Everyone else is doing top-10 lists for this year, so I thought I’d weigh-in. Here is my list of the top sports things that happened that I wrote about or covered at some point in 2012. You may disagree on the order (sorry Giants fans), but here is my end of year top-10.

Kristaan Ivory’s nose for the end zone helped Cal Poly upset FBS Wyoming in Laramie early in the 2012 college football season. By Owen Main

10. The Warriors and Clippers are kind of relevant

The Clippers started their march toward relevancy when Blake Griffin was drafted. Signing Chris Paul last offseason and a group of other really solid players this past offseason has put them squarely in first place in the Pacific Division with a 25-6 record. The Clippers have won 17 straight games and look like they could be serious contenders with Oklahoma City for the best record in the West. While the Lakers have been a bevvy of turmoil, Donald Sterling’s team has become really good. Those are words I never thought I’d utter.

As for the “Clippers North,” Golden State has started to reap the benefit of new ownership and the consistency of Mark Jackson‘s system. The Warriors are 21-10, would be the 4-seed if the playoffs started today, and are currently 5 1/2 games ahead of the Lakers. Yep, almost halfway through the NBA season the Warriors and Clippers both have better records than the Lakers. By far.

9. The Giants won the World Series… Again

This one would have been higher, except that SLO County is split between Dodgers fans and Giants fans. For the second time in three years, the Giants are World Champions. As much as it sickens me to say it, the Giants had to make this list. They have done it in every way a big market team dreads. Pitching, defense, timely and patient hitting have been hallmarks. The Giants have taken really great pitching and key no-name players and done what their cross-bay rivals never could — brought home the trophy.

As a side note, the World Series trophy will visit the Central Coast again around Valentine’s Day. I don’t know why they’re bringing both of their two whole trophies they’ve won in San Francisco, but they are. And you can be there to get your picture taken with it or something. I’ll probably be there with my camera and some Dodgers gear on.

8. The Lakers keep themselves relevant, but at what cost?

With the offseason acquisitions of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, the Lakers looked like they were creating a dream team of their own to compete with Oklahoma City and Miami. The only question in fans’ minds was whether Mike Brown was the right guy for the job.

The answer, as was always the case, was a resounding “no.” Brown was let-go just five games into the season and the Lakers have struggled to stay at or around .500. They are 9 games behind the Clippers, in third place in the Pacific Division, and in 10th place in the Western Conference. In other words, if the playoffs began today, they’d be out. Not out of home-court advantage. Out of the playoffs. The team has been front-page news all year, which is what is really important in Los Angeles, but it hasn’t gotten them any closer to a title. Yet.

As a side note here, how much is their coaching situation like the movie Gladiator? Phil Jackson could be Russell Crowe, Jim Buss could be Commodus (the Joaquin Phoenix character), Jerry Buss as Marcus Aurelius, and Jeanie Buss as Princess Lucilla. It could work. Here’s the Gladiator IMDB page.

7. The Dodgers get new ownership

The Guggenheim group, led by Magic Johnson, won the bidding war for Los Angeles’ most valuable sports franchise. In doing so, they erased about a decade of questionable ownership decisions (see #1 below) and moved the Dodgers firmly out of “Laughing Stock” category as a franchise. If the Giants hadn’t won the World Series it would be even better. Even so, Dodger fans can look toward a future that’s a lot brighter than it had been.

Dylan Royer’s sharp shooting helped Cal Poly muster a huge upset in Westwood. By Will Parris

6. The Dodgers new ownership spends A LOT of money

Having new owners isn’t the only thing that got Dodger fans’ hearts pumping this year. In August, the Dodgers traded for Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto. Punto aside, that’s a lot of unrealized talent and payroll to take on all at once. Adding the star power of Gonzalez along with the depth of Beckett and possible awesomeness of Crawford made a lot of Dodger fans really happy. Alongside newly aquired Hanley Ramirez, the former Red Sox couldn’t put a dent in the Giants’ World Series run, but they give the Dodger faithful hope for the future.

With the addition of ace Zack Grienke this offseason, the Dodgers will have (BY FAR) the biggest payroll in baseball in 2013. Whether it brings a World Series back to Los Angeles is yet to be seen, but it makes up for some of the frugal heartache Dodger fans have experienced over the past few years. Again, reason to be hopeful for those of us who bleed Dodger blue.

5. The Angels keep up with the Joneses (Guggenheims)

An argument could be made that the new Dodgers ownership actually had to do what they did to keep up with Arte Moreno. Though they didn’t make the playoffs, the Angels were (arguably) the most talented team in baseball in 2012. Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, Jered Weaver, and a pitching staff that looked (on paper) like the best rotation in baseball created a fervent preseason buzz around the Orange County team. The season itself was a disappointment, but the spending of Arte Moreno set the bar for and put the pressure on the Dodgers’ new ownership to spend the same way.

In the offseason, the Angels got their hands on Josh Hamilton. Mike Scioscia will be stacking-up Mike Trout, Hamilton, and Pujols in a lineup that should have no trouble drawing attention. The Angels remain relevant and, in Southern California, that is of the utmost importance.

