British sports personality of the year

[superkingdave]

Originally Posted by Goughy

You really think so? I have not heard of 4 of them and those that I have heard of hardly seem to have had amazing years and a massive impact internationally.

Fair to say Im not on the pulse of British sports but it isnt a very inspiring list.

Id give it to Button

OOI which 4 haven't you heard of?

[grecian]

Best list for some time I'd of thought. boxing world heavyweight champion, Ashes winning captain and main contributor. F1 World champion and our highest rated mens tennis player since eons. World champion at athletics have always featured too.

Still a meh-event, but slightly less meh then most years, in my opinion.

[Goughy]

Originally Posted by superkingdave

OOI which 4 haven't you heard of?

Risking looking ignorant I have not heard of-
Jessica Ennis
Beth Tweddle
Mark Cavendish
Tom Daley

I guess their activities do not permeate my world.

Out of intetrest, what has Giggs done to deserve nomination? Did I miss some big event?

[cpr]

Bit harsh on Giggs, yes winning player of the year was a bit of a joke, but he's a 36 year old guy absolutely tearing the hell out of premiership defences (i'd say he's been better this season than last), and is outperforming some of Englands top stars. I think he deserves recognition for what he's doing and how easy he's making it look despite his age. Not a winner, but worth nomination

[superkingdave]

Originally Posted by Goughy

Risking looking ignorant I have not heard of-
Jessica Ennis
Beth Tweddle
Mark Cavendish
Tom Daley

I guess their activities do not permeate my world.

Out of intetrest, what has Giggs done to deserve nomination? Did I miss some big event?

yeah i guessed three of them, thought the other would have been idowu instead of cavendish.

Ennis (Heptathlon), Tweddle (Gymnastics), and Daley (Diving) are all world champions. Though iirc, Ennis pretty much won by default since Kluft opted out (she hadnt lost for 6 years), Daley is only about 6, and Tweddle looks like she's had a few too many arguments with the parralel bars. (World Champ in gymnastics a decent acheivement tho for a Brit)

Cavendish, depends on how you view cycling, but think he won about 4 or 5 stages on the TDF and is maybe the best pure sprinter in cycling.

[Samuel_Vimes]

Originally Posted by superkingdave

Though iirc, Ennis pretty much won by default since Kluft opted out (she hadnt lost for 6 years)

Yeah, but she would have been injured anyway. (That said, there's a Yank who probably should have beat her, but failed in American qualifying due to injury.)

Originally Posted by superkingdave

Cavendish, depends on how you view cycling, but think he won about 4 or 5 stages on the TDF and is maybe the best pure sprinter in cycling.

No maybe about it.

[Goughy]

Originally Posted by superkingdave

yeah i guessed three of them, thought the other would have been idowu instead of cavendish.

Ennis (Heptathlon), Tweddle (Gymnastics), and Daley (Diving) are all world champions. Though iirc, Ennis pretty much won by default since Kluft opted out (she hadnt lost for 6 years), Daley is only about 6, and Tweddle looks like she's had a few too many arguments with the parralel bars. (World Champ in gymnastics a decent acheivement tho for a Brit)

Cavendish, depends on how you view cycling, but think he won about 4 or 5 stages on the TDF and is maybe the best pure sprinter in cycling.

I know of Phillips Idowu. I was a triple jumper myself (and a pretty good one if I do say so myself) and follow it far closer than any 'normal' person would. Saying that just because it was my event doesnt change the fact that it is a pretty low key track and field event. As is Heptathlon.

As for cycling, I dont know the name as I dont have an opinion on the sport. I dont view it a particular way, it just isnt on my radar (saying that probably more so than diving).

Surely Button has to win, right?

[Craig]

Originally Posted by superkingdave

yeah i guessed three of them, thought the other would have been idowu instead of cavendish.

Ennis (Heptathlon), Tweddle (Gymnastics), and Daley (Diving) are all world champions. Though iirc, Ennis pretty much won by default since Kluft opted out (she hadnt lost for 6 years), Daley is only about 6, and Tweddle looks like she's had a few too many arguments with the parralel bars. (World Champ in gymnastics a decent acheivement tho for a Brit)

Cavendish, depends on how you view cycling, but think he won about 4 or 5 stages on the TDF and is maybe the best pure sprinter in cycling.

Won 6 of them this year and 4 last year in the Tour de France.

[grecian]

Have voted for Strauss, never understood F1 winners, 'tis the car surely.

BTW an heptathlete and a triple-jumper have won this before, so it wouldn't be that odd if either took it out. Ennis would be my second choice.

[Uppercut]

Originally Posted by Pothas

Makes for pretty awful television as well.

Can give a fairly good reflection on what sort of year it has been for British Sport though, have a reasonable selection of candiates this time round, there was that horrific year when princess whats her face Phillps won.

Darren Clarke was odds-on to take it that year after helping win the Ryder Cup just after his wife died. There's a feeling in Northern Ireland that the whole thing is ridiculously Anglo-centric, David Healy didn't even make the nominations when he broke the World Cup Qualifiers goalscoring record.

Personally I don't care in the slightest, the whole award is so full of **** that it makes me mildly angry.

[marc71178]

Healy's hardly a shock though, rarely do footballers actually get in the reckoning.

[Tom Halsey]

Originally Posted by cpr

Bit harsh on Giggs, yes winning player of the year was a bit of a joke, but he's a 36 year old guy absolutely tearing the hell out of premiership defences (i'd say he's been better this season than last), and is outperforming some of Englands top stars. I think he deserves recognition for what he's doing and how easy he's making it look despite his age. Not a winner, but worth nomination

Agree completely with this, unsurprisingly.

The award is supposed to go to a personality apparently, which immediately rules out most of this list.

[Uppercut]

True, but if an English footballer broke the all-time record for goals in a World Cup Qualifying campaign (including, amongst other things, a hat-trick to beat Spain 3-2) he'd win the award so conclusively it would barely be worth holding a ceremony. Healy did it in a vastly inferior team and didn't even warrant a mention.

I don't overly care in truth, but the people in Norn Iron who take the award seriously do have a pretty legitimate grievance.

[Uppercut]

Originally Posted by Tom Halsey

Agree completely with this, unsurprisingly.

The award is supposed to go to a personality apparently, which immediately rules out most of this list.

Yeah. Graeme Swann should have it nailed down if we're taking the award's title literally.

[grecian]

Well, it's one of the reason's I wouldn't vote for Giggs and think Ennis is a worthy winner is that she posesses a "personality".

Mind you it's the most tired joke in the world whether this award is an oxymoron or a contradiction in terms, and with the likes of Davis, Mansell, Faldo, Hendry and Damon ****ing Hill, it's hard to argue at times.