All Packed Up

He may not be playing for his second straight Super Bowl title, but Aaron Rodgers has added some more hardware to his trophy case.

The Green Bay Packer quarterback was named the 2011 AP NFL Most Valuable Player Saturday, receiving 48 of the possibly 50 votes, and continuing to carve his legacy. Fellow NFL quarterback, Drew Brees, claimed the remaining two, in large part to his record-breaking campaign.

Brees shattered Dan Marino's 27-year-old mark for the most passing yards in a single-season with 5,476 -- a record he flirted with in 2008.

Rodgers, 28, is the first Packers quarterback to be name the league's MVP since the recently retired Brett Favre won his final of three consecutive MVP awards in 1997. He shared that honor with Detriot's Barry Sanders. That season, Favre and Co. played in their second straight Super Bowl, but lost to the John Elway-led Denver Broncos.

This season, Rodgers threw for 4,643 yards, averaged 9.5 yards per completion, found the end zone 45 times, completed 68.3 percent of his passes and posted a 122.5 passer rating -- all career-highs. His 122.5 passer rating also led the NFL.

After narrowly missing perfection, leading Green Bay to a 15-1 regular season record and an NFC North Division title, Rodgers' dream of winning his second career Super Bowl were crashed.

He would be let down by his usually sure-handed receivers as six different players combined for eight drop passes in their Divisional Round game against the New York Giants, where they upended, 37-20. A bitter end to a once promising season.

Now, Rodgers joins Paul Hornung (1961), Jim Taylor (1962), Bart Starr (1966) and Favre (1995-97) as the only other player to capture an MVP while playing their home games at Lambeau Field. It's the fifth consecutive season the MVP has be given to a quarterback, but he is only the third player to win the award during that time before. New England's Tom Brady (2007, 2010) and Indianapolis' Peyton Manning (2008, 2009) had combined to win the previous four.

While many believed Brees, who has yet to win a MVP, would have got more consideration, he was named the league's Offensive Player of the Year

As for the MVP, Rodgers was drafted in the first-round of the 2005 NFL Draft out of California, but sat and lived in the shadow of Favre for the first three years of his career.

But now with just as many rings as Favre, excelling every season and rapidly ascending to the top of his position, Rodgers no longer lives in anyone's shadow, but his own.

Manning Puts The M In M-V-P!

Return Of Berkman

A return to the National League has helped
Berkman reclaim his form.

The St. Louis Cardinals made headlines all offseason with the contract situation of their superstar slugger Albert Pujols and the injury to ace Adam Wainwright.

It's the move that didn't catch the attention of many that's paying the biggest dividends.

St. Louis signed first baseman Lance Berkman to a one-year $8 million contract this winter, hoping that possibly a return to the National League Central could re-energize the former first-rounder's career.

Berkman has done just that, having one of the best seasons of his thirteen-year career.

The now-thirty-five-year-old veteran currently leads the National League in home runs with 28 with his 75 RBIs ranking fifth. And while some minor injuries have hindered those numbers from being even better, Berkman managed to be selected to his sixth career All-Star Game in Arizona this season and his first since 2008.

Berkman had been coming off the worst statitical year of his career, posting career lows in almost every major offensive category since becoming an everyday player in the big leagues. It got so bad that the switch-hitter, who is a Texas native and played his college ball at Rice University, was traded from his hometown Houston Astros to the New York Yankees midseason, thinking a change in scenery could do the trick.

An ankle injury hampered Berkman his first month with the team and he was unable to get acclimated with the American League as quickly as he'd hoped. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

New York hitting coach Kevin Long worked with Berkman during his time on the disabled list and he came back with a bang, surging into the postseason. He hit .312 with a home run and 4 RBIs in the five playoff games he appeared in for the Yankees and looks to have carried over into 2011.

As for the field Berkman, who had minor knee surgery back in March 2010, was asked to play the outfield on a regular basis for the first time since 2007 with first base occupied by Pujols. Berkman has made 5 errors thus far with 3 coming while playing his everyday right field. The other two have come at first when he has needed a spell from the outfield or Pujols has been needed at the hot corner.

