34 replies to this topic

[Futtocks]

Nominees:

• Mark Cavendish (cycling)
• Darren Clarke (golf)
• Alastair Cook (Letter from Ameri... er, cricket)
• Luke Donald (another golfer)
• Mo Farah (athletics)
• Dai Greene (athletics)
• Amir Khan (boxing)
• Rory McIlroy (yet another golfer)
• Andy Murray (tennis)
• Andrew Strauss (cricket)

A few initial thoughts:

Cavendish not only deserves to win it but, unlike previous years, seems to have enough of a public profile that he may well do so.

There will be at least one golfer in the top three, or Ian Woosnam will scream and scream and scream until he's sick.

Cricket - England must be up for the team award, which suggests that individual honours may be less likely.

I'd like to see Mo Farah in the top three, as he's had a superb season. Andy Murray - save it until he wins a Grand Slam.

Overseas personality: while we'd all love to see Darren Lockyer get this, Novak Djokovic must be the front-runner, surely?

[gingerjon]

How in the name of the holiest of flucks is Andy Murray in there?

I know there's a bit of complaint about the lack of ladytypes but to be honest even if you swapped a couple it'd be a very weak list.

A poor year, test cricket aside, really.

[JohnM]

Sports Personality of the Year ( 2011). Murray?

List of publications involved:
Sunday Telegraph
Observer
Daily Mail
Independent
Sunday Times
The People
Irish News
Metro
The Herald
Evening Standard
Nuts
Daily Post
Sunday Express
Western Mail
Manchester Evening News
The Mirror
Mail on Sunday
The Times
The Voice
Sport Magazine
Daily Telegraph
Daily Star
Guardian
Daily Star Sunday
Zoo
Belfast Telegraph
The Sun

One guy phoned in to Radio Five Live and asked why the new Statesman wasn't on the list.

Another suggested a men's award and a women's award (since men and women are separated in virtually all sports, why not? )

Another one suggested weighting the votes towards women.

The BBC have published all the votes of all the papers ( or nominations)

I wanted to phone in but was unable to do so. I wanted to propose a special award to Rob Andrew for Services to Comedy and Rugby League.

[Futtocks]

No women in the list, despite Nuts magazine being one of the voters? Evidently, the best female athletes of 2011 must be flat-chested.

[Futtocks]

A poor year, test cricket aside, really.

Talk about bad timing; Daniel Purvis has just won the Gymnastics World Cup, too late for a nomination.

And it is a pretty significant win, considering that, until recently, the chances of a Brit even qualifying for a major event was slimmer than none. In its own field, it is comparable to Mo Farah breaking the Kenya/Ethiopia stranglehold on distance running.

[West Country Eagle]

It's hard to argue with some on that list - Cavendish, Farah, Greene, McIlroy, Clarke and Alistair Cook have all had great years, or achieved great things - but Murray and Amir Khan? Also, two cricketers? Just one would have been better.

It's a bit of a surprise that there are no women - Chrissie Wellington had another amazing year in Ironman Triathlon (as she always seems to - a genuine world class performer) and you could also make a case for Helen Jenkins (ITU Triathlon World Champion), Kerry-Ann Payne and possibly Rebecca Addlington. Also, while I'm on the subject, we could have made a case for Alistair Brownlee, since he came back and once again dominated the ITU World Champs (with a little help from his brother).

At least there are no yawnion or horsey types on there this year, or adulterous footballers. Thank heavens for small mercies etc.

[West Country Eagle]

Also, Luke Donald? Yes, I know he's number one in the world, but he's still not won a major. Like Murray, he excels at tournaments that don't matter… hence his ranking.

[Futtocks]

Chrissie Wellington had another amazing year in Ironman Triathlon (as she always seems to - a genuine world class performer) and you could also make a case for Helen Jenkins (ITU Triathlon World Champion), Kerry-Ann Payne and possibly Rebecca Addlington.

Have you seen who votes? Out of the names above, the only one most of the decision-makers would have heard of is Adlington. And that was back in Beijing, not since.

Sport Editors in this country seem to have, in the main, an incredibly shallow, narrow view of sport in general, with only a small number of sports being considered 'significant' enough to warrant anything but the most grudging of single column inches.

