The temperature in Rhode Island will likely be well below freezing on New Year's Day, but many brave souls will be "Freezin for a Reason" when they take a plunge into the frigid waters of Roger Wheeler Beach in Narragansett at exactly 12 noon to raise money for Special Olympics Rhode Island.
The Penguin Plunge for Special Olympics is one of the original New Years Day Plunges in Rhode Island and has become a tradition for generation of plungers. All proceeds from this event will benefit the more than 2,800 athletes that compete year-round in over 1,600 training opportunities and athletic competitions.
Over the past 38 years, the Penguin Plunge has raised more than over $2 million dollars for Special Olympics Rhode Island. All plungers are encouraged to fundraise for the event.
Related Slideshow: 13 Biggest Sports Stories in RI in 2013
The agreement between the Big East and the Catholic 7 -- Providence, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Seton Hall, St. John's and Villanova -- allowed those schools to keep the Big East name and the right to play their basketball post-season tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York. They also added three new teams -- Butler, Xavier, and Creighton -- making for a 10-team league.
The remaining (original) Big East schools; such as Connecticut, Louisville, Cincinnati, and others, now play in the renamed American Athletic Conference.
Much of New England scratched their heads when the Patriots signed Tim Tebow in June. Despite questions over the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback's viability as a starter in the NFL, the signing of Tebow was big news in Foxboro ahead of training camp.
Tebow's tenure in New England didn't last very long, as the former Florida Gator failed to make the Patriots' final cut.
Erik, Alex, and Tomas Murphy; three Rhode Island brothers, made big basketball news in 2013.
First, Erik, the eldest brother, was drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the 49th pick of the 2013 NBA Draft out of Florida.
Next, GoLocal broke the news that Alex Murphy had officially transferred from Duke, following his brother's path, and headed to Gainesville to play under Billy Donovan at Florida.
Then, GoLocal's Jack Andrade reported that the youngest Murphy, Tomas, a 6'8" freshman at Prout, had already been offered D1 scholarships by Maryland, Boston College, Florida, URI, PC, and Bryant.
Andrade stayed undefeated and won his first world title defeating Vanes Martirosyan at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, TX by split decision to claim the vacant WBO junior middleweight title.
The official call was a split decision for Andrade, a former US Olympian, who won on scores of 117-110, 114-113, and 112-115.
Skinner, the former head coach at URI and Boston College, was the National Coach of the Year in 2001. He has a record of 385-291 in 22 seasons as a head coach.
Elliot, one of New England's best known AAU coaches has been a major player in the development of top college bound basketball talent for ten years in New England.
In April, GoLocal's John Rooke broke the news that Providence College freshman, Ricky Ledo would leave the Friars for the NBA Draft without ever playing a single NCAA game.
Then the Red Sox, down by five runs to Detroit in Game 2 of the ALCS, staged an unlikely comeback -- featuring a David Ortiz grand slam -- to win the game and making the series even at 1-1. The Red Sox went on to win the World Series.
Read GoLocal's list of the Ten Greatest Days in New England Sports history here.
The Ed Cooley era at PC has been impressive thus far, but not only for his on-court accomplishments.
Cooley has also proven to be quite an effective recruiter, and in 2013, built one of the nation's best classes.
This year, Cooley brought in three Top-100 recruits; Jalen Lindsey, a 6’7 small forward from Franklin, TN; Ben Bentil, a 6'8" forward from Delaware; and the 7'1" center Pashcal Chukwu, widely considered to be among best defensive big men in the nation.
The Patriots knew that they would potentially need to deal with character issues when they drafted Aaron Hernandez in 2010.
In 2013, those issues came to the forefront in a large way when their star tight end was arrested and charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd in June. Hernandez is currently awaiting trial from the Bristol County House of Corrections.
The biggest sports story in New England of 2013 transcended athletics, touching the lives of our local communities and much of the world.
On Monday, April 15 -- Patriots Day in the Bay State -- an otherwise normal celebratory day in Boston turned tragic just before 3:00 PM. Just feet away from the finish line for the Boston Marathon, two explosions from homemade bombs went off, killing three spectators, and injuring more than two hundred.
The tragedy gripped the entire nation; sparking emotions ranging from fear to outrage. But from the wreckage emerged evidence of New England's resilience. From the impassioned speech at Fenway by David Ortiz, and Rene Rancourt's touching rendition of the National Anthem at the TD Garden, to the outpouring of support through the One Fund Boston, and the individual heroes like Carlos Arredondo and Joe Andruzzi (along with many, many others); New Englanders and Americans responded in an enormous way.
Read more of GoLocal's Coverage of the bombings here.