On Monday, Sept. 22, the Ballon d’Or award ceremony, which awards this year’s most accomplished soccer player (men and women being judged separately), took place in Paris. This year’s men’s award went to Ousmane Dembélé, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG)’s most accomplished forward.

The 28-year-old Frenchman produced a season that was as decisive as it was spectacular. In 2024–25, Dembélé powered PSG to a historic campaign, winning nearly everything, including the club’s first-ever UEFA Champions League title, the most significant club trophy in world football. Individually, he posted a remarkable 35 goals and 16 assists in 53 games, making him one of Europe’s most productive players. In comparison, in 2022 Messi was awarded the Ballon d’Or despite scoring only 21 goals and delivering 16 assists. On paper, his Ballon d’Or seems beyond dispute. Yet, as always, the award ignited debate in the football community. Was Dembélé’s season truly the best? Did someone else deserve it more? These are familiar questions, as the Ballon d’Or has always been both a barometer of excellence and a lightning rod for controversy.

A Legendary Award with Subjective Edges

Part of the Ballon d’Or’s mystique lies in its subjectivity. Like the Oscars for cinema, the award claims to recognize the “best,” but who and what defines “the best” is constantly contested. France Football, the magazine that created and still administers the Ballon d’Or, tries to guide voters with three clear criteria:

1. Individual performances: decisiveness and overall impact
2. Team performances and achievements: collective success matters
3. Class and fair play: professionalism, attitude, and sportsmanship

These criteria deliberately blend quantitative and qualitative factors. Goals and assists matter, but so do intangible traits — leadership, consistency and composure under pressure. This mix is precisely why the Ballon d’Or retains its intrigue. A player can excel statistically yet still be edged out by someone whose trophies carry more weight.

Do Individual or Collective Stats Win a Ballon d’Or?

The assumption that “most goals + most trophies = Ballon d’Or” oversimplifies the picture. Certainly, scoring records and silverware have historically boosted a candidate’s odds. But the award often prioritizes the type of trophy over sheer quantity. Since 2005, 15 of the 20 Ballon d’Or winners have captured a major title (Champions League, European Championship, or World Cup) in the same year they lifted the award. In other words, winning the biggest competitions at the highest level often tips the scales.

Dembélé checks both boxes. Not only did he lead his team in decisive personal contributions (goals and assists) he also helped PSG to the sport’s ultimate club prize: the UEFA Champions League. It is this blend of individual decisiveness and historic collective success that made his 2024–25 campaign irresistible to voters.

Is the Award Reserved for Forwards?

A frequent criticism of the Ballon d’Or is that it overwhelmingly favors attacking positions. Over the past two decades, forwards and attacking midfielders have dominated the award, winning 15 out of the last 20 years. Yet this hasn’t always been the case. Prior to 2000, defenders like Franz Beckenbauer and Fabio Cannavaro won the trophy, proving that elite defending can be as decisive as goalscoring in the eyes of voters.

Nevertheless, the shift reflects football’s evolution. Modern voters favor players who produce direct goal contributions because these are easy to quantify. Players like Achraf Hakimi — who excel as fullbacks but also deliver phenomenal offensive stats — embody a hybrid player that could eventually break the forward monopoly again. But for now, the award’s bias toward attackers remains pronounced.

Best Player vs. Best Season

One final major tension surrounds the Ballon d’Or: should it reward the “best player” overall or the “best season”? Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or even in years when another player arguably had a stronger single campaign, simply because their sustained brilliance redefined the sport.

Dembélé’s 2025 victory aligns both sides of that debate. He wasn’t merely a good player having a great year or an all-time great winning on sheer reputation; he was a world-class talent whose season reached a historic peak. His contributions weren’t empty numbers but decisive interventions in the most important games. In that sense, he represents the rare case where the award honors both an elite player and a truly unmatched season.

Why Dembélé’s 2025 Ballon d’Or Was Undeniable

In combining elite statistics, the sport’s biggest club trophy, and match-winning moments, Ousmane Dembélé embodied the very criteria France Football laid out decades ago. His campaign stood at the intersection of individual mastery and collective achievement, the precise sweet spot Ballon d’Or voters are supposed to reward.

For once, the conversation about who “deserved” the Ballon d’Or may be shorter than usual. Dembélé’s 2024–25 season wasn’t just a personal triumph; it was the fulfillment of his immense promise and a historic milestone for PSG.

In recent decades, the importance of mental health and taking care of the intangibles has become a major point of focus for schools at all levels in the United States’ education system. Across the country, a wide range of social and institutional factors serve as stressors for young people. The current statistical rate for symptoms of depression found in adults age 18-29 is approximately 21% according to the CDC;  suicide is the third leading cause of death in young adults and  college athletes.  

The Sport Science Institute, in partnership with the NCAA, set out to create a survey that would gauge the mental health of athletes. In the study, 65% of women’s sports athletes and 58% of men’s sports athletes reported that mental health was a serious concern among their teammates. In fact, constant mental exhaustion was the most commonly reported concern among the student-athletes with the symptom impacting 38% of women’s sports athletes and 22% of men’s sports athletes. However, only 49% of women’s sports athletes and 55% of men’s sports athletes reported that they felt mental health was taken seriously by their college or university’s athletics department. Overall, the data shows a gap in the attention that the mental health of college students needs. 

