A True MVP

Sometimes I don't understand the MVP award. What's it stand for? Most Valuable Player. If the award truly means that, then it has to go to a player on a winning team, right?

While Peyton Manning puts up gaudy numbers, he's never won a Super Bowl and the team was loaded without out, with tailback Edgerrin James (now with Arizona), wideouts Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, and Brandon Stokley, and tight end Dallas Clark. Name me one player more valuable than Tom Brady. The Atlanta Falcons went 2-10 without Michael Vick in '03-'04, but went 11-5 with him in '04-'05, had a first round playoff bye, and advanced to the NFC Title Game against Philadelphia. Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez got the award last year over the likes of Andruw Jones and David Ortiz. Who was the best players in the league? Pujols and ARod. Who were most valuable to their teams? Jones and Ortiz. This is why I've been confused by the award. I think they should add a separate award for best player, because I see that as being different than MVP.

They've gotten it right in basketball over the past couple years, though, in dishing out the award to Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash. I could see arguments for Kobe Bryant of the Lakers and LeBron James of Cleveland, but the Lakers played .500 ball throughout much of the season and blew a 3-1 series lead against the Suns. Cleveland has a very young, but talented ball club, with the likes of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Damon Jones, Eric Snow, Donyell Marshall, Drew Gooden, amongst others. Steve Nash makes those around him better. Kobe can do that occasionally, but not nearly as consistently as Nash. The same is true of James. Nash also had to do this without the Suns' other star, Amare Stoudamire. Nash is a great foul shooter, solid from the three-point line, can penetrate and dish like no one else in the league, and in my mind, truly holds up to the award name Most Valuable Player. Without him, Phoenix wouldn't even be a playoff team. They'd be lost and looking at a lottery pick for the upcoming season. Congrats to Nash and the rest of the team, as the award wouldn't be possible without the production of teammates.