With the new year now upon us, it's time to take one last look back at all that has happened in the world of sports in the past year. So, without further ado, it's time for the 10th Anniversary of the Cappy's, the awards for the best, and not-so-best, in sports for 2007

The Awesome Achievement Award…

Roger Federer, Pro Tennis. What a year he had, topped by his record fifth consecutive Wimbledon title and fourth consecutive U.S. Open title. He now has 12 Grand Slam titles, two shy of Pete Sampras's record 14. If all goes well, sometime in 2008 he will surpass Sampras for the most GS titles and, once and for all, cement his legacy as the greatest player in the history of the sport.

The Fountain of Youth Award…

Brett Favre, Green Bay Packers.  Speaking of greatest ever… seriously, does this guy know how old he is? Hopefully, he doesn't, because he is one of the biggest bright spots in the NFL. Not only did he break many of Dan Marino's passing records in 2007, he also led his very young Packers' team to the playoffs. With the Dallas Cowboys seeming to be hemorrhaging as they enter the playoffs, Favre and the Packers have a great shot at making the Super Bowl. Now, wouldn't that be an interesting match up – Brett Favre and Green Bay standing in the way of New England's perfect season. Let's hope we get to see it.

The Did Anyone Really Care Anymore Award…

Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants. Sometime over the summer, Barry Bonds hit home runs 755 and 756, tying, and then breaking, Henry Aaron's home run record. (yawn!) Did anyone really care that this oversized cartoon character finally broke one of the most cherished records in baseball. He believes there should not be an asterisk next to his record. Well, not only should there be an asterisk next to his record, but now after the Mitchell Report has been released near the end of the year, there probably should be an asterisk next to any and all records from 1980 to the present. There all a sham. Baseball is a disgrace and it will take years before anyone really cares about this sport's records anymore.

The Bonehead Move of the Year Award…

Greg Ryan, head coach USA Women's Soccer. The USA women had beaten all comers going into the World Cup. Then they beat all comers during the World Cup to reach the semifinals. So what does this brilliant head coach do? He pulls his starting goalie, Hope Solo, in favor of the rusty backup of past glory, Briana Scurry. The result – the USA got hammered 4-0 by Brazil and didn't make the final. The USA went on to win the Bronze medal with Scurry still in goal. In the end, Ryan stuck by his decision… all the way to the unemployment line.

Honorable Mention: Hope Solo, USA goalie, who forgot how to take the high road in these matters, and opened her mouth in an interview blasting her coach, Scurry, the team, and, seemingly, anyone else who was within ear shot of her big mouth. OK, she was angry and upset, everyone understood that. Still, you have to shut up in situations like this. Instead, she acted like a two-year old, spoke out more than she should and paid the price. She ended up banished from the team for the rest of the World Cup competition. Last heard from, she was begging for forgiveness and trying to rejoin the team. Yep, looks like the "Glory Days" of USA women's soccer are over… at least for a while.

The Greatest Upsets in College Football of the Year Awards…

There were a few. The best included:

* Stanford over USC @ USC

* Navy over Notre Dame @ Notre Dame

* Kentucky over then No. 1 LSU

* And, probably the biggest… Appalachian State over Michigan @ Michigan

The Big Yeah! to my Alma Mater Award…

Florida Atlantic University Football team. Florida Atlantic University became the fastest Division I program to ever reach a Bowl Game this past year. After winning the Sun Belt Conference title, the Owls went on to defeat Memphis 44-27 in the New Orleans Bowl. Head Coach Howard Schnellenberger has always had a way of coming up with great game plans for Bowl games and pulling off big wins. His first big win came when he was at the University of Miami and won the national championship by defeating, arguably, one of the greatest college teams of all time in No. 1 Nebraska. Now he's done it again with the team he helped create from scratch, FAU. Way to go Howard! Way to go FAU!

The One Man Show Award…

LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers. Sure he had some teammates, but in the end, LeBron James showed a glimpse of how great he will be when he dragged his Cleveland team to the NBA Championships last year almost completely on his own. Unfortunately, he ran into one of the greatest NBA teams of all time, the San Antonio Spurs, who swept Cleveland for its fourth title in nine years. However, without question, James showed what he is made of and what fans can look forward to in the year's to come. Hopefully, the ownership of the Cavaliers saw it too, and will help build a team around him. Otherwise, as soon as he becomes a free agent, James will leave Cleveland and go to a team that will surround him with the talent needed for him to start winning championship titles.

The Greatest Athlete Nobody Gets to See…

Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins. The NHL, under one of the all-time worst commissioners in the history of any sport, Garry Bettman, has still not recovered from its lost season a few years back. That's too bad because Crosby, potentially one of the greatest players in NHL history, is playing the game at a Wayne Gretzky-like level and hardly anyone is getting to see him. What a shame.

The Bonehead Moves of the Year Awards…

Sadly, there were many, most notably…

* Bonds, Marion Jones, "allegedly" Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte… and the list goes on and on as the steroid scandal deepens.

* Tim Donaghy, former NBA referee… Seriously, how stupid do you have to be to bet on NBA games, including the ones that you are officiating?

* Michael Vick… One of the biggest names in the NFL is now behind bars for organizing a dog fighting ring and for taking part in the killing of some of the dogs. If the NFL has any brains, this guy should NEVER be allowed to step foot on a football field again. However, watch… a few years from now he'll be back on a team and hailed as a hero, much like another criminal that currently plays for the Baltimore Ravens.

The NASCAR Awards…

* Great Driver of the Year… Jimmy Johnson, who won his second consecutive title.

