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SPOTY 2018

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    #51
    Hamilton didn't start as an entitled rich bloke. Or indeed a particularly well off background at all. Which makes him unusual in the context of F1. His wealth, at least, comes off the back of his own talents. His personality, well he has no excuses for that.

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      #52
      He's a decent bloke, as sportspeople go. I certainly think he is tone deaf, awkward and blundering to the point of embarrassment at times, but he doesn't strike me as malicious.

      And from a purely sporting side (which is what it is really about), well, I just can't fault him.

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        #53
        F1 drivers have historically been over-represented in the list of SPOTY winners though. Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill both won it twice despite only winning one world title each.

        I like the idea of it being a 'once and for all' award, where former winners can't get nominated again. Bit like the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. It's just as bonkers that Andy Murray's won it three times recently. Put a rule like that in place and Kevin Sinfield and Alistair Brownlee would have won his latter two, which I wouldn't have disapproved of. Other former winners under a rule like that would have included Tony Jacklin, Sally Gunnell and Denise Lewis.
        Last edited by Rogin the Armchair fan; 04-10-2018, 11:52.

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          #54
          Sinfield was a bonkers pick though, and I say that even as someone who enjoys the odd bit of RL.

          edit - full disclosure: at the time I was quite excited by the fact he got nominated and the surprisingly large vote he got, but in reality it didn't feel like his vote was 'geniune' and was rather a plug for the sport instead.

          edit 2 - looking back at the '15 thread, I said that Sinfield would be breaking the ice for whoever was England's star in 2017 (a RLWC year) to win the thing. I suppose Luke Gale would've been a good nomination last year after being the best player in Super League and playing in the halves for England all the way to the final. Not sure how he missed out on a nomination last year in hindsight.
          Last edited by Kevin S; 04-10-2018, 12:25.

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            #55
            Mind you, I think I said at the time that Zak Hardaker was the more obvious pick from RL that year. Good job nobody listened to me.... Sinfield is the better 'personality' for sure.

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              #56
              ... not that I'm saying Luke Gale could/should have won it last year. Losing the Super League final and the World Cup final doesn't quite cut it for SPOTY. But he was worthy of a nomination.

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                #57
                Originally posted by Kevin S View Post
                Sinfield was a bonkers pick though, and I say that even as someone who enjoys the odd bit of RL.

                edit - full disclosure: at the time I was quite excited by the fact he got nominated and the surprisingly large vote he got, but in reality it didn't feel like his vote was 'geniune' and was rather a plug for the sport instead.
                This was what I was sarcastically alluding to earlier, about pesky minority sports - the RL community got behind Sinfield in a big way, putting aside club differences to get "our guy" onto the podium. There was a well orchestrated social media campaign, just about every RL-related Twitter and Facebook account I follow was re-tweeting / sharing the links on the night and I got a few people on board who wouldn't normally bother voting. Part of the reason for the success was that RL has long complained about the lack of coverage on the show (particularly in the days when it was Sports Review of the Year and the BBC didnt' have the excuse of not having rights), so there was a bit of payback going on.

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                  #58
                  Harry Kane's probably bumped himself back up the pecking order with that goal, for those like me who don't think Lewis Hamilton needs to win it again.

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                    #59
                    Good result though it was, has yesterday's game really had that much of an impact? It's not even amongst the top 15 stories on the BBC Sport website right now, for instance.

                    Not to say that Kane won't win necessarily - just that I'm not sure if a crucial factor will be a game at a less than full Wembley, shown on Sky and in a tournament the English football public warmed to at about 4:40pm yesterday.
                    Last edited by Ray de Galles; 19-11-2018, 14:03.

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                      #60
                      It may be just me, but I have the sense that outside of the Premier League, the BBC’s coverage of sports stories is increasingly influenced by their rights deals.

                      Not to the rather ridiculous extent that ESPN has reached here, but still a bit unbalanced.

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                        #61
                        That's an interesting point, I did think it surprising quite how low profile it was on the BBC site but I do think it's an illustration of a lack of wider hubbub about the result.

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                          #62
                          Eurosport:

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                            #63
                            Is that meant to contradict what I've said above, genuine question?

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                              #64
                              I'm not sure if it does or doesn't.

                              Basically, I don't think anyone knows or can say how the Nations League is going to do in the long run. On the one hand there's its being ignored by the BBC website (though 5 Live were certainly enjoying the moment at the time) and on the other we've got folk at Eurosport saying that this has revitalised international breaks at a stroke - although obviously it hasn't actually saved football (which they clarify in the article).

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                                #65
                                The BBC website was all over yesterday's game at the time too, I think the speed with which it's plummeted off/down the front page is telling though. Anecdotally, nobody in my office full of English football fans of varying intensity has mentioned it to me today which seems significant.

                                I'm not sure an opinion piece a quarter of the way down Eurosport's site (a relatively small/niche one in the UK, I'd guess) is especially illustrative of much. Particularly as it's about the tournament itself rather than yesterday's game (though clearly the profile of both are inter-linked), though I do think the Nations League has generally been a surprisingly welcome development.

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                                  #66
                                  Canada men's Curling for team of the Year.

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                                    #67
                                    The shortlist from which Geraint will be chosen as the Welsh SPOTY has been announced ;

                                    Footballer Gareth Bale, cyclists Elinor Barker and Geraint Thomas, Winter Olympian skeleton athlete Laura Deas, Paralympic skier Menna Fitzpatrick and snooker player Mark Williams.
                                    Last edited by Ray de Galles; 26-11-2018, 16:18.

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                                      #68
                                      I'm genuinely thinking of voting for Fury in this now. I've been genuinely surprised by how he's brought his battle against depression into the limelight in a calm and informed way.

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                                        #69
                                        You bloody mug.
                                        Last edited by Ray de Galles; 10-12-2018, 12:23.

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                                          #70
                                          He would surely need to address his comments on..... blimey, where do you want to start, homosexuality, transgender people, Jews, women, and absolutely everything else, first.

                                          Given how impressive he's been inside and outside the ring recently, now would be an absolutely ideal time to start.

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                                            #71
                                            Northern Ireland result

                                            1 Jacob Stockdale (rugby)

                                            2 Jonathan Rea (motorcycling)

                                            3 Ayeisha McFerran (hockey)

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                                              #72
                                              Originally posted by diggedy derek View Post
                                              He would surely need to address his comments on..... blimey, where do you want to start, homosexuality, transgender people, Jews, women, and absolutely everything else, first.

                                              Given how impressive he's been inside and outside the ring recently, now would be an absolutely ideal time to start.
                                              They were discussing this on 5 Live recently and someone (wasn’t paying attention to who said what, sorry) said that they understood part of Fury’s treatment for depression was focused on avoiding triggers or re-visiting situations that had led to him becoming depressed in the past - one of which was likely to be the storm that surrounded his last set of unwise comments. I don’t think it was intended to excuse his refusal to go back and address things, just to put some context around it.

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                                                #73
                                                The shortlist

                                                Jimmy Anderson
                                                Dina Asher Smith
                                                Lewis Hamilton
                                                Harry Kane
                                                Geraint Thomas
                                                Lizzy Yarnold
                                                Last edited by Duncan Gardner; 16-12-2018, 19:40.

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                                                  #74
                                                  3 Kane
                                                  2 Hamilton
                                                  1 Thomas

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                                                    #75
                                                    I voted 5 times for Thomas in the end. And the netball team got everything too. Brilliant result. Lewis Hamilton turned up looking like Elvis in Hawaii and got second again.

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