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Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

bmfc1 Nov 29 2009 09:11 AM

Derek Jeter to be named SI Sportsman of the Year. I'd be happier with Elin Nordegren or Bud Selig than Jeter. http://gawker.com/5414123/derek-jeter-s ... f-the-year

Frayed Knot Nov 29 2009 09:55 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

It's the old cumulative award deal. Joe Paterno got his a handful of years back following a good though hardly groundbreaking year. See also Henry Fonda's oscar for 'On Golden Pond' or Pacino's for 'Scent of a Woman'. It helps to have no outstanding candidate elsewhere. I hadn't even thought about who else might be deserving this year. Pujols? Kobe? Rothliesburger? No golfer emerged or dominated. Nadal was injured and stumbled while Federer needed to win the U.S. and didn't. People seemed to get excited by this Pacquio? guy but boxing is dead. Not an Olympic or World Cup year which takes out those from "minor" sports.

batmagadanleadoff Nov 29 2009 09:57 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Oh, the indignity of it all! Will 2009 baseball ever end? (FK: What about Usain Bolt?)

batmagadanleadoff Nov 29 2009 10:03 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

What the hell was so sportsmanlike about Jeter's year? That he didn't whine when the better candidate (Mauer) won the league's MVP? What the hell did Jeter do to compensate for the fact that he wasn't even the best player in his own sport last season? Why not Albert Pujols if they wanted to award a baseall player? Boy, talk about a charmed life. This guy's halo is so big, he shoulda been playing for the team in Anaheim all along.

Gwreck Nov 29 2009 10:11 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Frayed Knot":1h6fc859]Nadal was injured and stumbled while Federer needed to win the U.S. and didn't.[/quote:1h6fc859] Um, what? Anyway, Federer made the finals of each of the 4 Grand Slams, winning 2. Seems like a perfectly good choice.

Kong76 Nov 29 2009 10:21 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

batmag: Why not Albert Pujols if they wanted to award a baseall player? <<< Because he lacked the necessary intangibles.

metirish Nov 29 2009 12:51 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

It's SI so I really don't give a fiddlers fuck.....a worthless rag celebrating a proper bollox.

Ashie62 Nov 29 2009 01:29 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Jeter covers sell magazine subscriptions and more importantly increase time spent by users on than all but Jordan[url]http://www.si.com Thats media

Edgy DC Nov 29 2009 01:54 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Frayed Knot"]It helps to have no outstanding candidate elsewhere.

Was August so long ago? Usain Fucking Bolt!

Frayed Knot Nov 29 2009 02:29 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Bolt's fine with me, I'm just trying to look at this through SI's prism. Track barely registers with the American public and when it does it only does so in Olympic years. Using that logic, Bolt's main claim to fame came during 2008 and not 2009. And, yes, they should be rewarding the accomplishment or the event and not just the popularity of said accomplishment or event, but as the focus on sports here grows increasingly narrow towards only the big TV sports the attitude that steers those awards only towards the "mainstream" only absent some extraordinary feat becomes increasingly likely IMO. IOW, whose face on the cover is going to sell more magazines: Jeter's or Bolt's?

Kong76 Nov 29 2009 02:36 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

I have to be honest, I had to google Bolt.

metsguyinmichigan Nov 29 2009 02:40 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Wow. For a minute there, I thought we were going to stop getting kicked in the groin.

Swan Swan H Nov 29 2009 02:44 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

I'll let my son speak for me regarding this topic:

Kong76 Nov 29 2009 02:47 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

They should make him Sportsman of the Year! Nice form.

metsguyinmichigan Nov 29 2009 03:03 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Swan Swan H"]I'll let my son speak for me regarding this topic:

Bad ass!!!!!

metirish Nov 29 2009 03:09 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Parent of the year right there

Swan Swan H Nov 29 2009 03:10 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

I'm pretty happy with the way he turned out.

Ashie62 Nov 29 2009 03:22 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Bolt was the second choice at SI.. Bolt would have been THE choice but SI is concerned the Bolt is juiced..

Edgy DC Nov 29 2009 05:24 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Well, I'm concerned Jeter is juiced. Half the world is concerned that Lance Armstrong is juiced, and he won. [quote="Frayed Knot"]Bolt's fine with me, I'm just trying to look at this through SI's prism.

Bolt's miles past Jeter. I know Knot is playing Devil's Advocate there, but let me indict the Devil a bit.

Track barely registers with the American public and when it does it only does so in Olympic years.

But he lost to a swimmer last year. And again, Lance Armstrong is an endurance cylcist. Not a lot of American people carve time for that sort of thing every year. "Dude, I'm having a Whitney Classic party at my house on Sunday. I got a keg of Dominion coming and you've totally got to be there."

Using that logic, Bolt's main claim to fame came during 2008 and not 2009.

But, having been denied during an Olympic year, he completely and utterly outdid himself.

And, yes, they should be rewarding the accomplishment or the event and not just the popularity of said accomplishment or event, but as the focus on sports here grows increasingly narrow towards only the big TV sports the attitude that steers those awards only towards the "mainstream" only absent some extraordinary feat becomes increasingly likely IMO.

In August, after exploding the 100 and 200 world records in the 2008 Olympics, "...he lowered his own 100 m and 200 m world records to 9.58 s and 19.19 s respectively at the 2009 World Championships. His record breaking margin in 100 m is the highest since the start of digital time measurements." (Wikipedia, italics mine)

IOW, whose face on the cover is going to sell more magazines: Jeter's or Bolt's?

That's why I supported John and Kate.

It's desperately unlikely that Usain Bolt --- or any other runner for a generation or two --- can ever put together a year like this again. And he lost out to who? Like, the fifth or sixth best baseball player this year? A sport that Steve Rogers assures me people don't care about beyond dim local affiliations.

