The countdown has begun for...

- ...The Super Bowl, as New England and New York square off on Sunday.  What I'm not sure about is whether Bill Parcells or Dave Meggett will be cheering for the Giants or Patriots.  Perhaps Tiki Barber will put on a throwback Drew Bledsoe jersey and pray New York doesn't win.  If he says he's happy for his ex-teammates he's lying - he's wanted a ring so badly and it stings that the team has come together without him or his ego in that locker room.

Speaking of Bledsoe, it would have been interesting if Robert Kraft were to have called him for this game in case Tom Brady's foot fell off during a drive.  Kid you not, I was thinking about it.

What I do know is this is New England's game to win and to lose.  The New York Giants have fought hard to get here and should be credited for coming together and growing as a team through the pains they have shared together.  Nobody expected the week 17 matchup of these two teams to be the Super Bowl preview.  We'd be in for a great game if this was the case.  But instead of the game being played in New York we watch this in Arizona, a neutral site game.

That said, Arizona's warm weather plays into New England's passing attack and if their O-line stays one step ahead of the Giants defensive front it will be a long game for that Giant defense that has a very suspect secondary as is.

My call is New England will win and cap off one of the greatest seasons in sports history.

-...Jason Kidd sweepstakes have begun as the disgruntled point guard wants out of New Jersey.  The backboard and basketball rims inside the area breathe a sigh of relief.

Let's remember how he showed up; he left a deep West Conference and a checkered past with Phoenix to a depleted East with virtually no dominant point guard left (A.I. had moved to the 2 spot by then).  Though he couldn't shake off the rusty jump shot or his wife's makeup from his knuckles he gave New Jersey a lift into the NBA finals twice and quickly helped himself to becoming the best point guard on the planet - facing nobody in the East to get there.

Since then he helped Byron Scott get fired and he still dents rims with regularity.  He also went through a messy divorce and hasn't been that leader New Jersey can depend on.  Perhaps he will head back West to help a decent team get better, but he will quickly find out that there are point guards - LOTS OF THEM - that will shread him to pieces every night.  If he goes to the West he isn't a top 4 point guard in that conference.  Good luck with that trade.

-...Johan Santana is looking to get PAID by the New York Mets.  Is it just me or are these prospects not what they seem?  If I'm giving up potentially the best pitcher in baseball why would I want a mid-20's pitcher with a losing record and a 22 year old who makes Richie Sexson a batting champ?  I suppose the Mets needed this one as they held onto Lastings Milledge so long that they got, well, nothing in return.  Unless this 22 year old becomes legit overnight and learns to hit at least .260 in the major leagues this trade will be a success for the Mets - unless Santana goes Francisco Liriano in two months.  God forbid.

-...Tiger Woods attempt at the Grand Slam.  We say this every year and we see him fall short.  No slight on the guy - it's not like he sucks or anything.

But Tiger is entering his golf prime, or at least according to history as guys in their early 30's find their best success on the golf course, Seve Ballasteros excluded.  So if there was a shot at it we could see the best attempts over the next couple of years.  After that, we may not see another male golfer bring the kind of game or intensity or desire to win like Tiger Woods. 

It's sad, but wait and see when Tiger hits 45; we'll watch Tiger past his prime and obviously not the golfer he once was KILLING himself on the golf course for another major championship and he'll be playing with a young stud who just doesn't have the same will, focus or guts Tiger brings to the golf course.  It's great now that we see the guy who wants it the most winning the most - but how will we react when we see that same man unable to beat random Joe's who luck out a major victory? 

We'll probably be cheering for the fallen hero to return to glory one last time the way we rooted for Jack Nicklaus in 1986 and, for me, 1998.

The countdown has begun.  Tick tock, tick tock.

Every couple of weeks the scenario seemed to change and every couple of weeks we would all write down our view on who should take which award.  Now that today is the final day (maybe) of the baseball season, we can clearly define who the 2006 Cy Young and MVP award winners are for this MLB season.

NL Cy Young: Brandon Webb

- Such a difficult choice seeing that everyone in the league has 15 or 16 wins.  Not to mention Trevor Hoffman has far and away been the best closer this season in the National League.  The top 3 would be Webb, Chris Carpenter and Hoffman.  Webb gets the slight edge because he has been there the entire season.  Had Carp not gone to the DL, he probably takes it.

AL Cy Young: Johan Santana

- A great season from the lefty who had great competition for 5 months of the season with Roy Halladay, until Doc ran into some arm trouble as well a 2 rocky starts prior to his injury.  Johan could have been eyeing his 3rd straight Cy Young, but putting a second trophy on his mantle allows him to join a class of great pitchers that this game has ever seen.  Though I wonder if his teammate Francisco Liriano (Johan Jr.) would have taken the Cy Young if he was healthy (odds are, probably not but very close).