Improving mental health is no doubt a difficult problem to tackle as there isn’t exactly one true solution. The problem could lie in the balance between the physical and mental demand of a sport on top of academic and social commitments; however, many student-athletes rely on academic and sports scholarships with little room to breathe. Some college organizations emphasize creating more educational resources for college students regarding mental health, as well as  having therapists on standby, but that raises questions about funding.

Researchers Sabrina Weigland, Jared Cohen and Daniel Merenstein attempt to explain one potential cause: collegiate athletes tend to feel a loss of personality once their time being on the field comes to an end because they have spent the majority of their lives as an “athlete.” In layman’s terms, this can be related to the idea of how coaches can subconsciously instill that the majority of an athlete’s focus and time should be towards their respective sport, and not so much of a balance of other academic and social commitment. 

At one institution, Trine University uses a variety of academic reports to explain the importance of the topic at hand in their article, “Prioritizing Mental Health in College Athletes,” stating that “This idea has created a culture that values athletic performance over things like academic success or mental health. Today, a coach’s success is determined solely by the performance of their athletes, regardless of their relationship with the athlete or the athlete’s well-being.”

Overall, students at any college deserve to have help in any form for the anxiety that the world may bring on each day. For students involved in  time-consuming extracurriculars, avoid the overemphasis on perfection that will inevitably sacrifice your mental health. As Bobby McFerrin once said, “Don’t worry, be happy.”

As Hollywood continues to scrape the bottom of the barrel for ideas, good sports movies remain uncommon. Here are a few that may have never achieved mainstream popularity, but still deliver the inspiring stories, captivating drama and unrelenting comedy that audiences crave from sports movies. 

“Trouble with the Curve” (2012)

Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake lead in a heartwarming story about an aging MLB scout (Eastwood) and his daughter (Adams) who journey to find the next big star somewhere in the midst of college baseball. The film tells an engaging and cohesive tale about the process of rebuilding familial bonds as well as the woes of arrogance and cockiness in the world of sports. “Trouble with the Curve” is available for streaming on Hulu. 

“Benchwarmers” (2006)

The placement of Benchwarmers on this list may be largely due to nostalgia, but this movie holds up as a classic sports film. Comedic legends  of the early 2000’s David Spade, Jon Heder and Rob Schneider lead this comedy about three unlikely nobodies who band together to prove their bullies wrong about the importance of having fun over winning. Of course, the film’s hilarity and message renders this movie a classic. “Benchwarmers” is available for streaming on Hulu.  

“Invincible” (2006)

Who doesn’t love a good underdog story? This film tells the true tale of Vince Papale, played by Mark Wahlberg, a 30-year-old bartender in Philadelphia that finds his life turned upside down after he lands a spot on the Philadelphia Eagles NFL roster. “Invincible” tells a captivating story of how quickly someone’s life could change, but it is also a well-made film in general with impressive production, cinematography and acting. “Invincible” is available for streaming on Disney+.

“The Game Plan” (2007)

Although I didn’t intend on this list leaning in the PG direction, this movie offers a wholesome message and stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the quarterback of a fictional NFL team. In the movie, a young girl, played by Madison Pettis, shows up to his penthouse door, claiming to be his long lost daughter. Suddenly, the quarterback finds himself having to balance fatherhood and the face of his franchise. “The Game Plan” is available for streaming on Disney+.

“Kicking and Screaming” (2005)

As a chaotic comedy, this movie is a shining example of how hilarious sports films can be. Comedy legend Will Ferrell starts in this film as the coach for his son’s soccer team as the means of obtaining bragging rights over his own arrogant father. However, he soon discovers that he may be more similar to his father than he thought. “Kicking and Screaming” is available for streaming on Hulu.

After signing the now-infamous $500 million contract ensuring that Patrick Mahomes would keep throwing touchdowns for the Kansas City Chiefs, they have found themselves in unprecedented times under his leadership. The Chiefs are currently in third place in the AFC West with a 4-4 record, a division they have won for the past five seasons.

ESPN’s Ryan Clark made his opinion clear, stating that “The Chiefs are not a good football team right now.” Going into the season, expectations were high as they have been since Mahomes took the Chiefs to the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49er’s and won. 

Fans still consider a trip to the Super Bowl a successful season despite losing the game itself last season against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. However, the Chiefs find themselves in uncharted territory, as Mahomes and the rest of the team have not been themselves. Mahomes has already surpassed his interception total from last season after completing eight games with a total of 10 interceptions. Noticeably, there has been no loss of offensive talent during the prior offseason meaning that theoretically, there should not be a decline in results. 

This has not been the case. The Chiefs’ offense has been dropping balls and failing their assignments. Fans and analysts alike have called for the Chiefs to go back to the fundamentals in order to slow the game back down to improve their focus. Mahomes is still above the pack in total passing yards, but the turnover numbers and drop back/sack ratio are the highest they’ve ever been. 

The defense has given up 6.6 yards per play, leaving them last place in the entire NFL. Objectively, this is the worst defense Mahomes has had since he took over in 2018. However, it’s likely that the defense will make adjustments and begin to look like a competitive unit by the end of the season. 

Mahomes has had a lot going on. Not only did he amass a large amount of wealth recently, but has also become a father, husband, business owner and the face of countless merchandise and brand deals. It would be a lot for anyone to handle, and I think fans trust that Mahomes will take the necessary deep breaths to get back to normal. It is imperative that he does so soon before the Chiefs lose their chance at the playoffs. The Chiefs are set to continue their season against the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 7 at 3:25 p.m.