THE DECADE IN REVIEW OCALL L Y SPEAKING Beyond TIGER...
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SPORTS EXTRA THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2009 PAGE C3 WWW Hoops royalty: Drew Neitzel of Wyoming Park (2003-04) and David Kool of South Christian (2005-06) were named Mr. Basketball, and Allyssa DeHaan of Grandville (2005-06) and Kellie Watson of Ionia (2007-08) were Miss Basketball winners. Pistons’ rollercoaster ride: Successful coaches such as Rick Carlisle, Larry Brown and Flip Saunders came and went amid controversy. Good players came and went. There were 50-win seasons, a 2004 NBA title, a franchise-best 64-18 record in 2005-06 and six consecutive Eastern Conference final berths that ended in 2008. Last season, the consecutive sellout crowds ended at 259. So did winning seasons. Heartbreak in Hockeytown: The Pittsburgh Penguins shocked the hockey world with a Game 7 win against the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings to win the 2009 Stanley Cup. It denied the Red Wings and the NHL back-to-back titles for the first time since Detroit in 1997 and 2008. Lloyd leaves Michigan; RichRod arrives: After leading the Michigan football team to five Big Ten titles, a 1997 national championship and a 122-40 overall record, coach Lloyd Carr retired after 13 seasons. The critics said his style of play had become stale as they welcomed the arrival of Rich Rodriguez from West Virginia. After leading the Wolverines to 3-9 and 5-7 seasons, was RichRod the right man? MSU among the best: Coach Tom Izzo and his Michigan State men’s basketball program advanced to four Final Fours (2000, 2001, ’05 and ’09) and won the national title in 2000. But it was the Spartans’ runner-up finish at the ’09 Final Four in Detroit that proved to be one of the decade’s feel-good stories. Record breakers: Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour and wide receiver Bryan Anderson (Rockford) set NCAA records in 2009. LeFevour’s 148 combined touchdowns (passing, rushing, receiving) and Anderson’s consecutive games with a reception (53) both are tops in the college ranks. See ya, Shock: A poor economy and the state’s lack of interest in the WNBA forced the Detroit Shock to pack up in 2009 for Tulsa, Okla. God bless Chuck Daly: Even the Bad Boys couldn’t help but cry when well-respected Detroit Pistons coach Chuck Daly died at age 78. He left behind a winning legacy, including two NBA championships. Ride of the Tigers In 2000, the Detroit Tigers vacated historic Tiger Stadium for Comerica Park. Then came good and bad history, like: a 2003 season and a 43-119 record — the worst in American League history and the third-worst in major league history; a 2006 season under manager Jim Leyland that saw Detroit enjoy its first winning season since 1993 with its first playoff berth since ’87; a 2006 American League pennant, only to lose to St. Louis in the World Series; an injury-riddled and non-playoff ’07 season highlighted by Justin Verlander’s no-hitter; and, last season, which came down to the Tigers losing a 6-5, 12-inning, one- game playoff game to Minnesota to decide the AL Central Division. TIGER TALES TAILS WOODS: FROM GOLFING GREAT TO HUSBAND WITH A LOT OF TRANSGRESSIONS THE DECADE IN REVIEW The Tiger Woods saga The good news: Tiger Woods was the most dominant golfer and top commercial endorser of the decade. And who can forget the 2008 U.S. Open, won by Woods on a gimpy knee? The bad news: Woods apparently isn’t the squeaky-clean family man everyone thought. As the decade came to a close with Woods on an indefinite leave from golf after his many extra-marital affairs were revealed, his professional and personal life remain in limbo. Same ’ol Lions After missing the playoffs in 2000 by a field goal, Detroit Lions owner William Clay Ford Sr. hired Matt Millen as president and CEO. In 2001, ’02 and ’03, the Lions did not win a road game. Over seven seasons under Millen, Detroit went 31-81, including an NFL-record 0-16 mark last season. This season, after Millen finally was fired, the Lions are 2-12. Sigh. LOCALLY SPEAKING DAN THE MAN Grand Haven’s Dan Bylsma became the 14th rookie coach to win the Stanley Cup when the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of the 2009 finals. RITZ ON THE RUN It was quite a decade for Rockford native Dathan Ritzenhein: 2000 national high school cross country champion; ’03 NCAA cross country champion; qualifier for ’04 Athens Olympics; USATF 12K cross country champion in ’05; runner-up at ’07 Olympic Marathon Team Trials; highest American finisher (ninth) in ’08 Beijing Olympics; winner of ’08 U.S. Cross Country Championships; third at ’09 IAFF Golden League Meet, where he set the American record