NL MVP: Ryan Howard

- Time to cave in to the 'Ryan Howard Hype-Train'.  Had St. Louis not collapsed and Albert Pujols mashed like a god down the stretch I probably would have stayed with him.  But Pujols has been big for the Cards when their backs have been right up against the wall.  That still won't take away the MVP from the man who has simply been amazing, especially after the All-Star break where he won the homerun derby in July.  After years of killing Triple-A pitchers, Howard has finally shown exactly what he can do at the Major League level.  (Honourable mentions: Lance Berkman and Miguel Cabrera for great seasons playing on teams that were dead at one point in the season).

AL MVP: Justin Morneau

- Time to get off the Jermaine Dye train and hop onto the Canadian bandwagon.  Morneau has been one of the big reasons why the Twins surged from May onward.  When Minnesota was nowhere to be found, Morneau was about ready to challenge Russell Branyan for the biggest power-bust hitter in the bigs.  And then Morneau just went unconscious.  Now, Dye had a great year and so did David Ortiz, but now we're talking about MVP's on a 3rd place team.  Vladimir Guerrero?  Well he played like an MVP but we can't give it to him.  Then there is Derek Jeter, who's only fault is playing on a team full of studs and even with his great season still may not be the MVP of his team.  Then again, Morneau may not be the MVP on his team either (Joe Mauer, Santana).  So having said that, what will seperate all the candidates?  Who has the best numbers on the teams in the playoffs?  Must go with Morneau.

Rookies of the year: Justin Verlander (AL) and Dan Uggla (NL), barely beating Ryan Zimmerman.

This has been fun, but its been tough as well.  Now bring on the playoffs.

Before we begin this post where I kindly smash my home country when it comes to it's sports, we will write this post in boxing formation.  Couple of undercards followed by the Main Event.

Undercard:

I feel my idea of having Johan Santana thrown into the MVP mix is justified by the average ERA being over doubled Santana's along with the .270 average the league is putting up.  For Johan to put up the kind of numbers he has with the way balls are blasting out of the park as well as the dimensions of the MVP race should give him a shot.  He has stepped up during the absense of Francisco Liriano in a big way.

I know a lot of people are ready to give Derek Jeter the MVP and feel the Yankees would be hurt greatly with him out of the lineup.  I still have a good memory to say Jeter should not win the award, nor would his absense mean the demise of the New York Yankees.  Remember the year 2004?  The first couple of months for Jeter was horrendous; .200 average and he was struggling mightily.  He did not pass .250 until well into July.  Despite the Un-Jeter-like production, the Yankees managed to be in first place.  Why?  Because of a loaded lineup.  You look at today's Yankees lineup and they now have Randy Johnson, Johnny Damon, Robinson Cano and a healthy Jason Giambi.  That means more lethal weapons which means one thing: Jeter is not the AL MVP (side note: Great player and hall of famer when he's done his career).

Undercard:

Jacksonville might want to invest in a wide receiver who can catch the football.  Right now their best receiver is Jimmy Smith who happens to be retired.  Maybe they are the team who should be desperate enough to get Jerry Porter, but not at the cost Al Davis is asking for, which is outrageous and absurd.

MAIN EVENT:

Pretty obvious that I was going into a hockey take, which perhaps prompted you Americans to actually read since the undercard was maybe worth reading. 

Nearly every major media network has carried NHL pre-season hockey to the forefront, pushing every other sport to the backburner in favour of meaningless training games prior to the season start.  To me, I am embarrassed that my city can call itself a sports town when they would put pre-season sports right at the top of the line and not what is the most relevant or important story leading off sportscasts.  I thought sports journalism was all about the top stories , and that they are suppose to entice audiences with the way they deliver it.  Instead, they succumb to unimportant NHL preseason games.

When the NBA, MLB or NFL organizations begin their training camps, does Foxsports or ESPN begin the highlight shows on TV or Radio with training camp highlights?  No, unless its something big/momentus.  That is called journalism.  The biggest story leads off the program.  This means that if the NHL is the biggest story in Canada, there is a problem with us as sports fans.  It means we have buried our heads into the sand when it comes to sports.  How can we honestly say we are a sports city when we always fall back on one sport?  We do not have the ability to break away from hockey.

One point to throw out to the American readers: Although hockey does not rate very well in the U.S., you can speak to a number of Canadians who are hockey fans and they will say there is no problem with the game.  Last I check, hockey losing to U.S. Curling Championships in the ratings is a big problem.  For that the NHL is certainly not the '4th major sport'. 

But this really shouldn't be a bashing of fans who love a particular sport.  It really comes down to the media shoving it down our throats as if it's a terrible pop song that's overplayed on music stations (such as the new Justin Timber-Diaz single or Gnarls Barkley).  It's time for Canadian sports to become strong enough to show the top sports stories rather than be resigned to go hockey, hockey, hockey.

As I say on my radio show: Its pre-freaking-season.  Speaking of which, my blog contest lasts until Thursday.  Check out my blog from a few days ago and enter in.  e-mail is: chevradionoise@gmail.com.  Cheers.