4. Cal Poly football wins in Wyoming

It was early-on in what would be one of the most storied FCS seasons Cal Poly football has ever seen. A lot of things lined up right for the Mustangs including a down season from Wyoming, a Cal Poly team that was coming into their own, and some big plays early-on in the game. Being in Laramie and hearing that big crowd go quiet was pretty incredible. Withstanding Wyoming’s comeback bid and winning the game launched the Mustangs into as successful a season as they’ve ever had in FCS.

3. Cal Poly footabll wins the Big Sky Conference title and makes the playoffs

In their first season in the Big Sky Conference, Cal Poly earned a share of the conference title and a playoff birth. As a part of the Big Sky, Cal Poly can rest assured that winning their conference alone will guarantee them a playoff birth, something they could never rely on in the Great West.

A season like they one they had in 2012 should boost recruiting for Tim Walsh and could help Cal Poly to be a consistent FCS contender.

2. Cal Poly basketball upsets 11th-ranked UCLA

It was simply the greatest win in the history of Cal Poly basketball. On November 25, Cal Poly visited UCLA for the second time in three years. It was Shabazz Muhammad’s first home game at the newly renovated Pauley Pavilion. Keeping the game close would have been a successful road trip.

Instead Dylan Royer, a senior from Los Osos, drilled six 3-pointers en route to 18 points and Cal Poly scored the signature program win.

The day Frank McCourt no longer owned the Dodgers was a great day for Los Angeles. By Jake N. (Mrmiscellanious) (Own work) [CC-BY-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

Whenever I’m having a bad day, I just remind myself that the Dodgers are no longer owned by McCourt. It’s always a reliably uplifting experience, speaking to the atrocity that was the McCourt ownership. I’m sure that there are even worse owners still in play in sports, but McCourt used my team like a disposable bank account and was rewarded with over $1 billion profit on the sale of the team. It still makes me sick when I think too much about it and for that, the cessation of McCourt’s ownership is my number 1 story of the season.

When Dallas clinched their NBA Finals series against the Miami Heat, fans and media began to bring up Cuban’s name again in relation to the dumpster fire that is currently the Dodgers’ ownership. On television, radio, and across Internet blogs, Dodger fans are practically begging Cuban to be ready if and when the Dodgers are taken over by Major League Baseball and, God willing, sold.

Maybe the most direct plea to Cuban has been through a website titled Mark Cuban Save the Dodgers, created by Los Angeles native and West Covina resident Roger Arrieta. A web designer who started MarkCubanSaveTheDodgers.com, Arrieta created the site two months ago. During the past week, he says, hits on the site have grown exponentially. On Tuesday, there were 800 “likes” on Facebook and as of Thursday night, there were about 1,250.

“My initial thought was ‘save the Dodgers’ as a general idea,” said Arrieta. “Later on, Mark Cuban came to mind. He’s had ten years of success [in Dallas] and he is someone with instant recognition.”

Arrieta’s site features pictures of Cuban with Dodgers gear on, along with images of past Dodger greatness like Sandy Koufax, Fernando Valenzuela, and Kirk Gibson. His Dodgers Fansmanship goes back to the 70’s and 80’s, and his goal is to help encourage an owner like Cuban to take the reins of the Dodgers, an organization clearly in turmoil.

Being a die-hard Lakers fan doesn’t give him any pause either, despite Cuban’s Mavs knocking the Lakers out of the NBA Playoffs this season.

“It doesn’t deter me,” said Arrieta. A lot of people can’t get over that, but it’s simple. You have to look at what [Cuban] has done. Show me a Dodger fan who wouldn’t want that same success for the Dodgers.”

HOW MANY OTHER TEAMS HAVEN’T MADE THE WORLD SERIES SINCE 1988?

Arrieta discusses Cuban’s potential ownership like it’s a done deal already.

“He’s going to do everything to make the team better,” he said.

Having been to many games at Chavez Ravine this year, Arrieta has definitely noticed a difference.

“There are so many less fans this year. It’s crazy,” he said. “It’s not even packed on bobblehead night.”

He has also noticed the increased police presence and it makes him (like Fansmanship) sad that the additional security is needed.

For Arrieta and most Dodgers fans, a failure by current ownership to act at crucial times is an unforgivable offense.

“The Dodgers were never even in the discussion for Cliff Lee or Halladay. They didn’t build on the LCS. They didn’t add to the roster,” he said. His voice a combination of disgust and sadness. “Even if it took [Cuban] 10 years like the Mavs, we haven’t had a championship in 25 years.”

Actually the number is 22, but the point is well taken.

SAN LUIS OBISPO – BLACK OR BLUE?

For him, and so many other Dodgers fans, the McCourt reign has been untenable.

“He said that even if he wasn’t in financial trouble, he’d still be doing the same thing. That’s not acceptable.”

The lack of non-Manny-related big splashes, a penchant for spending money inappropriately and then blaming everyone but himself, and an ego the size of Los Angeles have all marked the McCourt era. For the sake of Arrieta, this writer, and Dodgers fans everywhere, here’s hoping for an end to this situation sooner than later.

WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON AT DODGER STADIUM?

Things may have to get uglier before they can get better.

The picture of Mark Cuban on Arrieta’s website sure looks pretty right about now…

owen@fansmanship.com