all these years.
With the lowest winning vote count ever, Mo Farah finally got his hands on the BBC Sports Personalty of the Year trophy.
Can you imagine how engorged the BBC were when they found out who had won the award this year, the only thing is it would have confused the hell out of Gary Lineker why Farah wasn’t in the running for the Young SPotY.
Can’t say I bothered to tune in and by the look of the voting figures I wasn’t the only one. Hell, what’s there to actually tune into the BBC have sod all sport. That’ll be the reason Federer got the Overseas award again, Wimbledon is the only live stuff they’ve got. I don’t need to listen to the pitch shitting crisp seller, front row Balding or faking it Logan smarm their way through a few hours of “pictures provided by ____”
With 84,000 votes to win this was the first time the winner hasn’t got over 100k – from the records available, from 2009 on – in the public vote. Ryan Giggs was the previous lowest number at just over 150k. And it’s not like it was a strong field.
A boxer who beat an old bloke who give up then and there. A bloke sat in a car. Harry Kane, yeah I’m a Spurs fan but Harry, really? A woman thrashed in the highlight of her tennis year and a bunch of folk you’ve never heard of, in minority sports that BBC still can’t get the rights to.
Oh there was one who should have won but for a certain incident. Chris Froome had done something that no one had done before. The Tour then Vuelta double.
It’s funny the timing of the leak of his “Adverse Analytical Finding” for his asthma medication, Salbutamol. A story pushed by the Guardian and their broadcasting partners the BBC. Well, look at the pair of them, both hate having to report on British cycling victories, what with the word Sky being blazoned over most of the kit. Their fear of Murdoch clouds all judgement the Tour had barely finished before the Graun was sticking the knife in.
Yes this finding is troubling and will permanently scar Froome’s record but while writing him off the same people laud an athlete that’s missed drug tests while having having one of the dodgiest coaches around.
As for the Froome test, why would he do it? Knowing what’s been going on with Sky over the last year, knowing he’s tested every day when leading a race like the Vuelta. Knowing people are out to bring Sky down. Yes, I know there’s an arrogance that’s gone on before in cycling but this would be beyond arrogance and be more stupid, especially as Salbutamol isn’t exactly performance enhancing, hence why not a banned substance.
Chris Froome’s drug reading makes his Vuelta a Espana win more remarkable… Having 2,000ng/ml of salbutamol in one’s urine does not suggest doping to me. In fact, I would happily testify in court to salbutamol having no performance-enhancing benefits whatsoever Dr Lipworth, Scottish Centre for Respiratory Research, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee
Funny seeing the first out of the block in cycling to have a go at Froome. Vincenzo Nibali was lamenting the fact he didn’t get to stand on the top step of the podium at the Vuelta – where Froome beat him. Nibali wasn’t too bothered if he denied someone top spot by getting pulled along by his team car – as he did in the 2015 Vuelta. Happy to ride for Astana, not exactly a spotless team. As neither are Katusha the team the other main complainer Tony Martin rides for.
Yeah, I’m backing Froome. I know with cycling’s history and people wanting to bring down Sky and Brailsford, that who knows what’ll happen and so he and the team will probably have to carry that asterisk of suspicion against their name but this isn’t Armstrong, this isn’t EPO, this isn’t Farah’s missed tests… I still say, for what it’s worth, he ain’t a drug cheat…