Spoty all male shortlist

[pink_triangle]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/sports_personality/15970401.stm

To me this is politically correct nonsence it wont be long before they have quotas for females, disabled athletes, gay people and ethnic minorities. I dont believe there is an anti female bias in the awards. If jessica ennis had won the world championship she would have been nominated, while if britian had a a female tennis player in the top 4 of the world ranking they would have been nominated as well. People have mentioned female swimmers, triathletes and badminton players as potential nominees but its not as if their male counterparts have are being nominated for similar achievements. I think its a bit of fun which should be taken with a pinch of salt, rather than making it into a crusdae for anti discrimination. The awards are just as anti minor sports as they are anti female.

[Ed209]

Of course politcal correctness nonsense comes into it. I think its more sportist if anything. The two gold medal winners at the athletics world championship both got nominated, while the three gold medalists (one of which was a male) at the swimming world championships didn't get nominated.

If Dai Green got nominated for a single gold, I do think Rebecca Adlington should have got nominated for her gold and silver (a feat on par with Mo Farah).

[pink_triangle]

The fact is more people watch athletics than swimming, its a populist award. Any female athlete would have been nominated if they had won a gold in the athletics.

[Ed209]

yeah, I agree. That was my point, its biased towards the popular sports. However the clue is in the title - Sports "Personality" of the year. Acheivement is part of it, but so is grabbing the nation's interest and attention. Maybe if the woman swam in the same constume as their male counterparts .... ?

[pink_triangle]

Then again the female swimmers dont tend to be the most attractive, maybe beach volleyball would be better suited to less clothing! As for personality the only person who I would say has won it in recent years with any personality is freddy flintoff.

[Snufflebutt]

I don't think we should attach too much meaning to the 'personality' part of the award title. It's the least awkward way to title the award without using titles that have indicate gender (sportsman etc) If you have a great, overwhelming achievement in a particular year then you'll win it (generally)

But really, those are probably the best 10 imo. It has nothing to do with gender. Only one I'd argue with is Andy Murray - he's not done a fantastic amount this year by his standards. I might have nominated Alistair Brownlee or Kerri Ann Payne in his place.

Where do we stop though, should the BBC make sure there are disabled, black etc etc athletes on the shortlist? No, but if they are good enough they should be. What I've found most infuriating is the BBC saying they will review the nominations process for next year - its a fantastic system and extremely transparent. I hate it when the BBC hears a bit of whining from the Daily Mail or whatever and completely changes its position on issues.

[pink_triangle]

I disagree about murray, I think his consistency in a high profile sport deserves a place on the list. I also think in terms of competition he is unlucky to be in one of the most difficult tennis eras of all time. Make no mistake if he had been lucky to be born a few years early and peak in the post sampras/pre roger era which was relatively weak he would have won multi grand slams.

[pink_triangle]

I disagree about murray, I think his consistency in a high profile sport deserves a place on the list. I also think in terms of competition he is unlucky to be in one of the most difficult tennis eras of all time. Make no mistake if he had been lucky to be born a few years early and peak in the post sampras/pre roger era which was relatively weak he would have won multi grand slams.