What is your most memorable sports moments of 2003.

all good sports memories were erased by notre dame's piss poor season.

euro 2004 should have some moments, though. i love me some soccer.

(Edited by damon at 12:30 pm on Jan. 5, 2004)

I have three great sports memories this year...

1) Notre Dame's piss poor season
2) Iowa's total dismantling of the Florida Gators in the Outback Bowl. I'm still giddy over that one (and $200 richer)
3) Having seats across from the Ferrari pits at the US Grand Prix, where Michael Schumacher all but clinched his record 6th World Championship.

(Edited by Peace Frog at 12:37 pm on Jan. 5, 2004)

bastard.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... if you want to root for a good Catholic school jump on BC's bandwagon. Jesuits run circles around Dominicans any day of the week.

my hatred of boston college grows with every time the beat the irish.

Yeah, game 3 of the ALCS was pretty memorable. I still side with Pedro, even though I don't really like him. But hell, to me, just the fact that both the Red Sox and the Cubs came so close to getting to the Series was pretty huge. Of course the Steve Bartman thing will always be remembered. I've forgiven him, but I still contend that the entire NLCS swung on that one play. Oh well - I guess there's always the proverbial "next year."

The Kobe story has to be considered. I guess we'll just have to see how big that whole thing turns out to be. But seriously, is there anyone here who really thinks he'll spend a day in jail? I didn't think so. Otherwise the NBA was as boring as ever in 2003. As roadie would say: "Talk about much ado about nothing..."

Oh yeah, hockey is still boring, too. I've tried and tried, and I know I'm supposed to like hockey, and I guess it's kind of fun to watch in person, but for the most part, all it ever does is bore me. You may proceed with the council to have me drawn and quartered. In the mean time, I'll just be watching some college basketball. Which brings me to my next point...

Vanderbilt is off to an 11-0 start and is ranked 22nd in the country, which for me is one of the biggest stories of 2003. I expect big things from them in 2004, and if they keep playing defense and rebounding like they have been, I think you might see them go deep into the tournament.

Really? Its pretty sad I didn't know that. You're not talking women's basketball are you?

hehehe

January 3rd, 2003. Not only my 23rd birthday, but the day

THE OHIO STATE BUCKEYES WON THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

14-0 14-0 14-0 14-0 14-0 14-0 14-0 14-0 14-0 14-0 14-0 14-0 BIATCH!

There's many more coming, folks.

I would say Steve McNair winning the MVP but technically that was awarded this year.

Carl, would I even waste keystrokes on women's basketball?

It is tradition that the Vanderbilt Men will get off to a good start and come back to earth/mediocrity once they get to the SEC schedule, so I wouldn't get your hopes up too much.

2002-2003 season started out 7-4, final record 11-18
01-02 10-3 start, final record 17-15
00-01 10-2 start, final record 15-15
99-00 9-1 start, final record 19-11
98-99 9-3 start, final record 14-15

(Edited by Ceeze at 5:18 pm on Jan. 5, 2004)

I'm sure there's a joke about "strokes" in there.

All I'm saying is that's been our claim to fame in the past few years.

Yeah, I'm aware of that. I've been following Vanderbilt since I could dribble a basketball. The thing is, as with most SEC teams, their non-conference schedule early in the season mostly consists of cupcakes. However, there are always at least a couple of real challenges thrown in there. So while it's easy for Vandy to be 7-4, 10-3, or even 9-1, it's really significant to be completely undefeated. This year's schedule is like any other year: mostly cupcakes (Belmont, TSU, Wofford), but a few real tests (Indiana, IUPUI, Michigan). So they could easily be 8-3 without it really being very impressive. But 11-0 is pretty significant, I think. Plus, they're not just winning, they're blowing everyone out of the gym - their average margin of victory is just under 26 points.

I agree with you that the SEC games will be the true test. But I've seen many, many VU basketball teams in my life, and this one is without a doubt one of the very best.

I'm sorry, make that #20.

My favriote is when the texans beat miami in the season opener. For the texans that is huge.

I hope you're right. I'm just not sure they can measure up to the late 80's, early 90's teams.

Ceeze, you were right. I was wrong.

Shame on me for expecting Vanderbilt to be competitive in the SEC. Shame on me!

Maybe Vandy can make the NIT.