January

• David Beckham announced he would be leaving Real Madrid to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy.
• Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. elected to baseball hall of fame
• Florida Gators defeated the Ohio state Buckeyes to win the BCS National Championship in college football.

February

• Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.

March

• Morgan Pressell, at 18 years 313 days old, became the youngest woman to ever win a major in golf when she won the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

April

• Randy Moss was traded from Oakland Raiders to New England Patriots.
• The University of Florida became the first school in NCAA history to win a college football and basketball title in the same academic year, by defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Final Four Basketball Championship game in Atlanta.
• Zach Johnson won his first major by winning at the Masters.

May

• Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Oscar De La Hoya by a split decision and took the WBC Junior Middleweight title.
• Diego Corrales (boxer) died in a three-vehicle car accident near his Las Vegas home.

June

•  The San Antonio Spurs won their fourth NBA championship when they swept the Cleveland Cavaliers.
• The Anaheim Ducks defeated the Ottawa Senators to win the Stanley Cup. 
• The Hamburg Sea Devils defeated the Frankfurt Galaxy to win the World Bowl XV in NFL Europa.

July

• The American League defeated the National League 5-4 in Major League Baseball.
• Bill Walsh (former NFL coach) died of Leukemia.

August

• Barry Bonds became the all-time home run king when he hit his 756th homer.
• Tiger Woods won his 13th major by winning the PGA Championship.
• Lorena Ochoa won her first major by winning the Women’s British Open.

September

• The 5th ranked Michigan Wolverines became the first ever division 1 team to lose to a FSC (formerly division 1-AA) team, when they lost at home to the Appalachian State Mountaineers 34-32.
• Major League Baseball rookie Clay Bucholz of the Boston Red Sox threw a no-hitter in just his second career start.
• Roger Federer won the US Open.

October

• The Boston Red Sox swept the Colorado Rockies to win their second World Series in four years.

November

• Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings set the single game NFL record when he rushed for 296 yards.
• Jimmy Johnson won the Nextel Cup.
• Roger Federer lost back-to-back tennis matches for the first time in nearly five years.
• Sean Taylor (NFL player) died after being shot in a robbery attempt of his girlfriend’s place of residence.

December

• The Mitchell report was released naming players such as Roger Clemens as being associated with purchasing and/or using performance enhancing drugs.
• Quarterback Tim Tebow of the Florida Gators became the first sophomore to ever win the Heisman Trophy.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Here is the list of names included in the George Mitchell report regarding the use of steroids, human growth hormones, and other performance enhancing drugs, courtesy of CBS Sportsline.

The following players were connected to steroids, either use or possession, in the report:

• Chad Allen
• Mike Bell
• Gary Bennett
• Larry Bigbie
• Ricky Bones
• Kevin Brown
• Ken Caminiti
• Mark Carreon
• Jason Christiansen
• Howie Clark
• Roger Clemens
• Paxton Crawford
• Jack Cust
• Brendan Donnelly
• Chris Donnels
• Lenny Dykstra
• Matt Franco
• Ryan Franklin
• Eric Gagne
• Jason Grimsley
• Jerry Hairston
• Phil Hiatt
• Matt Herges
• Glenallen Hill
• Todd Hundley
• Ryan Jorgensen
• Wally Joyner
• Mike Judd
• David Justice
• Chuck Knoblauch
• Tim Laker
• Mike Lansing
• Paul Lo Duca
• Exavier “Nook” Logan
• Josias Manzanillo
• Cody McKay
• Kent Mercker
• Bart Miadich
• Hal Morris
• Daniel Naulty
• Denny Neagle
• Rafael Palmeiro
• Jim Parque
• Luis Perez
• Andy Pettitte
• Adam Piatt
• Todd Pratt
• Stephen Randolph
• Adam Riggs
• Brian Roberts
• F.P. Santangelo
• David Segui
• Mike Stanton
• Ricky Stone
• Miguel Tejada
• Derrick Turnbow
• Mo Vaughn
• Ron Villone
• Fernando Vina
• Rondell White
• Jeff Williams
• Todd Williams
• Kevin Young
• Gregg Zaun

The following players were cited under “Alleged Internet Purchases of Performance Enhancing Substances By Players in Major League Baseball” in the report:

• Rick Ankiel
• David Bell
• Paul Byrd
• Jose Canseco
• Jay Gibbons
• Troy Glaus
• Jose Guillen
• Darren Holmes
• Gary Matthews Jr.
• John Rocker
• Scott Schoeneweis
• Ismael Valdez
• Matt Williams
• Steve Woodard

The following players were linked through BALCO in the report:

• Marvin Benard
• Barry Bonds
• Bobby Estalella
• Jason Giambi
• Jeremy Giambi
• Benito Santiago
• Gary Sheffield
• Randy Velarde

Award winners and All-Stars on list:

• Barry Bonds - 14 ASG (7 NL MVPs)
• Roger Clemens - 11 ASG (7 Cy Youngs, 1986 AL MVP)
• Gary Sheffield - 9 ASG
• Kevin Brown - 6 ASG
• Jose Canseco - 6 ASG (1986 ROY, 1988 AL MVP)
• Jason Giambi - 5 ASG (2000 AL MVP)
• Benito Santiago - 5 ASG (1987 NL ROY)
• Matt Williams - 5 ASG
• Troy Glaus - 4 ASG
• Chuck Knoblauch - 4 ASG (1991 AL ROY)
• Paul Lo Duca - 4 ASG
• Rafael Palmeiro - 4 ASG
• Miguel Tejada - 4 ASG (2002 AL MVP)
• Ken Caminiti - 3 ASG (1996 NL MVP)
• Lenny Dykstra - 3 ASG
• Eric Gagne - 3 ASG (2003 NL Cy Young)
• David Justice - 3 ASG (1990 NL ROY)
• Mo Vaughn - 3 ASG (1995 AL MVP)
• Todd Hundley - 2 ASG
• Denny Neagle - 2 ASG
• Andy Pettitte - 2 ASG
• Brian Roberts - 2 ASG
• Ricky Bones - 1 ASG
• Paul Byrd - 1 ASG
• Brendan Donnelly - 1 ASG
• Wally Joyner - 1 ASG
• Gary Matthews Jr. - 1 ASG
• Mike Stanton - 1 ASG
• Derrick Turnbow - 1 ASG
• Fernando Vina - 1 ASG
• Rondell White - 1 ASG

Popularity: 6% [?]

