Well, the field of candidates is out there for all to judge. Have you already chosen your man (or woman?) I have. I think it’s going to be a landslide for… Tiger Woods.
Tiger Woods? I’m sorry. Did you think I was talking about the 2008 presidential campaign? No, friends, I refer to the selection of the world’s most happening sports celebrity.
Credit for this idea goes to ESPN. As the cable sports network notes on its website: “Throughout July, ‘SportsCenter’ will air ‘Who's Now,’ a daily series in which viewers will help ESPN determine the ultimate sports star by considering both on-field success and off-field buzz.”
Here’s how it works: ESPN selected a field of 32 finalists, seeded them, and then put them into four different brackets for a single elimination fight to the finish. The brackets are named after pioneers who paved the way for today’s heroes: Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali and Billie Jean King. Top seeds are: the NBA’s LeBron James, the NFL’s Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, and my guy Tiger. Winners are determined by ESPN panelists and us, the American people.
Competition began on July 1 with Tiger easily beating #8 seed Arizona Cardinal quarterback Matt Leinart. You can see the full list of candidates and results at: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=whosnow
As someone who prides himself as both an idea man and a sports fan, I confess that I kicked myself for having failed to come up with “Who’s Now?” But in the idea business you learn to move on and ask, “What’s Next?” What’s next for me (and you, I hope) is a competition to determine the world’s favorite ESPN personality.
I have selected my own list of 32 finalists. I have placed them in their respective bracket positions by pulling their names from an Indianapolis Colts hat. Once we get down to our Final 4, I’ll try to line up some celebrity judges, but in the meantime, all head to head matchups will be decided by you.
To get things going, let’s do all 16 first round matches quickly. Voting begins today and continues through Tuesday, the 10th. Next Wednesday we’ll post the remaining Sweet Sixteen and a new round of voting will begin.
Please feel free to comment as well as vote. Voting is simple. Pick the winners of each of the 16 first round matchups (or as many as you wish) and email them to steve@ampolo.com.
You can either send your pick’s name or number. For example, in the Stephen A. Smith vs. Neil Everett contest, if you choose Smith, either send me his name or his number (1), if you choose Everett, send me his name or number (2). Do the same with the next…oh you get it.
THE BRACKETS
Keith Olbermann Bracket
1. Stephen A. Smith vs. 2.Neal Everett
3.Chris Berman vs. 4. Jay Crawford
5.Linda Cohn vs. 6. Mike Golic
7.Dick Vitale vs. 8.Stacey Dales
Melissa Stark Bracket
9.Suzy Kolber vs. 10.Jim Rome
11.Dan Patrick vs. 12.Joe Morgan
13.Erin Andrews vs. 14. Stuart Scott
15.Michelle Tafoya vs. 16.John Kruk
Craig Kilborn Bracket
17.Mel Kiper jr. vs, 18. John Saunders
19.Peter Gammons vs. 20.Tony Reali
21.Mike Greenberg vs. 22.Skip Bayless
23.Sage Steele vs. 24.Tony Kornheiser
Joe Theismann Bracket
25.Brent Musburger vs. 26.Chris McKendry
27. Kenny Mayne vs. 28.Mike Tirico
29.Michael Wilbon vs. 30.Pedro Gomez
31.Dana Jacobson vs. 32.Barry Melrose
The numbers are merely for identification. Not seeding.
Vote early and often and tell your friends. And don’t forget to visit our companion site, www.ampolo.com. We hope you’ll view the video there and find something that you’d like take and run with—free of charge.
Steve
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