SI Sportsman of the Year

Favre will sell magazines. He should not be SOY. He has set records this year but in his biggest game he once again soiled himself. When GB plays in the postseason he will again soil himself. And as far as the sportsmanship angle, I always enjoy how he is the first guy to leave the field after one of his classic Favre " big game collapses". He always sticks around and shakes hands after a win but is never found after one of his many emabarrassing losses. Romo is still looking for Brett to shake his hand.

 

Favre isn't even the best QB in the NFC. And let's not forget he also set that nice, little INT record. This is purely a marketing ploy. OK, the old guy is back, but I also don't think he should be given the award just because he's not chucking two or three INTs a game. Randall Cunningham took the Vikes to the NFC title game at 35. Was he Sportsman of the Year?

Like someone else said, I'd love to see SI do a controversial cover. Performance-enhancing drugs and athlete-crime have been the two biggest issues in sports this year. I'm torn about naming Goodell. I know his policies have had a big impact, but let's look at what's happened on his watch: two players have been murdered, the highest paid QB is going to prison, numerous others have had run-ins with the law, Shawne Merriman was allowed play in the Pro Bowl despite a steroid suspension...he's dealt with a lot of crap, dealt with it well, but that's not exactly a great resume.

 

Jemele --
With all due respect, clean the beam out of your own magazine's eye first, OK?

 

Roger Goodell shouldn't win an award for anything.

That said, what does he have to do with players getting killed or going to jail? I can't stand the guy for his "Law and Order" tough-guy bullshit, but innocent guys getting gunned down or dummies going to jail don't have anything to do with Goodell's job performance.

 

I think what they have done off the field philanthropically should have a factor. I know I said Warrick Dunn earlier, but there has to be a top athlete who has a pretty decent history of giving back to their community. I'm not talking about building one playground either.

 

While Bigpern was arguing for Favre, this is the qualification SI has set. Chris Benoit does not embody sportsmanship and, aside from juicing up to the point of having a muscular body, has no real athletic achievement. Wrestling’s achievements are fixed and predetermined.

The idea of MMA doesn’t fit into the qualification of “athlete” or “team.” It also doesn’t really embody any spirit of sportsmanship since its end game is to provide a gore sport to those in desire of it.

Barry Bonds shouldn’t win it because he ceased embodying the “spirit of sportsmanship” when he started shoving needles in his ass to hit more home runs.

Aside from my previous selections, I would like to add in Jemele Hill’s suggestion of Tony Dungy. The man fits that description to a T.

FACT!

 

What the hell does that have to do with this? Since she's emplyed by ESPN, it's not ok for her to comment on SI's choice for sportsman of the year?

You can be a complete dolt at times.

 

How is this not a highly significant achievement? There's a reason he got hired right away after the Bucs discarded him is because he's a great coach. Additionally, he's breaking down barriers for other African-American coaches, a large number coming from his own coaching tree, to get the opportunity to be head coaches in the NFL, Mike Tomlin being the latest example.

I'll save harping on about what a good person he is, even though in the NFL he is a great representation of sportsmanship, or the fact that while his team lost to the Patriots this season, the Colts did beat them twice on the way to their championship.

 

Mary Decker from 1983 would like to disagree with that (if I remember, McCambridge had something about her selection in his SI book. I think she was dating a top editor or something).

And 10 bucks to whoever can name the 1994 winners:

Bonnie Blair and...




Johan Olav Koss, speedskater.

 

If there is any group which should not give any regard for the SI sportsman of the Year, it is sports journalists.

Understand first of all that this is a marketing award where you can get the best story and get the magazine attention. Once you accept that fact, you can pretty much dismiss this award with the lack of respect it deserves.

In 1978, Jim Rice and Ron Guidry had two of the best seasons in a long time. I believe the award went to Jack Nickalus. Maybe that was a career thing, but the fact was Rice and Guidry were big factors during 1978. But golf would be a better demographic and it fit the magazine's self-image at the time.

 

Yes, I can. But not here.
SI has been giving out this award for about 30 years. By and large, it has adhered consistently to one set of standards for handing out the urn. It is not TIME's Person Of The Year. Now, here comes Jemele, out of the pages of ESPN The Mag which, among its other silver-starred highlights, gives Stu Scott a column and lets athletes edit its issues, and she's lecturing SI on how it should give out its award, and what standards it should use while plainly not having looked them up at all?
Sorry. That's presumptuous.
And someone from ESPN Mag talking about something being "purely a marketing ploy" is freaking hilarious.

 

I would agree mostly with FB here. Someone who draws a paycheck from ESPN, which occupies its time trying to determine Who's Now, is standing on a pretty shaky platform in criticizing SI's Sportsman of the Year. Also, if Jemele wants SI to take a risk, how would Tony Dungy fit that bill? He's perfectly deserving, but he's also one of the most obvious choices they could possibly make. Favre is actually the more daring choice.