I realize that 2007 is now behind us, but since I gave a rundown of the best of the year in Butler County, I’d like to take a look back at everything else that happened in the world of sports last year.

Even though it just happened, I think one of the biggest stories of last year is the New England Patriots.

This storyline will continue into 2008 as we wait to see if they’ll make the Superbowl, but going 16-0 is phenomenal, especially in this day and time.

Not only did we get to see them make history, we can finally stop hearing about the ’72 Dolphins.

2007 kicked off with one of the greatest games in college football history – Boise State against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

I almost turned off the TV, but I’m glad I didn’t.

The Broncos shocked the Sooners in overtime with a perfect hook and ladder play, which was followed soon by Statue of Liberty.

Amazing.

Following that was Florida’s stomping of Ohio State in the BCS national championship game.

Any other year, a beatdown in the national championship game wouldn’t be huge news, but it set the stage for the Gators to do something that’s never been done before.

When March rolled around, Florida added a national basketball championship.

No school has ever won both championships in the same year.

Sticking with college football, how about Appalachian State’s upset of Michigan in the Big House?

When I saw the score scroll across the bottom line on ESPN, I thought it was a typo.

That win is quite possibly the biggest upset ever in college football, and it made &uot;traditionalists&uot; realize that you don’t have to be Ohio State, Michigan, USC or any other huge school to have a good football team.

On a more local level, Alabama hired Nick Saban as their head coach.

That’s a huge signing, and unfortunately, Bama finished 7-6 this year.

However, there’s a huge difference between 7-6 and 6-7, so the Tide has some momentum heading into next season.

Moving on to baseball, we now have a new home run king.

Barry Bonds finally passed Hank Aaron for the most home runs in major league history.

This leads me to another big story: the Mitchell Report.

Anytime you accuse legends like Roger Clemens of using steroids, it’s huge.

This is another one of those that’s going to continue into 2008 as we see how it’s going to unfold.

The Colorado Rockies were the big surprise of the year.

The Rockies almost missed the playoffs, and then went on to get hot at the absolute last minute and rip through the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Unfortunately, they played so well that they had to wait a week for the Red Sox to secure a spot in the series and that break cooled the Rockies enough for the Sox to win.

I’m sure I’m leaving something out, as these types of columns always do.

2007 was a great year for sports, and 2008 is certainly going to have to work hard to beat it.