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What the point in that then?
Never understood it. Its not a sporting event, it just seems to be a review of the year with a big trophy given to someone who doesn't need another because they've already won something or other in their own sport.
People seem to care though. Anyone care to explain?
BBC advertisng their (dwindling) sports coverage and presumably making a bit of cash on the voting
meh
Entertainment. I quite enjoy it as a sporting review of the year.
I've never understood it.
Do we want our winners to win or to be likable with a "personality" or both.
Wiggo had both, but I can't think of any on the list this year who I'd say has a personality, great sports people yes.
Personality never really comes into it though.
Title of award is commonly misinterpreted. More than one meaning to personality.
Aracer is correct.
It is nothing to do with the personality of the sportsmen, it's that they are personalities ie "a famous, notable, or prominent person; celebrity"
It's just another BBC cash spunk of self gratification
Find it amusing also that people seem to think that sportspeople don't have personalities just because one doesn't come across when they have a TV camera shoved in their faces for post race/match interviews.
Also reckon it's a good thing that we can set aside a couple of hours of prime time TV to celebrate this country's sporting achievements.
It's just another BBC cash spunk of self gratification
How can it be self-gratification when the BBC barely covers a fraction of the sports they cover on the program? The only purpose of that nature it may serve is to remind the world, and sports governing bodies, more accurately, that the BBC has a long tradition of sport coverage and can do it if given the chance.
I quite enjoy it, but as said above, people misunderstand the "personality" side of it.
I enjoy it as a review of the year.
Don't like it? Don't watch it. Easy
It just seems like a sycophantic parade of fairly dull people whenever I've managed to watch more than five minutes. Fair enough they've all done well in their sports but the programme doesn't seem to reveal much else.
Double post!
Mikey, because the bias is toward athletes in sports the bbc cover, plus it's just another excuse for a free fancy dinner for the spongers organising and vaguely involved in organising things
Who's missing then?
BBC Sports Person of the Year 2016.
Why not?
How bad is the tyson fury introduction/interview going to be - the beeb must be very nervous what the ****s going to say .
Whatever
Max Whitlock
Come on when we were growing up there was no blooming chance of getting in a final let alone a GOLD medal
Oh and of course it has nothing to do with my kids training in the same gym.... Has a cracking lad BTW, gives loads of time to the young uns
Has Clare Balding raided her grans wardrobe!
How bad is the tyson fury introduction/interview going to be
There was booing when his name was called out. Think I'm going to keep watching just to see how that pans out!
Lewis needs to sack the stylist, looks like Kung Lau off of Mortal Kombat
Mikey, because the bias is toward athletes in sports the bbc cover,
Of course that would be the case as they are the sports they have the footage for and greater access to the athletes.
Not entirely sure while they're getting famous non-sporting people on
What's Lewis come as?
Jess is looking nice tonight 8)
Jess is looking nice tonight
Are you saying she slaps up good? 😯
[i'm on catch up]
they should get that young lad on at the same time as Tyson Fury and ask him if he has any opinions on disability.
{edit} did Lizzie just say 'money shot' live on BBC TV?
That's nothing, there was a "glory hole" on countryfile earlier...
Fury made Gary work for that question eh?!! Somewhat awkward! Ennis Hill brought into camera shot a few times too.
Fair play. Bit of an Edinburgh defence, but also an apology. I can 'admire' a bloke's sporting ability without liking them as a personality.
will his prize be a personality
Murray? Irony in action there
I always try and catch it, its a fun review of the year. Good to see sportspeople in normal clothes, aside from Lewis of course.
Murray? Irony in action there
Only for those without access to a dictionary.
Good that Kevin sinfield got second. A true, all time legend of the game.
Agreed lemony. Wigan Warriors fan here but glad to see some recognition for one of our own.
irony: A state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/irony
It's about recognising and celebrating the achievements of sports people (or, indeed, Personalities) from the past year. Pretty bloody obvious really.
That's not a good thing then?
How about don't watch it then. Simple eh.
If it's about achievement then it's Sports Achievement of the Year. But they've already got trophies for their achievements.
Personality of the year means they have a likeable personality and are a top roll model, but achievement may mean nothing.
SPOTY is neither. It's, I don't know what, other than bollocks.
Personally I'd want to see it being about contributions to the world of sports which goes beyond just winning stuff, but what they have done for sort, for future generations, progressing the sport. Jimmy Hill who sadly died the other day is such a person. Tyson prat face is not and is an arrogant homophobic, racist and sexist "personality". Neither is miserable Murray.
