There
were also a ton of other great sports moments and achievements that
while I may have no vested interest or direct emotional ties, I still
found myself in awe. There was, in no particular order: the
Space Jump; Jack Taylor busting out 138 points in a single college
basketball game; Miggy Cabrera winning baseball’s Triple Crown; a
freshman, Johnny Football, winning the Heisman Trophy; possibly the
greatest NFL rookie QB class ever; an epic MLB regular and postseason;
Linsantity; Tebowmania!!!; Trout and Harper; the New England Patriots
losing in the Super Bowl again to the New York Giants; Adrian Peterson
being superhuman; Man City winning the EPL Championship over Man U;
freshmen and 15th seeds dominating March Madness; the Miami
Heat (I guess) winning their first of, not one, not two, not three, not
four championships; clown questions, bro!!; R.A. Dickey knuckling his
way to a CY Young; Bama being Bama; Good job – Good effort; ND returning
to glory (I can’t believe I’m speaking of this); the Peyton Manning
free agency fiasco; Bubba Freaking Watson at the Masters; I’ll have
Another at the Kentucky Derby; the LA Kings dominating to the Cup; the
Olympics with Oscar Pistorius (maybe the best non – SF Giants moment for
me this year), the US Women’s soccer team, Usian Bolt, Michael Phelps,
Gaby Douglas, Missy Franklin (GO BEARS!!!); and of course, THE SAN
FRANCISCO GIANTS!!!!
There were almost the disappointing, shake-your-head moments in sports this 2012: Bobby Petrino; Lance Armstrong; Cal Football; the Replacement Refs; and my personal favorite, the Mark Sanchez Butt Fumble.
All in all, 2012 was a year to remember in the sports world. While this blogger tried his best to capture the many great moments from throughout the year, I can only type so much. Let’s take a quick trip back through the old blog and look at the Year in Sports 2012.
January –
We
start the year with The Sacramento Kings firing head coach Paul
Westphal and hiring assistant coach, now head coach, Keith Smart. A new era of Kings Basketball started, again. So far, as of today, the Kings are in more disarray and dysfunction as they have ever been in.
Tim Tebow proves to us once again that he is supernatural and something from a different kind. Tebowmania beats the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime 29-23 in the first round of the NFL playoffs. How he is currently not under center for an NFL team still baffles me.
The
San Francisco 49ers do the unthinkable and beat the New Orleans Saints
in what might possibly be the greatest football game I’ve ever watched. It culminated 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh’s epic first season with the team; one that would soon end with…….
“A man can be destroyed but he can’t be defeated.” Those were the lasting words of head coach Jim Harbaugh, as the 49ers lose to the eventual Super Bowl Champion New York Giants. It was an ugly game featuring 1 for 13 on third downs and 2 punt return fumbles.
I
end January wondering and questioning how far I’m taking my love for
football; mainly college football and the whole recruiting process of
these college football athletes. As I monitor and track where these high schoolers will be attending college, I wonder if it’s too much.
February –
Congratulations to the New York football Giants for winning the Super Bowl. It
was a game featuring a low score, an old Madonna, Mrs. Tom Brady,
Gisele Bundchen, “My husband cannot f&^*ing throw the ball and catch
the ball at the same time.”, and all my failed prop bets.
With it being Valentine’s Day and love in the air, I write about all the athletes I love in the three major sports. My
personal favorites were Tim Lincecum (for winning us Game 5 of the 2010
World Series), Champ Bailey (first born child namesake), and of course
Tebowmania!!!
With
February being the lull period for the sports world, we did a mid-year
basketball review to see how the seasons were going so far for the NBA
and College. The Miami Heat were on their way to their first NBA Title and Anthony Davis was well on his way to completing the trifecta.
One
of the darkest days of my life all of a sudden became bright when Mayor
Kevin Johnson, Sacramento Kings owner’s Gavin and Joe Maloof, and the
NBA announced together they have all reached a tentative financial
agreement for a new arena. We all know how this story ends.
March –
With
the NBA Trade Deadline approaching, we had a little fun with ESPN’s NBA
Trade Machine and worked out some possible trade scenarios, or “really
bad trade ideas, that we kind of like.” Of course, none of my trades actually happened, but nevertheless still fun to play GM.
It is March, so of course that means March Madness!!! I give you all of my NCAA March Madness bracket predictions, filled with plenty of upsets; no chalk here. And like everyone else in America, I too had the University of Kentucky cutting down the nets in the end.
We
were lucky enough to witness possibly the greatest NFL free agent
signing in history, as the Peyton Manning free agent sweepstakes finally
comes to an end with Peyton signing a deal with the Denver Broncos. I guess Manningmania trumps Tebowmania.
