We brought you our top 10 North American sports stories of 2010 yesterday, numbers 10 through 6 yesterday. Here is our top 5.
5. Michael Vick – We all know the story about Michael Vick and the dogs. He fought dogs, he went to prison for two years, he almost went bankrupt and consensus was there was no hope for Vick. Last season the Eagles gave him a chance to play football. This season, he took the starters job and he’s been playing the best football of his career. Vick is in every MVP conversation and has the Eagles as legitimate Super Bowl contenders. He cracks our top ten as Vick’s performance on the field has fans wanting to cheer but his past crimes make people feel guilty for cheering.
4. The New Orleans Saints Wins Super Bowl XLIV – The City of New Orleans sunk to its lowest depths after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The football team was left homeless and it had owner Tom Benson considering a move out of town. The football team stayed and like the city of New Orleans committed to rebuilding. The once sack-sacked Saints rolled through the 2009 NFL regular season, which culminated with an upset victory over Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts.
3. Brett Favre – Brett Favre once again led the sporting world on with his faux retirement but this year was different. When he came back he was horrible. The Vikings were out of contention early in the season but the drama continued as Favre continued to play until Arthur Moats knocked him out with the shoulder injury. The injury ended Favre’s iron man streak of 297 consecutive games played. 2010 wasn’t just about football, former Jets staffer Jenn Sterger released voice mails from Favre and alleged pictures of his little “field general”. She’s looking for a settlement from Favre or a suspension by the NFL, with Favre at the end of his career for the real this time, it looks like she’ll get neither. It’s a sad end to one of the best quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL.
2. Tiger Woods – The news of Tiger Woods infidelity https://calvinayre.com/2010/10/04/lifestyle/sporting-infidelity-rankings-released/ broke in 2009 but in 2010 is when the golf world felt the effects. Tiger’s wife Elin filed for divorce with the intention of breaking their prenuptial agreement. She was a woman scored and she was looking for half of Wood’s estimated $1.5 Billion dollar fortune. Woods took a leave from golf to enter sex rehab and when he returned, he was a shell of his former self. The TV Ratings however, were huge as 5-million people tuned in to watch Tiger at the Masters, making it the most watched golf event ever.
1. The Decision – LeBron James’ The Decision set the NBA and the entire sports world crazy. The hype began building a few years ago when James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade all signed for less than the maximum years coming off their rookie contracts. Then in 2010 Wade and Bosh were the first dominoes to fall when they made a joint announcement that they would be joining forcing in Miami. LeBron James and ESPN teamed up for a 1hr special called “The Decision”. James, in the show hosted by Jim Grey, spent the first 45 minutes talking about not much of anything and then he said one phrase, “I’m taking my talents to South Beach”. The phrase has become a punchline and the Heat have become title contenders.
