It was quite the year in sports.
One basketball star (Kevin Durant) gave us an endless summer, while another (LeBron James) gave us sadistic joy.
One soccer star (Mario Balotelli) staked his claim as the world's craziest athlete, while another (Hope Solo) became a minor phenomenon.
And one college football program (Penn State) came crumbling down, while one college conference (the Big East) got an unlikely death sentence.
WINNER: Hope Solo
Before this year, only diehard soccer fans even knew who Hope Solo was. But after her performance in this year's World Cup, Solo became an overnight sensation.
Solo now has a huge fan base across the world, and did a sensational job on the show Dancing With The Stars. A great 2011 for Hope.
LOSER: LeBron James
LBJ promised "four... five... six" rings when he arrived in Miami.
But in 2011, he came up a view games short. Even worse, he shrunk in the fourth quarter of the NBA Finals and has been getting killed for not being "clutch" ever since.
He's taken a much more modest approach going into 2012, we'll see if it pays off.
WINNER: Owners
In both lockouts — NFL and NBA — the owners got the better deal in the end.
But at least the players got to play, and we got to watch.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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