Yahoo Sports closed out 2024 on a high note, producing an hilarious “in memory of” video featuring many of the athletes and teams that fell short of glory in 2024.
The video, titled “In Loving Memory of: All the Graphics We Made But Didn’t Use” features a piano-driven backing track of “Amazing Grace” and has the feel of an in memoriam video you’d see at a funeral home or on an awards show. It shows the graphics Yahoo Sports produced but did not run this year, for reasons that quickly become obvious. There’s a graphic of several San Francisco 49ers stars with the title “Champions,” New York Yankees stars Aaron Judge and Juan Soto sporting World Series rings and Michael Penix Jr. hoisting a College Football Playoff Championship trophy.
There were also graphics for solo athletes that fell short of winning (Mike Tyson), as well as graphics showing alternate realities of free agent signings or trades that never came to pass, including ones featuring Soto wearing uniforms from the Dodgers, Phillies, Blue Jays and Red Sox. Oh, and Bill Belichick wearing hoodies from a number of different NFL and college teams.
Pour one out for all the graphics we prepped but couldn’t use in 2024 😭 pic.twitter.com/EXKb8hbRUa
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) December 31, 2024
The video is a masterful bit of social media engagement. Some of the simpler images had the feel of something that could have quickly been created in AI specifically for this video, while others were extremely well crafted and would have been perfect to use under the right circumstances, such as the one of Boston Celtics stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum staring at an empty NBA Finals championship trophy case.
Social media users applauded Yahoo Sports for its creativity and execution. Ian Rapoport responded to the video with a short, “lol this is hilarious.”
lol this is hilarious. https://t.co/Q9hl7awqKe
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 1, 2025
This is phenomenal and I demand every social media team from every sports media outlet to do the same. https://t.co/GOzDWLLhsJ
— Matthew Smothers (@TheMattSmothers) January 1, 2025
Well done @YahooSports https://t.co/OWuGcee5cA
— Jorge Andres Mondaca (@JorgeAMondaca) January 1, 2025
This is awesome. Want to see more of these https://t.co/lhCmFKDxkL
— Steve Valenti (@Sj_Valenti) January 1, 2025
Of course, many fans pointed out this video doubled as a masterful bit of trolling at teams and players that fell short or otherwise had issues in 2024.
Every Yankees & Soto graphic is painful. https://t.co/kmg6QyQhg2
— BK Chambers (@imavip) January 1, 2025
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.