Well, winning Wimbledon is no more impressive than winning the US Open. To non-Brits anyway.

 

Exactly - it's not a big thing for a non-Brit to win Wimbledon, but it's huge when a Brit does...or it is because it's been so long. It's the significance of that event that will have people voting. Murray could win the other three majors next year and only finish third.

 

And I still maintain that Farah's double double is about a hundred times more of an achievement than Murray's...but the public won't see it that way.

Predictably Murray won, not a surprise, and despite my dislike of him he was a worthy winner

 

But the snubbing of Mo Farah yet again was nothing short of a disgrace

 

To win 2 olympic golds and 2 world championship golds and not make top 3 in voting in successive years is outrageous

 

As Ali G would say 'is it because i is black'? in Mo Farah's case absolute yes, its due to him being black

 

 

It's a popularity contest as much as it is a sporting one. McCoy is the most well-known figure in racing, so no surprise he got 3rd really. You would imagine Mo Farah was 4th.

It's a popularity contest as much as it is a sporting one. McCoy is the most well-known figure in racing, so no surprise he got 3rd really. You would imagine Mo Farah was 4th.

 

Very odd how black athletes or sports people get no recognition though, last black winner of SPOTY was nearly 15 years ago

 

We have had Farah winning 2 olympic golds and 2 world championship golds

 

We have had Lewis Hamilton winning the F1 title in 2008 and nearly winning it in his rookie year of 2007 yet neither time he won SPOTY, yet white Nigel Mansell and white Damon Hill both won it, Hill twice

 

We have had outstanding black performers such as Denise Lewis, Colin Jackson etc who haven't had a look in

 

Its very suspicious, cant help but think a black sportsperson just wont win public votes

Edited December 15, 201311 yr by Sandro Raniere

Very odd how black athletes or sports people get no recognition though, last black winner of SPOTY was nearly 15 years ago

 

We have had Farah winning 2 olympic golds and 2 world championship golds

 

We have had Lewis Hamilton winning the F1 title in 2008 and nearly winning it in his rookie year of 2007 yet neither time he won SPOTY, yet white Nigel Mansell and white Damon Hill both won it, Hill twice

 

We have had outstanding black performers such as Denise Lewis, Colin Jackson etc who haven't had a look in

 

Its very suspicious, cant help but think a black sportsperson just wont win public votes

 

RE Lewis, it's probably because he's so far up his own arse and doesn't come across very well in interviews when he doesn't win.

RE Lewis, it's probably because he's so far up his own arse and doesn't come across very well in interviews when he doesn't win.

 

Same could be said for Mansell tbh, he was the ultimate moaner and whiner much as he was an awesome driver

 

Hill had/has a very dull and boring personality yet won the award twice etc

 

 

Mo Farah did indeed come fourth

 

Murray: 401,470

Halfpenny: 65,913

McCoy: 57,854

Mo Farah: 51,945

Ben Ainslie: 48,140

Chris Froome: 37,343

Hannah Cockroft: 26,151

Christine Ohuruogu: 13,179

Justin Rose: 9,833

Ian Bell: 5,626

 

Of all the leading black contenders over the years his result is one of the most disappointing. Last year was difficult as there were four obvious front-runners and he just happened to be the one to miss out. This year he should have made the top two. Has McCoy's performance this year - rather than over a career - really been that exceptional?

The problem is that the public vote for it. There was a big hoo-hah a few years ago when only men were nominated by a panel made up of mainly male sports journalists (including the highly sexist Nuts magazine if I recall) so they changed the nominations procedure to a panel.

 

If the BBC could think of the prestige of the award and not the revenue, they could cancel the phone vote and make it harder for people with no real opinion to register a vote - like previously where you had to send off a from the Radio Times - or switch it to a panel award.

 

It's no surprise that the winners of the award have been somewhat suspect since they introduced live voting on the night. The first winner was Michael Owen who won it for one single goal in 1998, ditto David Beckham in 2001 and Ryan Giggs won it some years later simply for having had a pretty decent career.

 

It's pretty embarrassing to have one of our greatest ever athletes voted fourth two years in a row.

I don't know how much (if any) of the revenue from the phone votes goes to the BBC itself. I'm pretty sure they don't make a profit from it.

 

Reverting to a postal vote would be a rather odd step (although I'm sure the Post Office would be delighted). That - if my memory serves me well - was changed after a campaign one year to get people to vote for some complete unknown (I think it was an angler). Once they moved to a shortlist rather than a completely open vote, a phone vote and then internet voting was a logical step. I'm not sure that the programme would be as popular if the winner was decided by a panel.

 

I can't remember who finished as runner-up in the years you mention but I don't recall any particularly strong contenders even when Giggs got it as a career award more than for his performance in that specific year.

but I don't recall any particularly strong contenders even when Giggs got it as a career award more than for his performance in that specific year.

 

Jessica Ennis as World Heptathlon champion? I just don't think the public care about track and field like they used to.

Edited December 16, 201311 yr by richie