Serena Williams Named Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year

Serena Williams has served, volleyed and aced her way to an impressive athletic achievement.

The tennis star has been named 2015 Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated, becoming the first sole female recipient of this honor since Mary Decker in 1983.

“Serena has made a very strong case as not only the greatest tennis player of her generation but of all time, and after the string of performances she put together in 2015, she is one of the most dominant athletes playing today,” Sports Illustrated Group Editor Paul Fichtenbaum said in a statement.

Williams won three Grand Slam titles over the past 12 months, losing in the semifinals of the U.S. Open in a stunning upset.

“This year was spectacular,” Williams said in response to the distinction.

“For Sports Illustrated to recognize my hard work, dedication and sheer determination with this award gives me hope to continue on and do better.

“As I always say, it takes a village –  not just one person. This is not just an accomplishment for me, but for my whole team and all my fans. I am beyond honored.”

But not everyone is happy with Serena earning the above cover, despite her record-breaking year.

In a reader poll, Williams was defeated by multiple athletes, none of whom dated Drake.

Ronda Rousey, Carli Lloyd and the entire Kansas City Royals baseball team earned more votes from random people than Serena.

The creature who should have won Sportsperson of the Year, according to this poll? American Pharaoh, the Triple Crown-winning horse.

Therefore, we now turn it over to you, THGers:

DID SERENA WILLIAMS DESERVE TO WIN SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR?

Yes, she’s amazing!No, it should have been American Pharaoh!What?!? A horse? Come on!

View Poll »

One Direction: Watch Their Farewell Concert Performance

One Direction has said goodbye where group members first said hello.

Over the weekend, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Niall Horan performed on the finale of The X-Factor, which is the same show on which Simon Cowell first discovered the quarter of British hunks.

At the time, of course, it was a quintet of British hunks, but Zayn Malik left One Direction back in March.

Soon afterward, One Direction stunned fans upon announcing that it would go on hiatus for 2016 and, very likely 2017 as well.

So that made their renditions on The X-Factor of Made in the A.M. tracks “History” and “Infinity" a tad bittersweet, as they marked the final times Harry and company would be performing live for…

… well, for who knows how long.

Afterward, the artist jumped on social media and sent messages of gratitude to their fans.

Tweeted Style: "To you, you have changed our lives and no words will ever be good enough to thank you for what we have done together."

And Payne: "Honestly thank you so much to everyone look at all the amazing things we have done together like wtf man."

And Horan: "5 of the best years of our lives so far.. Thank you all so much for your incredible support .I hope you guys realise what you"ve done for us."

And Tomlinson: "I hope you realise what we have all done together really is incredible. You guys have made us what we are today! We"ll be back soon enough!"

One Direction swears this is just a break, not a break up.

But then why does it hurt so bad?!?

Kristin Cavallari: Thankful For Daughter Saylor James After Brother"s Death

Babies have a way of making things a bit bitter.

Today, Kristin Cavallari posted a photo of daughter Saylor James Cutler’s little feetsies with the caption, “My little angel, Saylor. She has been my light throughout this whole thing and has given me so much strength.

“Thank you baby girl for coming when u did.”

Kristin wrote days after her older brother, Michael was found dead in Utah.

Authorities found the 30-year-old’s remains in the desert in a “steep and very rocky” place, three miles from his abandoned Honda.  The cause of death was determined to be exposure to the elements and hypothermia, since temperatures in that location dropped to the teens.

“My heart is in a million pieces Mikey, I could always count on you to make me laugh,” Kristin wrote on social media in memory of Michael.

“You had such a good heart and will be forever missed. I’m at a loss for words but I know u are in a better place and finally at peace. I love u so much RIP.”

Saylor James was born on November 23rd; her father is Chicago Bears quarterback, Jay Cutler.

The couple also have two sons – Camden, 2, and Jaxon, 19 months.

Taylor Swift Attempts to Trademark "Swiftmas," "1989," Might Be a Supervillain

It’s not uncommon for celebrities to trademark certain words and phrases that are commonly associated with their brand, but no one has ever wanted to own the words that come out of your mouth quite as much as Taylor Swift.

Earlier this year, Taylor trademarked the phrase “this sick beat,” so we probably owe her a dollar or something just for using it in this sentence.

Now, T-Swizzle is coming for another chunk of the English language, as her team has reportedly filed for trademarks on the phrases “and I’ll write your name,” “1989,” “blank space,” “Swiftmas,” and “a girl named Girl.”

A Girl Named Girl is the title of a novel that Taylor wrote when she was 15. We have to idea what the hell Swiftmas is, but yours won’t be very merry if you piss off Taylor’s legal team!

As for copyrighting a year, well that’s just an act of cartoonish supervillainy that brings Taylor one step closer to global domination.

So you better get those references to the fall of the Berlin Wall out of your system now, because soon enough all things 1989 will be property of Ms. Swift.

The whole thing sounds insane, but we think we know what this is all about.

View Slideshow: Taylor Swift Instagram Photos: This Singer Has Style!

You see, 2015 was supposed to be looked back upon as The Year of Taylor Swift. Then some strange things happened.

Adele broke Taylor’s sales records. Kendrick Lamar earned more Grammy nominations. Worst of all, Taylor’s sworn enemy Katy Perry was the year’s highest-earning musician. 

Taylor celebrated her birthday over the weekend, and there’s not a doubt in our minds that when she blew out the candles, a high-ranking member of her squad asked her what she wished for and Taylor replied, “The world, mijo,” in her best Scarface voice before picking her teeth with a machete.

Okay, maybe that’s just how we like to imagine things went down.