Top Sports Stories of 2008

2008 was a bittersweet year for New York sports. Early in the year, it saw the Giants make an incredible run in the playoffs, all the way to winning the Super Bowl in one of the NFL's biggest upsets. But 2008 also saw the final days of two stadiums, one more beloved than another, the rebuilding of the Knicks and Nets, playoff misses for both local baseball teams, the welcoming of a NFL great and several other compelling stories.

Mets Collapse...Again After a true trip off the precipice in 2007, everyone said the Mets collapsed in 2008, but maybe they weren't just that good. For the second straight year, the Mets lost to the Marlins on the final day of the season and missed the playoffs by one game. Omar Minaya assembled a core that included David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Johan Santana. Those are four of the 20 best players in baseball.Yet the rest of the roster couldn't get the Mets to the postseason. An atrocious bullpen has gotten most of the blame, but what about some other parts of the team? Carlos Delgado, erroneously hyped as an MVP candidate thanks to a monster second half, sleptwalked through June. Luis Castillo got hurt and did nothing and still has three years (and $18 million) left on his contract. Here's are three more people who played too much: Marlon Anderson, Endy Chavez and Damion Easley. They combined for 724 at-bats. Firing Willie Randolph appeared to inspire the team for a while, but it couldn't save Aaron Heilman in the bullpen or any of the team's major flaws. Minaya, who got a contract extension, has brought in Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz to anchor a bullpen that will be without Billy Wagner. Time will tell if his moves make a big enough difference to catch up to the Phillies, who won the World Series. - Tom Boorstein (AP/Julie Jacobson)

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