blonde poker forum

What do we think then lads?

None really stand out this year. We have Gerrard, Montgomerie, Calzaghe, Hatton, Murray.....

If Joe gets in a big fight before Dec, he has a good shout, at moment he is 13.5 on betfair, but he's mainly on ITV.

A good performance in Open, &  Ryder  may see Monty winning. Gerrard was poor in World Cup so can't see him winning, tho Euro qualifiers?

I took Calzaghe at 14/1

It's only July, Young Padawan 8)

If Hatton fights before Xmas, he will win it.

I was going to start this thread in December.  Next year I will start it in June  :D


If a Brit does anything in the Golf, then maybe them. If not, I think Calzaghe or Hatton.  I hope it isn't Murray, what has he done in all honesty?  Not much

No way it will be Murray unless he wins the US Open.  It is his preffered major though.

If Monty wins the Open he'll get it, otherwise Hatton I think.

be nice if hatton did win it as he actually has got a personality.

If Monty wins the Open it will be him - even a good Ryder Cup could be enough. On Betfair, during the final round of the US Open when it looked like he could win, Monty touched 3.00 for SPOTY.

No other golfer would have the profile to win. England getting off to a flyer in the Ashes could help Flintoff/Pietersen.

However, you've all missed the true live one in the betting. At the moment, the second favourite for SPOTY, at 8, is...

(http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/07/04/littlebritain_narrowweb__300x460,0.jpg)

LOL

Walliams is a good shout, great personality and he actually did something.

Haha that would be something, but surely bit of a joke. I know what he did takes endurance and fitness etc, but c'mon! Hatton really struggled for his win against Collazo, he was in with a very good chance last year, untill Flintoff came along.
Also Hatton may have more of a chance this year, since he's left Warren/ITV

Who exactly decides/votes on the winner?

The way it usually works is the public send in their nominations at the end of the year, and then the top six are announced at the start of the programme, then the phone lines open.

Here's a question. We've already ascertained that it'll probably be a weak year for candidates. Suppose a Brit were to win the bracelet in the main event at the WSOP...

El Blondie for SPOTY?

Or Monkey Matt?

An Irish poker playing monkey wins BBC sports personality of the year

Bottom.................

Scraping................

Barrel....................

etc etc etc

I'm guessing that jungle creatures votes would not count towards the final total so to be honest my chances of winning would be somewhere between zero and none. In fact that is going to be my crusade at this years WSOP, as well as winning the bracelet i'm going to get primates the vote!!

Move over Emmeline Pankhurst............

I know I shouldnt say anything, but get some money on the Great Britain poker team for "Team of the year" after their heroic performance in the ICHUC victory over Ireland ;)

Monty Panaesar is my tip @16. Popular, likeable, if he has a good Ashes perfomance, he'll definately get it.

paul mcstay

Who?

In pure betting terms would go with walliams.
He's actually achieved something, in a quick time by all accounts.
Also, sports personality is on BBC and he, of course, is contracted to them. Sure to get lots of publicity and be popular with the general public.

I agree, plus he looks good in a dress too.

Exactly, how could the public not pick a man who looks so good in a dress.......lol

Jenson Button?

rotflmfao

sorry if ya backed walliams, but he will not be allowed to go up for this award and has been taken out of the betting with most sites. Coral's are still being sneaky and they stil lhave him in the betting

be warned

Well we are at the clutching at straws stage, and was only marginally better than suggesting David Walliams. If I was to vote for anyone it would be Dean Macey for winning his commonwealth Gold medal, despite numerous injuries he came good in the end. I am biased as i was there to see him win the medal, but think he deserves it far more than a lot of suggestions. Other than that it will be down to the Ryder Cup to come good for someone.

Agreed,  I think he's become a dead cert for a top three place even now.   Good spot NoFlops!    :)up

Where did you hear this from m8, betfair still has him up, but his odds have gone right up to 10/1

Monty Panaesar is a good bet in my book.

It would be very sad if he won...

Not sure there are anywhere near enough tests before the awards for him to win - its in early December aren't they?

