ballon d'or

I may love gooooooold, but I still belong to Jesus.

The title of European Footballer of the Year has been awarded to Brazilian ace Kaká. If I were him I'd be quite disappointed - where was Monica Bellucci to present the trophy this year?

Did Kaká deserve the award? That's difficult to say when you look at the other names on the short list: Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Cesc Fabregas, Robinho, Francesco Totti and Juan Román Riquelme.

Kaká primarily won the award because his team (AC Milan) won Europe's (and the world's) most prestigious club competition, the UEFA Champions League. He single-handedly destroyed Manchester United in the Champions League semi-final.

Last year the Golden Ball award went to Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro who had just captained his national side to victory in the 2006 World Cup. Had France won the World Cup final, Zinedine Zidane would have probably received the award.

I don't know much about college football, but I get the feeling that the Heisman trophy is typically awarded to the quarterback, running back or wide-receiver of a national championship side, or at least a team ranked in the top five. In other words, it pays to be on a winning team.