Most Valuable Player (MVP), noun?and that's as far as I got. Not even Daniel Webster himself, nor his successors at Merriam-Webster.com, could give me a clear-cut definition of one of the most prestigious honors in professional sports; "The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary," I read on my laptop's screen?"Nor should it be," I thought to myself.
Since I was born in August of 1987, a grand total of 77 MVP awards have been handed out in the four major professional sports, which does not include quarterback Tommy Maddox's lone trophy from the XFL while playing for the Los Angeles Xtreme in 2001. Needless to say, however, I have had various reactions to each occasion in which a player receives the award. Some have left me surprised (Alex Rodriguez in 2005), some left me confused (Peyton Manning and Steve McNair in 2003), and some just left me down right furious?an emotion that still lingers in my soul to this day (Barry Lamar Bonds...all seven times). But the reaction that I have always found to be most satisfying is when a prediction I have made many moons prior to the AP's selection comes to full fruition (Justin Morneau in 2006, which I prophesized last June). By writing this article, I am hoping to keep my hot streak of one alive by forecasting the MVPs for the recently completed NHL/NBA regular seasons, my focus centering on the respective games' two most important players: Sidney Crosby and Steve Nash.
We will begin with Crosby, who, if you haven't heard of him yet (thanks again ESPN for replacing the NHL with Arena Football; I can't wait for the next live broadcast of a Georgia Force game) is just your average 19-year-old boy who just became the youngest player in league history to win the Art Ross Trophy?not the award for best painting of the year?leading in points (that's goals plus assists for you math majors) with 120 by season's end with his Pittsburgh Penguins. He's only a sophomore, and already he's an assistant captain, making the No. 87 jersey look cool, and personifying what it means to be a humble, albeit soft-spoken commander-in-chief, leading by example.
Before his rookie season last year, Sid-the-kid had been playing junior hockey in Canada, and by age 15 was already drawing comparisons to Hall-of-Famer and legend Wayne Gretzky. Now that he's been in the pros for two years, countless fans are already beginning to tout Crosby as the second coming of the Great One, especially after he recently broke Gretzky's previous record of being the youngest player in history to score two 100-point seasons. While I'm not yet ready to crown Crosby with that title, it is impossible to deny just how good this guy really is right now, and what he is capable of doing in both the immediate and later future, particularly when you consider that this could just be the nadir of his career?who knows when he'll peak.
If you can find VERSUS on your digital cable box, or spend a night at a Motel 6 in the greater Pittsburgh area and watch Crosby play, you will be astounded at what you see. He is a magician on the ice, making the crispest of passes to compliment a laser of a wrist shot, always exhibiting pure finesse and grace. Last year, the Penguins failed to make the playoffs, finishing dead last in the Eastern Conference with a mere 58 points in Crosby's first season?what a difference a year makes. The Pens finished this season tied for the third-most points in the East with 105, losing the four seed, but ultimately clinching the five seed on a tie-breaker to Ottawa. And even though going into Thursday night, Pittsburgh was facing elimination against the Senators, Crosby deserves most, if not all the credit for the sudden turn-around, and of course, the MVP (Hart Memorial Trophy).
First there's the 180: 58 points to 105 points in one season (again, for you math majors, that's an increase of 47). So how did they do it so quickly? Take Crosby and his 36 goals and 84 assists, and put him at your team's nucleus, placing alleged "washed-up" veterans like Sergei Gonchar and Marc Recchi, along with inexperienced youngsters like Evgeni Malkin and Colby Armstrong around him, and watch as Sid-the-kid galvanizes each and every one of them, all of this without whispering a peep. He took an unfavorable roster and transformed it into a powerhouse, in a little less than nine months. He is their catalyst, and without him?hands down the best player in the game?the Pens would be lost, sinking to Florida Panther-like status. And although Tampa Bay's Vinny Lecavalier and Vancouver's Roberto Luongo have both had tremendous seasons, the choice is indisputable: it's Crosby.
I was hesitant at first to combine two different sports into the same article, but it had to be done, despite hockey and basketball being as polar subjects as soccer in America (not that I don't love MLS Thursday Primetime on ESPN 2). And we can't talk about MVPs and basketball without mentioning Steve Nash: starting point guard for the Phoen?Oh, wow, you're already firing back with that repetitive, indestructible, and entirely false argument that never ceases to annoy me that Kobe Bryant should be (and should have been) the MVP? Fine, Burger King. Have it your way.
Whenever someone brings up this argument with me, I first usually take the Vince Vaughn I'm-not-gonna-say-anything-but-you-know-I'm-upset approach, because it gets tiring after a while having to explain this to everyone over and over again. But now, I'm finally getting it down on paper, so, for the last time, here it goes: yes, Kobe Bryant is the most talented player in the NBA?by far. He led the league again in points per game this year (31.6), crossovers, and miraculous/clutch shots. But for every pound of dexterity that he possesses, there is an equal, counterbalancing factor in Kobe that brings him down more than most superstars in his severe inability to make the players around him better; I'd say Nash has that covered. At this point in the debate, Kobe-lovers will usually throw out this gem for their rebuttal: "but if you were to remove Kobe from the Lakers (seventh seed in the West), they would be one of the league's worst teams!" True. But if you say that, then the same has to apply to the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic and center-piece Dwight Howard, as well as the seventh-seeded Washington Wizards and superstar Gilbert Arenas, who should both be considered, if not favored as equally or even more so than Kobe.
The fact is that Steve Nash is the best player in the NBA (notice I said best and not the most talented). Since signing in 2004 with the team that originally drafted him, Nash has led the Suns to one of the best records in the NBA, 177-69 over the three-year span. Compare that to the dismal 109-137 record in the three-year span prior to Nash's return to the desert under the horrific guidance of point guard Stephon Marbury, who had the same two key players that Nash has now: Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire. Nash has resurrected the careers of Boris Diaw and Kurt Thomas, made the best sixth man out of Leandro Barbosa, got Joe Johnson a more undeserving contract than Mike Hampton, made Quentin Richardson an enticing trade-target for Knicks GM Isiah Thomas (well, it's not like that's hard to do), and is about to win a nearly unprecedented third-consecutive MVP award. Yes, if Nash left, Phoenix would probably still be a playoff team, but they would be like the Lakers and get bounced in the first round. Nash, like Sidney Crosby, is the Suns' catalyst and he gives the team a chance to win the Finals each year, whereas Kobe does not. So when the two MVP candidates square off in the first round for the second-straight year, you tell me who's more valuable when the dust settles. I won't tell you anything except that his last name does not begin with "B."
And how could we forget the final piece of our puzzle, quarterback Vince Young of the Titans, who, although recently named the Madden '08 cover boy, led Tennessee to an 8-5 record after taking over as starter earlier in the year? And if he doesn't get injured as a result from that video game's unforgiving curse, heck, he could be a legitimate MVP candidate as well (that is, if he can score higher than Tom Brady and Peyton Manning on the infamous Wonderlic test of course). Good call, NFL scouts (and Kobe-lovers).