Biggest Stories of 2013

Biggest Stories of 2013

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Andy Murray became the first British man to win the Wimbledon championship in 77 years. He defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets.

Chris O'Meara, Brian Blanco/AP

"Revis Island" is headed south after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers acquired the star cornerback from the New York Jets for the No. 13 pick in this year's draft along with a conditional fourth-round pick next season. Revis has a six-year $96 million contract in place with the Bucs, though none of it is guaranteed money.

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When a celebratory day turned tragic, the nation rallied behind Boston to recover from one of the most openly violent domestic attacks in recent memory. Brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokar Tsarnaev used two pipe bombs buried in backpacks and left them near the finish line. When the bombs detonated, three people were killed and roughly 175 were left seriously injured. The brothers were caught four days later after the entire city of Boston was shut down to commence a manhunt.

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If UConn dominates like this already, what will the next four years look like? Geno Auriemma's group of prized freshmen steamrolled Louisville 93-60 to clinch its eighth national title, tying Tennessee for the most of all time. Anchored by star freshman Breanna Stewart, the Huskies looked every bit as good as some of their past championship teams. As a result, the rest of the women's college basketball scene should be terrified for the upcoming three seasons.

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On the cusp of a monumental move to the Big Ten, Rutgers once again fell into scandal with the release of video footage of basketball coach Mike Rice (left) physically and verbally abusing players during practice sessions. Rice was fired the next day and athletic director Tim Pernetti (right) resigned shortly thereafter on the heels of information that the school had known about the coach's behavior for four months and opted not to terminate him.

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Florida Gulf Coast's signature sense of flair and adventure caught some eyes in Philadelphia when it sent Georgetown packing and joined that exclusive brotherhood as just the seventh 15-seed to upset a 2-seed. But Dunk City really took off when it downed San Diego State with swagger to become the first 15-seed to reach the Sweet 16. That reckless abandon may have cost it against Florida, but it was enough to get coach Andy Enfield a new gig at USC.

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Nothing captures the imagination like watching a team chase history, and the country tuned in as the Miami Heat closed in on the '71-72 Lakers record of 33 straight victories. The Chicago Bulls eventually snapped the streak at 27 with a 101-97 victory over the Heat at the United Center, leaving Miami to focus on a second straight NBA championship to pair with the second longest win streak in league history.

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Already hosts to the record for most consecutive games with a point to start of a season, the Chicago Blackhawks continued to win, crossing the halfway mark in the lockout-shortened NHL season without a regulation or overtime loss (21-0-3). With the points streak in jeopardy trailing 2-1 in the third period against Colorado, the Blackhawks rallied, and Daniel Carcillo put in the game-winner with 49.3 seconds left. That also kept alive an 11-game winning streak, the longest in franchise history.

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A whirlwind weekend at Daytona International Speedway played host to both tragedy and triumph. A day after a crash in a Nationwide Series race sent debris and car parts into the crowd, injuring at least 33 spectators, Jimmie Johnson won the Daytona 500, his second career victory in the Great American Race. Danica Patrick made history at Daytona, becoming the first woman to lead a lap in the race and finishing eighth, the best ever finish by a female driver.

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In astreak of both pure dominance and efficiency, LeBron James set an NBA record by recording his sixth straight game with at least 30 points and 60-percent shooting, scoring 30 points on 11-of-15 shooting in a 117-104 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. The performance against the Trail Blazers pushed LeBron's streak one game farther than Adrian Dantley's and Moses Malone's. The record-breaking streak was part of an incredible February for the defending MVP. James averaged 29.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists with a 64.1 percent field goal percentage in the month.

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Proving that madness can happen well outside of March, the top-ranked team in the nation lost five weeks in a row, concluding with Indiana's 74-72 loss to unranked Illinois. The Hoosiers kept their No. 1 rank despite the loss, rebounding with a win over No. 10 Ohio State later in a week in which four of the top five teams lost. For the five weeks before, a new team had claimed the top spot, beginning with Duke, then Louisville, Duke again, Michigan and Indiana. Each of those teams fell the week after taking over as No. 1, creating a chaotic revolving door as March Madness neared.

