Ovechkin Makes 2008 His Year

| Print Post This | Like (0) | Comments (1)

JUST AS SPORTS ILLUSTRATED had an obvious choice in Michael Phelps as its sportsman of the year, any D.C.-area sportswriter has but one true option for the local equivalent.

Combine a scoring champion, league MVP and dynamic personality and you get the area's brightest star, Alex Ovechkin.

Already a superstar, Ovechkin has lived up to his promise as one of hockey's all-time greats in 2008 in leading the Capitals from last place to the postseason.

The numbers are gaudy: 65 goals and 47 assists last season and an NHL-best 25 points this past November. On a fan level, there is no one you'd rather see play,

Clinton Portis runs a distant second for his best year in Washington. He took a leadership role after Sean Taylor's death in 2007 and helped the Redskins make an improbable push to the playoffs.

He's followed that up with a gutsy season in which he's the NFL's second leading rusher while battling several nagging injuries. All that's missing is a bad back for carrying the Redskins the first half of the year.

As impressive as Portis has been, though, he's still not in the same league as Ovechkin, who was the first local athlete to win an MVP award since Joe Theismann did in 1983.

That's not to be overlooked — and the best part is that he's going to be here for a lot longer.

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images