Bryan Joiner

Sports Illustrated says, via vote, that Eric LeGrand, paralyzed in a football game for Rutgers last year, “leading” his team back onto the field in a mouth-operated wheelchair, is the “sports moment of the year.” It’s not. It’s an incredible human interest story, and it’s incredible for LeGrand, but it’s a human moment, not a “sports moment.” It is, sadly, something we will see again. The sports moment of the year should belong to something we won’t.

Nor is the photo of two people kissing during the Vancouver riots, as suggested by Quickish, the sports moment of the year. It wasn’t on the field of play and is tangentially related to anything really memorable. Serendipitous sport-related photo of the year? Bam.

This is the sports moment of the year, with apologies to my cousin: