Top 10 Athletes of the Year

                    

 

Recently the DC Sports Guy listed the Top 40 Sports Figures of 2006  [and fellow blogger and Mottram listed his Top Ten Athletes of the Year at SavedByTheBlog. 

 

The list was compiled from a bevy of sports bloggers, including myself.  So I'd like to share my top 10 list that I sent in on the subject. 

 

Enjoy

 

1-TERRELL OWENS: Who else could top this list?  He made a much hyped signing with the Cowboys.  He recorded a rap song about how much he hated the Eagles.  He sat out most of camp with a bad hammy.  He broke his finger in his 2nd game with Dallas.  He nearly overdosed on pills.  He threw his QB under the bus.  He cost his team by an excessive celebration after a TD....then dropped the could-be game winning TD catch.  He also has had a knack of purposely keeping himself in the public eye by doing these things. 

 

2-KOBE BRYANT: As a Laker fan, of course I covered Kobe a lot.  He had that amazing 81 point game against the Raptors.  He was an MVP candidate.  He watched his former running mate, Shaq, and his current rival, Dwyane Wade, win a NBA title.  He led the NBA in scoring with the highest average in 20 years.  He hit a huge shot to win a playoff game.  He changed his jersey number to 24.  His Black Mamba photos in Slam magazine. 

 

3-TEAM USA: Not one person, but one entity.  Did anyone in our sporting world disappoint like this??  The team that was supposed to be a factor in the World Cupcame up with the event’s worst showing.  The basketball team that was supposed to take back our dominance finished with a bronze at the World Basketball Championships.  At the newly formed World Baseball Classic, Team America wasn’t a factor.  Floyd Landis [see below] put a black eye in the cycling community.  Our women’s soccer and basketball teams were also upset this year.  Not a great time for the Red, White and Blue. 

 

4-BUCK O’NEIL: One of the greatest men passed away this year.....that happened to play a little baseball.  But Buck O’Neil was more than that.  Mr. O’Neil was a walking, talking history book about the Negro Leagues and the impact those players had on a game that didn’t embrace them.  His tireless and loving work led to the baseball writers to place a group of Negro Leaguers into Baseball’s Hall Of Fame....a list that, somehow, didn’t include him.  Nonetheless, he was the induction speaker for the group and made one of the greatest speeches the Hall has ever seen.  Rest in peace, sir. 

 

5-MICHAEL IRVIN:   Another Cowboys receiver makes the list.  Irvin has made a career being cocky....but before it was fine because he was playing.  Now as an analyst for ESPN, he’s been chewing on his foot more than expected.  First he called out Giants running back Tiki Barber for publically pondering his retirement mid-season.  Next, he’s busy making racist comments like implying that Cowboys QB Tony Romo must have some African-American blood in his DNA since he’s such a good athlete. 

 

6-SHAWN MERRIAN: The NFL defensive rookie of the year exploded in his sophomore season to become a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.  And then it was announced that Merriman would be suspended for steroid abuse.  This put a light on the abuse in the NFL and sparked questions about the sporting world’s hypocrisy on the subject.  If someone of Merriman’s caliber did this in Major League Baseball, all hell would break loose.  What is the extent of the abuse in the NFL??  

 

7-JOHN L SMITH:  The now former Michigan State Spartan coach had a year which saw him meltdown.  His Spartans tanked away a large 2nd half lead to Notre Dame.  He lost at home to lowly Illinois....only to smack himself during the postgame news conference.  And then was canned.  Not a bad stretch there, L. 

 

8-PAUL TAGLIABUE: The NFL commish called it a day this year...just after working out labor peace and navigating the world’s most successful sports league into that status.  The fact he seemless left the job and saw Roger Goodell take over just shows you the kind of operation he turned the NFL into. 

 

9-THE DUKE LACROSSE TEAM:   This is story that has so many issues circling it that it has become a fishbowl.  The fact that a black stripper accused the mostly white lacrosse team of rape took over the Duke campus, the Durham area and the nation by storm.  Race and elitism have become the top issues of this accusation that may uncover more dirt before getting resolved. 

 

10-FLOYD LANDIS: Landis took the reigns from Lance Armstrong by winning the Tour De France in impressive fashion.  And then his drug tests came back negative...sparking a debate about doping, testing, leaking results and why we even care about cycling.