What a year it was

When I think back at 2007, lots of memories are sure to pop up. As with every year, there have been some good moments, some bad. But because I have seen many members of my family lose their ability to remember important events, I wanted to make sure that the best and worst of ’07 were remembered. So I made a top-ten list of what the year will be remembered by. (10 is least memorable, 1 is most) Remember, its my list and my memories, which is why many of my favorite teams are listed.


10- This all depends on the Patriots beating the Giants on Saturday night, but it certainly looks like New England will finish 2007 without losing a single game. Tom Brady and company have been impressive from the opening whistle of game one through the final seconds of week 16, demolishing everybody in sight. Brady will almost certainly win MVP, Randy Moss has taken his spot back as the most feared receiver in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has put his name next to Halas, Shula, Lombardi, Walsh and Noll as the greatest coaches in the history of the game. But remember- 16-0 don’t mean a thing without getting that ring. If New England loses in the playoffs, they will be known as another all-timer: the biggest chokers ever.

9- Not much was memorable about the past 365 days in the NBA. The Spurs won the Finals again, the draft- though talent heavy- didn’t bring any surprises and Dirk Nowitzki had maybe the worst post-MVP playoff appearance ever. But one game still sticks with me: Game five of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Cavaliers and Pistons, also known as the Takeover game. In the contest, LeBron James took his place as the best player in the Association (though Mr. Bryant in LA and Mr. Howard in Orlando might argue that a bit) by completely dominating the end of a must-win playoff game on the road versus an established opponent. LBJ ended up scoring 29 of Cleveland’s final 30 points in the overtime classic, which the Cavs won 109-107 in double overtime. He did by driving to the basket, by posting up his man, by shooting fade-aways, by draining J’s with a hand in his face…well you get the picture- he did it all. It was the most amazing performance by a single athlete this year.

8- To say the Bears 2007 campaign was a disappointment would be an under-statement. Considering that I, and some others, picked the team to make a return trip to the Super Bowl, going 6-10 or 7-9 is really bad. It would be easy to blame the fall on coach Lovie Smith or quarterback Rex Grossman, but I don’t think either of those guys deserve the ridicule as much as GM Jerry Angelo. True, Angelo didn’t throw any picks or miss any tackles, but he was responsible for a poor draft, the trading of Thomas Jones for absolutely nothing and not adding anything to an old offensive line. He let Alfonso Boone, Ian Scott and Chris Harris go, which ended up costing the team when Dusty Devorchceck and Mike Brown went down for the season in the season opener. Bringing in Adam Archuletta didn’t work at all, nor did Darwin Walker. Angelo has earned a pass due to all of his success in previous years, but I think that there’s no doubt 2007’s failure falls on his lap.

7- Some say that the only thing tougher than winning one championship is defending it the following season and winning another. That’s what makes the accomplishments of the 2007 Florida Gators basketball team so spectacular. The entire starting lineup of the ’06 champs came back so they could make another ‘One Shinning Moment’ this year. And they did just that. Led by future Bulls forward Joakim Noah, as well as fellow lottery picks Al Horford and Corey Brewer, Florida had a near perfect basketball team. On their way to the title the Gators hit a few bumps, one of the reasons I failed to pick them to cut down the nets. But come March, Florida wouldn’t be denied, and they go down as maybe the best college hoops team of this generation.

6- To be honest, I had no clue what to expect out of new Cubs manager Lou Piniella in ’07. I knew of his history in Cincinnati and Seattle, where he turned those losing franchises into annual contenders. But I also knew his history in Tampa, where he had absolutely no success. So my expectations of 2007 were mixed. Thankfully, 2007 lived up to anything I could have hoped for. There was dirt kicking of an umpire, an outrageous press conference, but best of all, a Cubs playoffs appearance (more on that later). I’m now quite excited for year 2 of Piniella era, with hopefully more ump bashing, more great sound bites, and of course, more playoffs. In every way possible, Sweet Lou was better than Dusty Baker, from working out problems among players to figuring out a reliable every day lineup.

5- The defining single game of 2007, to me, was one of the first ones that took place during the year. Oklahoma versus Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl may have been played on New Years Day, but it was the base for all that occurred in college football during the year. The Broncos’ epic comeback, complete with a hook-and-latter, tight end pass and Statue of Liberty 2-point conversion, was considered by many to be the biggest upset in the history of college football. That was until Appalachian State took down Michigan on college football’s opening afternoon, Stanford shocked USC in early October and West Virginia fell to Pitt on the last day of the year to knock themselves out of the National Title game. Boise State set the standard for a wild, wild ’07 in college football, but they weren’t the only world shockers out there.

4- For many people, 2007 will bring back memories of two guys who saw their careers change forever: Barry Bonds and Mike Vick. Bonds was hated by many before the year began, but what occurred this season surely didn’t help his cause. He broke Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record, was released by the San Francisco Giants, was indicted on lying to a federal grand jury, and earlier this month, was named in the Mitchell Report. Now Bonds, who says he wants to play in the Majors more, is looking for a team that will sign him, which seams highly unlikely. Vick was slightly disliked when ‘07 began-
remember he gave the middle finger to the Atlanta faithful last season- but he was the (CAUTION: horrible pun warning) Dog of the Year. In late March, it was learned that the former Atlanta Falcons QB was in charge of an illegal dog-fighting ring, one where dogs fight each other to the death or close to that. The ones that didn’t die from fighting each other were often hung or drowned. Vick pleaded his innocence all summer, but once his co-defendants plead guilty, he was done. A few weeks ago he was sentenced to 23 months in jail, and it is unknown if he will ever take another NFL snap.

3- Early on in the 2007 season for the Chicago Cubs, it looked like another one of those years. You know, the year that the big free agent acquisition does nothing or the pitching staff fails to deliver. (Though early in ‘07 it was the hitting that didn’t do a thing) Then on June 1, Carlos Zambrano and Michael Barrett duked it out in the Cubs dugout. That was followed by manager Lou Piniella kicking dirt at an umpire the following day, a bench-clearing brawl versus San Diego a few weeks later and a bean-ball war with the Braves. And somehow in all of that, the Cubs season was turned around. Big Z was up-and-down all year, as was Alfonso Soriano and the entire bullpen. But when it mattered down the stretch, the team got it done, making the playoffs for the first time since 2003. One thing that won’t be remembered well: the actual playoffs.

2- Whenever a team that you follow wins a title, its big news. So when the Florida Gators football team was able to capture the crystal trophy and become the kings of the college football world, it obviously was pretty big for me. Led by quarterback’s Chris Leak and Tim Tebow, as well as a fast and physical defense, the Gators made Ohio State- a team ranked #1 all season long- look like a JV high school squad. Heisman winner Troy Smith never got in a good rhythm and OSU coach Jim Tressell was clearly out-coached. Considering most people thought that UF shouldn’t even have been in the Title game, it was pretty nice to see them kick the crap out of the Buckeyes.

1- I know, they lost the game. But nothing in 2007 is more memorable for me than seeing my beloved Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl. Just think, every time there’s one of the classic NFL Films clips of all the great Super Bowl moments comes on, Devin Hester’s opening run-back will go next to Joe Namith’s guarantee, Steve Young hitting Jerry Rice deep, Adam Venetari’s field goals and Mike Jones’ game-saving tackle. The Bears may have been out-played by Indianapolis and Rex Grossman made sure I never trust a quarterback ever again, but seeing the team that I followed all year long take the stage on Super Sunday was one of the greatest feelings I’ve ever had.



I’ll be back later in the week to post my week 17 NFL picks…