Clarkey's top ten sports moments of 04
Honable Mentions:
Argos Win the Grey the Cup:
They finally got past Montreal in the Eastern Conference Finals and capitalized on their chance.
Arsenal Streak – I hate Arsenal, so when my boys (Man U.) finally handed them a loss, it was a very happy moment for me.
Canada Cup:
Another Canada win!
Carolina Panthers Playoff Run:
A magical run that ending with a no time left field goal that went against them.
Expsos moving to Washington – Montreal, and the rest of Canada, said goodbye to Major League Baseball.
Oylmpics:
A major event, but nothing really big came out of it, only some disappointments.
Phil Mickleson Wins the Masters – The man finally won.
Vince Carter Trade:
Vince finally got what he wanted, a trip out of Toronto.
THE TOP TEN
#10 Terrell Owens:
Terrell Owens has always been a hotdog since he has come into the league. Over the summer, he wanted out of San Fran and he got his wish when he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. He had a great year, catching 14 touchdown passes, continued his outrageous celebreations, and stirred up some controversy that involved him, a beautiful model in a towel and an empty locker room. But this great season came to a crashing halt when he went down with an ankle injury, (if he’s lucky he’ll be back for the SuperBowl).
#9 The 7 second delay:
CBC had almost their last straw with the very over-opinioniated Don Cherry. After walking on thin ice for a long ass time, Grapes starting to fall through. There’s now a 7 second delay, so that he can’t offend as many people as he usually does. Personally, I think it’s a joke, Cherry is a Canadian icon, a hockey icon and a good guy, who simply says what’s on his mind. And if you don’t like, well, in the words of Grapes, "then it’s tea time."
#8 Vijay Singh Taking Over #1:
Phil Mickleson may have won the Masters, but it seems like Singh won every other tournament. He became the first player on the PGA to make over 10 million in a year and he knocked Tiger down to number 2, while taking the number 1 spot. It was a hell of a year for the man and kudos to him.
#7 Greece wins the Euro:
The Greeks played the most unlikely Cinderilla team in this year’s Euro. They started off by upsetting the host nation, Portugal and squeaked into the quarters. In the quarters, they would face one of the best teams in the World, France, and they would upset them one-nil. Off to the semis, where they would have to face the undefeated Czechs, which was one of the better teams in the tournament. The Greeks would win with a silver goal and would beat Portugal again in the finals to pull off a remarkable tournament win.
#6 Ben Roethleisberg:
Big Ben was picked 11th overall in the draft this year by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He would be merely a be the back-up to Tommy Maddox, but when Maddox went down with an injury, Roethleisberg stepped in and hasn’t looked back. The man is one of the better quarterbacks in the league and hasn’t lost as a starter, yet. Jerome Bettis and himself are the main reason why the Steelers have the best record in the AFC and have a genuine shot at the SuperBowl.
#5 London Knights:
These guys made junior hockey the hot topic around the sports bar and locker rooms. They broke the unbeaten record of 29 games and set the new record at 31 games without a loss, going 30-0-1 in the process. It seems like they were destined not to lose a game this year, until the Sudbury Wolves handed them their first lost of the season. What these guys did was unbelievable and hats off to them.
#4 Brawl in Indian-Detroit game:
Normally, I am not a fan of the National Basketball League, (I prefer to watch the college games), but this year I have been watching more than I usually do, since there’s no hockey. And when I saw what looked like just a normally fight in basketball turned into one of the craziest brawls in sports, I couldn’t believe it. It was insane, fists were flying everywhere, even a chair was thrown, fat stupid fans got their asses kicked by professional sports players, all of which was kind of funny, kind of sad and the whole thing was pretty memorable.
#3 Peyton Manning TD Record:
All eyes were supposed to be on Eli Manning, but when he was handed the back-up role, Peyton took it among himself to add the Manning name to the record books. He broke Dan Marino’s record of 48 touchdowns in a season with 49 and still has another game left. Everytime I saw the highlights on Sunday night, I saw Peyton throw at least 3 TDs per game. It’s awesome and it couldn’t happened to a nicer guy. Now, all he needs to do is win a SuperBowl, but the Colts need some better defense if they plan on going far this year.
#2 NHL Season & Lockout:
The National Hockey League has always been one of the better leagues in professional sports, except for the lockouts that seeem to happen every 10 years. With the lockout in the back of everyone’s mind, the players made the season a memorable one. The playoff races were as intense as they come, which lead to the best playoffs in recent memory. The final four consisted of the Calgary Flames, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the San Jose Sharks; all of whom battled hard with the Lightning ultimately taking it in 7 games. Canada came together to cheer on the flames, who became the first Canadian team in 10 years to make it to the finals. However, there was some ugly and nasty things that happened in the NHL, most notably the whole Bertuzzi sucker punching Moore and the long dragged out lockout. With little hope of having a season this year, it was a good thing that the year that was happened; at least the league ended on one of its best years.
#1 Boston Red Soxs winning:
The wait is over, my friends. The curse has been lifted. Whatever way you want to say it because it doesn’t matter. The Boston Red Soxs won their first World Series since 1918. They easily won their first series, sweeping the Angels, but then dropped 3 straight to the Yankees. And it looked to be another disasterous playoffs for them, when David Ortiz smacked a walk off homerun in extra innings in the 4th game and then drove in the winning run in the next game. Shillings gave a memorable performance in game 6 and they beat the shit out of the Yankees in game 7, doing something that has never been done before in baseball. In the World Series, the would play the favourite St. Louis Cardinals and sweep them and finally get rewarded for their tough times. All I can say is it’s about time.