It was a low risk, high reward deal for the Cards and when nobody else was willing to take a chance on the Big Puma, they were. Now they find themselves in the thick of a pennant race with not only the front-runner for the NL Comeback Player of the Year, but possibly the NL MVP.

Thibodeau Earns Coach of the Year Honors

Thibodeau energy has injected life
back to Chicago baseketball.

In his first season as head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Tom Thibodeau has taken home the honor as being the NBA's best coach in 2011 being named the Coach of the Year Sunday afternoon.

Thibodeau is the first rookie head coach to lead his team to a 62-win season since Paul Westphal did so with the 1992-93 Phoenix Suns.

The news of the award does not come as much of a surprise as Thibodeau has taken a .500 team and turned them into the best team in the NBA record-wise in only a one-year span.

Last season the Bulls finished the regular season 41-41 and were the No. 8 seed heading into the postseason. A year and 62 wins later, the Bulls finished with the best record in the NBA at 62-20.

Chicago would be bounced out of the first-round of last year's postseason by the NBA's best Cleveland Cavaliers in five games.

A lot has changed since then with the Bulls beating a pesky Indiana Pacer team in five games to advance to the second-round for the first time since 2007. Thibodeau led Chicago to their first Central Division title since Michael Jordan's Bulls in 1998.

Thibodeau has brought a toughness and since of strength to this Chicago team and it all starts on the defensive end of the floor. The Salem State graduate has been known as a defensive mastermind around the NBA for a long time.

That was never more apparent during his time with the Boston Celtics, where he was the assistant coach to Doc Rivers from 2007-10.

Thibodeau made the Celtics become a defensive juggernaut during this tenure and help lead them to the NBA Championship back in 2008. Boston ranked in the top five in every defensive category while Thibodeau was there and might be the single reason why Boson has created such a tough, physical presence about themselves the past several years.

He has done much of the same in the Windy City, having the Bulls rank second in the NBA in points allowed at 91.3 per contest behind none other, the Celtics, at 91.1 points per game. It's a vast improvement from a year ago when the Bulls allowed nearly 100 points per game at 99.1, good enough for 13th in the NBA.

Thibodeau is only the fourth coach in Bulls history to win the award since its establishment in 1962.

The last Chicago coach to win the award was legendary and current Los Angeles Lakers head coach, Phil Jackson. Jackson won the award back in the 1995-96 season, where his team won an NBA record 72 games in the regular season.

Jackson would go on and lead the Bulls to their fourth NBA Championship under his watch and begin the start of his second career three-peat. That same season, Jordan would win his fourth of five NBA Most Valuable Player Awards and fourth NBA Finals MVP. Many believe that Chicago's point guard Derrick Rose is the front-runner to receive this year's highest individual honor.

Rose and Thibodeau try to become only the second player and head coaching duo in Bulls history to win those awards in the same year and finish with an NBA Championship.

The last player and head coaching duo to receive the Most Valuable Player and Coach of the Year Awards in the same year were Cleveland's Mike Brown and LeBron James, capping their great 2008-09 regular season. However, Brown and James would come up short in the postseason, losing to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games.

Thibodeau and Rose hope for a different result, much like that Bulls team fifteen years ago.

For what he's done, there was not a coach more deserving in the NBA this season than Thibodeau to receive the award.

Chicago kicks off their second-round matchup against the Atlanta Hawks, who will be without former Bull Kirk Hinrich for the series, Monday in the Windy City.

Superman Does it Again

Howard has developed into the best big
man in the NBA.

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard captured his third consecutive Defensive Player of the Year Award Monday.

Howard will become the first player in NBA history to win the award three times in-a-row. There is no question that Howard has been the best defensive player in the NBA the last couple of years with his shot blocking ability and being able to alter opponents shots around the rim.

Along with being named the top defensive player in the NBA in 2011, Howard could add another piece of hardware to his collection at the end of the season.

