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Greg Rusedski won the damn thing once for being a good enough sport to get absolutely banjoed by Pat Rafter at the US Open.
Utter drivel.
Fixed grins, nervous laughter, cardboard presenters, sportspeople in their Sunday best squirming like ten year olds at a church service and all the warmth, jollity and anticipation of a dentist’s waiting room. A year of exhilarating highs and gut-wrenching moments of tension boiled down to a slide show with exhumed jokes.
Unless there’s alcohol involved, British award ceremonies are usually unbearable and SPOTY is the pinacle of clammy, self-concious awfulness.
Naturally, I’ll be watching it, though possibly from behind the sofa.
From a cricket perspective, Strauss has more claim to the individual prize than the team have to the team trophy, since he more or less carried their batting throughout. But it was a pretty scrappy series in which the least worst team staggered over the line.
If AP hasn’t won it before now, I can’t really see why he would be a candidate this year in particular, but it does seem that the BBC have a blind spot re: racing.
I seem to recollect Red Rum going close after his third National in the mid-seventies.
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Think Red Rum was a piss take for a bit of light entertainment although he did meet the criteria more than Tony McCoy does.
Awarded to the sportsperson "whose actions have most captured the public’s imagination"is what it’s all about and horses get more publicity nationally than jockeys do unless your Lester Piggot.
Lester achieved more in his lifetime than most sportsmen dream about. Yet it took them 40 years to even recognise he existed which embarrassed the hell out of Peter O’Sullivan who felt ashamed he had been ignored for so long.
Like AP Lester won with horses no one else could have, even more so, but like Lester AP because. I suppose, he is regarded as horse dependant it puts the mockers on it.
Changing the criteria to "
whose actions have most captured the betting public’s imagination" he’d walk it.Not because he’s the best Jockey IMO but because he’s very talented and the hardest working jockey ever and does without doubt catch our imagination.
If the award was simply for the best jockey I would be firmly in Ruby’s corner. His strike rate is a mile ahead of AP’s and he’s technically a much better rider. McCoy is brilliant but Ruby is pure genius and for me the best of all time.
Plus Ruby has had songs written about him so he must be better
Didn’t Desert Orchid win it one year?
I seem to recollect Red Rum going close
I’m not quite sure what a ‘personality’ is.
Is it the same thing as that equally mystifying entity, a ‘celebrity’?
It’s the consideration of such philosophical quandaries that keeps me awake at night
Anyway I’d contend that DO and RR had plenty of either/both, and would always have got my block vote as they had that inestimable virtue: sportspersons who keep their gobs shut at all times
BTW Max I believe D Hill won it too, in addition to Nige
Whilst I certainly don’t want to be seen as an apologist for the BBC, it should be pointed out that they didn’t choose the ten names on the short list.
They come from a ballot of twenty six sports editors with national newspapers who each offered up ten names.
I believe AP got only six votes out of the 260 that were available, and as the Post report this morning, even the Telegraph, who print a weekly column from AP, didn’t include him in their list.
Presumably the BBC chose the system of balloting the sports editors for the nominees, a good idea? probably not.
Didn’t think there was much wrong with the system they used for many years and worked well just based on viewers votes.
We all know where the BBC stand on racing, did it get 30 secs coverage in last years programme.
At least with AP not in the running we don’t need to waste our time watching the rubbish.
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