Saying hi and bye to some real sportsmen

Sports Illustrated announced earlier this week that their pick for the Sportsman of the Year award was Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade. While this is by no means a poor choice, since Flash did average close to 29 points and six rebounds in the playoffs to lead Miami to their first ever title, I think SI could have done better. 2006 was a year of tremendous introductions and amazing farewells, and they should have recognized that. Here are five guys who either said hello or goodbye in ’06 that should have won SI’s award.


5----Buck O’Neal
Not many people outside of the baseball world know the story of Buck O’Neal. He played a long time ago, in the Negro Leagues. He was never part of some type of steroid scandal. And there has been no movie made about him. But his impact will be felt on the game for many years. That is because Buck O’Neal was one of the greatest ambassadors for baseball, especially Negro League baseball. This year, when the Baseball Hall of Fame decided to vote in 17 Negro League players, managers and administrators, they somehow missed O’Neal. Fans were devastated and baseball historians were shocked, but O’Neal didn’t hold any grudge. He even went to Cooperstown to be the man to give the induction speech for these 17 guys, because he just loved to talk about the Negro Leagues. Buck O’Neal died four months after that induction ceremony at the age of 94.

4--- Jim Larranaga

At the beginning of March 2006, I had never heard of George Mason. I’m talking about both the school and the real, historical person. But this year’s March Madness changed all of that. First the Patriots defeated my Final Four pick, Michigan State. Then they beat the defending national champs, North Carolina. Follow that up with a win over fellow mid-major Wichita State and the 11th seed out of the Washington D.C. region was in the Elite Eight against the team that had been number one all season, the UConn Huskies. Just getting this far would allow the teams head coach, Larranaga, to be mentioned for Sportsman of the Year. But he didn’t stop at the Elite Eight. He knew his team didn’t have as much depth as UConn did, so he just played his role players heavy minutes (Only six G.M. players saw more then four minutes of action and only five scored more than three points) and relied on his key guys to get the job done. And miraculously, it worked! The Patriots shocked the hoops world with an 86-84 overtime win and became the first mid-major since Utah in 1998 to make the Final Four. Plus Larranaga and his team used the song “Kryptonite” by Big Boi as their motivation, which makes the story even better.

3--- Zinédine Zidane
I’m guessing that my brother will think that this is a couple of spots low for the only soccer player to ever gain cult status in the United States. But I’m sorry, I have to use my head in this process. And I’m not going to use it like Zidane did. But even for all the cheap shots, this guy did something that I never though I would see. And that is making soccer a front-page story in American papers, the number one topic on PTI, the butt of Leno and Letterman jokes. Even before the final game of the World Cup, Zidane would have been a serious contender for this award. He led an old, underrated French team to victories over Spain, Brazil and Portugal. Then he had an unbelievable goal in the early part of the championship game versus Italy. It looked like an international version of Jordan versus Utah in 1998. One of the games all-time greats leaving his lasting image out on the field, walking away with a trophy. But just like MJ coming back to the Wizards, ZZ ruined his exit as well. Only ten minutes away from penalty kicks, Zidane mentioned to Italian mid-fielder Marco Materazzi that after the game, he would trade jerseys. Matarazzi responded that he’d rather have Zidane’s sister, and that set off one of the greatest moments in sports history. ZZ turns around, lowers his shoulder and drives his head strait into MM’s chest. He of course was ejected from the game, and France ended up losing. Zidane retired like he planned to, but instead of being remembered for being a great player, he’ll always be known as the guy who wouldn’t let anyone talk about his sister.

2---Vince Young
People knew about Vince Young before 2006, so saying that this was his introduction is kind of misleading. In ’05, he led Texas to a 12-0 record, including big wins versus Ohio State and Oklahoma and a 70-3 thrashing against Colorado in the Big 12 title game. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy race, which is pretty good. But people still didn’t know how good this guy really was. Then came the Rose Bowl on the fourth day of this year, and the idea that America didn’t really know how good Vince Young flew out the window, along with the theories that Mack Brown can’t win big games and that the 05-06 USC Trojans are the greatest team of all time. Because in that Rose Bowl, #10 put on a show that hasn’t been seen for a long time. Vince ran for 200 yards on only 19 carries. He threw for 267 more yards and completed 30 of 40 passes. Plus he accounted for three touchdowns, two of which were scored in the games final four minutes and three seconds. He took the entire Lone Star State on his shoulders and defeated the big, bad Trojans, gave Texas a national title and made himself a legend, all on one special night.

1---Jerome Bettis

It’s not supposed to be as easy as the Bus made it look. Just look at people like Michael Jordan, Mario Lemieux and Roger Clemens. Walking away from the game is supposed to be difficult, something that you go back and forth on for years. And when you do finally say your final goodbye, your team is expected to be hovering around the .500 mark, not really utilizing your full skill set. Jerome Bettis didn’t do it like that though. He went out as a key contributor on the Super Bowl champs in his hometown. Hollywood big shots couldn’t have written it any better. First the sixth seeded Steelers go on the road and beat their division rival Bengals. Then they go to the Indianapolis and play a record setting Colts team. They are going to pull off the upset, one of the most surprising wins in recent NFL history. But then with under a minute left, Bettis fumbles for the first time all season. The Colts recover it, and it looks like cornerback Nick Harper is going to bring it back for a score. But he is miraculously tripped up and Indy is forced to kick a field goal. Mike Vanderjact shanks it wide right, the Steelers advance and Bettis is off the hook. Pittsburgh then goes to Denver and forces four turnovers, winning the AFC and moving onto the Super Bowl, which just happens to be played in Bettis’ hometown of Detroit. In that game, the Steelers make multiple big plays, including a 72 yard Willie Parker touchdown run and a double reverse pass for another TD. Steelers win 21-10, and Jerome Bettis goes out on top.


Here is my pick for the Thursday night NFL game. The rest of my picks, as well as my BCS thoughts, will be up on Friday. My pick of course is in bold.


Cleveland at Pittsburgh