Wipe your eyes lads, are you ready for this...

Betfair favourite at 2.72




Zara Phillips

 >:? >:? >:?

welll..I would....

Lump your money of Joe Calzaghe

yep

Don't think I've read a formal BBC statement suggesting that David Walliams is out of the running but y'never know. I don't think he'll be eligible and if he is, the Beeb will nobble him by not putting him on the shortlist of six.

Wouldn't be too keen on Joe Calzaghe winning SPOTY. His next fight's on October 14th against Sakio Bika (WHO!?).

Five of the final six will most probably be:

* Jenson Button
* Steven Gerrard
* Zara Philiips
* Andy Murray
* Monty Panesar

Money gone on Darren Clarke for some reason and that's a very weird reason. A good Ryder Cup performance will supercede the tragedy though.

Yes, but at least he has won something!


* Jenson Button : won a grand prix at the 100th time of asking!

* Steven Gerrard : John Terry more likely

* Zara Philiips: Please

* Andy Murray: Again another loser

* Monty Panesar: The funniest one out of them all.

At least she's won something.

She's a world class horsewoman, why shouldn't she win it?

Horsewoman?

It would be a disgrace if she won.

We really are scraping the barrel when we mention Andy Murray, Monty Panesar and HM Horsewoman as SPOTY

What part do you object to: horseriding as a sport or that she's Royal?

Both.

Inverted snobbery, it's a shocking thing.

But still, I haven't had a chance to use one of the new emoticons yet.

this'll do  ;starwars; I'll defend the princess against the dark forces trying to deny her the SPOTY award.  :D

The fact that is a sport that only a select few can play (people with money) and then to top it off, she is a Royal!  ;snoopy'sguns;

Now if she was a World Class Tennis player, Footballer, Boxer or another sport accessible to most working class people - her status wouldn't mean so much.

Next they are going to have Prince Charles up for the award because he is a "World Class" Polo player

nemesis, why would we be scraping the barrel if murray won?

He has had an amazing rise up the world rankings and is now at number 16 at the age of 19.

Murray has had an immense year, beating a number of the best players in the world and competing well in a lot of tournaments.

I'd be interested in ur reasons as to why he isn't a worthy winner?

Do you really think that tennis isn't a game you can get an enormous advantage from by being rich - and presumably you'd also disqualify motor sport?

Isn't the award meant to reward excellence, not excellence (as long as you're from the right background)? I also don't think it should represent big improvement, so I'd agree with you on Andy Murray.

And Prince Charles has never been a world class polo player - just because somebody has a privileged background doesn't necessarily mean that they will have the ambition or ability to excel at their chosen sport.

big improvement? yes, but he's proved he can compete with the best in the world and has had a great year. In my opinion, he should win.

       What about Richie Ramsay?

Andy Murray has done great. I enjoy watching him play and he is very talented. But, he is not the best in his field. He isn't in the top 5/10/15/20... he is 60 in the world. Yes, he will be higher than 60th in the future and he has plenty of time to win SPOTY

If Calzaghe wins his defence in October, he will win this year.

He's no 16 not 60

Im on Murray for a good few quid but the bet im really excited about is Darren Clarke at 66/1, If Europe win the Ryder cup and Clarke scores a few points or holes the winning putt he has a huge chance.

I heard that he was 60th

Anyways he isn't 16th he is 17th so there  ;nana; ;ashamed;

Thats in this seasons ATP race he's joint 17th in the rankings he's 16th  ;nana;

Joe Calzaghe is No1 in the world, has been a world champion for 12 years and has beaten the best SM earlier this year in Jeff Lacy.

VOTE JOE


Calzaghe 42 on BF atm

Agreed but wasn't confident the voting public would so I went for 10.5 for him to get in the top 3, he's currently at 11 for top 3.

im on zara phillips ew at 80s got a good chance

andy murray gets my vote but can see a ryder cup player making a late push. just a matter of picking who and getting the right price. probably wouldn't like to see phillips win it.

nemesis, maybe your unwillingness to accept murray as a worthy winner has something to do with your lack of knowledge of the sport?   ;whistle;

Or maybe the fact that he is a scot is clouding your vision. ;whistle;

I think he is very good and could be as good or even better than Henman.

