2007. A year that shall forever live in infamy in the pantheon of my fandom. I have been a sports fan for as long as I can remember. Never has a year tested my patience, and caused me more grief and/or acid-reflux than this season of discontent. The good thing about being a fan of many sports is the fall-back mentality it affords you. If one of your teams has a bad season, another sport invariably rolls around and helps ease the sting. But never have the stars aligned, or un-aligned as the case may be, against me in such a fashion as to leave me in a state of utter despair- when "wait 'til next year" actually speaks to the pages of the calendar not falling fast enough.
The Los Angeles Kings, my first love of all sports franchises, have toiled for years in NHL mediocrity. 2007 brought the disappointing end to another season. Adding insult to injury, their neighbors to the immediate south, the Ducks (ne' Mighty Ducks) of Anaheim, hoisted Lord Stanley's Cup- in only their 13th year of existance as a franchise (it was their second trip to the finals). The Kings have only been to the Stanley Cup finals once in their 40 year history, never to win it all. Another year, another year of rebuilding.
The long, cold winter ending means spring. Which means Spring Training. Which means baseball. The Yankees carried with them into spring the usual hopes of another World Series title. However, they forgot to show up for the first two months of season. They did rally in time, and in amazing and inspiring fashion, to make make the playoffs- only to disappoint in the first round once again. And the off-season has been less than kind as of yet. Joe Torre is wearing Dodger Blue after turning down a one-year offer to return to the helm of the Yanks. After a regular season for the ages and most likely another MVP, A-Rod exercised the opt-out clause in his contract- not even waiting for the 10-day window after the World Series to begin before doing so. And the Yankees are still unsure of the future of Yankee staples Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera- not to mention Andy Pettitte. After a roller coaster season with a frustrating end, never has there been more questions in recent history as to what the immediate future holds for the Yankees.
So, time to turn my attention to the NFL... The Dolphins made a splash long before the season even began, drafting Tedd Ginn Jr. with the #9 pick over a handful of other possible- maybe even more deserving- players, most notably Notre Dame quaterback Brady Quinn (see below as to the doubly painful effect on me). When the dust had settled, and training camp started, all in Fin-fandom seemed to have calmed down. Daunte Culpepper's turbulent time in Miami had ended, the Dolphins brought in another former Pro-Bowler at QB in Trent Green, and there was a general feeling that there would be improvement over the 6-10 season past. Then the season began. And the losing began. Trent Green was lost for the season due to a severe concussion, former #2 overall pick RB Ronnie Brown's breakout season ended with a torn ACL, and top wide-out Chris Chambers was shipped out west to San Diego for a second round draft pick. As I write this, the Fins- whom are the only NFL franchise in the modern era to have ever completed an undefeated season- are sitting at 0-8 (inlcuding an ugly loss at the hands of the Raiders and the banished Culpepper). Little left to cheer about this year, save for "moral" victories (let alone perhaps an actual victory) and the development of prospects. And it's barely November. Sigh.
So thank God for college football, right? This is one the one I was born into. This is also the one that hurts the most. My grandfather's graduating in 1935 from Notre Dame and subsequent passion for ND football left me no option but to bleed green from September to early January. This year, the loss of four-year starting QB Brady Quinn, along with other key departures on offense at the skill postions would definitely be felt. But the signing of the top high-school recruit in QB Jimmy Claussen would surely ease the blow and point the Irish in the direction of building toward another successful run. But Claussen didn't come in and take a stranglehold on the starting job as he was expected to in spring practice. A three-way battle was born at the QB position over the summer, as well as reports that Jimmy Claussen had surgery on his throwing elbow. The season began amidst cautious optimism, with Claussen at number three on the depth chart. Once the team took the field, it was obvious that this team wouldn't be competing for the national championship this year. And as Jimmy Claussen became the starter, and then following his demotion to backup- it became painfully obvious that there would be no bowl game this year for the Irish. At 1-7, there didn't seem to be anywhere to go but up... until this past weekend. Notre Dame lost in overtime to perrenial dormat Navy. A Navy team that the Irish had defeated 43 consecutive times (context: Roger Staubach was the QB for the Naval Academy's previous victory over Notre Dame). Coach Charlie Weis' utter lack of faith in his special teams unit led him to decide not to go for a field goal on fourth down towards the end of regulation time. And now, despite the soft remaining schedule for the Irish, there has to be an utter lack of faith that Notre Dame will wake up the echos in victory again this season. Somewhere, my grandfather is looking down on all this in disbelief. And I see that disbelief reflected on the faces of all Irish fans- as well as in the mirror- every Saturday.
My lesser passions, pro and college basketball are not without their downsides as well. The LA Lakers' on going soap-opera with Kobe Bryant makes for great headlines but not great basketball. And the recent reports of University of Arizona's fixture Lute Olson need for a leave of absence doesn't bode well for the Wildcats this year- after the 'cats underachieved last season. Geez.
I haven't even metnioned the the debacle that was my fantasy baseball season... It may just be my fantasy football team that saves the year from being a complete sports loss. It's still too early to call that one. But what's not too early too call is 2007 as the darkest sports-year in my three-plus decades of fandom. The promise of next year always looms though, and lord knows I'll be there: praying for the light to shine.
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No kidding about having other teams to fall back on!
I still remember how so many people, particularly on phinsider after Beck had been taken, said Quinn was nothing but a system QB. Well compared to the current crop of QB's at ND, then Quinn must have been the best system QB ever - that's how present group is.
It does bring into question how ND handled their coaching situation before bringing in Weiss. I read that Willingham had virtually the same record, after 35 or so games, as Weis does now. We all know what happened to Ty. For all the blame put on him for recruiting, Quinn was his guy, ditto the kid who signed with the Cubs.
Oh and I have to put in an LA kings comment. How about Roenick actually playing like he cares in SJ? I remember how utterly bad he was while with the Kings and how the fans had the infamous, Roenick watch, hoping he'd just retire mid-season! ( I was in that group~)
The Yankees? Bad move I think on Torre. Joe rather kept the players insulated from a great deal of criticism. Girardi was good here in Florida with the Marlins but I think he's going to have a far harder task in NY. I can already see the jokes coming about his chosen #27, should the Yanks not win next year (and who thinks they will?).
A-Rod, heh, I remember when he played 2nd fiddle to Junior Griffey. Now he's basically a younger, not quite as aloof, version of Bonds - at least with his attitude, demands, and the way in which he carries himself. Frankly, I wouldn't want him on my team. With the wildcard playoff system, all you need to do is get into the postseason with a decent record. Then you turn it up with good pitching and clutch hitting...like the cards did 2 years ago. So Mr. May doesn't seem as great to me, as perhaps to others.
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