TheLounge
01-02-2008, 01:32 PM
Everybody else is given their “Best of 2007” lists and the Sports Lounge is no exception. But with so many things going on in the world of sports in 2007, it was hard to come up with just the top 10 best stories.
Instead, I broke my list up into different sports and different levels — pros versus local. This is by no means an exhaustive list. These are the events that popped into my head as I thought back on the last year in sports.
Football
1. The entire college football season. I picked a great year to get back into college football because it was the craziest, entertaining year that I can remember. There was so much movement in the top 10 it became a treat to check out the new rankings every week.
There were also monumental upsets. Appalachian State (which won it’s third-straight NCAA I-AA championship) upset Michigan in the Big House. Later, Stanford was a record-setting underdog and yet knocked off then-No. 2 USC with a last-second touchdown.
2007 started with Florida winning a national championship and ended with yet another college season without a playoff system. Because if there was ever a year to have one, this was it.
2. Patriots’ 16-0 perfect regular season. Sick of this story. Regular-season perfection will mean nothing if they don’t win Super Bowl.
3. Niners and Raiders. Two of the most pathetic teams in the NFL, it was hard to tell who had it worse. The Niners had a historically bad offense, a QB-head coach newspaper battle and Trent Dilfer and Chris Weinke.
The Raiders, on the other hand, had their “savior” on the sidelines all year in No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell. The big question was: When was first-year coach Lane Kiffin going to put him in? Why not now? Turns out it was Sunday’s season finale.
4. Patrick Willis. Probably won’t find the Niners’ rookie linebacker on any list but he became a must-watch player for the team. He led the NFL in tackling this season and is always around the ball. Playing for a horrible team relegated him to the fourth-string TV announcers thus limiting his national appeal.
But I watched him a lot the last several weeks of the season and he’s the best linebacker I’ve ever consistently watched.
Baseball
1. The Mitchell steroid report. It was the top baseball story only because it actually saw the light of day but in the end it was a whole lot of noise about nothing.
Names were named but none were really that shocking — not even Roger Clemens. Then it was a bunch of recommendations that made people only roll their eyes (Must test for HGH. Duh).
2. Barry Bonds, home-run king. Definite shine taken off this, considering all the baggage that came along with the record. “The Chase” was the only real reason to watch the Giants in 2007 and once he passed Hank Aaron, the team was completely unwatchable.
With Bonds gone, now the Giants can go back to assembling a team.
Basketball
1. The rise of the Warriors. This actually goes back to the end of 2006 but it wasn’t until the New Year that the Warriors became the team we see right now —*18-13.
The beginning of the year is when the players the Warriors traded for in December — Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson — meshed with rest of the squad. They took off on a magical end-of-season run that pushed them into the playoffs and past the to-seeded Dallas Mavericks. It ended a 13-year playoff drought and re-established the Warriors as a player in the NBA.
2. Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen traded to the Boston Celtics. The Celtics shifted the balance of power in the East right by pulling off two of the biggest off-season trades possibly in NBA history. First, they picked up Allen —*an all star — from Seattle on a draft-day trade. Then they capped it off with a blockbuster deal with a former Celtic great. Boston picked up Garnett — a hall of famer — in deal made with Minnesota GM Kevin McHale, a member of the great 1980s Celtic teams.
McHale may have reignited another powerful Celtic dynasty.
Locally
1. Hillsdale soccer rallies for 6-4 win. The Knights trailed Woodside 4-1 midway through the second half of a Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division playoff game before they struck for five goals in a 20-minute span.
2. Mills beats Serra CCS basketball. The Vikings became the third public school in seven years to beat the Padres. Mills rallied from a six-point, fourth-quarter deficit to win 54-51. Coming in the playoffs makes the victory even more impressive.
3. The Sequoia-Half Moon Bay incident. Not to rehash anything but let’s say names were called and objects were thrown. Just an example that the real world rears its ugly head in the even the somewhat sheltered world of high school sports.
4. Seta Pohahau, Aragon football player. Again, one that might not be on a lot of lists but the senior running back/linebacker was one of the best two-way players I’ve ever seen.
What made him standout was his play on defense. Much like Willis with the Niners, Pohahau was always around the ball. Whether he was bringing pressure on the quarterback, blasting running backs in the hole or just making every tackle, he had the ability to change the game on defense.
He was recruited to play running back at BYU but don’t be surprised to see him on the other side of the ball.
