Sean Taylor’s death
1 Safety Sean Taylor was shot by an intruder at his Miami home on the morning of Nov. 26. He died early the next morning. Four young men were later charged in the shooting and will go on trial in the spring. Before his death, teammates and coaches had raved about how much Taylor had matured in the past 18 months, crediting the birth of his daughter. His play reflected that as Taylor starred on the field, including being voted a Pro Bowl starter posthumously. The entire organization flew to Miami for the funeral. Fans held vigils outside Redskins Park. — John Keim
Tiger boosts D.C. golf
2 With the demise of the Booz Allen Classic in late 2006, Washington appeared to have lost its PGA Tour stop after 27 years. But a few months later, the Tour and Tiger Woods devised the AT&T National. The timely creation of the tournament, made possible by the demise of the International, upped the ante for local golf. And in July the National delivered more than its struggling predecessor as Woods played and made a spectacular second-round charge. Two days later, he crowned his tourney’s first champion, K.J. Choi, a three-stroke winner over Steve Stricker. — Kevin Dunleavy
Beckham hot, United not
3 D.C. United welcomed new owners and Brazilian 20-goal scorer and league MVP Luciano Emilio. Once again United had the best regular season record in Major League Soccer, but they failed to win any trophies and were upstaged by a certain English midfielder in the biggest sporting event of the summer. David Beckham, the most famous and expensive player ($6.5 million per year) in MLS history, made his highly-anticipated regular season debut with the Los Angeles Galaxy in a rain-soaked 1-0 loss to United in front of a sellout crowd of 46,686 at RFK Stadium on Aug. 9. — Craig Stouffer
Redskins playoff run
4 After Taylor’s death, most experts figured the Redskins’ postseason chances had vanished. They had lost four straight and were 5-7. But after Taylor’s funeral, the Redskins, already without other key players because of injury, played as if a cloud had lifted, winning the last four games to clinch a spot. Reserve quarterback Todd Collins replaced the injured Jason Campbell and, starting for the first time in 10 years, directed a mistake-free attack. Teammates said Taylor’s memory inspired the strong finish. It mirrored 2005 when they won their last five games to earn a berth. — John Keim
Hoyas regain stature
5 With a John Thompson (III) and a Patrick Ewing (Jr.) fittingly on the sideline and the roster, respectively, Georgetown officially recaptured the luster that once made them the most feared team in college basketball, winning the Big East regular season and tournament titles and returning to the Final Four for the first time since 1985. Junior forward Jeff Green, the Big East and NCAA East Regional player of the year, departed as the fifth pick in the NBA draft, but the Hoyas have reloaded in style with multiple McDonald’s All-Americans and the nation’s top recruit in 2008. — Craig Stouffer
Injuries hit Wiz hard
6 For the Wizards, 2007 was the year of the injury. In a four-day stretch in April, the Wiz lost All-Stars Caron Butler (fractured hand) and Gilbert Arenas (torn meniscus) and Washington finished its once-promising season by losing 12 of 14 games, including four straight to Cleveland in the playoffs. Then in November, Arenas suffered a similar injury to the same knee, a partial tear of the meniscus. This time, however, with a healthy Butler leading the way and getting help from Antawn Jamison and Brendan Haywood, the Wizards have gone 11-8 without Agent Zero. — Kevin Dunleavy
Baseball retired at RFK
7 This time there wasn’t a forfeit or removing of stadium hardware by disgruntled fans like in 1971. In fact, the biggest response from the crowd was for the Presidents Race, especially when Teddy didn’t show — because he had gone to Nationals Park by mistake. Yes, the Nationals retired baseball at RFK Stadium for the second time, leaving the 46-year-old structure solely to D.C. United. The Nats won the final game at RFK, giving the old digs a solid farewell season at 73-89 — far better than the 100-plus losses predicted for them by the national media. — Leon Saffelle
Draft highlights D.C.
8 Area high school talent was on display at the very top of the 2007 NBA Draft as Montrose Christian’s Kevin Durant (No. 2 by Seattle) and Georgetown/Northwestern High star Jeff Green (No. 5 by Boston, traded to Seattle) were two of the first five players selected in the draft. Durant, a speculated top pick after his sensational freshman season at Texas, and Green, a three-year starter at Georgetown, put the spotlight on the area’s superb basketball talent pool. In addition, four-year Maryland guard D.J. Strawberry was selected in the second round by Phoenix. — Leon Saffelle
9 Already the nation’s sentimental favorite following the April shooting on the Blacksburg, Va., campus, Virginia Tech (11-2) endured a roller-coaster season to win the 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference championship. Starting quarterback Sean Glennon was benched after the Hokies’ embarrassing 48-7 loss at LSU in September, and further compounded the situation by venting to the media. But he also redeemed himself with an MVP performance in the ACC title game, throwing three touchdown passes in a 30-16 win over Boston College. — Craig Stouffer
Caps fire coach
10 The Capitals entered 2007-08 hoping for their first playoff berth in four years. The free-agent signings of defenseman Tom Poti, forwards Viktor Kozlov and Michael Nylander and the signing of prized rookie Nicklas Backstrom bolstered that optimism — as did three wins to start the season. But the bottom fell out with just three victories over the next 18 games. Head coach Glen Hanlon was fired Thanksgiving Day and replaced by Bruce Boudreau. Since the change the Caps are 9-5-4, but are next-to-last in the Eastern
Conference with 35 points. — Brian McNally
