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We can mock the Lions' 0-16 season, wonder how good the Patriots would have been if Tom Brady didn't blow out his knee, or speculate over which NFC team is most likely to give the Giants trouble in the playoffs.

But after watching a wild December of football, it's hard to avoid the fact that 2008 is the year where an amazing number of teams simply gagged their way out of the playoffs. Usually there are one or two teams that peaked in October and failed to live up to their potential, this year, we had a futile four that all choked away what were once seemingly safe playoff berths.

Here's a ranking of who sucked the worst in a season that saw plenty of teams throw away their chance at playoffs glory.

Losing sucks. Not getting what you want sucks. But true joy can be found in an activity that, even if you're horrible at it -- let's say dancing -- you still enjoy doing anyway.

OK, so I just made that up. But it sounds sort of true, right? Anyway, (via Shysterball) Greg Maddux agrees. Given that he hasn't won a game in 15 starts and is clearly hitting the old-age wall he's been able to deftly dodge for four or five years, that's sort of refreshing:

"I like the game. I like the grind," Maddux said. "It sucks losing, but it's still fun playing. I'd rather play and lose than not play." His manager understands. "Greg's joy now," Bud Black said, "is pitching."

Good for him. At some point, someone will stop paying Maddux to throw the baseball, and he'll no longer be able to derive that joy professionally -- but one has no doubt that he'll still be chucking it around in his backyard, goofing around, hitting tiny places from 90 feet at an inhuman rate. He'll be like Brett Farve, except not a gigantic tool.