On the surface, 2018 doesn't have that obvious no-brainer selection. In 2014, it was clearly Madison Bumgarner. Just like 2015 was the Year of Serena and LeBron was the clear choice in 2016. Even last year, with all Jose Altuve and J.J. Watt did for the City of Houston (in addition to the Astros winning the World Series), that seemed like the obvious call.
Even if there's no front-runner, there's no shortage of candidates for the top sports performer of 2018. We waited 37 years for a Triple Crown before American Pharoah, then we waited only three for another one. But, almost because of American Pharoah, there was significantly less buzz in this year's Triple Crown chase. So, can I Justify (I'm sorry, I had to) a Sportsperson of the Year nod? Sadly, no.
Winter Olympics happen so early in the year that they're easy to forget, but the PyeongChang Games did give us a pair of history-making American gold medals. One was in cross country skiing, and it made Jessie Diggins the Darling of the Games. The other came in men's curling, making Matt Hamilton a household name. Both great stories. But were they transcendent enough to rise to Sportsperson of the Year level? I don't think so.
There was a World Cup this year, too. The United States wasn't there, but Neymar, Messi and Pretty Boy were. None of them came anywhere close to winning the title, though. Croatia's Luka Modric did. He took his team all the way to the final and pulled off the near-impossible. He wrestled the Ballon d'Or as FIFA Player of the Year away from Messi and Pretty Boy. Modric is definitely in the running for world Athlete of the Year. Does that translate to Sportsperson of the Year, though? Close, but no cigar.
Likewise, Novak Djokovic returned to prominence in 2018, returning from injury to dominate the summer and win two Grand Slams. Serena also made her return and reached the finals of both Wimbledon and the US Open. She kinda took herself out of the running for what happened in the US Open final, though. Brooks Koepka, meanwhile, won the other U.S. Open and was on the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Except it doesn't speak well for him that the only golfer people care about is still Tiger Woods.
College sports doesn't often give us a Sportsperson of the Year candidate, but I'd argue that this year we did get one. That's what hitting back-to-back game-winners in the National Semifinal and National Championship Game can do for you. It even led to an appearance on "Dancing With the Stars" for Notre Dame's Arike Ogunbowale.
NFL guys always get a little short-changed when it comes to Sportsperson of the Year consideration. The Super Bowl is so early in the year and there's still a month left in the next season when these selections are announced. The problem with the football players this year, though, is that you have no idea which quarterback to pick? Tom Brady? Drew Brees? Jared Goff? Patrick Mahomes? And if you can't decide, it probably isn't any of them.
Which brings me to my three finalists. The first is Mookie Betts. He won the AL MVP and was the heart-and-soul of a historic Red Sox team that won 108 games and a World Series title. That story lasted all summer and into October, and Betts was in the middle of it all the entire time. He exemplified that team and everything they represented.
Then there's Steph Curry. Yes, the annual Warriors-Cavs NBA Finals got incredibly annoying and made the entire NBA regular season completely irrelevant. You can't argue that what Golden State has done over the past four years is anything short of remarkable, though. And that run corresponds to Steph Curry's ascendance to superstardom.
Every time I think about the Sportsperson of the Year, though, I keep coming back to one name. Alex Ovechkin. Russia (technically OAR) got its long-awaited Olympic hockey gold without him. But the prize that the Great Eight won was even greater. Because at long last, he became a Stanley Cup champion. It was also the Capitals' first Cup in their 44-year franchise history (and Washington's first championship period since the 1991 Redskins), which became nothing more than a side note.
Because after 13 years in Washington, Ovi finally got to hoist the Cup. And once he finally got his hands on it, he didn't let that thing leave his side. He certainly enjoyed his time with his new 35-pound best friend. His shenanigans with the Stanley Cup were epic, and they are now the standard by which all future Stanley Cup summers will be judged by. Not that he didn't deserve every second of it. It must be incredible to finally be able to let loose after years of chasing something, coming up short, and having the pressure mount.
Ovechkin could be the Sportsperson of the Year for his post-Cup celebrating alone. But it's so much more than that. The humanitarian work he does in the D.C. area is well-known, but he also donates to orphanages in his native Russia. And the Cup, of course, paid a visit to both. Speaking of Russia, Ovi is the first Russian-born captain to lead his team to the Cup. And he received a hero's welcome (although not by all) when he brought the Stanley Cup to Red Square.
So, as it turns out, the 2018 Sportsperson of the Year decision wasn't that tough after all. Of all the sports stories and personalities that were in the spotlight over the past 12 months, one stands out above all the rest. Alex Ovechkin--Stanley Cup champion, humanitarian, 2018 Joe Brackets Sportsperson of the Year.
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