My friend Donahue sent the e-mail a few days after the greatest Wimbledon final in history, even if the wrong guy won. (Sorry, my Federer fanaticism slipped in there for a second.)

Anyway, he wasn’t so much interested in the individual brilliance of Rafael Nadal over Roger Federer as the extreme quality of the five-set match, which may have been the most sublimely superb four hours and 48 minutes of tennis — not counting the three rain delays — in the sport’s history.

But his bigger point was about sports in general in 2008. He pointed to the New York Giants’ stunning Super Bowl victory over the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

And the NCAA title game that went to overtime before Kansas finally passed Memphis on the yellow brick road to No. 1.

And the U.S. Open golf tournament that went 91 holes before Tiger Woods finally limped off with the victory on his way to season-ending knee surgery.

And Big Brown’s flirtation with the Triple Crown.

And the NBA Finals, which really wasn’t all that stirring on the court, but certainly brought back a lot of marvelous memories by the sheer presence of the names across the front of the jerseys — Celtics and Lakers.

Or as my buddy wrote: “Does anyone else feel like James Brown as his entourage throws the cape over him and leads him off the stage, only to want to come back for more?”

Maybe this is an aberration, but I doubt it. Athletes are bigger, stronger, faster and more plentiful than ever before. Training methods are better. So is scouting. Secrets are few and far between these days.

A batter goes into the box having seen slow motion film on an opposing pitcher’s every throw. The pitcher has similar film and detailed data on the batter. Computer programs spit out the likelihood of any football play an offense will run on a given down and distance. They do the same for the offense concerning the defense.

Such familiarity may breed contempt, but it also breeds parity.

Consider, for instance, that although Federer hasn’t been able to beat Nadal on clay at the French Open, it’s not for lack of trying. In the weeks before that event he routinely flies in left-handed clay court specialists from all over the world whose groundstrokes somewhat mirror Nadal.

Think Rod Laver or Arthur Ashe went to such lengths to achieve victory?

This isn’t to say everything’s better about sports than 20 years ago. Especially this year, lest we forget the backside of Spygate, Roger Clemens and Shaq’s rap against Kobe.

Beyond that, as the University of Georgia football team seems to remind us weekly this summer, athletes have never before so often gotten into trouble off the playing court or field or track. Then again, maybe that’s a good sign that we no longer look the other way when they misbehave.

Bulldogs boss Mark Richt said the thing that all coaches need to say when he dismissed defensive end Michael Lemon from the team on Sunday following his July 3rd arrest for felony aggravated battery and misdemeanor battery: “He’s been dismissed as a result of some poor decisions and conduct that is not in line with the standards that we have in place at Georgia.”

Of course, Richt also said Lemon had asked to earn his way back and the coach was yet to decide about that.

But the biggest plus remains the games themselves. Especially this year. Whether it’s David Tyree grabbing an Eli Manning pass against the back of his helmet in the Super Bowl, Kansas guard Mario Chalmers swishing a 3-pointer to force overtime in the Jayhawks’ NCAA title win over Memphis, Tiger limping to victory in the U.S. Open, or Nadal falling on his back to celebrate as night fell on London, this has been as good a sports year as any in recent memory.

Now if the Chicago Cubs can just make the World Series. Especially if Tyree, Chalmers, Tiger and Nadal can throw out the opening pitches of the first four games.

E-mail Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com

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