Welcome back to the 25 for 25 Series! G-Man is turning 25 on July 23rd and to celebrate, I am counting down each of the sporting years I have been alive for. Full rules on the 25 for 25 Main Page.
Stanley Cup Champion: Anaheim Ducks (48-29-14, #2 Western Conference) — In the spirit of USWNT’s victory last night, I must point out that this was third-straight Stanley Cup that an American-based team beat a Canadian-based team (USA! USA! USA!). The Ducks (who had officially dropped the “Mighty” from their name prior to this season starting) beat down on the Ottawa Senators defeating them in five games as Scott Niedermayer took home the Conn Symthe. Martin Brodeur won the Vezina Trophy (Goalie MVP) as he broke the single-season record for wins record with 48.
NBA Champion: San Antonio Spurs (58-24, #3 Western Conference) — Tim Duncan and the Spurs won their fourth ring over Lebron James and Cavaliers in a clean sweep as Toni Parker took home the Finals MVP. These finals were so lob-sided, they finished with the lowest rating in NBA Finals History. Dirk Nowitzki took home the MVP of the regular season while Brandon Roy of the Blazers (remember him?) was the Rookie of the Year.
World Series Champion: Boston Red Sox (96-66, #2 American League) — The Sox captured their second title in four years by sweeping the Colorado Rockies in a dominant fashion. While their comeback from down 3-1 to the Indians as well as the Rockies run to the World were both extremely impressive, it lead us to hope for an epic World Series, which it wasn’t. 2007 was also notable for the Mets collapse of a 7-game NL East lead that led to the Phillies making the playoffs for the first time since 1993.
Super Bowl Champion: New York Giants (10-6, #5 NFC) — The Giants took down the 18-0 Patriots in quite possibly the greatest Super Bowl ever. Tom Brady and set all types of records but Eli Manning and David Tyree had the last laugh in this thriller.
NCAA Football National Champion: LSU Tigers — For the second-straight year, the Ohio State Buckeyes were routed by an SEC team.
NCAA Men’s Basketball National Champion: Florida Gators — Back-to-back championships for Billy Donovan and the Gators.
Masters Champion: Zach Johnson (1st Major)
US Open Champion: Angel Cabrera (1st Major)
British Open Champion: Padraig Harrington (1st Major)
PGA Champion: Tiger Woods (13th Major)
This was a tough one. Super Bowl XLII is one the best Super Bowls I’ve ever seen, it was thrilling from start to finish. That being said, the rest of the championships were pretty lackluster. The Cavs had no shot at the Spurs and San Antonio dominated accordingly. The Ducks/Sens series was alright, not the best nor were the playoffs. The end of the MLB season was extremely thrilling as was the ALCS, however we saw NOTHING out of the NL playoffs and once the Rockies made it to the World Series, they looked like a Triple-A team against the Red Sox.
The THUNDERBLOG 