Denver Stiffs, a Denver Nuggets community

We recap the tail end of the Purdue Boilermakers' men's basketball regular season, and hand out traditional Big Ten awards (POY, 1st/2nd/3rd teams, 6th Man, DPOY, All-Freshman team), along with a few alternative awards (Doucher of the Year, Crankiest Coach, All-Fun team, All-Ugly Team, Goober of the Year). We also give our thoughts on both the NCAA Tournament and the CBI, previewing Purdue's matchup with Western Illinois.

Reading through the article, it seems the NFL alumni don't think much of Brees...he isn't even up for player of the year (Stafford, MJD, and Rodgers are in the running for that one).

This is his ballot, choices, and an explanation of why he chose to vote despite the boycott by the local chapters of the PHWA. My personal opinion is that he chose the professional course in this matter. Who knows if the outcome would have been different if he was present for the vote, but I would bet that he received some pressure from his brethren. Kudos Mr. Staple.

Aston Villa gave out their end-of-season awards tonight (didn't want to see Spurs celebrate their CL clincher, I suppose) and Milner bagged a hat-trick. Dunne was voted Player of the Year by the players. Yay!

Tyreke at #1 for ROY and Beno at #1 for Most Improved Player. No PW love though for coach of the year.

Andy Marte, for whom we managed to somehow snag Edgar Renteria from the Red Sox (who turned into Jair Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernandez, part of the package for McLouth), just won the IL PoW award for the week for the second week in a row. He's actually the first player to do so since '06 (Cole Hamels), and with a .320/.362/.541 line plus 11 homers and 46 RBIs to boot through 67 games, he's having his best season since we traded him (and maybe ever.) He's been a disappointment thus far, but maybe he'll turn out to be something after all.

The award, given out by SportsBusiness Journal, will be announced tonight. The other finalists are the Boston Celtics, Chicago Blackhawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Tampa Bay Rays. Doug Melvin and two Brewers executive VPs are in New York for the ceremony.

No real surprises: Blake Griffin is Player of the Year, Bill Self is Coach of the Year, Cole Aldrich and JT Tiller share Defensive Player of the Year, Denis Clemente is Newcomer of the Year, and Willie Warren is Freshman of the Year. AJ Abrams and Damion James made the All-Big 12 Second Team. Justin Mason was named to the All-Big 12 Defensive Team. These awards are voted on by the coaches. AP awards are very similar. Also, Texas landed six players on the All-Big 12 Academic teams. Connor Atchley, Dogus Balbay, Damion James, and Gary Johnson all earned first team honors with GPAs of at least 3.20. Justin Mason and Dexter Pittman landed on the second team with GPAs of 3.00-3.19. Congrats.

Woo for Crunch Berry! Woo for Crunch Berry! Woo for Crunch Berry! Woo for Crunch Berry! Woo for Crunch Berry!