12/03/24
November 05, 2004
Franz Lidz chooses Kobe Bryant as his Sportsman of the Year. : Eukanuba!!!
posted by lil_brown_bat to culture at 08:52 AM - 14 comments
How about Vijay, or Lance, or anyone with an iota of respectability?
posted by garfield at 09:55 AM on November 05, 2004
I nominate Bryant for Sportsman of the Year in the grand tradition of Time, which has conferred its Man of the Year prize on the less-than-admirable likes of Adolf Hitler (1938), Josef Stalin ('39 and '42) and the Ayatollah Khomeini ('79). Lidz makes a good case for it. In his view, at least, Bryant is the poster child for today's craven, selfish multimillionaire athlete. He seems to have eclipsed Latrell Sprewell in this regard. ;-)
posted by psmealey at 10:46 AM on November 05, 2004
Using the same criteria, Ricky Williams deserves the honor -- er, recognition -- because of the impact his absence has been having on the Miami Dolphins' season.
posted by alumshubby at 10:57 AM on November 05, 2004
The Iraqi Olympic mens soccer team would get my vote. So would Lance Armstrong and Vijay Singh. And maybe even Theo Epstein.
posted by grum@work at 11:14 AM on November 05, 2004
How Ameri-centric! Except Grum, though I was thinking Greek soccer team for the huge upset at Euro2004. Lance is good too, though.
posted by billsaysthis at 12:28 PM on November 05, 2004
How Ameri-centric! Except Grum Because we all know that a dude who rides a bike in France and a guy from Figi who wins all over the world aren't international enough. Not to mention that fact the suggestion was posted by a Canadian. I've always been impressed with SIs ability to (forgive the expression) step outside the box with their selections. They don't always pick from the NFL or NBA or MLB. They've taken cyclists, speed-skaters, formula one drivers, and Ingemar Johanssons. And every now and then, they don't take the person who had the best year or the most dramatic year, but they honor someone for greater achievements... Dean Smith in '97. Arthur Ashe in '92. Everyone in 1987.
posted by 86 at 01:15 PM on November 05, 2004
How Ameri-centric! I think he was referring to the choices by the CNNSI writers, not me.
posted by grum@work at 07:17 PM on November 05, 2004
I was, Mr G.
posted by billsaysthis at 07:29 PM on November 05, 2004
Uh, expecting American magazines to be un" Ameri-centric" is a waste of time and breath. Guess who buys the magazine. You might be happier reading something else, though you will have less to bitch about. Though in principle I do agree that there is the conceit of the 'World' Series in the face of such organizations as UEFA, etc. etc. Besides, since when was America part of the world? I say let sleeping dogs lie.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 07:51 PM on November 05, 2004
Re: Ameri-centrism: The Kobe thing was peripheral to the SI fan poll, in which Kobe was not a nominee, btw. I don't know if it was the SI writers or someone else who came up with the list of nominees. But whoever it was, because it was a fan poll, they were pretty much restricted to athletes that the fans who will visit this website will know about. So the nominees included figures from the NFL, NBA, MLB, one hockey, several faces from the Summer Olympics, the biggest winner in pro tennis of 2004, and Lance. I daresay a writers' poll (for example) would have had a somewhat different field of candidates. OTOH, I wouldn't look for (for example) Emeka Okafor to appear in a list of nominees for top athlete honors in an Austrian magazine, either -- Austrian fans wouldn't grok him any more than American fans would grok Michaela Dorfmeister.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 08:33 PM on November 05, 2004
I nominate Bryant for Sportsman of the Year in the grand tradition of Time, which has conferred its Man of the Year prize on the less-than-admirable likes of Adolf Hitler (1938), Josef Stalin ('39 and '42) and the Ayatollah Khomeini ('79). Nice twist by Lidz. I couldnt have said it better myself! As far as Sprewell goes, I would like to have the problem of feeding my kids on 14 mil a year!
posted by daddisamm at 02:14 AM on November 06, 2004
I nominate Bryant for Sportsman of the Year in the grand tradition of Time, which has conferred its Man of the Year prize on the less-than-admirable likes of Adolf Hitler (1938), Josef Stalin ('39 and '42) and the Ayatollah Khomeini ('79) Then shouldn't he have stuck with the world dictator theme, and go international too, and select Kim Jong Il, who shot 5 holes in one in a round of golf and regularly shoots three or four holes in one in a round?
posted by chris2sy at 07:38 AM on November 06, 2004
psmealey, Spree was never even the most selfish player in the league. Seriously, if he hadn't throttled Carlesimo, we wouldn't even care about him except as another million-dollar-talent-ten-cent-head guy, which in the NBA puts him in the majority. Kobe is on a whole nother level in that (a) he's driving the bus on the most profiled franchise in the game right now, and (b) he got caught doing something definitely wrong and possibly very illegal, and has been basically a self-entitled prick about it in the media ever since. Spree would never get the chance to be that guy. He's just another hideously overpaid coulda-been throwing his pablum around. Lidz I think nailed the rest of it pretty cleanly.
posted by chicobangs at 12:10 PM on November 06, 2004
At first I thought it was "Sportsman" as in sportsmanship... but then he said it was the man with the biggest impact on the sports world. Which might be right, I guess, but I have a hard-time caring. If you're talking about "a recognition of impact.", I'd put my vote in for Bettman/Goodenow. But then again, I'm Canadian, so I'm slightly biased.