More utterly clueless nonsense. have a word with yourself Batdude, I'm embarrassed for you I really am.

Easier, but rubbish.

Sporting achievement cannot be measured by an algorithm. Thankfully, the people on the committee who decide the short-list are all experts and have more than armchair knowledge so will manage something a bit more meaningful. Yes, there will be some disappointed people, and a lot of debate why x was chosen instead of y, but since the committee system has been in place, the list has got a lot better.

But unlike other years the committee system has compiled the short list , no other year has had this amount of champions , what would the easiest scenario for a committee member to come to a yes on any particular sports person ? Can one persons gold be compared to another single gold ? Is brownlees gold better than peatys or Adams ?

The only single gold winner I see making the list is Andy Murray because he won Wimbledon so in my eyes he makes the list because he won Wimbledon not a single gold much in the same way I feel rose will not make the list but Willet will make the list because of his masters golf win -I just don't see single gold winners making the list , it's just my opinion - sorry

Nooo! If you have to have a golfer, make it Justin Rose (he charmed the pants of me at the Ollympics - not literally ). If you have to have a footballer, I could come up with dozens - Bale is expensive but he was not even the best player for Wales at the Euros.

Having just belatedly caught up on the video, my vote is going to Ali Brownlee. Or Jonnie Peacock. Or Jonny Brownlee. Or... damn, it's just too difficult

If Kobe Bryant walked in here now with a bacon sandwich for me i wouldnt have a clue who he was. Not a clue. And i am far from a casual sports fan.

That is fair enough for you, but there are other people out there that have heard of him, and know about his talents.

But why would the BBC give a lifetime achievement award to a non Brit who hasnt made much impact on the lives of the UK population ? The only non British winners of this award have been Seve, Bjorn Borg, Pele and Martina Navratilova. 4 people who the UK population adored and loved and were known universally.

looking at the list of past winners michael jordan couldn't win the award and if jordan wasn't considered worthy of it then bryant isn't

That's really interesting - has John McEnroe won ? If not , then that's a great shout as well as Steve Davis

I dont think Johnny Mac ever won enough. Only ever won 7 Grand Slam titles. He is probably better known for his tantrums and strops which, lets be honest, go against the grain of what the spirit of the awards are about,

The betting market has been affected by Ali brownlee but we saw the same move made on nick skeleton ,and he drifted back out , I'm sure over the next few weeks the market will level out , the top two in the betting has firmed up , so we will see movement or second guessing the market on possible winners , but it's all down to that short list , I'm sure lots of people thought Wayne Rooney had a chance last year when getting that goal record , but sadly didn't make the short list , we can only second guess who is gonna make it on that list ,but we can all guess who the usual suspects will be DEFO make it on that list

Yeh but we remember those grand slams the Sampras years are a blur but Big Mac is a legend to the watching public ,oh well Steve Davis it is

Some of us were not around to remember him at his peak, and only know him for his outbursts!

I'd say Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert were much more popular and both achieved more too

Ahhh the golden era of tennis , just like snooker we all live and breath 70s 80s these were the greatest years in my opinion ,happy days

McEnroe was seen as a spoiled brat at the time but has become more popular since he retired, especially for his commentating.

Regardless of whether or not he should get the award Kobe Bryant is one of the most famous basketball players on the planet.

Someone even most casual sports fans would know.

Would they ? I think you'd find they wouldn't. Somebody who is barely on UK TV or on the sports pages. I had to google him. If I had to what do you think the majority of SPOTY viewers would have to do ? To mention him as a possible winner of lifetime achievement award is, frankly, a bit naive and silly

could have been worse, he could have suggested The Undertaker, who must be getting on a bit by now, and has "won" loads of "world titles"

Actually he hasn't, but that is besides the point I guess.

You could make a case for Peyton Manning on similar grounds, but neither has the remotest chance of winning, nor would a non-US based sportsman/woman win an ESPY award.

Was Ali brownlee short listed in 2012 ? Because he won gold in 2012

No

Its interesting looking at the 2012 Final 12, pretty similar to this year I guess

1 - Bradley Wiggins - Won TdF and an Olympic gold
2 - Jess Ennis - Won Olympic gold but is the poster girl
3 - Andy Murray - Wimbledon finalist, won Olympic gold won Olympic silver, won US Open
4 - Mo Farah - won double Olympic Gold
5 - David Weir - won 5 Paralympic Golds
6 - Ellie Simmonds - won 2 Paralympics Golds and one Silver
7 - Chris Hoy - won 2 Olympic Golds and World Championship. Broke British record of Olympic Golds
8 - Nicola Adams - Won Olympic and World Championship Golds
9 - Ben Ainslie - won 4th straight Gold medla
10 - Rory McIlroy - won his 2nd Major and became World Number 1. Helped Europe win Ryder Cup
11 - Kath Grainger - Won Olympic Gold and her 4th successive medal
12 - Sarah Storey - won 4 Paralympic Golds

Ok , so it's fair to say this is a far far more difficult year to put a short list together ,so I'm thinking if it was easy enough to leave him out of the 2012 short list then to spare a headache it's fair to say it will be easy to drop him again ? Why would 2012s gold be different to 2016 ? I know I know what he's done is amazing in terms of sportsmanship but surely the fact he was not short listed for 2012 makes life easier for the panel to compile the short list for 2016 ,I'm just thinking out loud and I don't want to upset anyone I'm just trying to figure out this 12 short list and how the panel might come to there decision of thinking ????