Thomson declared 2008 to be the year of HD sport on the eve of the opening of IBC2008 in Amsterdam.

Gathered at the Amsterdam Arena home to the city’s Ajax professional soccer team, the company’s management laid out exactly why to the press. Pointing to HD coverage of the just-completed 2008 Beijing Olympics, Euro2008 soccer championships and Wimbledon Championships, Thomson made the point that HD has entered the mainstream of television around the world.

In keeping with the theme, the company turned to a couple of skilled soccer ball kickers — which Thomson Grass Valley VP of communications Laura Barber-Miller referred to as keepsie-upsies — to illustrate the effectiveness of Thomson’s Grass Valley LDK 8300 HD Super SloMo camera.

At the pair performed their impress styles, to the left of those seated to watch, an LDK 8300 HD Super SloMo camera delivered every detail of the kickers’ skills via large projection screens.

Last month, several broadcasters and mobile production companies used the HD Super SloMo camera at the Olympics. It also was used at the UEFA EURO 2008 football tournament.

Thomson’s HD sports related announcements extended beyond the soccer field, however. When Major League Baseball goes live Jan. 1 with the MLB Network Thomson Grass Valley HD equipment will lay an important part. MLB will use 36 Thomson Grass Valley K2 HD media servers, Aurora Edit HD systems and Aurora software for post processes ranging from ingest to playout.

Wait a minute. If that happens Jan. 1, will 2009 be another “The Year of HD Sport?”