But as long as Federer and Nadal breath air - he has ABSOULETY NO CHANCE in winning any Slam event or Masters series event.*

*He has a chance

true BUT (and this might sound strange) the English haven't performed well at anything this year (atleast not a sport the public watches) and therefore Andy Murray only needs to make a final to be considered for sports personality of the year. That way the English will vote for him and the usual groundswell of Scottish mass hysteria fuelled by the tabloids and a weird form of nationalism means that loads of Scots will vote.

Zara Philips also has an outstanding chance of doing allright if the Beeb hype her up (and they will as it's the only sport they cover) the voting people will like her and know her as a Royal (who's also kinda tasty)

I reckon the English cricket team won't do too well against the aussies in the ashes and the cricket hype has died down a lot anyways so a cricketer won't win it.

There will surely be a golfer nominated for it if Europe wins the Ryder cup (which is fairly likely) but people don't vote for golfers.

it will be a football player (Stevie G?) or some one who also plays a popular sport...so Andy Murray isn't out of the race...even though he is over hyped.

Hmm I think Murray is entitled to the young SPOTY but I agree if Zara win's it'll be a joke, probably a fix too!

I agree SPOTY is a bit light this year. Maybe an upcoming event will decide it?

The Ryder Cup maybe?

Darren Clarke into 5/6 now. Pure sentiment at play here.

I hope so. Very moving scenes and rightly so.

maybe a little bit of sentiment

but he has proved this week he is both a winner and has a personality.  not many have both.

Not just the tears but the larger than life Irish personality - with a cigar and guiness always at his disposal

hope he wins ahead of any of the other names mentioned.

only thing is - do irishment count?  Is it not just Britain for the awards?

He is from Northern Ireland. Therefore he is both Irish and British.

ok thanks wasnt sure - whether he was ROI or NI - are all 3 irish guys in the team all from NI?

No footballer worthy of winning it this year...Gerrard, gotta be kidding, less bottle than a blind milkman in the world cup, rememeber the penalties..... ;frustrated;

Just Clarke, I think.

The race for international SPotY is more interesting.

If Rossi wins his world championship and Schumacher wins his then it has to be between these two.

Even if they both win (for their 8th World championships), I want to say Michael as he has every statistic sewn up, an incredibly talented driver, organiser and winner.

But i can't, he wins with some of the most cynical driving ever, Valentino drives with a huge sense of fun, talent and amazing speed.

Valentino rossi for International SPotY.

Fingers crossed guys!!!

Bobby, I will vote for Clarke....




In exchange for a small percentage!  ;)

Good luck.

Clarke must be odds on now.

He is around evens on BF and I laid some off at that price during the singles matches to leave me winning more if he wins it but still winning a nice amount if he doesnt. I do hope he wins it tho, he has been thru so much that his achievements are worthy of the honour.

...is now 1/2 on..you.could have had 250/1 !!!!!! on betfair, bobby...whats wrong with you??? :D

 8), the 250 was availabe after the Open when he announced he wouldnt play any more golf in the near future as his wife was now very ill.

What odds on Beanie of Manchester City?

FYI

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/10_october/06/spoty.shtml (http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/10_october/06/spoty.shtml)

New nomination in.............. Colchester Kev.  :D

Anyone hear on BBC radio on Friday about how Joe Calzaghe's pissed about not being profiled or something?

Eamonn Holmes has just let slip on the radio that Darren Clarke is almost certain to withdraw from the SPOTY running because he knows the main reason he's favourite is because of his dead wife and he really doesn't want to relive all that grief on live TV again.

On Betfair Clarke has just shot out to 2.5 and is still drifting. For a while the market was betting at an underround of 92%. Zara Phillips is now starting to fly in as the market adjusts.

