wrote If I Did Itexplaining how he would "hypothetically" kill the two.
On a much lighter note, reigning NBA Rookie of the Year, Allen Iverson was arrested on gun and marijuana possession charges. Not really a big deal when compared to OJ. Or his sad life these days.
Must-Have Sports Apparel
In 1997, Nike dropped the Jordan XIIIs with an "eye" inspired by a panther—if you want to go retro you can get them for $300 on eBay. If Jordan's weren't your style or Jordan wasn't your guy, you could rock the Air Penny IIIs in either the Orlando Magic's home or away colors. Anfernee might not have had the staying power of No. 23 (newsflash: no one has) but these kicks were still tight to lace up on the playground when front pocket Starter pullovers were still king.
Also, the hottest jersey of the moment? Surprise, surprise. MJ stayed winning on and off the court in the '90s.
The Biggest Ballers
MJ surpassed Mike Tyson to claim the crown of the highest-paid athlete in the world by banking $78 million in 1997 ($47M of which came through endorsements). Evander Holyfield was a distant second hauling in a still ridiculous $54.3 million (although maybe it wasn't enough). Number three on the list was occupied by the then top rated pound-for-pound fighter in the world a.k.a. Oscar De La Hoya, who made $38 million bucks to rise from the 17th highest paid athlete in the world the year before.
The Best Sports Rap Reference
It's no big deal to win the Masters or be named SI's Sportsman of the Year (as he was in '96). No, Tiger knew he made it when he was parodied by Puff Daddy in the No. 1 Notorious B.I.G. single, "Mo Money, Mo Problems." Though Chris Rock's parody of Puff's parody was a very close second.
Pop Culture Moments in Sports
Sony's NFL Gameday '98 rivaled Madden '98 (with John Madden on the cover before cover stars were afflicted with the dreaded "curse" and before Madden put on another 100 pounds).
Lil' Penny was all over Nike's marketing campaign and in a dry year for sports movies, New York Mets' left fielder Bernard Gilkey was popped in the head with a ball while distracted by a spaceship in the second-highest grossing film of the year: Men in Black. Finally, that year's kids movies suffered a serious setback with the release of Air Bud, the story of a dog who escapes from an alcoholic clown to lead a basketball team to a championship.
We Are the Champions
The Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz in six games to repeat as champions. The highlight of the series was a pivotal Game 5 where Michael Jordan gave Chicago a 3-2 edge in Salt Lake City with 38 points in his infamous "Flu Game" which is inexplicably back in the news 16 years later.
In Super Bowl XXXI (31) the Green Bay Packers took out the New England Patriots 35-21 in Brett Favre's only Super Bowl Championship of his career. Desmond Howard was named the game's MVP by returning a third quarter kick 99 yards for a TD (at the time the longest play in Super Bowl history).
The Detroit Red Wings swept the Philadelphia Flyers four games to none, to win both their first championship in 42 years and their first of two straight Stanley Cups.
In the first year of interleague play the Florida Marlins squeaked past the star-studded Cleveland Indians in a thrilling seven game series that was punctuated with a walk-off single by 22-year-old shortstop Edgar Renteria.
In other sports news, Tiger Woods won his first major at the 1997 Masters by an incredible twelve strokes. He was the youngest player to ever win the green jacket as well as both the first African and Asian American.
At Wimbledon, Pete Sampras won the men's tournament (for the fourth time) and Martina Hingis won the women's tournament while earlier in the year becoming the youngest female (16.5 years old) ever ranked No. 1 in the world.
On June 28, 1997, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson faced off in a rematch of their 1996 WBA Heavyweight Title fight. Holyfield retained the belt but the fight was more memorable for the fact that Tyson bit off a chunk of Holyfield's ear. After Round 3 Tyson was disqualified and punished with a lifetime ban from boxing which was lifted a year later.
In NCAA Men's Basketball, 4-seed Arizona bested top seeded Kentucky in overtime 84-79 for their first ever national title.
In the WNBA, Cynthia Cooper and the Houston Comets beat the New York Liberty 65-51 for the title. This is notable as it was the league's inaugural season.
