The Biggest Sports Stories of 2007

If you live in Boston, as I do, 2007 may rank as the greatest year ever. If you live elsewhere, it was still a memorable 12 months—for good, bad and ugly reasons.

Dec 20, 2007

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I used to call my year-end roundup the "Best" stories of the year. That description just doesn't seem to fit anymore. Too many of these are far closer to being "worst" and engender only unhappy feelings. So here are my 30 "Biggest"—numbers 30 thru 11 today and my Top 10 to follow next week. And here's my annual disclaimer: it's my list reflecting my opinions. It's totally subjective. Feel free to disagree and feel free to tell me abou t it. But let me tell you first that for all my conspicuous sophistication, I really don't care about the big cricket match. Now, the list:

30) Not Bode-ing Well Skier
Bode Miller is having his breakaway season. Arguably the best American skier ever, Miller has now glided away from the American team, with its rules and procedures, which he insists have hampered him, and gone solo on the tour. Miller and the team became an uncomfortable fit after Bode mailed it in at the 2006 Torino Olympics—no medals in five races—while winning gold on the nightly party circuit. He needs only two more World Cup wins to be the top American skier ever, but so far no good—Miller has yet to win a Cup race as an independent.

29) Only the Fans Aren't Laughing
The reign of Jimmy Dolan and his chosen boss Isiah Thomas has seen the New York Knicks transformed into the NBA's laughingstock. The team is an embarrassment on the court—and even worse off it. The franchise just settled a lawsuit by a former woman exec for $11.5 million—only not soon enough. Not before it had lost in court. And not until everybody had gotten a vision of the Garden's Animal House atmosphere and heard Thomas explain why it's OK for a black man to call a black woman a "bitch." Fans now come to the Garden bearing pink slips for Thomas.

28) The Risin' of the Green
After almost two decades of painful irrelevance, the most storied and accomplished franchise in NBA history is back. With a new Big Three—Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce—leading the way, the Boston Celtics boast the league's best record and are viewed as a contender for what would be Boston's 17th title—but its first since the Larry Bird heyday back in 1986. Credit team boss Danny Ainge, who landed perennial all-stars Garnett and Allen by trading promising kids to teams that were cleaning house. With the standards set by the Red Sox and Patriots, Ainge realized that the future is now.

27) Duck Soup
Anaheim stopped telling the hockey world it was "mighty" and finally showed it, having its way with the Ottawa Senators to win the Stanley Cup in five games. For a league that has sunk to a decidedly second tier, the NHL couldn't have been thrilled with another decidedly unsexy matchup in the Cup finals (following Carolina-Edmonton and Tampa Bay-Calgary). But then again, anything is better than a strike year.

26) Of Bars and Beams
In the previous world team gymnastics championship, the favored American women were upset by China. This year, at the worlds in Stuttgart, the American ladies returned the favor. The two teams are tops in the world, setting up what will be the most anticipated American-Chinese duel at the Beijing Olympics in August.

Unquestionably, the biggest, and for lifelong baseball fans the saddest, story of 2007 is one that began many years ago and will not end for many years hence, if ever. Characters of this story, major and minor, have yet to reveal their true roles in its unfolding plot. It???s a story of liars, cheats, juicers, evaders - but a few apt descriptors of ballplayers whose natural talents and gifts when taxed by age and/or injury, were "supplemented" with steroids and/or HGH.
Could there be any story in sports this year that has caused greater disappointment, frustration, anger, disgust, disillusionment, and mistrust than that in professional baseball - the story of "The Juice?" Many fans of another sport, namely pro football have experienced all the aforementioned sentiments regarding another "The Juice" story - a pathetic story that goes on and on and on.