The Associated Press Athlete of the Year
1997 Tiger Woods
1998 Mark McGuire
1999 Tiger Woods
2000 Tiger Woods
2001 Barry Bonds
2002 LANCE Armstrong
2003 LANCE Armstrong
2004 LANCE Armstrong
2005 LANCE Armstrong
2006 Tiger Woods
Ten years of athletes to look up to, eh?
Fred Flintstein
A couple of points worth making, IMHO.
Good athlete does not equal good person. Indeed, world-class athlete at
one sport isn't a reliable predictor of similar performance at another,
similar sport, let alone a dissimilar sport, let alone any career not
sports-related, let alone matters of character. To expect our athletes
to also be heroes is to invite disappointment, and for no good reason.
If we want our athletes to act like model citizens, put that into their
contracts. In the meantime, we should stop oogling their off-the-field
antics and each worry about our own character - that would be time well
spent.
They say power corrupts, but it seems to me that fame corrupts more.
Lance Armstrong is an athlete I look up to, and expect to continue to
look up to, both for his athletic performance and for his off-field
achievements in the realm of cancer support.
-S-