Well, it's cuddly double world champion Mo, against dour Wimbledon champion Andy then. They'll take five minutes to give "Team of the Year" to the British Lions not the England cricket team, but none of the players involved in any of those triumphs will get a sniff, and neither will Chris Froome nor Justin Rose.
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I tell you what as well, Noo Labour's cripplingly embarrassing rush to ennoble British sporting stars is going to be shown up this year, too. Kelly Holmes got a damehood after winning two golds in Athens, will Mo (who's now done exactly the same twice running) get a knighthood? Will he fuck. -
SPOTY 2013
That isn't quite what Holmes got her knighthood for, though. There was a decade in the armed forces to add to the sporting acheivements. We might not rate that very highly around here, but the people giving out honours do. I think there was significant philantropic work as well, which might also be true of Farah, Pendleton, etc., etc. There is a decent list of those who match the sporting achievements of Holmes without having received the same level of public honour, so those other elements must count significantly.
As for the BBC's shindig, I seriously doubt Farah or anybody will run Murray close this year. Partly due to the position in the athletics cycle (World Championships doesn't match Olympics Games) but mostly because of the historic nature of Murray's success.
Ian Bell should get a mention in dispatches, mind.Comment
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A knighthood isn't enough for Sir Mo. Nawab of Poplari at the very least.Comment
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Farah's achievement is also historic and perhaps harder to do (5,000m & 10,000m double would be like Murray winning the French as well as Wimbledon in the same year) but, yes, I agree that the public will not see it that way.
Moreover, wasn't the Murray TV audience the biggest since Borg v McEnroe 1980? Only the Olympics or a World Cup knock-out game (Gazza 1990) is gonna beat that.
It should also be noted (as Janik implies above) that it's currently harder to get 2nd or even 3rd at SPOTY than it was to win the whole thing most past years, because this is such a golden age of British sport. I mean: Steve Davis, Greg Rusedski and Princess Ann aren't fit to tie the laces of Farah's running shoes.
Symbolically, the first Muslim winner would be a big thing for SPOTY, but I can only see that occurring if Farah does another double in 2015 and/or 2016.Comment
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A pretty famous Muslim from Louisville, KY won the SPOTCentury back in '99. Just sayin'.Comment
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Murray could yet add another US Open to his Wimbledon crown...satchmo76 wrote: Farah's achievement is also historic and perhaps harder to do (5,000m & 10,000m double would be like Murray winning the French as well as Wimbledon in the same year) but, yes, I agree that the public will not see it that way.
However, I really meant historic in the monkey-off-the-nations-back sense. The lack of anyone British having won a World Championships 5,000 & 10,000m double was not felt as a particular absence, something those with a shot were under great pressure to rectify each World Championships and if there was no-one with a realistic chance then that itself being notable.
Also it has already been done at the Olympics, which is a clearly bigger deal in this particular sport. If Farah was going to win SPOTY, 2012 was probably his big chance.Comment
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He'd never win a public vote, because nobody in Britain cares about the event, but the latest contender for SPOTY should be Ben Ainslie.
One of the greatest sporting comebacks of all time, outranking any nights in Barcelona or Ryder Cups or Red Sox, has been taking place in San Francisco bay. Thanks largely to Ainslie, the Americas Cup has gone from 1-8 to 8-8 and it's the first to nine. He's the tactician on Oracle, the "American" (billionaire's) boat, and only joined the team as a replacement when they were getting thumped by "Emirates" Team New Zealand. Now they can't lose.
Final race tomorrow, unless there's not enough wind, or too much wind, or wind from the wrong direction, or a whale in the way (true story), or some other reason to drag this out. The America's Cup is for people who think Test cricket is too short and snappy.Comment
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Not sure that figuring out how to win with what appears to be a slightly faster boat is all that great shakes, but i admittedly know very little about sailing at that level.
Been fun to watch live, though -- the boats are so big, and move so fast, that the first time you see them it looks like a particularly unconvincing bit of cheap CGI.
Best of luck tomorrow...Comment
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I also know very little about sailing, but along with everyone else in NZ, have been engrossed by the slow meltdown of the past week, as the media have gone from "Plucky Kiwis set to conquer World" to "Chokers!".
