Willyumyum Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 This is my 1st post on this website and I wanted it to be memorable ... so ... Relative to the annual Sportsman of the Year award given by Sports Illustrated, let us start a groundswell for the ultimate sportsman, the ultimate team player, the guy who actually gave his life for the good of the team (our country). Rather than list all the reasons to select Pat Tillman, reasons that most of you know, I will tell my reasons that others in contention can/should be eliminated - or at least relegated to second tier. Emeka Okafor - Clearly special as both an academic and on-court all american as well as leading his team to the NCAA title. With an olympic gold medal the SOTY honor could be his, but it was not to be. Larry Brown - The man who led/created a team in these times of individuality makes the SOTY short list. Alas, the bronze medal at Athens also puts him back a notch. Curt Schilling - As inspiring as he was/is, he plays only every 5th day. Plus he alienated about half of America by taking sides in the big race. Bill Belichek - Like Brown, an assembler of a team ... and what a team it is, compiling the longest winning streak in NFL history. I put him on the second tier on a feeling only ... a feeling that Pat Tillman stands higher as a representative of/from football. Barry Bonds - playing through and past the drug cloud, he showed that he is the real thing with a 7th MVP award. But as an individual in the year of the team, he is second tier. Lance Armstrong - yet another yellow shirt is extraordinary ... but he already has an SOTY honor. These SOTY's aren't Heismans ... there is no such thing as SOTY bookends ... is there? But also his sport is individual - see Bonds above. Michael Phelps - His Olympic performance was wonderful and his gesture toward a teammate was worthy of SOTY. Other than that he is still alive, I have no reason not to select him. Hey groundswellers - a little help here! VJ Singh - "Mr. hard work" is on top, but while Tiger is competitive (like until 2025) no other golfer will be selected as SOTY. I don't know about tennis, track, hockey, NASCAR, skiing or Xgames. If there is a candidate there that stands out more than Pat Tillman, let us know. Quote Link to comment
Blackshirt Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 Welcome to the board Will. Good first post - which I would tend to agree with. Pat Tillman was a special special person, and not honoring him with this award would devalue all previous winners IMO. Look fwd to hearing more of your opinions. Quote Link to comment
Blackshirt Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 BTW, Im moving this from our Husker Open Field section to the More Sports forum, for the sake of organization. Quote Link to comment
Eric the Red Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 Lance Armstrong - yet another yellow shirt is extraordinary ... but he already has an SOTY honor. These SOTY's aren't Heismans ... there is no such thing as SOTY bookends ... is there? But also his sport is individual - see Bonds above. I've always like Armstrong. Good competitor, but most of all he gets to hit Sheryl Crow. That is a piece of grade A all-American ass. Quote Link to comment
Eric the Red Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 Here's another of that sweet, perfect face Quote Link to comment
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