Folks who voted for Zenyatta as athlete of year should be reined in

If Zenyatta looks like she has a longer face than usual this week, we will all know why.

For the first time in her life, the retired American thoroughbred failed to reach the winner's circle - she finished several furlongs behind Serena Williams in the race for The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.

A horse as runner-up for athlete of the year? It's no joke. But, then again, it is.

Zenyatta retired this year with a 14-0 record after becoming the first filly to win the Breeders' Cup Classic.

She's a great champion. But, c'mon. I've got a washing machine that runs well, too. That doesn't qualify it to be athlete of the year.

The votes for the award were cast by U.S. newspaper editors.

Were they just horsing around?

Or were they trying to stirrup trouble among the humans?

How is it that even a relatively few voters could express such unbridled enthusiasm for a horse?

Outside of Williams, this should be an embarrassment for women. You mean there wasn't a basketball player or track and field star or swimmer who didn't impress more than a horse?

This is like Mr. Ed being nominated for an Emmy.

Not to nag, but if women jocks don't start getting their act together, a pooch from the Westminster Dog Show might make a serious run at the 2010 top female athlete award.

Kind of looks like Williams won by default, doesn't it? This recalls that the most vivid moment of her tennis season came at the U.S. Open when she flirted with being defaulted.

In ' 09, Williams is less recognized for her accomplishments than for her obscenity-laced tirade aimed at a line judge.

Still stubbornly clueless as to how the incident played in America's living rooms, Williams insisted Tuesday that her outburst "got a lot more people excited about tennis."

She can believe that if she wants. But while one incident shouldn't tarnish a great career, she's wrong to pretend that her tantrum, combined with a reluctance to own up to it, hasn't diminished her image in the eyes of a lot of fans.

Speaking of tennis, it's obvious once again that Roger Federer's biggest handicap when it comes to competing for year-end honors in the U.S. is his failure to hold an American passport.

In the vote for AP top male athlete, Federer finished a competitive second to NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, who now has an even bigger stage from which to insist that a driver can be "100 percent" an athlete.

Johnson protests too much, but he gets no argument from me. If a horse can be designated an athlete for the purposes of a popularity contest, so can a car jockey who harnesses all that horse power.

Besides, Federer has a history of falling just short on the American year-end award circuit. You think this has anything to do with the fact that he's Swiss and the people handing out the honors are American?

Since 1960, the AP Athlete of the Year has gone to only two non-Americans - hockey great Wayne Gretzky and sprinter Ben Johnson, both Canadians.

The last European to win was Swedish heavyweight Ingemar Johansson in 1959.

Federer should have taken the prize by now - his 2006 was one of the most amazing years any athlete has ever put together.

His ' 09 credentials weren't too shoddy either. After being halfway written off before the start of the year, he came within a pair of fifth sets of winning the Grand Slam.

It wasn't quite good enough in the estimation of the U.S. editors. Not for a foreigner.

Sorry, Rog. Too bad for you, too, Usain Bolt. You guys win at the wrong sports, under the wrong flags.

At least the men's contest, though, wasn't saddled with such pathetic competition that a four-legged creature received more votes than all but one person.

It's a good thing that I don't let the results of these year-end award contests bother me.

Otherwise, I'd yell myself horse.

Bob Molinaro, (757) 446-2373 bob.molinaro@pilotonline.com