Who doesn’t love an end of year list? Who doesn’t love a short and sweet end of a year. List so here it is the best of 2019 in the sporting world.
Best NFL player- Michael Thomas. You could go with Mahomes or Lamar Jackson here for sure or even Stephon Gilmore if you really wanted to get adventurous but through the end of the 2018 season and into the 2019 season in my mind there hasn’t been a more dominant individual football player than Michael Thomas. 145 receptions 1,688 yards and 9 Touchdowns this season alone not to mention last year in the playoffs. Thomas is truly the best NFL player of 2019.
Best NBA player- James Harden. Yes Giannis was the MVP and probably my favorite player to watch but statistically there has been no better player than Harden. With him 50 point games are a monthly occurrence. It seems his only weakness is the Warriors but he could very possibly be the best offensive player to ever play basketball. He is averaging nearly 40 points a game how could you not view him as the best NBA player out there right now? It is a tight race though, Luka, Giannis, and LeBron were all in consideration in my mind.
Best Baseball player- Mike Trout- How could it not be? Again his WAR numbers are through the roof, 8.3 and an insane OPS of 1.083, the second highest of his career. He is trapped on a perennial baseball nobody in the Angels and they are making moves but time is running out it feels. If the team from Anaheim wants to win a pennant they need to continue on the right track.
Best Hockey player- Connor McDavid. You could make a case for Nathan Mackinnon or the ageless Sidney Crosby, but the fact is if you put a non hockey fan in front of a TV for two hours and showed highlight reels of all the league’s top stars and asked who is the best, the prevailing answer would be McDavid. He is the Mike Trout of hockey. Ever wasted in Edmonton, let’s hope 2020 brings us a playoff berth for McDavid.
Best Championship team- The Saint Louis Blues- Sure you could make an argument for the Raptors and the city of Toronto’s draught being broken or Nattitude. To me though there is no greater story in sports this year than the 2019 Saint Louis Blues and there very literal worst to first story to bring home the cities first ever Stanley Cup. A 1a would be the dominant US womens soccer team but the Blues take the cake here.