Chalk up another year on your life.

Amidst the counting of gray hairs, the counting of remaining hairs in general, and the counting of remaining aspects of your life that you'd actually consider cool, chances are you learned something this year. We learn from experience, from observation and action, and from repetition. We learn from the smartest people alive, who show us new paths in life, and the idiots, who make even us look like the smartest people alive. Yet when it comes to sports, no matter how long any game has been played, we are never surprised to learn something new.

As this year comes to a close though it's a chance to look back on the 2008 year of sport to gather what we've learned from it, and how we can make 2009 just the gee golly darnedest year we've ever seen. Either that or we'll just be a little smarter, and a little more bald:

We learned that when a baby brother, an improbable playoff run on the road, a concealed weapon holder with poor aim, and a catch with a helmet combine they can ruin perfection.

We learned that even a sheltered place like Beijing can bring the world together for a few weeks.

We learned that Major League Baseball owners prefer Barry Bonds best when he’s in his current state; owner of a huge skull, a huge lawsuit, and still unemployed.

We learned that C.C. Sabathia’s worries in life now are only pitching in the toughest town in baseball for seven years, anchoring a staff built to win the World Series now, and remembering not to eat Chin Ming Wang as he’ll just be hungry again in an hour.

We learned that Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco don’t need a learning curve.

We learned that Kurt Warner and Kerry Collins can find their learning curve again.

We learned America’s Team should be on TMZ more than ESPN.

We learned that Bryant-Garnett/Pierce/Allen isn’t quite Magic-Bird, but the Big Three, no matter how hastily put together, can still conjure up memories of Larry Legend.

We learned that the Mets found out there’s 3 more innings after the 6th, and it’s a good idea if major league pitchers throw them for you, unless you want to be known as ‘Choke Artists 2007-2008 and eventually 2009’.

We learned that Vince Young isn’t very good, the Miami Dolphins aren’t all that bad, and the Detroit Lions are at least consistently horrible.

We learned you can save the most games in a single season and be rewarded a huge contract.

We learned you can save the most games in a single career and be politely asked out of town.

We learned that the NFL does go on without Tom Brady, and a backup can play so well he can put the woes of the lack of The Baby’s Daddy on the back burner and play himself into a look at a possible starting gig next year. Potentially Detroit; where they’d love to draft a wide receiver in the first round to build on.

We learned that only in sports can you dictate when you want to work and for how long based on past performance. Brett Favre throws a football really well, retires, and comes back, demands to play somewhere else, demand granted, and remains beloved. John Doe at the mill has perfect attendance for 30 years, gets laid off.

We learned that Michael Phelps can swim faster than anyone has ever swum (swum is a word), and will eventually become as big a part of our culture as Marc Spitz.

We learned that “ANYTHINGS POSSIBLLLLLLLEEEE”.

We learned that dropping the “devil” in your name can end up shining a Ray to the Promised Land.

We learned that the “ability to clear sufficient cap space for the 2010 season” can be an applicable addition to any NBA general manager’s resume.

We learned rain delays don’t care if it’s the World Series.

We learned that Scott Boras must drug general managers as he consistently overprices his players, through no fault of his own, as he isn’t the one writing the checks.

We learned that even some cities, with a culture synonymous with cheese steaks, Rocky Balboa, and losing, get their day in the sun.

We learned that Brad Lidge knows what redemption feels like.

We learned that professional sports are not recession proof.

We learned that professional athletes are.

We learned that a man can come back from the baseball dead, shake the weights of drug abuse off his back, and hit more home runs in a derby than anyone before him.

We learned that Marc Cuban has more in common with Martha Stewart than poor taste in clothes, more money than some countries, and borderline gay tendencies; they both like insider trading.

We learned that we will never see another Greg Maddux; a low velocity control pitcher who looked more like a C.P.A. than a H.O.F. inductee.

We learned that even a President-Elect can't get a BCS playoff system.

We learned that even an evil Boss can earn compassion in his old age long enough to channel the envious frustrations of observers to his son and the new rein of the Evil Empire…and yes I’m talking about the Steinbrenner’s.

We learned that ‘Rock Chalk Jayhawk’ can out live any Rose.

We learned “if shooting your pants is cool consider me Miles Davis”- Plaxico Burress.

We learned that when it comes to the Triple Crown the answer to ‘What Can Brown Do For You’ is: not much.

We learned that a guy named Rocco can go toe to toe with the greatest golfer who ever lived, make him play an extra day at the US Open, and in losing still spark his greatest career accomplishment.

We learned that while the list of nationally beloved sportscasters is short each of us have a select few that brought us the sport that mattered most to us, and those few will forever be a part of the everlasting bond we create. For some people Charlie Jones, Jim McKay, and Bobby Murcer forged that bond, and even as their time here ended their work lives on in the memories of so many.

We learned that saying goodbye to the House That Ruth Built is like saying goodbye to an active piece of history. Baseball saw its greatest days in Yankee Stadium; it’s greatest rivalries played and its greatest records made, and now as the field that every iconic player to have ever played the game of baseball is passed over by the economic pressures of time, no man, whether he fan or foe, can argue that there will ever be memories made like the ones made on that ground.

We learned that a recession isn't a text book term or a when I was your age story; it is a reality that changes the landscape of life, and as life changes so does sport. We learned that when times are tough sports can simultaneously be a meaningless obsession and a welcomed distraction. It is in those times that one can realise that maybe sports aren't the end all end of existence, that we can only hope that it still is darkest before the dawn, and as George Bailey learned, no man is a failure who has friends.

Happy Holidays. It's good to be back.