Sports Year in Review - Top-10 Breakouts of 2009
by Tim Furious
Top-10 Breakouts of 2009
10. Brandon Jennings – Milwaukee Bucks
Brash talk before he graduated high school curtailed the apparent talent of Jennings and lambasted him with a “poor attitude” and a selfish me-first persona. A trip to Italy to play pro ball suggested that he was just after the money, and refused to take the path of so many great college players had used to enter the pro draft. Nobody doubted his talents, but nine teams and five guards were taken before him.
Guess who got the last laugh?
Jennings has exploded on to the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks and is the front-runner for Rookie of the Year honors with the absence of Blake Griffin due to injury. With the lead in points per game at 19.5, and a 55-point blowout of the Golden State Warrior, Jennings has stunned the league with undeniable productivity.
What has really surprised the league, however, is his staggering maturity. Getting beat up by men in the Euro Leagues certainly showed him his place in the world, and that sense of professionalism has gotten his NBA career off to an All-Star worthy start.
9. Chad Henne – Miami Dolphins Quarterback
When Chad Pennington went down to injury, second-year player Chad Henne was thrust in to the spotlight. Carrying an injury riddled Dolphins team to a near-playoff berth has made the league respect the former Michigan standout. Yet it’s Henne’s resolve in the face of an injured Ronnie Brown, and the loss of the Dolphin’s powerful wildcat attack that give him “breakout” honors.
Henne has a win over New England and two victories over the Jets have put Henne on the map. Though his numbers aren’t going to floor you, being a commander in this day and age of the NFL is enough for respect. Miami has a quarterback of the future in their midst. Now if they can just find him a number-one receiver.
8. Jay Bruce – Cincinnati Reds Standout
The rookie for the Reds had a breakout year with a .223 batting average, a slugging percentage of .470, 22 home runs and 58 RBI’s. No rookie in the majors made more noise than Bruce who is going to have another standout year in the summer of 2010.
7. Dwight Howard – NBA Defensive Player of the Year
Dwight Howard has become a tour-de-force underneath the rim and is perhaps the most dominant big man we’ve seen since Shaq in his prime. This season alone, Howard leads all players with 13.5 boards and 2.5 blocks per game. His Magic are poised to challenge the Celtics and Cavs in the tight Eastern Conference race.
Whether he can be the type of big man that continues to improve the Magic overall will put him on Bill Russell levels…but the 24-year old has to start amassing titles before we cement his foothold in the “best of all time” category. Not focusing on the currently useless sideshow of the Slam Dunk Competition would certainly turn Howard from a circus act in to a champion.
6. Mark Ingram – NCAAF Tailbacks
This season’s 2009 Heisman winner took advantage of some uninspiring play by quarterbacks Sam Bradford (injured), Colt McCoy (poor numbers) and Tim Tebow (inconsistent play). Ingram is one of those game changing backs who was the backbone of the top-ranked team in the nation. Still a junior in the college ranks, Ingram is likely to be back for another year under Nick Saban and Alabama’s betting backers couldn’t be happier.
5. Sidney Crosby – NHL Stanley Cup Champion
Call him “The Kid” or “The Next One” or whatever you’d like to, but Sidney Crosby turned the corner like no other NHL player in 2009. Crosby finished the 2008-09 campaign ranked third in total points (103) and is currently in the top-5 this season.
What defines Crosby above his counterpart Evgeni Malkin is the way Crosby matured in to a leader and game changer in the post season. Hoisting the Stanley Cup for the first time in his young career also gives him the edge over Alexander Ovechkin who is already a two-time MVP.
4. Lyoto Machida – UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Despite the controversial decision against Shogun, Machida’s 2009 was perhaps the most successful of any fighter in the entire UFC. “The Dragon” had three victories this year, toppling Thiago Silva, Rashad Evans and Mauricio Rua and became the light heavyweight champion in spite of criticisms that he couldn’t “finish a match” or “take the fight to his opponent”.
In response, Machida took the fight to both Silva and Evans and won both matches by knocking both competitors out of their skull. He outlasted an onslaught from a revitalized Shogun, and though the decision was highly contested from the MMA nerds, the fact that Machida accepted a rematch almost instantaneously speaks volumes about his attitude as a champion. Cry foul all you want about his “victory” over Shogun. Isn’t that the type of champion you want in the UFC? I know it’s what I’m looking for.
3. Toby Gerhart – Stanford’s Great White Hope
Nobody gave the Stanford Cardinals a second glance in the college ranks, but the most productive tailback in the nation was able to play on an all-world level to carry the Cardinals on his back. Gerhart finished the season with 1,736 yards and a league leading 26 touchdowns at the tailback position. An underutilized senior at Stanford, Gerhart had 10 games where he ran for over 100 yards and had three games where he topped 200 yards.
2. Manny Pacquiao – Boxing Champion
Ending 2008 with a victory over Oscar De La Hoya was enough to earn Pacquiao the respect of the boxing nation. But a knockout of the legendary Ricky Hatton, followed up by a 12-round dismantling of Miguel Cotto has made Pacquiao one of two reasons to watch boxing. Unfortunately Pacquiao is fighting Floyd Mayweather, the other reason to give a crap about boxing these days, in the courts over defamation. But you simply can’t deny that Pacquiao made people care about a dying sport like boxing in the mainstream market. When my grandmother is asking who Manny is, you know you’ve arrived.
1. Chris Johnson – Tennessee Titans
Whether he has the career productivity of greats like Jim Brown or LaDanian Tomlinson, the championship careers of Marshall Faulk or Emmitt Smith or the record setting seasons of Earl Campbell and Eric Dickerson remains to be seen. What isn’t contested is Johnson’s status as the most exciting back in the league. With one game to go in 2009 alone, Johnson is already the undeniable rushing champion of the NFL with 1,872 yards. The career is young, and the NFL is fiercer and harder hitting than ever, but Johnson has emerged in 2009 as one of the premier players to watch in the NFL. He’s also the guy that made you pay every time you tried to wage against the Titans this season.
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