Sports Illustrated selected Miami Heat star and reigning NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade as its Sportsman of the Year, and people are whining about it already.
“How about NBA officials as the Sportsman of the Year? That would make more sense than Wade.”
“I am a die-hard Albert P. and St. Louis Cardinals fan. However, even I believe that Roger Federer deserved this award. Wade?? Another poor choice from a league that no longer interests the average american reader.”
“Snubbing Dikembe Mutombo is yet further example that the American media seems to do anything possible to ignore the continued troubles on the African continent.”
“What a friggin joke. Dwayne Wade over Roger Federer. That has to be one of the worst decisions in the history of sports. With all respect to Wade, Federer just produced one of the greatest single seasons in tennis history in a truly global sport. I have lost all respect for SI over this one.”
“You could argue Federer is a better athlete and sportsman but not Tiger Woods.”
I looked through what S.I. readers had to say and boiled it down to these talking points:
- Why not Roger Federer?
- Wade isn’t even the best player in the NBA.
- S.I. is too America-centric.
- It should be the New Orleans Saints.
- I hate the NBA.
Why not Roger Federer? I am a big tennis fan, and Federer is without a doubt the best male player since Sampras. He made all four grand slam finals this year, losing to Rafael Nadal at the French Open and winning the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. The argument that Federer should have won is actually correct; when it comes right down to it, Roger Federer was the best athlete in 2006, and the best athlete in 2005 for that matter.
Wade isn’t the best player in the NBA. The fact is that Dwayne Wade is a top 5 player in the NBA, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say he’s the best. He led the Miami Heat almost singlehandedly to an NBA title this year, and that would seem to be the tiebreaker between he, LeBron James, Steve Nash or Kobe Bryant. That NBA title and the MVP award that came with it is what put him ahead of all the other stars in the league. However, many argue that Wade wouldn’t have that tiebreaker without controversial referee calls during the NBA Finals. The suspension of Jerry Stackhouse before Game 5, the phantom foul late in that same game and the pissing and moaning of Mark Cuban and the Mavs from Game 4 to the end of the series, all combined to make it seem as if the Heat, and hence Wade, were undeserving of the championship ring.
S.I. is too America centric. True. It is based in America and covers American sports. This is a no brainer, and quite frankly it is fruitless to be irritated by it. I’m sure they have sport magazines in Europe and other parts of the world; why S.I. should feel obligated to select non-American stars is beyond me.
It should be the New Orleans Saints. The Saints returning to New Orleans was a major story this year, and their success on the field has been a surprise. If they had been selected as Sportsmen of the Year, it would have been a valid pick.
Nobody cares about the NBA. Anytime an NBA player is involved in anything, you’ll find these comments. I posted one on here; typically, it’s an idiot who tries to convince the public that nobody cares about the NBA anymore, and all the players are this and that, and blah, blah, blah.
The fact is that there is no right or wrong choice. Federer would have been a great choice. So would Tiger Woods and the New Orleans Saints. Wade is a great choice too. Despite what Mavericks fans, haters of the NBA and haters of America-centric media have to say, the fact is that Wade is a deserving candidate. His success cannot only be attributed to iffy foul calls, he led his team through four tough best-of-seven series and he had the best NBA Finals performance out of any player since Michael Jordan retired.
