Bittersweet Year of Sports...

Today I was off of work and waiting to go to a doctor's appointment.

I had been thinking about the past 365 days of sports and the teams that I follow regularly.

A majority of them had VERY successful seasons. But the catch?? They ALL came up just short of winning the ultimate goal.

I'll start with the one that happened the longest ago.

Michigan State's basketball team ended a magical run in the NCAA Tournament by facing the North Carolina Tarheels in the Final in Detroit, Michigan. It had been a wonderful season followed by an amazing tournament run. I really didn't expect them to make it to the Final. I knew that they could, but I didn't think that they would.

However, early on in the game it was fairly clear that the Tarheels and their "Pre-NBA" team was a bit too much for the Spartans. Michigan State ended up losing pretty badly. Second place is VERY respectable in NCAA hoops...but they were so close. Bittersweet.

Next up are the Detroit Red Wings.
The Wings worked to their second straight Stanley Cup Finals berth against the Pittsburgh Penguins by playing superb hockey in the playoffs. They took a 2-0 lead into Pittsburgh and came home with a 2-2 tie. No worries. They handled business in game 5 to take a 3-2 lead with two games to play. They followed that up with two poor efforts and ultimately lost the series in a lackluster performance in Game 7. Penguins win.

Again, second place isn't anything to be sorry about. There are 28 other teams that would have been happy to get a chance at the Cup. But for a team like the Red Wings, that's just not good enough. So close. Bittersweet.

Next up are the Colts.


The Colts are the football team that I have followed most closely for the better part of about 10 years now. I like Peyton Manning, and I like what the organization is all about.

However, last night they went into the second half of the Super Bowl leading 10-6...and managed to get crushed over the next 30 minutes by a score of 25-7, and ended up losing their second championship in 4 years by a final score of 31-17.

Basically, this game came down to two things. First off, the Colts played way too conservatively. Second off, they had the only turnover of the game at the worst possible time.

They were on their way to tying the game up at 24 when Manning threw a Pick Six that sealed the outcome.

So close...yet so far. Bittersweet.