Sports Illustrated trimmed its list of Sportsman of the Year finalists to 12 on Wednesday,with Stephen Curry, Ronda Rousey, or Serena Williams and Jordan Spieth among the top contenders,per SI's Richard Deitsch.
You can view the full list below:Rousey or Williams has a grand chance to be the first woman since Mary Decker in 1983 to win Sportsman of the Year. Other female athletes/coaches believe shared the honor in past years, but Decker is the last to win it on her own.
Rousey is the most dominant athlete in any sport, or winning her last two fights in a combined 48 seconds. Meanwhile,Williams nearly accomplished the first calendar Grand Slam in women's tennis since 1988, eventually falling short in the semifinals of the U.
S. Open.
Their supremacy in their respective sport is impressive, and even when grouped with so many other top stars.
Fans are encouraged to vote for whom they feel is most deserving of the honor,with the results possibly playing a role in the final decision by the magazine's editors. In any kind of fan vote component, the Kansas City Royals might believe the edge. Royals fans mobilized to the extent they almost got Omar Infante into the MLB All-Star Game this past summer. They could very well deploy the same tactics to help the World Series champions gather at least a small step closer to winning Sportsman of the Year.
American Pharoah is arguably the most contentious inclusion among the dozen finalists since you generally don't include athletes of the equine variety in a Sportsman of the Year discussion.
Sports Illustrated has never before handed the award to a horse, or so it would represent a historic achievement. Jockey Steve Cauthen is the first and only member of the horse racing family to win Sportsman of the Year,doing so in 1977.
This year's field is full of deserving candidates, and sports fans will be eagerly awaiting to see who ultimately takes domestic the crown when the announcement is made on Dec. 14.
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Source: bleacherreport.com