Who were the top newsmakers this year in the world of sports? American-Statesman writer Kevin Lyttle revisits the year’s biggest stories — and the athletes, teams or coaches who made them so big:
JANUARY: ROLL, SEC
Those insufferable SEC football fans become even more empowered when Alabama beats LSU 21-0 in an all-SEC BCS title game. It’s the conference’s sixth consecutive national championship and the second in three years for Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide, truly the dominant program in the sport. The game itself is a stinker, with LSU incapable of moving against Courtney Upshaw, Dont’a Hightower and Bama’s impregnable defense. Tailback Trent Richardson scores the only touchdown.
Also …
Joe Paterno dies of lung cancer, at age 85. It’s the end of a tragic story for a coach who won 409 games for Penn State but whose legacy will forever be tarnished by the child sex-abuse scandal involving his longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
The Texans’ first playoff trip ends with an AFC semifinal loss to the Ravens in Baltimore. It’s third-string T.J. Yates, not Matt Schaub or Matt Leinart, quarterbacking Houston.
Novak Djokovic outlasts Rafael Nadal to win the Australian Open men’s singles title in 5 hours, 53 minutes, the longest Grand Slam final ever.
FEBRUARY: FAMILY FUELED
Score that Eli 2, Peyton 1.
Eli Manning steps out of his older brother’s shadow once and for all by winning his second Super Bowl as the Giants edge the Patriots, 21-17. Peyton Manning, despite all of his accomplishments, still has just one NFL title. Eli, in outperforming Tom Brady, is voted Super Bowl MVP for the second time. He guided a team that was 7-7 in mid-December to six straight victories.
Also …
Mack Brown and the Longhorns always own February, and they do it again by reeling in the consensus No. 2 recruiting class behind, naturally, Alabama. Receiver Dorial Green-Beckham is the one who got away (to Missouri).
Matt Kenseth wins a bizarre Daytona 500 over Dale Earnhardt Jr. Rain delays the event for about 32 hours and then the race is held up again when Juan Pablo Montoya runs into a safety truck, which catches fire and burns a hole in the track.
Texas exes Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge play in the NBA All-Star game, the first time the Longhorns have two players in the event.
Ricky Williams, 34, who won the Heisman Trophy at Texas in 1998, retires from football. The free spirited, soft-spoken star had five 1,000-yard rushing seasons and finished with 10,009 yards on the ground.
MARCH: GOODBYE, COACH G
When Hall of Fame coach Jody Conradt called it quits, Texas women’s basketball got an established winner in Gail Goestenkors of Duke, but the seven-time ACC coach of the year struggled in the Big 12. Unable to land the top players in Texas, she resigns under duress after the Longhorns lose in the opening-round of the 2012 NCAA tournament. Despite being one of the few million-dollar women’s coaches, Goestenkors won only one NCAA tournament game in five years. She’s replaced by Karen Aston, a former Conradt assistant.
Also …
The New Orleans Saints are hammered by Roger Goodell for an alleged bounty system that targets opposing players.
Tiger Woods wins his first PGA Tour event, the Arnold Palmer in Orlando, Fla., since his sex-scandal troubles of 2009.
The Texas men join the women as first-round losers in March Madness.
Torrey Henry drills a 3-pointer from the corner with seconds to go as Dallas Kimball beats Houston Yates 78-75 in a Class 4A boys state final that rocks the Erwin Center.
APRIL: A LONE STAR DRAFT
It’s the year of the Texas/Big 12 quarterback in the NFL draft. Andrew Luck, who played for Houston Stratford, is the No. 1 overall pick by the Colts. The Redskins trade up to No. 2 for Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III of Baylor. Texas A&M’s Ryan Tannehill goes No. 8 to the Dolphins. Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden is tabbed No. 22 by the Browns. And in the possible steal of the draft, Westlake’s Nick Foles lands with the Eagles in round three. Each of the five becomes his team’s starter as a rookie.
Also …
Brittney Griner and Baylor become the first NCAA basketball team to finish 40-0, roughing up Notre Dame 80-61 in the final.
Kentucky’s freshmen phenoms are too much for Kansas, winning 67-59 in the NCAA men’s final.
Hall of Fame basketball coach Pat Summitt of Tennessee resigns after she is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s.
Good-guy golfer Bubba Watson is a popular first-time winner of the Masters.
