While every year has its own host of surprises, there are always those stories that simply fit the trend. Sure, it can get repetitive, but if we don’t look back at history aren’t we only doomed to repeat it? Every year has its fair share of stories that fell into this category, and 2008 was no different.

Our list of things we already knew this year includes the BCS’ continued suckiness (Texas-Oklahoma), how teamwork wins championships (KG, Pierce and Ray-Ray), and the #1 rule for carrying a handgun into a nightclub – don’t use your sweatpants as a holster. (Come on, Plax. Really? Sweatpants?)

Don’t miss the other two parts of our 2008 Year-End Sports Review: “What We Learnedâ€� and “What We Think Might Happen.â€�

Brett Favre can’t make up his mind.

The biggest story of the summer was all the drama surrounding Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers. This saga has been covered to death, but there’s one detail that never seemed to get that much play. At the start, it looked like the Packers were making a bad decision by moving on so quickly even when Favre decided he wanted to return. But when the news broke about Favre’s near-unretirement in March, the Packers stance became much more clear. They were ready to take him back after the owners’ meetings, but he called it off at the last minute. At that point, the Packer brass was understandably finished with Brett Favre, much to the chagrin of a good portion of the Packer faithful. – John Paulsen

The Chicago Cubs’ title drought is not a fans-only phenomenon.

The 2008 Cubs were easily the best team the franchise has assembled in decades, but they still couldn’t win a single game in the playoffs, and the reason is simple: the pressure finally got to them. Sure, they said the right things to the press about how they didn’t care about what had happened in the past, but don’t believe a word of it; there wasn’t a single person in that dugout that wasn’t fantasizing about being part of the team that finally, mercifully, ended the longest title drought in sports history. Once ESPN picked them to win it all, however, they were doomed. Ryan Dempster walked seven batters in Game 1, which matched his total for the month of September. The entire infield, including the sure-handed Derrek Lee, committed errors in Game 2. Alfonso Soriano went 1-14 with four strikeouts in the leadoff spot, while the team as a whole drew six walks and struck out 24 times. The team with so much balance in the regular season suddenly became the most one-dimensional team in baseball; take Game 1 from them, then sit back and watch them choke. And now that this group has lost six straight playoff games (the team has lost nine straight dating back to 2003), it isn’t about to get any easier. Get a helmet, Cubs fans. – David Medsker

If you’re going to wear sweatpants to a nightclub, leave the gun at home.

If winning a Super Bowl is the pinnacle of an NFL player’s career, than shooting yourself with your own gun in a nightclub has to be rock bottom. Case in point: Plaxico Antonio Burress. Just 10 months after helping the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg while at a nightclub. Apparently the (unregistered) gun was slipping down his leg and when he tried to grab it to keep it from falling, the lucky bastard wound up pulling the trigger and shooting himself. And that wasn’t the worst of it because as Plaxico found out, New York has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation. He was arrested, but posted bail of $100,000 and is scheduled to return to court on March 31, 2009. If convicted of carrying a weapon without a license, he faces up to three and a half years in jail. He shouldn’t expect special treatment, either. The mayor of New York wants to be sure that Burress is prosecuted just like any other resident of NYC. The Giants, meanwhile, placed him on their reserve/non-football injury list and effectively ended his season. While “Plax� definitely deserves “Boner of the Week� consideration for his stupidity, what’s sad is that in the wake of Washington Redskins’ safety Sean Taylor’s death, most NFL players feel the need to arm themselves when they go out. Maybe players can learn from not only Taylor’s death, but also Burress’s accident so further incidents can be avoided. – Anthony Stalter

Today, AskMen.com released their list of the world’s Top 49 Most Influential Men of 2008. Over 200,000 voters participated to help determine which men in the public eye most influenced the way they bought, dressed, and thought in the past year. Athletes made up 25 percent of the list, the most of any other category (music, politics, fashion, etc.). Their respective rankings are below:

46. Alex Rodriguez – New York Yankees

45. Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins

41. Lewis Hamilton – Formula 1 Racing

40. Brett Favre – New York Jets

30. Rafael Nadal – Association of Tennis Professionals

25. David Beckham – Los Angeles Galaxy

21. Usain Bolt – 2008 Olympics gold-medal sprinter

20. LeBron James – Cleveland Cavaliers

18. Kobe Bryant – Los Angeles Lakers

9. Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United

3. Michael Phelps – 2008 Olympics gold-medal swimmer

While I’m not sure how much Michael Phelps affected how males bought, dressed, and thought over the past few months, these athletes have certainly garnered interest for what they represent, their sport. Although the criteria might have to be worded differently next time around (at #48, David Simon, creator of The Wire, definitely affected how our culture thinks), I agree that these individuals have helped sports in general more than their peers. For example, Lewis Hamilton broke Formula 1’s color barrier, Rafael Nadal has reinvigorated tennis, and both Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps momentarily united the world in celebration with their success in the Olympics.