Thing is though, we already have awards for this, including the honours system, although some people do get honoured for just winning.
Personality of the year means they have a likeable personality and are a top roll model, but achievement may mean nothing.
Go look at a dictionary - then when you understand all the meanings of the word 'personality', come back and have another go.
then it's Sports Achievement of the Year
Bloody wish they had. It would have given all the mouth breathers less to get confused about. Every. Bloody. Year.
Personally I'd want to see it being about contributions to the world of sports which goes beyond just winning stuff, but what they have done for sort, for future generations, progressing the sport. Jimmy Hill who sadly dies the other day is such a person.
So sort of like the life time achievement award and the unsung hero of the year award?
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convert - Member
Go look at a dictionary - then when you understand all the meanings of the word 'personality', come back and have another go.
"the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual's distinctive character"
or
"a celebrity or famous person"
Done.
So we give an award for the most famous person? Seems a load of balls to me. Otherwise it's based on the person's character, which it's obviously not, so also balls.
Next.
An award for the outstanding famous sporting person of the year. Is this so hard for you to comprehend? If they are not famous, i.e. known to the general public, it wouldn't make particularly good tv to the great unwashed.
You might not want to watch such a show/competition, in which case watch something else; but to not comprehend what the prize is for, as you alluded to above..... well it doesn't say much for your intellect.
Maybe they should have a couple of hours every year celebrating Internet forum nonentities.
That'd be worth watching.
That'd be worth watching.
No it wouldn't.
(Cue 83 pages of self-aggrandising, ego-surfing whataboutery from the usual suspects. 😉 )
So did andy murray win this because he won nothing all year or because he won the davis cup which i am pretty sure is a TEAM event. Sorry but i like the show but that decision was just wrong.
He won because he got the most votes.
I think he won because he helped us win the Davis Cup and finished as World No2, which I can't recall happening before.
This really does bring out the worst in some people every bloody year. Any excuse to moan and be nitpicky. The whole show is a celebration of sport. Get over your own internet ego trips and go and do something pleasurable instead.
Though I expect a few of you are doing something pleasurable while typing your drivel one handed.
Personality of the year means they have a likeable personality and are a top roll model, but achievement may mean nothing.
The competition is won by 'the person judged by the public to have achieved the most' in a given year. So its an award for achievement - but because the vote is public its awarded more on the basis of perceived achievement (and of course thats really a popularity contest) rather than any empirical sporting comparison between the nominees. [i](hashtag Bring back Superstars!)[/i]
He won because more people know who he is.
Get over your own internet ego trips
As ego trips go, posting a pseudonymous short comment about a sports show on an Internet forum is pretty modest. It's not like he invaded Iraq or anything. 😀
I thought it was a good show, better than expected!
Murray is a well deserved winner, good to see it coming from Northern Ireland, and the Tyson Fury issue handled reasonably well. A good celebration of a year of British sport. The break dancing, brilliant, what a party piece!
It's about recognising and celebrating the achievements of sports people (or, indeed, Personalities) from the past year. Pretty bloody obvious really.
why is it not "sports Person" of the year then? personality doesn't score goals/medals/championships etc
He won because he got the most votes.
he won because most of the dead heads who watch it have never heard of anyone else and a footballer wasn't one of the nominees? (i think, not sure as i only saw the result)
rOcKeTdOg
why is it not "sports Person" of the year then? personality doesn't score goals/medals/championships etc
Perhaps things weren't as over analised or scrutinized in the halcyon pre-internet days when the award was conceived.
Perhaps they thought "Sports Person" might have too strongly implied "best athlete".
Maybe they just didn't give a shit.
Andy Murray was team of the year also. Well done.
beagle - Member
Fury made Gary work for that question eh?
Oh - I thought it was just because he's a stupid great Richard Head and couldn't keep up...
... and a footballer wasn't one of the nominees...
Given the popularity of the sport, footballers win very rarely (five times since 1954). Cycling's only one behind that.
Linekar couldn't have worded the question to Fury any more vaguely though, I'd have looked at him confused if he started asking about 'fallout' after the match.
I don't think Linekar could be as direct as everyone watching wanted him to be - "do you regret being a total ****?"
[i]Linekar couldn't have worded the question to Fury any more vaguely[/i]
Yeah, its like he expects Fury to go around thinking about that all the time!
Im sure he has a few (million) more enjoyable things to ponder!
Andy Murray is one of the best 4 tennis players (and currently number 2?) in the greatest period the game has ever known. There's been bigger travesties with the winners in previous years.
