Now that the World Series is over, it’s time for my annual thread…who is this year’s Sports Illustrated Sportsman (er, “Sportsperson”) of the Year?
Actually, I posted something like this in February, and I still think he deserves it for what he did, but here are the four choices I can name off the top of my head:
Tom Brady, for leading the Super Bowl comeback (his main strike against him: SI tends not to give it to someone who has won it before, unless they did something really special)
Jose Altuve (especially if he’s the AL MVP) / Justin Verlander, from the Astros
Sidney Crosby, for winning back-to-back Stanley Cups ten years or so after winning his first one
Stephen Curry / Kevin Durant, from the Warriors, although I doubt SI will give it to basketball players two years in a row (LeBron won it last year)
Note to non-USA Dopers: Sports Illustrated pretty much limits it to the four major professional sports leagues or somebody from the USA in another sport, so someone like, say, Lewis Hamilton isn’t going to be seriously considered.
True, and Jackie Stewart won it as well (as well as speed skater Johann Olav Koss in 1994, but that gets an asterisk as he shared it with Bonnie Blair), but the fact that Usain Bolt never won gives my “four major sports or USA” theory some credibility. Okay, Michael Johnson didn’t win in 1996, but that was because Tiger Woods turned pro, and besides, the talk was, had Tiger not been there, they were going to give it to all of the women on the U.S. Olympic team.
Gotta go with Brady, mostly because he’s playing at a level that a man his age shouldn’t be playing at in the NFL. Not just this year, but last and the year before too.
A longshot but deserving candidate is Martin Truex Jr. if he wins the cup series championship. Leads NASCAR Cup series in wins and has dominated the point standings most of the season. He supports many charitable organizations and his long time girl friend is a multi time cancer survivor.
While SI normally would support the major sports leagues, deflate gate was such a huge goat f***, that I don’t think anyone cares. I’d give Brady a slight edge.
But . . . the TV numbers was out of sight for hte World Series, and that might give MLB and Altuve the edge.
If you’re taking that into consideration, you might as well give it to JJ Watt for all he did for the Houston area and his 30 some-odd million dollars he raised
While I think that Watt is an excellent human being, a great humanitarian, and a freakishly amazing athlete, I’d be very surprised if SI gave him the award this year. He only played in five games this year due to a leg injury, and I don’t think that SI will give the award to an athlete whose on-field contributions were so limited during the year.
My bet would be Altuve or “Altuve and the Astros” in light of both a first Astros championship, and his great season, combined with helping Houston feel better after Harvey.
they might give it to the Williams sister that played tennis until she was 4 months expecting and would of played for another two if someone hadn’t blabbed she was …
I don’t read SI anymore - anyone have a good bead on what the editorial staff’s take is on the NFL protests? Seems like Kaepernick or “The Protestor” could be in solid contention. Though I’d be their readership leans towards the “we hate protestors” side - which would make it nearly impossible to pull off.
I’m biased, so I’d love it if they’d give it to Sidney Crosby. (Don’t forget he was also back to back playoff MVP)
It wasn’t ten years after winning his first Cup. (The first time Crosby won the Cup was in 2009) This was first time in almost twenty years that a team has won back-to-back Stanley Cups. It’s also the first time it’s been done in the salary cap era.
I do have a subscription and they had a protest cover a few weeks ago. I don’t think it’s likely for Sportsperson of the Year, since I can’t see anyone getting a framed edition of a cover honoring the protests.
My bet as of now is a Houston Strong theme with the Astros and maybe Watt as well for his fundraising.
Time magazine could have The Protestor as their Person of the Year, however.
No way. She’s been out for most of the year. She won the Australian while in the early stages of pregnancy but played no other matches. Although human interest stories don’t hurt the narrative it’s supposed to be about performance. They won’t give it to someone who competed for one month out of the year.
Besides she won it two years ago. They have only doubled the award a couple of times.
ETA: no one blabbed. She did it herself. She sent out a pic on instagram that said 20 weeks. It was either posted by mistake or posted “by mistake.” She then had to confirm she was pregnant.
No it’s impossible unless they totally changed the criteria. “the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement.” It’s about performance. It’s not like the Time Person of the Year. It’s not about the most important story. “The Protestor” is not an athlete or a team that performed on the field. Kapernick didn’t play a down.
