I mean, would you watch the ESPYs if everyone showed up with a glum look on their face? It's the same with the Tommys.

Not that I can blame anyone. A recurring theme in Wisconsin sports over the last year was soaring expectations followed by crushing defeats. The Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, University of Wisconsin football team, UW men's basketball team and both UW hockey teams raised our hopes but couldn't deliver the big prize.

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Which is why I decided the Tommys must go on.

The envelopes, please:

Best play, individual: Sorry, I couldn't decide whether it was Michael Flowers' 3-pointer to beat Texas or Brian Butch's 3-pointer to beat Indiana since both buzzer-beaters had such a profound effect on the UW men's basketball season. They'll have to share the award, which is fitting for these Badgers.

Best play, team: Just as fans were settling in for overtime between Green Bay and Denver, the Packers' Brett Favre added to his Monday night legend by launching an 82-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings on the first play.

Best game, individual: Has Favre ever been better than he was in the Thanksgiving Day victory at Detroit? He was 31-for-41 for 381 yards and three touchdowns, but it was those 20 straight completions that had the nation buzzing.

Best game, team: It's noteworthy whenever UW beats Michigan in football, but the Badgers ' 37-21 victory showed rare dominance. The best stat? UW rolled up 477 yards of offense. A close second was Green Bay's 42-20 playoff rout of Seattle.

Best season, individual: Favre's turn-back-the-clock season was special, but even it was eclipsed by the hello-world season of Brewers slugger Prince Fielder, who became the youngest player in major league history to hit 50 home runs.

Best season, team: The Packers' run to the NFC Championship Game was captivating because it was so unexpected. Next in line was the UW men's basketball team, which increased its win total from 30 to 31 despite losing All-American Alando Tucker, and the Brewers, who had their first winning season since 1992.

Coach of the year: The Packers' Mike McCarthy, who coaxed a great season from Favre and the NFL's youngest team, won in a photo finish over UW men's basketball coach Bo Ryan. Special mention goes to Lance Leipold, who took UW-Whitewater to its first NCAA Division III football title in his first season as coach.

Worst coaching job: A long as the Milwaukee Bucks keep hiring inexperienced and easily bullied coaches, they will underachieve. Poor Larry Krystkowiak never had a chance.

Best debut: Ryan Grant, the Packers' unknown tailback, fell just short of 1,000 yards despite starting only half a season, but it wasn't enough to wrest the award from Brewers slugger Ryan Braun, who hit 34 home runs in a mere 113 games and was named National League Rookie of the Year.

Best makover: General manager Ted Thompson's build-through-the-draft philosophy finally took root and he silenced his critics with a 13-3 record just two seasons after the Packers went 4-12.

Worst makeover: UW returned seven starters from one of college football's best defenses and had hand-picked replacements for the rest, but gave up 11 more points per game and 104 more yards per game than it had the year before.

Best comeback: The UW men's basketball team rallied from 12 points down in the final 8 minutes to beat Michigan State in the Big Ten Conference tournament and leave Spartans coach Tom Izzo seething.

Worst blown lead: The Brewers held an 8.5-game lead in the NL Central in late June, but their pitching wore down and they finished two games behind the, ugh, Chicago Cubs.

Biggest disappointment, individual: If injury-plagued Ben Sheets had made 34 starts instead of 24, the Brewers likely would have won the division. A close second was Michael Redd, who couldn't turn his Team USA experience into quality leadership for the Bucks.

Biggest disappointment, game: After Green Bay inherited home-field advantage for the NFC title game, a return to the Super Bowl appeared imminent. The Packers still had a chance to beat the New York Giants, but Favre's interception in overtime left the entire state deflated.

Biggest disappointment, year: Favre took his ball and went home for good, thus ending the greatest career in Wisconsin sports history. Now that's true disappointment.