Sports in 2010: Great Year?

Or Greatest Ever?

From Tiger Woods to Michael Vick, Cameron Newton to Cliff Lee, from Landon Donovan to LeBron James and from the Uconn women to the San Francisco Giants, 2010 was a damn good year in sports. Everyone is calling 2010 the year of the Quarterback and I would agree. But the thing is that it has been so much more than that. It has been the year of the Pitcher and the year of Redemption. The year of the “Decision” and the year of the streak. We were super-saturated with sports this year because of the World Cup and the Winter Olympics. We did not see the greatest moment in sports history this year, but I cannot remember when we saw so many great moments all across the world of sports in one year.  I cannot remember the last time I sat on my couch with my jaw dropped because of what had just seen time and time again. 

There were six no hitters this year in the MLB, and one of them in the playoffs. The San Francisco Giants somehow won the World Series. The Lakers played in their third straight NBA Finals, winning their second in a row. LeBron James' “Decision” pretty much ruined his image. Brett Favre went from the best NFC Championship game, to retired, to coming back and ruining his image and the Vikings season. The amount of amazing stories and moments this year was staggering and to try and choose the 5 best from the year would be impossible, but saying that here goes anyway.  They are mostly football but whatever...football rules.

#5. Michael Vick. What can you say? You know the story. You know about the things he has done. Whoever thought that he would do what he is doing this year? He is playing like himself mixed with Peyton Manning and it is incredible. If you said you saw this coming, you are a dirty, dirty liar.

#4. Kyle Brotzman. Who is he? He is the place kicker for Boise St. I will remember him because of the one game against Nevada. Everyone knows what Boise St. is and whether you love or hate them, they are must see TV. That was an AMAZING game. Tied with under 15 seconds left in the game, Boise's QB Kellen Moore proceeds to throw a 54 yard bomb that somehow gets completed to the Nevada nine yard line, setting up a 26 yard chip shot field goal for one of the best kickers in the country, Kyle Brotzman.......and he missed it. Unbelievable. Then the game goes to OT and he misses a 29 yarder!!! Are you kidding me?? I sat in silence for about thirty minutes rethinking my life. So Boise loses and the rest is history. Amazing.

#3. Brett Favre's interception at the end of the NFC Championship game against the Saints. A microcosm of Favre's career. Nuff said. Un-freaking-believable.

#2. Landon Donovan's goal against Algeria in the last group game to win the group in the World Cup. With the U.S. Men level at zero with Algeria in the last group game in the World Cup and needing a win to advance, Landon Donovan and company went the length of the field with just seconds left and scored the most amazing goal in U.S. Mens Soccer history. Outstanding.

#1. Drew Brees and the Saints. The big deal for me was not the Saints winning the Super Bowl, despite their history, it was Drew Brees and his son after the game. Pictures like that are for what I live.

 

Things that almost made the Top 5:

-Butler University in the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. If Gordon Heyward's shot would have been a quarter inch to the left against Duke I would have died...that is all.

-UConn Women's Basketball winning streak. Lets face it. If their coach was not crazy I would not care...sorry ladies.

-Tiger Woods' comeback. So polarizing. You hate or love him. He is THE REASON I watch golf.

Now I do not know why we try to organize everything into years and define them as such, even though we cut off half of the NBA season and the playoffs in the NFL, but we do. So was 2010 the greatest year ever in sports? No. Was it in the top 5 in my lifetime? Maybe. All I know is that I would take 2010 over most of the years I have experienced because it seemed that every sport, professional or collegiate, had a plethora of amazing moments.  I am glad that every ball bounced the way it did and every call went the way it did.  I am happy that Heyward missed that shot and I am happy that Peyton Manning threw that interception in the Super Bowl.  Because if those things did not happen, 2010 would not have been as special as it was.