The Austin Toros defeat the Los Angeles Fenders to win the NBA D-League title.
MAY: SPURS ON A ROLL
“Parker’s prints all over this victory,” the headline screams over a large photo of point guard Tony Parker leading San Antonio to another playoff win. This month is crammed with the exploits of Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and the deeply talented Spurs, who bring the No. 1 seed in the West into the NBA postseason. They sweep the Jazz and the Clippers, win 10 playoff games in a row and exit May with a 2-0 lead on the Thunder.
Also …
Oklahoma City sweeps defending champion Dallas out of the NBA playoffs in the first round.
I’ll Have Another captures the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.
Josh Hamilton hits four home runs in one game for the Rangers.
For the first time in 14 years, Texas misses the cut for the NCAA baseball tournament.
The Big 12 hires Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby as its new commissioner.
Texas State announces it will leave the shaky WAC after one year to join the Sun Belt.
JUNE: IT’S GOOD TO BE THE KING
There’s no celebrating in Cleveland, but King James finally has his ring.
LeBron James, who took his talents to South Beach, goes all the way in year two with the Miami Heat, who make quick work of Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City in the championship series. “It means everything,” says the NBA MVP who also is named the Finals MVP. “I made a difficult decision to leave Cleveland, but I understood what my future was about. This is when it starts paying off.”
Also …
The BCS is dead. The BCS is dead. Well, not for a few more years, but college football power brokers decide — at long last — to implement a four-team playoff for the 2014 season.
The Spurs lose four straight to the Thunder and are eliminated from the Western Conference finals after having a 2-0 lead.
Roger Clemens is acquitted on all charges that he lied to Congress during steroid hearings.
I’ll Have Another’s Triple Crown bid is thwarted by a tendon injury.
JULY: DARK DAYS FOR PENN STATE
One of the most sordid chapters in NCAA history is written as Jerry Sandusky becomes a convicted serial child molester. The longtime Penn State assistant football coach is found guilty of 45 of 48 charges of child molestation. Sandusky, 68, is sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison. An independent investigation reveals that Joe Paterno was involved in a cover-up, and the NCAA hits Penn State with a four-year bowl ban, significant scholarship reductions and a $60 million fine.
Also …
The Summer Olympics in London open to rave reviews from the world. U.S. swimmers get off to a roaring start.
Spain routs Italy to win the Euro Cup and remain the world’s No. 1 soccer power.
Roger Federer breaks British hearts by toppling Andy Murray for a record-tying seventh Wimbledon title.
Ernie Els takes advantage of a spectacular meltdown by Adam Scott to win the British Open.
Lin-sanity engulfs Houston as Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin signs as a free agent with the Rockets.
AUGUST: MAGIC MIKE (IN THE POOL)
Michael Phelps wraps up his final Olympics with an unprecedented 18th gold medal and a 22nd medal overall, covering three glorious Summer Games. He receives a trophy inscribed, “To Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympic athlete of all time.” Phelps retires with twice as many golds as any other athlete. “I was able to put the final cherry on top of the sundae,” said Phelps, whose last event was the 400 medley relay. “There’s nothing left for me to do here.”
The London Games are a terrific boost for the United States, which easily wins more golds (46) and more medals (104) than anyone else. Great Britain is buoyed by its strong third-place showing (29 golds, 65 medals).
Athletes with Austin ties haul in scores of medals, including Sanya Richards-Ross’ redemptive gold in the 400 meters.
Also …
Lance Armstrong decides not to fight severe sanctions leveled against him by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
USC is voted No. 1 in the preseason football poll. The Trojans will finish 7-5 and unranked.
The Round Rock Express follows up its 2011 first-place campaign with a losing record in 2012.
SEPTEMBER: MANNING UP IN DENVER
Admit it, when Peyton Manning signs with the Denver Broncos, you wonder if the aging, broken-down QB still has his fastball … or any pitch besides his commercials. Manning, recovering from a serious neck injury, throws for nearly 1,200 yards in the opening month and goes on to guide the Broncos to a 12-3 record and the division title.
Speaking of remarkable comebacks, Adrian Peterson, who suffered a devastating knee injury a year ago, comes out of the box flying, too. By late December, he leads the NFL in rushing by more than 400 yards.
Also …
In its SEC debut, Texas A&M puts up a valiant struggle but loses 20-17 to Florida at Kyle Field.
