Writing about sports for a career, despite having some drawbacks such as late nights and little pay, is a pretty cool concept as well as a privilege.
Sportswriters get to do and see things most people never will. But that doesn't guarantee they're always right and that couldn't have been more evident than in the past 10 days.
First, to no one's surprise, Patriot's quarterback Tom Brady won the NFL's Most Valuable Player award.
But what was surprising was Brady finishing a single vote away from unanimously winning the award. Someone instead found it fit to cast a vote for Old Man Winter himself, Brett Favre of the Packers.
No, it wasn't sportscaster and Favre-adorer John Madden, but the mysterious Frank Cooney, who is founder of something called SportsXchange. I guess being allowed to cast an MVP ballot is easier than getting away for a little privacy in Mexico, eh Tony Romo?
Then on Tuesday the Baseball Hall of Fame ballots came out. While Mark McGwire rightly fell about 50 percentage points short of being enshrined, it was a different name that got me thinking.
One-time D-back Todd Stottlemyre, who barely pitched more than 200 innings over a four-year span in the Valley, received exactly one vote toward becoming immortalized.
Of course, that makes complete sense because while Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn weren't unanimously selected, a guy who never won more than 15 games during his career deserves to be forever remembered among with the best of the best.
