I attended several great sporting events. At the very beginning of 2012, I went to Dallas with my family and witnessed Arkansas beat Kansas St. to win the Cotton Bowl. During the same trip, I saw my first hockey game, when the Dallas Stars took on the Edmonton Oilers. In April, I was at Fenway Park for the 100th birthday of the famous park and saw the Yankees beat the Red Sox, one of the greatest rivalries in sports. Also while in Boston, I saw the Boston Celtics, one of the most storied franchises in NBA history, defeat the Orlando Magic at the Garden. My streak of consecutive Razorback home Fayetteville football games attended now stands at 40, and I went to both Little Rock games, too. On Nov. 1, I was at John Brown University to witness one of the coolest traditions in college sports. As soon as John Brown made their first shot against Hillsdale Free Will Baptist, everyone in the arena threw toilet paper onto the court, resulting in the best technical foul in the country (see videos below). During the high school football playoffs, I saw a game at Prairie Grove, Pea Ridge (see: "Blackhawk Stadium - Pea Ridge" in November 2012), and Greenland. I was in Little Rock for the 7A State Championship game when Fayetteville beat Bentonville for the second straight year, as well. More recently, I saw Jim Boeheim win his 895th game as a head coach when he led Syracuse to a win over the Hogs at Bud Walton Arena.
During 2012, I went to Hall of Fame for three of the four major sports: baseball, basketball, and hockey. On my Boston trip, my parents and younger brother, Sam, drove over to Springfield, Mass. to see the Basketball Hall of Fame. About a month later, I went on a trip with my parents and grandmother to Canada and New York. On that trip, I went to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto (see: "Day Three - Toronto and back in the U.S.A." in June 2012) and the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York (definitely the highlight of the trip - see: "Day Four - Cooperstown" in June 2012). Also in Cooperstown, I watched a Men's League baseball game at the famous Doubleday Field (seen at the end of the movie "A League of Their Own" - see: "Doubleday Field - Cooperstown, NY" in June 2012).
While it was a rough year for the Razorback football team, I witnessed it from a unique perspective. At the very end of August, I began writing for The Arkansas Traveler, the UofA student newspaper. With The Traveler, I covered nearly all of the John L. Smith press conferences (see: "My First Press Conference - John L. Smith" in September 2012), including the infamous "Smile!" press conference. Once at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville (against Rutgers - see: "My First Game From the Press Box" in October 2012) and once at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock (against Ole Miss), I covered the Razorbacks as a member of the media in the press box. There, I was introduced to the wonderful free food, drinks, and programs the media enjoys, and all the unlimited, up-to-date stats I could ever ask for. The Traveler also gave me the opportunity to interview players such as Brandon Allen (see: "TAT: Past Will Help Allen's Game in the Future" in September 2012) and my favorite Razorback football player, Cobi Hamilton (see: "TAT: Cobi Hamilton..." in November 2012). I also interviewed Cobi's mom (Deborah Hamilton, one of the first two African-American women's basketball players at Arkansas) and high school football coach at Texas High (in Texarkana, TX). My dream interview happened in September, when I met Frank Broyles (legendary Arkansas coach, College Football HOFer, 1964 National Champion) and Loyd Phillips (member of '64 team, 1966 Outland Trophy winner) for lunch, then met Ken Hatfield (member of '64 team, went on to be a very successful college football head coach) the next day (Google them if you want to know more about them - see: "TAT: 1964 National Championship Controversy" in September 2012). Of course, I was a nervous-wreck when I had to drive Coach Broyles back to campus after the interview, but we did have an incredible off-the-record conversation. My final interview of the year happened three days after Christmas when I met All-American linebacker Ronnie Caveness (also a member of the '64 team). For nearly an hour, he shared countless stories with me about his playing days in high school, at Arkansas, and in the pros.
It feels like I have been writing all year, as I finished up a fantastic career as the Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief of The Bulldog Herald at Springdale High (winning 13 awards at the state competition, giving me 21 over three years), then started this blog after graduation, and finally started writing for The Traveler. At The Traveler alone, I wrote 43 articles.
On Twitter, I have been blocked by an ESPN anchor (Robert Flores - see: "My Thoughts on 'Tragic' and Arkansas Football" in September 2012), gotten into an argument with another ESPN anchor (Scott Van Pelt) and an NFL player (Jarius Wright - WR for the Vikings and former Hog), and been mentioned by Cobi Hamilton and the official NFL twitter account (which has 4.1 million followers, just saying). I also gained Jeff Long (@jefflongUA) as a follower (he only follows 42 accounts).
I also learned something important this year: don't plan a trip until your team has actually won. With the Razorback baseball team only needing one victory in two games to reach the College World Series Championship, I started making plans and had plans to go to Omaha for the Championship, but they lost both games. With the St. Louis Cardinals needing only one victory in three games to reach their second consecutive World Series, I started making plans and had plans to go to St. Louis for one of the World Series games, but they, too, lost all three games. I blame myself for these two collapses.
It was a very interesting year in the wider world of sports, as well. LeBron James finally won a ring with the Miami Heat. Miguel Cabrera won the first Triple Crown in MLB in 45 years, leading to an exciting AL MVP vote between him and super-star rookie Mike Trout. Calvin Johnson shattered Jerry Rice's record for most receiving yards in a single-season and fell just 36 yards shy of 2,000. Adrian Peterson rushed for 2,097 yards, falling 8 yards shy of Eric Dickerson's record of 2,105 in dramatic fashion in Week 17. Three rookie quarterbacks (Colts' Andrew Luck, Redskins' Robert Griffin III, and Seahawks' Russell Wilson) led their teams to playoff berths.
I am sure I'm forgetting something that happened, but that's just the kind of year 2012 was. It was full of memories that will last a lifetime and I am glad I have been able to share them with you through my blog. I hope you have a happy and prosperous 2013!
This is the video I took on my phone at the John Brown toilet paper game. About three second in, I fell off the bleacher I was standing on, but I quickly recovered and you can mostly see everything.
This is the introduction video John Brown played before the starting lineups were announced. It's one of the best I have ever seen.
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