Even people who don't regularly follow track and field appreciate its position as among the purest and most meaningful and symbolic athletic endeavors --- the first sports of the ancient Olympics 2,800 years ago. And a good piece of journalism would go a long way toward giving people the goosbumps to know that the fastest biped in history is among us right now, eating and drinking like a human but running like some sort of demigod. He's a practical joker and the son of grocers from a small town in Jamaica. His first love was cricket, and if the Mets scouted him as a kid, he'd be blowing your minds on a daily basis. He's crazy about dancing. He's survived a couple of car accidents, but somehow the downtime has provided well-timed breaks in his training. After destroying the field in Beijing, he donated $50,000 to the children of the Sichuan province of China to help those harmed by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

Here's some other facts culled from another site:

1. From 1983 to 2007, the world record in the 100M was dropped 19 hundrendths of a second. In the last 13 months from his race in the Beijing Olympics, Bolt has dropped the record 18 hundrendths of a second.

2. From a running start, Bolt could cover the last 40 yards of the football field in 2.95 seconds. One, One-Thousand. Two, One-Thousand. Usain Bolt. Three, One-Thousand. Jesus.

3. Chris Johnson, the Titans really fast RB, ran something like a 4.23 40yd dash in the combine last year — one of the fastest times, if no the fastest time ever. Usain Bolt, they claim, would run the same football 40yd dash in 3.82 seconds. And he’s 6?5?, 200lbs.

4. Puma, Bolt’s shoe sponsor, might be paying him a six-figure bonus every time he breaks the world record. This speculation led to further speculation appeared that hemight be holding back a little on each race so that he can slowly notch records down and collect more cash. And Puma probably doesn’t even mind, because every time he runs a world record, 3 billion people hear about it. There probably is nothing to this (I don't know), but the fact that it's plausible is amazing in itself.

Somewhere in there is your real story.

You know, it may sell more issues short-term, during the post-championship buyfest. Long-term, it further erodes the magazine's credibility and, to my mind, hurts their sales.

Hey, Sports Illustrated. Honor your reader enough to tell them the real story, not the one you think they most want to hear.

Ashie62 Nov 29 2009 06:20 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

SI is not going out on any limb, they are cutting 700 jobs by year end. Time-Warner would like to spin them off for cash. The weekly is losing money The print version of SI is on the way out. It's not fair but they had to make a safe pick, or what they think, is a saleable safe pick..Bolt AND Pujols were considered risky as potential juicers. The magazine is on life support, take their choice as a joke. I mean, they picked the Mets to win the world Series..why did they do that. It got some buzz, and ultimately was a joke Later

seawolf17 Nov 29 2009 06:38 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Swan Swan H"]I'll let my son speak for me regarding this topic:

That's beyond excellent. Is that -- as the sign seems to attest -- some sort of speed-pitch machine? Where is it, so I can go and fire my sidewinding 40 mph fastball repeatedly at his head?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 29 2009 06:44 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="seawolf17"][quote="Swan Swan H"]I'll let my son speak for me regarding this topic:

That's beyond excellent.

Agreed. GF Jr. for President.

Ashie62 Nov 29 2009 06:54 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

GF or GW Jr.?

Swan Swan H Nov 29 2009 07:00 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

The picture was taken by his ex-girlfriend at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in Times Square.

Edgy DC Nov 29 2009 10:32 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

By the way, before I act out all over the internet, is there any source besides gawker.com?

G-Fafif Nov 29 2009 10:56 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

And Sports Illustrated was doing such a good job all these years not naming Derek Jeter its Sportsman of the Year.

Frayed Knot Nov 30 2009 07:45 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

My earlier point about Bolt is that I'd be willing to bet that if the folks at SI were queried as to why not him one of their answers would be that this was not an Olympic year and therefore not on most people's radar. Besides, this might be Jeter's last best shot at it and how could those folks look themselves in the mirror for the rest of their lives knowing that they failed to get Jetes this honor when they had the chance? I just hope it's not a re-run of the Jordan SotY issue (actually I don't care as I don't read the mag anymore anyway). That one wasn't just an article within the mag on Jordan it was virtually an issue-long shrine to the guy, complete with a hologram cover where MJ smiled at you as you viewed the cover from different angles. I think there are Vatican press releases less laudatory of the pope than that issue was towards Jordan. Not that it kept them off his shit-list a few years later when they ran a cover suggesting he bag his fledgling baseball career and, as we found out via his basketball HoF speech, his shit-list has a long half-life.

bmfc1 Nov 30 2009 07:47 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Edgy DC":ole9uqmn]By the way, before I act out all over the internet, is there any source besides gawker.com?[/quote:ole9uqmn] SI itself: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/m ... ?eref=sihp This issue may never see the inside of my house: directly from the mailbox to the recycle bin (although with Jeter on the cover, my throw into the recycle bin will be accurate and strong and I will use perfect form).

Edgy DC Nov 30 2009 08:11 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Frayed Knot"]My earlier point about Bolt is that I'd be willing to bet that if the folks at SI were queried as to why not him one of their answers would be that this was not an Olympic year and therefore not on most people's radar. Besides, this might be Jeter's last best shot at it and how could those folks look themselves in the mirror for the rest of their lives knowing that they failed to get Jetes this honor when they had the chance?

Yeah, I know, but what breaks my heart is that this may be track and field's last best shot. I mean, can you imagine anybody bending time and space more than this guy?

MFS62 Nov 30 2009 08:22 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Tim Tebow. Later

Frayed Knot Nov 30 2009 01:56 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="MFS62":1uiapopw]Tim Tebow.[/quote:1uiapopw] I'd no sooner give this award to a college football player than I would to some guy because he just had a great year at AA or AAA.

metsmarathon Nov 30 2009 02:51 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

how about caster semenya, instead? seriously, i prefer the idea of bolt, myself. heck, still in the realm of running, meb keflezighi strikes me as a better candidate than derek jeter.

Edgy DC Nov 30 2009 03:05 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Haile Gebrselassie, a magnificent runner and a quality candidate for future Sportsman of the Year competitions, holds the marathon record at an astounding 2:03:9. If he went out this year and broke his 2008 record by 1:40, and then similarly crushed the 10,000 record or the half-marathon record, sure. As a distance runner, you'd probably think it's almost unthinkable. But it's the nearest equivelant to what Bolt did. I mean, KaBOOM!

