Top Sports Stories of 2008

[NYBuckeye96]

http://dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2008/12/28/sports2008.ART_ART_12-28-08_C1_0DCBUMR.html?sid=101

The Year in Review | Sports: From Giants to Celtics to Tiger, can't get much better than this
Sunday, December 28, 2008 3:46 AM
BY ROB OLLER

If money grew on trees, then 2008 could be described as delivering more farmland than forest. But as "real life" took on lean times, the escapist world of sports enjoyed a year of unusually abundant riches.
Many of the biggest events packed a punch worthy of their lofty position. The often snooze-inducing Super Bowl gave us a game for the ages, the NBA Finals featured a back-in-the-day matchup of Celtics vs. Lakers, Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open standing on one leg and Tom Brady lost a season because of one leg.

The well-worn Detroit Red Wings defeated a Kid and his Pittsburgh playmates in the Stanley Cup Finals, and baseball's Phillies brought some brotherly love to Philadelphia, which had not won a national title in any major sport since 1983.

Not to be outdone, tennis served an ace at Wimbledon, where Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer in an epic final that ended Federer's string of five consecutive All-England championships.

The Kentucky Derby featured the bittersweet scene of Big Brown winning and runner-up Eight Belles breaking down within seconds of the finish and being put down on the track.

Then there were the Olympics, highlighted by swimmer Michael Phelps' record eight gold medals, Usain Bolt's lightning fast victories in the sprints and the U.S. Redeem Team's gold medal performance in men's basketball.

And last but far from least, the Columbus Crew gave Columbus its first major professional championship by defeating New York in the MLS Cup, giving Massive fans who fill the Nordecke another reason to sing.

Of course, the year in local sports did not begin with a bang but with an embarrassment. Ohio State football fans entered 2008 hoping the Buckeyes had made a New Year's resolution not to lose a second straight BCS national championship game. The mind may have been willing, but the bodies turned in a too-weak performance against Louisiana State, which thumped OSU 38-24 to remind the nation that the Southeastern Conference owns Ohio State.

"Everyone was feeling good about themselves," OSU offensive tackle Alex Boone said of the Buckeyes' early 7-0 lead. "We were thinking this game was going to be a lot easier than it was. That was our mistake."

Shortly after, the Buckeyes received some needed good news when James Laurinaitis, Marcus Freeman, Alex Boone and Malcolm Jenkins all chose to return for their senior seasons rather than enter the NFL draft. The foursome wanted one more shot at winning a national title, but those hopes were dashed in September when OSU went to Los Angeles and came away a 35-3 loser to Southern California.

That loss led to the biggest story line of the season: the emergence of freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor, whose elevation to starter signaled the disappearance of sixth-year senior Todd Boeckman.

The basketball Buckeyes, meanwhile, topped off a season of disappointment with a fantastic finish by winning the NIT championship with a 92-85 victory over Massachusetts in New York's Madison Square Garden.

The other big news involving OSU basketball saw the NCAA lift all hiring restrictions on former coach Jim O'Brien and freshman Kosta Koufas' decision to leave school to enter the NBA draft.

The Columbus area did produce two basketball champions when Newark and Chillicothe each won state boys titles.

And basketball lost one of its most colorful and controversial coaches when Bob Knight retired from Texas Tech as the winningest coach is NCAA Division I history with 902 victories in 42 seasons.

Moving from the hard court to the hard water, the Red Wings captured their fourth Stanley Cup title in 11 seasons by defeating Pittsburgh and Sidney "The Kid" Crosby in six games. Closer to home, the Blue Jackets made noteworthy moves by trading Russian enigma Nikolai Zherdev to the New York Rangers, while adding such pieces as R.J. Umberger, Mike Commodore and Kristian Huselius.

Two other moves made even more noise and elicited far different fan reaction. The CBJ traded enforcer and fan favorite Jody Shelley to San Jose, then later shipped captain Adam Foote to Colorado for a first-round draft pick.

The player reactions couldn't have been more different. Shelley said, "This is all I know. I've really gotten attached to this city, the fans, my teammates." Foote, meanwhile, who reportedly couldn't leave Columbus fast enough, has been accused of forcing the trade.

On a sad note, Blue Jackets owner and billionaire industrialist John H. McConnell died in April at age 85.

From the ice to pavement, auto racing registered a historic first when Danica Patrick won an Indy-car race in Japan to become the first woman to win in Indy car, Formula One or NASCAR Sprint Cup.

In stock car, Ryan Newman blew past Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch between turns three and four to pull off one of the biggest upsets in the 50-year history of the Daytona 500. The season-long Chase produced less drama, however, as Jimmie Johnson cruised to his third straight championship.

On a different type of track, Tiger Woods added to his golf legend in stunning fashion by defeating 45-year-old Rocco Mediate on the 91st hole of the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines near San Diego. Woods won his 14th major title on the first hole of sudden death, but it was how he got there that amazed the golfing world.

He drained a 12-foot birdie on the final hole of regulation on Sunday to force a Monday 18-hole playoff, then made a necessary birdie on the 18th hole of the playoff to force sudden death. And he did it all while playing on an injured left leg that required surgery soon after the Open, resulting in the No. 1-ranked player missing the rest of the season.

"I think this is probably the best (win) ever," Woods said. "I don't know how I ended up in this position, to be honest with you."

Given an opening by an out-of-service Woods, Irishman Padraig Harrington stepped in to win both the British Open and PGA Championship.

In women's golf, Annika Sorenstam announced her retirement and put the clubs in the basement after 72 career wins, which trail only Kathy Whitworth (88) and Mickey Wright (82).

Sorenstam wasn't the only bedrock of stability to call it quits.

After 76 years and 4,697 games, Cooper Stadium said goodbye to baseball as the Clippers left for their soon-to-open Downtown digs at Huntington Park.

Otherwise forgettable seasons for Ohio's two major-league baseball teams were notable for the big-name players who waved so long. Cincinnati Reds outfielder Ken Griffey smacked his 600th home run and soon after was traded to the Chicago White Sox, and then-reigning Cy Young pitcher C.C. Sabathia left Cleveland for Milwaukee.

Fans of the state's other pro sports franchises likewise went wanting. The Blue Jackets remained perfectly imperfect, missing the playoffs for the seventh time in seven seasons (and they're barely treading water in year eight). The Cavaliers, meanwhile, made the NBA playoffs for the third straight season. But a year after reaching the NBA Finals, the Cavs were bounced in the second round, by Boston.

Playoff talk ended quickly in Cleveland and Cincinnati, where the Browns and Bengals have combined for seven wins entering today's NFL season finales.

Soon enough, it will be Super Bowl time again, and that will rekindle memories of a 2008 title game that actually was super for a change.

The New England Patriots brought their 18-0 record to the game only to see their perfection go kaput against 13-6 New York when Giants receiver Plaxico Burress caught the winning touchdown pass with 35 seconds remaining. The lasting image, however, of what perhaps was the best-ever Super Bowl will be the play on the winning drive when Eli Manning scrambled and threw a pass that David Tyree caught while pressing the ball against his helmet.

It was a priceless ending to a year in sports worth its price in admission.

[BubbleGumTiger]

Miami Dolphins for their achievements this year.........


and also the Detroit Lions on the other end .........

[Buckeyefan03]

Is it just me overlooking it, or was nothing mentioned about Tampa Bay's success in the MLB and the Phillies winning it all?