Very much so but it will go to the England ladies or the /England Rugby/Davis Cup teams if we win those..
Or possibly the cricket team, depending on Ashes outcome. It's very much up in the air at the moment.
No stand out candidates for the main award but that should change in the coming Months. I don't see Froome winning though assuming he wins TDF he'll definitely be nominated.
And that whole blowing away the field in a sport riddled with drugs thing. Might as well give the overseas award to Gatlin if Froome gets the main award.
True - but Froome hasn't been found gulity with many people here thinking he very clean .
Gatlin has been caught and banned twice.
Also Wiggins/Cavdendish have won the award before.
It would be unfair for people to not vote for Froome on the grounds that he's just too successful, but I think that fact people don't think of him as really British means people aren't that connected to his success, and are less likely to give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to nasty rumours. Sadly.
Or possibly the cricket team, depending on Ashes outcome. It's very much up in the air at the moment.
The England Ladies would be a good option, depending on how everyone else does. They reached a very impressive 3rd place in the World Cup, but if the Davis Cup team wins, or even makes the final, it's a huge deal from an historical point of view, so I'm not sure how to balance that up. It went to rugby last year, and I don't think the cricket team should get it for winning the Ashes unless it's done with particular style. They only have to beat one country to win it, so I don't think it compares with reaching the semi-finals of world-wide tournaments.
It would be unfair for people to not vote for Froome on the grounds that he's just too successful, but I think that fact people don't think of him as really British means people aren't that connected to his success, and are less likely to give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to nasty rumours. Sadly.
The lack of a connection to Britain doesn't help but I don't think you can dismiss the questions about his performances so easily. It's not just down to mean rumours, cycling has a huge drugs problem.
To believe Froome is clean when he is dominating the race you have to belive either a) he is able to beat (and beat comprehensively) people who are drugged up to their eyeballs despite being drug free himself or b) that cycling is now a clean sport. I have difficulty coming to either conclusion.
I'm making no comment on the rate of doping in cycling. I find the sport boring, partly because it's too dependent on stamina/endurance and strength, with not enough visible skill, or anything interesting actually happening! I'm merely commenting on how open the SPOTY voting public are to believing or not believing rumours, which I do think (sadly) is linked to nationality. Regardless of questions of doping, I think most of the general public struggle to identify with Froome as British, because he's never really lived here, unlike immigrants such as Mo Farrah etc.
Regardless of questions of doping, I think most of the general public struggle to identify with Froome as British, because he's never really lived here, unlike immigrants such as Mo Farrah etc.
Well, before the race started I kind of thought so, now that it's obvious that the French hates him, that makes him as British as Nelson or the Duke of Marlborough for me.
Between Hamilton and Froome it looks like. Froome maybe edging it at the moment with the sympathy vote factor but Hamilton may retain if carries on smashing it.
Between Hamilton and Froome it looks like. Froome maybe edging it at the moment with the sympathy vote factor but Hamilton may retain if carries on smashing it.
But as with every years award, you have to factor in when the voting takes place and how short a memory the great British public has. The last Grand Prix being in November and the award being judged in December may weigh heavily.
But as with every years award, you have to factor in when the voting takes place and how short a memory the great British public has. The last Grand Prix being in November and the award being judged in December may weigh heavily.
Surely Serena is currently the favourite for overseas personality? If she wins the US Open then she must be a lock - she'll have completed the slam and tied Steffi Graf for most majors in the open era.
People saying it's Froome v Hamilton, don't write off Andy Murray. GB has a legitimate shot to win the Davis Cup for the first time since the 1930s and it will be almost entirely down to Andy if we do. The Final is at the end of November and would be live on BBC1 if we got there so it could get plenty of publicity.
Also Jess Ennis-Hill looks to be rounding into pretty good form and she could well be a contender for gold at the World Champs. The SPOTY voters seem to like her already having put her in the 'top three' three times already. Great story if she comes back from having the baby and all that time off to win as well.
People saying it's Froome v Hamilton, don't write off Andy Murray. GB has a legitimate shot to win the Davis Cup for the first time since the 1930s and it will be almost entirely down to Andy if we do. The Final is at the end of November and would be live on BBC1 if we got there so it could get plenty of publicity.
I think he needs to win the US Open as well to really stand a chance.
Also Jess Ennis-Hill looks to be rounding into pretty good form and she could well be a contender for gold at the World Champs. The SPOTY voters seem to like her already having put her in the 'top three' three times already. Great story if she comes back from having the baby and all that time off to win as well.
She'll do well (and others will have to falter) to realistically get near the medals in Beijing. Brianne Theison-Eaton is the strong favourite with Carolin Schafer, Nadine Broersen and Nafi Thiam probably fighting for the minor medals. I'd add that the location and time difference will mean that this time around the championships as a whole will struggle to make an impact on the consciousness of the general sporting public.
