If you are like me, there is something about the last few weeks of year that makes you want to stop and reflect on the events of the past 12 months. No matter how busy I am I always catch myself looking in the rearview mirror a little as I think about what has been and what might have been.
Part of that reviewing of the past year goes with the territory of being in the media. It doesn't matter whether it's a small hometown newspaper like the News Bulletin or a major network like ESPN, we all love to look back and think about the people and their stories that caught our attention over the previous 12 months.
Many of us have personal stories that never make it to print or on the air. Our own stories of heartache and triumph are those stories that impact our lives far more than a flood in Iowa or some movie star or athlete getting in trouble with the law for the 20th time.
It's not that we don't feel for the flood victims or someone that was killed in yet another senseless shooting, but sometimes we are numbed by our own pain and floods of life.
As I begin thinking about the top sports moments of 2013 in our little corner of the world I know many of you will disagree with some or most of my choices.
I don't mind telling you it can be difficult selecting 10 stories that had the greatest impact on the local sports scene.
Every year there are stories that are easy to pick. A football coach stepping down and a new coach being hired will always be in the top five of any list.
Big wins and district championships also are easy choices, as are athletes signing with a big time university.
It's usually easy picking the big stories to make the top 10, but it isn't as easy trying to decide the bottom five or bottom three.
I just try to get to as many games as I can and see as many athletes as possible.
I usually attend four games a week of some sort from the middle of August until the middle of May. I estimate that I see close to 150 games a year.
As the old Christmas song, "When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter" reminds us, "It takes a little time, you know, to check off one whole year."
I have begun my process of checking off the whole year of 2013 in sports. My top 10 of 2013 will appear in our Dec. 28 edition.
Even as I begin checking off the events of 2013, my mind races to the events and athletes that might shape the local sports scene in 2014.
Randy Dickson is the Crestview News Bulletin’s sports editor. Email him at randyd@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @BigRandle, or call 682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: Picking the top stories