Zara Phillips.
 ;gobsmacked;

http://www.sportinglife.com/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=golf/06/10/16/GOLF_Clarke.html

"Darren Clarke wants it to be known that he has not pulled his name out of the running for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.  ........"

Sandy

How can a player who's had his worst season in over 10 years be in contention for SPOTY? Ok so he's had valid reasons for not competing in as many tournaments and he can be forgiven for not always focusing on the job in hand when he did play - but the only thing he's won this year is the Ryder cup (and he only got into that through the back door) - which is a team event.

David Howell is the best golfer in Europe and has virtually won the order of merit with several victories during 2006 including the ryder cup and yet he doesnt get a look in.

What's Davids personality like ? Doesn't come across as very large to me.

Sandy

Well Darren Clarke's personality is the same this year as it was for the previous 9 - he's never been nominated once in the last 9 years when he's won several world championship golf events and previous ryder cups.

So why the sudden nomination this year?

because he'll get the sympathy vote.

Exactly!! Which makes a mockery of the award - it is supposed to be for sporting achievement and personality but the main reason why a player who's had his worst season in 10 years has been nominated is because of the loss of his wife.

I've nothing against Darren, i think he's a world class golfer who has proven time and time again that he deserves to be placed at the top of his profession and receive awards of this nature - however i find it disgusting that the main reason he is suddenly favourite to win this achievement award is due to the death of his wife as it will attract the sympathy vote.

Would have been nice to get that £4 on him at 250.0  on BF though!

I think Andy Murray could be in with a shout.  He's had a good year so far.  Broke in to the top 20 in the rankings and also beat Fedderer and has made the final of a Masters Series event. 

2001 winner - David Beckham

1998 winner - Michael Owen

1997 winner - Greg Rusedski

1990 winner - Paul Gascoine

What did these guys achieve to win ?

Tony Mccoy, Phil Taylor and several others have achieved dominance of their sports but failed to make an impression in this event. Clake has always been popular and has won some high profile events even beating Tiger. To play in the most pressurised golf environment there is after what he went through is testament to his character. It's a sports personality award not a who has performed the best in their event award.

Don't like it then don't watch.

Sandy

It's something which is decided by public vote so, like anything decided by this method (Pop Idol, Eurovision, General Elections) the 'best' candidate is unlikely to win.

I have loved how Joe Calzaghe tried to big himself up to get in the running for this and then huffed and puffed his way to scoring a points victory over the 33/1 guy on Saturday to kill his chances.

Can't remember who posted about the tickets going on sale for the NEC but thanks but I have bought a couple. I am of course going to applaud the top sports people of the year and not trying to get on the telly.  :D

Would Darren be the leading contender for this years award if Heather hadn't have passed away?

Would he have even made it onto the shortlist?

I have no intention of watching, i stopped watching the program many many years ago when the concept of BBC sports personality of the year became a joke because the BBC no longer cover any worthwhile sport.

I aint read most the thread but clarke shouldnt win it, ffs sympathy votes would make the award a joke.

According to Frank Warren, his fight with Bika has raised his chances of winning and he's now 2nd favourite, but Betfair still has him at 34/1 which makes him 5th.

http://www.frankwarren.tv/drill/News/Articles/2006/10/16/calzaghe-second-favourite-for-bbc-award.html

You must have been dedicated, they sold out within an hour.  :D

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/10_october/16/spoty.shtml (http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/10_october/16/spoty.shtml)

After Darren Clarke's apparent withdrawl from the running for Sports Personality of the Year, Calzaghe is now second favourite for the trophy behind Zara Phillips.

Didn't realise Clarkey had pulled out?  Hope so as I had a sneeky lay at 1.55.  Joe is still 36.0 on BF - worth a punt maybe if Darren has pulled himself from the running.

he hasn't. was in the racingpost yesterday that he's still in (atleast on their website)

The Calzaghe ship has long since sailed - he has no more fights before the end of the year to make any impression and Saturday's fight wasn't good enough.

The only possible winners are Clarke and Zara.

And Colchester Kev, if he wins in Singapore.

if Kev wins that we should all spend a 100£ voting for him....that should do it.