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Nov 30 2009 04:45 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

In a sport where it's simple enough to dominate for stretches but nearly impossible to dominate for years, Jimmie Johnson just won a fourth straight NASCAR points title. Manny Pacquiao beat three significantly larger, better-than-competent men (flabby De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, and Miguel Cotto) over the last 12 months... and did so in dominant and punishing fashion, becoming the first man to hold titles in SEVEN different weight classes. And Usain Bolt, the fastest man alive, just broke his human landspeed record-- as others have illustrated-- in mind-shattering fashion. Two of 'em, actually. Not to mention guys like Pujols and Adrian Peterson and Tebow and Christiano Ronaldo, who won individual accolades in team sports. This canker's not even a medalist on his own team.

Ashie62 Nov 30 2009 05:11 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Frayed Knot":bpoburv8][quote="MFS62":bpoburv8]Tim Tebow.[/quote:bpoburv8] I'd no sooner give this award to a college football player than I would to some guy because he just had a great year at AA or AAA.[/quote:bpoburv8] Alcoholics Anonymous?

Kong76 Nov 30 2009 05:56 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Or AAA = Advanced Alcoholics Anonymous? I have to rid myself of something here. This isn't easy for me and I'm just going to say it ... I almost sincerely posted the second post in this thread on Sunday morning something to the effect of, "Eh, no big deal, he kinda deserves it." Have at me.

Edgy DC Nov 30 2009 08:16 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

BOOOOOOO! (And... hurray, for not posting it!)

Vince Coleman Firecracker Dec 01 2009 09:11 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Edgy DC":2rwas2ju]Haile Gebrselassie, a magnificent runner and a quality candidate for future Sportsman of the Year competitions, holds the marathon record at an astounding 2:03:9. If he went out this year and broke his 2008 record by 1:40, and then similarly crushed the 10,000 record or the half-marathon record, sure. As a distance runner, you'd probably think it's almost unthinkable. But it's the nearest equivelant to what Bolt did. I mean, KaBOOM![/quote:2rwas2ju] With all due respect to Mssr. Bolt, Haile Gebrselassie is the greatest runner of all time (that sounded more Kanye than I intended). He's held world records for every distance event (except the steeplechase) from 2000 meters and up, and he's been a world champion at every event starting with the 1500m. He once broke the 5K record by nearly eleven seconds. While the 100 and 200 are different races, the 1500 up to two mile races are completely different monsters from the 10K, half- and full marathons that Gebrselassie has also dominated. That would be the equivalent of Bolt also winning a gold medal in the 400 and 800.

Edgy DC Dec 01 2009 09:23 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

I agree that Gebrselassie has had (clearly) the better career, but I was just looking at it in the context of 2009.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 01 2009 09:36 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Someone suggested Eunice Kennedy Shriver for having created the Special Olympics and who passed away this year. But at the risk of sounding like a complete douche, this "Sportsman" crap is the kind of award Jeter should be getting since it recognizes vague contributions to ideals and athletics that like it or not, Jeter more or less has lived up to. He's stayed out of trouble, stayed healthy, contributed, compiled, etc etc. Plus he'll help SI sell more mags ... and ads. My company (a publisher) does the same whoring with its "awards" and it makes me want to urinate on the conference room table.

Edgy DC Dec 01 2009 09:43 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

I get that, but that defintiion seems to be conveniently shelved and conventiently dusted off and brought out again when, um, convenient. And Jeter gets to cynically play the part, allowing them to praise his quiet humility while posing for a Soviet Realist-inspired low-angle shot heroically jutting his jaw out with banners of Yankee legends behind him in the new concourse of what will soon be called The House That Jeter Built. He's probably already brokered a deal to secure that name just as he got excusive rights to Bob Sheppard.

soupcan Dec 01 2009 09:43 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Edgy DC":372t425q]Haile Gebrselassie...holds the marathon record at an astounding 2:03:9.[/quote:372t425q] Is that right? The record is now 2:03? That's just mind-boggling. I remember when Salazar got it at 2:08 something in, I think, the 1980 NYC marathon maybe? Then they found out that the course was too short or he was wind-aided or something and took it away. 2:03. I'm stunned.

Frayed Knot Dec 01 2009 09:44 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Many of these arguments should be written up and sent to SI. Keep them clean and without making them sound like simply anti-Jeter screeds, but bitching about it to ourselves only goes so far - and by 'so far' I mean nowhere at all. It's not going to change anything for this year obviously but companies are more sensitive to negative public feedback (product complaints, season ticket non-renewals, etc.) than most people think so maybe it'll affect their methods in the future. - So mention how he's not only not the most deserving baseball player this year but not even the most deserving candidate on his own team. Mariano's 500th save was a MUCH bigger milestone than the breaking of the 20th best team hit record, his age-defying level of excellence is more impressive, and he's MUCH better at his position than Saint Derek has ever been at his. Or is it just that married Spanish-speaking bible-readers who don't date starlets not rate as highly? - Talk about how if they want to give it for a long-term body of work why Federer is not first in line. - Or about Bolt following up a stunning year with another stunning year!! - breaking 4 world records in a 12-month span, several of which at a Beamon-esque level is events usually measured by eyelashes. - or about Gebrlselassie's overall dominance or just about how their short-sightedness of reducing their sports-view to only those events covered by U.S. networks in prime-time reduces their once-broad view of sports to the Chris Russo level of tunnel-vision. The more I think about this the more I think that their reasoning probably deals more with the magazine hemorrhaging readers and the idea of having a camera-friendly athlete who plays in the media capital of the country on the cover appeals to their bottom line. 'And besides, we're paying Verducci all this money so we might as well put him to work during the winter too? After all, who the hell would we get to write about track? The last time we employed a writer who knew his way around a track was when William Nack was writing about Secretariat.'

