The sad and ugly of 2011

This fading year was supposed to be the calm before the London Olympic storm of 2012. Instead, tragedies on and off the field, scandals, lockouts and big stars making bigger mistakes kept sports in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, Tym Glaser writes.

1. Russian tragedy

Before leaving for his first job as a head coach in professional hockey, Brad McCrimmon, asked a fellow American coach with experience in Russia's Kontinental League (KHL) what to expect. The response, according to a Sports Illustrated article, was that the money is green, but the knuckles are white due to the travel.