Wow that was quick to sell out. I was struggling to get through on the phone and then thought I would have a look on the internet and managed it straight away.

The shortlist..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sports_personality_of_the_year/6166600.stm

Vote Calzaghe!

Wow it really has been a rubbish year for sport. Probably Hatton for me, might have thought amount calzaghe but he was talking too much smack about this a couple of months ago.

Getting ready to go to the show at the NEC. To be honest the short list is a bit ropey and has overlooked many of the Commonwealth games winners such as Dean Macey. But as the list stands I would like Phil Taylor to win, or Ricky Hattion (as he is a City supporter). I think having two boxers will split the boxing vote and a pretty much open field. I guess it is down to how they portray them on the show and the type of people that will pay to vote.

ED You're such a TV whore, how did you get those tickets.!

There was a Commonwealth Games this year?

in Melbourne early 2006

lol forgot all about that :D  Those sneeky Aussies and their 12 hour time difference!

I've just been told that Walcott will win Young Personality of the Year

In the whole of 2006, Walcott has started a momentous, earth-shattering 4 games (2 league, 2 Carling Cup)  He has also made a simply ah-mazing 12 substitute appearances.

£12m by the way.

I mean, there is simply no other candidate surely - what a star!  :D

There's only one Aaron Lennon. 12* less money, 12* a better player.

Nem, welcome back :D

Not bitter about this are you ;)

ello Nem ,

Indestructable is there, ive told him to leg walcott up on the stairs and injure him ;)

Walcott had an excellent time in Germany :D

Did lots of site seeing, tasted the local cuisine, lots of stadium tours.

And Lennon actually retired Beckham and heplayed in the games!

sitting on behind the bench is the new playing :D

I'm glad David Walliams got something, he certainly deserved something.

You'll be in Private Eye for that...

:D

LOL Just showed the Paul Robinson mistake against Croatia :D

He's 19

oh, fair do's

Glad Zara won, laid Darren a bit back and was getting nervous.

Had to pull this one out - drinks on gmoneyAK.

wow 80's!!  Nice one.  Was tempted tonight at 6.5 but didn't want to lose more money.

Nice bet gmoneyAK :)

I guess the Royal Household were on overtime working them phones!!!

What a farce. Sports personality of the year my arse, it's the horse that does most of the work anyway!

Must be thousands of toffs phoning up or a fix.

not had a bet but the bbc have made the bbc sports personality just a joke fixing the result to keep the royal family happy and more to the point the 2nd place was just a joke they are just getting away from people who work hard to acheave something in the sport just to give 2nd on the sympathy vote  typical of the British sporting people (and yes i do sympathise with darren clark) but not to vote for him when there are other people that have work hard at a sport all year

No more so than a racing driver with a car. Wish I had picked her at 80's!

Absolute joke.

1) Its a viewers vote! this year has been poor in the mainstream sports in terms of the overall quality.
2) Clarke's ability to play under such pressure under the circumstances make it a tremdous achievement. Not sympathy in my opinion.

It was an achievement, it wasn't a tremendous sporting achievement, it was a tremendous personal achievement.

was he any different than his fellow team player to be singled out  yes why because his wife had died so then it is sympathy vote in my opinion but that only my opinion

"I'd like to vote for Zara Phillips please, if only to stop Anne going on about winning'

(http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/gallery/2005/03/23/QueenElizabeth.jpg)

The team spirit and energy around the course was built on Clarke. Any achievement in sport is a sporting acheivement. Its called personality yet it has nothing to do with personality. The award is simply there for the public (now) to give the award to somebody they see as having the greatest accomplishment in the year, it is for individual voters to decide what that entails.

