Sure, the Boston Celtics captured the biggest single-season comeback in NBA history this year, but has 2008 already eclipsed the biggest one-year sports turnaround in… Earth history?

Those daunting memories of sports in 2007 are over; Michael Vick is locked up, Tim Donaghy is on his way, Pacman Adam Jones is a good guy again, SpyGate is dead, and both Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have crawled into a hole.

And already, just over seven months into 2008, we could already be putting this historic year in contention for “Best. Year. Ever.” honors. In wake of our fifth epic sporting event (Wimbledon), here’s why:

Giant Upset: Super Bowl XLII was the greatest in history. An improbable game itself — the N.Y. Giants uplifting heavy juggernaunt New England Patriots — only scratches the surface as to why it was the greatest. Look at the preceeding history: The perfect yet evil 18-0 Patriots, fresh off new SpyGate allegations, lost the most important game in NFL history to the fun-loving underdog Giants, who won every playoff game on the road. Not only was it the greatest upset in NFL history, but there’s also that whole New York-Boston rivalry thing.

Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk: College basketball experienced the first ever Final Four of all No. 1 seeds. Without any heavy favorite between Kansas, Memphis, UCLA and UNC, San Antonio hosted one of the most exciting NCAA Championships in history; KU’s Mario Chalmers hit a game-tying three with 2.1 seconds remaining to force overtime. After squashing a 60-51 deficit with two minutes remaining in regulation, Kansas won 75-68 in overtime.

The Ghosts of the Garden: The most historic rivalry in sports regained the NBA Finals spotlight after a 22-year absence. The Celtics and Lakers, who own half of the all-time titles, renewed its rivalry after Boston completed the greatest single-season turnaround in NBA history (from 24–58 in 2007 to 66-11 in 2008). The Celtics also recorded the greatest NBA Finals comeback by erasing a 24-point deficit in the third quarter of Game 4, eventually winning the series 4-2.

Rocko v Tiger: Sir Tiger Woods defeated the field at the 2008 U.S. Open with one healthy knee. In a historic battle with Rocco Mediate, Woods needed 19 playoff holes (that’s 91 total over the weekend) to capture his 14th career major title in a grueling back-and-forth match.

Nadal v Federer: An absolutely epic battle between the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 ended in Wimbledon’s longest match in history (a mere five hours). John McEnroe called it the greatest match he’s ever seen. I’m running out of words to describe the “historic” and “epic” status of 2008.