in the 5,000. FROM FIRST TO FINISHED The Grand Rapids Rampage became kings of the Arena Football League, winning the 2001 championship. At the end of decade, there is no Grand Rapids Rampage — and no AFL. GRIFFINS ON ICE The Grand Rapids Griffins won the International Hockey League regular-season title in 2001 and an AHL regular-season crown in 2006. WHITECAPS ARE WINNERS The West Michigan Whitecaps, the Class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, won Midwest League titles in 2004, ’06 and ’07 and earned playoff berths in 11 of their 14 years. . BEST OF THE BEST Grand Valley State won six consecutive Sears Cup trophies dating to 2004 as the best athletic program in NCAA Division II. That success included four football national championships, an ’09 women’s soccer title, an ’05 volleyball championship and an ’05 women’s basketball title. Calvin College claimed the Division III men’s basketball title in 2000, and the men’s national cross country championships in 2000, ’03, ’04 and ’06. Hope College won the ‘06 Division III women’s hoops title. Grace Bible College was the men’s basketball champ of the National Christian College Athletic Association in ‘06 and ’09. Grand Rapids Community College won three National Junior College Athletic Association Division II baseball championships from 2003-05. EAST RULES East Grand Rapids won state championships six times in football, five times in boys lacrosse and girls tennis, three times in girls cross country and boys tennis, twice in girls swimming and soccer, and once in boys swimming and diving, baseball, boys golf and girls water polo. — Howie Beardsley Pound-for-pound punisher Grand Rapids native Floyd Mayweather beat Oscar De La Hoya in the biggest pay-per-view boxing event ever, then retired. He returned to the ring after nearly two years to dismantle Manuel Marquez on Sept. 19, 2009, to remain undefeated. Now looms a mega-bucks fight with Manny Pacquiao to prove, once and for all, his worth as pound-for- pound world champ. He’s back: Floyd Mayweather, left, returned to boxing to flatten Manuel Marquez in September. The highs (get it?) and lows of Phelps Phelps was THE man at the 2008 Beijing Olympics while earning eight gold medals. Thanks to modern technology, he was knocked down a peg or two after camera phone pictures showed him smoking marijuana from a bong. The death of Dale Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s death cast an indelible pall on the world of auto racing, and sports in general, when the legendary good ’ol boy of NASCAR died from a skull fracture as a result of a crash in Turn 4 on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Beyond the headlines of the 2000s Winner: Roger Federer became the top player in Grand Slam tennis history in 2009 when he defeated Andy Roddick in five epic sets for his sixth Wimbledon championship and 15th major crown. Losers: It was The Malice at The Palace on Nov. 19, 2004, when the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers slugged it out on the court and in the stands, giving the NBA a lasting black eye. Winners: The Boston Red Sox ended an 86-year-old drought when they won the 2004 World Series. Loser: The NHL turned off even some of its true-blue fans by locking out in 2004-05. Winners: Several Grand Rapids- area athletes made names for themselves by making the big leagues: Chris Kaman (Tri-unity Christian), NBA; Katie Feenstra-Mattera (Grand Rapids Baptist), WNBA; David Harris (Ottawa Hills) and Joe Staley (Rockford), NFL; Allison Fouch (East Grand Rapids), LPGA and Mike Knuble (East Kentwood), NHL. Loser: Congressional hearings in 2005 looked into major league baseball’s past history of steroid use and forced the game to clean up its act. Winner: Coach Brian Kelly won two NCAA Division II football championships at Grand Valley State. He then left to rebuild the program at Central Michigan, and then departed to turn things around at Cincinnati. He now has his dream job as coach at Notre Dame. Winner: Danica Patrick was the Rookie of the Year for the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and the ’05 IndyCar series season. Loser: NBA referee Tim Donaghy resigned from the league on July 9, 2007, before an investigation by the FBI for allegations that he bet on games he officiated. Winner: Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive years, from 1999 to 2005. WINNERS & LOSERS STATE OF THE STATE AP FILE PHOTO The Man on wheels: Lance Armstrong ruled the Tour de France. Lloyd Carr 3549294-01 www.msportstours.com DETROIT RED WINGS vs. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS SUN. AFT. JAN. 17 $ 120 00 EA. JOE LOUIS ARENA
Transcript of THE DECADE IN REVIEW OCALL L Y SPEAKING Beyond TIGER...
