Soldato
In football, the highlight was the night at Old Trafford where we won the title, I wasn't there, but the atmosphere in the boozer was second to none and a night I'll never forget. On the pitch, we played a great game and deserved the win and indeed the title, we were the best team of the season and played some scintillating football, creating records along the way.
Brazil deserved the World Cup, they were the best team. It was an amazing event, with some big shocks along the way. We all got carried away with England's win over Argentina, thinking we were good enough to win the tournament, but once we met Brazil, that was that and Seaman wasn't to blame.
Real Madrid deservedly won the Champions League, they are an exceptional team of superstars, but I think Arsenal or Man Utd could beat them.
There was another moment during the sporting year, where I thought my heart was going to give out, the absolutely brilliant performance by Sir Lennox Lewis over Mike Tyson. Tyson had been extremely unpleasant before the fight, slating Lewis whenever he had the chance, but during the fight, he was totally outclassed by a superior boxer. Tysons gameplan was to steam out early and try to take Lewis out, but Lewis used his jab to perfection, gradually beating Tyson up until the brilliant punch in the 8th round that knocked the living daylights out of Iron Mike. Some people thought Lennox was very cocky after the fight, but Mike had taunted him relentlessly over the preceding months and Lewis deserved the moment.
There were some fantastic fights over the year as well, Ward v Gatti, both the first and second fights, were sheer brilliance, both men fighting their hearts out. Morales v Barrera was not quite as good as the first, but still a great fight with another wrong decision in the end, part 3 must be on the way for the defining result. Ricky Hatton v Eamon MacGee was also a great fight, Hatton getting knocked down, but came back superbly to win, he must get better opponents now and I don't mean Junior Witter, step up in world class. Joe Calzaghe is the best in his division and also need a defining fight, not the sort of bums he's fighting at the moment, although the Charles Brewer fight was great.
There are some young fighters on the British scene looking to make their mark at world level as well. Alex Arthur looks like a future world champion, as does Scott Harrison, the gutsy Oakey is always an entertaining fighter, never knows when to quit.
In athletics, Paula Radcliffe came good at last, winning Commonwealth and European golds and world cross county, but her performance smashing the world record in the marathon has put her in a different league to the rest. Dwain Chambers has proved he has the ability to tackle the best that the Americans can offer and great things are expected of him as well as Mark Lewis-Francis, another great prospect. Jonathan Edwards is still doing the business, but I hate the way he often leaves it to the last jump. I was also surprised when Tim Montgomery took the 100m world record, a great achievement.
The Commonwealth Games was a great success and I think Ian Thorpe is just about the greatest swimmer of all time, but what a performance by the British team, something to be proud of.
In cricket, Australia have moved onto a different level to the rest of the cricket world, they are unbeatable on their day as England are finding out at the moment. In domestic cricket, Surrey are proving almost as dominant with their team of internationals. I think the 20/20 cricket will prove a hit next season and hopefully drag more youngsters into the game.
Colin Edwards provided the catch up award for last year, how he came back after being so far behind Troy Bayliss was amazing, leaving it to the last superbike race to take the title from the Australian. Looking forward to Carl Fogarty's venture with the new Petronas racing team, although the removal of Malaysia from the tour, could cause problems.
Michael Schumacher has now made motor racing an extremely boring and tedious event, his domination is turning the viewing public off the sport.
Phil Taylor is just too good in the darts, he just doesn't lose enough matches to make it interesting any more.
Peter Ebdon won a superb World Snooker Championship final last year, which he thoroughly deserved.
Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell took the world title in both the coxed and coxless pairs and I really hope Pinsent can go on to emulate the great Steve Redgrave.
Rugby proved a fantastic year for England, after the disappointment against France, we beat New Zealand, Australia and thrashed South Africa to leave us number one in the world.
The Williams sisters are now the all dominant force in womens tennis and I can't see this situation changing in the near future. In the mens, it's a little more open, but I expect to see Lleyton Hewitt to dominate next season.
The Ryder Cup was a marvellous achievement for the European minnows against the might of the USA team, which contained the greatest golfer of all time, Tiger Woods, who will surely dominate this sport for many years to come.
A great year for the extremely gutsy and talented Ellen MacArthur, she has a great career ahead of her, even after what she's achieved already, I've a lot of respect for her.
