What a year to be a sports fan

From steroids to gambling to cheating to game-fixing refs, virtually all sports around the world, and in the U.S. in particular, have come under heavy scrutiny of late and are facing image problems in one form or another. Despite all these issues that have recently been brought to the forefront, the products on the field have been some of the best a sports fan could hope for, and I could easily argue that this has been the greatest year ever to be a sports fan. Almost every time you turn on the T.V. to watch a major sports event, you have been treated to an all-time great performance or an epic contest. So with that in mind, here are my top 5 best championship events in sports in 2008 (keep in mind some may have been missed since those listed are only the events I watched live).

Honorable Mention #1: Euro 2008 - The final of the European soccer championship last weekend was some very high quality soccer, but the drama was somewhat lacking due to the impressive style with which the Spanish won. The best match in the tournament, Turkey's improbable 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Czech Republic, would easily make the top 5 list if not for the fact that these are only events which directly determined the champion.

Honorable Mention #2: Stanley Cup Finals, Game 5 - This 3 overtime epic barely misses the cut do to one thing: the winner of the game did not win the title. Had the Pens used the thrilling late-night victory to propel themselves to a series win, which would have meant overcoming a 3-1 series deficit, then this game may well have found it's way into the top 2. Alas, the veteran Red Wings regrouped to seal the series in game 6 in Pittsburgh, and leave this as a great game, even if it's simply a footnote in the series.

5. NBA Finals, Game 4 - Unimaginatively labeled "The Comeback Game" by ESPN.com's Bill Simmons, game 4 was arguably the deciding game of the NBA Finals this year with the Celtics overcoming a 20+ point third quarter deficit in Los Angeles to earn the first road win for either team in the series. With the win giving the Celtics a statistically insurmountable 3-1 series lead, the final two games lost some luster as it seemed to be a foregone conclusion that Boston would take home the title. It's because of this, and because I had no real rooting interest in the series, that this game makes only the #5 spot on the list. It was an incredible win, but I personally didn't feel chills while watching.

4. NCAA Basketball Men's Championship Game - Over the past several years, the title game of the NCAA basketball tournament has been less than gripping, and often the entire Final Four turns out to have little excitement. This year appeared to be on the same course as Kansas and Memphis dispatched of their foes without too much struggle in the semifinals, but we had no idea what was in store in the final. What happened that Monday night in early April was one of the most exciting finals in NCAA tournament history, thanks largely to the coming of age of Memphis freshman point guard and 2008 NBA Draft #1 overall pick Derrick Rose. Rose seemed to take the game over in the final 10 minutes, helping Memphis turn a close game into a potential runaway with Kansas struggling to keep up. But Kansas persevered, and Memphis's fatal flaw, free throw shooting, was exposed as the Jayhawks completed an impossible comeback, down 8 in the last minute and a half, and eventually won going away in overtime. Had the overtime portion been as exciting as regulation, this game likely would have made it higher.

3. U.S. Open Golf Championship, 18-hole Playoff - This may forever go down as the greatest "Injured star willing himself/his team to a Championship" event of all time. Knowing that he was not 100% entering the 4 day event, Tiger Woods fought through pain and the PGA Tour's toughest course of the year for four days, even leading after 54 holes going into Sunday. Then, the sports world was stunned as relative unknown Rocco Mediate, a man who had never won a major and would be expected to be well beyond his prime, pushed the World's No. 1 to the brink, only to watch from the clubhouse as Woods sunk a cold-blooded 12 foot putt on #18 for birdie to force the playoff the next day. What followed was one of the most incredible rounds of golf of all time, with the star and the no-name battling back and forth, each holding as much as a 3-stroke lead, with Woods nailing yet another birdie putt on 18 for the title. The result would gain further amazement value over the next couple days as the full extent of Woods' injuries (a torn ACL and a broken leg) became public knowledge. Were it not for the inherently slow nature of golf, this would have been an easy #1.

