Pujols and Pedroia Win MVP

Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals has won the NL MVP award, winning it over Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies and Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers. This is Pujols second MVP award. He won the MVP award in 2005 as well, the year he led his team to the NLCS, where they lost against the Houston Astros. This year, however, the Cardinals didn't make the playoffs. Howard, however, won the World Series with the Phillies. Pujols missed some time this year due to injuries, but he was still dominant. He batted .357 with 37 home runs and 116 RBI. Pujols, and outfielder Ryan Ludwick, were the only productive bats in the lineup and carried the team. Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox has won the AL MVP award. Pedroia was instrumental to a team that was dealing with David Ortiz's injury and Manny Ramirez's trade at midseason. Pedroia beat out teammate Kevin Youkilis, Minnesota Twins players Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, and Los Angeles of Anaheim Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez. The Red Sox went to the ALCS, where they lost to the Tampa Bay Rays in seven games. Pedroia batted .326 with 17 home runs and 83 RBI. He was good wherever the Red Sox put him. At the top of the lineup, he led off and got the game started in a good direction. Should Pujols have won the MVP over Howard? Will these two players continue to have MVP success?

Week 11

Week 11 of the NFL season had great matchups and some weird finishes. The New York Jets played the New England Patriots last Thursday night to start the football weekend and it was good. Both quarterbacks were effective. Jets' quarterback Brett Favre was 26 of 33 for 258 yards and 2 touchdowns. Patriots' quarterback Matt Cassel was 30 of 51 for 400 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Jets took the game in overtime 34-31, after blowing a big lead. The matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Cincinnati Bengals ended oddly. Eagles' quarterback Donovan McNabb struggled, throwing three interceptions and completing less than half of his pass attempts. Bengals' quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, however, was solid, going 29 of 44 for 261 yards and a touchdown. However, the game ended in a 13-13 tie, the first NFL tie since 2002, when the Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers ended in a 34-34 tie. The matchup between the San Diego Chargers and the Steelers was intriguing as well. Chargers' quarterback Philip Rivers and Chargers' running back LaDainian Tomlinson struggled, while Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Steelers' running back Willie Parker flourished. However, the Steelers were unable to score an offensive touchdown, but they still won 11-10. That was the first time in the history of the NFL a final score was 11-10. In other scores, the Cleveland Browns beat the Buffalo Bills 29-27, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Redskins 14-10, and the Denver Broncos beat the Atlanta Falcons 24-20. The Tennessee Titans, who won again to improve to 10-0, have been impressive, but I think they will lose to the Jets next Sunday to end their streak. The New York Giants, at 9-1, also have a test coming up next week as they play the Arizona Cardinals. I think the Giants will win that game in a close one. What do you think? Who is the MVP so far? Who is disappointing?

MLB Awards

Joe Maddon, manager of the defending AL champion Tampa Bay Rays, has won the American League Manager of the Year. Maddon led a team that was last place in the AL East division to the World Series in a year. The Rays' franchise has never won more than 70 games in a season prior to this season, and they won 97 games this year. Lou Piniella, manager of the Chicago Cubs, won the National League Manager of the Year. For Piniella, it was his third time winning the award. He won in 1995 and 2001 with the Seattle Mariners. Piniella led the Cubs to a 97-64 record, which was the best in the National League. They ended their season in disappointing fashion, losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a sweep. Also, San Francisco Giants' pitcher Tim Lincecum has won the National League Cy Young award, beating out Arizona Diamondbacks' pitcher Brandon Webb and New York Mets' pitcher Johan Santana. Lincecum was probably the lone bright spot for a Giants team that lost 90 games. Lincecum went 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA, and had a major league best 265 strikeouts. Cliff Lee, pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, won the American League Cy Young award. Lee beat out Toronto Blue Jays' pitcher Roy Halladay and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim closer Francisco Rodriguez for the award. Lee went 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA. This is the second straight season an Indians pitcher has won the AL Cy Young award. C.C. Sabathia won the award for the Indians last year. Were these people deserving of their respective awards? Should the Cy Young award be awarded to the best pitcher or the most valuable pitcher?

Iverson Traded To Detroit

Allen Iverson, guard for the Denver Nuggets, has been traded to the Detroit Pistons on Monday for point guard Chauncey Billups and forward Antonio McDyess. Pistons' president Joe Dumars promised that changes will be made to shake up the roster after losing to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games. Last season was the sixth straight season in which the Pistons appeared in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, they have only appeared in the NBA Finals twice and won one against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004. They lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals the following season in seven games and they have never gone back. The Nuggets, on the other hand, add Billups, who they will use to run the team and not make mistakes. McDyess, who used to play with the Nuggets, will most likely be waived and may sign with the Pistons again. The Nuggets, in the offseason, traded their best defensive presence in center Marcus Camby for a draft pick. The Pistons accepted Iverson's huge contract because it expires at the end of the season. He is not expected to be re-signed by the Pistons, and they were able to get rid of Billups' contract as well. Some people think the trade was made in order for the Pistons to clear cap room in order to make a run at landing Cleveland Cavaliers' guard Lebron James in 2010 if he opts out of his contract. I believe the Nuggets got the better of the deal because they get a point guard who can run the scoring offense and can play solid defense. What do you think? Who got the better of the deal?

Phillies Win The World Series

The Philadelphia Phillies have won the World Series for the first time since 1980 with their 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Phillies won this series in five games. Game 5 of this series, however, was started on Monday night and severe rainfall suspended the game in the sixth inning, tied at 2. That was the first time in World Series history that a game was suspended in the middle of the game and continued at another date. The Phillies continued the game with a bang. Pinch hitter Geoff Jenkins, who was the first batter that night, led off with a double off of Grant Balfour. The Phillies would later put a run in that inning to go ahead 3-2. In the seventh inning, the Rays tied the game with a solo home run from Rocco Baldelli off of Ryan Madson, who has been great for the Phillies out of the bullpen. The Phillies took the lead again, however, off of Pedro Feliz's RBI single in the bottom half of the seventh inning, which would turn out to be the game winning run. The city of Philadelphia hasn't seen a championship since 1983, when the Philadelphia 76ers won the championship over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Phillies, who have the most losses out of any pro franchise in the United States, have now won 2 championships in their 125 years of existence. Pitcher Cole Hamels, who won the NLCS MVP, has been awarded the World Series MVP for his two wins in the series. How big is this championship for the city of Philadelphia? What happened to the Rays? B.J. Upton, who had seven home runs in the first two series, didn't have a home run in the World Series. What happened to him?