It seemed to me this year that the Sports World was dominated much more by off the field incidents than on the field play this year. Which is sad. Sports should be remembered and noted for what happens on the field of play. Sports are such amazing spectacles. An amazing catch in the end zone can make your jaw drop, or your heart break. A sure goal can be snatched out of the air by a swift goalie glove. The crack the bat makes when it makes solid contact with the ball tells everyone in the yard to look up and watch the ball fly out of the yard. Sports are an incredible sight to behold, and its sad when athletic performance is sullied by off the field transgressions.
Anyways, I still managed to sift through the rubble and come up with some good stories. Yes, there will be some off the field incidents that make the list, but I definately will try to makes ure the list has plenty of on the field events as well.
First, my Team of the Year and my Athlete of the Year.
Team of the Year: Arizona Cardinals. No, they did not win the Super Bowl, but they came damn close, and had one of the more surprising playoff runs in January that anyone can ever remember. The Cardinals have long been a joke in the NFL, and they finally shed that label to an extent with their Super Bowl run. And then, this season, they have once again clinched the NFC West, and will be poised to make another run through the playoffs. Backing up a magical postseason run with another solid, winning regular season is a great way to become the Team of the Year.
Athlete of the Year: Manny Pacquiao. With apologies to Roger Federer, Usain Bolt, and Toby Gerhart (see below), Manny Pacquiao has been the most transcendant athlete in the world this year. Pacquiao sold about two million PPVs in two fights this year. He blew out the undisputed junior welterweight champion of the world in two rounds, and he later dominated a terrific welterweight in Miguel Cotto. Pacquiao's demolishing of a very good Hatton was just brutal...jaw dropping even. Then to follow it up with brutalizing Cotto, and winning a Championship in his record 7th weight division...just incredible. Manny Pacquiao has changed the course of his entire sport. I'm not saying he did it single-handed, because there are a lot of other great fighters in the world. But he's clearly the new flag bearer for the sweet science, which is in the middle of a long-deserved renaissance. People who, a year ago, wouldn't have even known four boxers if you asked them, now know who Manny Pacquiao is, know who Floyd Mayweather is, and really really want to see them fight. The potential Mayweather v. Pacquiao fight would be the biggest fight in boxing in at least 20 years...and much of that is due to Pacquiao's newfound fame. Manny Pacquiao is, hands down, the 2009 Athlete of the Year.
Apologies to: Toby Gerhart. This would be a reactionary pick. Toby was, by far, the best RB, and I would argue the most dominant single player in college football this year, but got screwed out of the Heisman Trophy because he didn't play on Alabama. The trophy ended up going to the best player on the best team...not the best player in college football. Hell, Gerhart WON the award given to the best RB in the country...then was beaten by a RB for the best player in college football? How does this make sense? It doesn't, and for this injustice, and for single handedly carrying Stanford to an 8-4 season, and a bowl bid, Toby Gerhart is my first runner up for Athlete of the Year.
Top Sports Events of 2009:
You will notice that the Yankees winning the World Series did not make my top 10. This is because the Yankees winning a World Series is not newsworthy. Give Billy Beane $200 million dollars to build a baseball team, and the A's would never lose. Ever. Thus, they will not be mentioned again in this post. Also just missing the cut were the Women's Soccer Match between New Mexico and BYU where the New Mexico chick went nuts with some really dirty play; and also the Phoenix Coyotes debacle of filing for bankruptcy, being ultimately sold to the NHL after the courts disallowed a sale to Jim Balsillie because he wanted to move the team to Canada...etc. It's been a hectic story that really does not yet have an end in sight. However, it, also, just missed the cut. Finally, Y.E. Yang chasing down Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship this summer was just incredible. His shot around that tree on 17, I think it was, was just the stuff Champions are made of. But I ran out of room on this list too.
Honorable Mention: Joey Chestnut holding off the immortal Kobayashi and setting a new 10-minute hot dog eating record. That contest was so dramatic the announcer was forced to admit, “I don’t moisturize or watch Gossip Girls, but I’m very emotional right now.”
10. Usain Bolt continues to fly. Bolt, the fastest human in the world, shattered his own records in the 100m and 200m, at the World Championships this year. He is the first man to ever break the 9.6 barrier, running the 100 in 9.58. He is also the only person to break the 9.7 barrier, setting the world record at the Olympics last year at 9.69. His record breaking margin in 100 m is the highest since the start of digital time measurements. Bolt, who broke the 200m record at the Olympics last year, a record previously thought unreachable, ran the 200 in a time of 19.19. His old record was 19.30. Just insane. He is just stupid fast. Usain Bolt is the most impressive sprinter we've seen in a very very long time.
