2007—The Year of (Semi) Justice and Mistrust

2007 wasn't one of those amazing sports years like, say, 1991.

That was the year when the United States fought the first Gulf War. The Super Bowl thus took on extra significance because of it. Whitney Houston sang the national anthem just hours before Scott Norwood would become the subject of two future movies (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and the underrated Buffalo 66). It was also the year that Magic and Michael squared off in the NBA Finals, and the Braves and Twins played one of the greatest World Series' of the past 30 years.

2007, on the other hand, featured a forgettable Super Bowl (for anyone living outside of Indiana), sweeps in both the NBA Finals and World Series, and a five-game series in the Stanley Cup Finals (at least, that's what I heard). 

So since the year won't be remembered for events that happened on the field, it will probably best be rememered as the year that justice made a cameo in sports, while the integrity of the games took a major beating.

 
(Semi) Justice

A week refuses to pass without an athlete getting arrested. Some crimes are petty and prove to be more embarrassing than they are criminal. Some of the crimes, however, are a little more serious. Those are the ones that end up with bouncers getting shot and ending up paralyzed, or involve dogs being abused and executed.

2007 will be remembered as the year that Michael Vick went to jail, and the year that Pacman Jones and Stephen Jackson were put on probation and given suspended prison sentences. It was the year where the criminal court caught up with the court of public opinion.

In the past—and not just in sports—if you had the right attorney, it didn't matter how guilty you were. Somehow, some way, reasonable doubt was raised, and athletes were let off the hook.

Vick's sentencing may have set a new precedent. That's not to say that athletes won't get out of trouble any more. But now, unlike before, athletes won't have access to that "Get Out Of Jail Free" card. Some athletes might think twice before mixing up with the wrong people. Those that do get in trouble will at least have to worry that everything could be taken away from them.

Whether it's Paris Hilton, Michael Vick, Lane Garrison, or Tank Johnson, it seems that the American people and the justice system in general have finally grown sick and tired of celebrities getting into trouble and effortlessly avoiding punishment. Those aforementioned aren't the first celebrities and athletes to ever go to jail—but it seems like 2007 was a year where so many of them did.

Will it serve as a wake up call? Only time shall tell.  

 
Mistrust

The NBA is one lucky league. Perhaps Michael Vick should be the first name on David Stern's Christmas list. Had it not been for Vick, we still might be talking about Tim Donaghy.

The idea of refs fixing games has always been in the backs of our minds. Whether it's a suspicious holding call on third down or a phantom foul in a game six, there have always been suspicions that referees had a little too much say in the outcome of a game.

The Tim Donaghy scandal may have gone away temporarily, but if it doesn't remain an isolated case, the NBA is in big trouble.

Vick isn't the only reason why the story went away. I'd say it was 32% Vick and 68% denial. Fans just didn't want to believe that something they'd given so much attention and money to would be tainted, and opted to just pretend Donaghy was the only one.

I don't think that any ref would be dumb enough to try to fix a game as long as Donaghy's case is still in our minds. The difference now is that every time we see a suspicious call, our minds immediately go there.

We may have gone that way already in the past. Just ask any fan of the 2003 Sacramento Kings, or the 2006 Dallas Mavericks. The next time, though, they'll actually have proof that it might have happened before.

Major League Baseball has had the worst case of fan mistrust in 2007. The beauty of baseball is that the sport is 98% the same game as it was fifty years ago. With the exception of the DH, the set-up man and the Bonds Shift, baseball's rules and strategies have remained consistent throughout much of it's history.

It's the reason why baseball was the only sport where you could actually compare generations of players with any accuracy. Basketball added the three-pointer, and football players increased in size over the years to a point where today's wide receivers more resemble yesterday's linebackers than they do the receivers of old. Baseball players had increased in size, but the equipment and the skill have generally stayed consistent. What the recent scandal involving performance-enhancing drugs has done is changed that.

My generation of baseball players will always be given a conversation asterisk. How can someone compare Bonds to the Babe or to the next generation of stars without mentioning Bonds' use of supplements? The number of players cited in the Mitchell Report just taints the entire generation. You might be able to compare individual players, but you no longer will be able to compare generations as a whole.

 
The Good Stuff 

I'd hate to leave you so depressed about the Year in Sports.  There were surely some things that were truly memorable for the right reasons.

I've put together a list of some of the more memorable ones. I'm sure I've forgotten about a couple, but that would mean they really weren't that memorable.

Here we go (in no particular order):

-LeBron's 48 against the Pistons in game five.

-Boise St beating Oklahoma in the Fiesa Bowl.

-Derek Fisher returning to help the Jazz win game two of the Western Conference semis after being with his daugther in New York earlier in the day.

-Appalachian State beating Michigan, followed by Stanford beating USC weeks later.

-Josh Hamilton's April and May 

-The four juniors on the Florida Gators basketball team turning down millions to make another run at college hoops immortality and wining a second title.

-Joey Chestnut bringing the Nathan's hot dog eating title back to where it belongs.

-Justin Verlander's no-hitter.

-High School athlete Genarlow Wilson being released from jail.

-The Colts/Patriots AFC Championship Game as well as the week nine game.

Here's hoping my Year In Review for 2008 will feature more of the good stuff and less of the scandalous stuff.