The Overall Awards for 2000's

Now that I have touched on every sport in the decade in the 2000's, I have decided to look at the decade in sports as a whole and hand out awards for the entire decade.

Franchise of the Decade- New England Patriots, while the 2000 Ravens was the NFL team of the decade, the Patriots were not only the NFL franchise of the decade but the overall franchise of the decade in all sports. They became the 2nd team in NFL history to win 3 super bowls in 4 years, were only the 4th NFL team to finish their regular season undefeated, and were the model for all other NFL franchises to follow. Their QB set the record for passing touchdowns in a season with 50 and their coach, although controversial, was the best coach of the entire decade. Runners Up: 2(tie). Spurs 2 (tie). Lakers 4. Red Wings 5. Colts

Team Player of the Decade- Albert Pujols 1B St. Louis Cardinals: While other guys like Kobe, Brady, Duncan, and Shaq have more rings no player has dominated his team sport more then Pujols. He won 3 MVPs and should have won more if Bonds did not inject, he also led the Majors in batting average (yes he beat Ichiro) while playing a gold glove 1st base. He is a great ambassador for the sport, as evidenced by the fact that he does not like the nickname "El Hombre" Spanish for the man because he sees it as disrespectful to Stan "the Man" Musial and he has no steroid connection. Runners Up: 2. Tim Duncan 3. Ray Lewis 4. Peyton Manning 5. Kobe Bryant



Individual Sport player of the Decade: Roger Federer Men's Tennis- A man who dominated the sport winning 16 grand slams, appearing in 23 straight grand slam semi-finals as well as 18 of the past 19 grand slam finals. Federer, who has won the career grand slam, has become a huge star in an American dominated marketplace where self-promotion runs rampant despite being a classy, humble, soft spoken, man from Switzerland. His rivalries and matches against guys Rafa Nadal and Andy Roddick are classic. Runners Up: 2. Tiger Woods 3. Jimmie Johnson 4. Serena Williams 5. Lance Armstrong



Olympic Athlete of the Decade (non-professional): Michael Phelps- A baltimore native who has dominated the past two olympics with 16 medals, 14 of those Gold including a record 8 Golds in 2008. His victories in 4x 100 freestyle relay and the 100 m butterfly in 2008 are classic. He has been the star of the past two summer games. Runners Up: 2. Usain Bolt 3. Apolo Anton Ohno 4. Bode Miller 5. Natalie Coughlin



Game of the Decade: 2001 World Series Game 7- A great game that topped off a classic series played with the backdrop of September 11th involving the Dynastic Yankees and the Upstart Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks, led by Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, won by scoring two runs off of the previously and pretty much since unhittable Mariano Rivera capped by Luis Gonzalez bloop single. Their victory and this game ended the Yankees' dyansty but more importantly brought the nation back and back together after the tragedy of 9-11. Runners Up: 2. 2003 Fiesta Bowl Ohio State vs. Miami 3. Superbowl 38 Patriots 32 Panthers 29 4. 2007 Fiesta Bowl Boise State-Oklahoma 5. 2005 NBA Finals Game 5 Spurs-Pistons

Moment of the Decade: The Saints return to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina: The city and the team went through one of the greatest natural disasters of all time forcing the team to be nomadic. They returned to the Superdome, a symbol of the devestation, on Monday Night Football against the division rival Falcons. Those who were there say it is one of the most chilling and exciting moments they have ever witnessed. This victory was the spark which led the Saints to their first NFC title game that year and 3 years later their First Super Bowl Championship. Runners Up: 2. Sports helps the country heal after 9-11 3. Dale Earnhardt JR wins the 1st race at Daytona since his dad died there 4. Brett Favre dominates Oakland a day after his father's death 5. Virginia Tech Athletics rebounds and get stronger after the mass shooting on their campus.


Story of the Decade: Steroids and Performance Enhancing Drugs: Across all Sports this story dominated and brought down stars from Marion Jones to Barry Bonds to Floyd Landis to Roger Clemens. All sports especially Baseball have had their credibility brought into question as records have fallen at an amazing pace and has made the public suspicous of all players even the ones that are clean. This story won't die as the admitted drug users are going to be up for the Hall of Fame and as chemists keep working to beat the testing through drugs like HGH. Runners Up: 2. The explosion of the Internet 3. The Rise and Fall of Tiger Woods 4. Globalization of American Sports 5. Rise of the UFC and MMA