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Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Sherman: Honor should be A-Rod’s

Yeah…and what was that with Bobby Orr over Miquel Fuentes in 1970?

And now Jeter was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year. Why should he even win the Yankee version of that award over, say, Mariano Rivera and Alex Rodriguez, or be a better candidate across the sports spectrum vs. Tim Tebow or Roger Federer or Kobe Bryant?

What’s next for Jeter? An Oscar? An Emmy? The Nobel Peace Prize?

This is not to dump on Jeter, again a great champion while—as always—representing the Yankees and himself with dignity. But that is familiar for him. So, once more, why now? This feels like lifetime achievement.

But, if so, why Jeter over, say, Rivera or majors king Federer or Tebow, perhaps the best college player ever?

Maybe SI has turned its lonely eyes to Jeter for skirting controversy and illegalities when so many athletes have not. But enough about the plummeting stock that is Tiger Woods.

However, this is sports in 2009, and Sports Illustrated should not run from an atmosphere it helped create. After all, SI is the entity that outed A-Rod as a steroid cheat.

And Rodriguez should win this award. He embodies where sports are now. He is the intersection of illegal performance enhancers, advancements in sports medicine, celebrity and on-field genius.

Repoz Posted: December 01, 2009 at 10:08 AM | 19 comment(s) | Login to Bookmark
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1. Best Regards, Larry Mahnken (Dewey is a slacker) Posted: December 01, 2009 at 11:27 AM (#3399944)

GFY

2. Fack Youk Posted: December 01, 2009 at 01:26 PM (#3399962)

What’s next for Jeter? An Oscar? An Emmy? The Nobel Peace Prize?

Yes, because Sportsman of the Year is THAT much of a reach.

Sherman trotted this out on his blog yesterday but I didn't think he'd actually put it in the Post. The award has never been about who "embodies where sports are right now". I think Joel might be taking the word "Sportsman" a bit too literally.

3. Craig Calcaterra Posted: December 01, 2009 at 01:34 PM (#3399966)

I just love how the New York tabloid media spends five years dumping on A-Rod for everything under the sun and then, just when he stops giving them fuel with which to burn him, they decide to turn him into some redemption story, the relative lack of fatal flaws now standing as a justification for him being honored.

Here's a mental exercise to consider: if SI had given A-Rod the Sportsman of the Year Award, can you feature Sherman writing a "good call by SI!" column? I sure can't.

4. cercopithecus aethiops Posted: December 01, 2009 at 01:55 PM (#3399975)

I don't get the righteous indignation over a lifetime achievement award in this context. It's not like an MVP or CYA. It's very well-suited to taking the lifetime achievement route on occasion. It's also well-suited to going with the flash-in-the-pan route on other occasions. That's just about the only reason it's at all interesting.

5. TerpNats Posted: December 01, 2009 at 02:00 PM (#3399982)

Which would you rather have -- the Sportsman of the Year honor or Kate Hudson?

I'm sure Alex Rodriguez has no complaints.

6. The Yankee Clapper Posted: December 01, 2009 at 02:05 PM (#3399985)

The Yankees return to World Series glory is the baseball story of the year, with Jeter having an exceptional year and being the face of the franchise, so he was certainly within the pool of credible candidates. Perhaps there is some lifetime achievement aspect to the choice, but given the poor state of the magazine business in general, I wouldn't be surprised if SI made a calculation that a Jeter cover would sell more copies than one with Usain Bolt or any of the other options.

7. Jolly Old St. Neck Wound, Moral Idiot

Posted: December 01, 2009 at 02:11 PM (#3399989)

given the poor state of the magazine business in general, I wouldn't be surprised if SI made a calculation that a Jeter cover would sell more copies than one with Usain Bolt or any of the other options.

Usain who?

8. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: December 01, 2009 at 02:16 PM (#3399994)

Which would you rather have -- the Sportsman of the Year honor or Kate Hudson?

Sportsman of the Year, my wife wouldn't poison me for winning that.

9. Sheer Tim Foli

Posted: December 01, 2009 at 02:23 PM (#3400001)

I first read Larry's post as "Good For You".

10. Maxwn Posted: December 01, 2009 at 02:26 PM (#3400002)

Which would you rather have -- the Sportsman of the Year honor or Kate Hudson?

I'm sure Alex Rodriguez has no complaints.

While I see your point, Jeter doesn't seem to have any trouble getting dates and he still gets the award. It's not a mutually exclusive sort of thing.

The larger point is that I doubt A-Rod or any of them really give much of a damn about the SI Sportsman of the Year award.

11. Yankee Redneck is a Pinhead. Posted: December 01, 2009 at 02:30 PM (#3400008)

Which would you rather have -- the Sportsman of the Year honor or Kate Hudson?

Kate Hudson AND a World Series ring. SI has nothing to offer this man.

12. Jolly Old St. Neck Wound, Moral Idiot

Posted: December 01, 2009 at 03:00 PM (#3400029)

The larger point is that I doubt A-Rod or any of them really give much of a damn about the SI Sportsman of the Year award.

I think it's more like the lottery. You don't really grieve when you don't win it, but if you do, then it assumes a lot of importance.

13. Hang down your head, Tom Foley Posted: December 01, 2009 at 03:15 PM (#3400057)

Rory Sparrow must be spinning in his grave.

14. Let the bears pay the bear tax, I pay the Homer ta Posted: December 01, 2009 at 03:46 PM (#3400089)

if SI had given A-Rod the Sportsman of the Year Award, can you feature Sherman writing a "good call by SI!" column?

I think if A-Rod won, Sherman would've done a complete about-face and written a "Where's Justice for Jeter" column.

15. JRVJ (formerly Delta Socrates) Posted: December 01, 2009 at 04:11 PM (#3400112)

The one point that Sherman does make is that Mariano Rivera is just as deserving as Jeter, if not more.

He will never get it, for two reasons: (1) He's happily married to a non-celebrity (in fact, I'm pretty sure Mariano's wife is from his hometown of Puerto Caimito here in Panama); and, (2) He's a non-flamboyant Latin American (which is not the most common thing in U.S. professional sports).

16. SandyRiver Posted: December 01, 2009 at 05:12 PM (#3400191)

I don't get the righteous indignation over a lifetime achievement award in this context. It's not like an MVP or CYA. It's very well-suited to taking the lifetime achievement route on occasion.

Agreed. Probably my all-time favorite player got the 1957 award pretty much as a lifetime thing. Stanley had a good year, but Mr. Aaron had a better, and there was Teddy Ballgame's .388 and Burdette's WS performance, just in MLB.

   17. DCA Posted: December 01, 2009 at 05:19 PM (#3400202)

Kate Hudson AND a World Series ring. SI has nothing to offer this man.

So? Jeter has Minka Kelly, 5 WS rings, and an SI sportsman of the year cover. I'd take that over A-Rod's haul of Hudson, one, and none on all counts. A-Rod does have a few hundred million on Jeter in career/future earnings, though.
   18. JJ1986 Posted: December 01, 2009 at 05:36 PM (#3400220)

   19. Greg Goosen at 30 Posted: December 01, 2009 at 06:59 PM (#3400352)

Maybe Jeter can sell the SI trophy to pay his New York tax bill.

Of course the all-time stupid criticism of the SI Sportsman award was from Chris Russo (who else) for naming Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong because 'nobody watches the Tour de France".

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Sherman: Honor should be A-Rod’s

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