* Great Driver of the Year #2… Jeff Gordon, who had just as good a season has his teammate, Johnson, but came up short for this year's title.

* Great Team of the Year… Hendricks Motorsports. Not only did owner Richard Hendricks see his team finish 1-2 in the championship race, but he added the most popular driver in the sport to his team starting next year, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

* Biggest Story of 2007… Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaving DEI, the team his father started, to join Hendrick Motorsports for 2008. There will be no more excuses for Junior now. He'll have the equipment to win. Now it will be up to him to do just that.

* Biggest Story of 2007 #2… The Car of Tomorrow. Ok, without question, it is much safer than the old cars for the drivers. However, it looks ugly, the drivers don't like it, the fans don't like it, and it makes for yawners of races. NASCAR better wise up, or else… (see the next item)

* Biggest Story of 2007 #3… Is NASCAR loosing its luster? Declining TV ratings continue. Sellouts are not happening as regularly as before. The Car of (yawn!) Tomorrow. Yo!, NASCAR, fans are losing interest. You had better learn to start listening to your fans. Otherwise, the down turn will continue.

* The Sports Humanitarian Award… To NASCAR. The one thing NASCAR has gotten right, and the one thing it does better than any other sport in the United States, is its charity work. From the top brass, to the top drivers, to the race crews, truck drivers and garage sweepers, these folks take their charity work to another level. They are all willing and happy to give of their time for worthy causes and have helped make many, many people happy because of their generosity. They are, hands down, the model for all other sports to follow.

The Good Guys of the Year Award…

Peyton Manning, Tony Dungy and the Indianapolis Colts. After years of trying by both Manning and Dungy, the duo took the Colts to its first Super Bowl since the team moved to Indianapolis and defeated the Chicago Bears for the NFL championship last January. Two nicer, more deserving guys you could not ask for in sports. Of course, they will have their hands full trying to repeat this year with the way New England is playing. But, here's hoping they get a chance and get to play against each other in the AFC Championship in a few weeks. That has the potential to be a game for the ages.

Sports Media Awards

Best Sports Talk Show…

ESPN's PTI… with Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon… Still one of the best reasons to rush home from work and plant yourself in front of the television. Some great insight, some goofy moments and a lot of fun watching two guys debate sports each day.

Best Sportswriter…

There are a number of great writers across the country. Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News, Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, Mel Greenberg of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Dave Anderson and William Rhoden of the New York Times, Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Times, Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun Times and many more. However, there is one that still stands out above them all – Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press. Not only does the man write great sports columns, but also great books. Now if he'd just write one about "the living"…

Those Who Will Be Missed…

Hank Bauer, Rod Beck, Bill France Jr., David Halberstam, Josh Hancock, Bill Hartack, Dennis Johnson, Joe Kennedy, Evil Kneivel, Bowie Kuhn, Max McGee, Al Oerter, Benny Parsons, Howard Porter, Skip Prosser, Jim Ringo, Phil Rizzuto, Eddie Robinson, Darryl Stingley, Sean Taylor, Bill Walsh, Darrent Williams, Gump Worsley… and Barbaro. Sadly, this list is not complete and apologies to those not mentioned. However, all of them, mentioned and not mentioned, will all be missed.

The "Best of 2007" Awards
Finally, the top athletes and the sport's moment of the year…

Male Athlete of the Year…

Tom Brady, New England Patriots. New England quarterback Tom Brady took his game to a "higher level" in 2007, throwing for a new record 50 touchdowns and leading New England to a perfect regular season 16-0 record. All that's left to hand him the mantle of "greatest ever" is to see if he can lead his team to its fourth Super Bowl title. We'll see what happens in the next few weeks.

Honorable Mention: Roger Federer, Pro Tennis.

Female Athlete of the Year…

Justine Henin, Pro Tennis. Justine Henin had another exceptional year on the tennis court. She rang up a 63-4 match record, took home over $5 million in prize money and added two more Grand Slam titles to growing list of titles, the French Open and the U.S. Open. She did all of that while her personal life went through a series of ups and downs – a divorce (the down) and a reconciliation with her family (the up). Right now she is the women to beat on the tour, and at only 25 year's of age, the best should still be to come for her.

Sports Moment of the Year…

Curlin and Rags to Riches Battle for the Belmont. While there were many great moments in the sports world this year, (for me) the homestretch dual between the filly, Rags to Riches, and the probable 2007 Horse of the Year, Curlin, was one of the most exciting Triple Crown horse races since Affirmed battled Alydar. It was neck and neck the whole way down the stretch, with the filly pulling off the win by a nose to become the first filly to win a Triple Crown race in over 100 years. It was a very exciting, edge-of-your-seat race for sure.

Well, that's about it for this time. While there were many other great sport's moment this past year, these were the few that stood out and made this year's edition of the Cappy's. Hope you enjoyed them all.

Best Wishes for a very Happy New Year in 2008. We'll see you again next year.

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Editor’s Note:

A quick history of the Cappy's: The Cappy's came about in 1998 when I was looking for a fun way to end my first year at eSports and decided to do what a lot of my favorite sportswriters do, write a column giving out some year-end sports awards. But, what to call them?

After thinking about it for a few minutes, I realized the answer was easy. My dad is the person who introduced me to sports when I was a kid. He is without a doubt, one of the great armchair sports fans of all time. So in honor of my dad, Cappy is his nickname, I've named these awards after him.

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In Memoriam:
Felix "Cappy" Capone, January 22,1923 - October 8, 2006