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I don't envy the editors at Sports Illustrated, who already are working to decide who will win the magazine's prestigious “Sportsman of the Year” award for 2009.
I don't get a vote, but I've come up with a Final Five and I can make a strong case for each.
I guess you can make a case for UConn women's basketball coach Gino Auriemma if you can get past his arrogance, but I'll take a pass, thanks. I'm also tossing Serena Williams because of her inexcusable behavior at the U.S. Open, and Phil Mickelson, perennial good guy, because he didn't win a major.
I'm also eliminating commissioners and franchise owners on general principles – or the lack thereof. The same goes for TV executives. I just don't see any visionaries on the Pete Rozelle-Roone Arledge scale on the horizon today.
A case could be made for North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams, who already has won as many national titles in Chapel Hill as his mentor, Dean Smith. Williams has been able to recruit the top-rated prospects without being compromised by scandal, no mean feat in today's meat-market world.
So who are my candidates?
Unless Peyton Manning gets some kind of Ben Roethlisberger charge thrown at him between now and the Super Bowl, he would be a superb choice. He's well-established as both a model citizen and one of the NFL's all-time great quarterbacks. Right now he's at the top of his game, so why shouldn't he join Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana in SI's exclusive club?
But should Manning be selected over Tim Tebow, who's well on his way to being the most successful college player ever? Coming into the season, he already had two national title rings and a Heisman Trophy to his credit. He could get one more of each before all is said and done. Off the field, he's a throwback to the All-American boy, campus-hero, Mr. Touchdown days of the 1940s and '50s. Heck, as the media has breathlessly reported, he's a virgin!
If the New York Yankees win the World Series, Derek Jeter should get serious consideration. This season he passed Lou Gehrig atop the storied franchise's all-time hits list. For more than a decade, he has avoided serious scandal and put up Hall of Fame numbers in the toughest sports town of all.
My fourth candidate is Phil Jackson, coach of the LA Lakers. It's time to give the guy credit for being able to coach the most out of talent and to relate to today's players better than any other pro coach or manager in any sport.
But the candidate I personally like best is one that the SI editors probably won't even consider unless thoroughbred racing's publicists get off their duffs and launch a massive campaign.
I'm talking about Calvin Borel, the jockey for both shoo-in Horse-of-the-Year Rachel Alexandra and Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.
Pound for pound and inch for inch, I'll put Borel against any athlete in any sport. He's strong as a power forward and fearless as a linebacker. He has the eye-hand coordination of a tennis star and the instincts of a great hitter.
Besides that, he's just plain folks. The nature of his business means he has no long-term, guaranteed contract and earns every penny he makes. He's modest and grateful. He has never shot himself in the groin with a handgun, been accused of violence against a woman, or arrested after a barroom brawl.
When Borel appeared on Leno and other talk-shows, he charmed the hosts and the audiences with his down-home humor and good manners. He would look far better on a Wheaties boxing than most athletes from the major ball sports. He does a lot of charity work and never forgets to thank his fans for their support.
The only jockey to be named SI's Sportsman of the Year was Steve Cauthen in 1977, the year before he won the Triple Crown with Affirmed. He was a phenom, only 16 at the time. But the main reason he got picked was that Andre Laguerre, who then was SI's managing editor, loved horse racing.
Most of today's editors don't even have horse racing on their radar screens, so it's important for the industry to shift its hype machine into overtime. I'd start a campaign for Borel right now and hope he wins a race or two at the Breeders Cup.
He's the longest shot on the board, I admit, but maybe the SI editors will be in the mood to do something fresh and unexpected. Manning, Tebow, Jeter, and Jackson would have to be on anybody's short list.
But Borel would be a surprise that would generate a lot of discussion about the magazine and a lot of positive publicity for a sport that badly needs it.
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Billy Reed