Eli Manning was supposed to be new kid on the block in the NFL. His rival for rookie of the year honors was supposed to be Phil Rivers. Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t supposed to be play all year. Oops!! Rivers and Manning have yet to start an NFL game. Drew Brees has been spectacular for San Diego, and Warner has been good enough to relegate Manning to back-up status in New York.
Roethlisberger, on the other hand, got his chance to start when Tommy Maddox was injured, and hasn’t looked back since. He has led the Steelers to a 7-1 record, going 6-0 himself. His team beat the NFL’s last two unbeaten teams back to back in week’s 7 and 8. He’s being hailed as the second coming of Dan Marino. He’s certainly a lock to win rookie of the year honors. And the best part is nobody, and I mean nobody, saw this coming.
The Heisman trophy is awarded to the year’s best college football player, not the year’s best upperclassman college football player. Therefore the fact that someone is a freshman should have no impact on the voting process. Sadly not all Heisman trophy voters feel this way, which is why Adrian Peterson may be cheated out of an award that, based on performances so far this season, he deserves to win.
The PGA Tour season ended this past weekend. Vijay Singh failed in his attempt to win for the 10th time, but his nine-win, $10 million season is still a huge success by anybody’s standards. It’s only been two years since Vijay turned 40, but he has already won more tournaments in his 40s than anyone except Sam Snead. And even Snead never had a season like Vijay’s after he had turned 40.
The NBA Season is now into its second week, and the impact of the Shaquille O’Neal trade is clearly being felt. The Miami Heat are 4-0 for the first time in their history. More importantly Dwayne Wade is averaging career highs in points, rebounds, and assists. And this with Shaq only at a self-proclaimed 65.212 percent thanks to a hamstring injury. In other words, the league better watch out once Shaq gets to a 100 percent. Given their current form, I’m picking the Heat to make the Eastern Conference finals at the very least.
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