Melky Cabrera went from MVP candidate to cheater in the blink of an eye in 2012. To make matters worse, his devised scheme to get away with it while watching his former team cruise to a World Series title made him a dispensable part of the San Francisco Giants this offseason. --Andy Dolich

Lance Armstrong once had seven Tour de France titles, and now he has none. After it was found that he had used illegal performance-enhancing drugs, he was banned from the sport of cycling for life. --Andy Dolich

In by far the biggest sports scandal of 2012, Jerry Sandusky was sentence to life in prison for 52 counts of sexual crimes against children. To make matters worse, Penn State's role in the cover up has changed the program forever. --Andy Dolich

Like Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon was also found to have tested positive for the banned substance -- the second baseball player caught in the Bay Area in 2012. The positive test only rekindled the Bay Area steroid fire left by BALCO. --Andy Dolich

The replacement ref era came to a quick and disastrous end on national television, giving the Seahawks an undeserved win and the Packers a demoralizing defeat. The disaster did, however, force the NFL to bring back the original referees and all was right in the world once more. --Andy Dolich

Warriors' head coach Mark Jackson was in the middle of an embarrassing scandal during the summer of 2012, after a former mistress attempted to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from him in order to conceal nude photos and audio defaming the church-going head coach. --Andy Dolich

The buzz surrounding the opening game of the new Memorial Stadium in Berkeley against Nevada was electric. The game, however, was not, and Cal got tripped up by the Wolf Pack 31-24 on a TD in the final minute. --Andy Dolich

The usually competitive matchup between the Bay Area schools turned one-sided in 2012, as Stanford never allowed Cal to get into the game. The Cardinal defense was stingy throughout and defeated the Bears 21-3. --Andy Dolich

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman saw his league endure its third lockout in his 19-year reign. As of the end of 2012, the league has canceled 625 games and is the second longest lockout in the NHL's history, with only the 2004-05 lockout that canceled the entire season lasting longer. --Andy Dolich

The 49ers had already shocked the sports world with their defeat of the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the NFC playoffs, but came up short in the NFC Championship against the New York Giants. As Kyle Williams ran to attempt to field a bouncing punt, it grazed off his leg allowing the Giants to recover the ball on their way to a 20-17 victory and eventual Super Bowl title. --Andy Dolich