Another Year in Review Special

What better way to go through the year in review then to recap some of the greatest games and moments of 2006…

NCAA Basketball –George Mason vs. Uconn in the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament. A school that no one outside of small portions of the East Coast had even heard of was taking on the undisputed #1 team in the country. In addition, Uconn also happened to have FOUR 1st round NBA draft picks and a 2nd round draft pick on their team. So, the odds were clearly in Uconn’s favor. What made this game even more memorable for me was going to a sports bar to watch the game and people were screaming and cheering for both teams equally, presumably because half the bar stood to win their brackets, and half the bar rooted for the most absurd Final 4 team since the Jacksonville Dolphins made the Championship game in 1970 (I looked that up, but it’s still cool trivia).

NBA – San Antonio vs. Dallas, game 7, 2nd round of the playoffs – The Mavs had a 3-1 lead in the series, only to be forced to a game 7. The Mavs then had a 20-point lead, only to have Ginobili bury a 3 for the Spurs to take a 3-point lead with 32 seconds left. At this point, it seemed like all of the momentum was on the Spurs side and that they would win. Then, the most inexplicable foul of 2006 happened, as Dirk went to the lane for a layup, Ginobili fouled Dirk. The Spurs had a 3-point lead, and the only thing they had to do was ensure that they didn’t foul someone, especially Dirk, especially if it was going to just be a soft foul. Dirk then hit the free throw to tie the game and the game miraculously went to OT (after close misses by Ginobili and Duncan). At this point, Duncan already had 39 points. Then, the ‘Lil General, Avery Johnson, made what turned out to be the smartest coaching decision, which was to let DeSagna Diop take on Duncan for OT. Blame it on Duncan’s fatigue, or Diop playing the best 5 minutes of his life, but Diop just dominated OT. 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block, and most importantly, he forced Duncan to travel and miss two other shots, holding Duncan to only 2 points. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playbyplay?gameId=260522024
By the way, Diop forced Duncan to travel by doing the classic move where you’re your opponent start to back you down, and then you suddenly move laterally, which allows your opponent to stumble backwards as there no longer is anyone supporting him!

2005 NFL Playoffs – Indy vs. Pittsburgh – Everything seemed so normal: Dungy & the Colts were chokcing, the Steelers were controlling the game physically, and Bettis was about to score from the 2-yard line to ice the game. Somehow, one of the Colts jars the ball out by HEADBUTTING Bettis arm! And the Colt’s Nick Carter picks up the ball and it looks like he should be able to go all the way (or at least very close to returning it 90 yards). All Nick Carter has to do is get by Roethlisberger… but Carter dekes INTO the path of Roethlisberger, instead of cutting to a spot where Roethlisberger wasn’t. Roethlisberger gets enough of Nick Carter to stop him. Once this insane play is over, the game plays out predictably, with the Colt’s kicker shanking the kick, allowing the Steelers to advance (and eventually win the Super Bowl).

2006 World Cup – France vs. Brazil – Just an utter domination by Zinedine Zidane of France, who juggled, one-touched, spun, and juked his way around the whole field, in what was a rather surprising upset by France over the heavily favored Brazilians.

As for some other moments of 2006…
You Have Chosen Wisely
New Orleans Saints – for choosing Drew Brees and gambling that a throwing should injury would not be as detrimental as 3 torn knee ligaments would be to a mobile Daunte Culpepper.
Deron Williams – for losing his baby fat during the summer of 2006, allowing him and the Utah Jazz to get off to a dominating start.
New Orleans Saints 4th string QB Adrian McPherson – actually, he’s no longer on the Saints, but this is the guy who got hit by a golf cart by the Titans’ mascot, T-Rac (a cool-looking raccoon) during a pre-season game, and McPherson was subsequently cut. It sounds dramatic that he got cut right after he got injured, but McPherson probably would not have made the team anyways. I don’t know why it took McPherson so long, but he finally filed a lawsuit against the NFL for getting injured by a mascot. I don’t like promoting lawsuits, but the mascots have clearly gone too far. If one of the medical trainers was driving the “injury golf cart” and he accidentally ran over another player, the medical trainer would get in a lot of trouble. Mascots should be treated equally, as they are not above the law.

To Be Determined…
Tennis decided back in August 2006 that in 2007, some of the lesser tournaments will employ a “round robin” format, to increase the likelihood of marquee matchups. It’s a decision that was made in 2006, that may truly help revitalize the popularity of tennis. Or at the least, I hope it increases the popularity so that I can watch more matches on TV.