This year's BBC SPOY then

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

current average odds from the various bookmakers:

Jenson Button Evs
Jessica Ennis 3-1
Beth Tweddle 4-1
Andrew Strauss 16-1

about 20-1 bar

It's not been a great year for British sport, really, has it? Notwithstanding the achievements of our greatest bloke in a car who everyone's saying wouldn't have won in any other year, an athlete in an event no-one really celebrated, and a tumbler whose achievements barely made the back pages of the sports tabloids?

[Guest]

This year's BBC SPOY then

SPOTY, surely?

[longeared]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Look North interviewed Sue Barker last night as part of the build up to the event. Her suggestions for SPOTY were Button, Ennis, Idowu (hmm, all those have been covered on the BBC) and, erm, Flintoff. No mention whatsoever of Cavendish winning six stages of the Tour de France.

It's been a better year for British sport than some we've had recently, that's for sure. I suppose the problem is that most of the headline makers have been some of the more marginal figures and not the more familiar names such as Hamilton, Murray, Pietersen, Rooney etc.

[Guest]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Button I would have thought. We should all vote for Alan Whiley

[Gerontophile]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Is he good at sport?

[Third rate Leszno]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Mark Cavendish has surely been the outstanding performance this year? Not saying that Tweddle, Ennis, Button or even Bradley Wiggins have been substandard, but Cavendish is just so much better at what he does than anyone else on the planet.

Would like to see IRC Rally Champion Kris Meeke from Northern Ireland get a mention, if nothing else - admittedly he's only won the 'second division' of international rally series', but the manner in which he stepped into a new car after several years with no regular drive and blew away local experts on a series of specialised events was hugely impressive. A World Rally Champion in waiting, if only a WRC manufacturer would give him a seat.....

[Brandenburger Toro]

This year's BBC SPOY then

It should, but won't, be Wiggo.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Cavendish would get my vote, if he's shortlisted, but I don't think he will be - he's not "won" anything in the eyes of the BBC (and to be fair much of the British public) as he didn't "win" the TdF, nor the World Road Race championship.

Someone somewhere needs to explain to the British public in general that there are about 60 single-day races a season that count towards the Cycling World Rankings, and every stage of the TDF is one of them.

Unfortunately, Cavendish is only about eighth in those too, despite his 6 TdF stage wins, so is arguably viewed as lesser than either Murray or Westwoood in their sports, which seems ridiculous.

[Janik]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Unfortunately, Cavendish is only about eighth in those too, despite his 6 TdF stage wins, so is arguably viewed as lesser than either Murray or Westwoood in their sports, which seems ridiculous.

Well, is it? Surely he is the equivalent of a tennis player with an enormous serve, but little else. On the right surface such a player is the best in the world, but on others he is uncompetitive. He could get near to the top, but will never make no.1 in the world rankings.
Cavendish is the quickest sprinter by a distance, sure, but there are many races when the terrain means it's pointless him even entering, as he doesn't have a prayer of making the first 50, let alone winning. That surely makes him someone of lesser stature than either of the names you mention, who are seriously competitive in all the major events of their sport.

[manandvans]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Janik wrote:

That surely makes him someone of lesser stature than either of the names you mention, who are seriously competitive in all the major events of their sport.

Maybe finishing 3rd in ONE major behind a 59 year old and a honest journeyman is more impressive than winning 6 stages of the TDF. Maybe it isn't.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Comes back to the age-old argument of comparing achievement, like for like, in different sports, I suppose, as opposed to just picking the "personality" who has captured the British public's imagination the most that year, which is really what this award is all about.

I mean if even if there was an award specifically for "career achievement in motor sport", this year, who would it go to? Loeb for his 6th World Rally title, or Rossi for his 7th MotoGP title? I don't know enough about either to know which is the most remarkable.

[David Agnew]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Rossi by a mile. Loeb has stayed with the same make for all his wins (Citroen), excelling in an otherwise competitive car.

Rossi, on the other hand started to dominate on a Honda, which was an otherwise competitve bike. He then moved to Yamaha, on a much less competitive bike, winning four years out of six.

bewaldeth or glory wrote:

Mark Cavendish has surely been the outstanding performance this year? Not saying that Tweddle, Ennis, Button or even Bradley Wiggins have been substandard, but Cavendish is just so much better at what he does than anyone else on the planet.

Tweddle is the greatest gymast Britain has ever produced, having the year of her life, winning five out of six of her her events this season.

Cavendish is the best sprinter in the world in a sport where sprinting isn't everything, and has won more than just the six stages this year. But Tweddle is a world champion, in a sport where Britian didn't even get medallists until she turned up.

[Jon]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Andrew Strauss 16-1

Can I just say I tipped him to win on this very message board the day he took over the captaincy? He was about 40-1 then.

Still not going to win though is he?

[Duncan Gardner]

This year's BBC SPOY then

bewaldeth or glory wrote:

Would like to see IRC Rally Champion Kris Meeke from Northern Ireland get a mention, if nothing else - admittedly he's only won the 'second division' of international rally series', but the manner in which he stepped into a new car after several years with no regular drive and blew away local experts on a series of specialised events was hugely impressive. A World Rally Champion in waiting, if only a WRC manufacturer would give him a seat.....

Seconded, although I'll admit to never having heard of him. Golf's Holywood Blockbuster Rory McIlroy should be a shoo-in for the NI award.

