Posted on 12/05/2017 11:39:25 AM PST by drewh
We will remember 2017 as much for what athletes strove to achieve off the field as for what they achieved on it. And that was no small bar to clear. New champions were crowned, notably the Houston Astros, who ended the second-longest World Series drought by winning the first in the franchises history, while old champions (the Patriots, the Warriors, the Lynx, the Penguins) solidified their places in the pantheon.
Even in a year of sublime individual performancesBrady and KD, Deshaun and Fed, all of them considered for this awardathletes spoke loudest in their actions and words off the field. .
This issue is intended to celebrate a new generation of athletes who care, in all senses of the word: caring about humanitarian efforts, about social and political justice, about their communities and about their crafts.
Which brings us to the 2017 Sportsperson of the Year honorees, J.J. Watt and José Altuve. By the third week of September, less than a month after Hurricane Harvey had devastated Houston and its surrounding region, Watt had raised more than $37 million in relief aid. The SOTY candidacy of the Texans defensive end was unaffected by the gruesome, season-ending leg injury he suffered in Week 5. The three-time Defensive Player of the Yearthe best defensive player of his generation, reallycould have had the best season of his career, or the worst. His place as a Sportsperson of the Year had already been engraved. Nothing J.J. Watt has achieved in his career, or might still achieve, will measure up to what he did for Houston, says MMQB Editor-in-Chief Peter King.
(Excerpt) Read more at si.com ...
Blind pig finds a a truffle.
JJ Watt is a great choice! He should also be Texan Of The Year.
Never heard of the Jose guy.
He’s a Houston Astro.
Not Colin Kapernick? Stunning...
Great choice on Watt, well deserved.
Altuve is a fine player but other than that I don’t know much about him.
I don’t know, though....neither one is black. SI is obviously racist.
Maybe the editors at SI are looking to please their future bosses....the Evil Koch Brothers.
duhnt-dunht-DUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHH!!!!
What happened? No anti-American BS? these are great choices. Regular staff off for holidays?
>>Hes a Houston Astro.<<
That explains it. I don’t follow Cricket.
I see Cricket outfits have gotten snappier.
:)
Jose Altuve:
American League MVP this year. AL Batting Champion 3 of the past 4 years. Best player on my new World Series Champion Houston Astros. Little guy, humble as can be, big bat, big heart. He’s an excellent choice to stand next to Watt.
Really, the whole Astros team could have been chosen, because they were fun, charismatic, inspiring, deeply invested in helping Houston recover from Hurricane Harvey, and total class acts when it seemed like professional sports was about as classless as it has ever been.
Also, I know Sports Illustrated isn’t the dominant thing it used to be, but it’s actually really good. It seems quite a bit more mature and on the level contrasted with just about every other sports rag that’s as liberal as can be and can’t help showing it.
JJ Watt deserves it. He raised like 40 million for Hurricane relief, easily better than the faux social jusitce warriors of the NFL....
Country star King George Strait was named Texan of the Year - raised $50M for Hurricane relief....either he or JJ Watt would have been a great choice....Houston Strong!
Houston, we don’t have a problem.
Why Watt this year? He’s a great player, but isn’t he injured?
Jose Altuve was a great choice. Ive never heard of JJ Watt.
Watt’s got a heart as big as his whole body. Fearsome competitor. Sportsman in the classical sense.
Good picks!
Yeah, I just looked him up. Id heard the fund raising story, just didnt know the name. I dont follow football but this also looks like a good choice.
Presumably because of the money he raised for victims of Hurricane Harvey.
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