The Rays could sweep the Brewers in the least-watched World Series since television arrived and still 2008 would reign supreme. There simply has never been another year quite like it.

Never before has one year seen a Super Bowl for the ages, an OT thriller in the NCAA men's basketball championship, a heroic, one-legged U.S. Open golf champion, a historic NBA Finals and a Wimbledon final so compelling it was clear to all who saw it that they had just witnessed the greatest tennis match ever.

Sure, it's a little arbitrary. NFL titles used to be decided in December but now each season ends in the next calendar year. Olympic years, like this one, have a big edge. But as bar-room arguments go, the case for 2008 is damn strong.

Super Bowl XLII

Of the 42 Super Bowls, 29 could be qualified as outright disappointments. Only 13 have been decided by one score or less.

Of those close games, one (Super Bowl V) featured 11 turnovers, another (SB VII) would have been a shutout if not for Garo Yepremian's generosity and a third (SB XVI) was only a one-score game by virtue of a meaningless TD with 16 seconds left.

That leaves 10 Super Bowls that could be considered great, and as the years pass, the Giants' upset of the Patriots will age like a fine wine and could eventually sit atop that list. Throw in the Giants' three playoff road wins in January, including the sub-zero upset at Lambeau, on their way to SB XLII and their achievement is unmatched in NFL history.

The Giants' victory marked the first time the eventual winner lost the lead in the final three minutes before regaining it. The 83-yard title-winning drive redefined Eli Manning, transforming him from enigma to Mr. Clutch. And David Tyree's catch against his helmet will go down as the greatest play in Super Bowl history, trumping even Lynn Swann's Super Bowl X acrobatics.

Then there's the fact that the G-Men beat the 18-0 Patriots, a double-digit favorite who showed up in Arizona for their coronation as the greatest team of all time. The Pats were crowned alright, battered all night by the physical New York defensive line. The efforts of Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, Fred Robbins, Jay Alford and particularly Justin Tuck (MVP 1-A) made Manning's late heroics possible.

The Final Four

The first Final Four to produce four No. 1 seeds yielded a final for the ages. Behind future No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Derrick Rose and fellow draftees Joey Dorsey and Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis built a nine-point lead with two minutes to play. The team that was supposedly too undisciplined, too fundamentally unsound and too shaky at the foul line to win six tournament games in a row was about to have its one shining moment.

But Kansas — with a big assist from the Tigers, who missed four straight free throws in the final 1:15 of regulation — staged a spectacular comeback, led by NBA draftees Brandon Rush, Darrell Arthur and Mario Chalmers, whose cold-blooded 3-pointer in the final seconds forced overtime. (Kansas big men Darnell Jackson and Sasha Kaun would also be drafted, giving them a record-tying five players taken in the two-round NBA draft.)

The Jayhawks dominated OT as the Tigers still looked wobbly after taking Chalmers' 3-pointer right between the eyes, pulling away for a 75-68 victory.

Though the title appeared to be Memphis' for the taking, the final box score proved Kansas a worthy champion. The Jayhawks outshot the Tigers from the floor (52.7 to 40.3), from the line (93.3 to 63.2) and outrebounded them by 10 (37-27).

The U.S. Open

Just when we thought Tiger Woods had lost the capacity to amaze us, he plays 91 U.S. Open holes on a shredded knee and a broken leg to beat Rocco Mediate by one stroke.

As he winced and limped his way around Torrey Pines' 7,643 yards, it didn't look possible that Tiger could finish the weekend, much less contend. But he delivered three of the most memorable shots in Open history on Saturday to propel himself into the lead.

He snaked in a 75-foot eagle putt from the back of the 13th green to go sub-par, bounced in an impossible chip on 17 and took the lead with a 40-foot eagle putt on 18.

But on Sunday, Mediate overtook Tiger and Woods came to 18 needing a birdie to force an 18-hole Monday playoff. Surely a guy playing on one leg could stumble. Just once. Nope. As Mediate looked on helplessly, Tiger rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt that meant another 18 holes on Monday.

Actually make that 19. In a back-and-forth playoff, Tiger made another birdie at 18 to match Mediate's 71 and force sudden death. With a par on the 461-yard par-4 7th hole, Tiger capped what he called "probably the greatest tournament I've ever had."

Probably? When the severity of his knee and lower leg injuries came to light — torn ACL, double stress fracture of the left tibia — it removed all doubt.

The NBA Finals

Still reeling from the mostly ignored snoozefest of the Spurs-Cavs '07 Finals, the NBA desperately wanted the Celtics and Lakers to resume their long-dormant rivalry in this year's Finals. The league got what it wanted. Storylines abounded.

Federer kept hitting shots that would be winners against any mere mortal, but Nadal — the first man to win the French and Wimbledon in the same year since Bjorn Borg in 1980 — kept not only getting his racket on the ball but hitting winners off of what looked like winners. "Absolutely phenomenal," McEnroe intoned over and over.

Nadal played almost the entire match from the baseline and yet had his serve broken only once. Seemingly every time Federer found himself with his back to the wall, he would break off an ace. Nadal led 5-2 in the fourth set tiebreaker and served for the match. Unable to finish off Federer there, it appeared he might be finished.

But the Spaniard displayed a mental toughness in the fifth set to match his very non-tennis physique. (Yes, when you have triceps like that, you play in a tank top.) Seven times he held serve when being broken would mean certain defeat. Finally, in the 15th game of the fifth set and the 61st of the day, Nadal broke Federer and then served out the match.

Counting the rain delays, the two champions dragged their battle out over seven hours. And one other thing made it great. Class. No screaming, no whining, no broken racquets. (God bless replay.)

The match ended with a handshake and gracious words from both competitors, befitting the greatest match ever played.

In the greatest sports year of all time.

News » At midway point, 2008 is greatest sports year ever 2008-07-18
At midway point, 2008 is greatest sports year ever 2008-07-18
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