File photo Whitman's Eren Civan, then a freshman, went undefeated through his first high-school wrestling season. In March, Civan was one of three county wrestlers to win a state title, beginning his quest to become a four-time state champion.

Well, Christmas is past and the New Year is almost upon us. It's a time for reflection. So let us hearken back to a bygone time, when this would still only be the fifth day of Christmas, the day some lucky schmoe got five golden rings from his true love.

Here at The Gazette's Gaithersburg office, our true love is Montgomery County sports. Now, while we still haven't seen one feather of those French hens (and we could really go for a trois-oeufs omelet), we're still grateful for what we've received.

So in this time of reflection, let us recall all that Montgomery County sports has given us, not just for the holidays, but over the past year. Everybody sing ...

In the first month of aught-four, Gazette sports brought to you, a BCS champ in Baton Rouge ...

On Jan. 4, Silver Spring native David Jones helped Louisiana State University win the Bowl Championship Series national title. Jones, a redshirt sophomore last season, is a graduate of Springbrook High, a nephew of former Redskins receiver Charley Taylor and the son of former NFL defensive lineman Joe "Turkey" Jones.

Jones caught three passes that night in the Sugar Bowl, helping the Tigers to a 21-14 win over Oklahoma. Jones and LSU shared the national title with Southern California, the Associated Press national champion. This Saturday, Jones will ring in the New Year as the starting tight end when the Tigers face Iowa in the Capital One Bowl.

There was plenty going on in the county last January, as well. Poolesville's girls captured their first-ever county indoor track title, with Gaithersburg taking the boys championship. And Seneca Valley hired alumnus Fred Kim as its third-ever varsity football coach.

In the second month of aught-four, Gazette sports brought to you, wrestlers wearing Carolina blue ...

In late February, Whitman wrestling won three team championships. The Vikings took the county and regional team titles, as well as the Class 4A/3A West Region dual-meet championship.

Speaking of champions, the Georgetown Prep basketball team finally won the Interstate Athletic Conference regular-season crown, only to lose in the final of the first-ever conference tournament. Longtime Bullis coach Mike Hibbs, Prep's nemesis in recent years, stepped down soon thereafter, and eventually took the job at Loyola (Baltimore).

Three county athletes -- Paint Branch's Toni Aluko (high jump), Sherwood's Matt Begley (pole vault), and Blair's Halsey Sinclair (3,200 meters) -- won titles at the state indoor track meet. And the Magruder boys basketball team won its sixth straight division title.

In the third month of aught-four, Gazette sports brought to you, two near misses in hoops ...

Two county teams reached the state basketball finals in March, and both came within seconds of championships. But both the Springbrook boys and Paint Branch girls had to settle for second place.

The Blue Devils, led by Division I signees Folarin Campbell and Louis Brookins, finally knocked off Magruder in the 4A West Region final, in their second try. Springbrook went on to the state final, where it fell on a last-second shot to Northwestern, 61-59. The Panthers' loss to Gwynn Park in the 3A girls final was no less heartbreaking, 60-57. But Paint Branch's stars, Ashley Alexander and Rahne Jones, were juniors and are back for another try.

March also saw the end of one wrestler's attempt at four state titles (Churchill's Danny April), and the beginning of another's (Whitman freshman Eren Civan). Civan, Bethesda-Chevy Chase's Sonny Nucci and Quince Orchard's Ignacio Diaz won titles.

The county football coaching fraternity welcomed back the legendary Al Thomas, winner of seven state titles as a head coach at Seneca Valley and Damascus. Thomas took the reigns at Sherwood after a one-year retirement.

On a sad note, March was a month of mourning for the county lacrosse community. Landon graduate George Boiardi died at the age of 22 after being struck in the chest by a lacrosse ball while playing for Cornell. Boiardi's sister, Caroline, played at Holton-Arms.

In the fourth month of aught-four, Gazette sports brought to you, some kid named Freddy Adu ...