MFS62 Dec 01 2009 10:05 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Frayed Knot":9icrj8ba]The more I think about this the more I think that their reasoning probably deals more with the magazine hemorrhaging readers and the idea of having a camera-friendly athlete who plays in the media capital of the country on the cover appeals to their bottom line. [/quote:9icrj8ba] That capturing/ recapturing readership makes sense. I heard that this is the first time a Yankee has won their Athlete-Of-The-Year award. Later

Edgy DC Dec 01 2009 10:34 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="soupcan":31pyvisv][quote="Edgy DC":31pyvisv]Haile Gebrselassie...holds the marathon record at an astounding 2:03:9.[/quote:31pyvisv] Is that right? The record is now 2:03? That's just mind-boggling. I remember when Salazar got it at 2:08 something in, I think, the 1980 NYC marathon maybe? Then they found out that the course was too short or he was wind-aided or something and took it away. 2:03. I'm stunned.[/quote:31pyvisv] That should read 2:03:59. He broke his own record in the Berlin Marathon in September 2008. He broke it by 17 seconds. Had he done it in New York and/or been American, they'd likely have told you more about it.

Ashie62 Dec 01 2009 01:56 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Frayed Knot"]Many of these arguments should be written up and sent to SI. Keep them clean and without making them sound like simply anti-Jeter screeds, but bitching about it to ourselves only goes so far - and by 'so far' I mean nowhere at all. It's not going to change anything for this year obviously but companies are more sensitive to negative public feedback (product complaints, season ticket non-renewals, etc.) than most people think so maybe it'll affect their methods in the future. - So mention how he's not only not the most deserving baseball player this year but not even the most deserving candidate on his own team. Mariano's 500th save was a MUCH bigger milestone than the breaking of the 20th best team hit record, his age-defying level of excellence is more impressive, and he's MUCH better at his position than Saint Derek has ever been at his. Or is it just that married Spanish-speaking bible-readers who don't date starlets not rate as highly? - Talk about how if they want to give it for a long-term body of work why Federer is not first in line. - Or about Bolt following up a stunning year with another stunning year!! - breaking 4 world records in a 12-month span, several of which at a Beamon-esque level is events usually measured by eyelashes. - or about Gebrlselassie's overall dominance or just about how their short-sightedness of reducing their sports-view to only those events covered by U.S. networks in prime-time reduces their once-broad view of sports to the Chris Russo level of tunnel-vision. The more I think about this the more I think that their reasoning probably deals more with the magazine hemorrhaging readers and the idea of having a camera-friendly athlete who plays in the media capital of the country on the cover appeals to their bottom line. 'And besides, we're paying Verducci all this money so we might as well put him to work during the winter too? After all, who the hell would we get to write about track? The last time we employed a writer who knew his way around a track was when William Nack was writing about Secretariat.'

Tennis & Track & Field are fringe professional sports-No dice

HahnSolo Dec 01 2009 02:10 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

But SI has honored such athletes before, I believe. I will say though (and I consider myself a pretty good sports fan), my first thought when I read Gebrlselassie's name was "Who"? And I suspect that of most of America would have the same reaction (as would the newsroom at SI).

G-Fafif Dec 01 2009 02:17 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="John Cougar Lunchbucket":3fldwx7x]Someone suggested Eunice Kennedy Shriver for having created the Special Olympics and who passed away this year. But at the risk of sounding like a complete douche, this "Sportsman" crap is the kind of award Jeter should be getting since it recognizes vague contributions to ideals and athletics that like it or not, Jeter more or less has lived up to. He's stayed out of trouble, stayed healthy, contributed, compiled, etc etc. Plus he'll help SI sell more mags ... and ads. My company (a publisher) does the same whoring with its "awards" and it makes me want to urinate on the conference room table.[/quote:3fldwx7x] Here's hoping your company doesn't choose to celebrate the announcement of its awards internally with "we have bagels in the conference room this morning -- they're on the table."

Edgy DC Dec 01 2009 02:23 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Tennis & Track & Field are fringe professional sports-No dice _________________ Ya know what I'm sayin? No, I don't quite know what you're saying. Fringe is an arbitrary designation that's undefined and relevant only when needed to bolster an argument already in place. Track and field, for instance, wasn't fringey enough to keep Bolt from placing in second. Moreover, eight track and field athletes have won the honor, including the first winner. Two tennis players have won as well. And two endurance cyclists. I mean, I realize this is about the sports story that stood above the rest and moved us and made for great photos and not just the best athlete and shit, but... shit, Jeter? And if Sports Illustrated's readership doesn't know Gebrlselassie's name, then Sports Illustrated has to answer for that. How much of their content is dedicated to fantasy sports updates now?

Ashie62 Dec 01 2009 06:04 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Thats Ok, I don't know what you're saying either

metsguyinmichigan Dec 01 2009 06:37 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Tennis & Track & Field are fringe professional sports-No dice Well, they gave it to the bike guys in the past. I am surprised they've never given it to an MFY before. Heck, a Mets player got one before an MFY? Verdicci must have been pitching all kinds of fits!

Ashie62 Dec 01 2009 10:40 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

They missed this candidate [url]http://perezhilton.com/2009-11-30-gradys-sizemore

Edgy DC Dec 01 2009 10:51 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Ashie62"]Thats Ok, I don't know what you're saying either

I'm saying that being an alleged fringe sport hasn't in the past disqualified athletes from the worlds of tennis or (particularly) track and field.

batmagadanleadoff Dec 02 2009 09:44 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

It's been 25 years since SI awarded its' Sportsperson of the Year award to a Track and Field athlete for Track and Field Accomplishments. The majority (but not all) of the SI Sportsman of the Year Track athletes were honored in the earlier days of the magazine, when much of the magazine's coverage was devoted to the more "gentlemanly" aspects of sport. This trend didn't bode well for Usain Bolt wining their award.

