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December 29, 2012

Remembering the key players in 2012

By Jeff Harvey Princeton Times

// — I want to wish everyone out there a Happy New Year.
The New Era Pinstripe Bowl is tomorrow at Yankee Stadium. Syracuse makes its second appearance in the three years, while WVU makes its debut in this bowl.
Syracuse leads the all-time series vs. West Virginia, 32-27, winning the last two meetings after eight straight Mountaineer wins from 2002-09.
I can't seem to find much information on Syracuse. What little I have has been gleaned from reading Mickey Furfari's column in the  Register-Herald. According to Dana Holgorsen, Syracuse has a quarterback very similar to Geno Smith in Ryan Nassib, two veteran wide receivers and utilizes multiple blitzes on defense.
I'm going to predict a 30-27 WVU victory.
I see that Stedman Bailey is going to leave WVU for the NFL. It makes sense, considering that Geno Smith and Tavon Ausin are graduating and Bailey's value may be at its peak now. If he stayed, he would have to adjust to a new quarterback and would be the centerpiece of other teams' defensive plans..
I thought that I'd look at some of the major sports stories for 2012 for the rest of my column this week.
The Summer Olympics in London featured expected winners living up to their expectations with the best examples being Usain Bolt in the 100 and 200 meters. Michael Phelps collecting six gold medals in swimming and the U.S. Men's Basketball team winning gold. It also featured two teenagers in gymnast Gabby Douglas and swimmer Missy Franklin.
Baseball saw the first Triple Crown campaign in 45 years as Miguel Cabrera led the Detroit Tigers to the World Series. The San Francisco Giants, led by National League Most Valuable Player Buster Posey, one year removed from a serious ankle fracture, won it all for the second time in three years. The Angels unveiled one of the most exciting rookies in years in outfielder Mike Trout. While the Washington Nationals had an exciting rookie of their own in 19-year-old Bryce Harper. Pitchers three a combined seven no-hit games, including three perfect games.
The NBA, after a lockout-delayed start, saw LeBron James get his first title with the Miami Heat, en route to a year which saw him get the regular season, conference playoffs and NBA Finals MVPs as well as a gold medal. Kevin Durant served notice that he would be a MVP candidate for years to come in taking the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Finals. New York had a brief dose of "Linsanity".
College basketball saw Kentucky coach John Calipari's recruiting of "one-and-done" players pay off in his first NCAA title, while Baylor, led by 6'8" Brittney Griner won the women's title with a perfect season. Pat Summitt stepped down as Tennessee head coach after a remarkable seven titles and over 900 wins due to illness.
The NFL  saw the New York Giants again defeat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, garnering Eli manning his second Super Bowl MVP title. The current season could be best characterized as the year of the rookie quarterbacks as five started and three had their teams on the cusp of the playoffs. In addition, three records, Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing yardage record, Michael Strahan's single - season sacks record and Jerry Rice's single-season yards receiving record all came under serious siege by Adrian Peterson, J.J. Watt and Aldon Smith and Calvin Johnson, respectively.
College football saw Alabama extend the SEC's streak of national titles to six by defeating LSU. They stand at the brink of a seventh-straight SEC national title if they can defeat Notre Dame, which is seeking its first title since 1988.
The NHL saw the Los Angeles Kings win their first title in the 45-year existence of the franchise, the self-destruct by calling a lockout of its players which is still on-going.
Major League Soccer saw the L.A. Galaxy win its first title led by American star Landon Donovan and British import David Beckham.
I can be reached c/o Jeff's Sports Corner, P.O. Box 1199, Princeton, WV, 24740. I can also be reached at delimartman@yahoo.com orjharvey1@frontiernet.net or on Facebook

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