Best of 2005

Everyone loves lists. Especially deadline-weary broadcasters who need another story to fill a slow news period. So here's my take on the ten biggest local sports stories of 2005.

10. Blount County sweeps high school football titles. Maryville wins again in Class 4A. Alcoa wins again in Class 2A.

9. Lady Vols softball team makes first-ever College World Series appearance in June. They beat 6-time national champ Arizona in game one. They lose in the championship series to Michigan.

8. Steve McNair announces he will return to play for the Titans. Often injured, always respected, McNair plays an 11th season, and may endure 11 losses for the second-straight year.

7. Lady Vols win NCAA Indoor Track and Field championship. Head Coach J.J. Clark's team becomes the first Lady Vol sport-- other than basketball-- to win a national title.

6. Peyton Manning leads the Colts to a 13-0 start. The former Vol came off his finest year as a professional (49 touchdown passes in 2004), and helped the Colts challenge for an undefeated season. While the Colts lost their 14th regular season game (at home, to San Diego), they remain a Super Bowl favorite.


5. The UT football team beats Texas A&M 38-7 in the Cotton Bowl. Emergency quarterback Rick Clausen wins offensive MVP honors-- the first-step in an eventual quarterback controversy in 2005.

4. The UT football teams loses to Vanderbilt 28-24. It's the Commodores first win over Tennessee in 23 years (1982). It's also Vanderbilt's first win in Knoxville since 1974.

3. Vol Offensive Coordinator Randy Sanders resigns. Sanders cited personal pressures for his decision. The announcement comes two days after the Vols lose to South Carloina-- their third straight defeat.

2. Vols hire David Cutcliffe as their new offensive coordinator. The move comes two days after the Vols complete their first non-bowl season since 1988. Cutcliffe was offensive coordinator when the Vols made their run for a national title in 1998.

1. Pat Summitt becomes the all-time winningest coach in Division One college basketball. The Lady Vols beat Purdue 75-54 on March 22nd, giving Summitt 880 career wins-- as she passes Dean Smith on the career win ladder.


Other stories that nearly made the cut:
*Buzz out, Bruce in. So far, so good for Coach Pearl. UT fans are hoping the Vol basketball team becomes THE story of 2006.
*UT Athletics Department announces decision to retire the numbers of former football players Peyton Manning, Doug Atkins, and Reggie White. It sparks a mini-controversy.
*The Ice Bears win the regular season title in the Southern Professional Hockey League.
*The inaugural Knoxville Marathon is run.
*The Knoxville Open plays its 16th year on a redesigned Fox Den golf course. Scores were supposed to drop. They didn't. Kim Felton won at -11.
*The Tennessee Smokies change major league affiliation-- again! For the third time in four years, the Smokies have a new major league club. It's the Arizona Diamondbacks.

My only prediction for 2006? Another top-ten list, of course.