The giants who can hit new heights in 2017
JANUARY
When Serena Williams produced one of the finest performances ever witnessed in a Wimbledon final against Angelique Kerber, equalling Steffi Grafâs Open era record of 22 Grand Slam singles wins, it seemed a shoe-in that she would sail past the Germanâs mark at the US Open.
Yet defeated by knee problems and an inspired Karolina Pliskova in the semi-finals, she ended up growling: âIâm tired of playing tournaments unhealthy and taking losses that I would never lose.â Well, at 35 it will not get easier with Kerber now having usurped her as world No. 1, but the old lioness is reported to be fit, healthy and on the prowl to break that record at the Australian Open. Then, sheâd have three more chances in 2017 to surpass the all-time mark of 24 Slam singles held by Margaret Court.
FEBRUARY
He couldnât really be getting better at the age of 39, could he? If it was anyone else, youâd be tempted to say no but Tom Brady, who has suggested he could go on until his late 40s, really has looked more supreme than ever this season.
He missed the first four games of the campaign, serving his âDeflategateâ ban, but then became what Americans like to call the âwinningestâ quarterback of all-time with his 201st regular season victory and then a 450th touchdown pass. Now it could be his time to put the old argument to bed about whoâs the greatest QB of all by winning a record fifth Super Bowl ring for any quarterback at Super Bowl LI in Houston, beating the four by Joe Montana, of the San Francisco 49ers, and Terry Bradshaw, of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
MARCH
Having taken over a team that had been kicked out of their own party before the fun really even began at the World Cup, who could have imagined Eddie Jones, once renowned mainly as the Aussie who could get under Clive Woodwardâs skin with an âaw, mateâŠâ throwaway, would guide England unbeaten through 2016, including four straight victories over his native country?
Even more astonishingly, should Dylan Hartleyâs men repeat their Grand Slam heroics of 2016, they would set a new world record for a tier-one nation of 19 consecutive victories that would eclipse the mark set by the All Blacks last October. Mind you, we all know who ended that run. What price Joe Schmidtâs lads ending Englandâs streak at 18 too at Lansdowne Road on the last day of the Six Nations in March?
APRIL
For those who believe a 40-year-old Tiger Woods is a spent force whoâll never win another major, a word to the wise from a man who might know a thing or two. âI donât think anything is safe,â said Jack Nicklaus, when asked if Woods, currently on 14, could still surpass his 18.
âIâve always thought that heâs got at least another 10 years of good competitive golf in front of him.â If it sounded like the Golden Bear was just being diplomatic about a man whoâll be making his comeback to the PGA Tour in 2017 after a year and half away having to deal with chronic back problems, then consider this: Nicklaus had not won the Masters for 11 years when he confounded everyone as a 46-year-old to win in 1986. Well, by the time Woods tees off at Augusta, itâll be 11 years since he won his fourth Masters. And that 65 he shot at his comeback tournament in the Bahamas at the start of this month was tantalising. He couldnât, could he?
MAY
Curry is to the NBA what Leo Messi is to European football.
A once-in-a-generation sporting wonder. Just as you watch the Argentine weave his intricate wonders for another goal, making the fantastic seem routine, so the slight figure of Curry finding an 18 inch-diameter basket from anything between 22 and 30 feet away with devastating accuracy while being pressed by giants feels almost miraculous. In November, he sank a record 13 in a single game for the Golden State Warriors, which is about as unlikely as a striker scoring four 25-yarders in a football game. Yet with Curry, whoâs had a quietish campaign so far but could still become the first player for 36 years to win the seasonâs MVP award in three successive seasons in May, you only sense that, at some point, his genius is such that heâll make it 14 on a night pretty soon.
JUNE
Itâs hard not to warm to Carlo Ancelotti. Other managers make more noise, go on about their specialness or bounce up and down like lunatics on the touchline. Not Carlo; he moulds fine sides wherever he goes, earning the respect and affection of the players he works with, enjoying a crafty smoke and amassing a collection of silverware that tells of a quiet achiever.
It wasnât plain sailing for the Italian when he took over at Bayern Munich from Pep Guardiola this season, with his team finding it hard to readapt from the Spaniardâs singular methods and intensity. But still, by the Bundesligaâs winter break, he had already won the 17th trophy of his managerial career, the German Super Cup, and was leading the field in his bid to win a league title in a fourth different country. So, whatâs the betting that in Cardiff in June that the man whoâs already guided Milan (twice) and Real Madrid to European Cup glory could become the first manager to win four Champions League titles (ahead of Liverpoolâs Bob Paisley) and the only one to land the trophy with the big ears at three different clubs, ahead of the two-club winners Jose Mourinho, Ernst Happel, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Jupp Heynckes.
