2014 A Great Year In Sports

There is one thing that is for sure, 2015 has not started off like 2014...
Looking back at 2014 the year in sports will always be special for me. Just about everything in that year went right. It started in early January with my favorite team of all, Florida State football took care of business and secured the National Title.
The whole season was epic, but securing that title really put the bow on it. That would have made 2014 an awesome sports year, but then Florida State Football went on to win all of their games in the calendar year during the fall. An amazing streak that would stretch all the way to 29 wins. Jameis Winston, who has taken so much nonsense for very little reason, led the Noles through perfection. Although I would have obviously liked them to close out this season with another title, I am thrilled with the performance of the Noles and excited for what Jameis and Jimbo have prepared for our future. It really does not get any better than this past year especially with all the hate our program has received. The hate makes it that much better and as Seminoles we have learned to embrace that hate. We have embraced the most hated team in recent memory and wear that as a badge of pride. Everyone hates us, but we love our team and are proud of our team that deserves 0 hate and 0 backlash.

Let's stick with FSU for a second. As an FSU fan for me it is football, track, baseball, basketball, and then the other sports. However, I love absolutely every sport at FSU and I have been to every sport as a student. It really was a great year for all of Seminole athletics. This fall in particular was spectacular. FSU Volleyball advanced to the Sweet 16 and FSU Soccer won a National Championship. Our fall sports were simply dominant. Men's Golf is actually a spring sport, but they had some Fall action and the Noles are #1 in Men's Golf. FSU happened to secure the FGCU Classic in late October to stay #1 and look quite strong for this season. Track is looking strong heading into 2015 and had a fantastic season in 2014. FSU Softball advanced to the College World Series in 2014 and baseball once again was a National Seed. All FSU programs represented the school brilliantly in 2014, and while it is over 2015 looks strong as well. That should not stop us from remembering what I believe is our best year to date though. Two national championship wins in a calendar year is impressive for any school. Great job Noles.

After the Seminoles, my favorite team is the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles were actually the first team I loved and the 1st sport I loved was baseball. This is a team I grew up watching and my entire immediate family loved. They were our local team growing up and when the Nationals came to town, I kept my allegiance to the Baltimore Orioles. During those years as an Oriole fan since my birth in '87 they have been awful the overwhelming majority of the time. However, this year they won the AL East (which I have seen twice) and they advanced to the ALCS (which I have also only seen twice). I have never seen them advance past where they did this year. This is also only the 4th postseason appearance period of my lifetime for this team. When you consider all of these factors and the fact that this team overcame so much, I am so proud of their 2014. AL East Champs and advancing to the American League finale is something I will gladly take from my Baltimore Orioles!

The Orioles didn't win it all, but I was happy with the result. On Halloween, I wrote a piece about the greatness of two of the players that did win the World Series. While neither of those players are on the Orioles, I would take each one in a heartbeat and I am not upset that they won. The fact that one of them is a former 'Nole and my favorite current athlete helps. Add in that the Giants are managed by Bruce Bochy and you have another successful element of 2014. So another element of the best sports year being 2014, has to be two former Noles winning the World Series for the Giants.

My other hometown team I loved from VA was the Washington Wizards. I have not seen many great years with the Wizards, but that was different in 2014.The Wizards made it to the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2014 and have started the 2014-2015 season very strong. Much like the Orioles, the Wizards have been traditionally terrible in my lifetime, and this is the furthest I have seen Washington advance. The Wizards looked good doing it too as this team looked quite capable of knocking off the Pacers in Round 2. Washington looked so good to close out last season that I picked them to win the Eastern Conference this year. No doubt this has been the best time in my lifetime to be a Washington Wizards fan.

My next favorite team is actually another NBA team in the San Antonio Spurs. I followed David Robinson when I was young because he shared most of my name and because he went to the Naval Academy which I thought was awesome. In college I really enjoyed the fundamental play of Tim Duncan who naturally became my favorite basketball player when the Admiral retired. I stuck with liking Duncan and the Spurs post Robinson due to my admiration and respect of Duncan and Popovich. San Antonio is the best example of team sports play and they are an absolute thrill to watch. They put on a clinic this past season and you cannot complain about any of it if you like the Spurs. Tim Duncan is also finally getting some of the much deserved respect for his fantastic career. In 2014, Duncan added a 5th championship ring to his resume. He could well be starting the run to his 6th ring this season.

Finally, we get to the NFL. I used to be a Redskins fan, but dumped them like a bad habit when they got rid of a family friend and Snyder took over. I refused to even consider going back when they brought in Steve Spurrier and loaded up on Gators. That was the last straw for me. I went to the Bucs at that point because they had my two favorite Noles (Warrick Dunn and Derrick Brooks). They also had a strong Christian Head Coach in Tony Dungy and an exciting defense. I was a good Bucs fan until they handled Dungy inappropriately and then I went back and forth between the Texans, Ravens, and Bucs. I am not even going to lie about my NFL allegiance. These past few seasons it has been root for the team with more Noles and against the team with players I do not like. It has worked out pretty well. Now, what does this have to do with 2014? The Buccaneers, the team I want to root for, has a golden opportunity for 2015 based on their play in 2014. They can secure the best player in the 2015 NFL Draft because they tanked in 2014. Tampa Bay can draft Jameis Winston (assuming he goes pro) and I can be a Bucs fan forever. Of course, they could screw it up take Marriota and go with the status quo, but I prefer to think positively. I like Lovie and will love the Bucs if they get Jameis. There will be some meaning of this year in the NFL so that this truly can be my best sports year ever,

Regardless of that though, it still was the best year. 2014 was a banner year in sports. Here is to more of this stuff happening in 2015. Go Noles! Go Orioles! Go Wizards! Go Spurs! and Go Bucs?

-Noland