Mike Celizic

It was the best of years, it was the worst of years, it was a year of triumph, it was a year of tragedy, it was a year of pride, it was a year of shame. In Boston and Florida, no year has ever been better. In Atlanta, no year has ever been worse. It was a year of heroes crowned, it was a year of heroes disgraced.

It’s hard to remember a more Dickensian year than the one sports both endured and celebrated in 2007. Usually, we can slap a label on one turn of the calendar and be done with it, but as much as the horrible blows to the games we love dominated the headlines, so, too, did extraordinary displays of the thrills and excellence that keeps us digging into our wallets for the price of admission.

And the telling moments weren’t confined to one sport. Scandal was everywhere, as was glory.

Baseball closed out its year with a lump of coal the size of Pennsylvania delivered in the form of The Mitchell Report that named some of the biggest names of a generation, led by Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, as users of performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds was no surprise; when his name hit print in Mitchell’s opus, he was already under indictment for lying to a federal grand jury about his use of steroids and human growth hormone. And Clemens may not have been a surprise to some, but his reputation went from all-time great to all-time weasel.

Nothing more characterized the kind of season baseball went through than the moment when Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s all-time record of 745 career homeruns. San Francisco celebrated the moment, and then the ball was delivered to Cooperstown, branded by an online vote with an asterisk.

But through it all, baseball set a new attendance record, and inducted two of its most respected and beloved heroes, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn, into the Hall of Fame. It’s September was to remember, with the Colorado Rockies forcing their way into the playoffs with an astonishing pennant drive. Meanwhile, the Mets forged the greatest September collapse ever. And come October, the playoffs were populated by a host of fresh faces — the Rockies, Diamondbacks, Indians and Phillies.

But when the dust cleared, it was the Red Sox claiming their place as the game’s most powerful team along with their second World Series win in three years. BALCO Barry, Mitchell’s menu of disgrace and Roger the Roidman couldn’t destroy all of that.

In the NFL, there was no more disturbing story and no greater fall from grace than that suffered by Michael Vick. He had signed the biggest contract, taken delivery of an enormous bonus, was a hero in Atlanta, where the Falcons even hired a college coach, Bobby Petrino, specifically to get the most out of his unique talents.

And he got arrested for sponsoring dog fights and running an operation in which dogs were brutally killed when they didn’t measure up. The whole story unwound in just a few months, from charges and denials to indictment to a nearly two-year prison term.

But Vick was only the worst manifestation of a disturbing trend. Thuggish behavior, once thought to be the province of basketball, was showing up increasingly in the NFL. Pacman Jones, the talented cornerback for the Titans, got in trouble one time too many when he was involved in an incident in which a bouncer in a Vegas strip club was shot and paralyzed. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell benched him for the season.

Tank Johnson played with guns one too many times and was suspended, too. And near the season’s end, Washington safety Sean Taylor, who was doing nothing but minding his own business, was shot and killed by would-be burglars in his own home.

And then there was Spygate, the season-open video spying episode that cost Patriots coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and his team $250,000 along with a first-round draft choice. The fans who could never get excited about steroids in football, were plenty ticked about this.

But as bad as the season was, it was balanced by the apotheosis of Peyton Manning in the Super Bowl, forever burying questions about his intestinal fortitude. And now, with one game left, we have the Patriots closing in on the first 16-0 season in NFL history.

Beyond all that, the NFL was treated to the renaissance of the Cowboys and the rejuvenation of Packer great Brett Favre, the emergence of rookie running back Adrian Peterson and the new level of quarterback play established by Tom Brady. And how about Tony Romo’s arrival as a star and the good citizenship displayed — for the most part — by Terrell Owens?

The Sports Year in Review Celizic: Best of years, worst of years JT: Taylor's killing was worst story of '07 Whiner of the Year: 'BALCO' Barry Violent NFL deaths were sad bookends Bugs, 'Peyton,' Papelbon's dog ... wow! Newsweek: Top 10 stories  |  Nos. 11-30 AP athletes of year: Brady  |  Ochoa Sporting News honors Brady for 2nd time Bonds tops Vick as AP story of the year Ventre: Weird things could happen in '08

The NBA had a front-page scandal of its own when referee Tim Donaghy admitted to betting on games he was officiating. And the finding of a civil court that Knicks’ president and coach Isiah Thomas was guilty of sexually harassing an employee and the team needed to pay her $11.5 million to make it all better wasn’t exactly a bright and shining moment.

But on the other hand, we saw LeBron James come of age in the playoffs. He didn’t win — the incomparable Tim Duncan, one of the best people in any sport, did that with the Spurs. But add in the brilliant regular season that Steve Nash had, and there was plenty of glory to go around.

College sports had more than its share of ugly moments, from the despicable comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team that got Don Imus fired to the three dozen Florida State Seminoles suspended at season’s end for a number of reasons, including a cheating conspiracy. The ignominy of Notre Dame’s worst football season was not rooted in evil-doing, but it was a blight on the year just the same.

And yet to balance it off, we had Florida winning its second straight NCAA hoops title after its football team won the BCS version of a national championship. It was yet another first for this star-crossed year, the first time any college won both the football and basketball titles in the same year.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Rough and tumble baseball, a grand golf finish, a driver captures the flag, and more. more photos

Tennis ended the year suspending players for betting on matches and probably fixing them. But the sport continued to provide a stage for Roger Federer, perhaps the greatest player of all time.

So, yes, the Tour de France continued to be the Tour de Farce, a rolling pharmacy across the continent. And, yes, there was bad news just about everywhere you looked.

But there was also greatness at every turn. We had Brady and Tiger and Federer and the Dancing Papelbon and Peyton and Romo and Manny being Manny.

It was a horrible year.

It was a great year.

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