Dwyane Wade is Sports Illustrated Sportsman of Year

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Dwyane Wade, whose NBA Finals MVP performance led the Miami Heat to the franchise's first championship, has been chosen as the 2006 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.

The Sportsman of the Year issue will hit newsstands Wednesday.

His Finals MVP honor adds to a deep résumé of two All-Star Game appearances and a career-scoring average of 22.9 points per game. His credentials off the court include his stewardship of the Dwyane Wade Foundation, a nonprofit promoting social enrichment, education and physical fitness among youth, assists young people in reaching their educational and athletic goals through mentoring.

Wade will receive the new Sportsman of the Year award, a sterling silver trophy crafted by Tiffany & Co., at a party in his honor in New York on Dec. 14.

Tuesday night at 10 p.m., HBO's Costas Now will celebrate Wade's selection and profile the year's top performers and newsmakers."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16162690.htm

[erpowers]

1. Really?

Was he really the Sportmans of the Year? I think at least Tiger Woods deserved the award more than Wade did. After years of people in both the sports world and the fan world complaining about his play and asking if he was done, Tiger had a pretty good year. This year Woods stopped his critics by winning the British Open after his father's death and on a course that was not supposed to be suited to Tiger's long bomber type of play.

In terms of charity, Tiger was criticized by his golf peers for spending too much time on his charity work, which helps to educate youth. In response to the criticism Tiger said that he cared more about what he did off the course than what he did on the course. He went on to say that he wanted his legacy to be more about his charity work than his golf career.

So, I wonder if Sports Illustrated gave Wade the award just because of his on and off the court work or if they did so because of hype and the hope to sell more magazines. In my opinion Tiger Woods is much more deserving of the award. Tiger's on the course and off the course work has been, in my opinion far superior to that of Wade.

[Awsi Dooger]

6. Tiger also won two majors in 2005

The Masters and the British Open. So I don't think it's fair to say there had been years of people asking if he was finished. Maybe SI is waiting for Tiger to duplicate or surpass his awesome 2000 season. He's still been below that level lately.

I don't know how you pick an award like this. Seems like SI is very erratic, sometimes rewarding career accomplishment and other times seizing upon the biggest story of that particular year. As a Heat fan I'm thrilled Wade got it.

[Captain Hilts]

2. I NEVER would have guessed Wade.

Terrific ballplayer, but...Sportsman of the Year?

I don't think so.

[erpowers]

3. Vince Young vs. Matt Leinart

[Captain Hilts]

5. Yes, especially as they are both already beginning to gel, interesting! nt

[erpowers]

4. Shaq

First, if the moderator does not get to the Young v. Leinart post before you see it I am sorry. I wanted to make the post about Shaq, but was thinking about making another post about Young and Leinart. I got up from my seat and did not realize that I was still in the Wade post.

However, Do you think Shaq should have gotten the award? Considering that Wade won the championship with Shaq and now is not have that great of a year without him. Off the top of my head my first choice was Tiger Woods. Tony Kornhiser mentioned shaq. So what do you think?