Rewind to December 2007 when the baseball world was shocked to find pitching great Roger Clemens' name in the Mitchell Report on Steroids Use in Baseball and Clemens' subsequent testimony (that we now doubt was true) before Congress. The year of 2008 has been when things we expected, happened; and things we did not expect also happened.
Throughout the year we have seen two residential schools duke it out on the basketball court, the softball and baseball fields, and on the football gridiron; it has been a memorable year for the Orioles of the Indiana School for the Deaf and the Orioles of the Maryland School for the Deaf. Yes, that is not a typo- the mascots for both schools are the Orioles. In a battle for athletic supremacy, the two schools have been matching up against each other in more ways than one. In the late winter, ISD wrestling won the National Deaf Duals Tournament, defeating 7 other deaf schools to capture the crown. In the spring, the MSD baseball team placed second in the Dummy Hoy Baseball & Softball Tournament, besting ISD in round robin play. The same weekend, the MSD and ISD Academic Bowl teams met in the national championships for a battle of the minds, and ISD squeaked out an 8-point victory over MSD.
Over the summer, both schools plotted revenge in fall sports; with ISD volleyball participating in the Spike Out Volleyball Classic and ISD football traveling to MSD to take place in a battle of the 2007 football champions; it was MSD that came out on top in both the Spike Out and on the gridiron. It's safe to say that with both schools trading bragging rights over the course of the year, Maryland is the team of the year over Indiana.
We also saw 2008 as the year of Ashley Fiolek, the 17-year old motocross racing sensation winning the year-end tournament, edging out the 5-time reigning champion in the process. Fiolek, who is home schooled, has a tough challenge in 2009: remaining on top.
Lance Allred became the first deaf player in NBA history when he suited up with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Although Allred saw limited action, he has broken the sound barrier in the only professional sports league that has not had a deaf player. Allred will represent the United States in 2009 at the Summer Deaflympics.
The National Deaf Interscholastic Athletic Council formed earlier this year to provide a more fair, balanced and accurate ratings system for residential and mainstream deaf schools with an end-of-year awards and recognition system for student-athletes. The NDIAC has already done a good job in recognizing schools, big and small, and setting up divisional tiers according to school population-- which has been an ongoing struggle within the deaf community.
We saw Matt "The Hammer" Hamill save his mixed martial arts career with a victory over Reese Andy last Saturday, upping his UFC record to 5-2. It was reported within UFC circles that if Hamill lost his third UFC match, he faced the possibility of losing his contract. With a second round TKO of Andy, Hamill lives to fight another day.
Marlee Matlin stormed to the top of the entertainment world with her appearance on Dancing With the Stars. Showcasing decent footwork and following her dancing partner's subtle cues, Matlin wasn't the first one kicked off the show, and she wasn't the last either. She gained respect for deaf people and gave new meaning to the phrase "deaf people can do anything except hear."
Russell Harvard appeared in the movie There Will be Blood as Daniel Day-Lewis' teenage son who is deaf. Harvard studied with the veteran actor Patrick Graybill in making sure the signs he used on the film were appropriate for turn of the century dialogue. Harvard's stint in the film was about two minutes long, but it was yet another breakthrough for deaf actors on the screen.
Last but not least, we saw former Gallaudet University standout Matt Eby break the ranks as a professional soccer player with Real Maryland, a United Soccer League 2 (USL2) team. Eby played solid defense in the backfield for Real Maryland throughout the season. Last fall, Eby and his family moved to Florida, ending his stint with the team, but chances are Eby will pick up where he left off with a professional team in the southeast.
The upcoming year opens with a huge basketball and cheerleading tournament - the Clerc Classic IX, hosted by Maryland School for the Deaf. It will be a new year filled with sporting and entertainment events that will be shockingly predictable and even more shockingly unpredictable!
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