AMERICAN PHAROAH WINS FAN VOTE -- SI "SPORTSMAN" OF THE YEAR

[Tiger Dancer]

AMERICAN PHAROAH WINS FAN VOTE {NOT EDITOR'S VOTE}
SPORT'S ILLUSTRATED -- "SPORTSMAN" OF THE YEAR.




http://www.si.com/sportsmanofyear/2015/ ... tsman-year

American Pharoah has won the online readers’ poll for Sports Illustrated’s 2015 Sportsman of the Year, topping 11 other candidates across all major sports as the one who embodied the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement this year.

The three-year-old colt ended a 37-year Triple Crown drought with a huge win in the Belmont Stakes—the 12th Triple Crown winner in history. He completed his career with a 6 1/2 length win in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic in his final start before heading off to the breeding shed.

American Pharoah won 47% of the vote when the poll closed on Saturday night. The Kansas City Royals came in second place with 29% of the vote and Lionel Messi finished in third place with 6% of the vote. American Pharoah also beat out Stephen Curry (4%), Jordan Spieth (3%), Simone Biles (2%) and Carli Lloyd (2%).

[Tiger Dancer]

AMERICAN PHAROAH WINS
SPORT'S ILLUSTRATED -- "SPORTSMAN" OF THE YEAR

[Ballerina]

One day you're a star - the next day they rip it off the door. SI rescinded the award. Giving it to Serena instead. After all, AP is not a human, but then again Serena is not a man. Yeah, I know, the word "man" has become inclusive of both genders which I find a disingenuous defiition - why not call it SPORTS PERSON OF THE YEAR?

[RUFFIAN]

By Ron Mitchell
Though respondents to a non-binding online poll overwhelmingly favored Triple Crown winner American Pharoah as Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year for 2015, the magazine's editors, who had the ultimate vote, selected tennis superstar Serena Williams.


Zayat Stables' colt garnered 47% of the online votes, with World Series champion Kansas City Royals a distant second at 29%. Williams received less than 2%.

SI managing editor Christian Stone wrote that Williams was honored not only for her athletic accomplishments that included winning 53 of 56 matches and three of professional tennis' four Grand Slam events, but also "for reasons that hang in the grayer, less comfortable ether, where issues such as race and femininity collide with the games."
Predictably, the decision was criticized by many racing fans—ostensibly those who voted for Amer- ican Pharoah—and the Zayat camp.

"Why have a poll if you totally ignore it? Sere- na failed at winning the Grand Slam. (American Pharoah is a) once-in-a-lifetime horse," Justin Zayat wrote on Twitter. His father, Ahmed, said the colt was "robbed." BH