MLB awards, NHL in jeopardy

MLB hands out remaining awards

- Over the past two days the MLB has given out its MVP awards as well as its Cy Young awards, which are given to the league's best player and pitcher respectively.  THE A.L. MVP award pitted Miguel Cabrera against Mike Trout, each of whom had phenomenal seasons that would have likely won the award in a landslide most other years.  In the end though, the fact that Cabrera won the Triple Crown and also that his Tigers made it to the World Series while Trout's Angels failed to even make the playoffs pushed the odds in Cabrera's favor and he won by a surprisingly wide margin.
- The N.L. award went to Giants catcher Buster Posey who led the N.L. in hitting and had career highs in Home Runs and RBI's only a season after suffering a devastating leg injury and missing most of the 2011 campaign.  This year Posey came back and was a big reason the Giants were able to win their second World Series in three years.
- The Cy Young awards both had some intrigue: The N.L. award went to 38 year old knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, the first player ever to win the award who prominently used the quirky pitch.  Additionally, he was only the third player ever to win the award while pitching for a team that had a losing record and amazingly earned 20 wins for the Mets this season (their first 20-game winner since 1990) an incredible 27% of his team's total wins.
- The A.L. award went to David Price of the the Tampa Bay Rays who barely edged out Justin Verlander in what was by far the closest race of the year and was the second closest Cy Young race ever (only a tie in 1969 has been closer).  Price won despite losing a couple votes to his teammate Fernando Rodney, who finished 5th despite being a reliever (The Cy Young award almost exclusively goes to starters).  Interestingly enough, Verlander won both the Cy Young and the MVP award last year, but couldn't repeat with either despite having his team make the World Series.


NHL lockout still ongoing

- The NHL lockout, which has already cost the more than 300 games, including the very popular Winter Classic, looks like it will extend even longer. Commissioner Gary Bettman reportedly suggested a 2-week moratorium on negotiations with the NHL Players Association so that he can reconnect with his constituents.
- Players are asking for a fixed amount of revenue, while the owners don’t feel like it is fair to promise that not knowing the economic future of the league or the nation. Games are currently cancelled through the end of November, and this two week moratorium could force the cancelling of games through the end of 2012 and possibly into 2013.
- NHL greats Joe Sakic, Mats Sundin, Adam Oates and Pavel Bure were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame over the weekend but even during that festive occasion, the dark cloud of the lockout loomed and those players reminisced about the last lockout, which cancelled the 04-05 season completely. "It was awful," Sundin said. "I think it's devastating."  Hopefully the NHL can avoid more devastation only 8 years later.