The year in sports
December 26, 2006

Once again, this year did not contain the one sports story I look forward to the most each year - Duke wins the national championship in college basketball. However, there were a few bright spots here and there. Here are a few of the things that were of interest to me in 2006:

First of all, the Arkansas football team discovered winning again this fall. A great season that was only a couple of plays away from being even greater (it would’ve helped to have Peyton Hillis playing in those last two games). For the fourth time, they won the SEC West and appeared in their third SEC championship game. They beat both Alabama and Auburn for the first time in quite a while, and are once again in a New Year’s Day bowl. Plus, Darren McFadden finished as Heisman runner-up. So, overall, they had a good year, and, while their schedule will be tougher next year, the team should be better and once again in contention for the SEC West and possibly the SEC championship. And McFadden will be a Heisman favorite from day one. I hope for another great season in 2007 from the Hogs.

Staying with football, the BCS championship game back in January was an outstanding game. For reasons I can’t explain, I was hoping to see USC win. I still don’t know why. Maybe I just can’t stand to see Texas to win anything. But the game was great and Vince Young’s performance was just mind-blowing. Regardless of the outcome, it was a fantastic game and one worth watching (unlike the previous year when the USC-OU game was over in the first quarter.) The BCS title game seems to be a disappointment more often than not, but hopefully Ohio State and Florida will deliver something similar to Texas-USC in a couple of weeks.

In tennis, I got to watch Andre Agassi play at the U.S. Open one last time. I’ve always liked Andre and the way he played the game. While guys like Sampras and now Federer are better players and are amazing in their own right, I’ve never enjoyed watching them as much as a guy like Andre. He’s more like past players such as Connors and McEnroe. They’re not just great players, they’re also a blast to watch. And, while he didn’t win it, and went out earlier than he did last year, it was still great to see him one more time, and the match against Marcos Baghdatis was another classic. Andre will be missed.

And, in basketball, it really was a great year for Duke despite losing in the sweet sixteen. The priviledge of watching Duke seniors Shelden Williams and J.J. Redick was a real treat, particularly some of the amazing games Redick had (scoring 40 on Virginia, 41 on Georgetown and 35 at Carolina.) Also, both of the Duke-Boston College games were instant classics. They were outstanding basketball games, the second being for the ACC Tournament title.

Also, the “competition” - at least according to the media - between Redick and Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison for player of the year was great to watch as well. They played on opposite ends of the country from each other, and both players had such phenomenal player-of-the-year seasons. Everyone hoped for a Duke-Gonzaga matchup somewhere in the tournament so that everyone could see these two go head to head. It would likely have been one of the most watched games of the year, if not the most watched. But neither reached the final four and ended their careers in games they were supposed to win. Nevertheless, it was a great year (and great careers) for both.

Another basketball story I’ve already mentioned several times is Bob Knight’s chasing of the all-time college wins record. On Saturday, he tied Dean Smith for the lead as Texas Tech defeated Bucknell and has a chance on Thursday to have it all to himself. A win over UNLV will set the new record at 880 wins (which will he will continue to add to in 2007.) This will be one of the biggest sports stories of the year if they win (which I believe they will.) Otherwise, the next game is January 1st, so the story will be on next year’s list, too.

And, you have to mention George Mason. They managed to break through as the first “mid-major” to reach the Final Four in the 64+ team era. Sometimes, non-power conference teams get a little lucky in early rounds and win a game, perhaps two. George Mason was not lucky. They earned it. They managed to knock off 2005 Final Four team Michigan State, 2005 national champion North Carolina, and 2004 national champion (and 2006 favorite) Connecticut along the way. You don’t do that with luck alone. I look forward to seeing more GMU’s contending in the years to come (just as long as they don’t beat Duke.)

I was watching ESPN’s The Sports Reporters on Sunday, and one of the sports stories of the year that they mentioned was the story of Jason McElwain. I mentioned McElwain’s story back in February. “J-Mac” is an autistic teen and was team manager for his high school basketball team. The coach allowed him to dress with the team in their final game of the year, and put him in the game late when the outcome was already decided. Everyone was hoping for him to score while he was on the floor, but they wouldn’t have dreamed of what happened next. McElwain first put up a couple of air balls, but then managed to catch fire and put up 20 points in about three minutes, including 6 three-pointers. After the game ended, he was carried off the floor by his teammates. It’s a great story and the “feel good” sports story of the year. Here is the CBS story I originally linked to earlier in the year.

From a more humorous viewpoint, The Onion always cracks me up, and they have their “2006 Sports Year In Review” on display on their front page now. I’ve compiled some of my favorite stories/headlines from the past year below.

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