04/18/24
November 28, 2004
Red Sox win again.: SI chooses the entire team as Sportsmen of the Year.
posted by jerseygirl to baseball at 10:15 PM - 16 comments
The Marlins and the Angels didn't come back from a 3-0 deficit against the Yankees. I'm as sick of hearing about the Sox as anyone, but that's still damned impressive.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:23 AM on November 29, 2004
My first vote would be for Michael "Pinball" Clemons (for leading the Argos from bankruptcy to champions, all while doing it as a "players coach" and the nicest man in sports...and for converting the uninterested observer (me) into an Argos fan again). My second vote would be for Lance Armstrong (for breaking the unbreakable records in the toughest annual event in sports). My third vote would be for a Bonds/Ichiro combination (for being the most exciting players in both leagues and leading the new revival of MLB). I have a hard time voting for an entire professional team as "Sportsmen of the Year". Amateur teams (1980 Olympic hockey team), individual athletes (many), important individuals/groups in the world of sport (volunteers, commissioners, doctors, fans)...fine by me. If you had to honour this accomplishment with the award, I'd rather it was given to "Red Sox Nation" (covering the fans, the players, the front-office, the media).
posted by grum@work at 12:41 AM on November 29, 2004
Were the Marlins or the Angels named the "sportsman of the year" when they won it? No, nor should they have been. You can be the redsox's biggest fan or biggest hater, the story was huge, no matter how sick of it people may be. I'm not going to argue if they should have won, or if the 'team' should have won, it's all opinion. But when you take the history involved (marlins? please), the comeback against the yankees, and yes, schilling's bloody (red) sock, I'm not surprised at the result.
posted by justgary at 01:01 AM on November 29, 2004
I don't mind someone from the Sox winning the award, but I think it's a copout to give it to everyone.
posted by rcade at 08:46 AM on November 29, 2004
Unfortunately, no one in the States knows who the Pinball is, and Lance has won it before, but Barry/Ichiro makes sense. But what about Michael Phelps? Or if you want to give it to a team, give it to the US Women's Soccer team? Half of them retired this year, and it would be a nice little going-away present for them. I mean, I understand that my vote for Lauren Jackson would not put her over the top, but -- yeah, Red Sox Nation (you know, the fans) would have been a very appropriate gesture instead of the whole team itself. Some team wins almost every year. No big thing.
posted by chicobangs at 10:00 AM on November 29, 2004
Its a nice way to end the whole World Series story. However, I would have chosen Phelps---His was a terrific feat!
posted by daddisamm at 12:00 PM on November 29, 2004
well. I guess if you are going to pick a Red Sox player, who do you pick? Damon came up big. Ortiz came up big. Schilling came up big. Foulke came up big. Lowe came up big. The bullpen was great. It may be a cop-out to pick the entire team, but it was an entire team effort. The came back from a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS and beat a very good team. They swept a scary-good offense in the World Series. They won 8 consecutive post-season games, a feat never before accomplished.
posted by jerseygirl at 02:04 PM on November 29, 2004
I believe the true MVP of the Red Sox, and therefore the Sportsman behind the Sportsmen, is in fact Dave Roberts... But hey, I could be wrong...
posted by chris2sy at 02:10 PM on November 29, 2004
I don't see what the big deal is. If anything SI has a history of not being able to decide on one individual so they don't. 2003 - David Robinson and Tim Duncan 2001 - Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson 1999 - US Women's Soccer team (not shown in link) 1998 - Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa To me it's basically about the biggest story of the year...which the Red Sox most certainly were. Sure, Lance Armstrong was too but he'd win every year if they wanted...it's an amazing story, and you could say that 2003 and 2001 were as much about the team as the individuals listed.
posted by YukonGold at 02:27 PM on November 29, 2004
Being a Brit, I'm not sure what the criteria is for choosing the SI Sportsman of the Year, but my personal pick would be Hicham el Gerrouj for his double-gold in Athens. The sheer emotion he displayed after winning the 5000m summed up what the Olympics is all about and had me jumping for joy in my living room. Then after he won the 10,000m and was like "what, two golds?!" The look on his face was priceless.
posted by afx237vi at 03:16 PM on November 29, 2004
I wonder if Phelps would've gotten more consideration had it not been for the DUI a couple of weeks back. Well, that and he almost made it look *too* easy. afx237vi: I agree with you that el Gerrouj's performance was probably the most emotional of the Olympics, and it definitely stands out in my mind as my favorite performance and memory, but I don't know if raw emotion would stand as the crux of SI's voting on this.
posted by Ufez Jones at 03:45 PM on November 29, 2004
Okay, I completely forgot about this guy as a nominee. After what happened during the race and how he acted when he got inside the stadium...that was probably both the worst AND best sporting moment of the year.
posted by grum@work at 03:57 PM on November 29, 2004
Oh I totally forgot about that, grum. I agree about the way he acted too. I saw him interviewed almost immediately after the race and he just seemed genuinely pleased about getting a bronze medal and didn't seem bothered by the fact that he'd just been attacked by a complete nutjob. That is true class. He got some kind of sportsmanship medal in the closing ceremony too, which was nice.
posted by afx237vi at 04:44 PM on November 29, 2004
Phelps' DUI shows that he is human----:-)
posted by daddisamm at 05:48 PM on November 29, 2004
You know, I was all for Boston winning it until I read the De Lima article. Boston deserved it, but brother De Lima deserves it more.
posted by Joey Michaels at 06:08 PM on November 29, 2004
I don't get it. Were the Marlins or the Angels named the "sportsman of the year" when they won it? What's the big deal -- just the stupid sentiment attached to the myth of a curse, or the team's patently false "lovable losers" image?