Howard has been in the Most Valuable Player discussion most of the NBA regular season and rightfully so. He is enjoying his most consistent year of young seven-year career. The 265-pounder averaged 22.9 points per game along with 14.1 rebounds this season.

Both of those are well above his career averages.

Howard led the NBA in trips to the foul line, averaging 11 free-throw attempts during the regular season. With Howard's overwhelming production, the Magic secured the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference with a record of 52-30.

It's not a stretch to say without Howard Orlando might not even be a playoff team.

Even though Chicago's Derrick Rose is the most deserving of the award, Howard is finally getting the reconition he deserves.

The 6-foot-11 center showed why he was the best defensive player in the NBA this season yet again, averaging 2.4 blocks and a career-high 1.3 steals per game. Drafted with the first overall pick by the Magic back in 2004, Howard has been a top five player in the NBA since his arrival and continues to impress his piers.

Orlando suffered a tough loss Saturday night at home against the No. 5 seeded Atlanta Hawks, 103-93, but Howard gave it his best effort, leading the away with 46 points and 19 rebounds.

The Magic have a tough road ahead if they want to appear in their third Eastern Conference Finals in as many years. It's a goal that plan to meet, but Orlando will first need even up the series at a game apiece on Tuesday night to get there.

Howard can become a free agent after the 2012 season and will be sure to draw a lot of interest from many NBA teams on the open market.

The Magic will need to show the 25-year-old Howard they get back to the NBA Finals, like they did in 2009. If they don't, that could be kryptonite that sees their beloved Superman fly out of town.

Does Kobe Deserve MVP?

Bryant's love for the game is what sets
him apart for the rest of the pack.

Los Angeles Laker guard Kobe Bryant has not been talked about much this season as the league's Most Valuable Player, something he seems to be in the thick of every season.

Chicago's Derrick Rose is the favorite to came home the honor in 2011 and rightfully so. Rose has taken a .500 Bulls team from a year ago and made them part of the Eastern Conference's elite. As for Bryant, he might be putting together one of his best season rather quietly.

Despite Bryant's numbers are not off the chart, averaging about 25 point per game along with 4.5 assists, he is playing some the best basketball of his career.

As a team the Lakers are surging since the break winning 15 of their first 16 games. Los Angeles currently sits comfortably as the No. 2 seed in the West, only trailing the NBA's best team, the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs were once up as many as nine games on the Lakers for the West's top spot.

During this recent run by the Lakers, they embarrassed the Spurs on their home floor back on the March 6, 99-83. Now, with only nine games left in the regular season for Los Angeles,  they find themselves only three games back of the Spurs in the loss column. A month ago if you would have said the Lakers had a chance to catch San Antonio for the best record, you would have been called crazy. That is no longer the case.

San Antonio has suddenly dropped five of their last eight games, including the one to Los Angeles. Bryant has been at the core of it all. His passion and will to win has enabled the Lakers to make this recent surge and possibly catch the Spurs.

If Bryant and the Lakers are able to catch them you can ensure Bryant will be a top candidate for the MVP Award. The Lakers have been heavily criticized all year with their sometimes lackadaisical play.

Now, led by their captain, Bryant has helped lead them to best record since the midway point in the season and is getting them positioned for June. The Lakers play San Antonio one last time this season in Los Angeles, coming the final week of the regular season, April 12. If things continue to way are they headed, that game could decide the fate of the best record not only in the Western Conference, but throughout the NBA.

Bryant and the Lakers will be ready and so will San Antonio trying to avoid yet another bite from 'The Black Mamba'.

A Legend Has Passed

The baseball world lost a legend
Sunday.

The Los Angeles Dodgers may have beaten the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Sunday in Glendale, Arizona, but have lost a bigger battle.

Former Dodger legend and Hall of Fame center fielder Duke Snider has passed away at the age of 84.