Today is the day that many of looked forward to for close to 5 years, while others with a passion for the game have dreaded.   MLB judgement day is finally upon us. 

What does this mean for the sport?  With the exception of a few passionate fans that are commonly refered to as traditionalists, it doesn’t look like this will have much of a lasting impact on the sport.  

So, how will this effect the players listed?   Potential hall of famers such as Roger Clemens will like not be first ballot selections for the Hall of Fame and will possibly miss the Hall of Fame all together as a result of this report.   

Will Barry Bonds still be singled out as the face of steroids in Baseball?   I would have to say that he will, but this is mostly due to his unfriendlyness with the media.

Regardless of how this turns out, and who is included in the list, it is a truly sad day for Baseball.  Hopefully this will lead to some changes in the Players Union so this can be prevented in the future.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Bobby Petrino quit on his team and left the Atlanta Falcons without a head coach before the 2007 season had even finished.  Petrino opted to return to the college ranks after a short stint as a coach in the NFL. 

There appears to be a developing trend occurring where college coaches are jumping into the pro game to improve their resume in an effort to return to the NCAA to land a more lucrative coaching job.  Last season, Nick Saban left the Miami Dolphins for a premium head coaching job in the college game. Now Petrino has followed in Saban’s footsteps and benefited from the brief stay in the NFL.

I think the league needs to put a rule in place where if college coaches are wanting to climb up into the NFL for a head coaching job, they will need to sign a minimum three-year mandatory contract where the only opt out option is if the club decides to terminate the contract.  I understand the view point that if the team can just fire the coach to break the contract, then the coach should have the option to break the contract too.

However, something has to be done, because coaches jumping into the NFL only to bail on their team to go back to the college game is watering down the NFL.  The coaches that are bouncing back to college from the pro game are leaving behind a mess that they made.  These are messes that could take NFL clubs upwards of a decade to fix. 

It is just not right that these rent-a-coaches are leaving pro teams in disarray just so they can use the fact that they coached in the NFL as a recruiting tool at their new jobs.  It is time that the NFL fights back and declare that they are not a developmental league for college coaches, and going forward, they will do anything in their power to keep these type of NCAA coaches where they belong…in the NCAA!

Popularity: 5% [?]

Later in the day, after settling an $11.5 lawsuit in Isiah Thomas’ sexual harrasment case, the Knicks managed to lose yet another game.   Despite the NBA’s highest payroll, the New York Knicks do not feature a star player and continue to dwell in the basement of the NBA’s worst conference.   What is a Knicks fan to do? 

Apparently, Knicks fans are loyal to the end, as the NBA’s most valuable franchise continues to sell tickets and merchandise.   New York fans, how far does your team have to drop before you quit supporting the team with your money?  Isiah Thomas would have been fired years ago if he worked for any other NBA franchise, but he can’t seem to do any wrong in New York, despite the awful trades, poor coach selections, and poor management of the Knick’s gigantic payroll. 

The Knicks have successfully taken the Yankees approach to building a franchise, yet they seem to have forgotten about the most important part………winning.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Is it possible to red-shirt some of the members of the NCAA rules committee? I love college football, but there are a few rules that need to be changed.    There is a rule in place that a person cannot go straight to the NFL directly out of high school.  I don’t have an issue with that being a regulation, but if the NCAA is going to be used as a developmental league for the NFL, then I believe that it is vital to try to mirror the rules between the two entities.

Let’s begin with rule that most 6th graders don’t even use in playground football…you know the one where you are down if your knees hit the ground, whether or not you have been touched by another player.  This has to be a rule that was put in place back in an era where they played with leather helmets, and they opted to mirror what high schools where using for their rules.  Have you ever watched your favorite NFL team playing, and their defense forgets to touch someone that fell to the ground without being forced down, and that player proceeds to get up and run for a touchdown?  One of the reasons that happens is because the players have been conditioned their whole football career leading up to the NFL that once their knees touch the ground, the player is down.  It is time that the NCAA change this pointless rule as it actually punishes the viewers that want to see high scoring offensive games.

That brings me to the next rule that is equally as pointless, telling college players that they only need to have one foot inbounds to make a legal reception. If the NCAA continues using that rule, then they are essentially promoting mediocrity for the receiver and tight end positions.  However, if they elect to change the rule for the college game, it will likely lead to receivers entering the NFL already having excellent balance, vision, and concentration as learned skills, rather than just potential attributes.  I hope that with the implementation of instant replay into the college game, and after some further review, that rule will be overturned.

Lastly, I think the overtime system in NCAA has the right idea, but there is still some room for improvement.  The current system of each team having one possession starting from the 25 yard line does nothing but pad the stats and allow for a team as good as LSU to lose in triple overtime twice.  In my humble opinion, I think both teams should get one possession, but the drive would start with a kickoff.  The rule would be that the teams would have to go for the two point conversion with each touchdown.  If neither team scored on their first possession, then they would kickoff to the team that first played defense in the overtime, and then the game would turn into sudden death. 

After further review, the idea that NCAA football rules needing to be changed, stands as called. 

Popularity: 6% [?]