Male Athlete
Jimmie Johnson (NASCAR)- won his fifth Sprint Cup
Rafael Nadal (Tennis)- Currently the World's No. 1 Ranked Tennis Player
Dirk Nowitzki (NBA)- Won his first career NBA Championship
Aaron Rodgers (NFL)- Led Packers to first Super Bowl Win since 1997
Winner: Dirk Nowitzki- after being overshadowed for so many years and taking a back seat to guys like Kobe and Tim Duncan, he finally rose above everyone to win the NBA Championship, culminating a 13-year quest to the basketball's mountaintop. Nobody more deserving of this award than this guy.
Female Athlete
Kelly Clark (Snowboarder)- first woman to complete a 1080 on a snowboard
Lauren Jackson (WNBA)- 2010 WNBA Regular Season and Finals MVP
Maya Moore (UCONN Womens/WNBA)- became the scoring champ of the UCONN Women's basketball program with 3,036 points
Lindsay Vonn- Won Super G, Super-Combined, and Downhill Titles in 2011
Winner: Maya Moore- This could very well be my Connecticut bias coming out, but she is arguably the greatest winner in the history of UCONN Women's basketball, going 150-4 in her four seasons in Storrs, going to the Final 4 every year, winning 2 National Titles, and scoring 3,036 points, a program record. Ohh yeah, the team had a nice little 90 game winning streak while she was there, too.
Best Championship Performance
Tim Lincecum (MLB)- Went 4-1 with 2.43 ERA in 10 playoff appearances (5 starts) in 2010, including a 10 strikeout performance in the game that clinched his San Francisco Giants the World Series Championship
Tim Thomas (NHL)- Allowed record-low 8 goals in 7 Stanley Cup games, giving him Conn Smythe Award as playoff MVP
Kemba Walker (NCAA)- led UCONN to 11 straight victories en route to 2011 National Championship
Serena Williams (Tennis)- Didn't lose a set en route to 2010 Wimbleton Championship
Winner: Tim Thomas- My worst apologies to Kemba, but the performance by Timmy Thomas in the Stanley Cup Finals was absolutely amazing and something you will never see again.
Breakthrough Athlete
Jose Bautista (MLB)- 54 homers in 2010 season
Arian Foster (NFL)- NFL Rushing Champ with 1,616 yards
Blake Griffin (NBA)- 22.5 PPG and 12.1 RPG en route to 2011 NBA Rookie of the Year
Li Nia (Tennis)- became first Asian to win Grand Slam singles title
Cam Newton (NCAA)- led Auburn to National Championship on top of winning Heisman and being No. 1 overall pick
Winner: Cam Newton- This time last year, we had no idea who Cam Newton was. Now, he's a Heisman Trophy Winner, a National Champion, and a First Overall Pick.
Record Breaking Performance
Ray Allen (NBA)- set the record for most career 3-pointers in NBA history
Rory McIllroy (Golf)- Won US Open with record-low score of 268
Derrick Rose (NBA)- Became youngest MVP in NBA history
UCONN Womens Basketball (NCAA)- set record winning streak in college/pro sports with 89th consecutive win
Winner: UCONN Womens basketball- The 90-game winning streak is one of the best records in all of sports and something I don't see ever being replicated.
Upset
Blame over Zenyatta (horse racing)- breaks Zenyatta's 20-race winning streak in 2010 Breeder's Cup
Werdum over Emelianenko (MMA)- Emelianenko's first loss in 10 years
Seahawks over Saints (NFL)- Saints were the defending champs, Seahawks were 7-9
VCU basketball (NCAA)- became second 11 seed to reach Final Four
Winner: VCU- A team that got in by way of the play-in round, went all the way to the Final Four before losing to Butler.
Best Game
Auburn vs. Alabama (NCAAF)- Auburn rallied from 24 down to cap undefeated season
Butler vs. Pittsburgh (NCAAB)- Butler upends #1 seed Pitt with one of the most bizarre finishes to a game you'll ever see
Eagles vs. Giants (NFL)- Eagles score 28 unanswered in final 7:18 to win 38-31
Oklahoma City vs. Memphis (NBA)- Just the sixth 3OT game in NBA playoff history
Winner: OKC vs. Memphis- The first three are great comeback stories, but this game set itself away from the rest in that it was a story of two teams going back and forth for roughly four hours, exactly what I see in a great game.
Best Moment
Fennville HS Basketball Team- Went on to win 3 playoff games after star player collapses and dies on the court.
Roy Halladay No-Hitter (MLB)- throws just the 2nd no-hitter in postseason history
Trevor Bayne at Daytona 500 (NASCAR)- youngest Daytona winner ever at 20 years, one day
Winner: Fennville HS Basketball Team- Real feel-good story of a group of kids who dealt with a potentially life-altering tragedy in the best way possible.
