the problem is - who on earth will be selected as Sports Personality of the Year 2012 ?

has there ever been a more difficult choice of candidate ?

Andy Murray really put the cat among the pigeons by winning in New York with Bradley Wiggins looking nailed on until the likes of David Weir and Ellie Simmonds made their bids, not to mention Ben Ainsley et al

who would you vote for ?

for me ? well definitely Wiggins.....erhh maybe !

Its tough, Wiggins is probably favourite as he won the TDF and then won golds in the games, marvelous feat. Mo Farrah, laura Trott, Jason Kenny will all have a shot as well.

If I vote, I will probably go for Wiggins.

Anybody but a bloody cyclist.

Bloody nightmare, especially at traffic lights



Perhaps we could start a campaign for one person, like was done with rage Against the Machine and get someone in who would not stand a chance normally.

on a olympic year it wont be anyone other then someone winning gold, Did Murray win gold

In a typically pedantic Sin Bin type of way, isn't the title Sports PERSONALITY of the year?

If you're looking at personalities, then you rule out Andy Murray immediately, and possibly Bradley Wiggins.

If, however we're being sensible, and we're looking at sporting achievements, then yes, there are too many to choose from. I'd go for Wiggins, seeing as he's local-ish (even if his accent suggests otherwise), he supports Wigan, and he's doing a lot for Joining Jack.

oh dear MB, what's the problem with cyclists ?

and what about Sir Chris Hoy ?

not to mention the brilliant Sarah Storey with four cycling golds !!!

Brad the Mod should p!ss it.

Well deserved also.

Always amuses me when people pass judgement on their perception of [ipersonality[/i

Where do the likes of Steve Davis, Nigel Mansell, Jonny Wilkinson, Michael Owen rank in your perception of [ipersonality[/i?

Steve Davis is actually a laugh a minute guy, however stony faced he appeared during tournaments but yes, the others are boring old farts

'personality' is probably the wrong word - maybe it should be 'Sports Acheiver of the Year' ?

I'd prefer 'Sports Achiever of the Year'?

The BBC love Ennis and Hoy. Jess did well, but given the number of multiple medallists it would not seem right if she won it. I think the little girl swimmer - Ellie - has been the personality of the summer. In fact, as Denise Lewis said a while back, maybe this year they should have a female and a male one?

What about team of the year - Team GB or Paralympc GB? Another dilemma. To be honest, I thought the paralumpic games were actually better the Olympics - which surprised me.

Did this guy get a medal in the paralumpics?

Only one GB athlete finished the summer with four gold medals.

BBC need to start looking for quotes to build a ramp.

Alex Zanardi for overseas, Games Makers for team.

errh - Sarah Storey & David Weir ? don't they count ?

As for Wiggins and not being a great fan of the road cycling, isn't it a lot to do with his team (Sky) putting him into good positions to win stages and races as well as the advanced technology our cyclists have in terms of their bikes etc. compares to a lot of other nations? The likes of Murray, Farah, Simmonds, Weir, Ennis were out there on their own and would get the nod above him imo. For me Murray has had the toughest competition to contend with in his chosen sport over the years (Federer, Nadal, Djorkovic) than any others sportsman/woman around and years of expectation and slagging off when he fell short and most public scrutiny and would be my pick.

As for overseas SPOTY it'll be a minor miracle if it isn't Usain Bolt.
Team GB and Paralympic GB will probably collect the team award as a unit.

I meant Weir.

Did Storey get four as well? Had three in my head for some reason.

Being thumped by one in London (across the belly, with his bike, causing bruising) for refusing to get out of his way on the pavement – and the road was bloody deserted at the time.

Being sworn at several times for challenging cyclists on the pavement.

Being threatened with physical violence – "I'm going to f**king run you down!" by a woman after being spat at by her, for having the temerity to point out that she was breaking the law by cycling on the pavement (racing past me and nearly sending me flying – but hey, it was my fault, apparently).

Several occasions of steeping out of a bus, onto one of those peculiar pavement thingies, only to find a cretin on a bike racing past, right in front of me – on the pavement. On more than one occasion, the aforementioned cretin was ringing their bell at me to get out of their way while they break the law.

Crossing the road, at a junction, with the lights in my favour (green pedestrian one); getting to the other side of the big dumper truck that was stopped where it should be, and then almost being sent flying as a cyclist sailed past and through the red light on the other side of the truck, right next to the pavement.

Getting out of a cab – onto a pavement, in other words – and being sworn at by a cyclist swerving around me, on the pavement.

Every Saturday, just while I'm around, several of them ride down a street that is closed to traffic for a market – and they don't go slowly, but fast. I know of shopkeepers who have acted against them (rather taking the law into their own hands) and one other who has a notice outside their shop asking whether their mummies won't let them ride on the road. In other words, it's not just me.

That's a flavour.

Just a couple of hours ago, someone showed me a tweet from a cyclist who was praising plans for a new pedestrianisation scheme somewhere – and asking if anyone knew of "any more" good schemes for cyclists.

I hate them.

Although I am told it's nowhere near as bad outside London. I've certainly never seen it as bad in very cycle-friendly places such as Amsterdam or in France or Berlin.

blimey, I only asked !



didn't expect the Gettysburg Address !

Red mist descends these days, on this subject, I'm afraid.

Should add, actually, that a few weeks ago, when I walking up Broadway Market one weekday evening, a cyclist sped past me on the pavement. He was yelled at by a fellow cyclist, who was walking his own bike up the opposite pavement.

There really are just a hell of a lot of the dismal ones around.

Have you seen a doctor about your cyclophobia?

He suggested that, as therapy, the next time such an incident occurs, I make sure I'm wearing my Docs, and kick the spokes into the middle of next week.

Never saw Sir Chris, Vicky or Cav behaving in this manner during the games.

Just think though, if Team GB Cycling set up a courier service it would be the quickest around

You'll scare the out of the fiercest of cyclists.





Especially if you marry this with the Docs.

=#FF4040Image removed. You know that's not going to pass the watershed test. Mintball

While Cameron and Hmaj are bending the rules to allow everyone who got a medal to also get an honour, why not extend the SPOTY awards as well?

Male Olympian of the year - Mo Farah
Female Olympian of the year - Jessica Ennis
Male Paralympian of the year - David Weir
Female Paralympian of the year - Ellie Simmods
Sports Personality of the year - Bradley Wiggins
Lifetime achievement award - Chris Hoy
Sportsman of the year - Andy Murray

Covers all the bases. It's impossible to pick one for the award. You can't argue that Wiggins' achievements top Murray's for example. Wiggins won the Tour de France and gold at the Olympics, unparallelled success for a British cyclist. Murray won the US Open, the first British major win in 70+ years and gold at the Olympics.

Expand, expand, EXPAND!