[manandvans]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Final 10:
Button, Strauss, Murray, Ennis, Idowu, Haye, Cavendish, Tweddle, Daley, Giggs.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

This year's BBC SPOY then

"Giggs"?

Fuck off.

Are they that desperate for text votes from Wales?

[diggedy derek]

This year's BBC SPOY then

I wonder if Giggs might be a good shout actually. He obviously doesn't deserve to win it, but then he didn't deserve footballer of the year, and if there's a lack of outstanding performers, then I could see him sneaking it. Everyone loves Ryan Giggs – he's a model professional and he's had an absolutely extraordinary career. He's not getting any younger, and I don't think many would begrudge him getting an award. He could get a very strong emotional vote.

I really think it should be Cavendish, personally. Sure, he doesn't 'win' much, but six TDF stages is almost unprecedented, isn't it? It's kind of the equivalent of scoring 45 goals in a season but not actually getting any silverware.

[David Agnew]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Whereas Beth Tweddle's done the equivalent of winning the World Cup and Champions League single-handedly. In a sport where no-one this country hadn't ever come close to a medal before.

Idowu and Ennis will probably be overlooked, as the Worlds aren't considered as important as the Olympics (a shame, as Ennis would be my number 2 behind Tweddle)

Cavendish is is the greatest sprinter in a sport where sprinting is only part of the deal.

Button has been ordinary since every other F1 team added a double rear diffuser to their car in May (A better shout would be making Brawn GP team of the year, but that will probably go to the England cricket team, rather than just go to Strauss).

Murray needs to be the best in the world to be considered, as far as I'm concerned.

Daley will have even better years.

Haye has had one fight this year, against a not very good End of Level Boss.

Giggs has had better years.

[longeared]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Ennis and Idowu will split the athletics vote, so they can be ruled out. Ennis in particular would be unlucky, she dominated her event all year and would have won the award in other years.

Cavendish has had a phenomenal year, 23 wins, including 6 TdF stages, 3 Giro stages and Milan-San Remo. That's more than most riders win in their entire career.

What on earth is Murray doing on the list?

[Levin]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Admittedly I'm a cycling fan but Cavendish by a mile for both achievement and personality. Just winning the Milan-San Remo is an amazing thing. It's called one of the monuments for a reason.

Of all the people who are on the list. I'd say that only Cavendish and Tweddle are consistently the best in the world at what they do. In Cavendish's case he is literally untouchable at what he does (I don't know much about gymnastics to say the same about Tweddle).

[Sean of the Shed]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Strauss - The ashes win was not as convincing as before, also it doesn't get the same national attention since moving to Murdoch media.

Murray - Has not won a significant tournament, no better than Henman in the Grand Slams, he's a miserable fucker at times too.

Ennis - Best in her field this year, but not as likely to grab the publics attention as not the Olympics. Will probably get the most votes for the Sports Personality that you would award. May get third.

Idowu - A one off outstanding performance, and will always be in the shadow of Jonathan Edwards. Scares middle-aged middle-class people with his appearance.

Haye - Heavyweight boxing has a pretty bad rep at the moment, and his fight with Valuev did nothing to improve that. Khan is a better boxer.

Tweddle - Probably the outstanding sports star on the list, but gymnastics is far too niche to get her enough votes.

Cavendish - More high profile, and again one of the best on the list. Outstanding achievement, but the fact that he wasn't the Tour winner may reduce his vote, possible second.

Daley - Fantastic for his age, and gets a lot of media attention, but as said before on here he has better years ahead. Will possibly win the youth award.

Giggs - The BBC are obliged to put a footballer in because it is done on a phone vote. They need somebody from such a high profile sport to get the morons calling. Surprised they didn't put Gerrard in as well to get the Mancs and Scousers competing.

Button - Only average in the second half of the season but it's a high profile sport, and he's the one the BBC want, as they've spent a huge wedge on F1. Has advantage over Hamilton from last year in that he isn't up against an all conquering Olympic cycling team, and he's white. Bearing in mind that it's a hardcore middle-class dyed in the wool BBC supporting audience, That is probably going to swing it for him. (a very disappointing) Winner.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Come on OTF, Cavendish is 09015 222702.

Don't let Playboy Button win it by default. Or for heaven's sake Ryan fucking Giggs, a "British sports personality" so patriotic he's played barely more than a third of the games he should have played for his own fucking country when he had the chance.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Jose Maria Olazabal presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award to Severiano Ballesteros has just brought tears to my eyes.

All you all other buggers are watching the fucking karaoke contest on the other side, aren't you? You know the Xmas number one single's going to be a Miley Fucking Cyrus ballad, don't you, because of you?

[diggedy derek]

This year's BBC SPOY then

Sheeeeeit.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

This year's BBC SPOY then

What a fucking waste of time that was then.

Don't get me wrong, Giggs is about as inoffensive as ham, or soft cheese. You couldn't say anything against him. Apart from his terrible record of showing up for international matches.

But as the sports personality of 2009? The Welsh have now shown two years out of three (Joe Calzaghe, who hardly anyone outside the boxing fraternity had really heard of at the time, won this in 2007) that if you let them go mad with a phone vote, they'll win it. They've got fuck all else to do at this time of the year in the valleys, evidently.

What a fucking farce.