Jimmie Johnson may be Athlete of the Year

Jimmie Johnson may actually add another title to his collection of awards, a United States Sports Academy's �Athlete of the Year Award�.

The United States Sports Academy (USSA) is an institution �created to serve the nation and the world with programs in instruction, research and service� the role of the Academy is to prepare men and women for careers in the profession of sports.� (quoted from ussa.edu). USSA's Athlete of the Year Award is the annual culmination of its Athlete of the Month awards program. The Athlete of the Month program monthly honors male and female athletes who have distinguished themselves in their various sports. Among the Athlete of the Month awardees, a Female Athlete of the Year, Male Athlete of the Year and Athlete of the Year awardee is chosen per category.

Among the female finalists are: American swimmer Natalie Coughlin, Ethiopian runner Meseret Defar, American sprinter Allyson Felix, Austrian skier Renate Goetschl, Belgian tennis star Justine Henin, Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, Australian basketball player Lauren Jackson, Swedish heptathlon champion Carolina Kluft, Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa, Norwegian golfer Suzann Pettersen, American tennis great Venus Williams and American swimmer Kate Ziegler.

Male finalists who made the roster are: Boston Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, Swiss tennis great Roger Federer, American sprinter Tyson Gay, Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie, Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star LeBron James, NASCAR Champion Jimmy Johnson, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker, American swimming star Michael Phelps and golf superstar Tiger Woods.

The 2007 Nascar Nextel Cup Champion has a fighting chance for the Athlete of the Year title. His resume boasts of (taken from NASCAR.com) :

� He is the first back-to-back series champion since teammate Jeff Gordon accomplished the feat in 1997-98
� His 10 wins in '07 is the first double-digit win tally since '98
� He also won four consecutive races, another first since '98
� Johnson finished with a series-high Driver Rating of 110.3, according to NASCAR Loop Data
� He also finished with four poles, 20 top fives and 24 top 10s.

If you want to make Jimmie Johnson your Athlete of the Year, simply vote online at ussa.edu. Voting began last Dec 1 and will end on Dec 24.

Sources: NASCAR.com, ussa.edu