Just seen this piece where Joey 'supergob' Barton lays into the award being given to "tax exile" Lewis Hamilton, who lives in Monaco. He goes on to say: " Tax exileâs should be exempt from winning trophies paid and voted for by the tax/licence payer. " (his apostrophe, not mine ) Does Barton have a valid point? I for one, cannot stand F1, but many people do, likewise golf and McIlroy is not everybody's cuppa. http://metro.co.uk/2014/12/15/tax-d...-of-the-year-award-snaps-joey-barton-4987387/
Hamilton would not have been my choice,nothing to do with his "tax exile etc" but my idea of true sport is man or woman competing against man or woman on a physical level. Motor racing is not IMO a sport. my choice would have been either McIlroy or Froch.
Formula 1 could be more likely considered a sport a couple of generations back.Hamilton quite simply got the fastest car. I had to agree with Joey,but I do.
Surely it was ever thus in F1? There will always be a fastest and slowest car on the grid. The teams that develop the fastest cars usually have the biggest budgets, and can attract the top driving talent. Don't tell me Fangio won all his championships in a Ford Prefect. In fact he would switch from team to team year to year to be in the best car. Rosberg also had the fastest car this season. He didnt't win the championship.
I have no idea why people are in the slightest bit bothered by Sports Personality, it is a nothing event and has nothing to do with who wins. Its just a BBC showcase bloated with its own self importance. Has snothing to do with sporting acheivement its reallly all to do with the BBC patting itself on the back. I doubt there are many people who win it that are really that bothered, other than those who never actually won anything in their event. What on earth does Sports Personality mean anyway?
I don't think you can use the level of physical competition to defend golf over motorsport. F1 drivers regularly lose 3 kg of body weight in sweat in a single race. Different strokes for different folks, but for me Hamilton's achievement deserves recognition. 11 wins in 19 races, a second world championship, and he's now the British driver with the most race wins. For sure his car was dominant, but he was up against a quality team-mate and drove a nearly flawless season. McIlroy had a great year though, so it'd have been hard to argue had he won. At 25 and with arguably his best years ahead of him though, McIlroy has potentially another 20 attempts to win SPOTY, whilst Hamilton will have to win the championship again (but probably 3-4 years into the future) to even stand a chance. I can't disagree with Carrabuh though. It's two hours of tired montages and sportspeople slapping each other on the back. The "personality" angle is crap, it's simply a popularity contest.
Surely they should have taken the word "personality" out of the award as soon as Nick Faldo and Nigel Mansell won it.
Same here. Hamilton's achievement is excellent, but it made his job a lot easier by simple having the fastest car. I have to agree that F1 gives employment to a large team behind the scenes, but I would far rather the award went to someone who was competing against others 'on level playing field!!!'
Never ever seen an ovation quite like it. Actually makes me start welling up just thinking back to it
Just one more time! [video=youtube;ayrOzRHIQaU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayrOzRHIQaU[/video] As has been said many times Bobby has this unique ability to unite all football supporters regardless of their allegiances. A true Gentleman who is very sadly missed.
I do agree with Carrubah here in that the award is to fluff up the BBC and the whole thing is shallow and meaningless. Hamilton is another poor choice but in itself proves nothing at all.
