Hit for the cycle

A comprehensive look at the past month in sports

ROMER BAUTISTA STAFF

ILLUSTRATION TED BARKER

One could easily be forgiven for failing to keep up with all that the sports world has had to offer in the past month. In a surprising twist, the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series, providing a fitting end to a strange MLB season; NFL teams are making a final push for the playoffs; the NHL has hit full stride, as the contenders (the Buffalo Sabres and the Anaheim Ducks) are separating themselves from the pretenders (the lowly Phoenix Coyotes); and the NBA kicked off its 2006-07 campaign with a surprising team leading the way. So let me catch all of you up, as I hit for the cycle, and run down the biggest headlines from the past month in sports.

SINGLE: Justin Morneau wins AL MVP honours

In a hotly contested ballot, Canadian slugger Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins was named the American League MVP, narrowly edging out New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. The race for MVP went down to season’s end, with as many as seven players having a legitimate case of winning the coveted honour. In the end, though, it was tough for voters to ignore Morneau’s impact on the Twins’ season. Finishing his season with a .321 BA, 34 HR, 97 runs scored, and 130 RBI, Morneau was the offensive sparkplug that catapulted the Twins to their fourth AL Central title in five years. Morneau, originally from New Westminster, B.C., became only the second Canadian to win the award — following in the footsteps of one of his childhood idols, Larry Walker, who won the 1997 NL MVP. With Morneau winning the award, Canadians now hold the distinction of being MVP in three of the four major North American sports leagues (Steve Nash is the reigning MVP of the NBA and Joe Thornton is the reigning MVP of the NHL).

DOUBLE: the Utah Jazz: the best team in the NBA

We are three weeks into the NBA season, and the biggest story isn’t that the Dallas Mavericks started the season out with four losses, or that defending champs the Miami Heat are under .500 and have looked terrible in doing so. It’s that the Utah Jazz, a team many people (yours truly included) wrote off before the season started, are currently sitting pretty atop the Western conference with the best record in the league. Derron Williams, the third overall pick in the 2005 draft, is bringing up memories of the great John Stockton, while the versatile front court of Mehmet Okur, Carlos Boozer, and Andrei Kirilenko has caused match-up problems for opposing defences. Most of the success of the Jazz, however, can be attributed to the terrific work done by head coach Jerry Sloan, now in his 19th season with the club, who has his team playing like a cohesive unit. This team is definitely for real, and should find themselves near the top of the standings for the rest of the year.

TRIPLE: Sabres, Sharks, Ducks good; Coyotes, Flyers, Blue Jackets bad

Some other revelations from the NHL’s first half so far:

Age is just a number: Players like Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin may get all the headlines, but taking a look at the league leaders might feel like a stroll down memory lane. Jaromir Jagr, Rod Brind’Amour, Brendan Shanahan, and Ray Whitney, all with at least 15 years’ experience in the league, are among the top 10 in points, proving that the game isn’t just for the young fellows.
So he's human after all: Turns out that there is one way to stop Sidney Crosby — make sure he has a groin injury. Crosby has been sidelined with a sore groin, and the Penguins have gone win-less since he’s been out. I think it’s safe to say that without Crosby, the Penguins don’t have a chance.
The Canadian contingent: The Maple Leafs and Canadiens are playing exciting hockey and look like contenders out East. The Senators have shown improvement, but goaltending is still a question mark. In the West, the Oilers have found themselves on top of their division, the Canucks are having a tough time scoring, and the Flames are attempting to bounce back from their atrocious start to the season.

HOME RUN: LaDainian Tomlinson runs wild on the NFL

To say LaDainian Tomlinson is having a great year is an understatement. Through week 12 of the NFL season, Tomlinson has a league-high 24 touchdowns (21 rushing, three receiving), including 16 in his last five games, all San Diego Chargers wins. Tomlinson is on pace to obliterate the regular season touchdown record of 28 held by Shaun Alexander. With Tomlinson steamrolling defences, the Chargers have surged to a 9-2 record, second only to the Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts (10-1). It should be quite an exciting end to the season to see which of the two teams gets the AFC’s top-seed, and which of the two team leaders wins the MVP race.

STRUCK OUT: Drew Bledsoe as a starting quarterback

There is something about being a back-up to Drew Bledsoe that breeds quarterback greatness. In 2001, after replacing an injured Bledsoe, an unknown Tom Brady took over as the New England Patriots’ starting quarterback, and led them all the way to a Super Bowl victory. Fast-forward to this season, when an eerily similar situation has occurred. The Dallas Cowboys have replaced a poor-performing Bledsoe with another unknown in Tony Romo. Since the replacement, Romo has been impressive, throwing for 10 touchdowns versus only two interceptions, while the Cowboys have gone 4-1, and moved to first place in the NFC East. It seems the key to being a good quarterback in the NFL is to replace Drew Bledsoe as a starter.