John Isner. Runners-up Garrett Wittels, Rafael Nadal, Kobe Bryant.
Isner joins the other 5 nominees in our race for Athlete of the Year. I had Kobe penciled in for the month, but an 11 hour tennis match is an undeniable feat.
The year's half over; I guess I'd lean Brees as the current leader. I took notes on the lottery last night and will put up a draft blog time permitting.
Here's 1995:
1995 Athlete of the Year: Hakeem Olajuwon (AP picked Ripken)
January - Steve Young (Tommie Frazier, Natrone Means, Eric Davis)
February - Rebecca Lobo (Shaquille O'Neal, Jaromir Jagr, Sterling Marlin)
March - Tyus Edney (Randolph Childress, Corliss Williamson, Ed O'Bannon)
April - Ben Crenshaw (David Robinson, Eric Lindros, Michael Jordan)
May - Hakeem Olajuwon (Reggie Miller, Penny Hardaway, Martin Brodeur)
June - Martin Brodeur (Steffi Graf, Hakeem Olajuwon, Hideo Nomo)
July - Steffi Graf (Ramon Martinez, John Daly, Michael Schumacher)
August - Michael Johnson (Mo Vaughn, Monica Seles, Leland McElroy)
September - Cal Ripken (Danny Wuerffel, Emmitt Smith, Albert Belle)
October - Tom Glavine (Randy Johnson, Chipper Jones, Orel Hershiser)
November - Brett Favre (Eddie George, Danny Wuerffel, Mario Lemieux)
December - Jerry Rice (Glyn Milburn, Herman Moore, Byron Hanspard)
6 comments
No runner up spot for Nicolas Mahut? Only results matter in the cold, hard Blog of Revelation!
(Speaking of results, John Isner lost in straight sets in the second round. And quit on his doubles partner. Nicolas Mahut is still playing his doubles match, down a set in his match that will resume on Saturday)
Mahut's a victim to form; I try to pick a guy every 8 days, sticking with the calendar. Sometimes two people will come from the same calendar week - but, for example, I've never picked 2 players from the Super Bowl.
When I have, say, taken both the men's and women's winners of a tennis tournament, it's been earlier in the month. I already had the 3 runners up picked going into picking Isner - so there wasn't room for Mahut, and I never unpick someone once he's picked.
Had it been three weeks earlier, I'd have picked both of them.
And that results in the guy who throws a no-hitter late in the month getting stiffed. 149 pitch warrior performance too.
The 8 walks minimizes the accomplishment a bit.
That tennis match didn't reach 70-68 because they were playing high quality tennis. It reached 70-68 because:
1. Both Isner and Mahut had an incredible will to win that match at all costs.
2. Both Isner and Mahut were too mediocre to come up with a strategy to break serve.
It's like the Cena vs Orton Ironman match, in that you watch it the first time around because you don't know who's going to win, but afterwards you would never, ever (ever!) go back and watch it again without liberal use of the fast forward button. Unlike the 2008 Wimbledon Final (Nadal over Federer 9-7 in the fifth) or the 2009 Wimbledon Final (Federer over Murray, 16-14 in the fifth), which are five star tennis classics regardless of when you watch them.
So it goes with Edwin Jackson. He could have folded up the tent when he loaded the bases with no outs in the third. But he fought back, got out of it, and, like Isner, found a way to finish off far and away the longest no-hitter in history.
Mediocre ability, iron will. Pretty much the same thing to me, except that Isner required someone else just like him to pull his feat off.
I'm calling the July winner early: Brock F'n Lesnar.
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