Murray will probably win it it again if/when GB win the Davis cup, yes its a team 'award' but its practically him doing it on his own, it wouldn't surprise me if Ward didn't win another match.
Is the davis Cup even known amongst casual sport fans? Can't see it registering at all
That said GB are ripe for a beating in the next match as it comes so close to USO
Surely Serena is currently the favourite for overseas personality? If she wins the US Open then she must be a lock - she'll have completed the slam and tied Steffi Graf for most majors in the open era.
People saying it's Froome v Hamilton, don't write off Andy Murray. GB has a legitimate shot to win the Davis Cup for the first time since the 1930s and it will be almost entirely down to Andy if we do. The Final is at the end of November and would be live on BBC1 if we got there so it could get plenty of publicity.
Also Jess Ennis-Hill looks to be rounding into pretty good form and she could well be a contender for gold at the World Champs. The SPOTY voters seem to like her already having put her in the 'top three' three times already. Great story if she comes back from having the baby and all that time off to win as well.
Murray hasn't a hope unless he wins US Open and even then he probably won't win it as he's won a couple of majors already
If England win the RWC it'll be the best p;layer from that
Serena has already achieved more this year. 3 majors > 2. Plus she is on the verge of history and has pretty much proved she is the greatest tennis player ever. Also, a woman has not won the award since 1997, which I think will be a talking point.
Serena has already achieved more this year. 3 majors > 2. Plus she is on the verge of history and has pretty much proved she is the greatest tennis player ever. Also, a woman has not won the award since 1997, which I think will be a talking point.
It's relatively harder to win golfing majors (the amount of variables that can come into play over 4 rounds of golf is ridiculous) than tennis ones though, never mind women's tennis in a pretty weak era. He was also one shot away from an Open play off
I wasn't aware she never won it though, so she probably will now in fairness. That said if she doesn't win the US Open- recency effect could play a role. along with that Djokovic's 3 majors would be given more prestige than Serena's rightly or wrongly, if he wins the US himself (he prob will). Men's tennis is far more popular than women's tennis
The RWC will be much fresher in the memory also by then, so if the All Blacks or SA or Please God Ireland (!!) won it and had a real stand out player they would seriously come into consideration. The RWc will get a lot of coverage as it is held in England this year
It's relatively harder to win golfing majors (the amount of variables that can come into play over 4 rounds of golf is ridiculous) than tennis ones though, never mind women's tennis in a pretty weak era. He was also one shot away from an Open play off
I wasn't aware she never won it though, so she probably will now in fairness. That said if she doesn't win the US Open- recency effect could play a role. along with that Djokovic's 3 majors would be given more prestige than Serena's rightly or wrongly, if he wins the US himself (he prob will). Men's tennis is far more popular than women's tennis
The RWC will be much fresher in the memory also by then, so if the All Blacks or SA or Please God Ireland (!!) won it and had a real stand out player they would seriously come into consideration. The RWc will get a lot of coverage as it is held in England this year
remember overseas and team of the year are judged by a panel so dates won't really enter into it.
I think he needs to win the US Open as well to really stand a chance.
She'll do well (and others will have to falter) to realistically get near the medals in Beijing. Brianne Theison-Eaton is the strong favourite with Carolin Schafer, Nadine Broersen and Nafi Thiam probably fighting for the minor medals. I'd add that the location and time difference will mean that this time around the championships as a whole will struggle to make an impact on the consciousness of the general sporting public.
Jess would need to win gold in Beijing to have a chance and I would have Brianne as favourite at the moment but Jess has a reasonable chance far more than you're giving her credit for. Thiam isn't in great form this summer and Jess beat her in Gotzis and she wasn't that far behind Schafer & Broerson there. As we saw at the weekend she has moved on a bit since then. Her Gotzis score + the improvement in the 3 events she did already takes her up to almost 6700 points. I could see her scoring around 6800 in Beijing which will be the type of score required to win gold. I'd be very confident of her beating Froome in a public vote and I suspect the public will be reluctant to give the award to Hamilton 2 years in a row. The Heptathlon is on during the first weekend so will likely get pretty decent viewing figures
remember overseas and team of the year are judged by a panel so dates won't really enter into it.
I know but even for them it'll be far easier take recent events into account.
Right now Serena is on top of the world but her achievements will be pretty much forgotten about by anyone bar tennis fans in a few weeks. If she wins the USO she's probably the favourite, but if not- I can't see it. Still it'll depend on the RWC and if Spieth can win the PGA.
