THE TIMES, DECEMBER 18, 2014, PAGE 2 '- Like us on Facebook
S orts
John Dudek
NFL Awards
By JOHN DUDEK
Times Columnist
::With just a few weeks left in
t NFL's regular season, I de-
cided it was time to hand out a
few awards. The first award, is
for Offensive player of the year.
Dallas Cowboy running back
DeMarco Murray is having a
career year, and is on pace for
right at 2,000 yards. Murray,
w:o has been injury prone in
tle past, has managed to stay
hralthy this season. That is
great news for Cowboy fans, as
they try and ride him into the
phyoffs.
:The award for Defensive
player of the year, goes to Hous-
ton Texan defensive lineman,
J.J Watt. Watt has had such a
phenomenal season, that he will
actually get votes for MVP. On
top of constantly making game-
ch'anging plays, he has a hand
fl of touchdowns to boot. If his
team wasn't so dreadful on of-
fense, and had a better record,
Watt would be the MVP.
This year's Coach of the year,
is Arizona cardinal front man,
Bruce Arians. I know, it wasn't
one of the big names that you
were expecting, but he is the
most deserving candidate, by
far. Considering that the Car-
dinals are down to their third
string quarterback, and are
still getting it done, this one is
a no brainer. At the time of this
printing, they are in 11-3, in one
football's toughest divisions. All
from a team, that most people
didn't expect much from.
One of the toughest awards
to figure out, was Rookie of
the year. This season has seen
so many guys step Up, but one
player, has stood out among the
rest. Former LSU Tiger Odell
Beckham Jr. has been wowing
football fans all season, with
his acrobatic grabs, and high-
light reel plays. He also made
a catch on Sunday Night Foot-
ball a few weeks ago, that was
hands down, the best play of
the season. The sky is the limit
for this guy.
Finally, the MVP award. This
award is the most prestigious
award in the NFL. This season,
they are a ton of candidates. But
one player has stood up, above
all others• Green Bay Packers
quarterback Aaron Rodgers has
had a season for the ages. At
press time, Rodgers has thrown
35 touchdowns, to only 5 inter-
ceptions. The MVP award is all
about how valuable a player is
to their team. One way to mea-
sure that, is to imagine how
the team would play, without
that particular player. In Rod-
gers case, the Packers wouldn't
even close to the team they are,
without Rodgers. So, there you
have it folks, in a few weeks, we
will see just how accurate these
picks turn out to be.
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Independence Times
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Very Special
Miss
Louisiana
Pageant
TARC of F[ammond is excit-
ed to announce its plans for the
first Very Special Miss Loui-
siana pageant on January10,
2015, at the Magnuson Hotel in
Hammond. The pageant, which
is a first for Tangipahoa par-
ish, is only open to young ladies
ages 0 months to 23 years with
an intellectual disability, a cog-
nitive delay, or a development
disability. The event will serve
as a fundraiser for TARC.
The Very Special Miss Louisi-
ann pageant is a fundraiser for
the non-profit TARC. We want
to make girls and young ladies
with special needs dreams come
true.
This competition puts its con-
testants on a memorable path; it
will leave you with a memories
and friendships that will last a
life time. This will be a once in
a life time experience.
We ask that you give this
pageant a try and set all your
fears aside. We want you to give
yourself a chance to try some-
thing different. To try and do
something some people may say
you could not do. We, with the
Very Miss Louisiana pageant
think you can do and be what-
ever your heart desires.
(Pageant coordinator, Robin
Abrams and Very Special Miss
Louisiana ambassador Made-
lyn Latino were interviewed by
WWL News anchor Mike Hoss
Monday December 15 at 8:45.)
Ponchatoula
Christmas
lighting winners
named
By LIZ ANDERSON
Ponchatoula Chamber of
Commerce
The results of the 2014 Pon-
chatoula Downtown Christmas
Lighting competition are in;
and the judges, even more so
than in previous years, found
it extremely difficult to choose
one winner above another!
The Chamber encourages
everyone to take a slow and lei-
surely walk down Pine Street, •
opening their eyes to the beauty
of each window display and de-
tailed lighting of the season, k
The theme of this year's com-
petition was "Cartoon Charac-
ters on Parade," and adhering
to it was an integral part in the
judging of the Window displays•
This year, not only were win-
dows filled with cartoon charac-
ters past and present, but many : :ij (!
were artistically painted in pri- ::ii
mary colors, contributing to the
downtown cheer.
The anonymous panel of
judges chosen by Sonia Henry,
Ponchatoula Chamber of Com-
merce, named the following
winners:
Favorite Decorated Building
1st Place Jani-King
2nd Place Paul's Cafe
3rd Place Xpressions Hair
Salon & Boutique
Favorite Window Display
*1st Place Berrytown Cor-
ner Cafe
*2nd Place Trail's End An-
tiques
*3rd Place - Roussel's & Co
Most of the shopkeepers and
business owners from one end
of downtown Ponchatoula to the
other outdid themselves! Lords
& Ladies Hair Salon had a glit-
tering silver and white display,
while Drake & Beckler contin-
ued to wow with their glorious
Nativity scene• Ben's French
Bakery & Bistro even put out
a tasty and visually appealing
display of pastries to the delight
of the judges and the young chil-
dren following in their wake!
The Ponchatoula Chamber of
Commerce would like to thank
all the businesses and individu-
als in Ponchatoula who spread
Christmas cheer by contribut-
ing to the holiday splendor!
Ponchatoula: (985) 467-9525
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