SI Sportsman of the Year

[bostonbred]

At least Tony Dungy didn't win.

Glad Favre got it, he deserves it.

 

[dooley_womack1]

At least Tony Dungy didn't win. However, my dark horse every year is Dikembe Mutumbo: still effective off the bench on top of giving loads of time and money to help his less fortunate countrymen.

Thanks for checking in, Dikembe.

 

[Orange Hat Bobcat]

Surprised to read the byline -- Alan Shipnuck rather than old board favorite Peter King. At the national level, I don't think any writer has followed Favre more throughout the last 10 or 12 seasons than PeKing. Love him, hate him, whatever, he would have seemed the natural choice for this story. Wonder how Shipnuck wound up with this one.

 

[GBNF]

Realistically, how much of this decision was based on sales?

Lets think: If there's no clear-cut favorite — not even Federer or Tiger was a clear-cu t this year — don't you have the feeling that the SI editors sat there and thought, "Who would sell the most copies right now? A super-rejuvenated Fav-ruh or Peyton Manning in the middle of an average season (for him)?"

This one just reeks of something to me for some reason...

 

[Dessens71]

How about Hank Aaron? That would have been cool.

Here's a link to the year-by-year list, by the way.
http://encarta.msn.com/media_701500050_761580527_-1_1/Sports_Illustrated_Sportsman_of_the_Year.html

 

[Guybehindtheguy]

Realistically, how much of this decision was based on sales?

Lets think: If there's no clear-cut favorite — not even Federer or Tiger was a clear-cu t this year — don't you have the feeling that the SI editors sat there and thought, "Who would sell the most copies right now? A super-rejuvenated Fav-ruh or Peyton Manning in the middle of an average season (for him)?"

This one just reeks of something to me for some reason...

Kind of like the BCS settling on Ohio State....

Favre fan but don't like it. I mean, the guy's life is a country song, has been for 15 years, and NOW you give him the award?

Why not the guy I saw on Real Sports who invented HGH? Seriously. Or Bonds. Let's get a realistic view of the sports world, a year that was dominated by all the crap off the field and not the excellence on it.

 

[EStreetJoe]

There are three factors that determine the SI Sportsman of the Year:
1. Sales
2. Who's available to attend the SI Sportsman of the Year banquet/event (and not participating in an overseas tournament that week)
3. Who had the best year

 

[flopflipper]

I'd have gone with Dungy, but Favre works as well.

 

[jagtrader]

It's nice to see Favre finally get some recognition. It's long overdue.

 

[heyabbott]

How about the student athletes at West Point, Annapolis and Colorado Springs who entered their respective academies 4 years ago as the tragic war breaking out in Iraq. Though incompetently led by the dumbest collection of civilian-military leaders and weak mouthed general officer corps, these young people, in all sports, continue to attend the most rigorous training a scholar athlete can endure. Knowing their classmates have died, are dying and will die to serve a brainless Commander-in-Chief and his puppet master, the President of Vice, the aptly named deck Cheney, these young men and women continue to serve as examples of true student athletes and self sacrificing Americans.

Would it be too much to ask Sports Illustrated to make a serious selection, rather than some aging millionaire football player having another very good season?

 

[93Devil]

With what has been happening in the NFL the past few months (Pacman, Vick, Tank) I think some of these guys would have been a nice choice.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8008593d&template=with-video&confirm=true

Dunn gets the nod from me, though.

http://www.warrickdunnfoundation.org/home.php

 

[lisa_simpson]

If Federer never gets this award, it'll be an embarrassment to SI.

If Federer ever wins the French Open, he'll probably get it then. (or when he retires, whichever comes first)