Steroids, other forms of cheating clouded major accomplishments

Ten national stories that mattered the most in 2007:Better Livingthrough ChemistryDuPont probably wasn’t thinking of steroids and human growth hormone when it came up with this slogan, but this was the focus in 2007.From the Mitchell Report that implicated Roger Clemens as using performance-enhancing drugs ? to Marion Jones losing her Olympic medals after admitting to using steroids ? to the continuing Barry Bonds saga (indicted for perjury), the slogan might well have read “better performance through cheating.”Regarding HenryIt occurred without the usual fanfare that accompanies the breaking of a hallowed baseball record.And the person whose record was broken declined to show up, offering his congratulations via Jumbotron ? clearly a response to reports of steroids that haunt Barry Bonds.This was the atmosphere as Bonds hit homer No. 756, overtaking Hank Aaron as the all-time home run champ.Your Cheatin’ PatsRight there with the New England Patriots’ pursuit of perfection was the discovery that they’d been caught filiming New York Jets defensive signals in Week 1.While it’s obvious the Patriots didn’t need the skullduggery to be a dominating force, the incident opened a Pandora’s box of charges and countercharges that every other team in the NFL does essentially the same thing.At any rate, the Patriots finished the regular season at 16-0 ? the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to run the table.He’s still TiggerJust when it looked as if Tiger Woods would be shut out of a Grand Slam golf title for the first time since Michelle Wie was a toddler, he put together a record round of 62 on the third day of the PGA in Southern Hills ? ultimately winning the tournament by two strokes.It was his 13th major victory.Joe Had to GoIn 1960 – after he managed the New York Yankees to seven World Series titles in 12 years – Casey Stengel was fired after the Bombers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates.Joe Torre only led the Yankees to four titles in his 12 years, but the last one was in 2000. The last time the Yankees won the American League pennant was 2003, and their last time in the ALCS was a year later.This proved too much for George Steinbrenner, who offered Torre a contract he couldn’t possibly accept. Torre walked away ? and resurfaced in Los Angeles to manage the Dodgers.King JamesIn just his third season, LeBron James led the Cleveland Cavaliers into the NBA finals against the San Antonio Spurs.If there were ever a true one-man band in the NBA, it was James, as it quite likely nobody who reads this could name the other four starters for the Cavs. However, one-man bands don’t flourish against the likes of the Spurs, and the Cavs didn’t, either.Upset SpecialsWas there ever a year in college football where there were more upsets? The top two spots in the weekly polls resembled a turnstile. It started when Appalachian State upset Michigan ? and continued through the last week of the season, when Pittsburgh hung one on West Virginia, denying the Mountaineers a spot in the BCS championship game.Even BC climbed all the way to No. 2 in the country before losing two straight.Year of the GatorFirst, the Florida football team upset Ohio State in the BCS bowl.The Buckeyes were the top-ranked team from wire to wire, and Florida’s inclusion in the BCS game was not without some controversy, as many felt other teams – including undefeated Boise State – should have been there.But the Gators proved them all wrong with a convincing rout – and then, for good measure, beat Ohio State again for the NCAA men’s basketball championship in April. The win was Florida’s second straight title.Roger, Over and OutRoger Federer won his fourth Tennis Masters Cup in five years in Shanghai, China to become the first player in history to win more than $10 million in a season.He played 12 finals and won eight, to bring his career totals to 70 and 53. He tied Bjorn Borg’s record with his fifth consecutive win at Wimbledon and became the first player in the open era to c