Last week, we started a countdown of the year’s top 10 sports stories (read stories 10 through 6 on www.Sac Union.com). This week we list stories 5 through 1.

5. Downright Embarrassing
Some top stories are just depressing. Such is the case with the Oakland Raiders in 2008, who became the first NFL team in history to lose at least 11 games for six consecutive seasons. How the squad keeps a “Raider Nation” faithful, I’ll never know.

Owner Al Davis fired head coach Lane Kiffin early in the season, but replaced him with Tom Cable, an unproven coach who hasn’t done any better. With Mike Singletary’s success across the Bay as the interim coach with his own hapless team, the once mastermind Al Davis looks more like he’s losing his mind.

4. Two Dreams Came True
Two Sacramento-area players entered the NBA Draft in 2008, and now both play big roles on their respective teams, but they took very different journeys to get there. Oak Ridge High graduate Ryan Anderson was drafted at No. 21 by the New Jersey Nets after leaving the University of California, Berkeley early, but Sheldon High grad DeMarcus Nelson went undrafted out of Duke University. Nelson shopped himself around the league with summer ball performances and eventually landed a spot with the Golden State Warriors, where he started the season in the starting lineup.

Both now see quality minutes as rookies and could potentially have blossoming NBA careers.

3. Buzzer Beaters
The most entertaining games of the year at Arco Arena did not involve the Sacramento Kings. Instead, it was local high school basketball players pushing games to the final buzzer that proved most exciting, as several of the Sac-Joaquin Section Championship games saw battles worthy of NBA-crowd attention.

In the Division I boys basketball SJS championship on March 1, the night’s final game, Folsom High School overcame a late deficit to Rodriguez High to become the first school in section history to claim a title in four different divisions (winning the D-IV title in 1990, the D-III title in 1995 and the D-II title in 2000).

With only 5.8 seconds left in the game and down by a point, Folsom junior Tony Johnson took the inbounds pass and went the length of the court, shaking two defenders before gracefully pulling up for a game-winning three-pointer.

In a tied Division II girls championship game, with just 9.4 seconds left in a game featuring the St. Francis Troubadours and the Oak Ridge Trojans, the Troubadours set the stage for even more heroics. Junior Brittney Wong brought the ball up court and passed to sophomore Marissa Mar, who showing some youth, dribbled in place as the clock wound down. Fans watching saw the final seconds tick before yelling, “Shoot it,” to which Mar hurled up a prayer from what seemed like the NBA three-point line. As all held their breath, the buzzer sounded and the ball banked off the glass and went in for the win.

2. Doubling a Triple-A Feat
The Sacramento River Cats duplicated the 2007 team’s effort by clinching the Triple-A title on Sept. 16 with a 4-1 victory over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the Bricktown Showdown Championship. Sacramento beat Salt Lake and Oklahoma on its way to the championship, winning the Pacific Coast League title after posting an 83-61 record in the regular season.

While becoming back-to-back Triple-A champs was a feat, it was who they saw success with all season long that makes the story so impressive. After 2007 manager Tony DeFrancesco joined the A’s, the River Cats were led by new-to-Triple-A manager Todd Steverson, who immediately picked up where DeFrancesco left off.

Going down the rest of the roster was much of the same, as a once powerful lineup had been obliterated by trades and call-ups by the Oakland Athletics. From top prospects Carlos and Gio Gonzalez to the team’s ace closer Brad Ziegler, the Cats lost stars all year long, yet managed to play even better once they were gone.

“We’ve lost a ton of guys this year to the A’s,” River Cats radio broadcaster Johnny Doskow said earlier this year. “This team just finds a way. [Steverson] knows how to handle these guys. He’s one of them.”

1. Bringing Home Gold
Nothing can top our story of the year, because nationally, every four years, it’s usually the story of the year no matter what. Any time the Olympics are involved, the whole world watches, and Sacramento was fortunate enough to have several athletes not only travel to and participate in the Olympics in Beijing, but also bring home medals.

Discus-thrower and Galt native Stefanie Brown Trafton won the United States’ first gold medal, throwing 212 feet 5 inches on her first attempt. Orangevale’s Mary Whipple was the coxswain for the gold medal-winning women’s rowing eight team. Carmichael’s Gabe Gardener helped the surprising men’s indoor volleyball team beat powerhouse Brazil and ultimately win the gold. Sacramento Monarch Kara Lawson was a major reason the women’s basketball team won gold, scoring 15 points in the title game to give the United States the edge. Elk Grove’s Stephanie Cox joined the women’s soccer team as it got revenge on Brazil with a 1-0 win in the gold medal match.

Rio Americano grad James Williams earned silver with the U.S. fencing team. Davis High grad Gina Ostini Miles took silver in the individual equestrian competition. And Laguna Creek High’s Casey Weathers helped the men’s baseball team earn a bronze medal.