Looking Back

Firstly, welcome to the fan fare. This is your fortnightly (or any other time something happens) insight in to the world of sport. From the US, to Europe and my own back door, no sport will be left out. Before we look ahead, it’s time to look back and recap.

12 months is a long time in sport. Just ask Ricky Ponting, Casey Stoner or LeBron James. In fact for a lot of Australian sports fans the last four holes of the British open were far too long. On the other hand 16 days of London 2012 was barely enough. Just as we had worked out the difference between a Waza-ari and an ippon, just as we knew which upstream gates were the toughest and just as Channel 9 had finished showing James Magnussen’s ‘failures’ for the 27^th time it was over.

But in a year when so much happened how do you summarise it and not miss something? Plenty of events, people and teams missed out but only what first came to mind on New Year’s Eve made the cut.  And the rest? Well honourable mentions will have to do.

Honourable mentions:

Australia’s Olympic Sailors, Casey Stoner’s retirement, Sebastion Vettel’s three peat, Black Caviar’s Ascot assault, Manny Pacquaio’s ‘loss’ and loss, Wild Oats half dozen, Adrian Peterson's knee and Peyton Manning's neck, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal winning where they are meant to, Fabrice Muamba’s survival, Brisbane Roar’s brilliance, Anna Meares comeback, Spanish Football, Queensland rugby league, Frankel and many more.

Disappointments (Just to balance things out): Australia’s Men’s 4x100m relay team, Australian tennis (looking at you Tomic), Channel 9’s Olympic coverage, NHL players and owners, Australia’s Men’s 4x100m relay team, NRL video referees, Women’s Badminton, Steve Hooker’s jumping or lack there of, New South Wales rugby league and did I mention Australia’s Men’s 4x100 relay team.

As good as the above were, this is what truly made 2012 one of the best.

London 2012

You couldn’t start with anything else. Every four years it transforms us. Whether it be Michael Phelps becoming the most prolific gold medallist of all time (though he did lose this time), to the excitement of James Tomkins as our K4 men crossed the line or getting excited about the prospect of going home and watching sailing, cycling, archery or equestrian all night.

But for me three things stood out above all else.

1. British athletes and their success. As hard as it is for Australians to say, the Brits pulled off their best impression of Sydney 2000. If it wasn’t Britain’s version of Cathy Freeman, Jessica Ennis, taking gold it was Bradley Wiggins and his sideburns (and two gold medals), or it was the Scot’s; Andy Murray and Sir Chris Hoy. I am sure knighthoods won’t be far away for them all. But the darling of the UK had to have been Mo Farah and that smile. The Somali born runner will be an enduring image for London 2012.
2.       Usain Bolt. Was there ever a doubt? The Beast was a mere sideshow/model for Usain as he became the first man to hold the sprinting double-triple of the 100m, 200m and 4x100 in consecutive Olympics and the first sprinter to win 6 gold medals. If that wasn’t enough he then proceeded to perform one of the most remembered victory celebrations of all time. We don’t need to call him a legend…… he did this himself.
3.       Last but not least is Sally Pearson. The last time there was this much pressure and expectation on an athlete was 12 years ago. Bruce McAvaney called that night ‘special’ and this night was too (or 5:40am in Australia). In a sport she had dominated all year, it all came down to 0.02 seconds. On that rainy August night, Sally became Australia’s golden girl of London 2012.

The Premiers

18 months after being the public enemy number one in Australian sport, the Melbourne Storm won their ‘second’ premiership. In a season that involved Queensland’s 7^th State of Origin win, Ben Barba’s emergence, countless video refereeing bungles, the threat of the Titan’s folding and the new Commission, it was the best team of the last decade that showed why it had won those premierships no matter what the record books say.

With the NRL trophy heading south to Melbourne, it was only appropriate that the AFL premiership cup headed north to Sydney. The Swans, under new coach John ‘Horse’ Longmire continued to show the success a well structured and coached team can have. Like the Storm, defence shone through and though their players may not be recognised by most in their home state, they are this year’s premiers and no one can argue they deserved it.

The Internationals

Most of us didn’t look outside of our shores this year unless it was checking on Cadel, watching Scotty collapse at Royal Lytham, or watching the usual cast of Nadal and Federer. That said we may have witnessed two of the greatest athletes to grace their respective sports have their finest year.

Lionel Messi scored more goals this year than anyone else has scored in a year. What he did this year was move from the realm of soccer fans and EPL diehards, to mainstream sports superstar. I'm not an expert enough to speak of what he has done and become, so I though I would let this clip just show it (number 71 against Deportivo is my favourite)
               

In the US, one man stood out above all. Many of us might not quite appreciate the expectations that were on 

LeBron James in 2003 but 9 years later the decision of 2010 became an afterthought as he led the Miami Heat to the NBA title. To go along with that he added a third MVP, a finals MVP and just to round out his cabinet he added a second Olympic gold medal. For me, he is one of the most gifted athletes on the planet. For a man over two metres tall and almost 120kg to move like he does….. it is just breath taking.

*International side note. I’d like to apologise to Andy Murray on behalf of all the doubters. I’m the first to admit that I didn’t think he belonged in the same conversation as the big three, but it was only fitting that after losing his home grand slam in true Henman style to the greatest tennis player I’ve ever seen, he went on to prove everyone wrong. The Olympics aren’t a grand slam, but that was just a precursor to his epic 5 set win over the world number 1 in the longest ever US Open Final, and weren’t there tears. Well done Andy!

The High & The Low

With all that said and done its time to move on to the high and low point of the 2012 season.

Low point: Come on down Mr Lance Armstrong. Like many other cycling fans the defence of no positive tests was all I needed to hear to presume innocence. Did I not want to know the truth or did I just want to believe I was watching greatness? Then the USADA and Travis Tygard came in and proved what needed to be proved. That cheating has no place in cycling and that you will get caught. I felt betrayed. After years of defending him, it meant nothing.

What will I do this July after all of that is said? Sit up and watch every stage again like I have since Miguel Indurain ruled cycling.

High point: Here it is time to celebrate. Time to celebrate both the most prolific year and the most prolific career in Australian cricket history. Michael Clarke turned the Australian public unlike any other sportsman has done. He did this by scoring more runs in a calendar year than any other recipient of the baggy green. If his triple century wasn’t enough he added a double and four other centuries.

As good as he was, the year ended with the end of the greatest cricketer of my generation. Ricky Ponting didn’t have the fairytale finish, but after 17 years of effortless pull shots, stunning on-drives and fielding that we haven’t seen the likes of before or since, he didn’t need it.

For all that 2012 held, it was a 38 year old from Mowbray, Tasmania I will remember most.

Image courtesy of news.com.au (http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2012/12/04/1226529/974055-ricky-ponting-perth-final-innings.jpg)