Top Sports Stories Of The Year

1. Developing an attitude

For the longest time, my favorite teams have been 'the nice guys' or 'the lovable losers.' Got a good team? Doesn't matter because you're playing 'the Mighty Gators' or you battling 'the Curse' ... just sit there and take it like a good little boy. Something funny happened this year, though ... the teams I liked decided not to take it anymore. They got mean. They got brash. They got cocky.

And they won.

The Red Sox managed to almost blow a 14-game lead in the American League East and then fell behind Cleveland 3-1 in the American League Championship Series. And, at that point, David Ortiz made sure everyone in Major League Baseball knew Boston was a bunch of bad mothers and the Red Sox didn't lose again, rolling to their second world title in the past four years.

Still, with an experienced payroll, success for Boston was expected. For Georgia, coming off a humiliating and uninspired loss to Tennessee, no one really expected anything. But something happened somewhere between that defeat and another disappointing first half showing the following week against Vanderbilt ... the Bulldogs realized it was time to have some fun and, as a result, all the conventional wisdom was thrown out the door. In one week, Mark Richt was shoving players off the Vanderbilt logo following Georgia's come-from-behind win in Nashville and just two weeks later, he damn near ordered his team to get an excessive celebration penalty against Florida. At that point, all bets were off. They blacked out Auburn, then called out the Tigers prior to the fourth quarter and ended the season dancing at Georgia Tech's field.

From the archives ...

Not A Bad Three Weeks (11/11/07)
Titletown (10/29/07)
A Perfect World (10/28/07)

2. The BCS drama

In the midst of Georgia's late-season surge, the stars aligned and the Bulldogs suddenly awoke on the morning of December 1 with a legitimate chance to play for the national championship. However, despite being the second-highest ranked team after the end of that fateful weekend, Georgia actually lost ground and wound up in the Sugar Bowl, not the title game or even The Rose Bowl. After watching ESPN openly campaign against Georgia's inclusion in the title game and seeing the spotty work on some of the coach's ballots, we agreed something needed to change.

From the archives ...

I Coach Football! (12/03/07)
Disappointed (12/03/07)
Worst Case Scenario Is Here (12/02/07)

3. Chucky Three Sticks surges

He's had some tough time living up to the high expectations, but everything came together for Safe As Houses fan favorite Charles Howell III earlier this year. Howell reunited with coach David Leadbetter and took control of the FedEx Cup during the PGA Tour's West Coast Swing, capping off his run with a victory in the Nissan Open over Phil Mickelson. He struggled in the middle of the season, but enjoyed a nice stretch in The President's Cup to close out the year.

From the archives ...

Howell-Watch (2/19/07)

4. To Knowshon is to Fear-shon

The best freshman running back in Georgia history not named Herschel Walker took the Bulldog Nation by storm in 2007, reeling off five consecutive 100-yard rushing games and putting together some of the most impressive runs in these parts in many years. Should be a pretty bright future.