With only a few days of class left in 2006, I think its time do a little reflection.
It was a year of sports that left Tiger fans on both ends of the spectrum, from a no. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament to a two-win season in football.
But, it was always worth watching.
We saw the arguably best athlete play his final game when DeAngelo Williams walked off the field at the Motor City Bowl in Detroit. He left for the NFL as the holder of all-time NCAA records in most all-purpose yards, most 100-yard games. What was even better - he was a class act. I'll miss going to the Liberty Bowl on Saturday and wondering when - not if - Williams would bust a big run to either give the Tigers a lead or extend the existing one.
Those memories lie in stark contrast to this year's Tiger football team - one of the worst current Tiger fans have ever been through. They didn't win much, but they tried. Riddled with injuries and losing a busload of talent, the Tigers were on the wrong end of the scoreboard early and often and played in front of less than 10,000 people during the fourth quarter in more than one home game.
With football losing every game but two, the basketball team lost two games in 2006. Their run to the Elite Eight was special. Although the team definitely went through its ups and downs off the court with Jeremy Hunt being suspended for the entire season, Rodney Carney, Shawne Williams and Darius Washington brought basketball back to the forefront of Memphis sports.
The baseball team lead by relatively new coach Daron Schoenrock, showed that it will have success sooner rather than later. After winning just 13 games the year before, Schoenrock and his team won 32 games - a 19-game turnaround.
Eight players hit over .300 and as a team they hit .315. Schoenrock maybe one of the best coaches Memphis fans don't talk about.
The soccer teams saw success as Memphis' Shoko Mikami and Kylie Hayes made her impact on the women's team. Mikami and Hayes combined for 24 goals and 14 assists. The women finished 11-6-2 and lost in the C-USA semifinals on penalty kicks.
The men's team finished 10-8-0, which isn't so bad when you look on their roster and find only one senior. Next season the Tigers will get back their best defender Michael Coburn who went down with an ankle injury at the beginning of the season.
