Most Valuable Player 235000 225191117 2008-07-12T11:02:49Z Nsaa 113357 Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/60.50.75.61|60.50.75.61]] to last version by 171.67.73.10 (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]]) {{redirect|MVP}} {{Citations missing|date=August 2007}} In [[sport]]s, a '''Most Valuable Player''' ('''MVP''') [[award]] is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests. Initially used in professional sports, the term is now also commonly used in amateur sports, as well as in other completely unrelated fields of endeavor such as [[business]] and [[music]] [[awards]]. The term "Most Valuable Player" is most often used in the [[United States]]. In many sports, some MVP awards are presented just for a specific game or match (in other words, a [[man of the match]] award), while others are awarded based on an entire [[season (sport)|season]] or year. The [[Gender-neutral language|gender neutral]] term "Player of the Match" is usually substituted for "Man of the Match" in women's team competitions.<ref>See for example [http://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/womenworldcup/china2007/results/match=56332/summary.html 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup Final]</ref> Specific North American examples include (first regular season, then playoffs): * [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award]] and [[World Series MVP Award]] * [[National Football League Most Valuable Player Award]] and [[Super Bowl MVP|Super Bowl MVP Award]] * [[National Hockey League]] [[Hart Memorial Trophy]] (regular season) and [[Conn Smythe Trophy]] (playoffs) * [[National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Award]] and [[National Basketball Association Finals Most Valuable Player Award]] * [[Women's National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Award]] and [[Women's National Basketball Association Finals Most Valuable Player Award]] One award is commonly referred to as an "MVP" award, despite the fact that its official name does not match the "MVP" initialism: *[[NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player]] Award In the [[Australian Football League]], the [[AFL Players Association]] awards a "Most Valuable Player" award now known as the [[Leigh Matthews Trophy]], voted by peers and considered by many observers of the game to be more indicative of the [[Best and Fairest]] player than the [[Brownlow Medal]]. In the [[Canadian Football League]] they also have the [[CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award]] (regular season) and the [[Grey Cup Most Valuable Player]] (playoffs). The [[Philippine Basketball Association]] also awards its own [[Philippine Basketball Association Most Valuable Player award|Most Valuable Award]]. ==Records== The records for the number of regular season MVP awards won in each major North American sport are: *[[MLB]] - 7, [[Barry Bonds]], [[Pittsburgh Pirates]]/[[San Francisco Giants]] *[[NFL]] - 3, [[Jim Brown]], [[Cleveland Browns]] and [[Brett Favre]], [[Green Bay Packers]] *[[NBA]] - 6, [[Kareem Abdul-Jabbar]], [[Milwaukee Bucks]]/[[Los Angeles Lakers]] *[[NHL]] - 9, [[Wayne Gretzky]], [[Edmonton Oilers]]/[[Los Angeles Kings]] ==Non-sports uses== The [[National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences]] makes "Most Valuable Player" awards annually in a number of instrumental categories. MVP is often used in business to designate a valued employee. In this context, sometimes the "P" in "MVP" is something other than "Player." So, for example, [[Microsoft]] uses MVP to mean [[Most Valuable Professional]]. The term is applied to recognized, credible, and accessible individuals with expertise in one or more Microsoft products who actively participate in online and offline communities to share their knowledge and expertise with other Microsoft customers. It is also used in video game terms, such as the game [[Call of Duty 4]] contains challenges to kill the "MVP" of the opposing team a certain amount of times and [[Halo 3]] to mean the person with the highest score or amount of kills. It was also used in a Disney Channel Original Movie called " Most Valuable Primate ". ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:Sports in the United States]] [[Category:Sports terminology]] [[Category:Sports trophies and awards]] [[ca:MVP]] [[de:Most Valuable Player]] [[es:Most Valuable Player (NBA)]] [[fr:Meilleur joueur]] [[it:Most Valuable Player]] [[ja:最優秀選手]] [[pl:Most Valuable Player]] [[pt:Jogador Mais Valioso]] [[simple:Most Valuable Player]] [[sv:Most Valuable Player]] [[zh:最有價值球員]]