Djokovic if (when) he wins 3 majors would be a deserving winner, but for me Spieth should win it no matter what else he does. Women's tennis just isn't a big enough sport for me, unlike golf and ATP tennis which have much more of a global audience (even they pale in comparison to football overall, and Rugby Union for the next few months)
If Ireland win the RWC it will be a humongous story and POC and Johnny Sexton or whoever would come hugely into the reckoning. If Spieth wins the PGA he will win it though, no matter what else happens. The next few months will be interesting
I know but even for them it'll be far easier take recent events into account.
Right now Serena is on top of the world but her achievements will be pretty much forgotten about by anyone bar tennis fans in a few weeks. If she wins the USO she's probably the favourite, but if not- I can't see it. Still it'll depend on the RWC and if Spieth can win the PGA.
Djokovic if (when) he wins 3 majors would be a deserving winner, but for me Spieth should win it no matter what else he does. Women's tennis just isn't a big enough sport for me, unlike golf and ATP tennis which have much more of a global audience (even they pale in comparison to football overall, and Rugby Union for the next few months)
If Ireland win the RWC it will be a humongous story and POC and Johnny Sexton or whoever would come hugely into the reckoning. If Spieth wins the PGA he will win it though, no matter what else happens. The next few months will be interesting
They will though. Naturally the Wimbledon win will stick out, but the AO and FO go completely unnoticed by the majority of the general public out there.
That counts for the mens game aswell.
There are plenty out there who claim Andy Murray has done nothing in his career bar winning Wimbledon. The US Open win takes a complete back seat, although it's a similar scale achievement in theory.
Most people only take any sort of interest in tennis for two weeks of the year. And the main memory of Serena this year will be the night she should have been beaten by an unseeded home player
And she's won Wimbledon plenty so no-one will take particular special notice of this one bar tennis followers or proper all-round sports fanatics
Now as Darren said, this award is determined by an independent panel, so this gives her a great chance but RWC will probably be the default standard bearer, unless Spieth picks up three majors
If it was a public vote- as bizarre as it sounds a Muguruza winning wimbledon might nearly have a better shout than Serena if she won the three other slams, given she's completely new. The general public have all heard of Serena so pretty much expect her to win wimby every year.
They will though. Naturally the Wimbledon win will stick out, but the AO and FO go completely unnoticed by the majority of the general public out there.
That counts for the mens game aswell.
There are plenty out there who claim Andy Murray has done nothing in his career bar winning Wimbledon. The US Open win takes a complete back seat, although it's a similar scale achievement in theory.
Most people only take any sort of interest in tennis for two weeks of the year. And the main memory of Serena this year will be the night she should have been beaten by an unseeded home player
And she's won Wimbledon plenty so no-one will take particular special notice of this one bar tennis followers or proper all-round sports fanatics
Now as Darren said, this award is determined by an independent panel, so this gives her a great chance but RWC will probably be the default standard bearer, unless Spieth picks up three majors
If it was a public vote- as bizarre as it sounds a Muguruza winning wimbledon might nearly have a better shout than Serena if she won the three other slams, given she's completely new. The general public have all heard of Serena so pretty much expect her to win wimby every year.
Oh sorry are you just talking about in this country? If so, then I kind of agree. The crowds at Wimbledon are the worst in the world because the people generally don't have a clue and the whole institution is very prejudiced.
But Serena is by far one of the biggest athletes worldwide and her achievements are much more significant on a historical and social level.
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Or possibly the cricket team, depending on Ashes outcome. It's very much up in the air at the moment.
No stand out candidates for the main award but that should change in the coming Months. I don't see Froome winning though assuming he wins TDF he'll definitely be nominated.
It would be unfair for people to not vote for Froome on the grounds that he's just too successful, but I think that fact people don't think of him as really British means people aren't that connected to his success, and are less likely to give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to nasty rumours. Sadly.
The England Ladies would be a good option, depending on how everyone else does. They reached a very impressive 3rd place in the World Cup, but if the Davis Cup team wins, or even makes the final, it's a huge deal from an historical point of view, so I'm not sure how to balance that up. It went to rugby last year, and I don't think the cricket team should get it for winning the Ashes unless it's done with particular style. They only have to beat one country to win it, so I don't think it compares with reaching the semi-finals of world-wide tournaments.
The lack of a connection to Britain doesn't help but I don't think you can dismiss the questions about his performances so easily. It's not just down to mean rumours, cycling has a huge drugs problem.
To believe Froome is clean when he is dominating the race you have to belive either a) he is able to beat (and beat comprehensively) people who are drugged up to their eyeballs despite being drug free himself or b) that cycling is now a clean sport. I have difficulty coming to either conclusion.
Well, before the race started I kind of thought so, now that it's obvious that the French hates him, that makes him as British as Nelson or the Duke of Marlborough for me.
Same argument as Wiggins. Chris Froome's parents are British so is he.
But as with every years award, you have to factor in when the voting takes place and how short a memory the great British public has. The last Grand Prix being in November and the award being judged in December may weigh heavily.