Edgy DC Dec 02 2009 10:09 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Good point, I guess (though two of the "Athletes Who Care" winners in 1987 were trackletes), but do you really think the profile of track and field has changed so much in the interim or that Sports Illustrated has changed? And were they a better institution then or now? And isn't a nod to Derek Jeter some sort of nod to some sort of ideal gentlemanly sporting values?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 02 2009 09:43 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Go ahead and call me Rogers, but SI makes a decent case. It sucks for me, but probably doesn't suck overall. [url]http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1163403/1/index.htm

Edgy DC Dec 02 2009 10:20 PM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Really? Verducci loses me right off the bat. Being the ultimate team player and a role model synonymous with winning has brought him still another title: Those are two supposedly self-evident truths I'd like to see somebody sit down and try and make an argument to really establish. And then with Every sunrise is a fresh shot at victory for Derek Jeter. Makes for tough reading. That whole, "Yankees win, therefore Yankees are winners, therefore long-term Yankees are, by definition, winners to the core" argument is extra-tragic for the Mets becaus poor Silly Willie believed it. You got the extra special spin here in the account of the Yankee parade. Most of the Yankees were flanked by wives, girlfriends, children or celebrities. Jeter rode along Broadway on a float with his mom, dad and sister, Sharlee. No shallow callow girlfriend-impressing pimp he. He's substance. He's goodness. "I pretty much said, 'You're coming on the float, right?'" says Jeter, who was also joined by his girlfriend, actress Minka Kelly. Wait... what? Weren't we just specifically trying to distinguish him from those nudnicks who brought their girlfriends or celebrities. Oh, as an afterthought, he, um brought his celebrity girlfriend. For Pete Flynn's sake!

Benjamin Grimm Dec 03 2009 07:05 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

And what could be more unwholesome than bringing your wife and children to ride with you in a parade?

metirish Dec 03 2009 07:08 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Every sunrise is a fresh shot at victory for Derek Jeter. OMFeckingG That rivals the Klapisch " applause like soft rain" quote.....it's disgusting.

metsguyinmichigan Dec 03 2009 07:17 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Do you think Verducci carries a photo of Derek in his wallet? I can only imagine what the original version of that story was like, before the SI editors sat down with Jeter's lawyers to work out the personal restraining order. I bet Jeter's grandmother wouldn't write stuff that glowing!

Edgy DC Dec 03 2009 07:34 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Benjamin Grimm":ck7u0n1u]And what could be more unwholesome than bringing your wife and children to ride with you in a parade?[/quote:ck7u0n1u] Exactly. It's absolutely a question of spin. If Jeter had the profile of Alex Rodriguez, a good writer like Verducci could easily paint as pathetic being 35 and having no wife and kids to share your moment with, but rather your 15th Hollywood starlet, so you have to bring in your ever-reliable parents to round out your coach and make you look human. It's no more true or less true. It's just the damn angle Verducci uses to get to the predestined conclusion.

G-Fafif Dec 03 2009 07:53 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

The first time Jeter found himself one win away from his fifth world championship was on Nov. 3, 2001, in Game 6 of the World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The night went horribly wrong for the Yankees, to the point that manager Joe Torre, with his team losing 15-0, pulled Jeter, catcher Jorge Posada and first baseman Tino Martinez from the game in the fifth inning as an act of surrender. Jeter walked into the clubhouse to change out of his spikes and into a pair of more comfortable turf shoes. In the training room he saw Jay Witasick, a journeyman reliever for the Yankees who in 1 1/3 innings had given up nine runs, eight of them earned, a Series record for a reliever. As Jeter walked by, he heard Witasick say, "Well, at least I had fun." "Derek just jumped all over him," Posada says. "Derek couldn't believe what he was saying. He was really, really hot. That was the angriest I've ever seen him." Last week, sitting in an airport hangar in Long Beach, Calif., surrounded by a small army of people to shoot a commercial for Gillette, Jeter nodded when he was asked about the episode with Witasick. "I remember," Jeter said. Slowly, he began to get agitated again. "Fun? I can't relate to it. I really can't relate to it. I'll never forget that. At least you had fun? I'll never understand it. I don't want to understand it." Whether Witasick said it in wry "what're ya gonna do?" fashion (we're always being told how important is for ballplayers to turn the page) or in some oblivious to consequences of his actions way is unclear, but Verducci relishes Jeter's reaction of ripping Witasick a new one over being such a loser, thus the implication Jeter's a winner and a leader. It could just as easily be interpreted as Jeter being an a-hole to a guy who just had the worst night of his professional life and therefore not being any kind of leader at all.

metirish Dec 03 2009 08:06 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

What utter bollox that is......Veducci should just write Jeter's HOF speech , he can include the Witasick story to help validate the great mans career

G-Fafif Dec 03 2009 08:13 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Every alltime great ballplayer establishes a brand, a shorthand identifier that captures what makes him iconic. For Ruth, for instance, it was the home run. Mays was a thrilling body in motion, Aaron represented strength of character, Mantle a comic-book heroism, Koufax the curveball, Ryan the fastball, Rose all-out hustle and Reggie the month of October. Jeter is unique this way. He has forged an identity as the ultimate team player in a team sport. If "every alltime great ballplayer establishes a brand," how is Jeter unique? Aren't those other players unique? And how is he the ultimate team player exactly? Because he wants to win? Rose didn't want to win? Jackson, Koufax, Aaron? Just a bunch of statmongers?

Edgy DC Dec 03 2009 08:17 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

And it somehow validates the moment that Jeter (a) still remembers it and (b) still feels it. Check out once more, if you will, that: "Fun? I can't relate to it. I really can't relate to it. I'll never forget that. At least you had fun? I'll never understand it. I don't want to understand it." Again, if pre-magic-vagina A-Rod comes out eight years after the incident with that shit, he would be painted as a heartless automaton. Dude is so busy feeding his own myth that it doesn't even occur to him that the writer won't spin his b.s. exactly the way he needs it spun. Why should it? If he was such a relentless winner, he should have ripped Torre for pulling him while there were still outs to work with. He should still be angry about that. Oh, and those "brands" are bullshit. I'm sure Henry Aaron is and was a fine man, but "strength of character" was not his fucking brand. Is Verducci confusing him with Jackie Robinson as he retroactively makes this stuff up?

batmagadanleadoff Dec 03 2009 08:22 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me? Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Dec 03 2009 08:25 AM

[quote="G-Fafif"] Every alltime great ballplayer establishes a brand, a shorthand identifier that captures what makes him iconic. For Ruth, for instance, it was the home run. Mays was a thrilling body in motion, Aaron represented strength of character, Mantle a comic-book heroism, Koufax the curveball, Ryan the fastball, Rose all-out hustle and Reggie the month of October. Jeter is unique this way. He has forged an identity as the ultimate team player in a team sport. If "every alltime great ballplayer establishes a brand," how is Jeter unique? Aren't those other players unique? And how is he the ultimate team player exactly? Because he wants to win? Rose didn't want to win? Jackson, Koufax, Aaron? Just a bunch of statmongers?

