[http://active.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/71737147.jpg]

Another year, another list of compelling sports stories. Here is a quick review of some of the events from 2006 that make us love sports...

The Winter Olympics in Turin featured highs and lows for the U.S., which placed second to Germany in the medal count.  Among the highlights was Shaun White, deemed the Flying Tomato by dominating the X Games over the years, delivering the same results on an international stage during the Winter Olympics. He twisted, turned, and flipped his way to a gold medal in the Men's Halfpipe competition, an event in which the U.S. had three of the top four highest scores.

The Final Four has been dominated by college basketball's big boys for more than a quarter of a century, with powerful teams and tournament-tested conferences gathering at the end of the season to sort out the champion. This year was a little different thanks to George Mason, a commuter school in suburban Virginia that never had won a single game in the NCAA tournament until two weeks prior to March Madness. What an inspirational run they had!

The world watched as the beautiful game took center stage this summer for the World Cup. We have video clips of the most beautiful goals in effort to forget the ugly image of Zidane's head butt heard 'round the world.

An autistic hoopster made headlines. During his first and only appearance for his high-school basketball team in Greece, N.Y., Jason McElwain, who is autistic, drains six three-pointers, adds another field goal and is carried off the court by his jubilant teammates.

An autistic hoopster made headlines

It was a very exciting and entertaining year for Little League Baseball as well. What a series! The Southeast team became the new world champs winning the 60th Little League World Series in a 2-1 upset over Japan. Also, the USA softball team took gold in the World Softball Championships in Beijing with a little help from Jessica Mendoza.

And in Ottaw[took gold|http://active.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/footballblind.jpg]a, Kansas there is a running back who rushed for 1,000 yards on the football field this season despite being legally blind and having a debilitating disease known as sickle cell anemia.

Thanks for an exciting and memorable 2006 - we're looking forward to 2007!

(Photo provided by Getty Images, taken by Jim McIsaac)

[http://active.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/71954195_1.jpg]

Last week in the Chicago Tribune's Redeye, I read that Tennessee basketball star Candace Parker dunked again--but this time she was whistled for a technical foul for showboating.

Parker had her fifth career dunk, and third this season, with 12:56 left in the first half of the Lady Vols game against West Virginia. She stole the ball at one end and jammed it with one hand at the end of a fast break. This time Parker's dunk was more emphatic with the rim making a louder thud, and she finished by popping her jersey. That led officials to confer with each other, and a technical was called.

I can't help but thinking how many male college basketball players dunk the ball and then showboat afterwards, playing to the cameras--not only not getting called for technicals, but being admired as superior athletes. I will admit, I appreciate athletes who put their head down and get their work done, hustling in a unflashy manner. Nonetheless, for those who dunk the ball and pop their jersey to represent their team or even themselves, shouldn't men and women get equal treatment?

(Photo provided by AFP, taken by Mauricio Lima)

Beyond Basketball

Part-motivational tome/part- memoir, this book from Duke Men's Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski is, as the title suggests, a blending of sport and life lessons learned during Krzyzewski's twenty-year coaching career. "I am a believer in the power of words," says the author and the book reflects this in its organization of the book through wordssuch as passion, excellence, and integrity that Krzyzewski often employs his players to visualize during a game.

[http://active.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/56610837.jpg]Texas Tech basketball coach Bobby Knight is no stranger to controversy. But even he was surprised at the uproar surrounding his ���interaction��� with sophomore forward Michael Prince this week.

NCAA President Myles Brand left open the possibility yesterday that college sports' governing body for the first time is willing to work with both the NBA and shoe companies to improve amateur basketball, which has come under increasing criticism this year.

read more | digg story

[Sebastian Telfair gets paid|http://www.flickr.com/photos/53034700@N00/127100189/] Originally uploaded by eteamz photos. </span></div>

German shoe company Adidas made news today by signing an 11-year deal with the NBA to be the official uniform supplier for the league. Financial details weren���t disclosed���but we can assume it was quite a bit-- as Adidas is preparing to purchase Reebok for the low-low price of 3.7 billion dollars. Click here for the whole story.

What might be lost in this fact is that companies like Adidas and Nike are largely responsible for the influx of high school athletes declaring for the NBA draft. Many players, such as Sebastian Telfair, only decided to ���skip college��� after signing a deal with Adidas. And oftentimes the money athletes make from endorsements, especially in basketball, easily outpace the money they make from the actual team contract.

So the question remains���do you think shoe companies represent too large an influence in youth sports (especially basketball)? Or do you think it���s an unavoidable consequence of a league where eighteen year-olds are welcome to join the professional ranks?

Click here to tell us what you think. And don���t forget to check out the basketball message boards to see what other members of the eteamz community are

[Adam Morrison has another dissapointment|http://www.flickr.com/photos/53034700@N00/120911694/] Originally uploaded by eteamz photos. </span></div>

It was no big surprise that J.J. Redick was named the national player of the year by The Associated Press today. (Check out the whole story here.) What was surprising was that Adam Morrison of Gonzaga didn���t share the award with him.

Many thought that Redick and Morrison had such similar numbers and both meant so much to their team that they would end up sharing NCAA basketball���s most prestigious individual award.

But many think that Morrison suffered from playing in a ���Mid-Major������meaning his level of competition wasn���t as high as Redick���s in the ACC. But doesn���t George Mason���s brilliant run prove that the conference reputations are largely relevant?

Click here to tell us if you think Morrison should have had a share of the award or if Redick and his 26.8 ppg were more than enough to take the award. Also check out the basketball message boards to see which player other members of the eteamz community thought was more deserving.

(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn

Kelvin Sampson is familiar with red and white, but if the reports are true, he'll be a cream and crimson Hoosier very soon.

Kelvin Sampson, 259-109 in 12 seasons at Oklahoma, reportedly was offered and accepted the Indiana University basketball head coaching position over the weekend.

Wow, is there really no chance for Bobby Knight to return? Can Sampson fulfill Hoosier expectations? Interesting times lie ahead in B-town.

And, what happened to Alford?

[Post your comments|http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20098642&amp;postID=114357