FanNation - The Republic of Sport

These are of course, not the only top stories, but for me just a few that stand out.  Before you say it, yes, I'm a wee bit of a "Homer."

7 Jan '08 Houston, Texas

This stories actually started on 13 Dec '07 when the Mitchell Report was release, but has spilled into '08.  Of course there are too many users in MLB to name, so I'll stick with the one that stands out the most.  That's right...Roger Clemens.  He stands out for many reasons, but the biggest is.....he is the only one who to this day that is denying all allegations.  I know all about " innocent until proven guilty," but that's for the courts.  For myself, well lets just say he's lost all credibility.  He already pushed himself into a court, so to speak, a court of public opinion, when he demanded to come before Congress.  Even as his "BFF" Andy Petitte admitted use, he was still in denial. His claims that Petitte "misremembered" is hollow and still echos today.  He even threw his own wife "under the bus" admitting her steroid use.  On 7 Jan '08 Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit against his former trainer Brian McNamee.  This has dragged on now for a year, even as he is being investigated for possible perjury. Clemens still doesn't get it.  Lets hope this ends soon. Enough is enough.

3 Feb '08 Glendale, Arizona

As the days leading up to superbowl XLII dwindled down, I couldn't have imagined the outcome would be so upsetting for a life long Patriot fan and Patriot Nation.  When your team goes 16-0 in the regular season and advances to the superbowl, the only result should be a victory to cap off a fantastic season. Okay, its been almost a year, so I think I'm over it, making history just wasn't to be that day.  So now I give you the final score (gulp) Giants 17 - Patriots 14.

17 Jun '08 Boston, Massachusetts

It all started in the '06-'07 season for the Celtics.  The season couldn't have ended soon enough.  A finish of 24-58 was an embarrassment.  Many thought it was the last year for Paul Pierce.  Then Danny Ainge, President of Basketball Operations went to work to improve the team and get Pirece some help.  Ray Allen was a good start and then a blockbuster trade for Kevin Garnett sealed the deal.  Of course the rest is now history.  The Celtics went on to beat Atlanta, Cleveland and Detroit on their way to a showdown with the L.A. Lakers.  Boston won a decisive game 6 to win the series 4-2.  

8 Aug-24 Aug '08 Bejing, China

I could go on and on abut this one, but will stick with one big one, no...not the NBA dream team, Michael Phelps, 24 yr old USA swimmer.  Some would say that the races he entered were not very competitive, but winning 8 gold medals is still impressive to me.  He now holds the record for the most gold medal won in a single Olympics.  He passed Mark Spitz, who won 7 golds at the '72 Olympic in Munich.

2 Sep '08 Jacksonville, Florida

Richard Collier was an offensive tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is currently 27 yeas old and his life and career were altered forever, while sitting in a car with a former teammate.  As they waited for 2 young ladies to join them shots rang out and Collier was hit 14 times.  His injuries were thought to be life threatening at the time.  He did survive, but at what cost?  He had a blood clot that forced an amputation of his left leg above the knee.  He is also paralyzed from the waist down.  They have a person in custody for the shooting, but he has plead "not guilty".  We will just have to wait to see what happens next.