But the following question is one that should be asked in a bar. It just might not be the best pickup line.

What is the best sports story of this year?

Except for the three NFL games on Thanksgiving (thank God for fantasy Football), we have had a bountiful sports year with a cornucopia of choices.

PGA Tour golfer Olin Browne asked me this question when I was caddying for him on Saturday at the Callaway Invitational as we were walking along the sun-soaked shoreline of the 10th hole at Pebble Beach.

My brain scanned through the year, but couldn't get past the first week of February. I told Olin my answer was the New York Giants beating the 18-0 Patriots in the Super Bowl.

It was a game that would have made history either way. Lost in that epic finish was Tom Brady hitting Randy Moss for a touchdown with 2:42 left in the game. If David Tyree doesn't catch that Hail Mary of a pass with his crazy-glue helmet and Plaxico Burress doesn't haul in the winning score with just 35 seconds remaining, that Brady comeback thrusts him into best-quarterback-ever discussions.

I remember jumping high enough to dunk when Burress was wide open in the end zone for the winning score, as I had grown tired of everything Boston. It was probably the happiest I have ever felt about a non-favorite team, which might have played into my answer.

Olin came back with Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines with a broken leg and torn ACL in 91 holes over Rocco Mediate. That tournament was a duel that transcended golf. Everybody I knew wanted to talk to me about it, even non-golf fans.

As a non-tennis fan, I came away with that same feeling after watching the Wimbledon final in awe, with Rafael Nadal answering Roger Federer shot-for-shot before ultimately knocking off the grass king in five amazing sets.

And while I could very easily be talked into Tiger as the best story, would it have been even bigger news if Rocco had won? Or would Rocco have been quickly forgotten like the guy who outdueled Tiger a major before at the Masters, Trevor Immelman?

But could anything have been bigger than if the honey-mooning, 53-year-old Greg Norman had somehow held on to his two-shot lead going into the final round of the British Open?

Completely overshadowed is Padraig Harrington and his menacing game face winning back-to-back majors to close out the year. And then there is the Tiger-less U.S. Ryder Cup team stomping a heavily favored Europe while unveiling Anthony Kim and Boo Weekley to the world.

But Cinderella wasn't just wearing golf spikes this year. She slipped into some baseball spikes as well. Maybe the upset of the year was the Fresno State baseball team, which became the lowest-seeded team to win any NCAA championship. The Bulldogs needed to win their own conference tournament just to qualify for the field of 64, where they were seeded No. 4 out of their four-team region. That would be the equivalent of a No. 13 seed or higher winning it all in March Madness. Two years ago, George Mason was only a No. 11 seed.

In the Majors, there wasn't a better story than the Tampa Bay Rays beating the defending champion Boston Red Sox to win the American League pennant after suffering through the worst record in baseball just a season ago.

That is unless you count individual stories. I couldn't have been more inspired after watching Texas Rangers slugger and former crack addict Josh Hamilton turn the home run derby into a long drive competition.

But my favorite story was watching Manny Ramirez single-handedly carry my Dodgers into the playoffs and then make them a legit World Series contender by hitting .520 with a 1.747 OPS in the postseason. Manny was in such a zone I genuinely thought he would hit a home run every time he stepped up to the plate. It must have been what Giants fans experienced watching Barry Bonds.

The Manny trade felt like d?j vu all over again since my Lakers had acquired Pau Gasol in similar dirt-cheap fashion, setting up another unexpected and enjoyable run deep into the playoffs. My Laker bias can't take away what the Celtics and their Boston Three Party accomplished, but March Madness had a better finish.

Except for my bracket blowing up in the Elite Eight. (I generally don't remember title games because my bracket has already been destroyed by then. The fact that I remembered last year's game is a testament to how great it truly was.)

But how can you beat a national championship game that is sent into overtime on an impossible 3-pointer by Kansas guard Mario Chalmers?

Not with the BCS.

Of course, that could change with President-elect Barack Obama lobbying for a playoff in college Football. That move could top them all.

Sure beats trading away Sammy Sosa.