I have left some sports out, that just don't capture my imagination or have just forgotten, I expect people may disagree with some of my comments or add some more that I've omitted, feel free to reply.
Brazil deserved the World Cup, they were the best team. It was an amazing event, with some big shocks along the way. We all got carried away with England's win over Argentina, thinking we were good enough to win the tournament, but once we met Brazil, that was that and Seaman wasn't to blame.
Real Madrid deservedly won the Champions League, they are an exceptional team of superstars, but I think Arsenal or Man Utd could beat them.
There was another moment during the sporting year, where I thought my heart was going to give out, the absolutely brilliant performance by Sir Lennox Lewis over Mike Tyson. Tyson had been extremely unpleasant before the fight, slating Lewis whenever he had the chance, but during the fight, he was totally outclassed by a superior boxer. Tysons gameplan was to steam out early and try to take Lewis out, but Lewis used his jab to perfection, gradually beating Tyson up until the brilliant punch in the 8th round that knocked the living daylights out of Iron Mike. Some people thought Lennox was very cocky after the fight, but Mike had taunted him relentlessly over the preceding months and Lewis deserved the moment.
There were some fantastic fights over the year as well, Ward v Gatti, both the first and second fights, were sheer brilliance, both men fighting their hearts out. Morales v Barrera was not quite as good as the first, but still a great fight with another wrong decision in the end, part 3 must be on the way for the defining result. Ricky Hatton v Eamon MacGee was also a great fight, Hatton getting knocked down, but came back superbly to win, he must get better opponents now and I don't mean Junior Witter, step up in world class. Joe Calzaghe is the best in his division and also need a defining fight, not the sort of bums he's fighting at the moment, although the Charles Brewer fight was great.
There are some young fighters on the British scene looking to make their mark at world level as well. Alex Arthur looks like a future world champion, as does Scott Harrison, the gutsy Oakey is always an entertaining fighter, never knows when to quit.
In athletics, Paula Radcliffe came good at last, winning Commonwealth and European golds and world cross county, but her performance smashing the world record in the marathon has put her in a different league to the rest. Dwain Chambers has proved he has the ability to tackle the best that the Americans can offer and great things are expected of him as well as Mark Lewis-Francis, another great prospect. Jonathan Edwards is still doing the business, but I hate the way he often leaves it to the last jump. I was also surprised when Tim Montgomery took the 100m world record, a great achievement.
The Commonwealth Games was a great success and I think Ian Thorpe is just about the greatest swimmer of all time, but what a performance by the British team, something to be proud of.
In cricket, Australia have moved onto a different level to the rest of the cricket world, they are unbeatable on their day as England are finding out at the moment. In domestic cricket, Surrey are proving almost as dominant with their team of internationals. I think the 20/20 cricket will prove a hit next season and hopefully drag more youngsters into the game.
Colin Edwards provided the catch up award for last year, how he came back after being so far behind Troy Bayliss was amazing, leaving it to the last superbike race to take the title from the Australian. Looking forward to Carl Fogarty's venture with the new Petronas racing team, although the removal of Malaysia from the tour, could cause problems.
Michael Schumacher has now made motor racing an extremely boring and tedious event, his domination is turning the viewing public off the sport.
Phil Taylor is just too good in the darts, he just doesn't lose enough matches to make it interesting any more.
Peter Ebdon won a superb World Snooker Championship final last year, which he thoroughly deserved.
Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell took the world title in both the coxed and coxless pairs and I really hope Pinsent can go on to emulate the great Steve Redgrave.
Rugby proved a fantastic year for England, after the disappointment against France, we beat New Zealand, Australia and thrashed South Africa to leave us number one in the world.
The Williams sisters are now the all dominant force in womens tennis and I can't see this situation changing in the near future. In the mens, it's a little more open, but I expect to see Lleyton Hewitt to dominate next season.
The Ryder Cup was a marvellous achievement for the European minnows against the might of the USA team, which contained the greatest golfer of all time, Tiger Woods, who will surely dominate this sport for many years to come.
A great year for the extremely gutsy and talented Ellen MacArthur, she has a great career ahead of her, even after what she's achieved already, I've a lot of respect for her.
I have left some sports out, that just don't capture my imagination or have just forgotten, I expect people may disagree with some of my comments or add some more that I've omitted, feel free to reply.
