1999 Village Voice Sportswriters Poll Results

Here are the vote totals for the Eighth Annual Sportswriters Poll. Everyone who contributed to the Voice sports section in 1999 was asked to vote for a first-, second-, and third-place finisher in each of the poll's seven categories (58 responded). A first-place vote was worth four points, a second-place vote two points, and a third-place vote one point. Below, the votegetters, preceded by the number of points they received.

Female Sports Figure of the Century

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86 Babe Didrikson, track/swimming/golf/etc.

69 Martina Navratilova, tennis/gay activism

66 Billie Jean King, tennis/feminism

30 Jackie Joyner-Kersee, pentathlon

24 Wilma Rudolph, sprinting

23 Florence Griffith-Joyner, sprinting

16 Althea Gibson, tennis

15 Steffi Graf, tennis

9 Olga Korbut, gymnastics

6 Hassiba Boulmerka, middle-distance running

6 Sonja Henie, figure skating

6 Pat Summit, basketball coaching

5 Morganna, kissing banditry

4 Melissa Ludke, equal access litigating

4 Selena Roberts, sportswriting

2 Bonnie Blair, speed skating

2 Gail Devers, sprinting/hurdling

2 Gertrude Ederle, distance swimming

2 Chris Evert, tennis

2 Cheryl Miller, basketball

1 Florence Arthaud, solo sailing

1 Carol Blazejowski, basketball

1 Nadia Comaneci, gymnastics

1 Cynthia Cooper, basketball

1 Stasia Czernicki, bowling

1 Marion Jones, sprinting/long-jumping

1 Julie Krone, horseracing

1 Merlene Ottey, sprinting

1 Joan Payson, baseball ownership

1 Marge Schott, baseball ownership

Male Sports Figure of the Century

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75 Muhammad Ali, boxing/Greatest

50 Jackie Robinson, baseball/integrationist

48 Pelé, soccer

47 Babe Ruth, baseball

19 Jesse Owens, sprinting

18 Jim Thorpe, track/football

16 Wayne Gretzky, hockey

16 Michael Jordan, basketball

15 Jim Brown, football/lacrosse

15 Marvin Miller, labor organizing

8 Arthur Ashe, tennis/activism/history

8 Wilt Chamberlain, basketball

8 Bill Russell, basketball/coaching

7 Curt Flood, baseball/labor activism

7 Secretariat, horseracing

6 Roberto Clemente, baseball

5 Bill Veeck, team ownership/hucksterism

4 Moe Berg, baseball/spying

4 Julius Erving, basketball

4 Josh Gibson, baseball

4 Tony Hawk, skateboarding

4 Bruce Lee, kung fu

4 Walt "No Neck" Williams, baseball

3 Joe Louis, boxing

3 Jim Bouton, baseball/writing

2 Roger Bannister, middle-distance running

2 George Best, soccer

2 Abele Bikila, marathon

2 Bill Bradley, basketball/politics

2 Ray Felix, basketball/integrationist

2 Woody Hayes, football coaching

2 Jack Nicklaus, golf

2 Satchel Paige, baseball

2 Sugar Ray Robinson, boxing

2 Mark Spitz, swimming

1 Earl Anthony, bowling

1 Pierre de Coubertin, Olympics reviver

1 Joe DiMaggio, baseball

1 Dan Gable, wrestling

1 Gordie Howe, hockey

1 Ben Johnson, track

1 Bobby Orr, hockey

1 Branch Rickey, team mgmt./integrationist

1 Cal Ripken Jr., baseball

1 Amos Alonzo Stagg, football coaching

1 Mike Tyson, boxing

1 Ted Williams, baseball

Worst Sports Figure of the Century

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62 Don King, boxing promoter/scoundrel