The commentators have gone from a cheerful travelogue ("Look, it's Alcatraz!") to suicide-watch. Half the reporters in New Zealand had flown to SF for the (inevitable) victory celebrations, and now they're stuck there, feeling and sounding very stupid.Comment
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It's been great hasn't it? My dad called me early on in the competition telling me it was the best televised sport he'd seen in ages and the graphics/display managed to make a previously untelegenic sport work brilliantly.alyxandr wrote: Not sure that figuring out how to win with what appears to be a slightly faster boat is all that great shakes, but i admittedly know very little about sailing at that level.
Been fun to watch live, though -- the boats are so big, and move so fast, that the first time you see them it looks like a particularly unconvincing bit of cheap CGI.
Best of luck tomorrow...
He was right, I was gripped after ten minutes.Comment
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They've done it.
Ainslee will never have to buy a drink in NoCal again.Comment
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So, sporting comeback of all time? What can beat it?Comment
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Last year, Wiggins was a great advert for cycling. This year, Froome has repeated the achievement, but has an absolute vacuum where a personality should be, so I'm not surprised to see him go unmentioned thus far.Comment
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Nadal?Harry Truscott wrote: So, sporting comeback of all time? What can beat it?
In terms of other sports, it feels like winning a test match after following-on.Comment
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As a sailor, I've no problem at all with Ainsley getting this, ever.
As a sailor, I find hilarious the idea that THE AMERICA'S CUP is dispositive of anything except which circle of billionaires have this year paid how much to "represent" which - often landlocked - Great Seafaring Nation.
Somebody paid big money for billy big-bucks to do what he gets paid to do.
Fuck me.
I loved his turn at the Olympics, panto-villainous though it was. But as somebody who has raced semi-pro in this sport, believe me when I say this current load of shite is an entirely coke-driven load of shite.
If he was to get the award, it should have been any of four (FOUR!) Olympicses. Getting it now would be a hysterical load of don't-we-have-anybody-else shite.Comment
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Another thing counting against Froome is that Cav won it in 2011 for his green and rainbow jerseys. To go for three cyclists in a row might be pushing it, especially when Murray has done something so groundbreaking.Comment
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A slightly incoherent and expletive riddled rant posted at 2:30 in the morning? Good night, was it Toro?
The final comment on the BBC highlights show gives part of the reason why Ainslie won't be a significant contender for SPOTY this year. It was something like 'Maybe he can lead a British boat to victory in future?'. This award has never been about pure sporting achievement. It has always been for the perception of achievement. All the more so now that it is decided by public ballot.Comment
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Heh. Guilty as charged.
I stand by what I said, though, Ainslie is a sailing God, but the America's Cup is nonsense.Comment
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Was it really the recruitment of Ainslie, or was it the adjustments to the boat Oracle took the opportunity to make on the postponed day?Comment
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Latest odds from Willy Hills
1/50 Andy Murray
16/1 Mo Farah
20/1 Chris Froome
50/1 Ben Ainslie
66/1 Carl Froch
66/1 Tai Woffinden (the speedway laddy)
80/1 Leigh Halfpenny
100/1 Alistair Cook (England's captain in an Ashes winning summer)
That's not a selective list, that's the top 8. England's first winner of the USGA Open in 43 years isn't even on it.
Unless it comes out that Andy Murray is an Al-Shabbab terrorist they might as well just turn SPOTY into a two-hour long replay of his final win.Comment
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I genuinely couldn't name the Englishman who won the US Open, so count me as not that surprised (?Poulter?). I assume I knew at the time, but now I'm drawing a complete blank.
No women at all in those bookies favourites. The calls last year for a seperate award for Women should be repeated with greater strength this time around.Comment
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Justin Rose, Janik.Comment
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That's what happens when a competition is only shown on Murdoch-vision.Janik wrote: I genuinely couldn't name the Englishman who won the US Open, so count me as not that surprised (?Poulter?). I assume I knew at the time, but now I'm drawing a complete blank.Comment
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