9. Lance Armstrong returns to the Tour, finishes 3rd. Lance made a comeback to the Tour de France this year, at age 37, and fared rather well. He joined the Astana team that was just loaded with talent. With Alberto Contador (the winner of the 09 Tour) leading the pack, Armstrong also got to ride with Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Kloden, two phenomenal riders in their own right. There was some friction within the team as to who they should be riding for, with Contador complaining that his team was abandoning him, and Armstrong stating that the team could ride for two contenders. In the end, Contador was just too strong for Armstrong to keep up with, but Armstrong held on for third place, and a spot on the podium. Not a bad comeback for Armstrong, who also announced during the Tour that in 2010 he would be starting up his own, new team, sponsored by Radio Shack. Looks like Armstrong is well on his way to staying in the hunt at yet another Tour in 2010.
8. Soccer actually makes the news in the U.S. This is actually a two-part event. First, back in the summer, the U.S. men beat the best team in the World, stunning Spain at the Confederations Cup. Spain had won 35 straight matches. The U.S. has never really been a world power. This changed a lot of the perception surrounding the U.S. mens soccer program, and gives them a fighting chance at next year's World Cup. Then, just recently, Ireland got absolutely screwed out of the World Cup. Ireland needed to beat France by 2 in order to qualify for the World Cup. They were up by 1 in extra time, meaning if they held onto that lead, they could be within penalty kicks of making the tournament. However, France scored a goal after a clear, blatant, and completely intentional handball. There's no way that goal should have been allowed. But FIFA, not wanting France, a world power and former champion, to miss the World Cup, just looked the other way. And people wonder why I hate soccer. It's all politics and cheating (don't get me started on all the blatant flopping) and never about who's the best team on the field. Sigh.
7. Lakers win the NBA Championship. The NBA is another sport I don't really follow. However, if forced to choose a team to cheer for, it'd be the Lakers. Not because they are good, but because that's how I was raised. Pops came from the LA area, and therefore cheered for the Lakers...and thus I cheered for the Lakers growing up. But I don't really watch the NBA anymore. It's really degraded into a 1 on 5 league, which I hate. Although Kobe is effing amazing. He has ice water running through his veins. I actually watched the NBA finals this year, and it was nice having a team to cheer for. The Lakers are looking amazing again this year, and if I actually cared about the NBA, wouldda been a serious contender for Team of the Year.
6. The NHL Playoffs are hella depressing. First off, the Sharks came into the playoffs as the #1 seed in the entire NHL, after winning the President's Cup. They proceeded to shit the bed, and lost in the first round to our most hated rival, the Ducks. Another playoff failure for my favorite sports franchise after a very promising regular season was almost to much to bear. Needless to say, it affected my happiness a wee bit more than it should have. Anyways, the other part of this was watching a young, up and coming team like the Penguins win it all. The Sharks should have won a Cup long before this group of Pens did. But the Pens played well when it mattered. They also had an epic series with the Washington Capitals, which was probably the highlight of the entire playoffs. Here's to hoping the Sharks fare better in the playoffs in 2010, and I have something much happier to write about them this time next year.
5. Notable, tragic deaths hit the NFL Community. First it was Steve McNair. He was shot in the head and chest by his 20 year old mistress. The NFL was shocked by this for two reasons. First was, obviously, the death of a recent NFL icon. McNair was a beast during his playing days and generally known as a good man. The second reason they were shocked was because of the mistress. McNair was known as a family man, and the fact he had a mistress was shocking. Overall, though, McNair's death was seen as a tragedy. Then, just last week, Bengals WR Chris Henry was killed when he was thrown from the back of a pickup truck at high speed during a domestic dispute with his fiancee. This death was even more shocking than McNair's. Both came out of nowhere, but this one was to an active WR (he was on IR at the time, but he was only 26, and still in the middle of his career). Chris Henry's tenure in the NFL was not always smooth, he was rather immature when he was younger. But he had seriously taken steps to better himself, and had turned his life completely around. Its always sad when you see someone who had turned their lives around get taken from us. Anyways, these deaths were big stories this year, and fed into the overall news theme of the year, with loads of famous people dying. More on that in the Top World Events writeup though. RIP McNair and Henry.