Snider was apart of the 1955 World Series champion team from Brooklyn that defeated the dominate New York Yankees in seven games. That was the first World Series title in Dodger history and only in Brooklyn, moving out West only three years later.

Snider would help the Dodgers win their second World Series title just two years into their move to Chavez Ravine. The Duke played in an era where there were three center fielders that dominated one city, raising the question who was the best.

Willie Mays maned center field for the then-New York Giants, Mickey Mantle roamed in the House That Ruth Built and of course Snider at Ebbets Field, all whom would eventually be inducted into Cooperstown.

The eight-time All-Star was a .295 career hitter knocking out 407 home runs, including a five-year stretch from 1953-57, where he hit 40-plus each of those seasons. Despite all that, Snider was never awarded the NL Most Valuable Player Award, but finished in the top ten six times, finishing as high as second in '55.

Snider was a true professional and an ambassador of the game not only during his 18-year playing career, but in the years after.

After being inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1980, the Dodgers also retired his legendary No. 4, that still hangs above the right field pavilion at Dodger Stadium. Snider was one of the few living members of the historic '55 Dodgers, of course until today. Snider is gone, but his legend with live on, along with those '55 bums from Brooklyn.

Farewell "Silverfox".

The Bite of the Black Mamba

Bryant took home his 4th All-Star Game
MVP Sunday night.

Does anyone still think Kobe Bryant has nothing left in the tank?

In his 15th season in the NBA and now at the age of 32, Bryant started to hear the whispers he might have lost a step. That was not the case on Sunday night at Staples Center, when he went off for 37 points and 14 rebounds. Not to mention the amazing two-handed slam that electrified the Los Angeles crowd early.

Bryant came out on a mission, to steal the show and come away with his fourth All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award.

He did just that, tying Bob Pettit for the most all-time.

Bryant, who is coming his second knee surgery of his career, has played significantly less minutes this season compared to the last couple of years. It seems as it he is pacing himself for a deep playoff run and getting the Los Angeles Lakers to their fourth consecutive NBA Finals.

Bryant has always loved playing on the game's biggest stage and tends to elevate his game when need be. You can be sure that will be the case come playoff time in the City of Angels, Sunday night is living proof. Bryant's star was not to be out shined by anyone that night.

There is no questioning the thirteen-time All-Star's motivation and sometimes it's believed that is ego even has a work ethic. So for those who said the 2007-08 MVP has lost a step, go back and look at the film from Sunday's All-Star Game.

Bryant rose to another level when the spotlight was shining brightest on his city and showed why he is still the best player in the NBA. Expect that not change, even more so come June.

Wake Up & Smell the Rose(s)

Rose has the Bulls firing
on all cylinders.

The Chicago Bulls head into the All-Star break with a 38-16 record, good enough for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and fifth best in the NBA.

We can attribute that to the first overall pick in 2008 out of the University of Memphis. At the young age of 22, Derrick Rose is making a strong bid for the Most Valuable Player Award this season.

Only in his third season in the NBA, he is beginning to raise the question, is he the best point guard in the NBA?

The Bulls finished 41-41 a year ago as the eighth seed in the East, only to be bounced out in the first-round by the then-LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers. What a difference a year makes, as Rose and Co. have elevated to new heights.

Rose has averaged 24.6 points per game, along with 8.2 assists in the first half, both well above his career averages and this is despite having two key components miss significant time. Offseason acquisition Carlos Boozer missed the first two months of the season with a broken hand and the team's emotional leader Joakim Noah has been out since mid-December with a torn ligament in his right thumb.

Boozer and Noah have only played nine games together this season, giving us a small sample size to how good this team could be. Noah should return to the starting lineup shortly after the All-Star break, adding a huge boost for a team that seems to already be surging.

They're coming off an impressive win at home just before the break against the team with the best record in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs. Rose led the way with 42 points and 8 assists. With the best record against the Western Conference at a 17-7 mark, Chicago has made themselves a legitimate NBA Finals contender thanks to my first half MVP in the NBA.

The Windy City has reason to smile come June and well into the future.