2015 Sportsman of the Year running thread

Want to make a bet Serena gets more votes than any baseball or basketball player?

 

SI might disagree with that, given the number of covers they're doing for the USWNT this week.

Sports Illustrated cover: USWNT featured on 25 different covers - Planet Futbol - SI.com

 

If it comes down to it, I doubt it goes to a player rather than the whole women's team. The team is what people will remember and there are more stories with the full team.

 

And it's worth noting that the reason why Arthur Ashe won it didn't have a damn to do with playing tennis, instead it was essentially about him having AIDS and being a standup guy about it. Another example of SI trying to out-clever itself with its choice.

 

Do you think readers will still care about the USWNT in December?

 

I think that for the women's World Cup team to win it, they'd have to repeat a World Cup title, or even three-peat. The '99 team got it because it was really the first time a U.S. team of any sex/gender had won a major international soccer championship like that, and on American soil, no less. I don't follow it closely because I hate it, but this time it was basically one of the best teams in the world won the Cup. That's not enough, to me.

Curry would be a nice selection most years, but not in a year with a Triple Crown winner, a Tiger Slam in women's tennis, and a 21-year-old American with a shot at the calendar Slam in golf.

 

A Tiger Slam in tennis makes me think of an unspeakable act involving a racket and a waitress.

 

Don't know that you can sell Scherzer against this competition, Moddy.

 

When Hershiser won in '88 that was the year he set the scoreless inning mark, right? That's pretty impressive.

Graf was like 21 when she won the slam.
Serena is 33.
33! That's ancient by tennis standards. No 33-year-old should be crushing the field the way she has. She has no equal. And No rival. And she's about seven years past her prime.
I don't know if that's a testament to her or a argument for the decline of the state of women's tennis... Prolly both, but damn!!!
She wins the US Open (she's only won the last three) I think the award is her's to lose.


One more worth mention ... Ronda Rousey.

So ... Caitlyn Jenner?

 

Actually, Steve Cauthen, who rode Affirmed to the Triple Crown in 1978, won the award the year before.

 

If Serena and Spieth win their respective slams, I think SI would give it to them both. They've had more than one honoree before.

Of course, they still have accomplish the feats. I think Spieth has a tougher road than Serena.