In fact, Armstrong's being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and never-ending Sinners bounty investigation were rated as the second- and third-biggest sports stories of the year. The rest of the Top 10 was: (4) concussions in football; (5) the London Olympics; (6) the college football playoffs; (7) the NFL's replacement officials; (8) the Giants' run to the Super Bowl title; (9) Pat Summitt's retirement; and (10) Peyton Manning's resurgence. These were all great stories that all deserve their place in the Top 10, but one of the great things about sports is that you could've easily come up with another Top 10 containing 10 completely different stories and you probably wouldn't have gotten an argument about any of them, either.
For example, here, in no particular order, are some other sports stories from 2012 that easily could've been selected:
- Another NHL lockout: Tell me when this starts to sound familiar. The NHL's CBA expired, and the league's owners decided to lock out the players instead of negotiating a new deal. As the lockout extends into its fourth month with no end in sight, more than half of the season has already been cancelled, including all of the NHL's marquee events, and the clueless league is coming dangerously close to losing a second season due to a labor dispute in eight years.
- LeBron finally gets his ring: I'll give LeBron James credit. He had a hell of a year. Two years after "The Decision," he led Miami past Boston and Oklahoma City to finally win his first NBA title. Then, to cap off his incredible run, LeBron went to London and won his second straight Olympic gold medal with Team USA.
- Kentucky's freshmen win the national title, then all leave for the NBA: John Calipari's one-and-done experiment has drawn its share of criticism, but no one can argue with the success he's found using this model. In 2011-12, he lastest prized freshmen included Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Davis ended up earning National Player of the Year honors and Kentucky won its first national title in 14 years. They then made history by having four players from that team taken in the first round of the NBA Draft, including Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist going 1-2.
- Baylor completes the first 40-0 season in NCAA history: Brittany Griner is the most dominant player in women's basketball right now, and she led Baylor to a season for the ages in 2011-12. They were ranked No. 1 all season and cruised to the National Championship. With their win over Notre Dame in the title game, the Bears became the first team (men or women) in college basketball history to finish the season with a 40-0 record.
- More conference realignment: Just when we thought the ridiculous never-ending cycle of conference realignment in college athletics might finally cool down a bit, it turns out that wasn't the case at all. Notre Dame signed on to join the ACC in all sports except football, then Maryland and Rutgers announced they were moving to the Big Ten. Louisville replaced Maryland in the ACC, so the Big East went and grabbed Tulane from Conference USA. That was the final straw for the Big East basketball schools, who finally got fed up with football dictating their lives and decided to leave as a group and form their own conference. Believe it or not, 25 of the 32 existing Division I conferences have been impacted by this constant realignment.
- Notre Dame's return to prominence: The Fighting Irish are back. Notre Dame is once again relevant nationally, going 12-0 during the regular season and playing for its first national title since 1988. Critics point to their schedule, and they've certainly had a little "luck of the Irish" on their side. And there will always be the Notre Dame haters out there. But the fact remains. Notre Dame's undefeated and playing for the national title.
- R.A. Dickey's sensational season: R.A. Dickey's story is just as remarkable as his unbelievable 2012 season. The 37-year-old knuckleballer had a season for the ages, ranking among the National League leaders in every major pitching category, making his first All-Star team, and winning the Cy Young Award. All this by a guy who only turned to the knuckleball after his career as a conventional pitcher fizzled. Dickey's success in 2012 was one of the most uplifting stories of the year.
- Spain's soccer supremacy continues: It's safe to say that the Spanish national team's run over the last four years has been perhaps the most dominant in the history of international soccer. It started when they won the European Championship in 2008. Spain then won its first World Cup title in 2010, becoming the first reigning European champion to win the World Cup. Then they made it three major titles in a row by defending their European title. No nation had ever done that before.
- Hurricane Sandy's impact: Hurricane Sandy hit the New York area in late October and left a trail of devastation in her wake. As a result, the Nets' first game in their brand-new Brooklyn arena (which was supposed to be against the Knicks) was postponed, the Steelers left the morning of the game for their matchup with the Giants, and, after much debate and criticism, the New York City Marathon was cancelled for the first time in its history.
- Andy Murray arrives: A sleeping giant was awakened during the Wimbledon fortnight. But first let's rewind all the way to January, when he lost an epic five-set semifinal to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. Now on to London, where Murray finally reached the Wimbledon final, becoming the first British man to do so since 1938. He lost that final to Roger Federer, then met Roger on Centre Court again a month later in the Olympic gold medal match--and dominated. And he capped his incredible summer by beating Djokovic in a classic US Open final to, at long last, become a Grand Slam champion. I predict it'll be the first of many Grand Slam titles.
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