SPORTS EXTRATHE GRAND RAPIDS PRESSSUNDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2009 PAGE C3WWW
Hoops royalty: Drew Neitzel of Wyoming Park (2003-04) and David Kool of South Christian (2005-06) were named Mr. Basketball, and Allyssa DeHaan of Grandville (2005-06) and Kellie Watson of Ionia (2007-08) were Miss Basketball winners.
Pistons’ rollercoaster ride: Successful coaches such as Rick Carlisle, Larry Brown and Flip Saunders came and went amid controversy. Good players came and went. There were 50-win seasons, a 2004 NBA title, a franchise-best 64-18 record in 2005-06 and six consecutive Eastern Conference final berths that ended in 2008. Last season, the consecutive sellout crowds ended at 259. So did winning seasons .
Heartbreak in Hockeytown: The Pittsburgh Penguins shocked the hockey world with a Game 7 win against the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings to win the 2009 Stanley
Cup. It denied the Red Wings and the NHL back-to-back titles for the first time since Detroit in 1997 and 2008.
Lloyd leaves Michigan; RichRod arrives: After leading the Michigan football team to five Big Ten titles, a 1997 national championship and a 122-40 overall record, coach Lloyd Carr retired after 13 seasons. The critics said his style of play had become stale as they welcomed the arrival of Rich Rodriguez from West Virginia. After leading the Wolverines to 3-9 and 5-7 seasons, was RichRod the right man?
MSU among the best: Coach Tom Izzo and his Michigan State men’s basketball program advanced to four Final Fours (2000, 2001, ’05 and ’09)and won the national title in
2000. But it was the Spartans’ runner-up finish at the ’09 Final Four in Detroit that proved to be one of the decade’s feel-good stories.
Record breakers: Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour and wide receiver Bryan Anderson (Rockford) set NCAA records in 2009. LeFevour’s 148 combined touchdowns (passing, rushing, receiving) and Anderson’s consecutive games with a reception (53) both are tops in the college ranks.
See ya, Shock: A poor economy and the state’s lack of interest in the WNBA forced the Detroit Shock to pack up in 2009 for Tulsa, Okla.
God bless Chuck Daly: Even the Bad Boys couldn’t help but cry when well-respected Detroit Pistons coach Chuck Daly died at age 78. He left behind a winning legacy, including two NBA championships.
Ride of the Tigers
In 2000, the Detroit Tigers vacated historic Tiger Stadium for Comerica Park. Then came good and bad history, like: a 2003 season and a 43-119 record — the worst in American League history and the third-worst in major league history; a 2006 season under manager Jim Leyland that saw Detroit enjoy its first winning season since 1993 with its first playoff berth since ’87; a 2006 American League pennant, only to lose to St. Louis in the World Series; an injury-riddled and non-playoff ’07 season highlighted by Justin Verlander’s no-hitter ; and, last season, which came down to the Tigers losing a 6-5, 12-inning, one-game playoff game to Minnesota to decide the AL Central Division.
TIGER TALES TAILSWOODS: FROM GOLFING GREAT TO HUSBAND WITH A LOT OF TRANSGRESSIONS
THE DECADE IN REVIEW
The Tiger Woods sagaThe good news: Tiger Woods was the most
dominant golfer and top commercial endorser of the decade. And who can forget the 2008 U.S. Open, won by Woods on a gimpy knee? The bad news: Woods apparently isn’t the squeaky-clean family man everyone thought. As the decade came to a close with Woods on an indefi nite leave from golf after his many extra-marital affairs were revealed, his professional and personal life remain in limbo.
Same ’ol Lions
After missing the playoffs in 2000 by a field goal , Detroit Lions owner William Clay Ford Sr. hired Matt Millen as president and CEO. In 2001, ’02 and ’03, the Lions did not win a road game. Over seven seasons under Millen, Detroit went 31-81, including an NFL-record 0-16 mark last season. This season, after Millen finally was fired, the Lions are 2-12. Sigh.
LOCALLY SPEAKING
DAN THE MANGrand Haven’s Dan Bylsma became
the 14th rookie coach to win the Stanley Cup when the Pittsburgh
Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of the 2009 finals.
RITZ ON THE RUNIt was quite a decade for Rockford
native Dathan Ritzenhein: 2000 national high school cross country champion; ’03 NCAA cross country champion; qualifier for ’04 Athens Olympics; USATF 12K cross country champion in ’05; runner-up at ’07
Olympic Marathon Team Trials; highest American finisher (ninth) in ’08 Beijing Olympics; winner of ’08 U.S. Cross Country Championships;
third at ’09 IAFF Golden League Meet , where he set the American
record in the 5,000.
