And so, this Sunday the sporting year of 2006 comes to an end. Like any other year, it has produced its share of thrilling moments, moments that will be and have been recounted by many other columnists this week. To be sure, 2006 had its fair share of praise-worthy stories — the Final Four run of the George Mason Patriots and the Super Bowl win by the Pittsburgh Steelers with hometown hero Jerome Bettis (did you know he’s from Detroit?) among them. There have been stories of the peculiar — such as when a Romanian Soccer player was traded for 33 pounds of meat. Heck, even the media wasn’t safe from the transaction wire. ABC dealt announcer Al Michaels to NBC for the rights to a 1927 cartoon rabbit.
