2011, A LOOK AHEAD

2010 has come and gone, and what a year it was. Perennial underdogs rose to the top (Saints, SF Giants, Blackhawks), the NBA struck gold as one of sports truest rivalries wrote a new chapter,  and heroes fell from grace (Tiger Woods, Lebron James). America even found the time to stake a claim in two forgotten sports, hockey and soccer, on a national level. So what could possibly be next? Here are stories, from three to one, sure to top the headlines as the year gets underway.

3. NCAA FOOTBALL
Feel free to look back at my first post, B(c)S, to get an understanding on my thoughts about the BCS system. Not good. The year is four days old, and the NCAA is already under some serious fire. TCU is undefeated, and looks as good as any team in the nation. Where's their title shot? Cam Newton is six days away from playing in the National Championship game. How long before his Heisman and school wins are revoked from this season? Terrell Pryor and 5 other Buckeyes broke the rules. Why are they even allowed to play and what's the lesson learned if they all use their 'Get Out of Jail Free" card and jump for the draft? There are a lot of things that college football needs to take a look in the mirror at in the coming months. It's never a good thing when the new season is still 8 months away and the media has its first story. The state of the NCAA offices and their golden child, Ohio State, are poised for the front page.

2. TIGER WOODS

One year, one month, one week, one day ago, I turned on the TV and Tiger Woods was in critical condition. If the sports world had lost him right there it had the potential of being on the level of the music world losing John Lennon. It didn't though and in the next 72 hours the world's most accomplished individual athlete fell about as far as one could imagine, landing somewhere between Lebron James and Mike Vick. Lebron lost respect and a fan base but replaced it with another. Mike Vick lost everything, plain and simple. Tiger lost money, respect, some fans, and most importantly his family. 2010 turned out to be a pretty trying time for Tiger, but as the 2011 PGA schedule gets under way in the coming month he will be front page news every time he tees it up. Mike Vick received the biggest do over an athlete has ever been awarded and returned an improved player and person. It's now up to Tiger to do the same, and I would expect the media to be documenting his every step in that direction.

1. LOCKOUT(S)

A fan of the NHL, I was disappointed when the NHL lost an entire season in 2004 - 2005. In the 1998 - 1999 basketball season, I was dumbfounded that NBA would lose half a season in addition to its biggest star in league history (Michael Jordan retired for a second time at the end of the 1998 season). In 1994, I was too young to realize the effects of a strike on the MLB. Seventeen years later I fully understand its effects, starting with a number that ends in the neighborhood of eight zeroes. As in that's probably on the low side of what the NFL and NBA could lose combined should the two suffer a lockout. A year lost from football is like losing two in any other sport. A handful of the NBA's biggest stars aren't getting younger. Both sports are cash cows, especially football, so it's hard to imagine a deal not getting done. Until that happens though, this is the biggest sports story of the year. If no deal ever gets done, we can just go ahead and change "of the year" to "of the decade."