Not only that, but Baseball is the most individual of all of the so-called team sports. I was expecting Verducci to credit Jeter for every Home Run hit while Derek was in the on deck circle. What does somebody have to do to be the ultimate team player in baseball? (I also agree with your Witaski post, up above, and saw that one the exact same way when I read the article.).

MFS62 Dec 03 2009 08:24 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="G-Fafif"] Every alltime great ballplayer establishes a brand, a shorthand identifier that captures what makes him iconic. For Ruth, for instance, it was the home run. Mays was a thrilling body in motion, Aaron represented strength of character, Mantle a comic-book heroism, Koufax the curveball, Ryan the fastball, Rose all-out hustle and Reggie the month of October. Jeter is unique this way. He has forged an identity as the ultimate team player in a team sport. If "every alltime great ballplayer establishes a brand," how is Jeter unique? Aren't those other players unique? And how is he the ultimate team player exactly? Because he wants to win? Rose didn't want to win? Jackson, Koufax, Aaron? Just a bunch of statmongers?

Not that I agree, but it seems the "brand" that Jeter has created for himself is "point guard" - the kind of player who "makes the players around him better".

Yechhhh.

EDIT: posted at the same time as the post above. Looks like we had similar reactons to the "team player" thing.

Later

G-Fafif Dec 03 2009 08:27 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Kalamazoo has given the world Shakespeare fishing rods, Gibson guitars, Checker cabs, and Jeter's will to win, in that order of rigidity. Something else must have gotten pretty rigid while Verducci typed that sentence. If you were to draw up a list of Jeter's dislikes, most all of them would be what he regards as obstacles to winning: Long walks on the beach with Jay Witasick not included. 1. Individuals who don't care about winning. 2. Self-promoters. "I never liked people who talked about themselves all the time, gloat," he says. "If you're accomplished and have done things, people will talk about it for you. I don't think you have to point it out. I'm not judging anybody. That's just the way I am." Jeter's no individual or self-promoter. He's a team player all the way. That's why he insisted on having so many of his teammates pose with him for the cover of his magazine and why he told SI "make it about my team, not just me." 3. Measuring success by individual statistics. "In this day and age, not just in baseball but in sports in general, all people care about is stats, stats, stats," he says. "You've got fantasy this, fantasy that, where you pay attention to stats. But there are ways to win games that you don't get a stat for." 4. Injury talk. "You either play or you don't play. If you're playing, nobody wants to know what's bothering you. Sometimes it's a built-in excuse for failing." Sounds like the ultimate team man is taking backhanded swipes at other players, possibly teammeates. 5. Negativity. Jeter wants nothing to do with negative questions from reporters or negative talk from teammates. He once went 0 for 32 and refused to admit he was in a slump. "We weren't allowed to use the word can't—'I can't do this, can't do that,'" Jeter says of his childhood. "My mom would say, 'What? No.' She's always positive. I don't like people always talking about the negative, negative, negative, because once you get caught in that mind-set, it's hard to get out of it." Didn't mind being negative about Jay Witasick, did he?

metirish Dec 03 2009 08:34 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

I can't take this anymore.....Mr. Verducci you should be ashamed. Actually I find it quite funny reading the excerpts and responses.

Edgy DC Dec 03 2009 08:36 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

2. Self-promoters. "I never liked people who talked about themselves all the time, gloat," he says. "If you're accomplished and have done things, people will talk about it for you. I don't think you have to point it out. I'm not judging anybody. That's just the way I am." Are they immune to irony over there? The man takes four sentences to describe himself as a guy who doesn't like to describe himself, not like those other self-describing people --- who he dislikes but doesn't judge. Faaaahk you.

metirish Dec 03 2009 08:38 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Edgy DC"] 2. Self-promoters. "I never liked people who talked about themselves all the time, gloat," he says. "If you're accomplished and have done things, people will talk about it for you. I don't think you have to point it out. I'm not judging anybody. That's just the way I am." Are they immune to irony over there? The man takes four sentences to describe himself as a guy who doesn't like to describe himself, not like those other self-describing people --- who he dislikes but doesn't judge. Faaaahk you.

This.....this nails it on the head for me regarding Jeter.....I have always felt this was him.

G-Fafif Dec 03 2009 08:40 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

After Verducci rigidly tells some story about Jeter wins a childish bet with the director of his next commercial, making the director gag on a spoonful of cinnamon (what a fun lover!), we get, as the conclusion, his true "essence"...which is the reading equivalent of gagging on a spoonful of cinnamon. Another victory, however small, for Derek Jeter, today's superstar most synonymous with winning. But none of the accoutrements of his success—the five rings, the $189 million contract, the national endorsements and the starlet on his arm—capture the essence of his success. In the difficult days of the Philippines campaign during World War II, General Douglas MacArthur wrote A Father's Prayer, which begins, "Build me a son, O Lord." MacArthur prayed for a son with, among other traits, "humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness." Therein lies true victory. The great wonder is not that Jeter has won so much but that he has won so well. He is the good son, the good winner. Verducci will take a spoonful of Jeter's essence...to go.

Edgy DC Dec 03 2009 08:42 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

This.....this nails it on the head for me regarding Jeter.....I have always felt this was him. Thanks. I never liked people who talked about themselves nailing it on the head all the time, gloat. If you're accomplished and have nailed it on the head and have done things, people will talk about it for you. I don't think you have to point the nailing out. I'm not judging anybody. That's just the way I nail.

metirish Dec 03 2009 08:44 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

OMFeckingG Jeter is the son of General Douglas MacArthur? , Seriously , how could a journalist even manage to bring those two together in an article , the Philippines campaign?...WTF?

