O/T:- Spoty

[Old_pie]

The betting says:

1. Raducanu
2. Daley
3. Fury

All a bit harsh on Adam Peaty, but I suppose swimming doesn't really grab the attention.

You underestimate the wisdom of the voting public. And two water sports in the top 3 says you don't know what you're talking about

[Elite_Pie]

You underestimate the wisdom of the voting public. And two water sports in the top 3 says you don't know what you're talking about

Read it again. That post wasn't what I was talking about, it was about what the odds said. My personal thoughts were that Adam Peaty should be in the top three rather than Fury. Thankfully the public listened to me.

My real thoughts were that Rachael Blackmore was the most deserving winner, but couldn't be nominated. In winning the ladies Grand Slam title I think Raducanu was a worthy winner out of all the candidates but to put some sort of context on it, what Blackmore achieved would equate to Raducanu winning a men's Grand Slam title.

To put more perspective on what she did, think of a woman scoring the winning goal in a men's World Cup final.

[Old_pie]

Read it again. That post wasn't what I was talking about, it was about what the odds said. My personal thoughts were that Adam Peaty should be in the top three rather than Fury. Thankfully the public listened to me.

My real thoughts were that Rachael Blackmore was the most deserving winner, but couldn't be nominated. In winning the ladies Grand Slam title I think Raducanu was a worthy winner out of all the candidates but to put some sort of context on it, what Blackmore achieved would equate to Raducanu winning a men's Grand Slam title.

To put more perspective on what she did, think of a woman scoring the winning goal in a men's World Cup final.

I agree with you re Blackmore. I didn't expect a woman to fully compete v men in what is quite a physical activity (well as much as sitting/standing on a horse is physical ). (Yes I know, I've tried riding a horse, didn't like the lack of brakes on each corner)

To be fair Raducanu's achievement, as good as it was, has parallels with Rushcliffe Rover's European cup wins when few of the top teams were involved in the latter stages.

[laddo]

Young Emma was the obvious choice, the deserved winner and she ticked all the criteria boxes.

As I mentioned at the time of her US Open title it was the greatest ever achievement by a British sportsperson ever IMO.

Everyone else was playing for (a distant) second place.

[ArabianNotts]

As well as winning the BBC world sportsperson of the year, the first Irish person to do so apparently, Rachel Blackmore won the RTE sportsperson of the year here in Ireland. She’s a real star.

[Elite_Pie]

As I mentioned at the time of her US Open title it was the greatest ever achievement by a British sportsperson ever IMO.

Really? It was probably the most unexpected win I can think of, but nowhere near the greatest ever achievement, not even close. Why does it beat any other British Grand Slam winner? She could well turn out to be a one hit wonder, because the reality is that she won a distinctly sub-standard renewal. Look at the players she beat, from the first round onwards they were Vogele, Zhang, Sorribes Tormo, Rogers, Bencic, Sakkari, and Fernandez. A lengthy list, but how many of them had anyone heard of before unless they followed ladies tennis closely?

This isn't meant to belittle Emma Raducanu because her win was incredible, but mainly because it was unexpected rather than what she actually achieved. The "greatest ever achievement by a British sportsperson ever"? You're having a laugh. How does it beat Adam Peaty retaining his Olympic title, Paula Radcliffe blasting women's distance records into oblivion, and the likes of Steve Redgrave, Mo Farah and many more? It was a fairytale story against the odds, but nowhere near the greatest ever.

[Elite_Pie]

As well as winning the BBC world sportsperson of the year, the first Irish person to do so apparently, Rachel Blackmore won the RTE sportsperson of the year here in Ireland. She’s a real star.

The reason I think her achievement is so good is that I can't think of any other sport in the world where men and women compete as equals, and a woman comes out on top. Even though her Grand National win made most of the headlines, for me it comes way down the list of what she did. For her to be top jockey at the Cheltenham NH Festival, in what is the World Cup of jump racing and one of the toughest sports around was way above what anyone else managed to do.

[laddo]

I'm not having a laugh, and you clearly don't follow tennis in any way shape or form. All the names you mentioned can be considered greats with great sporting achievements under their belts. However .....

She won the US open as a qualifyer. The first qualifier, man or woman, to capture a Grand Slam title ever!

She won the US open without dropping a single set.

She won a grand slam in a debut season on the WTA Tour.

She won the US open as an 18 year old.

Those 4 stats should do the job, tbh the top one alone is enough

I believe almost all of the Women's top players on tour this year participated and got knocked out. They must have lost the odd set or more accurately 2 sets to some tennis players nobody has heard of

It's all opinions obviously but to me it's the single greatest sporting achievement by a British sportsperson. The fact is was so unexpected, as you rightly said, illustrates the incredible achievement perfectly.

She was the deserved winner of the SPOTY award , landslide winner would be my guest. Even if she never wins another grand slam nobody can take the above away from her. It's in da books.

[Elite_Pie]

I'm not having a laugh, and you clearly don't follow tennis in any way shape or form. All the names you mentioned can be considered greats with great sporting achievements under their belts.

F**king hell, with that comment i rest my case!

[Elite_Pie]

F**king hell, with that comment i rest my case!

Just realised that when you said 'all the names you mentioned' you were actually talking about all the names I mentioned that weren't tennis players. It's just that your sentence was very misleading, when you said "you clearly don't follow tennis in any way shape or form. All the names you mentioned can be considered greats with great sporting achievements under their belts." So let's stick to tennis and compare like-for-like. How is her achievement in winning a Grand Slam singles title better than Virginia Wade (3 titles) or Andy Murray (3 titles)? The romance of her story may be greater, but her achievement is exactly the same, but currently stands at just the one rather than three. Even then all of them would rank behind the other names I mentioned.