Replacement refs screw up enough NFL games that the league finally settles a labor dispute with its officials.
Marble Falls QB Mike Richardson smashes a state record with 724 yards passing in one game.
The Big 12 signs a $2.6 billion TV deal that brings stability to a league that was teetering just a year ago.
Geno Smith fires 8 TD passes and seizes the Heisman lead in West Virginia’s wild 70-63 win over Baylor.
Texas State falls to Texas Tech in its first home game as an FBS program.
“Austin Andy” Roddick retires from tennis after tumbling in the fourth round of the U.S. Open.
OCTOBER: LANCE GETS THE HAMMER
We interrupt the Red River Rivalry to bring you this non-football news deep-in-the-heart-of …
Lance Armstrong is not only stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and disqualified from every event he had entered since August 1998, but he’s also banned from cycling for life. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, in charging the celebrated cancer survivor with using illicit performance-enhancing drubs, labels Armstrong “a serial cheat who led the most sophisticated and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.” USADA released more than 1,000 pages of evidence and testimonies from 11 former teammates. Armstrong insists USADA engaged in a “witch hunt.”
Also …
The Texas-Oklahoma game is just as depressing as the Lance news, as the Sooners annihilate the Longhorns 63-21. It’s the fourth blowout loss of 38 points or more Mack Brown has suffered to Bob Stoops.
Not to pile on, but … The Rangers pull off an epic choke down the stretch, first blowing a huge division lead to the kiddie corps Athletics, then being eliminated by the Orioles in the new one-and-done wild-card playoff game.
San Francisco sweeps Detroit to win the World Series.
The NHL season is hijacked by another strike. At Christmas, it’s still unresolved.
NOVEMBER: AUSTIN’S WINNING FORMULA
If you build it, they will come. Three years in the making, Formula One racing in Austin becomes reality. And, oh, is it ever a spectacular show. F1, a foreign subject to most Central Texans, holds its first event at the beautiful new Circuit of the Americas and draws a sellout crowd of 117,429 on race day, part of a weekend total of 265,000 fans from around the country — and the world. Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain wins the race, overtaking series champ Sebastian Vettel. “Austin really shined,” Hamilton says. “This is a great place to showcase our sport to America.”
Also …
Longhorns icon Darrell Royal dies at age 88. The colorful, folksy Royal won three national championships and had a 184-60-5 record in 20 seasons at Texas. To honor DKR, the Horns come out in a wishbone formation to start the Iowa State game.
Texas A&M announces its shocking arrival as an SEC contender in year one, dumping No. 1 Alabama 29-24 in Tuscaloosa as QB Johnny Manziel dazzles and picks up Heisman steam.
TCU, subbing for A&M as Texas’ Thanksgiving foe, stifles the Longhorns at DKR.
Notre Dame, unranked in the preseason, beats USC to cap a 12-0 campaign and earn a shot at the national title.
Pflugerville ends Lake Travis’ state-record, 30-game football playoff winning streak. The Cavaliers won five straight Class 4A titles before moving up to 5A this year.
The conference realignment wheels continue to spin, with the Big Ten getting a new look (hello, Rutgers and Maryland) and more than a dozen other changes.
Brad Keselowski pockets a first NASCAR season title for legendary motorsports mogul Roger Penske.
DECEMBER: A WIN FOR JOHNNY FOOTBALL
Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel makes history by becoming the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy. “Such a far-fetched dream,” says the former Kerrville Tivy Antler. The award completes Johnny Football’s meteoric rise to fame, considering he was lightly recruited and not even expected to start this year. Instead the Doug Flutie-like spark plug guides A&M to a 10-2 regular-season record in its maiden SEC voyage.
Also …
Cedar Park, which lost its first two games, rebounds to win the next 14 and the Timberwolves’ first state football championship, in Class 4A, Division II.
Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton says goodbye to Texas, signing a $125 million contract with the rival Angels.
The Texans rack up their second straight AFC South title.
Rookie QB Andrew Luck leads the Colts, 2-14 a year ago, into the playoffs at 10-5, and RG3 has the Redskins playing for the NFC East crown against the Cowboys.
Texas takes the NCAA women’s volleyball title, beating Oregon in straight sets.
2012 sports review: a month-by-month look back
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2012 sports review: a month-by-month look back