The 2012 MLB season is finally upon us and I unleash the Mr. Armchair MLB preview. We
go very in-depth, as I predict each team’s record, who will make the
postseason, who will win the World Series, and who will take home the
major awards. Tigers over Phillies in the Series.
April –
April is probably my second favorite month in the sports year, and no one has a better month than CBS’s Jim Nance. “Hello,
Friends!” gets to call the Championship game on the NCAA Tournament –
congratulations to Kentucky – then swings on over to Augusta for the
Masters.
Speaking of the Masters, my prediction holds up and first-time winner, Bubba Watson, takes home the Masters title. This year’s Masters was quiet possibly the best Masters we’ve seen since El Tigre went -18 under in 1997, boat racing the field. Congrats, Bubba.
What also makes April my second favorite month in sports is its NFL Draft season, which means plenty of mocking to be had. There is no other process I love more in sports than the NFL Draft. One of my many Christmas’s throughout the year, I unleashed my final NFL Mock Draft.
May –
May gets going with my NFL Draft Recap, three days of pure bliss, and my Kentucky Derby preview. I
break down the Draft and hand out my grades for all 32 NFL teams,
comparing my Mock Draft to the so-called experts; and I give you my
Kentucky Derby winner and trifecta.
The NBA playoffs get going in May, and I give you my brief NBA playoff preview. The
NBA playoffs are the worst of the three major sports, as more than half
of the teams in the NBA make the playoffs and it takes forever to
complete them.
Giants fans were starting to get a little worried about a concerning trend that was happening with one of our beloved. Timmy
Lincecum wasn’t getting off to the greatest start to the season and
fans are starting to wonder what’s wrong with “the freak.” I broke it down for everyone.
June –
June begins with the NBA Finals preview. We all got our dream matchup, Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder v. LBJ and the Miami Heat. My x-factors for the series were the play of PG Russell Westbrook, Chris Bosh’s health, and the OKC bench. I predicted OKC in 6 games.
Congratulations to the Miami Heat for proving me wrong again and winning the NBA Title. OKC, good job – good effort. Shortly after the NBA Finals we had the NBA Draft, which means another mock from yours truly. My prediction for the Kings: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, SF UK.
July –
The Midsummer Night Classic, MLB’s All-Star game, signifies the official start of summer. There
was controversy surrounding this year’s game as fans, mainly SF Giants
fans, were accused of stuffing the ballot boxes in order to get their
hometown players into the game as starters.
Also in July we finally saw an end to the tragic and unfortunate events which occurred in Happy Valley and Penn State. We discussed the sanctions levied on Penn State and how I felt they weren’t enough. In my opinion, Penn State needed to be handed down the death penalty.
August –
August came and so did the MLB Trade Deadline. It was an exciting time for Giants fans as management pulled off two spectacular trades, adding to an already potent lineup. It lasted only one game, as Melky Cabrera would be suspended 50 games for testing positive to PED’s.
The 2012 College Football season begins with some great news. The NCAA announces that starting in 2014, there will be a new playoff system to determine the National Champion. The country rejoices. Prediction for 2012: Alabama over USC; Heisman: Matt Barkley, QB USC.
September –
September means one thing and one thing only: THE NFL BEGINS!!! I unveiled my 2012 NFL Preview, written in a similar fashion as my MLB preview. I predicted the 49ers will defeat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. As of now, both are in the playoffs, so the prediction is still alive.
October –
October is my favorite month of the entire sports year. The NFL is in full swing and the MLB playoffs and World Series begins. I previewed the World Series, of course featuring my SF Giants, and the Detroit Tigers. Prediction: Giants in 6 games. Could it happen again…….?
OF COURSE IT DID!! THE SAN FRANSCISCO GIANTS WIN THE WORLS SERIES!! After
being on a continuous high for the entire month of October from the
Giants amazing run through the playoffs and World Series victory, I
slipped in an NBA preview: Lakers over Miami in the Finals.
November –
Now
that the baseball season is officially over and all the awards were
announced, we wrapped-up the 2012 MLB season with a look back on my
predictions for the season, including were teams would finish, who would
win the World Series, and who would win major awards.
November ends with the end of an era. Cal
head coach, Jeff Tedford, was fired after finishing the season with a
3-9 record and getting absolutely destroyed in their final two games. I thank coach Tedford for rebuilding the Cal football program and discussed possible replacements.
December –
We end the year as always with this Year in Review. Again, it was a tremendous year of sports for me and the sports world. Whenever
you can witness one of your sports teams win their respective
championship (GO GIANTS!!!), you know it’s a pretty good sports year for
you. But now that the year is over, we can only hope and look forward to the same kind of successful year as the previous. Too you’s and your’s sports team; Happy New Year!!!
Mr. Armchair Speaking –
