SPOTY Who will it be

[bad company]

WTF was Gabby Logan wearing?

[Mermaid]

ash73 said:

Total votes cast - 620,932

Lewis Hamilton - F1 - 209,920
Rory McIlroy - golf - 123,745
Jo Pavey - athletics - 99,913
Charlotte Dujardin - dressage - 75,814
Kelly Gallagher & Charlotte Evans - skiing - 35,871
Lizzy Yarnold - skeleton - 23,188
Max Whitlock - gymnastics - 17,219
Gareth Bale - football - 13,747
Carl Froch - boxing - 11,616
Adam Peaty - swimming - 9,899

Not even close... congrats Lewis.

It is an entertainment show, and the results reflect that. IMO they should not have published the "results", for they are all worthy contenders but the guys at the bottom probably don't feel too good.

[Paul Dishman]

RichB said:

Mini1275 said:

Great to see Lewis win, very pleased.
He thoroughly deserves it. Plus it'll be funny to see the usual people get their knickers in a twist over the result .

Pleased Hamilton won...
And a great comment on the BBC web site

"Seb Patrick: It's worth giving Lewis Hamilton the SPOTY award just to enjoy the outrage from people who think F1 isn't a real sport but golf is."

I particularly enjoyed the disgruntled golfer on Twitter moaning that the Ryder Cup team had been beaten to the Team Award ".....by 15 lesbians"

[Paul Dishman]

ash73 said:

Total votes cast - 620,932

Lewis Hamilton - F1 - 209,920
Rory McIlroy - golf - 123,745
Jo Pavey - athletics - 99,913
Charlotte Dujardin - dressage - 75,814
Kelly Gallagher & Charlotte Evans - skiing - 35,871
Lizzy Yarnold - skeleton - 23,188
Max Whitlock - gymnastics - 17,219
Gareth Bale - football - 13,747
Carl Froch - boxing - 11,616
Adam Peaty - swimming - 9,899

Not even close... congrats Lewis.

Yes, I was delighted by that- a worthy winner.

My Mrs (who's much more a Strictly fan) commented "I'm glad that little st didn't win after the way he treated his girlfriend"

I reckon Wozinaki had Lewis' number on speed dial

[Bradgate]

ash73 said:

Total votes cast - 620,932

Lewis Hamilton - F1 - 209,920
Rory McIlroy - golf - 123,745
Jo Pavey - athletics - 99,913
Charlotte Dujardin - dressage - 75,814
Kelly Gallagher & Charlotte Evans - skiing - 35,871
Lizzy Yarnold - skeleton - 23,188
Max Whitlock - gymnastics - 17,219
Gareth Bale - football - 13,747
Carl Froch - boxing - 11,616
Adam Peaty - swimming - 9,899

Not even close... congrats Lewis.

It was always going to be a 2 horse race between Hamilton and McIlroy. Everyone expected it to be close so it is a big surprise that Lewis won by such a wide margin. I voted for Lewis, but I can understand why golf fans are so disappointed.

There was a big campaign to get the ‘horsey vote’ out for Dujardin, and they were hoping to get her in the top 3. 75,000 votes is still a very decent effort for such a niche sport, especially as she was up against two global sporting superstars.

Bale and Froch will be pretty gutted to be beaten by a little-known para skier!

[anonymous-user]

Farm boy said:

Well done Lewis.
SPOTY should reward those who have climbed to the top of their chosen sport. I think he's done that, and so deserves the prize.
I too am from Stevenage, and he was in my daughters class at school.
I'd see him occasionally getting on the bus in the morning, and he was a very cheeky / cocky lad back then.

St. Evenage (in a french accent)

[JontyR]

scenario8 said:

It was going so well - and then he said Union Jack.

Congratulations, Lewis. Well done.

What is wrong with the term Union Jack? It is the a Union Jack

[SpeckledJim]

MartinQ said:

Mojooo said:

I dunno Rory Mcillroy but he doesnt look too happy.

Lewis 'I couldnt have done it without my car'.

OTOH, Rory couldn't have done it without his sticks. A considerable amount of engineering goes into those as well.

But the hundreds of golfers Rory beat this year all had equally nice sticks to his.

The golf equivalent of Formula 1 is Rory becoming World No.1 in a year that only he and Phil Mickelson were allowed to carry a putter.

The only think Lewis has proven this year is that he's a smidge better than Nico Rosberg. He could be 1% behind the entire rest of the grid and it wouldn't have mattered, because his 'sticks' were 3% better than everyone else's.

Sadly the structure of F1 means we don't really have a clue who is the best.

[heebeegeetee]

Isn't this a reminder though, that dancing is more of a sport than Golf (and deffo more than darts and snooker) is?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-28739...

[john2443]

JontyR said:

scenario8 said:

It was going so well - and then he said Union Jack.

Congratulations, Lewis. Well done.

What is wrong with the term Union Jack? It is the a Union Jack

A Jack is a Flag flown only on the Jack Staff (Wiki). Union Flag is the correct term, but in common usage they are interchangeable.

[SpeckledJim]

heebeegeetee said:

Isn't this a reminder though, that dancing is more of a sport than Golf (and deffo more than darts and snooker) is?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-28739...