Least the public got best team right. Not some walkover by a golf team in a two horse race :)

Lol

I don't know how the show worked on tv, but live I really enjoyed it. The Paul Hunter tribute was very moving and not a dry eye in the house.
A couple of surprises in that the team award went to St helens. It just felt like a no brainer that the Ryder Cup would win it but they announced St Helens and there were a few scratched heads. i guess the trouble is for a lot of us that we have neveer seen Rugby league let alone know anything about St helens wining anything. I can only assume there was some sort of vote St helens campaign or maybe apathy of voters assuming it was in the bag. Not saying they didn't deserve the win, just that i know nothign about them.
Then came the main award. At this point I thought Clarke would win and a genuine surprise when he was named as 2nd. Oh well that is the trouble with hvaing this decided by voters I guess.
Finally, my big tip is when going to the NEC always park near the exit otherwise you will sit there for ages.
 ;bat;
PS I am sure Adrian Chiles called Dean Macey indestructible. Dean was my early choice so maybe he has been on Blonde?

wooohooo...I think if you'll go back through this thread you shall find I tipped Zara to take it...just a bit of money on her :) A great night overall

So the horse wins bbc spoty, and gets no recognition for his endeavors,

Not like the old days when fellow horsey winner got the full spotlight of a live appearance when he (Red Rum) won.

Its unbelievable that the great unwashed would vote for a toff,who they have no enmity with,over a girl (beth Tweddle) who got up at 4 am,so she could stack shelves in the coop from 5 till 7. To enable her to travel to competitions.

This is why we'll never have a revolution in this country for equality for all.

I find myself clinging to the hope the marauding Scots, might finally get it together and invade over the border, to rid of us of these upper class twits once and for all.

Well Eric they did vote for a working class "localised" sport for team of the year. There is hope for us all!

Equestrianism and rugby league - I really don't think it's possible to get two sports more at the extremes of the class divide.

And as for the horse thing, when Bob Champion and Aldaniti won the Grand National, the pair of them were named Team of the Year.


Yeah, but did you get 80/1 like gmoneyAK who tipped her before your post?

It is sports PERSONALITY of the year folks, not sporting ACHIEVEMENT, i think she has a great personality, moreso than Clarke or any of the others.

I think she'd do ok measured by achievement as well. There's not many sports people or teams we have who are World and European champions in their sport.

An absurd choice.
A royal conspiracy of sorts.
All she does is sit on a horse. Maybe the horse should get it.

Clarke should have definetly won.

Why is it absurd? Its probably just as hard to control a horse as a golf ball. One only does what u make it do, the other can decide to do what it wants.

I'm a big football and golf fan, but just because you dont watch or understand a sport doesnt make it the wrong choice, particularly when it was an open vote for anyone to bother to call in for.

 :goodpost:

Yer lets get back to basics..........................On young horsey chops

you would chaps would'nt you.

It would be rude not to ;)

Definitely, especially if she was in jodphurs and not a lot else

Hubba Hubba

I laid off for a win win either way so not as much as it could have been but still a nice chunk of change.

Until she looked like her mother.

Then I'd stop.

It was absurd because it's actually quite hard to believe. Who actually watches it? Does it even have viewing figures? Unlikely seeing as how little it is on TV.

The BBC gives the award to another Royal. Why am I not surprised?

Complete bollox, who votes?

:D it was a public vote - I see what you mean though, the BBC obviously had all their goons out around peoples houses intimidating them into voting Royal :D

600,000 people voted. I have no idea about the popularity of the sport itself, but I guess people have taken to her when they have seen her. I think she is world and european champion in her field. Thats a pretty good accomplishment, whereas boxing world championships etc are degraded by the numerous titles.

At the end of the day unless you think the BBC has fixed the votes they cant be held for who gets this award.

I dont think its fixed, I just think she's crap

I dont think a boxer should have won it either TBH. I just think that the BBC is royalist and the Royals will always have an advantage as they have a following before they've even kicked a ball or been on a horse.

Never has there been a more obvious choice (in Clarke) in a year of sporting mediocrity in the major sports.

 ;iagree; :goodpost:

I dont understand where the connection is in that part?

I think as many are anti as pro royals - especailly those who are likely to watch that program.

Perhaps some false quotes that were attributed to Clarke about not wanting to win, or the story in the NOTW of Sunday morning had an effect also. I think most years there is a clear cut winner based on performance and so it usually runs to plan. This year it was based on things other than performance and has proved more difficult to read.

