A quick recap of the last decade in sports(Part 1)

So much has happened in the past decade that it would take 50 pages to chronicle it all, but I will do my best. The decade started and ended in similar places. The Yankees and Lakers both won titles in the first and last years of the decade, Tiger Woods was the headline of every major sports news outlet, and yes the Cleveland Browns still sucked.  However, if I was to characterize this decade in sports it would be for the spectacular highs and equally spectacular lows.

Let's discuss the good stuff first.  We saw Michael Phelps win a record 8 Gold Medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics. At those same Olympics, we saw Usain Bolt blow away the competition with flare and seemingly effortless grace. We saw Roger Federer win a record 15 Grand Slam titles and stay #1 in the world for 237 straight weeks. We saw Tiger Woods win major after major and literally carry the sport of golf on his shoulders. Boston fans enjoyed 6 championships in baseball, football, and basketball combined. This included the Red Sox breaking the 86 year old curse of the Bambino in style, coming back to defeat the hated Yankees from 3-0 down.

Memorable games and moments were aplenty. Who could forget the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and the Statue of Liberty play to give Boise State the upset win. Or afterward when Boise State running back Ian Johnson proposed to his girlfriend in front of millions around the country. I still remember the deep pain I felt during the Patriots loss to the Giants in the greatest upset in Super Bowl History, only to be replaced by the immense joy after the Celtics victory over the Lakers 4 months later.  How about the 6 Overtime game between Uconn and Syracuse and the memorable run George Mason had in the 2006 Final Four.

However, with all the good that happened in the past decade, sadly some really terrible things happened as well. From the steroid scandal that rocked baseball, to the Tim Donaghy scandal in the NBA. You had the Michael Vick dog fighting ring and Kobe's rape allegation. Just recently the Tiger Woods scandal rocked the nation, leaving fans to question everything they thought they liked about the decade's most famous athlete. I'm not sure if there was just more bad stuff going on, or if the 24 hour news cycle and media overload led to more events being publicized.

Technology played a huge role in the changing of sports media.  People went from reading the sports page to reading sports blogs. People were able to watch games on their phones and rewind plays using TIVO.  HD TV made going to a game less appealing.  Internet chat boards became perfect sounding boards for angry and often ignorant sports fans across America.

Yes, sports in the past decade were anything but dull.  It certainly will be interesting to see what happens in the next 10 years.  All I know is I will be watching every bit of it. In Part 2 I will discuss the great decade it was for Boston Sports fans. Hope you enjoy!