Tennis? Really, how hard can it be?
Last May the USOC decided to include Sinead in their April female athlete of the month voting after her wonderful performance at Rolex. I’m sure they thought to themselves that they were just throwing us crazy equestrians a bone and that a more mainstream sport would easily win. But then we got involved here at EN and 1,600 votes later Sinead destroyed the field.
We have our chance to have our voice heard again. This time Phillip Dutton is up for vote for male athlete of the month, and after two CIC3* wins in one month he definitely deserves the votes. (And adding to the victory– remember that Phillip is making a donation to the Muscular Dystrophy Association for every event he wins this season!) In this USOC vote, Phillip is going up against sports where gravity does all the work like diving and skiing, vacation sports like water skiing and tennis, and shooting–a ‘sport’ where one tries to move as little as possible. Of course, this is about far more than Phillip and Mystery Whisper, it’s about making the equestrian voice heard.
Predictably, the USOC has added a few hurdles to democracy since our little Sinead uprising, including making having a Twitter account a requirement for voting. And of course, the public poll only counts for 10% of the award. USOC bureaucrats stepped in last year and gave the award to women’s ice hockey instead of listening to us, the lawless masses. 17 year old show jumper Reed Kessler is in the running for female athlete of the month after an incredible performance at the Olympic selection trials–be sure to vote for her as well.
[Vote for Phillip Here, Vote for Reed Here] — Hurry the poll ends at 1pm ET Monday!
Go eventing.