So there you have it. 2008 starts with a glut of college bowl games to get us primed for the new sports year. I can’t wait to see what happens in 2008.
Nathan Mollat can be reached by e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 117.
Instead, I broke my list up into different sports and different levels — pros versus local. This is by no means an exhaustive list. These are the events that popped into my head as I thought back on the last year in sports.
Football
1. The entire college football season. I picked a great year to get back into college football because it was the craziest, entertaining year that I can remember. There was so much movement in the top 10 it became a treat to check out the new rankings every week.
There were also monumental upsets. Appalachian State (which won it’s third-straight NCAA I-AA championship) upset Michigan in the Big House. Later, Stanford was a record-setting underdog and yet knocked off then-No. 2 USC with a last-second touchdown.
2007 started with Florida winning a national championship and ended with yet another college season without a playoff system. Because if there was ever a year to have one, this was it.
2. Patriots’ 16-0 perfect regular season. Sick of this story. Regular-season perfection will mean nothing if they don’t win Super Bowl.
3. Niners and Raiders. Two of the most pathetic teams in the NFL, it was hard to tell who had it worse. The Niners had a historically bad offense, a QB-head coach newspaper battle and Trent Dilfer and Chris Weinke.
The Raiders, on the other hand, had their “savior” on the sidelines all year in No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell. The big question was: When was first-year coach Lane Kiffin going to put him in? Why not now? Turns out it was Sunday’s season finale.
4. Patrick Willis. Probably won’t find the Niners’ rookie linebacker on any list but he became a must-watch player for the team. He led the NFL in tackling this season and is always around the ball. Playing for a horrible team relegated him to the fourth-string TV announcers thus limiting his national appeal.
But I watched him a lot the last several weeks of the season and he’s the best linebacker I’ve ever consistently watched.
Baseball
1. The Mitchell steroid report. It was the top baseball story only because it actually saw the light of day but in the end it was a whole lot of noise about nothing.
Names were named but none were really that shocking — not even Roger Clemens. Then it was a bunch of recommendations that made people only roll their eyes (Must test for HGH. Duh).
2. Barry Bonds, home-run king. Definite shine taken off this, considering all the baggage that came along with the record. “The Chase” was the only real reason to watch the Giants in 2007 and once he passed Hank Aaron, the team was completely unwatchable.
With Bonds gone, now the Giants can go back to assembling a team.
Basketball
1. The rise of the Warriors. This actually goes back to the end of 2006 but it wasn’t until the New Year that the Warriors became the team we see right now —*18-13.
The beginning of the year is when the players the Warriors traded for in December — Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson — meshed with rest of the squad. They took off on a magical end-of-season run that pushed them into the playoffs and past the to-seeded Dallas Mavericks. It ended a 13-year playoff drought and re-established the Warriors as a player in the NBA.
2. Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen traded to the Boston Celtics. The Celtics shifted the balance of power in the East right by pulling off two of the biggest off-season trades possibly in NBA history. First, they picked up Allen —*an all star — from Seattle on a draft-day trade. Then they capped it off with a blockbuster deal with a former Celtic great. Boston picked up Garnett — a hall of famer — in deal made with Minnesota GM Kevin McHale, a member of the great 1980s Celtic teams.
McHale may have reignited another powerful Celtic dynasty.
Locally
1. Hillsdale soccer rallies for 6-4 win. The Knights trailed Woodside 4-1 midway through the second half of a Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division playoff game before they struck for five goals in a 20-minute span.
2. Mills beats Serra CCS basketball. The Vikings became the third public school in seven years to beat the Padres. Mills rallied from a six-point, fourth-quarter deficit to win 54-51. Coming in the playoffs makes the victory even more impressive.
3. The Sequoia-Half Moon Bay incident. Not to rehash anything but let’s say names were called and objects were thrown. Just an example that the real world rears its ugly head in the even the somewhat sheltered world of high school sports.
4. Seta Pohahau, Aragon football player. Again, one that might not be on a lot of lists but the senior running back/linebacker was one of the best two-way players I’ve ever seen.
What made him standout was his play on defense. Much like Willis with the Niners, Pohahau was always around the ball. Whether he was bringing pressure on the quarterback, blasting running backs in the hole or just making every tackle, he had the ability to change the game on defense.
He was recruited to play running back at BYU but don’t be surprised to see him on the other side of the ball.
So there you have it. 2008 starts with a glut of college bowl games to get us primed for the new sports year. I can’t wait to see what happens in 2008.
Nathan Mollat can be reached by e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 117.