It's Turkey Time Again -- Who's Number 1 in 2022?

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This is the 25th annual edition of my sports Turkeys of the Year ... and as always, there were lots of losers, lunkheads, dopes, druggies, criminals and clowns to choose from. 

Before I get to 2022, here are my selections over the years ...

• 2021 -- Aaron Rodgers
• 2020 -- Donald F. Trump
• 2019 -- Antonio Brown
• 2018 -- J.R. Smith
• 2017 -- Kyle Shanahan
• 2016 -- Pat McCrory
• 2015 -- Derrick Rose
• 2014 -- Roger Goodell and Ray Rice
• 2013 -- Alex Rodriguez
• 2012 -- U.S. Ryder Cup Team
• 2011 -- Joe Paterno (and his Penn State enablers)
• 2010 -- Mark McGwire
• 2009 -- Milton Bradley
• 2008 -- Choking Cubbies
• 2007 -- Charlie Weis
• 2006 -- Aramis Ramirez
• 2005 -- Andy MacPhail, Jim Hendry and Dusty Baker
• 2004 -- Sammy Sosa
• 2003 -- Sammy Sosa
• 2002 -- Dick Jauron
• 2001 -- David Wells and Frank Thomas
• 2000 -- Bobby Knight
• 1999 -- Jerry Krause
• 1998 -- Mike McCaskey

Among others, here were the candidates I considered for 2022's Top Gobbler (in alphabetical order):

Robbie Anderson ... Archie Bradley ... Tom Brady ... Antonio Brown ... Rodolfo Castro ... Bryson DeChambeau ... Novak Djokovic ... Kevin Durant ... Nathaniel Hackett ... Kyrie Irving ... Michael Jordan ... Kliff Kingsbury ... Zack Littell ... Brad Marchand ... Baker Mayfield ... Phil Mickelson ... D.J. Moore ... Thomas Morstead ... Kyler Murray ... Greg Norman ... Aaron Rodgers ... Grant Sands ... Robert Sarver ... Brandon Staley ... Russell Wilson.

Which brings us to my Final Four:

Miles Bridges

Talk about a guy who had the world in the palm of his hand. The Charlotte Hornets forward rejected a nice contract last year, making a huge bet on himself. And he won the bet, having a career year. He was headed for a massive, 9-figure deal. But then Bridges allegedly beat the hell out of the mother of his children -- right in front of the children! -- and now he is toxic.

Matt Rhule

The first NFL coach fired this season, Rhule lasted only 5 games into his third year with the Carolina Panthers. He whiffed on 5 QBs -- which is 5 too many whiffs at football's most important position -- and he made plenty of other boneheaded decisions, too. And yes, I'm miffed that I'm about to lose my bet on the Panthers having a winning record this season; that's Rhule's fault, too!

Herschel Walker

It's not difficult to find hypocrisy in politics, but it's not easy to find the kind of All-World, Hall-of-Fame level hypocrisy that the U.S. Senate candidate from Georgia has shown regarding the abortion issue. Whenever Walker speaks, he sounds like he was hit in the helmet a few too many times -- or a few thousand too many times. He's a pathological liar, as well ... but at least he told the truth when he said: "I'm not that smart."

And now ... The 2022 Turkey of the Year ...

TONY LA RUSSA

Still feeling guilty decades later about having fired La Russa as manager at the insistence of the inept Hawk Harrelson in 1986, Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf brought La Russa back for the 2021 season. Tony was 76 years old and hadn't been in an MLB dugout for a decade.

Although the Sox were routed by the Astros in their first playoff series, La Russa's return was a success in Year 1. And his young, talented team entered the 2022 season as a trendy World Series pick.

It was pretty much a disaster from beginning to end, however. La Russa made numerous questionable decisions -- including twice calling for intentional walks with 1-2 counts on batters (one of which backfired spectacularly). La Russa has always been one who has felt he was smarter than everybody else, and even after those moves failed, he doubled-down on his genius.

He also dozed off in the dugout, and his team's fundamentals were horrid all season. The Sox simply looked unprepared and, well, un-managed.

The White Sox finished 81-81, with most observers calling them the biggest disappointment in the major leagues.

La Russa ended up leaving the team with a month to go to address a medical situation, an inglorious end to an otherwise outstanding managerial career.

I wish him good health and happiness, and I hope he enjoys Thanksgiving more than he enjoyed his turkey of a final season as a big-league skipper.

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Congrats to Dusty Baker -- World Series Champion

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I didn't really have a dog in the World Series fight, but I admit I'm really happy that Dusty Baker finally has won that elusive championship.

It was cool to see not only the unbridled joy of a guy who is 73 going on 23 -- "What's next? Party!" -- but also to witness the obvious love his Astros players and the fans have for him.

What a life Johnnie B. Baker has led. 

He was born in 1949. He grew up during a difficult (and sometimes even deadly) time to be an outspoken young Black man. He left California in 1967 for Atlanta, which was one of the epicenters of segregation and the Civil Rights movement. Hank Aaron took him under his wing, and Dusty got to see the dignity with which Hank handled the incredible abuse he received. All of those things Dusty witnessed as a child and young man helped shape what he would become.

Baker was a hell of a ballplayer, a multiple All-Star who twice finished in the top 10 in MVP voting and who was a big contributor to the 1981 champion Dodgers. 

As a manager, he helped turn the Giants, Cubs, Reds and Nationals from mediocrities (or worse) into legitimate contenders ... only to fail to win it all, sometimes in spectacular fashion. (To this day, the top of the 8th inning of Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS remains the most incredible half-hour of sports I've seen, and yes, Dusty contributed to the Cubbie collapse.)

And what an amazing job he did in Houston, given that organization's situation before he got there. He's a baseball lifer who had done everything in the game except win a World Series as a manager, and now he can check that off his list.

Asked about that last night, he told ESPN: "God-dang it! Oh, it's a wonderful thing! I just knew it was gonna happen sooner or later ... and I said if I win one, I wanna win two, so we might as well go for two!"

He might be the best manager or coach I've ever seen at convincing high-paid professional athletes to work toward common goals and to believe in themselves during times of adversity. 

Sometimes, he used an "us against the world, and screw everybody else" vibe to do so, and that pissed off some baseball fans. He also has been very outspoken about race relations, which of course ticks off a lot of people who believe that athletes (especially Black athletes) should just "shut up and dribble."

I was part of hundreds of conversations with Dusty Baker over the years, especially during his 4-year tenure as Cubs manager.

Most of those conversations were in group settings, but I also was fortunate to have several 1-on-1 interviews with him -- most on the record, but some just two guys talking. He pretty quickly became a favorite of mine, and I came away from many of those (especially our off-the-record chats) feeling as if I had been a student in an upper-level U.S. history course.

So congrats to Dusty Baker -- baseball lifer, inspirational leader, and just one cool dude.

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