Does Bolt have a Chance at SI's Sportsman of the Year ?

[dukehjsteve]

It hurts him that he's not a USA'er, but still.... ???

[Daisy]

Re: Does Bolt have a Chance at SI's Sportsman of the Year ?

Was he in the running last year? If not, I see no hope for him.

[guru]

Re: Does Bolt have a Chance at SI's Sportsman of the Year ?

Was he in the running last year? If not, I see no hope for him.

I wouldn't go that far - last year he ran up against the Phelps buzzsaw.

I'd say very good chance he'll get it this time around.

[Daisy]

Re: Does Bolt have a Chance at SI's Sportsman of the Year ?

I realise he had no hope of beating out Phelps, but was he even in the running last year (2nd or 3rd)? I guess so by your response.

[502CD]

Re: Does Bolt have a Chance at SI's Sportsman of the Year ?

It's a flip of the coin if it they even give it to the most deserving athlete anyways. In 1988 Steffi Graf won the Grand Slam and the Olympic gold medal and still didn't get it.

[DrJay]

Had to see who won in 1988. Orel Hershiser. Had a decent year. From Wiki:

"Hershiser put together one of the best single seasons in pitching history in 1988. That year, he led the league in wins (23), innings (267), and complete games (15). He finished the season with a record 59 consecutive scoreless innings pitched, breaking the mark held by Dodger great Don Drysdale. He also won his first Gold Glove. He was unanimously selected as the Cy Young Award winner, with a record of 23–8 and a 2.26 ERA.

In the 1988 National League Championship Series between Hershiser's Dodgers and the New York Mets, Hershiser not only started Games 1 and 3, but recorded the final out in Game 4 in relief for a save. He then pitched a complete game shutout in Game 7. He was selected MVP of the series.

Hershiser then capped his historic season in the World Series by pitching a complete game shutout in Game 2 and allowing two runs in a complete game in the clinching victory in Game 5, winning the World Series MVP Award.

Hershiser is the only player to receive the Cy Young award, the Championship Series MVP award, and the World Series MVP award in the same season. He later received both The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year and Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year award for his accomplishments in 1988."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orel_Hershiser

[dukehjsteve]

The more I think about it the more I think he will get it. For sure it will not be Michael V or Plaxico. Seriously, when you think football/baseball/basketball/tennis/golf/swimming/etc. there is no super standout this year. Except maybe Tebow if Florida is still undefeated when SI makes their pick in December.

[502CD]

Seriously, when you think football/baseball/basketball/tennis/golf/swimming/etc. there is no super standout this year.

Doesn't matter. They gave it to Favre two years ago.

[gh]

It would provide an incredible boost for the sport in this country, but the history of the last couple of decades of the sport's treatment by SI would suggest they'll go elsewhere.

Forget how enamoured they are of pro sports; at this point I would sadly point out that it wouldn't surprise me if they're scared shitless about naming any track guy for fear that within the week he'll get a ban.

If Federer had won U.S. Open seeing him wouldn't have surprised me. On the eve of the Winter Olympics might they be so audacious as to go with Sidney Crosby? Another Heisman season for Tebow?

[TrainerPhil]

Bolt has a better shot at winning than Federer. Tennis is in the same category as track IMO. Definitely not mainstream enough.

Albert Pujols has a legitmate shot especially if the Cardinals go on to win the World Series. He is as close to the triple crown as anyone has been in years.

Lebron, Kobe and D-Wade had great years in the NBA but did someone really jump out as the best in sport?

And there wasn't a real standout in football either. Adrian Peterson did his thing and he continues and Larry Fitzgerald had a great post-season but his team couldn't get it done in the end.

Phelps was actually beaten in a major championship race this year. He still set some records and I'm sure he will entere the discussion, but he wasn't the "it" man in American sports in 2009.

Tiger went winless in majors and he had some memorable final rounds (for the wrong reasons).

Hockey? If his name isn't Gretzky it doesn't matter.

What are we left with?

If Bolt doesn't win it, I would be stunned. Pujols is the only other guy I see getting the honor.

[gh]

SI has had some quirky thoughts through the years. If Armstrong had won, I think he'd be a slam dunk; as it is, they might consider him anyway for "comeback in the face of adversity."

Gotta remember it's never about pure athletic performance with those guys. Being "magical" helps. A lot.

[Ned Ryerson]

The more I think about it the more I think he will get it. For sure it will not be Michael V or Plaxico. Seriously, when you think football/baseball/basketball/tennis/golf/swimming/etc. there is no super standout this year. Except maybe Tebow if Florida is still undefeated when SI makes their pick in December.

No chance of it happening. Brett Favre was named the 2007 Sportsman of the Year. Was Brett Favre really deserving of the title, out of all the athletes in the world? Bolt certainly deserves it, how he has dominated and rewritten one of the two most global sports today. But anything that goes on outside of American (which is just about anything having to do with track these days) isn't going to be seriously considered.

Here are all your non-American Sportsmen of the Year:

1954 Roger Bannister (GBR)
1959 Ingmar Johansson (SWE)
1970 Bobby Orr (CAN)
1973 Jackie Stewart (GBR)
1982 Wayne Gretzky (CAN)
1987 Kip Keino (KEN) and Bob Bourne (CAN) and six Americans as "Athletes Who Care"
1994 Johann Olva Koss (NOR) with Bonnie Blair
1998 Sammy Sosa (DOM) with Mark McGwire

Just look at 1996, when Michael Johnson did the double that no man had done before, shattered the 200m world record as no one had before and he did it in the Olympics in the USA, and did he get Sportsman of the Year? No, that title went to Tiger Woods for winning the NCAA Championships and the US Amateur title. And you think Bolt will get it now?

[Pego]

The more I think about it the more I think he will get it. For sure it will not be Michael V or Plaxico. Seriously, when you think football/baseball/basketball/tennis/golf/swimming/etc. there is no super standout this year. Except maybe Tebow if Florida is still undefeated when SI makes their pick in December.

No chance of it happening. Brett Favre was named the 2007 Sportsman of the Year. Was Brett Favre really deserving of the title, out of all the athletes in the world? Bolt certainly deserves it, how he has dominated and rewritten one of the two most global sports today. But anything that goes on outside of American (which is just about anything having to do with track these days) isn't going to be seriously considered.

Here are all your non-American Sportsmen of the Year:

1954 Roger Bannister (GBR)
1959 Ingmar Johansson (SWE)
1970 Bobby Orr (CAN)
1973 Jackie Stewart (GBR)
1982 Wayne Gretzky (CAN)
1987 Kip Keino (KEN) and Bob Bourne (CAN) and six Americans as "Athletes Who Care"
1994 Johann Olva Koss (NOR) with Bonnie Blair
1998 Sammy Sosa (DOM) with Mark McGwire

Just look at 1996, when Michael Johnson did the double that no man had done before, shattered the 200m world record as no one had before and he did it in the Olympics in the USA, and did he get Sportsman of the Year? No, that title went to Tiger Woods for winning the NCAA Championships and the US Amateur title. And you think Bolt will get it now?

Plus, of the above list, the two hockey players and Sosa don't count as the NHL and MLB are "American major sports".

[DrJay]

Any contenders from curling??

[dukehjsteve]

All Ingo needed was one lucky punch..." The Hammer of Thor. "