He and his family live in Potomac, and he used to play for The Heights. But Adu was hardly just a local story when he made his professional debut in early April at RFK Stadium in Washington. Adu was just 14 when he took the field for D.C. United in its Major League Soccer season-opener, a 2-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes. The phenom did not score after entering the game in the second half.

Another county native also joined the professional ranks in April when the Arizona Cardinals selected Paint Branch graduate Darnell Dockett in the third round of the NFL Draft. Dockett, a defensive tackle, had a record-breaking career at Florida State.

In the fifth month of aught-four, Gazette sports brought to you, a classic boys lacrosse duel ...

On May 18, Landon and Georgetown Prep battled through three overtimes for the IAC lacrosse championship. As dusk fell on the fourth sudden-death overtime, Landon's Stoddie Nibley scored to give the Bears a 6-5 win over their rivals. It was Landon's 24th IAC lacrosse title, but first in a row; the Little Hoyas had won the previous season.

Another premature death shocked the lacrosse community for the second time this spring when Walter Johnson junior Rod Bowers died in a one-car accident. Bowers was killed in the early hours of the day he was to play in the state semifinals; two days later, the Wildcats paid tribute to Bowers by playing the game, a loss to Westminster.

Churchill swept the state tennis singles titles, with freshman Jared Pinsky winning the boys' tournament and sophomore Maggie MacKeever taking the girls'. B-CC dethroned Springbrook as the top gymnastics program in the county, and a determined Sherwood squad went on a surprising run to the state baseball final.

In the sixth month of aught-four, Gazette sports brought to you, an Aussie with a curly hairdo ...

In June, the PGA Tour made its annual stop in Montgomery County at the inaugural Booz Allen Classic. Australian Adam Scott, 23, won his third tour event with a score of 21-under-par, tying the tournament scoring record and beating Charles Howell III by four strokes.

Scott became the second-youngest player, after Fred Couples, ever to win the Tour's D.C.-area stop, which was previously named the FBR Capital Open and the Kemper Open. Next year, the tournament will move temporarily back to its previous home, Congressional Country Club, while the PGA renovates TPC at Avenel.

In the seventh month of aught-four, Gazette sports brought to you, the greatest of our national youth ...

Montgomery County hosted several events in July that drew some of the best young talent the nation has to offer. Tennis hopefuls battled at the U-16 and U-18 U.S. Tennis Association's Clay Court Championships. A number of locals went toe-to-toe with the country's best; Potomac's Jason Pinsky had the best showing, finishing third in U-18 doubles with partner Treat Huey of Alexandria, Va.

Later in the month, several top-tier girls basketball programs trekked to Damascus for the Best of Maryland tournament. With college scouts and coaches flocking to the event, the Best of Maryland boasts some of the best in the country.

When the country didn't come to the county, the county went to the country. Two youth soccer teams reached the semifinals of the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships, earning a trip to Florida. The U-15 Bethesda United boys and the U-17 Bethesda Excel girls both fell just short of the championship game.

In the eighth month of aught-four, Gazette sports brought to you, Olympics and Maccabi Games, too ...

As a handful of Montgomery County natives headed to Athens for the 2004 Summer Olympics, the county welcomed athletes from around the world to the Maccabi Games in August. Hosted by the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, the D.C.-area incarnation of the Olympics hosted athletes from eight nations, from Israel to Australia and Poland to Venezuela.

Among the Athens Olympians with county connections were Carol Cronin (angling), Rhadi Ferguson (judo), Brett Heyl (canoe), Joe Jacobi (canoe), Courtney Kupets (gymnastics), Sara McMann (wrestling) and Scott Parsons (canoe).

On the diamond, two teams headed to Pennsylvania after proving themselves the best in their leagues. Gaithersburg Post 295 won its second straight Maryland State American Legion title, good for a trip to Boyertown, Pa., and the Mid-Atlantic Regional tournament. The Bethesda Big Train finally won the Clark C. Griffith Collegiate Baseball League for the first time, earning them a trip to Johnstown, Pa., for the All-American Amateur Baseball Association World Series.