2. Wimbledon Tennis Championships, Men's Singles Final - A match that upon its conclusion was dubbed by many, including former tennis great John McEnroe, as possibly the greatest match of all time, was an easy choice for this list. The competitors, the "aging" superstar on his best surface and one he's owned for the past five years (Roger Federer) against the rising star that has dominated the clay courts but has never won a major on any other surface (Rafael Nadal). The stakes were simple: either Federer wins and sets a modern record for consecutive Wimbledon titles won, or Nadal wins and signals a changing of the guard and proves once and for all that he has the game to win on any surface. Like a classic "Rocky" film, the aging Federer fell into an early hole, losing the first set before completely choking away the second set, blowing a 4-2 lead to fall 6-4, Federer seemed to be on the ropes. But then the rain came, and midway through the third set the players had a break to regroup. And regroup Federer did, fighting back to win the third in a tie break and then scratching and clawing to a breathtaking fourth set tiebreak win, erasing a 5-2 tiebreak deficit. With neither player showing any sign of losing his service games after the second set, the match seemed destined to be called on account of darkness, but with the final set tied 7-7, Nadal finally stole a break, and despite Federer's valiant efforts in the final game, Nadal again held serve, being broken only once in the match, and won his first Wimbledon title.

1. Super Bowl XLII - Even if you had no real interest in either the New York Giants or New England Patriots, you still were rooting for someone in this game. You had no choice. It was one of the biggest Super Bowl underdogs of all time against the unstoppable 18-0 juggernaut. What's more, it was a rematch of a week 17 game that was meaningless in the standings and yet still turned out to be the best game of the entire regular season. The Giants had accomplished the improbable, winning 3 road playoff games en route to the Super Bowl, a feat matched by the 2005 Super Bowl champion Steelers but not expected ever to be equalled. The Patriots had cruised for more than half of the regular season, but were not blowing anybody out in the second half of the season or the playoffs and were starting to seem almost mortal. Still the Vegas wiseguys opened the line at Patriots by 14 and it held at 10+ even as game time arrived. I myself told a friend of mine that the only result that would surprise me would be a Giants blowout win. Anything else seemed possible, but I certainly didn't expect what happened. The defenses dominated. Only 5 weeks after the teams previously met in a 38-35 shootout at Giants Stadium, neither team was able to muster much offense throughout the game, with the Giants d-line constantly pressuring Tom Brady while the Patriots stuffed the Giants running game. Despite the defenses dominating, the game never felt like it was dragging with each possession gaining importance as the game moved along. When the Pats offense finally seemed to find its stride midway through the fourth quarter, and they broke into the endzone for a 14-10 lead, the game felt like it was over. But time was nowhere near up for the G-Men, and the much-maligned Eli Manning took the game in his hands, moving the Giants confidently down the field, aided by the most spectacular catch in Super Bowl history (argue if you want, but it's true). Finally, with under a minute to play, Manning hit Plaxico Burress for the touchdown and a 3 point lead, and the Patriots were stunned. 17-14 has already become a black mark throughout New England, and fans will never hear the end of 18-1, the would-be perfect season ended by the likes of Eli Manning and rival New York.

Top 5 Best-Run Organizations in Sports

While it's fun and amusing to look on and laugh at the poor teams stuck in the dregs of sports hell as we did with the last list, there are much different emotions for a list such as this. Often, it's feelings of bitterness, resentment and envy that comes to the following organizations as sports fans look on and wish it was their favorite team that was always on top and holding that bright future. In the era of salary caps, free agency and parity (or mediocrity some would argue), the franchises that are consistently on top are often the subject of hatred, but their fans don't care because they're too busy revelling in their successes. Again, as with the last list, teams must show a commitment to winning both on and off the field.

Honorable Mention - Detroit Red Wings, NHL - Since we didn't include any NHL franchises in the previous discussion, it seemed only fair to not include any in this discussion as well. Thus, the Red Wings, one of the most successful sports franchises in any sport, are excluded from this list. Nonetheless, they still deserve mentioning here as they are a model of consistency when it comes to hiring quality coaches and front office members, signing quality free agents, drafting well and most importantly winning games.

5. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - A tough call between the Angels and fellow LA team the Lakers, but the Angels win out because of their ability to make the playoffs consistently in the most competitive sport (in that only 8 total teams make the postseason each year). The Lakers were a one-man team until they stole Pau Gasol from Memphis, and it's hard to give their front office credit for that thievery. The Angels, on the other hand, have been a mainstay in the MLB postseason in recent years, and despite the fact they've only appeared in 1 World Series (which they won in 2002), the appearances are far more meaningful than those of an NBA team. The Angels have a strong coaching staff under Mike Scioscia and a very successful front office that has consistently found young talent making the Angels are one of the strongest organizations in baseball.

4. Indianapolis Colts - Some would argue that the Colts are themselves a one-man team, and that Peyton Manning is good enough to elevate the entire franchise. This simply isn't the case, and football people in the know agree that the Colts are well run from the top down. For a team that has significant turnover on its defense due to salary cap restrictions thanks to its offense, the Colts are consistently among the best defensive teams in the league. Virtually all of the Colts' stars are homegrown players that they drafted, running down the list from Manning to Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis, Joseph Addai... And the list goes on. Add to this a very good coaching staff with one of the NFL's most successful regular season coaches of all time (Tony Dungy), and you have a very strong organization.

3. San Antonio Spurs - Surprisingly, the Spurs are the only team that I really deemed worthy of this list from the NBA. It's hard to value a playoff appearance for an NBA team given the fact that literally over half the league makes the postseason each year (16 out of 30), so an NBA team must be particularly impressive in the postseason to make this cut. The Spurs, having now won 4 of the last 10 NBA titles in an era of parity, have also progressed to at least the second round each year of that time-frame. While the Spurs are considered among the luckiest franchises for landing Tim Duncan in the draft lottery, many, many examples show that one player cannot carry a team to a title in the NBA. That's where the Spurs deserve the most credit: they have brought in strong supporting players year in and year out and have developed some very strong players out of players drafted late in the first round or discarded from other teams. Again, the coaching staff is one of the league's best anchored by head coach Gregg Popovich who has been among the most successful head coaches in NBA history, and has done so in an era and a conference that is among the toughest ever.

2. New England Patriots - Say what you must about Spygate (I'll be the first guy to agree with you that no matter what they say, the Pats did it because they knew it would help them), the Patriots have been successful over the past 7 years because of the strength of their coaching, scouting and player development. One of the signs of a truly strong franchise is the ability to bring in big-name veteran free agents for below market value because they just want a chance at a title, and that's what the Pats have done year after year. Players like Rodney Harrison, Randy Moss, and Corey Dillon have flocked to the Pats and despite their known character issues, have flourished with the team. Much like the Colts and Spurs above, the Patriots were lucky that they found a player that blossomed into one of the best at his position in Tom Brady, but football is the ultimate team game and now team could find the success the Patriots have if all they had was Brady and a bunch of no-names. The Patriots front office has been extraordinarily successful at bringing in those no-names and sculpting them into players that fit the team and the system, and then using them to win championships. They also have a decent coach, I guess.

1. Boston Red Sox - And we conclude our Boston slurp-fest with the team that appears poised to dominate the MLB for the next 5 years or more. Under Theo Epstein, GM since 2002, the Sox have been the best-run organization in their sport and are quickly developing the deepest farm system in the Majors to go along with the best active roster. While the Sox have the benefit of a huge market and no salary cap, many MLB teams have proven that money can't buy championships (see New York Yankees since 2002 and New York Mets) and that teams shouldn't sacrifice their entire farm system in an attempt to acquire veterans to win now. Boston has a quality manager in Terry Francona, but with the talent on the roster Francona's player-friendly approach is precisely what the team needs to find on the field success. All this makes the Sox the favorite to win this year's World Series, and subsequently our number 1.