Athlete of the Year

Every year the Associated Press names a male and female athlete of the year. And every year the male athlete gets a lot of media coverage but the female athlete barely gets a mention.

This year’s male athlete of the year definitely deserves all the accolades heaped on him. Tom Brady is on track to lead the New England Patriots to an undefeated 16-0 season, a feat unmatched in regular season play. Only the Miami Dolphins have gone undefeated, but their 17-0 season included 14 regular season games, 2 playoff games, and winning the Super Bowl. Tom Brady definitely deserves this honor this year.

But I want to focus on the female player of the year. Lorena Ochoa is the future of professional women’s golf. 2007 marked her most successful year on the tour to date. This year she won her first Major, the British Open, and seven other events. Ochoa replaced Annika Sorenstam as the top rated player in the women’s game. And she was the first female golfer to ever top four million dollars in prize money in a single season. This is the second year in a row that she was named athlete of the year. And she’s only 26 years old.

Lorena Ochoa has endless potential. While Sorenstam is often credited as the best women’s golfer ever, Ochoa could match or even surpass her achievements. She shows all signs that 2008 will be just a successful as, if not better than, her 2007 season.