There's really only one good way to look back at the year in Baltimore sports, and it isn't with a microscope.
It isn't with a telescope either, because the big picture is just a collection of the individual local story lines that made 2014 one of the most eventful — and distressing — years in recent memory.
Let's be honest: Who really wants to read one more word about the Ray Rice domestic violence scandal or the scourge of performance-enhancing drugs on the local sports landscape?
So the best way to look back on the past 12 months of athletic highlights and lowlights is with a very useful little mental tool called selective memory.
The Orioles, for example, won the AL East title by 12 games and reached the American League Championship Series for the first time since 1997. Manager Buck Showalter was named AL Manager of the Year, baseball operations chief Dan Duquette was named Major League Executive of the Year and three players won Gold Gloves.
There was a bunch of bad stuff that happened, too, because it's such a long and grueling season and Major League Baseball has an irritating habit of sending drug testers around when the players least expect them. But why dwell on the negative during the holiday season?
The pessimist will certainly look back and see that the Orioles failed to re-sign team MVP Nelson Cruz and longtime fan favorite Nick Markakis. The optimist will look ahead and realize that the club saved $100 million, which surely will be reinvested in the 2015 team.
Of course, the only thing that matters is that the O's left the Yankees and Red Sox in the dust and proved that the Showalter-Duquette renaissance is for real.
It's not quite as easy to rationalize the Ravens this year. They entered 2014 under pressure to make everyone forget their post-Super Bowl letdown, but simply gave us all a long list of things to try to forget in 2014.
The Rice saga began in February and still isn't really over. The Ravens also had a string of lesser offseason incidents, and followed that up with a star-crossed regular season that also featured a big star getting suspended at the most inconvenient time for using the ADHD drug Adderall without medical and league approval.
There were some big highlights, however. Once again, the Ravens front office pulled off an impressive draft, picking potential Pro Bowl linebacker C.J. Mosley and defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan in the first two rounds and, over the course of the season, getting contributions from just about every rookie on the roster. By mid-November, John Harbaugh was trumpeting the rookie class as one of the best in his seven years as coach.
"This year probably has been one of our best years," he said at midseason. "This class has contributed as much or more than any class in recent history here with the Ravens."
Ravens fans also enjoyed the revamped offense that was installed by new coordinator Gary Kubiak and the surprising emergence of journeyman running back Justin Forsett, who stepped in as the feature back to replace Rice and ended up needing just 12 games to reach 1,000 rushing yards for the first time in his career.
If only Baltimore's most dynamic comeback of the year had gone so smoothly.
The past year also featured the beginning of the Big Ten era for the University of Maryland, and the Terps' football program delivered a solid inaugural season that featured big victories over Penn State, Michigan and Iowa on the way to a second straight bowl bid. It would have been even better if Rutgers hadn't spoiled Senior Day with a deflating comeback victory that diminished Maryland's bowl status.
Happily, there was no need for selective perception when it came to Baltimore's signature sporting event.
The 2014 Preakness featured a record crowd and a heart-stopping victory by Triple Crown candidate California Chrome, who would not be stopped until he came up short in the marathon Belmont Stakes three weeks later.
The Baltimore area also was the center of the women's golf universe for a week during the summer, when Caves Valley Golf Club played host to the inaugural International Crown. The tournament featured eight four-women national teams and was won by Spain. It was likely a one-time deal here, with the tournament moving around the globe, but it certainly didn't hurt the region's chances of securing more big-time golf events.
Still, it's fairly obvious that 2014 wasn't all good when it comes to the games people play in the Baltimore area. It's impossible to sugarcoat all the things that combined to make it one of the more unpleasant sports years anyone can recall, but it will look a lot better in the rear-view mirror if you just remember all the good things in between.
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Read more from columnist Peter Schmuck on his blog, "The Schmuck Stops Here" at baltimoresun.com/schmuckblog.