by J. Mesa

Yes, it’s that time of the year when everyone compiles their Players of the Year Awards and for us it is no different.

After much internal debate, I have decided to go with several awards rather than just one. After all, the sports landscape is so vast that to narrow it down to just one choice would be unfair to the tumultuous, albeit entertaining year in sports.

You can’t argue with perfection. I will have to agree with the Associated Press and their NFL pick for coach of the year. My nod goes to Bill Belichick. Despite being as cuddly as a porcupine, he gets the job done. He handled “Spy Gate” about as well as he could have and steamrolled his team through the competition en route to a history-making 16-0 record.

 

To be honest, I was a little sad when the Pats matched the mark of the ’72 Dolphins team, but not because I am a bitter Bronco’s fan. I always got a kick out of watching the Mt. Rushmore of NFL teams toasting each other on the sidelines whenever a team threatening to even their historic mark fell short.

My NFL expert pick for Player of the Year is a tandem award. Staying with the Pats, I have to award both Randy Moss and Tom Brady. This is the most prolific scoring tandem I have ever seen and they were perhaps the first duo to not slow down during the course of the season. Moss uncharacteristically stayed down and let his playmaking ability do all of his talking. It was a far cry from the Moss we saw in Oakland and even in the latter stages of his time as a Viking.

Very few things were “money,” in the league this year, but one thing that was bankable was that Brady would find Moss time and time again. They crushed fantasy leagues as often as Brady crushed NFL passing records.

Honorable mention in this category goes to the ageless wonder – Brett Favre.

My college football pick for POTY is also in accordance with the AP - Florida QB Tim Tebow. Despite getting spanked by Michigan, Tebow was the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy and broke SEC records for single-season passing and rushing.

Can my MLB picks for player of the year be as transparent as picking A-Rod? Yes it can, but not for the reasons you might think. Rodriguez had a regular season for the ages. A-Rod contributed his fair share of controversy, but it was the way he turned it around that made it easy for me to select him.

By negotiating directly with the Yankees without MLB’s version of Yoko Ono – Drew Rosenhouse, A-Rod showed me a level of maturity and more importantly a level of commitment many thought he did not possess. Staying WITH the Yankees coupled with his name staying OUT of the Mitchell Report was enough to tip the scales in his favor. Now if he could just pull it together in October…

I will make my NBA picks and NHL picks for this category short and sweet. NBA – Tim Duncan.

NHL - Sidney Crosby. Not only for being the best player in the league, but as a fight fan you just can’t argue with an overhand right like that! Crosby gets his first fight and my nod.

One last accolade to hand out for the year. This award is not for a player per se, but rather what this person has done for athletes as well as the potential good his innovations will accomplish.

On a crisp Autumn Sunday in September, Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett raced down the field covering the second-half kickoff of a NFL game between the Bills and Broncos. Everett crashed in to Denver kick returner Domenik Hixon and never got up. That’s where Dr. Andrew Cappuccino took over.

Dr. Cappuccino and his team administered a controversial and unproven technique to help Everett and the result was as miraculous as Everett’s injury was catastrophic. The prognosis of Everett’s injury was as grim as death and as positive as the slim possibility of regaining feeling. Cappuccino’s care helped Everett to beat the odds and walk again.

Dr. Cappuccino’s story proves that sports are so much more than what happens on the field and that the word “teammates” extends far beyond the sidelines.