Examining Controversy over Serena Williams Winning Sportsperson of the Year

by Julian Spivey
Serena Williams was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year on Monday, Dec. 14 and the entire Internet seemed to burst open in controversy at the announcement.
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The majority of the Internet seemed to be in the middle of the Williams vs. American Pharoah fight – with fans of the Triple Crown winning horse irritated that the first Triple Crown winner in almost 40 years was beaten and Serena Williams fans fighting back with the quickly annoying “a horse isn’t a person and therefore can’t win.”

The whole feud quickly got on my nerves for many reasons, which I will bring up right here.

Before I get into the argument I will admit that Serena Williams would not have been my choice (I’ll get to my choice a little later on), but I do believe is a good choice. I can argue that she’s not the right choice while still accepting this. Williams won three of the four tennis grand slam tournaments in a sport she absolutely dominates and has for more than a decade.

American Pharoah would not have been my choice for the SI honor either, but I would’ve chosen the horse over Williams.

Let’s start with the “a horse isn’t a person” theory, because that seemed to be at the middle of the controversy. The reason why this theory quickly became annoying and irritating is that we all realize American Pharoah is a horse. But, a lot of us realize that he was also a valid option for the award and was in the running among nominees for the magazine’s honor. Because of this he was eligible for Sportsperson of the Year despite being a horse. And for those of you saying American Pharoah isn’t a person … the magazine reserves the right to change the name of the honor and actually did this year. Prior to this year the Sportsperson of the Year was either Sportsman or Sportswoman of the Year depending on the sex of the athlete. American Pharoah could’ve qualified for Sportsman of the Year. And those of you saying he isn’t a person and thus isn’t eligible are using the easiest defense you possibly could to deflect getting into the actual meat of the debate between two solid choices.

By the way, while every year a human has won the award it hasn’t always been an athlete or a singular person. Three previous times the honor went to an entire team, four times the honor has gone to a coach and once the honor went to a league commissioner. Also, it should be noted that the honor isn’t always considered as Best Athlete of the Year, but rather given to the individual that “most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement.”

Why do I think American Pharoah was more qualified for the honor than Serena Williams?

A Triple Crown winner had not been crowned in almost 40 years and not only that but American Pharoah also became the first horse in the illustrious history of horse racing to ever win the “Grand Slam” by winning the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup. American Pharoah might be a once in a lifetime horse. Serena Williams may be the best female tennis player ever, but she was really no more dominant this year than in many years over the course of her career. In fact, the reason many are using for Serena Williams winning the honor this year was on the back of her three Grand Slam titles, which is something she also did 13 years ago in 2002. Williams was typical Williams in 2015. Maybe she’s held to a higher standard, but I believe that’s fair.

The most irritating part of the feud was the fact that those people who believe American Pharoah was a better choice than Serena Williams were hit with the claim of being sexist, especially by online magazine Salon in an article by Mary Elizabeth Williams (whose opinions I have enjoyed and agreed with in the past) and really the part of the article that implies sexism is the title (and frequently editors choose those and not the writers; something many outside of journalism fail to realize).

There are valid reasons for believing American Pharoah deserves the honor over Serena Williams, as I stated above, and the claims of sexism are merely an overreach by a liberal magazine taking their liberalness too far (note that I do enjoy much of Salon and I am liberal).
But, you want actual sexism? Look no farther than Serena Williams’ cover for the Sportsperson of the Year honor. Sports Illustrated is a sports magazine, except for that one issue of the year when they feature women in skimpy bathing suits (also sexist), and is honoring Williams for her athleticism and yet the cover photo of her is as a Beyonce-ish sex symbol in a legless one-piece outfit and not a photo of her playing tennis. Last year when San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner won the award he was photographed in his uniform, the same with Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning the year before. If anybody is being sexist here it’s Sports Illustrated, which continues its poor history of showing female athletes as objects.

The last thing that irritated me about the Sportsperson of the Year was the response I got on social media when I shared who my choice would have been – NBA MVP, champion and superstar Stephen Curry. The Golden State Warriors sharp-shooter has put together one of the greatest years in the history of the NBA and truly has revolutionized the game with his three-point style of play that has the Warriors of the last two seasons as one of the all-time great teams already. Curry has also become maybe the most likable athlete in the entire country, which a NBA player likely hasn’t been since Michael Jordan retired (and unlike MJ absolutely nobody seems to dislike Curry).

The response I got from multiple people when I said I would’ve chosen Curry was that an athlete in a team sport should not receive the honor when an individual sport athlete had a year at least as good. I don’t believe an athlete should be punished for playing a team sport, which make up the bulk of popular sports in this country. It just doesn’t make sense how having teammates could hurt an athlete’s chances at Sportsperson of the Year. If anything shining brightly on a team, especially a great team, should help an athlete’s chances. Sports Illustrated also doesn’t believe this to be the case, because a team sport athlete has won the honor 28 times (almost half of the honorees), including the three previous honorees.

So here’s where I stand: Serena Williams is a good choice for Sportsperson of the Year. American Pharoah would’ve been a better choice. Stephen Curry would’ve been the best choice. And, most people making a fuss about the entire thing are doing so without using solid reasoning and frankly some common sense. 

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