Not really. Keep Fit isn't a sport, but you can easily get injured. Barely any different to dancing except there isn't a panel of judges.

'Proper' sports don't have the winner decided by popular opinion. Proper sports get measured. Like Golf, snooker and darts. (and football, cricket, tennis and motor-racing)

[whoami]

heebeegeetee said:

Isn't this a reminder though, that dancing is more of a sport than Golf (and deffo more than darts and snooker) is?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-28739...

Eh??

[RichB]

john2443 said:

JontyR said:

scenario8 said:

It was going so well - and then he said Union Jack. Congratulations, Lewis. Well done.

What is wrong with the term Union Jack? It is the a Union Jack

A Jack is a Flag flown only on the Jack Staff (Wiki). Union Flag is the correct term, but in common usage they are interchangeable.

Ah that old urban myth eh!
Well done Lewis and I'm pleased he grabbed a Union Jack on the end of the Abu Dhabi GP

[Vocal Minority]

Golfers are having a right old flounce

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/sports-personalit...

[heebeegeetee]

whoami said:

Eh??

Is ballroom competition any less competitive than snooker, darts or golf?

I don't know, but I do know that the professional dancers are a damn sight closer to being athletes than some of the sports featured in SPOTY and the chances of injury far higher.

[SpeckledJim]

heebeegeetee said:

whoami said:

Eh??

Is ballroom competition any less competitive than snooker, darts or golf?

I don't know, but I do know that the professional dancers are a damn sight closer to being athletes than some of the sports featured in SPOTY and the chances of injury far higher.

Huh? Of course ballroom dancing is less competitive than snooker. It's decided by a human jury who are naturally partial and eminently decievable.

Look at the jury on Strictly. They don't agree with each other about who's good and who isnt. (yes I know, its TV)

You can't kid snooker. There are no points for 'effort', 'personality' or 'pluck'.

"OK, the match finished 17-10 to Ronnie O'Sullivan. Lets go to the judges to see who won."

And atheticism has little to do with it. I could be the greatest athlete in the world, but if I don't compete (and win) it's irrelevant.

Mr Motivator is an athlete...

[fatboy69]

Well chuffed that Lewis won SPOTY. I think he deserved it.


However.....





I have just read a tweet from that nasty little thug Joey Barton who says that Lewis is not a good role model for the country...

Really?

Coming from such a person as Barton I reckon he just nominated himself for the title of knob of the year 2014.

Such a tt.

[heebeegeetee]

SpeckledJim said:

Huh? Of course ballroom dancing is less competitive than snooker. It's decided by a human jury who are naturally partial and eminently decievable.

Look at the jury on Strictly. They don't agree with each other about who's good and who isnt. (yes I know, its TV)

You can't kid snooker. There are no points for 'effort', 'personality' or 'pluck'.

"OK, the match finished 17-10 to Ronnie O'Sullivan. Lets go to the judges to see who won."

And atheticism has little to do with it. I could be the greatest athlete in the world, but if I don't compete (and win) it's irrelevant.

Mr Motivator is an athlete...

But golfers play off a handicap, as do other sports including motor sport.

I think athleticism does provide evidence to whether something is a sport or not. I struggle to see how bloaters throwing spikes at a board is a sport where dancing isn't, and batting a ball around a course can't be that far behind, although I accept there are few fat golfists in the professional sphere.

[bexVN]

ash73 said:

Paul Dishman said:

My Mrs (who's much more a Strictly fan) commented "I'm glad that little st didn't win after the way he treated his girlfriend"

I'd forgotten about that, could be a factor as I expect most of the voters are women.

Got to be honest that was a factor to me. Couldn't bring myself to vote for someone no matter how good they've been if I don't respect them to some extent!

[SpeckledJim]

heebeegeetee said:

SpeckledJim said:

Huh? Of course ballroom dancing is less competitive than snooker. It's decided by a human jury who are naturally partial and eminently decievable.

Look at the jury on Strictly. They don't agree with each other about who's good and who isnt. (yes I know, its TV)

You can't kid snooker. There are no points for 'effort', 'personality' or 'pluck'.

"OK, the match finished 17-10 to Ronnie O'Sullivan. Lets go to the judges to see who won."

And atheticism has little to do with it. I could be the greatest athlete in the world, but if I don't compete (and win) it's irrelevant.

Mr Motivator is an athlete...

But golfers play off a handicap, as do other sports including motor sport.

I think athleticism does provide evidence to whether something is a sport or not. I struggle to see how bloaters throwing spikes at a board is a sport where dancing isn't, and batting a ball around a course can't be that far behind, although I accept there are few fat golfists in the professional sphere.

Sorry, that's not correct. Golfers at any real level of seriousness do not compete from a handicap. Social golfers use handicaps to enable competition 'on the day' but no proper competition is ever conducted on that basis.

If there is an element of strategy/tactics (ie it's not just purely luck) AND an element of physical dexterity (ie it can't be played by a brain in a jar) AND at the end someone wins, then it's a sport.

You can't draw a dotted line of how much movement (or speed, or strength) is required and deem anything below it not a sport.

Dancing (and other sports where winning is decided by judges) is at a weakness, because better and worse isn't quantifiable, so is open to doubt, challenge, bias and outright cheating.