Jason's Year in Sports
It was an amazing year in sports. Furious finishes abounded and improbable champions were crowned. It was a lot of fun, and certainly memorable. So here are my favorite moments of 2009, interspersed with reflections from sports that just didn't show up on the radar for me this year. Enjoy, and cry Red Wings fans.
1. The Pittsburgh Penguins shock the world and beat the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals
Why was this the best sports moment of 2009? I think it's because it topped off an amazing Stanley Cup Playoff. The NHL Playoffs featured some amazing series this year: Detroit beating Anaheim in seven games, The Penguins beating the Capitals in seven games, and then this, the rematch from last year's Cup Finals. It was a back and forth contest, with the home teams getting all the breaks in games one through six, and then it featured the heart-attack inducing game seven. The Penguins go up by two early, the Red Wings get back within one with six minutes to go, and then have the game tying goal clank off the center post . . . followed by a furious last two minutes that saw the Wings almost tie it up.
Part of the amazing thing about the Penguins winning this thing is that they almost moved about four years ago. They were headed to Kansas City, and hockey was supposed to die in Pittsburgh. Mercifully the city, state, and Super Mario reached a deal and hockey remained in the city of champions. Following that save the Pens get lucky and drafted Crosby, and then Geno Malkin and suddenly they are stacked for about ten more years. This was sports at its best, two great teams playing great hockey. I'm not sure the Stanley Cup Finals will ever be this epic again.
I just recently re-watched the highlights of this series, and what sticks out is how competitive it was (with the exception of game five). Sure the Wings won two games by three goals, but in games one and two those goals came late, and the Pens even led in game two for a period and a half. The Penguins won by two twice at home, but game three featured an empty netter, and game four featured a hot Marc-Andre Fleury basically ruining the Wings best period of the series (that'd be the second period, watch the tape, they just got unlucky). Games six and seven, with those 2 to 1 scores are the real measuring sticks of this series.
(Totally off topic but goodbye Tim Tebow! Tebow only has one more game to go in college and then he can fade into obscurity in the NFL and continue to provide the Philippines with free vasectomies during the off-season. Yeah, Florida kind of sort of won a National Title in 2009, but I thought Utah was better last year, I really did. This year I think TCU is the best team in college football, but alas, we'll never know. College football will never matter as much as it should when a true champion can't be determined. The BCS is a pile of crap, and the AP voters have no balls. The worst of the polls is the college coach's poll, which featured five number one votes for Texas at the end of the year. After the hurting Alabama gave Florida the number one team in the country was obvious. Texas was lucky to get past a mediocre Nebraska squad. I like watching my teams (Go Vols! Go Spartans!) but beyond that it's getting to be a tough sport to swallow. Way to play that tough out of conference schedule Gators, I hope those games against Florida International, Troy, and Charleston Southern weren't too difficult. What a sham of a sport.)
2. The Pittsburgh Steelers become the first NFL franchise to win six Super Bowls.
Yup, those toes were just enough on the ground for this go ahead touchdown to count with less than forty seconds on the clock. This year's Super Bowl featured an amazing finish with two touchdowns scored in the last two minutes or so, a furious rally by the Arizona Cardinals who were nearly blown out at one point, and the longest play in Super Bowl history, James Harrison's 100 yard interception return. Harrison's return might have been the defining moment of the game, that is until Big Ben and Santonio Holmes were forced to drive down the field late to win the game. The Super Bowl remains the greatest one off spectacle in sports, and the last few Super Bowls-all close games, have cemented that fact.
(A quick diversion-the year in Major League Baseball. With a 200 million dollar payroll the New York Yankees won the World Series. How exciting, a team with a payroll bigger than that of four other franchises combined wins the World Series! What a well managed sport! The Yankees have some great players, I will always respect Jeter for instance, but is this kind of shit fair? Wouldn't it be more thrilling if you were a Yankee fan to actually win a World Series because you put together the best team in a competitive league? Is it as rewarding to buy a title? Great for New Yorkers, but mark my words, this kind of crap will end up killing baseball in every smaller market in the country. It can't be cool to wake up in Pittsburgh or Kansas City knowing in April that you won't even be in playoff contention at the end of May.)
3. The Michigan State Spartans get close, but North Carolina is just better.
The Spartan run in March/April was thrilling. Couldn't take my eyes off of it, and while it didn't come from nowhere (I had them in the Final Four in my brackets) it was still a pleasant surprise for a state that really needed it. While I was sad to see the Spartans lose to North Carolina, they did lose to a great team, and one of the best college players of all time in Tyler Hansborough. There's no shame. Izzo has built one of the cadillac programs in Division 1 Basketball, and we know he'll get the Spartans back to that mountain pretty soon.
(The year in NASCAR. Whoops, not a sport, we'll continue.)
4. Kobe Bryant comes out of Shaq's Shadow
The NBA Finals were pretty thrilling, until the NBA Finals when the Los Angeles Lakers just spanked the Orlando Magic. The Chicago/Boston series was especially thrilling with about 2 dozen overtimes spread over seven games. The Boston/Orlando series was a thrill ride too, and seeing the heavily favored Cleveland Cavaliers lose to the Magic was also enjoyable. While the Finals were kind of lackluster, it's probably best to think of them as a coronation of Kobe Bryant as the best player of this decade. Fear not Lebron fans, your guy will be the best player of the next decade. He's still a baby. Looking forward to Celtics/Lakers this spring.
