A Few Sports Highlights from 2010
Posted January 8th, 2011
Before anticipating a brand new year of sporting thrills and spills, I can’t help a quick glance back at some of the major sports stories of 2010. I apologize in advance, since my interest rarely coincides with conventional wisdom. For example, I understand that the biggest story of the year for many sports fans was LeBron James’ defection from Cleveland to Miami. I empathize with the Cleveland fans, but beyond that, yawn…..
Ten months after the fact, I still have wonderful memories of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. For starters, the Canadians did a super job organizing the Games, as I had confidence they would since Calgary, back in 1988, was such a success. In spite of uncharacteristically warm, wet weather, the events went off on schedule. Sadly, the opening days of the competitions were marred by the tragic death of a luge rider from the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Although, at the time there was plenty of finger pointing to assign blame for the accident, I’m not sure if it was ever determined whether the athlete was experienced enough for top-level international competition, or whether the International Luge Federation was pushing the limits of the run in an effort to make their sport more exciting for television.
United States skiers and snowboarders turned in their strongest performance in Winter Olympic history. Lindsey Vonn and Julie Mancuso were impressive in the women’s alpine events, while Bode Miller toned down his controversial antics and simply skied well. Shaun White continued his domination of the men’s halfpipe, but the real fireworks were delivered by a trio of U.S. Nordic combined skiers who commanded the podium after years of being so very close.
Let me add a couple of fleeting memories of the Vancouver Games. The International Olympic Committee should have let the women jump. Although they may be few in number internationally, the gals who have been ski jumping have clearly demonstrated their dedication and capability. In fact, I suspect that may have been the issue; they are so good, the tough old boys overseeing international ski jumping were probably afraid the girls were going to float farther down the hill than the guys.
A second memory was of two ice hockey games—the original USA-Canada men’s battle where the American goalie kept his teammates in the contest, and the gold medal event where the Canadians reestablished their claim to their national pastime.
Although I’m not a fanatic football fan, I was captivated by the Saints’ Super Bowl victory. New Orleans seems to have endured so many hardships recently, and for many years the Saints were so pathetic that even getting to the Super Bowl was fantasy. But, in spite of (perhaps because of) the hardships, the team rose on a groundswell of local support and won the Lombardi Trophy. Hollywood couldn’t have concocted a more inspiring story line.
Speaking of inspiration, I enjoyed following the World Cup Soccer events from South Africa. Although the games themselves may not keep me on the edge of my seat, it’s impressive to consider how many of the world’s population are joined in their passion for the sport. I can’t think of another event, except perhaps the Summer Olympics, that involves the people of all the continents so completely.
Of course the year had its share of bad news as well. The revelations about Tiger Woods’ private life seemed at first unbelievable, and then agonizingly painful. He may eventually recover his prowess on the golf course, but as a person he has forever lost the respect and admiration of millions.
It was this past year that former slugger Mark McGuire finally admitted to using steroids in the 1998 season when he eclipsed Roger Maris’ 37-year-old home run record. I suppose McGuire deserves credit for finally fessing up, but 13 years seems like a long time for his conscience to kick in. Maybe he’ll inspire Roger Clemens to come clean…
Oh, and the winner of the Tour de France was busted for doping, but that’s not news, it happens every year.
Here’s hoping 2011 starts off with cold temperatures and lots of snow!
