biggest surprises of 2006.

[FondestMemory]

i was bored on my drive to and from work today, so i was thinking of what stories this past year were surprising. shit that you just didn't see coming or didn't make any sense:

10. the cardinals almost having one of the biggest collapses to end the season, then going on to win the world series.

9. the rose bowl. i don't know that anybody expected that game to live up to the amount of hype it was getting, let alone exceed it.

8. mario williams going number one in the nfl draft.

7. kobe scoring 81 points.

6. the detroit tigers.

5. floyd landis' tour de france debacle.

4. lt's season. as good as he is, i doubt anybody expected the kind of td numbers he's putting up.

3. george mason going all the way to the final four.

2. the autistic manager scoring 20 points in the final minutes of a high school game. definitely the best story of the year.

1t. to's 'suicide - true or not, it was a strange day for watching sports news. the whole turn of events was just ridiculous.

1t. maurice clarett. everybody knows he's a fuckup, but who expected him to get pulled over on his way to start a war?

rutgers and the duke lacrosse rape scandal come to mind too, but i didn't put them up there.

these were just from memory, i'm sure there's plenty more i missed. what were some of yours?

[preppyak]

Two words:

Renaldo Balkman

[FondestMemory]

Two words:

Renaldo Balkman

i was tempted to just put the knicks in general with everything that's gone on.

[Drew Beringer]

The Packers having a chance to make the playoffs surprised the hell out of me.

[Broken Parachute]

Knicks for sure. Renaldo Balkman is picked way too early and then becomes one of the more important players for them. Then, they go and start off with a 12-18 record when everyone thought they'd probably only win 15 games all year.

Also some surprising things: Rutger's surprisingly good season, LT's domination of the NFL, the autistic basketball assistant who scored 20 points in his final game, George Mason in the Final 4, Kobe's 81, the Cardinals winning the World Series despite them almost not making the playoffs, and the New York Jets & New Orleans Saints having two fantastic (playoff) seasons despite being picked to lose more games than win.

[Juliana101]

Jeff Garcia and Vince Young.

[iihungrieii]

the titans should make that list of they make the playoffs. starting 0-5 and makign the playoffs is incredible. thanks to vince young of course

[LeftWideOpen]

the Jets even winning 9 games, nevermind potentially 10 and a playoff berth, blows my mind. I thought that team was a sure-fire Top 5 pick team. They are very thin in the talent department and I had no confidence in Mangini to even get the most of the crap he had. Instead, he has worked wonders.

[ForlrnPerplxity]

The Cardinals winning the World Series after the regular season they had. This is the first time I've ever seen them win one and the first time I actually went to a World Series game, and it was just unbelievable.

[preppyak]

I think the moral of this sports year is that team's that, based on parts of their seasons, should not even have been competitive, turned out to overcome odds and win.

It was a year of determination in sports, and what that means was a lot of ugly games and teams that don't seem worthy of winning at times.

Like, every winner was an upset basically (some of these are assumed)

1. Woods misses a major cut, still wins 2 anyway
2. Steelers as a 6 seed win it all
3. Texas over USC
4. Titans make playoffs after 0-5, or Jets
5. Cardinals nearly collapse, win WS
6. Gators, despite mediocre SEC season, win NCAA tourney
7. Tigers transcending being nearly the worst team, to being almost first team
8. George Mason, even making the tourny, and then going to Final Four

The list is endless, they are almost all stories of teams that shouldn't have won what they did, but, based on a determination and grit, won anyway. It isn't really pretty to watch, but, still has been an overall interesting year

[Juliana101]

LaDanian Tomlinson.

[mht]

kobe vs gilbert.

haynesworth stepping on that dallas cowboys players face

and

the return of dx.

[iihungrieii]

texas over usc was a surprise to me

[Take Heart]

the New Orleans Saints doing what they've done, even though Reggie Bush didn't start to excel until midway through the season.
Drew Brees making every Dolphins fan wondering just what they could have done with him under center.

Biggest non-surprise - the 'Fins and Panthers falling flat on their faces after everyone had them as chic super bowl contenders.

[iihungrieii]

kobe vs gilbert.

haynesworth stepping on that dallas cowboys players face

and

the return of dx.

are you talking about wwe?!?! they came back?!?! man i loved them when i watched that

[Flags of Dawn]

The Packers having a chance to make the playoffs surprised the hell out of me.
yep.

and I honestly didnt think Wisconsin was going to win the national championship in hockey. im still coming down from that, but hey.

[Darren McLeod]

canada's terrible hockey performance at the olympics.

[The Matt Kaufman]

what about zidane's headbutt