My year as a sports fan

[rufuspaul]

So let's start with NCAA Football:

UNC Tarheels were not expected to be all that great. This was the year for Clemson, Duke and NC State to make noise in the ACC. Carolina comes out of nowhere and goes undefeated at home, including posting 60 points on Duke. They won the ACC coastal division and then...they lost to Clemson in the ACC championship and got throttled in their meaningless bowl game.

NFL:

The Carolina Panthers went 15-1 in the regular season behind spectacular play by league MVP Cam Newton and a suffocating defense. They sail through the playoffs and make it to the Super Bowl ... where they get stomped by Denver.

NCAA Basketball:

The Tarheels have an up and down season but come on strong in February and March. They win the ACC season title as well as the ACC Tournament. They make it to the Final Four and the Championship game ... and lose to Villanova on a buzzer beater.

NBA:

The Hornets were picked by most people to finish near the bottom of the Eastern Conference and when MKG was lost for the season any chance at making the playoffs was considered doomed. And yet they went on a tear after the Allstar break, had one of the best home records in the league, and finished in a tie with Miami, Boston and Atlanta at 48-34. They start off poorly against the Heat in the first round but then win 3 in a row to push the Heat to the brink of elimination ... but then lose game 6 at home and get throttled in game 7.

It's a good thing I don't follow MLB all that much. I need a break.

[ROCSteady]

Losing the big one must be pretty deflating after visioning a championship but at least you had quality teams to watch during their seasons.

At least you're not a DC sports fan

The Redskins had a surprisingly decent season but still got worked in a home playoff game. Just being in the playoffs was a bonus but still would have been nice to advance a round, a Super Bowl wasn't realistic.

The Terps underachieved in hoops. They were a favorite to be the best team in the nation and although making the Sweet 16, they weren't as good as envisioned, being thoroughly outclassed by Kansas in the second half of the Tourney game.

The Wizards (although I'm a bigger Lakers fan) were the most disappointing team in basketball, failing to make the playoffs and having no real team identity or strategy consistent with a professional operation.

The Nationals look pretty sweet this season although I'm not a big baseball fan but again, they were a huge letdown failing to make the postseason a year ago with a team that was favored to go deep. Forget that 162 game noise though, I keep on eye out in the playoffs only unless I go to a ballpark


My only hope right now is the Capitals, who are locked 1-1 in a best of seven with the Penguins. The Caps were the best team during the regular season but are getting outplayed by Pittsburgh, an organization who single-handedly have stomped on my heart many times over the years dating back to early childhood with painful sports scars still looming.

The Caps have the best roster they've ever had which includes the best goal scorer of the generation and the best goalie yet I'm not very optimistic at exorcising the playoff demons that have haunted this club for decades.


If the Caps lose to the Penguins again, it will crush the fan base more than what Carolinians have endured this year. I say that simply to impart some sympathy for your losses and also the empathy to recognize that there are other towns who get burned more.

[rufuspaul]

Losing the big one must be pretty deflating after visioning a championship but at least you had quality teams to watch during their seasons.

At least you're not a DC sports fan

The Redskins had a surprisingly decent season but still got worked in a home playoff game. Just being in the playoffs was a bonus but still would have been nice to advance a round, a Super Bowl wasn't realistic.

The Terps underachieved in hoops. They were a favorite to be the best team in the nation and although making the Sweet 16, they weren't as good as envisioned, being thoroughly outclassed by Kansas in the second half of the Tourney game.

The Wizards (although I'm a bigger Lakers fan) were the most disappointing team in basketball, failing to make the playoffs and having no real team identity or strategy consistent with a professional operation.

The Nationals look pretty sweet this season although I'm not a big baseball fan but again, they were a huge letdown failing to make the postseason a year ago with a team that was favored to go deep. Forget that 162 game noise though, I keep on eye out in the playoffs only unless I go to a ballpark


My only hope right now is the Capitals, who are locked 1-1 in a best of seven with the Penguins. The Caps were the best team during the regular season but are getting outplayed by Pittsburgh, an organization who single-handedly have stomped on my heart many times over the years dating back to early childhood with painful sports scars still looming.

The Caps have the best roster they've ever had which includes the best goal scorer of the generation and the best goalie yet I'm not very optimistic at exorcising the playoff demons that have haunted this club for decades.


If the Caps lose to the Penguins again, it will crush the fan base more than what Carolinians have endured this year. I say that simply to impart some sympathy for your losses and also the empathy to recognize that there are other towns who get burned more.

What do you think of the Redskins signing Josh Norman?

[ROCSteady]

Well seeing as I'm not a financial executive for the Redskins,

I think it's a great move.

At first, I was against paying one player that was not a QB that much cheddar and limiting salary cap for the future but it shouldn't restrict the team too much seeing as the cap will go up and some other contracts will be replaced by smaller ones after this year

Thinking about how great he played last season and hearing how passionate and genuine of a guy he is, I'm a fan and hope he can get close to his year last year. He certainly adds a positive attitude for the team and an irritating one to those he faces.

On the field is really all that matters, fans get caught up in contracts and stuff too much but contracts have nothing to do with games and impact so in pure football terms, Norman will most likely be a great asset to a team who badly needed help in the secondary.

Skins have one of the best GMs in the league so I trust his commitment and he already has improved the back end of the defense substantially just this offseason with various moves

[Steven Kerry]

Warriors break the all time winning record in the regular season and collect a few 3 point records along the way. Curry goes down early in the playoffs, but the Warriors keep Winning.

[DeuceWallaces]

That's pretty brutal outside of NBA. If you were a Clemson fan... That would be hilarious, an unprecedented triple championship loss.

[gigantes]

NBA

stripped of talent via years of foolish decisions and foolish trades, the nets finish... i think it was with the 3rd-worst record in the NBA. (i lack the desire to double-check that) on top of that, we don't get our full slate of draft picks until the year 2020, i believe it is.

on the plus side, our crazy russian owner (mikhail prokhorov) who caused this whole mess was forced to eat crow, and finally seems to have learned his lesson. a new GM (sean marks) and coach (kenny atkinson) were installed that are both highly-respected around the league. the GM has basically told the owner: "we're going to build carefully and patiently this time (ala the spurs), or else i'm out of here."

our top rookie (rondae hollis-jefferson) had a VERY promising season, and our other (chris mccullough), reasonably promising. we also stole a bench player with a fabulous offensive game (sean kilpatrick) from the D-league. add those guys to two of the best frontcourt players in the league last season, brook lopez and thaddeus young, and there's at least grounds for cautious optimism.


MMA

pretty good year, even with lots of key injuries in the UFC. and bellator has a solid year, which is always good for keeping some pressure on supreme dickhead dana white.

jon jones is back, conor McG has been a fun story, nice-person meisha tate finally won UFC gold, alistair overeem seems to be better than ever, and MMA events are now legal in NYC!

best of all...

superb-tch got her ass kicked! superb-tch got her ass kicked! superb-tch got her ass kicked!