BLOG: C Ya 2010
Here are 5 guys who will be happy to flip the calendar on 2010.
Ralph Friedgen
The best of times, coming off an ugly 2-10 season, the Terps bounce back going 9-4 with a 51-20 Military Bowl win. For this turn around Friedgen was named ACC Coach of the Year and FIRED! New Maryland Athletic Director Kevin Anderson unplugged the Fridge claiming it was a business decision. We'll wait to see how the business plays out, but if it's handled as clumsily as Friedgen's severance I'm betting on a pool of red ink.
Sergio Kindle
All fall, no ball. A July fall down two flights of stairs has his NFL career in question, and a further fall from grace with a Christmas weekend 4AM arrest with drunken driving charges. If the Ravens hadn't invested a second round pick in this former Texas Longhorn he'd be long gone. The Ravens first pick in the 2010 draft may be the worst in franchise history.
Brett Favre
One year too many for #4. The end of the streak after 297 starts, the hard to watch end of a Hall of Fame career. Literally carted-off the field, battered, bruised, concussed, embarrassed and fined 50-grand for throwing passes at Jenn Sterger. An ugly ending, but what a ride for almost 20 years. Love him or hate him, Brett Favre is likely the most watched player in NFL history.
Tiger Woods
What started in '09 picked up steam in 2010. Revelations, apologies, and in the end divorce. The sordid details of a relationship gone bad are yesterdays news but Tiger's golf re-hab is the current headline . Woods wasn't a factor in 2009. He lost his #1 world ranking, failed to win a major and for the first time in his career didn't win a tournament. Can he reclaim his greatness in 2011?
Dave Trembley
The end! Inevitable like those who came before him during this 13 year black hole. A good man, an average manager with bad teams in a back-breaking division. I wonder how he felt watching Buck's O's finish the year 34-23.
---And 5 who really mean it when they say "Happy New Year".
Billy Cundiff
What a year for the Ravens kicker. His kickoffs long gone, his field goals dead-on. He almost made us forget about Matt Stover. Out of work a year ago Cundiff goes from the out-house to the penthouse and the Pro Bowl. The Cundiff- Sam Koch combo might be the best kicking game in the NFL.
Michael Vick
Football redemption! Who knows how the rest of his life plays out, but his football life was never better than it was in 2010. The game's most exciting player didn't just revive his career he took his game to places it had never been before. The NFL's all time best running quarterback became a full-service QB. Only Brady ranks higher on my MVP ballot.
Roy Halladay
One of my favorites. The ultimate competitor, give him the ball every 5th day and get out of his way. That 2010 transition to the National League went just fine. "Doc" threw a perfect game against the Marlins in May. He wasn't done, Halladay became only the 5th pitcher in major league history to throw 2 no-hitters in the same season no-hitting the Reds in the playoffs. The Phillies right-hander joined Don Larsen (1956) as the only pitchers with post season no-hitters. Halladay was a unanimous pick for the Cy Young Award.
John Isner
Did you forget him. He's the American tennis player who played that crazy match at Wimbledon. Isner and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut hooked up in a match for the ages. It took 3 DAYS to decide it. Isner won the match 70-68 it lasted over 11 hours.
Armando Gallaraga
An ordinary pitcher had an extraordinary game. Gallaraga, who has lost more games than he's won, threw a once in a lifetime perfect game. One problem, the 27th and final out wasn't an out because umpire Jim Joyce blew the call and called the runner safe. So what did Gallaraga do. Did he choke, spit at, kick dirt on or kill the umpire? No he forgave him and accepted Joyce's heart-felt apology that he missed the call.
Told after his so close to perfect game that the umpire was having a tough time dealing with his bad call Gallaraga told reporters we're human tell him no problem. And the next day Gallaraga, not manager Jim Leyland, delivered the lineup card to home plate before the game. The pitcher shook the hand and patted the umpire on the back as Joyce wiped tears from his eyes. My favorite sports story of 2010.
Happy New Year!!