The connection is simple. The BBC handpicks it's sports and people for this award.

Phil Taylor was invited this year because he spoke out last year about not being invited previously. He's an 11 time World Champion. Explain that one to me please!

I don't know how much more obvious the BBC can be!

Overweight, unsophisticated, unattractive 11 time World Champion Vs Pretty, posh, royal lovely horsey lady.

One has been invited once (off his own back) the other wins the major award first time.

Not rocket science is it?

Not really needed.
With the exception of Phil Taylor, where there is an obvious hisoric conflict witht he darts split, I dont think there are many people if any who miss out on the opportunity to be voted for. Anyone with a real chance of winning would be in the shortlist otherwise there would be an outcry.

The BBC does not handpick the people. I believe in recent years even the shortlist is created from the publics suggestions. (I seem to remember an advert asfter a MOTd about it a few months back).

The link between Overweight, unsophisticated, unattractive 11 time World Champion Vs Pretty, posh, royal lovely horsey lady may be true, but that is a judgement on the voters not the BBC.

....Anyway neither Darts nor Horseriding is a sport!

Ok the "Not rocket science is it?" was my attempt at showing how obvious the BBC's link to the Royals is. If it offended I apologise - I'm just amazed that some people think that this is not the case.

"The link between Overweight, unsophisticated, unattractive 11 time World Champion Vs Pretty, posh, royal lovely horsey lady may be true, but that is a judgement on the voters not the BBC."

It's not really seeing as the BBC haven't even promoted the WDO darts champions and that is shown on the BBC! They don't like darts full stop PDC, WDO, whatever. That is handpicking a sport in my view. Darts organisation split or not!

People vote according to the coverage and promotion they see. Phil Taylor will never win that award thanks to the BBC NOT the public.

I appreciate the link between the BBc and the Royals, afteer all they are funded by them through their government. I just dont think that it could have effected this vote. The time given to each candidate seemed pretty fair.

The BBc probably 'don't like' darts as a direct result of viewing figures. That is what they are interested in.

From the promotion I saw there was never a candidate other than Clarke.

I would guess darts is more watched than whatever it is ZP does! That really is a guess though.

But there are no english champions in the form of darts that the BBC shows.... They would have to folk out to Sky for the Entourage for Phil!

I dont think The power would have won it this year - he only did what he does every year!

The Phil Taylor thing is probably a sole case

Steve Beaton, Ted Hanky off the top of my head. I'm sure there are more too during Taylor's 11yr reign.

Winning multiple titles is an even better excuse to win something!

True but there are still gonna be many more deserving, more watched, more cared about sports and champions than ZP - IMO of course.

Personally as a cycling fan Nicole Cooke should have had it.

yes but then a footieplayer would always win it.

In reverse order:

(1)
  - so what you're suggesting is that the award shouldn't have anything to do with talent or achievement, but should just be a popularity contest?

(2)
  - and it should only be open to the biggest sports? So we discount curling, badmington, squash, archery and all the other 100's and 100's of minority sports.

(3)
  - She's the World and European champion! What more do you want?

I agree with what you have there Jon. I think what Baron is saying is we have world champions in things like Darts that have never been recognised by the award.

Darts and Snooker suffer because they arent really world wide sports (though sparadically they may cover the world). These sports are dominated by the British and so it is nothing new when one of them becomes world champion.

Darts and Snooker players have been nominated and in the running down the years which shows recognition of their achievements. I think the subjective judgement that their achievement wasn't quite as good as somebody elses in their sport is a moot point after this.

And Steve Davis won it in 1988.

1) It's already a popularity contest - that is my point and the problem IMO.

2) It should be open to every sport but let's not give it to ONE minor sport when people should be recognised in EVERY minor sport.

3) She's HAS made a great achievement - there is no denying this but there are other people who have achieved more and NOT been recognised.

Phil Taylor is an 11 time World Champion who only got an invite this year because he asked for one last year.