Adam Hill’s best of 2023: Strawther’s shot, Moreau’s courage stand out

One of the craziest things about covering sports in Las Vegas for 20 years is how much larger the market has become.

Each year is bigger and better than the last. That will certainly be the case in 2024 with the Super Bowl arriving for the first time.

It’s always something. This year saw the NCAA men’s basketball tournament finally come to town. It was also the debut of Formula One’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

It’s crazy to think about where our sports culture has gone.

One of my favorite parts of covering it has been the opportunity to write about so many different topics, but particularly the chance to achieve the dream of covering the NFL.

Reaching that goal helped me through a difficult personal year. I don’t think I could have made it through everything without having that to focus on.

With that, I will share some of my favorite work from this year:

1. SG team ups

The people I work with have become some of my closest friends. Sam Gordon is one of them. He’s an unbelievably talented journalist who also brings the kind of positivity to assignments and everyday life that’s foreign to a pessimist like me.

Two projects we worked on together this year provided special memories.

We got to share the story of the strong Ivy League connections that were prevalent in a game between the Dolphins and Raiders. He also did tremendous work that wasn’t credited on my story of two brothers who became kickers by chance and then faced each other on “Monday Night Football.”

2. Hill: Ex-Raider Moreau feels duty to talk about cancer battle

Cancer is an awful disease that has struck my family in tragic ways. It once again popped up to bring devastating news to my family this year. Former Raiders tight end Foster Moreau’s diagnosis had a happy ending. I traveled to Saints training camp in Orange County, Calif., to catch up with him and talk about his journey in August.

3. Hill: Catching up with the man who saw UNLV’s league title coming

I was at the Mountain West football media day at Circa when snickering turned to anger as UNLV received one first-place vote in the preseason media poll. While it was funny to joke about it at first, I set about trying to track down who cast the vote and why. It turned out there was a good explanation, which got even better when first-year coach Barry Odom actually led his team to a share of the conference crown.

4. Hometown hero Julian Strawther lives dream in Gonzaga victory

College basketball has always held a special place in my heart. The first NCAA Tournament games to take place in town were something I never thought I’d see, much less get the chance to write about. Not only did it actually happen this year, but we got to witness one of the signature moments of the tournament as hometown hero Julian Strawther delivered a game-winner from near midcourt. I instantly found his dad in the crowd to get his reaction before talking to Julian and the other principles later in the evening.

5. ‘It’s been a great journey’: Smith discusses trade from Knights

A few weeks after helping out with our outstanding coverage of the Golden Knights’ run to the Stanley Cup, I was on the field at left wing Reilly Smith’s softball event soon after he was traded to Pittsburgh. Smith was emotional in reflecting on his time in Las Vegas and what the community meant to him.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.