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Alex Rodriguez, Nelson Cruz, Gio Gonzalez, Melky Cabrera and several other baseball players appeared in the patient files and notes along with regimens of performance-enhancing drugs for Biogenensis, a South Florida clinic, according to a report from the Miami New Times. The notes indicated that the players received human growth hormone, testosterone and another performance-enhancing drugs. The personal notebook of Anthony Bosch, head of the clinic, ties Rodriguez to the use of HGH, IGF-1 and testosterone. Rodriguez's publicist released a statement denying any relationship between the New York Yankees slugger and Bosch.

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Just 10 days after seeming to spurn NFL opportunities with the Eagles, Browns and Bills, Chip Kelly reversed course and accepted the head coaching job for Philadelphia. Kelly, the offensive guru of college football, turned Oregon into a national powerhouse built around a fast-paced, highly athletic offense. The Ducks went to four consecutive BSC bowls and won three conference titles under Kelly. Whether he can translate his up-tempo offense to the NFL will likely dictate Kelly's success with the Eagles.

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After a decade of denial, Lance Armstrong confessed in a tv interview with Oprah Winfrey that he used performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France, according to the Associated Press. The confession was a stunning reversal, after years of public statements, interviews and court battles in which he denied doping and zealously protected his reputation. The cyclist was stripped of his Tour de France titles, lost most of his endorsements and was forced to leave his Livestrong foundation last year after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency issued a damning, 1,000-page report that accused him of masterminding a long-running doping scheme.

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Sensational Redskins rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III underwent knee reconstruction surgery on Jan. 9, three days after injuring his ACL and LCL in Washington's first home playoff game since the 1999 season. In this year's wild-card matchup against Seattle, head coach Mike Shanahan stuck with Griffin despite lingering effects from a sprained lateral collateral ligament injury suffered a month earlier. Griffin played through the pain after seemingly aggravating the injury in the first quarter, but his right knee gave out as he attempted to recover a fumble in the fourth quarter.

Brad Mangin, Damian Strohmeyer, John Biever, John Iacono/SI

In the first year Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa were eligible for the Hall of Fame, voters denied the steroid-tainted trio and all other candidates entry. It was only the second time in four decades that no one was elected. Bonds received just 36.2 percent of the vote, Clemens 37.6 and Sosa 12.5. Mike Piazza received 57.8% of the vote, as the greatest hitting catcher of all time could not shake the stigma of steroids despite having never tested positive. They have up to 14 more years to make it to Cooperstown.

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Steve Nash added another milestone to his legacy as one of the NBA's premier passers, becoming the fifth player to record 10,000 career assists. He joins an elite group of ball distributors comprised of John Stockton, Jason Kidd, Mark Jackson and Magic Johnson. Nash dished out his 10,000th assist late in the second quarter of the Lakers' 125-112 loss to the Rockets and finished the game with 10 assists. He is in his 17th season in the NBA.

Gene J. Puskar, Chris Young, Louis Lanzano/AP

After 113 days and more than 600 canceled games, the NHL and the NHLPA finally reached a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement, ending the league's lockout and salvaging around half of a season. The two sides settled on a 10-year deal with a mutual opt-out clause after eight years. The new agreement calls for a seven-year limit on player contracts with an additional year available for players re-signing with their same teams and provisions regarding year-to-year changes in salary to prevent back-diving contracts. One of the final pieces of the negotiations, the 2013-14 salary cap was set at $64.3 million with a floor of $44 million.

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Two days before the playoffs began, future first-ballot Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis announced that he would retire whenever his Baltimore Ravens were knocked out of the Super Bowl tournament. The Ravens won their playoff opener over Indianapolis, in what was Lewis' last game in front of the hometown fans, and went on to win the Super Bowl. <bold>(112 Memorable Moments of 2012)</bold>