In the ninth month of aught-four, Gazette sports brought to you, a school year all fresh and new ...

The fall season dawned in September, and some things changed while some things stayed the same.

Northwood High School reopened, forcing some schedule shuffling by Montgomery County. Gladiator teams started out all-freshman and at the JV level. In the football ranks, the biggest news was that Gaithersburg started the season 0-3, the first time that's happened since before John Harvill arrived in the 1950s.

On Sept. 2, the county lost a coaching icon when Chuck Stevens, who started Churchill's baseball program and guided it for 27 years, passed away at the age of 76.

In the 10th month of aught-four, Gazette sports brought to you, a future Open at Congressional Blue ...

In mid-October, the United States Golf Association came to Congressional Country Club for a very mysterious, hush-hush announcement. When the day arrived, the USGA confirmed what everyone guessed: the U.S. Open will be coming back to the Bethesda venue. Congressional's Blue Course, which will host the Booz Allen Classic during the renovation of the TPC at Avenel, will undergo its own slight modifications beginning in 2006. That will have the course ready to host the '09 U.S. Amateur and the 2011 U.S. Open.

Another much-expected golf event came to fruition late in the month, when Churchill won its second straight state title on the links.

There may have been no golf surprises in October, but there were a few noteworthy upsets. The Einstein field hockey team shocked perennial powerhouse B-CC, and the Georgetown Prep soccer team knocked off the then-No. 1 team in the nation, St. Benedict's (N.J.).

In the 11th month of aught-four, Gazette sports brought to you, state champions out the wazoo ...

November saw four county teams and one individual join the state title parade. The county took home three state championship trophies in soccer alone.

Sherwood won its fifth state title in boys soccer, but its first in Class 4A, with a 2-0 win over Old Mill. Junior Emmanuel Yamson scored in the first half and All-Gazette Player of the Year Michael Rollings in the second, giving the Warriors their first title since coach Hector Morales was a player in 1988.

Later the same night, Whitman won its first girls soccer state title in overtime against South River, 2-1. Sophomore Charlotte Rizzi and senior Erica Wright scored to bring the Vikings back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to take the 4A title.

B-CC picked up a title at the 3A girls level with a 1-0 win over Centennial. The two teams shared the 2A championship in 2001, when they played to a scoreless tie. But this time, senior Natasha Mann scored in the second half to give the Barons the crown.

It was a good fall in Bethesda, because the Barons field hockey team also won a title, the school's 13th. After a run of championships at the 2A level, B-CC fell to fellow powerhouse Severna Park in 3A last season. The Barons got their revenge this November, beating the Falcons, 2-1, in overtime in the final.

Blair sophomore Halsey Sinclair chipped in to the title parade, winning the 4A girls cross-country championship.

In the 12th month of aught-four, Gazette sports brought to you, another banner year in review ...

The hit parade continued into December, when Northwest won its first state football championship in just its seventh year of existence. The Jaguars topped Lackey, 14-9, in the 3A championship game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Three Division I-A recruits at the skill positions -- quarterback Ike Whitaker (Virginia Tech), running back Tony Nelson (Clemson) and receiver Darren Brownlee (West Virginia) -- led the way as the Jaguars lost only one game all season, to Germantown rival Seneca Valley.

Damascus could not repeat its feat of a season ago, however, making it all the way to the state title game before bowing out to Suitland, 14-7. Running back Matt Reidy finished his career with a 124-yard effort, giving him 1,843 for the season.

And so, just as the Byrds would have sang, the seasons turned, turned, turned. As we prepare to forget auld acquaintances, we make new ones -- like basketball, wrestling and swimming.

For the true lover of Montgomery County sports, there's rarely a dull moment. In those rare moments, we reflect on all the good moments that have come before.

And, like the kid on Christmas grinning through his aunt's pinches, we wonder what shiny new toy we'll unwrap next.