(I don't watch Mixed Martial Arts and boxing has fallen off the face of the earth, so I think that's it. Until next year.)
1. The Pittsburgh Penguins shock the world and beat the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals
Why was this the best sports moment of 2009? I think it's because it topped off an amazing Stanley Cup Playoff. The NHL Playoffs featured some amazing series this year: Detroit beating Anaheim in seven games, The Penguins beating the Capitals in seven games, and then this, the rematch from last year's Cup Finals. It was a back and forth contest, with the home teams getting all the breaks in games one through six, and then it featured the heart-attack inducing game seven. The Penguins go up by two early, the Red Wings get back within one with six minutes to go, and then have the game tying goal clank off the center post . . . followed by a furious last two minutes that saw the Wings almost tie it up.
Part of the amazing thing about the Penguins winning this thing is that they almost moved about four years ago. They were headed to Kansas City, and hockey was supposed to die in Pittsburgh. Mercifully the city, state, and Super Mario reached a deal and hockey remained in the city of champions. Following that save the Pens get lucky and drafted Crosby, and then Geno Malkin and suddenly they are stacked for about ten more years. This was sports at its best, two great teams playing great hockey. I'm not sure the Stanley Cup Finals will ever be this epic again.
I just recently re-watched the highlights of this series, and what sticks out is how competitive it was (with the exception of game five). Sure the Wings won two games by three goals, but in games one and two those goals came late, and the Pens even led in game two for a period and a half. The Penguins won by two twice at home, but game three featured an empty netter, and game four featured a hot Marc-Andre Fleury basically ruining the Wings best period of the series (that'd be the second period, watch the tape, they just got unlucky). Games six and seven, with those 2 to 1 scores are the real measuring sticks of this series.
(Totally off topic but goodbye Tim Tebow! Tebow only has one more game to go in college and then he can fade into obscurity in the NFL and continue to provide the Philippines with free vasectomies during the off-season. Yeah, Florida kind of sort of won a National Title in 2009, but I thought Utah was better last year, I really did. This year I think TCU is the best team in college football, but alas, we'll never know. College football will never matter as much as it should when a true champion can't be determined. The BCS is a pile of crap, and the AP voters have no balls. The worst of the polls is the college coach's poll, which featured five number one votes for Texas at the end of the year. After the hurting Alabama gave Florida the number one team in the country was obvious. Texas was lucky to get past a mediocre Nebraska squad. I like watching my teams (Go Vols! Go Spartans!) but beyond that it's getting to be a tough sport to swallow. Way to play that tough out of conference schedule Gators, I hope those games against Florida International, Troy, and Charleston Southern weren't too difficult. What a sham of a sport.)
2. The Pittsburgh Steelers become the first NFL franchise to win six Super Bowls.
Yup, those toes were just enough on the ground for this go ahead touchdown to count with less than forty seconds on the clock. This year's Super Bowl featured an amazing finish with two touchdowns scored in the last two minutes or so, a furious rally by the Arizona Cardinals who were nearly blown out at one point, and the longest play in Super Bowl history, James Harrison's 100 yard interception return. Harrison's return might have been the defining moment of the game, that is until Big Ben and Santonio Holmes were forced to drive down the field late to win the game. The Super Bowl remains the greatest one off spectacle in sports, and the last few Super Bowls-all close games, have cemented that fact.
(A quick diversion-the year in Major League Baseball. With a 200 million dollar payroll the New York Yankees won the World Series. How exciting, a team with a payroll bigger than that of four other franchises combined wins the World Series! What a well managed sport! The Yankees have some great players, I will always respect Jeter for instance, but is this kind of shit fair? Wouldn't it be more thrilling if you were a Yankee fan to actually win a World Series because you put together the best team in a competitive league? Is it as rewarding to buy a title? Great for New Yorkers, but mark my words, this kind of crap will end up killing baseball in every smaller market in the country. It can't be cool to wake up in Pittsburgh or Kansas City knowing in April that you won't even be in playoff contention at the end of May.)
3. The Michigan State Spartans get close, but North Carolina is just better.
The Spartan run in March/April was thrilling. Couldn't take my eyes off of it, and while it didn't come from nowhere (I had them in the Final Four in my brackets) it was still a pleasant surprise for a state that really needed it. While I was sad to see the Spartans lose to North Carolina, they did lose to a great team, and one of the best college players of all time in Tyler Hansborough. There's no shame. Izzo has built one of the cadillac programs in Division 1 Basketball, and we know he'll get the Spartans back to that mountain pretty soon.
(The year in NASCAR. Whoops, not a sport, we'll continue.)
4. Kobe Bryant comes out of Shaq's Shadow
The NBA Finals were pretty thrilling, until the NBA Finals when the Los Angeles Lakers just spanked the Orlando Magic. The Chicago/Boston series was especially thrilling with about 2 dozen overtimes spread over seven games. The Boston/Orlando series was a thrill ride too, and seeing the heavily favored Cleveland Cavaliers lose to the Magic was also enjoyable. While the Finals were kind of lackluster, it's probably best to think of them as a coronation of Kobe Bryant as the best player of this decade. Fear not Lebron fans, your guy will be the best player of the next decade. He's still a baby. Looking forward to Celtics/Lakers this spring.
(I don't watch Mixed Martial Arts and boxing has fallen off the face of the earth, so I think that's it. Until next year.)