50 Walter O'Malley, baseball owner/Brooklyn soul destroyer

30 Adolph Hitler, Olympics host/führer

29 Ty Cobb, baseball/spike-wielding racist

27 O.J. Simpson, football/knife-wielding misogynist

16 Kenesaw Mountain Landis, MLB commish/racist

14 Black Sox, baseball/entrepreneurs

13 Charles Comiskey, baseball owner/skinflint hypocrite

10 George Steinbrenner, baseball owner/ransomer of public funds

10 Avery Brundage, IOC prez/fascist apologist

8 Michael Jordan, basketball/capitalist tool

7 Phil Knight, Nike CEO/sweatshop king

7 Adolph Rupp, basketball coach/racist

7 J.A. Samaranch, IOC chair/fascist apologist

6 Alan Eagleson, NHLPA head/colluder and embezzler

6 Robert Irsay, football owner/Colts absconder

6 Ronald Reagan, football player-president/New Deal dismantler

5 Muhammad Ali, boxer/loudmouth

5 Gary Bettman, NHL commish/ignoramus

5 Pete Rose, baseball/gambler with bad hair

5 Marge Schott, baseball owner/Hitler groupie

4 Jimmy Carter, president/Olympics canceller

4 David Falk, agent/parasite

4 Bobby Knight, basketball coach/despot

4 Black September, '72 Olympics terrorists

4 Philadelphia Flyers, goons

4 Mike Tyson, boxer/cannibal

3 Vince McMahon, wrestling promoter/corrupter of children

2 Clarence Campbell, NHL prez/antilabor swindler

2 Dallas Cowboys, minions of Satan

2 Jimmy Connors, tennis/asshole

2 John Elway, football/beer pitchman

2 Tonya Harding, figure skater/hellion

2 Diego Maradona, soccer/cokehead

2 Mark McCormack, sports marketer/agent of Mammon

2 Guenther Parche, would-be Seles assassin

2 Bud Selig, MLB commish/Moloch

2 Latrell Sprewell, basketball/neck measurer

1 Bobby Clarke, hockey/clutch & grab perfector

1 Lou Holtz, football coach/winless tyrant

1 Nancy Kerrigan, figure skater/why her?

1 Bowie Kuhn, MLB commish/labor bungler

1 Vince Lombardi, football coach/tin dictator

1 Tim McCarver, TV announcer/pretentious irritant

1 Brent Musburger, TV announcer/bombastic irritant

1 Dennis Rodman, basketball/tired sideshow

1 Rosie Ruiz, marathoner/cheater

1 Sports owners/agents, devil's concubines

1 Donald Sterling, basketball owner/Clippers mastermind

Male Sports Figure of 1999

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77 Lance Armstrong, cycling/surviving

56 Pedro Martinez, baseball

31 Latrell Sprewell, basketball

28 Tiger Woods, golf

23 Wayne Gretzky, hockey

19 Joe Torre, baseball managing

16 Derek Jeter, baseball

15 Tim Duncan, basketball

13 Billy Bean, baseball/out and proud

11 Hicham El Guerrouj, track

10 Lennox Lewis, boxing

10 Payton Manning, football

7 Vince Carter, basketball

9 David Cone, baseball

8 Dominik Hasek, hockey

8 Jaromir Jagr, hockey

7 Mariano Rivera, baseball

6 Kurt Warner, football

5 Mark McGwire, baseball

5 Bill Parcells, football coaching

4 Giovanni Soldini, solo sailing/rescuer

4 Jim Gray, sportscasting

4 Michael Jordan, basketball

4 Herman Maier, skiing

4 Randy Moss, football

3 Andre Agassi, tennis

3 Larry Johnson, basketball

2 Marv Albert, sportscasting

2 Charles Barkley, basketball

2 David Beckham, soccer

2 Allen Iverson, basketball

2 Don Zimmer, baseball coaching

1 Ray Buchanan, football

1 Gary Cohen, sportscasting

1 Michael Finley, basketball

1 Doug Flutie, football

1 Hideki Irabu, baseball

1 Casey Martin, golf/disabled activism

1 Melvin Mora, baseball

1 Walter Payton, football

1 Mike Piazza, baseball

1 Laffit Pincay, Jr., horseracing

1 Payne Stewart, golf

1 Jean Van de Velde, golf

1 Ted Williams, baseball

Female Sports Figure of 1999

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69 Serena Williams, tennis

43 Mia Hamm, soccer

38 Cynthia Cooper, basketball

24 Kim Perrot, basketball

23 Venus Williams, tennis

19 Briana Scurry, soccer

18 Steffi Graf, tennis

17 Michelle Akers, soccer

17 Yolanda Griffith, basketball

16 Brandi Chastain, soccer

13 Sun Wen, soccer

12 Marion Jones, track

8 Lyudmila Engquist, hurdling/survivor

8 Jenny Thompson, swimming

6 Kristine Lilly, soccer

6 Sissi, soccer

5 Martina Hingis, tennis

4 Cherica Adams, victim

4 Lindsay Davenport, tennis

4 Juli Inkster, golf