[quote=rOcKeTdOg ]why is it not "sports Person" of the year then? personality doesn't score goals/medals/championships etc
No, but it does bring you public recognition which results in people voting for you...
[quote=athgray ]Andy Murray was team of the year also. Well done.
That thought had occurred to me 🙂 The principle job of Leon Smith appears to be to persuade AM to play (though I suppose sometimes he needs his brother's help) - funny old team sport, where the majority of the active members of the team haven't contributed at all to the victory.
My Missus asked me who I thought would win and I said:
1. Tyson Fury
2. Andy Murray
3. Jessica EH
I really thought that despite the fact that TF has upset a lot of people, voters would recognize the massive achievement. There you go..... 😕
convert - Member
An award for the outstanding famous sporting person of the year. Is this so hard for you to comprehend? If they are not famous, i.e. known to the general public, it wouldn't make particularly good tv to the great unwashed.
If it's an award to the most famous, may as well just give it to Beckham every year.
Where does it say outstanding? It's Sports "Personality" of The Year and that's it.
You might not want to watch such a show/competition, in which case watch something else; but to not comprehend what the prize is for, as you alluded to above..... well it doesn't say much for your intellect.
I comprehend it perfectly fine thank you, and that's the problem. It doesn't represent achievement properly else we'd have people who are less famous but are known but have achieved far more than those who win, or in fact in this case Fury should have won it even though he's a dick. It doesn't represent personality in the dictionary definition of character, so that just leaves it representing the other definition of fame which is what people seem to vote on and is generally pointless. It's as bad as a celebrity talent show, but fair enough plenty of people find that entertainment.
Every single year there's the SAME debate about why it is called 'Personality'. Every single year.
It's funny, but there are words in the English language that have more than one meaning! Yes!
It is possible that there is no answer cumberlanddan.
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/dec/18/sports-personality-of-the-year-2015-bbc
Let Nicola Sturgeon explain
https://twitter.com/NicolaSturgeon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Rockape63I really thought that despite the fact that TF has upset a lot of people, voters would recognize the massive achievement. There you go.....
I think boxing has for the most part has drifted out of mainstream public view. Couple that to a deeply unpleasant "champion" fighting an incredibly dull fight against the dullest champion in living memory and you have a recipe for.....apathy?
I'm surprised he got as many votes as he did, possibly because his achievement was relatively recent.
^ that basically
It is possible that there is no answer cumberlanddan.http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/dec/18/sports-personality-of-the-year-2015-bbc
Yep that about sums up my view, its what you get when the arts department organise sports. If it isn't presented by middle aged men with full moustaches in brown burtons suits smoking pipes (I know CB tries her best to fill that role, but she has zero knowledge of anything that isn't a horse) then it isn't sport godammit!
By putting personalty into the title it gives "permission" to the public not to restrict their vote to just sporting achievement. That Guardian article is right though about the seeming focus on sports BBC shows, it is extraordinary that the No 1 batsman in the world in an Ashes winning year didn't even make the short list.
meftyBy putting personalty into the title it gives "permission" to the public not to restrict their vote to just sporting achievement.
Athlete of the year would be equally as divisive.
it is extraordinary that the No 1 batsman in the world in an Ashes winning year didn't even make the short list.
Yeah but Steve Smith would have been up for foreign spoty and you wouldn't have been able to have voted for that.
Geraint Thomas gets his BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year Trophy
it is extraordinary that the No 1 batsman in the world in an Ashes winning year didn't even make the short list.
No it isn't, ever since cricket went to Sky the audience has been falling and participation falling. (Similar trend to the problems F1 face on another thread). Sky is killing traditional sports, thankfully things like triathlon are on free to air and are gaining in participation numbers.
Here is the data for England's ashes 1st test win in 2015, from the Guardian:
[i]Saturday’s enthralling final day had a TV audience of 467,000. To put that into context, a 1974 Columbo film – shown on ITV3 at the same time as Joe Root took the winning catch – attracted just under 400,000 viewers. Friday’s Sky ratings were lower still, with only 340,000 watching.[/i]
Talking of "you don't have to watch it", well fine, but I'm paying for it as a licence fee payer and we own the service. We therefore have a say. It was independent, go ahead and churn out whatever crap you like, it's none of our business really, but this is the BBC.
But on the subject of focusing on BBC shows, I take it Lewis won't be in the line up then next year even if he wins the championship and every single grand prix? 😉
Every single year there's the SAME debate about why it is called 'Personality'. Every single year.
It's funny, but there are words in the English language that have more than one meaning! Yes!
yes but non of the ones for "personality" are "sport"