Argos Win the Grey the Cup:
They finally got past Montreal in the Eastern Conference Finals and capitalized on their chance.
Arsenal Streak – I hate Arsenal, so when my boys (Man U.) finally handed them a loss, it was a very happy moment for me.
Canada Cup:
Another Canada win!
Carolina Panthers Playoff Run:
A magical run that ending with a no time left field goal that went against them.
Expsos moving to Washington – Montreal, and the rest of Canada, said goodbye to Major League Baseball.
Oylmpics:
A major event, but nothing really big came out of it, only some disappointments.
Phil Mickleson Wins the Masters – The man finally won.
Vince Carter Trade:
Vince finally got what he wanted, a trip out of Toronto.
THE TOP TEN
#10 Terrell Owens:
Terrell Owens has always been a hotdog since he has come into the league. Over the summer, he wanted out of San Fran and he got his wish when he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. He had a great year, catching 14 touchdown passes, continued his outrageous celebreations, and stirred up some controversy that involved him, a beautiful model in a towel and an empty locker room. But this great season came to a crashing halt when he went down with an ankle injury, (if he’s lucky he’ll be back for the SuperBowl).
#9 The 7 second delay:
CBC had almost their last straw with the very over-opinioniated Don Cherry. After walking on thin ice for a long ass time, Grapes starting to fall through. There’s now a 7 second delay, so that he can’t offend as many people as he usually does. Personally, I think it’s a joke, Cherry is a Canadian icon, a hockey icon and a good guy, who simply says what’s on his mind. And if you don’t like, well, in the words of Grapes, "then it’s tea time."
#8 Vijay Singh Taking Over #1:
Phil Mickleson may have won the Masters, but it seems like Singh won every other tournament. He became the first player on the PGA to make over 10 million in a year and he knocked Tiger down to number 2, while taking the number 1 spot. It was a hell of a year for the man and kudos to him.
#7 Greece wins the Euro:
The Greeks played the most unlikely Cinderilla team in this year’s Euro. They started off by upsetting the host nation, Portugal and squeaked into the quarters. In the quarters, they would face one of the best teams in the World, France, and they would upset them one-nil. Off to the semis, where they would have to face the undefeated Czechs, which was one of the better teams in the tournament. The Greeks would win with a silver goal and would beat Portugal again in the finals to pull off a remarkable tournament win.
#6 Ben Roethleisberg:
Big Ben was picked 11th overall in the draft this year by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He would be merely a be the back-up to Tommy Maddox, but when Maddox went down with an injury, Roethleisberg stepped in and hasn’t looked back. The man is one of the better quarterbacks in the league and hasn’t lost as a starter, yet. Jerome Bettis and himself are the main reason why the Steelers have the best record in the AFC and have a genuine shot at the SuperBowl.
#5 London Knights:
These guys made junior hockey the hot topic around the sports bar and locker rooms. They broke the unbeaten record of 29 games and set the new record at 31 games without a loss, going 30-0-1 in the process. It seems like they were destined not to lose a game this year, until the Sudbury Wolves handed them their first lost of the season. What these guys did was unbelievable and hats off to them.
#4 Brawl in Indian-Detroit game:
Normally, I am not a fan of the National Basketball League, (I prefer to watch the college games), but this year I have been watching more than I usually do, since there’s no hockey. And when I saw what looked like just a normally fight in basketball turned into one of the craziest brawls in sports, I couldn’t believe it. It was insane, fists were flying everywhere, even a chair was thrown, fat stupid fans got their asses kicked by professional sports players, all of which was kind of funny, kind of sad and the whole thing was pretty memorable.
#3 Peyton Manning TD Record:
All eyes were supposed to be on Eli Manning, but when he was handed the back-up role, Peyton took it among himself to add the Manning name to the record books. He broke Dan Marino’s record of 48 touchdowns in a season with 49 and still has another game left. Everytime I saw the highlights on Sunday night, I saw Peyton throw at least 3 TDs per game. It’s awesome and it couldn’t happened to a nicer guy. Now, all he needs to do is win a SuperBowl, but the Colts need some better defense if they plan on going far this year.
#2 NHL Season & Lockout:
The National Hockey League has always been one of the better leagues in professional sports, except for the lockouts that seeem to happen every 10 years. With the lockout in the back of everyone’s mind, the players made the season a memorable one. The playoff races were as intense as they come, which lead to the best playoffs in recent memory. The final four consisted of the Calgary Flames, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the San Jose Sharks; all of whom battled hard with the Lightning ultimately taking it in 7 games. Canada came together to cheer on the flames, who became the first Canadian team in 10 years to make it to the finals. However, there was some ugly and nasty things that happened in the NHL, most notably the whole Bertuzzi sucker punching Moore and the long dragged out lockout. With little hope of having a season this year, it was a good thing that the year that was happened; at least the league ended on one of its best years.
#1 Boston Red Soxs winning:
The wait is over, my friends. The curse has been lifted. Whatever way you want to say it because it doesn’t matter. The Boston Red Soxs won their first World Series since 1918. They easily won their first series, sweeping the Angels, but then dropped 3 straight to the Yankees. And it looked to be another disasterous playoffs for them, when David Ortiz smacked a walk off homerun in extra innings in the 4th game and then drove in the winning run in the next game. Shillings gave a memorable performance in game 6 and they beat the shit out of the Yankees in game 7, doing something that has never been done before in baseball. In the World Series, the would play the favourite St. Louis Cardinals and sweep them and finally get rewarded for their tough times. All I can say is it’s about time.