Some unkind types are known to whisper that there is some strange, unfathomable connection between coverage and sybaritically generous corporate hospitality. Of course, this is unthinkable and is an insult to journalistic integrity. Of course.

Edited by Futtocks, 29 November 2011 - 01:59 PM.

[PC]

Have you seen who votes?

Bloody Zoo and Nuts magazine. Says it all really.

[Bedford Roughyed]

Manchester Evening News voted for 3 foreigners so wasted 3 votes...

James Anderson
Dimitar Berbatov
Glen Chapple
Darren Clarke
Rory McIlroy
Keri-Anne Payne
Paul Scholes
Andrew Strauss
Yaya Toure
Patrick Vieira

[Futtocks]

Sam Tomkins received 3 votes.

[Steve May]

When Paula Radcliffe won $1m for coming about 50th in the New York Marathon, with the person who came in just before her winning ###### all, I imagine she wasn't that worried about inequalities in sport.

[Steve May]

It's a bit of a surprise that there are no women - Chrissie Wellington had another amazing year in Ironman Triathlon (as she always seems to - a genuine world class performer)

She came 32nd. Very creditable in an incredibly tough sport. But there were 31 people ahead of her, including Tom Lowe, the highest placed Brit. He was 25 minutes faster and came 11th.



Equality sometimes works against you. And sometimes for you.

Edited by Steve May, 29 November 2011 - 06:29 PM.

[PC]

She normally finishes top 10 overall. At The world champs she was suffering from severe road rash, a torn pectoral muscle, and had spent a few hours on IV antibiotics in the week leading up to the race.

[Jerry the Berry]

Silly and meaningless event these days which makes the BBC think it's much bigger than it is in terms of being a major sports broadcaster.

I'd take more interest in the event if it moved to Sky. Saying that I'd probably take more interest if the BBC just ditched Sue Barker and Gary Lineker.

[Steve May]

She normally finishes top 10 overall. At The world champs she was suffering from severe road rash, a torn pectoral muscle, and had spent a few hours on IV antibiotics in the week leading up to the race.

She is a remarkable athlete. If you check, she has finished 32nd this year, 23rd in 2009, 40th in 2008, 42nd in 2007

There's absolutely no chance whatsoever that I could even dream of emulating her achievements. But then I'm not an elite athlete. We're talking here about the top fraction of 1/10000th of a percent of athletes in the World. And she's 32nd in the World Championships for her event. Incredible. But there are 31 people, including a Briton, ahead of her. At those stratospheric levels of performance, 31 is a lot of people.

I'd be quite interested to know how much publicity, funding and sponsorship she gets in comparison to her immediate peers - the people ranked about 30th. My guess is, like Paula Radcliffe, she far outstrips them.

In most sports it would be possible for men and women to compete in the same competition. I genuinely believe they should do so wherever they can. At the most obvious end, I cannot for the life in me see any justification whatsoever for separate competitions in things like darts and snooker. It's interesting to note that some sports do have a mixed element. Danica Patrick finished 3rd in the Indy 500 a few years back for example.

If I'm honest, I'm not wholly convinced that women shouldn't be playing things like football in the same teams as men.

[MikeW]

She came 32nd. Very creditable in an incredibly tough sport. But there were 31 people ahead of her, including Tom Lowe, the highest placed Brit. He was 25 minutes faster and came 11th.



Equality sometimes works against you. And sometimes for you.

From wikipedia:

She received an MBE for services to Ironman Triathlons.

She seems to be a phenomenal athelete. Why doesn't she do the normal triathlon in the Olympics, if she wants sport to be a platform, then do one that people give a toss about.

Edited by MikeW, 30 November 2011 - 08:54 AM.

[MikeW]

In its own field, it is comparable to Mo Farah breaking the Kenya/Ethiopia stranglehold on distance running.

In what sense?

[Number 16]

The decision to exclude RU from the list must have gone all the way up to the BBC's Board of Governors for sanctioning.

[Futtocks]

In what sense?

In the sense that he is a Brit, finishing ahead of competitors from the nations who traditionally dominate the sport. Britain have, until only a few years ago, had a pretty wretched history in gymnastics. To even qualify for a Grand Prix event or the European championships would have been considered a massive success.