Yep. Hence why he beat Rory last year.
Also Jess Ennis-Hill looks to be rounding into pretty good form and she could well be a contender for gold at the World Champs. The SPOTY voters seem to like her already having put her in the 'top three' three times already. Great story if she comes back from having the baby and all that time off to win as well.
I think he needs to win the US Open as well to really stand a chance.
She'll do well (and others will have to falter) to realistically get near the medals in Beijing. Brianne Theison-Eaton is the strong favourite with Carolin Schafer, Nadine Broersen and Nafi Thiam probably fighting for the minor medals. I'd add that the location and time difference will mean that this time around the championships as a whole will struggle to make an impact on the consciousness of the general sporting public.
Is the davis Cup even known amongst casual sport fans? Can't see it registering at all
That said GB are ripe for a beating in the next match as it comes so close to USO
Jordan Spieth surely?
Murray hasn't a hope unless he wins US Open and even then he probably won't win it as he's won a couple of majors already
If England win the RWC it'll be the best p;layer from that
And if England win the RWC at home?
Serena has already achieved more this year. 3 majors > 2. Plus she is on the verge of history and has pretty much proved she is the greatest tennis player ever. Also, a woman has not won the award since 1997, which I think will be a talking point.
It's relatively harder to win golfing majors (the amount of variables that can come into play over 4 rounds of golf is ridiculous) than tennis ones though, never mind women's tennis in a pretty weak era. He was also one shot away from an Open play off
I wasn't aware she never won it though, so she probably will now in fairness. That said if she doesn't win the US Open- recency effect could play a role. along with that Djokovic's 3 majors would be given more prestige than Serena's rightly or wrongly, if he wins the US himself (he prob will). Men's tennis is far more popular than women's tennis
The RWC will be much fresher in the memory also by then, so if the All Blacks or SA or Please God Ireland (!!) won it and had a real stand out player they would seriously come into consideration. The RWc will get a lot of coverage as it is held in England this year
remember overseas and team of the year are judged by a panel so dates won't really enter into it.
Jess would need to win gold in Beijing to have a chance and I would have Brianne as favourite at the moment but Jess has a reasonable chance far more than you're giving her credit for. Thiam isn't in great form this summer and Jess beat her in Gotzis and she wasn't that far behind Schafer & Broerson there. As we saw at the weekend she has moved on a bit since then. Her Gotzis score + the improvement in the 3 events she did already takes her up to almost 6700 points. I could see her scoring around 6800 in Beijing which will be the type of score required to win gold. I'd be very confident of her beating Froome in a public vote and I suspect the public will be reluctant to give the award to Hamilton 2 years in a row. The Heptathlon is on during the first weekend so will likely get pretty decent viewing figures
I know but even for them it'll be far easier take recent events into account.
Right now Serena is on top of the world but her achievements will be pretty much forgotten about by anyone bar tennis fans in a few weeks. If she wins the USO she's probably the favourite, but if not- I can't see it. Still it'll depend on the RWC and if Spieth can win the PGA.
Djokovic if (when) he wins 3 majors would be a deserving winner, but for me Spieth should win it no matter what else he does. Women's tennis just isn't a big enough sport for me, unlike golf and ATP tennis which have much more of a global audience (even they pale in comparison to football overall, and Rugby Union for the next few months)
If Ireland win the RWC it will be a humongous story and POC and Johnny Sexton or whoever would come hugely into the reckoning. If Spieth wins the PGA he will win it though, no matter what else happens. The next few months will be interesting
I'm sorry but that is not true at all.
They will though. Naturally the Wimbledon win will stick out, but the AO and FO go completely unnoticed by the majority of the general public out there.
That counts for the mens game aswell.
There are plenty out there who claim Andy Murray has done nothing in his career bar winning Wimbledon. The US Open win takes a complete back seat, although it's a similar scale achievement in theory.
Most people only take any sort of interest in tennis for two weeks of the year. And the main memory of Serena this year will be the night she should have been beaten by an unseeded home player
And she's won Wimbledon plenty so no-one will take particular special notice of this one bar tennis followers or proper all-round sports fanatics
Now as Darren said, this award is determined by an independent panel, so this gives her a great chance but RWC will probably be the default standard bearer, unless Spieth picks up three majors
If it was a public vote- as bizarre as it sounds a Muguruza winning wimbledon might nearly have a better shout than Serena if she won the three other slams, given she's completely new. The general public have all heard of Serena so pretty much expect her to win wimby every year.
Oh sorry are you just talking about in this country? If so, then I kind of agree. The crowds at Wimbledon are the worst in the world because the people generally don't have a clue and the whole institution is very prejudiced.
But Serena is by far one of the biggest athletes worldwide and her achievements are much more significant on a historical and social level.