The Los Angeles Times had a poll running on its website asking who is the real sportsperson of the year: tennis superstar Serena Williams or Triple Crown winner American Pharoah?
The newspaper was getting brutalized on Twitter over the tasteless and insulting comparison.
The newspaper has since changed its headline to read: Are fans right to be upset that Serena Williams beat American Pharoah for SI Sportsperson of the Year? The Times also removed the picture of American Pharoah.
The question was designed to highlight that Sports Illustrated announced Serena Williams was sportsperson of the year and apparently people were upset it was not Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, the first triple crown winner in 27 years.
Well, American Pharaoh is a horse.
Williams, on other hand, won 53 out of 56 of her tennis matches this year and she is an actual person. Sportsperson of the Year, get it?
Sports Illustrated explains that the sportsperson of the year award goes to “the athlete or team whose performance that year embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement.”
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