G-Fafif Dec 03 2009 08:45 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="metirish":td33btrt]OMFeckingG Jeter is the son of General Douglas MacArthur? , Seriously , how could a journalist even manage to bring those two together in an article , the Philippines campaign?...WTF?[/quote:td33btrt] Roger Kahn has written about the early days of SI and the kind of crap the Time-Life editors, desperately shy of sports savvy, would come up with to ruin his copy. This is worse than that.

Edgy DC Dec 03 2009 08:46 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

And the neighbors are reporting that construction on Humility House is moving right along. They were a little peeved about the nine-foot perimeter walls until they learned they were walls of grace.

G-Fafif Dec 03 2009 08:47 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Irony also lost on Verducci that MacArthur wasn't exactly a graduate of the Humility Academy.

batmagadanleadoff Dec 03 2009 08:49 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Edgy DC"]Good point, I guess (though two of the "Athletes Who Care" winners in 1987 were trackletes), but do you really think the profile of track and field has changed so much in the interim or that Sports Illustrated has changed? And were they a better institution then or now? And isn't a nod to Derek Jeter some sort of nod to some sort of ideal gentlemanly sporting values?

Let enough time pass by and everything'll change. Nothing lasts forever, either. I suppose that SI has changed drastically since its inception -- too many times, and for too many reasons to list here. You could write a book about this. A few already did. When the publishers realized that a Roger Bannister cover sold five times as many issues as a cover of the Westminister Dog Show champ, it was just a matter of time before those dog covers went to the dogs. And then when Mickey Mantle and Johnny Unitas covers consistently sold five times as many issues as Bannister and the French Poodle combined, you just knew that SI's coverage of the major American team sports would eventually come to dominate the magazine.

SI peaked like some great mountain and then ebbed. It's currently a shell of its once great self, diminished both editorially and aesthetically. And anyone that is or was involved in running the magazine over the last 10 or 15 years is too smart not to know this. Jeter's Sportsman of the Year award, to me, has nothing to do with the gentlemanly aspects of sport and almost everything to do with making a buck. Because even if you concede Jeter's exemplary character, was that character enough to compensate for the fact that strictly on the field, Jeter was not even one of Sport's top 20 athletes this past year? A Yankee cover will outsell a Track and Field cover by about the same margin as any one of Usain Bolt's stunning 2009 victories.

G-Fafif Dec 03 2009 08:50 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

There are three "congratulations" ads in the print edition specific to Jeter's winning the award. Probably three more than they could sell for Bolt.

Centerfield Dec 03 2009 09:19 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

2. Self-promoters. "I never liked people who talked about themselves all the time, gloat," he says. "If you're accomplished and have done things, people will talk about it for you. I don't think you have to point it out. I'm not judging anybody. That's just the way I am." Jeter went on to cite to how certain athletes go as far as to launch their own cologne, their own sneaker, their own fitness centers. "That's not me. I will do anything to win. Regardless of the game. I once sold a testicle to beat the Royals in May."

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 03 2009 09:21 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="G-Fafif":1y42jrnz]There are three "congratulations" ads in the print edition specific to Jeter's winning the award. Probably three more than they could sell for Bolt.[/quote:1y42jrnz] That is exactly the reason they did it.

metirish Dec 03 2009 09:41 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Best thread ever........

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Dec 03 2009 09:43 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="John Cougar Lunchbucket"][quote="G-Fafif"]There are three "congratulations" ads in the print edition specific to Jeter's winning the award. Probably three more than they could sell for Bolt.

That is exactly the reason they did it.

A bolded 72-point "GOTCHA MONEY!" in place of the Verducci essay would've been nice, and possibly more appropriate.

Edgy DC Dec 03 2009 09:54 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="metirish":37byqce5]Best thread ever........[/quote:37byqce5] MacArthur prayed for a thread like this.

metirish Dec 03 2009 09:56 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Certainly the best thread since that nasty business in the south pacific during WWII

Edgy DC Dec 03 2009 10:11 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

If you told me that something or somebody could turn me into a Jay Witasick fan, I'd not have believed you, but here I am.

batmagadanleadoff Dec 03 2009 10:12 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

If Derek Jeter was so much as half the Sportsman of the Year that SI wants us to believe he is, he'd admit that Usain Bolt should've won the award.

G-Fafif Dec 03 2009 10:44 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Centerfield"] 2. Self-promoters. "I never liked people who talked about themselves all the time, gloat," he says. "If you're accomplished and have done things, people will talk about it for you. I don't think you have to point it out. I'm not judging anybody. That's just the way I am." Jeter went on to cite to how certain athletes go as far as to launch their own cologne, their own sneaker, their own fitness centers. "That's not me. I will do anything to win. Regardless of the game. I once sold a testicle to beat the Royals in May."

Steiner Sports has that testicle for sale right now. Autographed.

And authenticated.

metsguyinmichigan Dec 03 2009 10:53 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me? Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Dec 03 2009 10:59 AM

Quote: Kalamazoo has given the world Shakespeare fishing rods, Gibson guitars, Checker cabs, and Jeter's will to win, in that order of rigidity. Kalamazoo is less than an hour from here. In the 10 years I've lived in Grand Rapids, I've been there maybe three times, and two of those times were for concerts. There's even an independent minor league team there, and I'll go anywhere to see a baseball game. Yet, I've never been to one of those games. That tells you pretty much all you need to know about Kalamazoo.

G-Fafif Dec 03 2009 10:58 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Kalamazoo has given the world Shakespeare fishing rods, Gibson guitars, Checker cabs, no good reason for Mets Guy In Michigan to consistently visit and Jeter's will to win, in that order of rigidity.

MFS62 Dec 03 2009 11:03 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="G-Fafif"] Kalamazoo has given the world Shakespeare fishing rods, Gibson guitars, Checker cabs, no good reason for Mets Guy In Michigan to consistently visit and Jeter's will to win, in that order of rigidity.

Glenn Miller had another reason to go there:

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H
I got a gal in Kalamazoo
Don't want to boast but I know she's the toast of Kalamazoo
(Zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo)

Years have gone by, my my how she grew
I liked her looks when I carried her books in Kalamazoo
(Zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo)

I'm gonna send away, hoppin' on a plane, leavin' today
Am I dreamin'? I can hear her screamin'
"Hiya, Mr. Jackson"
Everything's OK, A-L-A-M-A-Z-O

Oh, what a gal, a real pipperoo
I'll make my bid for that freckle-faced kid I'm hurryin' to
I'm goinâ' to Michigan to see the sweetest gal in Kalamazoo
(Zoo, zoo)
(Zoo, zoo, zoo, Kalamazoo)
K (K)
A (A)
L-A-M-A-Z-O
(Oh, oh, oh, oh what a gal, a real pipperoo)
(We're goinâ' to Michigan to see the sweetest gal in Kalamazoo)
(Zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo)
(Kalamazoo!!)


Later

Ashie62 Dec 03 2009 11:26 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

Jay Witasick..Ok, he has a terrible inning at the worst time.."At least I had some fun"..just a little self deprecating humor not to be taken so seriously... Wouldn't most players give Jay a little support in the moment..something like "Yeah, you really got your tits ripped off" with a little chuckle? As far as SI in general, it is a shell of what it was. They couldn't even afford to keep one of their prime assets Rick Reilly...

Edgy DC Dec 03 2009 11:27 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="batmagadanleadoff":287od7d2]What does somebody have to do to be the ultimate team player in baseball?[/quote:287od7d2] Here're some ideas: [list:287od7d2][*:287od7d2]Be willing to move when there's a better shortstop on the team and second base is an open position. [/*:m:287od7d2] [*:287od7d2]Don't fuck up in the World Baseball Classic. Come ready to play. [/*:m:287od7d2] [*:287od7d2]Don't use your juice as Derek Fucking Jeter to force the WBC manager to allow you to share your position with a guy coming off an MVP and two Gold Gloves (more justifiable ones than yours, and you know it) in the previous two years, including nonsensical substitutions in the middle of important games. Say publickly, "If Davey feels we're a better team with Jimmy out there, then Jimmy should be out there. I'll back him up, play another position, DH, whatever I can do. And if there's anything I can offer Jimmy to help us win, believe me, I will. You know, it's about my country, not me. I'm humbled just to wear the uniform and share the locker room with all these great players working for something larger than themselves." [/*:m:287od7d2] [*:287od7d2]Stop feeding propaganda with transparent self-centered bullshit statements along the lines of "I hope people see how I do things they don't see" and "I don't like talking about myself and I don't mind talking about it. Other guys talk about themselves. My team is full of those douchebags and I don't mind talking about them. Because I'm not like that. Which you'd know if I talked about it. But I don't. Oh, and it's all about the team winning. Me and the douchebags." [/*:m:287od7d2] [*:287od7d2]Stand up to the druggies in his clubhouse. [/*:m:287od7d2] [*:287od7d2]Put your arm around Jay Witasick and say, "You sucked today. But you're a great pitcher and a New York fucking Yankee and we're going to need you tomorrow. I've had some crap-ass days too, but you take what you can and put the rest behind you. That's how I got four rings and that's how we're going to get a fifth tomorrow. Right? RIGHT?! Fucking RIGHT, Jay! I expect you to be the first guy at the park tomorrow." "Now let's stop licking our wounds and get out there and root like hell for Choate. We're bringing that trophy home to New York, and this time tomorrow Curt Schilling will be licking your left cheek and Osama Bin Fuckin' Laden will be kissing the other one."[/*:m:287od7d2][/list:u:287od7d2]

Willets Point Dec 04 2009 09:27 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

A committee meets to decide on a prestigious award. No agreement can be reached so finally someone says "This person hasn't done anything to deserve the award but he seems like a good guy, let's just give it to him." Is it the Nobel Peace Prize or Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year? Oh wait, it's both!

Centerfield Dec 04 2009 09:34 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Willets Point":jvbckyvg]A committee meets to decide on a prestigious award. No agreement can be reached so finally someone says "This person hasn't done anything to deserve the award but he seems like a good guy, let's just give it to him." Is it the Nobel Peace Prize or Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year? Oh wait, it's both![/quote:jvbckyvg] What? Jeter won the Nobel Peace Prize?

Willets Point Dec 04 2009 09:36 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Centerfield":1et9hm2c] What? Jeter won the Nobel Peace Prize?[/quote:1et9hm2c] He makes the whole world around him better.

MFS62 Dec 04 2009 09:45 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Centerfield":zzrsy6tj][quote="Willets Point":zzrsy6tj]A committee meets to decide on a prestigious award. No agreement can be reached so finally someone says "This person hasn't done anything to deserve the award but he seems like a good guy, let's just give it to him." Is it the Nobel Peace Prize or Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year? Oh wait, it's both![/quote:zzrsy6tj] What? Jeter won the Nobel Peace Prize?[/quote:zzrsy6tj] Vegas is making him 3:5 on the early line for next year. Y'see, he has this plan for world hunger ..... Later

Fman99 Dec 04 2009 10:39 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="metirish"] Every sunrise is a fresh shot at victory for Derek Jeter. OMFeckingG That rivals the Klapisch " applause like soft rain" quote.....it's disgusting.

Not coincidentally, I just read this and pooped.

Also, I know who Halie Gerblselassie is. He's the gerbil that Bob Marley wrote all his songs about.

MFS62 Dec 05 2009 07:02 AM Re: Dear SI: Are you friggin' kidding me?

[quote="Fman99"][quote="metirish"] Every sunrise is a fresh shot at victory for Derek Jeter. OMFeckingG That rivals the Klapisch " applause like soft rain" quote.....it's disgusting.

Not coincidentally, I just read this and pooped.

Also, I know who Halie Gerblselassie is. He's the gerbil that Bob Marley wrote all his songs about.


Jeter keeps his gerbil well hidden.

Later