A Salute to Michael Cuddyer

Michael Cuddyer certainly isn’t the best player to ever dawn a Twins uniform. However, he came to the ballpark and played hard everyday during his career with the Twins. Not only that, he was willing to play wherever Ron Gardenhire put him on the field. The only two positions he never played while with the Twins were shortstop and catcher. His stats were never overly impressive but they were always respectable. What sticks out the most is that his highest RBI total of 109 came in 2006 and his highest HR total of 32 came in 2009. This is because in both of those years the Twins clinched a division title in an impressive and exciting manner by battling back down the stretch after a tough start to the season. Cuddyer’s numbers clearly show that he was a key player in both of those runs to the playoffs. In fact, in the 2009 run to make the playoffs, Cuddyer was probably the MVP of the Minnesota Twins. This is the case because he stepped in and played a respectable first base after Justin Morneau went down with an injury, and he hit big home run after big home run in September. Most notable was his home run in the second to last regular season game (well, it ended up being the third to last regular season game) against Kansas City that gave the Twins the lead and kept their season alive. This past season was a tough one, but at least Cuddyer finally got the chance to represent the American League in the All-Star Game. We at jasathletics salute you Michael Cuddyer for a solid career with the Minnesota Twins and wish you the best in your future endeavors. Your play on the field and your work in the community will be missed. One more thing, the Twins’ clubhouse will definitely be a little less chipper this upcoming year as that famous Michael Cuddyer smile is now in Colorado.

Robert Griffin III Tightens the Big 12's Hold on the jasathletics College Football MVP Award

Just a couple minutes before writing this I still had not decided who would win the jasathletics College Football MVP award. It came down to two men - Robert Griffin III and Montee Ball. I have to admit that Montee Ball's numbers were very impressive this year. In the end though, I had to give the award to Robert Griffin III. Just like Ball, Griffin III had great statistics this year. Nine out of the twelve games that he played in he threw for more than 300 yards. However, what set him apart from Montee Ball were his big plays at big times. Robert Griffin III is the first man to win the two most prestigious college football awards in the same year - the Heisman Trophy and the jasathletics College Football MVP award. All three years now the jasathletics College Football MVP award has gone to a player from the Big 12 (Also know as the Real Big 10) conference. I would like to thank everyone that voted in my poll. Your votes are one of the many factors that eventually swayed me towards Robert Griffin III. Finally, I would like to congratulate Robert for winning this year's jasathletics College Football MVP award.

The Five Finalists for the jasathletics College Football MVP Have Been Selected

The five finalists for this year's jasathletics.blogspot.com college football MVP award have been selected. Included among the finalists are two running backs - Montee Ball of Wisconsin and Trent Richardson of Alabama - and three quarterbacks - Kellen Moore of Boise State, Robert Griffin III of Baylor, and Case Keenum of Houston. Justin Blackmon, the preseason favorite to win the award and the defending champion, just missed making the final five. In fact, only two out of the five finalists were mentioned in jasathletics' article on the preseason favorites to win the award, namely Kellen Moore and Trent Richardson. All five finalists have put up big numbers this year. Montee Ball rushed for 1,759 yards and 32 tds. He also had 255 yards receiving and 6 receiving tds. His 38 total touchdowns put him only 1 td behind Barry Sanders' all-time record of 39 going into the Rose Bowl. With those numbers he will be tough to beat. When Mark Ingram left Alabama for the NFL Trent Richardson finally got his opportunity to be the feature back at Alabama. This year Richardson ran for 1,583 yards and 20 tds. He also added 3 receiving tds and 327 receiving yards. Once again Kellen Moore put up some great numbers. Moore threw for 3,507 yards and 41 tds. Not only that, he also had a completion percentage of 74.1 this year, which is the highest he has ever had. There is no doubt that Robert Griffin III has always had talent, but this year he established himself as the rich man's Marqueis Gray. Robert Griffin III had 3,998 passing yards, 644 rushing yards, 36 tds through the air, 9 tds on the ground, and only 6 interceptions. Finally, Case Keenum put up huge numbers this year. He had 5,099 yards passing, 45 tds, and only 5 interceptions. However, even though jasathletics doesn't usually look at these kind of things, Houston's bad loss to Southern Mississippi will be hard to overlook. jasathletics has a poll where you can vote for who you think should win the award. Keep in mind that your votes have no direct effect on who wins; however, your votes could persuade the voting committee. The winner will be announced in a press release sometime in the next week or so.