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The boy (Cavendish) done good....
pewe - 23/12/11 at 04:35 PM

Since no-one has chosen to comment on it I'm totally chuffed that Mark Cavendish took nearly 50% of the votes last night to become Sports Personality of the Year.
In terms of sporting achievement he's the Vettel, Stonor and whoever-else you care to name rolled into one incredible athlete.
Congratulations as well to his team-mates in helping him get there but it was Cavendish's amazing talent that won every race, every stage.
If you are going to put your money on anyone achieving a Gold medal at the Olympics he's your man though the odds may be pretty short.
Cheers, Pewe10

VV

[Edited on 23/12/11 by pewe]

Peteff - 23/12/11 at 04:47 PM

His girlfriend is Page 3 girl Peta Todd, he's my hero already.

Simon - 23/12/11 at 04:55 PM

Yep, it's excellent news, though I did mention it on facebook.

And I voted too

Couldn't have anyone from golf (a Sunday walk rather than a sport), horseracing (currently the most bent sport on the planet) winning

ATB

Simon

bobinspain - 23/12/11 at 05:17 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Simon
Yep, it's excellent news, though I did mention it on facebook.

And I voted too

Couldn't have anyone from golf (a Sunday walk rather than a sport), horseracing (currently the most bent sport on the planet) winning

ATB

Simon



If you like a grin, try John Feinstein's book "A Good Walk Spoiled."
Totally agree re' Cav'. Unbelievable athlete. His Tour de France win/appearance ratio has only been bettered by Eddy Merckx.
I remember where I was when the news came through of Tommy Simpson's death in 1967. (fri 13th).

By the way of an edit: Good job cycling's squeaky clean re' stimulants etc.

[Edited on 23/12/11 by bobinspain]

scootz - 23/12/11 at 06:32 PM

Wish they'd call it sports person of the year instead of personality!

designer - 23/12/11 at 07:56 PM

Congratulations, but don't really understand myself.

He is a great cyclist, but he seems to just win the sprinting when he is dragged along by his team, never seems to win any of the big races.

Maybe Bradley Wiggins is a better all round cyclist.

Also don't understand why, in this technial age, you have to select from a chosen few, rather than putting in anybody you deem worthy.

Ninehigh - 23/12/11 at 08:07 PM

Because one day we'd get a bookface campaign to get Tony Wiggum to win, despite the fact that the nearest he's come to sport is changing the channel

(made up guy btw)

daniel mason - 23/12/11 at 10:20 PM

How can luke donald not deserve to win?
First person to top US and european tour and world number 1!
We hardly have any sportsmen/women who are the best in the world. I understand what cavendish can do and admit hes a fantastic sprinter, and that if he's In the leading pack at the end of a race he's almost unbeatable in the sprint finish. But he's not the worlds best road racer. In fact he's not even close to it.

[Edited on 23/12/11 by daniel mason]

roadrunner - 23/12/11 at 11:57 PM

He is the current cycling world champion.

Simon - 24/12/11 at 12:40 AM

Cav is the first to admit (and did so in his speech) that his performance is all down to teamwork, but don't forget that he may have already ridden 130 miles before he sprints. There are various specialists in cycling be they sprinter, king of mountain etc etc.

Golfers tap a ball a few miles (someone else carrying their bag!), jockeys sit on the back of a horse, even most pro football players may exert themselves competitively for only 15 mins a week. Cyclists like Cav in the major events cycle (read race) upwards of 120 miles a day for three weeks at a time - try watching some of the pro's do some of the climbs and tell me they're not more deserving than a golfer or a jockey every day of the week (I do appreciate there is a certain amount of practice and talent to be able to hit a ball and a bit of tactics involved in horse racing etc etc).

As for the lack of women involved, think it was a farce. Some of the female athletes have chalked up some stonking achievements over the last year such as Chrissie Wellington, four times world champion, never lost an ironman triathlon consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a marathon run (raced in that order and without a break).

ATB

Simon

[Edited on 24/12/11 by Simon]

bobinspain - 24/12/11 at 08:38 AM

Simon

I'd go with that line of thinking too. Besides which, the golfing vote was diluted and distributed between three nominees. It might be interesting to see the combined vote for Mac, Dazzer and Luke.

richmars - 24/12/11 at 09:09 AM

Combined vote for golfist about 20%, Cav on 49%.
Full results BBC Sports results

bobinspain - 24/12/11 at 09:30 AM

quote:
Originally posted by richmars
Combined vote for golfist about 20%, Cav on 49%.
Full results BBC Sports results



Poor old Mo in 3rd place must've got a poxy few votes then if the three golfists only got 20% combined and Dazzer came second?

I suppose it puts Cav's near 50% into perspective then. Some achievement !

franky - 24/12/11 at 09:32 AM

quote:
Originally posted by scootz
Wish they'd call it sports person of the year instead of personality!


If they did then lewis H might win it one day

bobinspain - 24/12/11 at 10:16 AM

quote:
Originally posted by franky
quote:
Originally posted by scootz
Wish they'd call it sports person of the year instead of personality!


If they did then lewis H might win it one day



You're right and there was an excellent article in the DT a few days ago by Brian Moore (ex England hooker) on the topic.
He called for the programme to be called "Sport's Achiever of the Year." or somesuch.
It was a well reasoned piece based on the fact that the programme had its genesis in the 1950's and was now hopelessly out of date.
We rarely get to witness a sports performer's 'personality' unless they've done something controversial or wrong, (L.H springs to mind).
The winners list simply gets piled higher with amorphous clones, thus we get de-sensitised by success and only rarely does a true 'standout' come along.

scootz - 24/12/11 at 10:19 AM

quote:
Originally posted by bobinspain
... Brian Moore (ex England hooker) on the topic...
... It was a well reasoned piece...


Brian Moore in 'well reasoned' shocker!!!

bobinspain - 24/12/11 at 10:31 AM

quote:
Originally posted by scootz
quote:
Originally posted by bobinspain
... Brian Moore (ex England hooker) on the topic...
... It was a well reasoned piece...


Brian Moore in 'well reasoned' shocker!!!



As you probably know Scott, he's a solicitor as well as a hooligan who persued a gentleman's sport.

daniel mason - 24/12/11 at 11:36 AM

Obviously not many golfers on here then. And it's wrong to vote purely on the basis that he's an endurance athlete! And I'm not knocking cavendish at all, he's a supreme talent! But golf is one of the largest participated sports in the world so to be the best in the world is massive. And along with snooker one of the most difficult sports there is

Simon - 24/12/11 at 01:29 PM

...perhaps there'll be an angler on there sometime too then

ATB

Simon

daniel mason - 24/12/11 at 01:50 PM

Phil Taylor did well a few years ago, and he's not exactly an athlete! Wouldn't want to take him on In a game of darts for a tenner!
It's about sport, so all sports should be considered. We have some great sailors who never get a mention,and are Olympic champions. We have 2x great triathletes (brownlee brothers). Ap McCoy who won a while back.
It's difficult to vote between the various sports,and I can understand why people wouldn't vote for say 'phil taylor' but the ammount of world titles he has makes him one of our greatest ever really.

skodaman - 24/12/11 at 04:45 PM

It should've gone to Phil Taylor.Fairplay Cavendish is good at what he does but he just sits down and pedals. The Power is the true athlete and multiple world champion.