It’s pretty interesting to see how much sway Kobe and Favre still have while sports such as golf, UFC, and boxing lacked a representative on the list.

A recent Deuce Magazine article takes a close look at the career of James Blake. He’s been America’s second-ranked male tennis player for the past seven years. However, he’s yet to win a Grand Slam. In the piece, Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal critique Blake’s game, as well as offer insight as to why he hasn’t taken it to the next level.

What’s always been tricky in that department is Blake’s playing style. Blake’s A-game is a sizzling set of big forehands, aggressive returns, extraordinary movement and enough shotmaking for tons of highlight reels. Few players in the past 20 years have better personified the notion of a dangerous player. Watch Blake versus the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and you’ll see a man extremely capable of going toe-to-toe with giants. As Nadal said earlier this year after earning his first win over Blake in four tries at the ATP Masters Series event in Indian Wells, “He’s a very difficult player for me to play against… very aggressive player all the time.”

Though Blake is pleased with the consistency of his play in 2008 – he’s maintained a Top 10 ranking all year – there have also been some beguiling losses, including a five-setter in the second round of Wimbledon versus Rainer Schuettler and defeats in finals to first-time winners Kei Nishikori and Marcel Granollers. “This year’s been a little strange,” says Blake. “I’ve had some ups and downs.”

It’s astonishing that Blake used to dominate Nadal a few years back. He also beat Federer in Beijing before a heart-breaking loss to Fernando Gonzalez, which would have at least guaranteed him a bronze medal. At 29 years-old, Blake’s years are numbered on the ATP Tour. Hopefully both he and Andy Roddick will be prepared for the Australian Open in January. As another year goes by without a dominant male American player, one begins to wonder if legends such as Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, and Pete Sampras were just Europeans with really good Yankee accents.

No matter what was said or written about his recent play, Roger Federer knew he had one more chance to salvage a disappointing season. After missed opportunities in the French Open and Wimbledon finals, Federer easily defeated Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 on Monday evening to win his fifth consecutive U.S. Open Championship.

Murray didn’t feel fatigue contributed to his straight set defeat. Instead, he felt his defense stance behind the baseline was no match for Federer’s offensive game. And the final numbers do not lie about his dominance in every facet of this final. Federer accumulated a 36-16 advantage in winning shots, a 7-2 lead in service breaks, and winning a point on 31 of 44 trips to the net.

Murray had less than 24 hours to prepare for the men’s finals after defeating the World’s #1 player Rafael Nadal in a rain-interrupted semifinal that concluded late Sunday afternoon.

Federer became the first man since Bill Tilden in the 1920’s to win this tournament five times in a row. He also upped his Grand Slam tally to 13, which puts Federer one behind the men’s record holder Pete Sampras.

It’s no great revelation that America’s top male players are not really considered a threat to win any of the Grand Slams. When it comes to tournament play, quality U.S. players are a dying breed, and the numbers do not lie. With no American in the U.S. Open men’s semi-finals this weekend, it will be the 16th straight Grand Slam event without a U.S. men’s winner.

Andy Roddick has become the poster boy of U.S. tennis in the post-Sampras and Agassi era. Is he bitter? Hardly, Roddick has found some solace in trying to lead the Americans with his meat and potatoes power game against the sophisticated style that has dominated tennis for years. And he holds the claim of being the last U.S. winner of a Grand Slam event; he won the 2003 U.S. Open final.

James Blake has been somewhat of a disappointment on the men’s tour. He is often noted for his athleticism, which many believe should enable him to win a Grand Slam. Instead, he plants himself on the end line and tries to become a straight-ahead basher, which just negates his speed.

It’s not only that the U.S. contenders have retired or currently slumping, but the pipeline of potential tennis stars is as thin as ever. A quick glance at the top ten players at the 16-17 years old level and you will not see an American name on the list.

There was a time when pro tennis players came from one of three global regions, Australia, Western Europe, or the United States. Today, the top two men’s singles players are a Spaniard (Rafael Nadal) and a Swiss (Roger Federer).

Tennis has grown everywhere else on the globe except in the United States. Many in tennis feel youngsters have shied away from the sport due to the popularity of action sports (skateboarding or other X Game-style events) in American culture. Tennis fans anticipated the drop-off of American players in the sport because of the lack of depth produced by the U.S. tennis academies. If the U.S. hopes to produce more male champions, that’s where it’s going to happen.

Something happened on Roger Federer’s quest to become the greatest player in tennis history - Rafael Nadal. The French Open has been a roadblock for many great players, and the same thing is happening to Federer. Now he has a true rival to contend with after dominating tennis over the past several years.

This is great for tennis. It was a great match. Now let’s see if Nadal can become a force on other surfaces as well. At twenty years old, he can continue to improve.