Best Team
Auburn Football- 2011 BCS National Champions
Boston Bruins- 2011 Stanley Cup Champions
Dallas Mavericks- 2011 NBA Champions
Green Bay Packers- Superbowl XLV Champions
San Francisco Giants- 2010 World Series Champions
Texas A&M Womens Basketball- 2011 NCAA Womens Basketball Champions
Winner: Dallas Mavericks- Great story of a group of veterans making the ultimate sacrifice to get a ring.
NFL Strongest Performance Award
Arian Foster- Rushed for 231 yards and 3 touchdowns in week one win over Indianapolis
DeAngelo Hall- Tied NFL singled game record with 4 interceptions, one of which was returned 92 yards for a TD
Leon Washington- returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, from 101 and 99 yards, tying and NFL record
Winner: Arian Foster- Chicago had was a disaster on offense, San Diego was a disaster on special teams, Indy had a respectable defense, and Foster picked it apart in Week 1.
Sports Movie
The Fighter
Secretariat
Soul Surfer
Win Win
Winner: The Fighter- Inspirational story based on the life of Mickey Ward, garnered 7 Academy Awards.
Best Coach
Jim Calhoun- Won third NCAA title with UCONN, became oldest National Champion coach as well
Rick Carlisle- Coached Dallas Mavericks to first NBA Title
Gene Chizik- Coached Auburn to BCS National Title
Mike McCarthy- Led Packers to Super Bowl Victory as 6th seed
Dom Starsia- Coached UVA Lacrosse to National Championship
Winner: Jim Calhoun- Did one of his best coaching jobs by coaching the UCONN basketball team to the National Championship, becoming the oldest coach to do so.
Best NFL Player
Tom Brady- Won NFL MVP
Arian Foster- NFL Rushing Champion
Clay Matthews- Forced Key fumble in Green Bay's Super Bowl XLV victory
Troy Polomalu- NFL Defensive Player of the Year
Aaron Rodgers- Super Bowl XLV MVP
Winner: Tom Brady- Continues to build on his impressive resume, with his only interceptions coming in two different games. Maybe the best single season ever put together by a QB.
Best MLB Player
Jose Bautista- Hit 54 homers in 2010
Roy Halladay- Won 2010 NL Cy Young Award, became second pitcher all-time to throw a postseason no-hitter
Josh Hamilton- 2010 AL MVP
Felix Hernandez- 2010 AL Cy Young Award Winner
Joey Votto- 2010 NL MVP
Winner: Josh Hamilton- Led Texas to the World Series with one of the best seasons put together in recent memory.
Best NHL Player
Corey Perry- 2011 Hart Trophy Winner
Daniel Sedin- 2010-2011 NHL Scoring Champ
Martin St. Louis- Finished second in NHL in scoring and assists
Tim Thomas- 2011 Vezina Trophy Winner, Conn Smythe Winner, and Stanley Cup Champion
Winner: Tim Thomas- Put together arguably the best single season by a goaltender ever.
Driver
Greg Anderson- 2010 NHRA Pro Stock Champion, 4th since 2003
John Force- Became oldest driver in NHRA to win a championship
Dario Franchitti- Won second straight IndyCar Championship
Jimmie Johnson- Won fifth consecutive Sprint Cup
Winner: Jimmie Johnson- Won a record 5th consecutive championship on NASCAR's biggest stage, the Sprint Cup.
Best NBA Player
Kobe Bryant- Average 25.3 PPG in 2010-2011
Kevin Durant- 2010-2011 NBA Scoring Champ
LeBron James- Averaged 28.6 PPG while leading the Miami Heat to the NBA Finals
Dirk Nowitzki- 2011 NBA Finals MVP
Derrick Rose- 2010-2011 NBA MVP, youngest winner in NBA history
Winner: Dirk Nowitzki- Gained his true superstar status by winning his first NBA championship.
Best WNBA Player
Tamika Catchings- WNBA Defensive Player of the Year
Lauren Jackson- WNBA Regular Season and Finals MVP
Cappie Pondexter- WNBA scoring runner-up
Diana Tuarasi- WNBA scoring Champ
Winner: Lauren Jackson- Was best player throughout the whole season by taking the trifecta of regular season MVP, finals MVP, and finals champion.
Best Fighter- Manny Pacquiao- Became boxing's first 8-division champion
Male Golfer- Rory McIllroy (Won US Open)
Female Golfer- Yani Tseng (Rolex Player of the Year)
Mens Tennis- Novak Djaokovic (Wimbledon Champion)
Womens Tennis- Serena Williams (Wimbledon Champion)
Male College Athlete- Cam Newton (Heisman Winner)
Female College Athlete- Maya Moore (UCONN Womens Basketball)
Male Action Sport Athlete- Shaun White (Gold in Superpipe at Winter X Games 2011)
Female Action Sport Athlete- Kelly Clark (3 golds at Winter X 2011)
Jockey- John Velasquez (Rode Animal Kingdom to Kentucky Derby Victory)
Male Athlete With a Disability- Jerome Singleton
Female Athlete With a Disability- Alana Nichols
Bowler- Chris Barnes
MLS Player- Landon Donovan
Track Athlete- Tyson Gay
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