At Augusta, with the azaleas in full bloom, Phil Mickleson shed
the "best-player-never-to-win-a-major" moniker and reminded us that
anything is possible.
After suffering through their 12th consecutive losing season, the
Pirates reminded us that, sometimes, everything seems impossible.
Jason Kendall, who caught more games than any other Pirate in history,
and the final player from the Jim Leyland era, played his last season
in Pittsburgh.
Ben Roethlisberger played his first.
Barry Bonds - like Pat Robertson - became a full-fledged member
of the 700-club.
Barry Bonds - unlike Pat Robertson - found himself in a steroids
scandal.
Jerome Bettis was reborn. The Bus took a paycut and then took off,
finishing the year in fourth place on the all-time rushing list.
The Patriots won another Super Bowl and Tom Brady earned another
Super Bowl MVP.
The Tampa Bay Lightning reached the pinnacle, winning the Stanley
Cup with such forgettable stars as Fedotenko, Lecavalier and Richards.
American swimmer Michael Phelps made Olympic history in Athens.
In Pittsburgh, Jason Bay made baseball history, becoming the first
Pirate to earn Rookie of the Year honors.
Larry Brown brought the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy back
to Motown as the Pistons won a championship.
We saw the tragic end to a sad and misguided life as former National
League MVP Ken Caminiti died of a drug overdose.
We saw an early end to a joyful and inspiring life when Reggie
White passed away.
The NHL grabbed the headlines for thousands of games that weren't
played. And nobody seemed to care.
Tiger got married.
Tiger slumped.
Tiger earned more than $7 million worldwide.
After 86 years of futility, the Red Sox nation finally had a reason
to celebrate as The Curse of the Bambino came to a screeching halt.
Bill Cowher had his contract extended.
Kobe Bryant's criminal trial ended before it began.
Kobe and Shaq divorced. The Lakers dynasty disintegrated.
The Steelers rebounded.
The Pitt Panthers landed a New Year's Day bowl for the first time
in two decades, but at the same time, bid farewell to head coach
Walt Harris, who "resigned" to return to California and the Stanford
job.
Dave Wannstedt came home to coach his Alma Mater, the University
of Pittsburgh.
