It was a banner year for local sports

As we come down to the end of another sports season, it's amazing to look back at what our local athletes have accomplished.

One could call 2006 a championship year for the area from Anthem to North Scottsdale. A handful of local teams and athletes collected state championships, and it appears the best hasn't even come yet.

Of course, any look back at the year has to start and end with the meteoric rise of the Cactus Shadows football team. Nobody two years ago could have seen this coming when Chad DeGrenier took over the team, and in their inaugural season the Falcons proceeded to win as many games as I did–and I didn't even play.

The Falcons went from no wins to no losses in just two seasons and brought home the school's first state championship in the sport.

It wasn't Cactus Shadows' only moment of glory this year. The school's baseball team captured its first 4A state title with a late‑season run that will be hard to duplicate. Tom Scala's bunch is young too, meaning 2007 might be another great year.

Other schools got into the championship action as well. Boulder Creek earned its first team championship when the boys golf team defied the odds in their second full season and won it all. The Jaguars also earned its first state swimming champion and showed across the board that it will be a force to be reckoned with in most sports once all the programs are established.

At Goldwater, the football team made major progress in 2006, becoming the first Bulldog team in 20 years to win a playoff game and first ever to do it at 5A. But the team suffered a big blow after the season when coach Dan Friedman, who turned the program around over the last five years, left to take over the vacancy at Boulder Creek, when the school let go of Scott Heideman.

The next year could bring more championships to the local schools, and something tells me football is going to become huge in Anthem sooner or later.

Congratulations to all athletes on a stellar 2006 season, and good luck in the coming year.

I KNOW CHRISTMAS has already passed, but here is a wish‑list of things I'd like to see in 2007.

More crying in baseball. Actually more crying in all sports. Adam Morrison was mocked for his sobbing display on the court after Gonzaga lost to UCLA in the NCAA Tournament last March, but not by me. There is nothing like raw displays of emotion on the field. At least you know the money you're paying to watch is going to players who actually care.

Less T.O. in everything. As a Dallas Cowboys fan, it's been a very conflicting season for me. Terrell Owens is up there with Roger Clemens as my least favorite athletes of all‑time. It took a good three months for me to even admit the Cowboys had signed Owens, and I'm still not over it. Just go away, please.

Web‑cams at all high school facilities. Just imagine how easy it would be to report on all the teams if all games were broadcast on the Internet. Ah, a man can dream, can't he?

See you all next year.