FROM FIRST TO FINISHEDThe Grand Rapids Rampage became kings of the Arena
Football League, winning the 2001 championship. At the end of decade, there is no Grand Rapids
Rampage — and no AFL.
GRIFFINS ON ICEThe Grand Rapids Griffins won
the International Hockey League regular-season title in 2001 and an AHL regular-season crown in 2006.
WHITECAPS ARE WINNERSThe West Michigan Whitecaps,
the Class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, won Midwest League titles in 2004, ’06 and ’07 and earned
playoff berths in 11 of their 14 years.
. BEST OF THE BESTGrand Valley State won six
consecutive Sears Cup trophies dating to 2004 as the best athletic program in NCAA Division II. That
success included four football national championships, an ’09
women’s soccer title, an ’05 volleyball championship and an ’05
women’s basketball title. Calvin College claimed the �
Division III men’s basketball title in 2000, and the men’s national cross country championships in
2000, ’03, ’04 and ’06.Hope College won the ‘06 �
Division III women’s hoops title.Grace Bible College was the �
men’s basketball champ of the National Christian College Athletic
Association in ‘06 and ’09. Grand Rapids Community �
College won three National Junior College Athletic Association
Division II baseball championships from 2003-05.
EAST RULES East Grand Rapids won state
championships six times in football, five times in boys lacrosse and girls
tennis, three times in girls cross country and boys tennis, twice in girls
swimming and soccer, and once in boys swimming and diving, baseball,
boys golf and girls water polo.
— Howie Beardsley
Pound-for-pound punisherGrand Rapids native Floyd Mayweather beat Oscar De La Hoya in the biggest pay-per-view boxing event ever, then retired. He returned to the ring after nearly two years to dismantle Manuel Marquez on Sept. 19, 2009, to remain undefeated. Now looms a mega-bucks fight with Manny Pacquiao to prove, once and for all, his worth as pound-for-pound world champ.
He’s back: Floyd Mayweather, left, returned to boxing to flatten Manuel Marquez in September.
The highs (get it?)
and lows of Phelps
Phelps was THE man at the 2008 Beijing Olympics while earning eight gold medals. Thanks to modern technology, he was knocked down a peg or two after camera phone pictures showed him smoking marijuana from a bong.
The deathof DaleDale Earnhardt Sr.’s death cast an indelible pall on the world of auto racing, and sports in general, when the legendary good ’ol boy of NASCAR died from a skull fracture as a result of a crash in Turn 4 on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
Beyond the headlines of the 2000s
Winner: Roger Federer became the top player in Grand Slam tennis history in 2009 when he defeated Andy Roddick in five epic sets for his sixth Wimbledon championship and 15th major crown.
Losers: It was The Malice at The Palace on Nov. 19, 2004, when the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers slugged it out on the court and in the stands, giving the NBA a lasting black eye.
Winners: The Boston Red Soxended an 86-year-old drought when they won the 2004 World Series.
Loser: The NHL turned off even some of its true-blue fans by locking out in 2004-05.
Winners: Several Grand Rapids-area athletes made names for themselves by making the big leagues: Chris Kaman (Tri-unity Christian), NBA; Katie Feenstra-Mattera (Grand Rapids Baptist), WNBA;
David Harris (Ottawa Hills) and Joe Staley (Rockford), NFL; Allison Fouch (East Grand Rapids), LPGA and Mike Knuble (East Kentwood), NHL.
Loser: Congressional hearings in 2005 looked into major league baseball’s past history of steroid use and forced the game to clean up its act.
Winner: Coach Brian Kelly won two NCAA Division II football championships at Grand Valley State. He then left to rebuild the program at Central Michigan, and then departed to turn things around at Cincinnati. He now has his dream job as
coach at Notre Dame.
Winner: Danica Patrick was theRookie of the Year for the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and the ’05 IndyCar series season .
Loser: NBA referee Tim Donaghy resigned from the league on July 9, 2007, before an investigation by the FBI for allegations that he bet on games he officiated .
Winner: Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive years, from 1999 to 2005.
WINNERS & LOSERSSTATE OF THE STATE
AP FILE PHOTO
The Man on wheels:Lance Armstrong ruled the Tour de France.
Lloyd Carr
3549
294-
01
www.msportstours.com
DETROIT RED WINGS vs. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKSSUN. AFT.JAN. 17
$12000EA.
JOE LOUIS ARENA
