Sports Illustrated layoffs

There’s also a lesson in there about lying regarding the use of third-party providers.

 

https://www.si.com/college/2023/11/30/deion-sanders-sportsperson-of-the-year-colorado

I'm guessing, given the lead time they require now as a monthly this was a no-brainer in September.....

Unfortunately, this might even top the AI story as the biggest screwup of the week. I'm sure Deion's sponsors bought ads in the print edition - which is usually a consideration, and the clicks will help - but I really see no news peg at all to make the case.

A better choice would ahve been Livvy Dunne, a second-rate gymnast at LSU who has become a social media influencer and banked $3m a year thanks to the NLI rules. I mean, I do think the capitialization of college-athletics might be the "sports story of the year" - AND she would sell mags and ads (she was an SI swimsuit model to boot).

In fairness - who "should" be the choice? Mahomes and Reid? Throw Kelce in there for the Swifties? Bruce Bochy? Nikola Jokic? (Imagine people in Denver are pissed).

In reality - it probably SHOULD have been Novak Djokavic. Who has won everything there is to win in tennis, but has no TV ads airing in the US, plus the vax thing.

Has there ever been a worse choice for SI Sportsperson of the Year? (And no revisionism based on deeds that occured AFTER the honor).

 

Have they ever *not* done one? I can't remember a year when the contenders were less inspiring, though I'm sure there is one.

I get that his impact is about more than a 4-8 season. But ... it's still a 4-8 season where they were little more than a punchline (at best) after September.

 

Should have been Angel Reese, Kaitlin Clark, or Angel Reese and Kaitlin Clark. The fact that I have never watched a women's NCAA basketball game start to finish in my life and I know who these two are speaks volumes for the influence they've had this year. Even my mother called me the day they played and was like, "are you watching this?"

 

When I heard them talking about it on the Dan Patrick show I thought it was one of those deals where various writers write about "their SOY" to build hype for the big reveal. It's really an unfathomable choice. I mean, if they're into "losers," Megan Rapinoe had a pretty crappy year, blew the WC with her hand-picked choice for coach, botched a PK, then blew out her Achilles in the the NWSL final (which her team lost).

 

Jokic and Djokovic have no chance, just as Federer and Nadal --- the greatest sportsmen you'll see anywhere --- had no chance.

No foreigner has been the solo choice since Gretzky in 1982. No non-North American has been the solo choice since Jackie Stewart in 1973.

"I want to thank SI for making this announcement the day I come back to the team after being suspended for unspecified 'locker-room issues'.''

 

Dunne is essentially a model that's gotten to continue her gymnastics career. I think that's good for her, but I don't consider her story to be a sports one primarily at this point.

 

Totally agree - but if the "hook" on Sanders is "clicks" and Tv eyeballs, with an NIL tangent - Dunne would be a better poster girl for a story about the transformation and chaos in college athletics. The money is one thing, the portablility of a player's athletic career - let alone conference shuffling - is something else. Will Bryce Young be the last Heisman winner to have only played/attended one college?

 

Rapinoe was the pick in 2019.

I'd have selected Caitlin Clark.

 

This one is definitely up there.

Jerry Lucas over Roger Maris in 1961. Lucas...great college player who...lost in the finals. Over the guy who broke the most hallowed record in sports at the time.

Personally, as a Magic guy, I've not forgiven the 1987 selection of "Athletes Who Care" over Magic, who had his first MVP season and won the title. Paterno over Bird in '86 also up there. 1984 Edwin Moses and Mary Lou Retton. Very defensible, but...how do you leave off Carl Lewis if you're giving it to a bunch of US Olympians? Mary Decker in 1983. Yes, she won the 1500 and 3000 at the World Championships. Moses Malone would have been a good option that year or even better Martina, who went 86-1 and won three Grand Slam titles. In his fantastic book The Franchise, Michael MacCambridge wrote about that selection:

"The Decker announcement was greeted with nods and winks within SI, where [editor Gil] Rogin's infatuation (some called it an obsession) with Decker was the source of more than a few jokes. It had long been clear to most of the staff that Rogin was 'entranced by watching her run, watching her move,' as Kenny Moore put it... 'Everybody laughed behind his back,' said Deford. 'He'll do anything to get into her pants.'"