4. Roger Federer becomes the winningest Grand Slam Tennis champion ever. Federer had quite the year. He lost in the finals of the Australian Open to Nadal. Then, he finally won the French Open, defeating Robin Soderling (who had upset Nadal in the 4th round) to finally complete his personal Grand Slam. It was also his 14th Grand Slam victory, tying him with Pete Sampras for most all time. He then went into Wimbledon looking to become the winningest mens Grand Slam player of all time. And at first it looked like it would be a cakewalk with Nadal withdrawing due to injury. However, Andy Roddick decided to step up and play some of his best tennis in years, and it led to an amazing, classic Wimbledon Final. In a match that took 4 hours and 17 minutes to complete, he beat the American Roddick in the final in the latest chapter of their long, though lopsided rivalry, regaining the World No. 1 spot from Rafael Nadal. The final score was 5–7, 7–6(6), 7–6(5), 3–6, 16–14, and the 30 total games in the fifth set was a new Grand Slam record. The match was also the longest men's singles final (in terms of games played) in Grand Slam history with 77 games played, and the fifth set alone lasted 95 minutes. Roddick was on the verge of tears after losing this epic match. He was finally primed to break out, and beat his longtime nemesis, and win the grandest of all the Grand Slam events, and in the end, Federer was just too much for him. I'm not a huge tennis fan, but I sat and watched this final in awe. He finished the Grand Slam season by losing in the final of the US Open. Yes, he made the finals in all four Grand Slams. When all was said and done on the 2009 season, Federer had become the greatest mens tennis player in history, had completed his own personal Grand Slam, and had won what was probably the greatest, most amazing tennis match in history. Not a bad year!
3. Steelers win the Super Bowl over the Arizona Cardinals. Honestly, neither of these teams excite me. I really dislike the Steelers, and the Cardinals are rivals of the Niners. However, this ended up being a really really entertaining Super Bowl! I mean, the Cardinals weren't even supposed to be there! And they made a miraculous run through the playoffs. The Steelers were supposed to be there, but had to fend off the Chargers and the surprising Ravens. Once this game started, though, both teams proved they belonged. It was an exciting, tense, back and forth affair. It had the longest play in Super Bowl history, when lineman James Harrison intercepted Kurt Warner, and rumbled 100 yards for a TD as the first half expired. The Steelers took a 20-7 lead in the third quarter, and then the Cardinals started a furious comeback. Half way through the 4th, the Cards cut the score to 20-14, and then the Steelers were called for holding in the end zone a little while later, resulting in a safety, and a 20-16 game. Arizona got the ball, and two plays later, on a 63 yard TD pass to Fitzgerald, had taken the lead 23-20. An exciting comeback that had the entire nation talking about a possible Cardinals shocker. It was not to be, though. Getting the ball back with 2:37 left on the clock, the Steelers marched down the field, and scored on a TD pass to Santonio Holmes, giving the Steelers a 27-23 lead, which they held onto to win their record 6th Super Bowl as a franchise. While the result was not what I had hoped (I was pulling for the Cards), the game was exciting and tense til the final seconds, which made it a great Super Bowl, and worthy of being #3 on this list.
2. Tiger Woods screws hella breezys, loses super model wife, and is generally an idiot. This has been a huge story. Tiger Woods is a global icon. He's seen as this clean cut, wholesome man who has a beautiful wife and a gorgeous family. He was most remembered for his hard work on the golf course, and his love of his family, especially his late father. And then this story broke, and everything we thought we knew about Tiger went out the window. I think the last count of women who have claimed to have some sort of sexual relationship with him since his marriage is up around 14 now. Thats absurd. I mean, when you are famous, of course trim is going to throw itself at you. As a family man with a hot ass wife (and his wife is way better looking than any of his side dishes), he should be more disciplined than that! It will be very interesting to see how Tiger and his team handle all this. Tiger has always very carefully controlled his image. I could care less about the cheating...that shit's none of my business. However, I will definately be interested in how he handles this setback, and how he tries to rehabilitate his image...and image he worked very hard to craft and has made him billions of dollars.
1. Manny Pacquiao wins a title in a record 7th different weight class. I guess you all could see this coming after the praise I heaped upon Pacman in the Athlete of the Year segment, but its just really really exciting that boxing is making a comeback in the general consciousness. Pacquiao won a title in his 6th weight class, junior welterweight, when he obliterated Ricky Hatton in May. Pacquiao won in the second round with a vicious left hook that knocked Hatton out cold. This win gave Pacquiao a title in a 6th weight division, as well as becoming the lineal champion in a record 4th weight division.. And then, in November, Pacquiao defeated Miguel Cotto to win a title at his 7th weight division, welterweight, a record. His fight, scheduled for March 13, 2010, with Floyd Mayweather could end up being the most watched PPV ever. Manny has done more for his sport than anyone else has for their sport this year, and is our #1 Sports event of the year.
-----------------------------------------------------
Hope you enjoyed my sports stories this year. If you think I missed anything, please, reply in the comments and let me know! The Year in Review will take a short break for Christmas, and start back up with Top World Events on Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment