2003 got off to tragic start when the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded upon reentry, killing all seven astronauts onboard. Since political websites spouting partisan nonsense are like cockroaches on the Internet we'll leave the pandering to them but a few events of note occurred in '03. The War in Iraq began for reasons that changed weekly. The northeast blacked out like a high schooler at his first party. And the most aesthetic bodybuilder of all-time Arnold Schwarzenegger became Governor of California.
Television debuts ranged from the good (Chappelle's Show) to the great (Jimmy Kimmel Live) to the stupid (The O.C.). While Futurama was pushed off the air in the midst of its prime. Michael Vick appeared on the cover of Madden and then broke his leg in preseason. In November, the NFL Network debuted, raising cable bills nationwide despite not giving you a reason to watch for almost three years. The Lord of the Rings trilogy concluded with Return of the King which was easily the biggest flick of the year grossing over a billion dollars worldwide. And at the end of the year, Saddam Hussein was captured living in his own undignified filth. Now that we got the entire year covered (with all its complexities) in 45 seconds we can go on to recap what was really important: Retro Year in Sports: 2003.