Luke Waltons Forehead presented by the Sports Dude.

Now that football season is officially over for me, well except watching the Patriots in the playoffs and such, the year ends and a new one looms on the horizon. Here is the sports dude's well wishes and memories from an interesting and long 2005, enjoy.

First let me say have a happy and safe New Year folks, I hope all of you come back next year. I would like to thank you all for taking time out, stopping by and reading the senseless ramblings that I spew here on this bloggy-blog of mine. It means a lot so please celebrate safe and responsibly this weekend. As far as the rest of this post goes here is a reflection of the few things that I could recall, off the top of my head that made 2005 a special year in sports and abroad for me.

The coaching carousel that became known as the Detroit sports scene – you had Larry out and Flip in, you had Lewis out and Babcock in, you had Tram out and Leyland in, you had Mooch out and Jauron in. Oh, and by the way, we all know that it will soon be Jauron out and some other poor sap in.

The Pistons – game #7 in Miami, Robert Horry and the “bonehead” play, game #7 in San Antonio, Brown saying “I love you guys” in the huddle during a time out, and of course who could forget all the Larry Brown drama all season long.

The Red Wings – well the lockout ended and stuff.

The Lions – another receiver drafted, another year wasted, the angry fan march, the orange out, “FIRE MILLEN”, the ugly black jerseys, the five year extension, why the hell did we sign Raiola again, Joey or Jeff, and of course the word “embarrassment”.

The Tigers – more losing, more of the same, the locker room turmoil, Pudge and his extended vacation, the injuries mount, the fun ends and, as usual, is there really a point?

The Wolverines – an injury plagued season comes up short, tailgating at the golf course, upsetting MSU, losing (once again!) to the hated sweater vest, the last play against Penn State, the final seconds against Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, finally showing some promise in hoops, looking forward to next year and the lovely Sun Belt officials down in the Alamo Bowl.

The Spartans – “STANTON FOR HEISMAN”, the OSU game and that damn blocked field goal, “the coaches are screwing it up”, women and men in the Final Four, women in the Finals, at least one more year of funny and wacky stuff from John L.

Sports in general – the MLB All-Star Game, the build up (and building cover up!) for the Super Bowl, how the hell Kwame got reelected, T.O., Ron Artest, bye-bye Reggie Miller, steroids, Kobe and his ego not making the playoffs, Phil Jackson and his ego coming back, the White Sox winning the World Series, the Mitch Albom scandal, the NBA dress code, the NHL on OLN, the Vikings and the Love Boat, the Vikings and the “Wizzinator”, Hurricane Katrina, the best bowl game ever (except the outcome) in U of M against Texas, the sports pig and his U of M banner, Kenny Rogers and the camera man, no more powder puff Barry Alvarez schedules and my arch enemy Drew Henson riding the pine in Dallas as Tom Brady ran off his third Super Bowl in four years.

On a personal note, like I said, lots of thanks for another year of this blog, my wife and three sons and their continued health, going back to Eastern Michigan to do something I love, another year with my mom, seeing Aerosmith in concert at the Palace, finishing my very own “mans room” in my basement, going to see Mount Rushmore and the beautiful surrounding areas in South Dakota this summer and just being healthy and alive.

Thanks again to all of you, be safe, be responsible and as always Godspeed my friends. Oh, and one last thing, even though it is cheesy as hell you all know I got to do it… talk to you all next year! Later – the sports dude.