The MVP Conundrum

The MVP is the most coveted individual award in sports. But is it actually given to the most valuable player, or just the best player? In a year where Peyton Manning is a lock for the award after a record breaking season, and Lebron James is in the hunt for his third straight and fifth in the last six years, this question is truly glaring.

For Peyton, yes he set records in nearly every statistical category; but he played on a team loaded with three all pro receivers and a very solid rushing attack. Does being the best player on the best team make you the most valuable? In my opinion it shouldn't boil down to strictly numbers.

Take a guy like Tom Brady. He had an injury plagued team, 3 rookie receivers, and only 1 guy in Julian Edelman who he had any type of chemistry with. Yet he led them to a 12-4 record and a loss to Manning and the Broncos in the AFC Championship game. However, he only had a pedestrian 25 touchdown passes, 30 less then Peyton, and will most likely be overlooked in the voting. But it is his performance this season, overcoming every obstacle and continuously winning with his ragtag bunch of nobodies that I truly deem most valuable. Winning with nothing is far more impressive then running up scores and padding stats with a super team.

Same goes for King James. For the last 3 1/2 years he has been playing essentially on an all star team, ditching Cleveland to play alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Not to mention the Eastern Conference aside from three or four teams is pretty mediocre. Does being the greatest player in the world on the best team imaginable warrant 3 consecutive MVPs? You aren't truly the most valuable when you have an entire lineup of all stars by your side. But the media loves him and he is the current face of the league, so this fact seems to constantly get ignored.

So in steps Kevin Durant, the newly nicknamed Slim Reaper. With running mate Russell Westbrook once again sidelined due to injury, Durant has had to take over and has done so with flying colors. Averaging nearly 6 points more per game then Lebron, with more rebounds and nearly identical assist numbers he has led a much less talented Thunder team to the second best record in the NBA, only percentage points behind the Indiana Pacers. Will this be the year someone finally unseats the King?

The Return of Rajon Rondo

Almost a year to the day after tearing his ACL, Rajon Rondo is back on the court for the Boston Celtics. He has now played 5 games since returning, with his minutes and performance enhancing every day. The night of his return he was shockingly named the new team captain, and the 15th in team history replacing now Brooklyn Net Paul Pierce. This is important because as a team clearly trying to rebuild, and with constant speculation about whether or not he would be traded, this almost surely guarantees they will do everything they can to keep him in Boston for as long as possible.

After not playing in a game for a year, and having to wear a bulky knee brace, Rondo has been less then impressive in his first few games back; including an embarrassing 0-8 with 3 turnovers and just 1 point against the Miami Heat on the 21st. Granted he has never been a spectacular shooter, but he has never been this bad either which makes me wonder just how much the knee brace impacts his performance.

Along with his increase in minutes played, he has increased his assists per game, which shows his crafty playmaking ability hasn't been hampered by the missed year. The thing I've noticed that does hurt is that he is surrounded by a cast of sub par scorers who waste a lot of his perfect passes with either dropped balls or missed shots, but this is to be expected in a rebuilding year.

Rondo displayed that he still loves the thrill of the big games as he nearly recorded a triple double in just his fourth game back since the injury on the national stage as former teammates Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett returned to Boston as opponents for the first time. His shooting was still slightly off, although the percentage was affected by being forced into rushed last second attempts in order to beat the shot clock. Overall his 13-8-8 stat line was greater then I could have expected from him this soon into his return, as he is clearly still not up to game speed health wise.

He looks sure of himself, and not hesitant to crash the paint and cut on a dime, now it's just a matter of getting accustomed to playing with the brace and getting back to full speed. By the end of the All Star break I expect him to be nearly back to his old self, but with the added expectations of being the captain and lone survivor of the 2008 Championship team he will put this team on his back and produce at a level that leaves no doubt that he is not just one of the top point guards in the league, but one of the top players in general. Now they just need to re-sign him and get him some weapons to work with.

The NFL's Final Four

Wild Card weekend was full of excitement capped by the outstanding comeback of the Indianapolis Colts against the Kansas City Chiefs. But for all the excitement that occurred 2 weeks ago, last weekends games had a much different feel to them. It wasn't explosive quick strikes strung together to mount furious comebacks, it was tough grind it out football that saw the two top seeds from the AFC and the number one team from the NFC move on with what could be deemed, convincing victories.

In the NFC Championship we have the third meeting between NFC West division rivals, the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers. Believe me when I tell you, there is no love lost between these two teams. Both teams have stalwart defenses, the 49ers led by all pro linebackers Patrick Willis and Navorro Bowman. While the Seahawks have the most dynamic secondary in all of the NFL, the self proclaimed "Legion of Boom".

Both of these teams also have very similar offensive approaches, both run heavy, lead by veterans Marshawn Lynch and Frank Gore. Both rely on the mobility of their quarterbacks to escape pressure and create on the run. With such balanced attacks on both sides of the ball this will truly be a knock down drag out brawl with the slight edge in favor of Seattle for playing in front of the loudest fans in the country.

As amazing a game as that should be, the poster matchup for this weekends Championship round is the AFC Championship, pitting old rivals and familiar faces against each other as Tom Brady leads the New England Patriots into Denver to take on Peyton Manning and the Broncos.

The Broncos took the top seed in the AFC with a 13-3 record, and coming off the bye took down the San Diego Chargers in a game that was never nearly as close as the final score makes it seem. All the talk heading into last week was would Peyton continue his torrid pace from the greatest regular season ever, or would he continue his playoff woes and earn his 9th 1 and Done in his 13th playoff appearance. Now the talks shift to can Manning get over the hump against fellow future hall of famer Tom Brady?

In his career (regular and post season) Peyton Manning is 4-10 in matchups against Brady and Belichick, with one of those losses coming in Foxboro just a few short months ago after his Broncos blew a 24 point halftime lead. Granted playing in Denver is much different then playing on the road in a place he has always struggled to win. In the past these two storied quarterbacks have meet in this Championship game three times, with Brady winning two, and the winner of all three eventually winning the Super Bowl.

No one expected this Patriots team to even make the playoffs, let alone have the second best record in the AFC at 12-4. Despite relying on unproven rookies and extremely undersized veterans, as well as being riddled with injuries that saw six starters (4 defensive, 2 offensive) land on injured reserve, this team has still managed to prove everyone wrong and win enough to find themselves just one game away from taking part in their sixth super bowl since 2001. And on top of the injuries we can't forget that the 3 of the top 4 offensive weapons from last years high powered offense are no longer with the team as Danny Woodhead is a Charger, Wes Welker is a Bronco, and Aaron Hernandez is in jail.

This team just always manages to fight til the end and grind out close victories, while Denver consistently blew people out. But heading into this matchup it is the Patriots who blew out the Colts last week by 21 points, and the Broncos who saw their already below average defense take a serious hit as their top cornerback tore his acl. With these two quarterbacks and the brains of Bill Belichick, anything could happen and I expect a lot of scoring coming down to the last possession.


Predictions: Seattle wins at home 24-14, Patriots go into Denver and steal a victory 35-28 

Getting the Ball Rolling

For this first post I just want to start by saying, welcome to my blog. I've never had my own blog before so bear with me as I work out the kinks and hopefully provide you with some thought provoking, debate sparking insight into the world of sports. Topics will cover all the major sports and will not be regionalized to play on my being a fan of all Boston sports. This is simply an intro and I hope I have caught your attention and have gained a reader. First report will be up soon,


Have a great day;


Sean