JULY
Okay, so this one is a mite optimistic. On only three occasions in 114 years of Test rugby have the All Blacks lost a three-test or four-test series on home soil - 1937 to the Springboks, 1971 to the Lions and 1986 to Australia.
In 1994, they lost a two-match series 2-0 to France. So weâre talking once in a blue moon, effectively. As yet, no team has ever whitewashed them in a three-Test series in New Zealand and as they havenât actually lost a Test on home soil to anyone in 45 games since 2009, the 28-1 odds currently on offer for a 3-0 win for Warren Gatlandâs British and Irish Lions seem positively miserly. Yet havenât Ireland offered us reasons to believe the impossible could happen?
AUGUST
Take one, last lingering look. Well, not too lingering because it is Usain Bolt weâre talking about. The Lightning Bolt will sweep down the track at the London World Championships for the very last time before retiring from the sport he has carried on his charismatic back for so long.
Actually, too long. Just over a week before his 31st birthday, the man who has made up for so many of his sportâs ailments will aim for one final golden global treble in the 100m, 200m and sprint relay, an amazing feat he has achieved at three Olympics and three World Championships, and expect to take his final record tally to 14 World Championship golds to go with his nine Olympic titles. After still looking in a different league to his opponents in Rio, he shrugged: âWhat else can I do to prove to the world I am the greatest?â The answer, of course, is nothing - but it will be our privilege to recall why heâs the greatest one last time.
SEPTEMBER
It is going to happen and it is just a question of when. And, more importantly as far as Floyd Mayweather is concerned, for how much? For a man who luxuriates in the charmless nickname âMoneyâ, doubtless the chance to earn yet more millions of dollars that he can chuck on his bed and have his picture taken with is as much of an attraction as going past Rocky Marcianoâs legendary unbeaten 49-fight record.
You didnât really think heâd stop after taking his record to 49 and 0 in a quite underwhelming and easy win over Andre Berto in September 2015, did you? Las Vegas is abuzz because Mayweatherâs been back in training and, after a good yearâs break in which heâs dabbled in a bit of event promotion and management himself and entertained the utter nonsense of a possible cross-code scrap with Conor McGregor, he wonât be able to resist the lure of a half-century of triumphs. Only heâll have turned 40 and might have to be careful not to bite off more than he can chew. The smart money is on a rematch with Manny Pacquiao.
OCTOBER
Pele did it with Santos (646 goals) and Gerd Muller with Bayern Munich (564 goals) but the idea of a player in todayâs game, where speed and fitness puts space at a premium, scoring 500 goals for a single club seems unthinkable. Think again.
Messi, currently on 476, will, fitness willing, pass that landmark if not this season, then certainly this year. And heâs probably created just as many. Ronaldo, the best in the world? Say it as loud as you want, with golden balls on, but it wonât make it true while little Leo is around.
NOVEMBER
Now Nico Rosberg has retired, Lewis Hamilton should be the undisputed king of Mercedes and such is the German teamâs utter supremacy in F1 that 2017 may well not be about whether Hamilton will lift a fourth world title, becoming the most garlanded British driver in history (Jackie Stewart won three), but whether he can have a season in which he proves just why he is among the very finest of all-time.
With 20 Grands Prix on the calendar, the record of 13 wins in a season, held jointly by Michael Schumacher (2004) and Sebastian Vettel (2013) could well be under threat. Mind you, Bernie Ecclestone would end up gnashing his teeth at such a tedious procession.
DECEMBER
With 2017âs first World Championship, the PDC darts crown, being battled for as we speak, weâll soon discover if Michael Van Gerwen, the most extraordinary dartiste we have yet seen, a shiny-pated, rat-a-tat 180 machine who can seemingly clock up maximums like shelling peas, is going to start the New Year in the manner which he dominated 2016 like no-one, not even the greatest of the lot Phil Taylor, had ever quite done before.
The Dutchman won an incredible 25 tournaments, including eight TV âmajorsâ this year, but he has elevated the game to such a level that it would be no surprise if he went even one better next year. That would be a title every fortnight then. Game On!
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