Originally Posted by
InMyArms:
“Olympic "heroes"
They run around a track really fast, swim really fast or are rich enough to have been brought up with a dancing horse. The BBC and others don't even use the word "heroes" when discussing doctors and nurses, why is it reserved for Olympians?”
One of the original uses of the word 'hero' was to describe the demi-Gods of Greek mythology. They were not the foot soldiers in battle, and needn't be especially brave or compassionate. They were the ones who had extra special, "super-human" skills and strengths, well above average. They might be sent to represent a whole tribe to compete against rival tribes. They would be people who could swim or run fast, or throw something a long way with accuracy.
That's why.
Originally Posted by shackfan:
“BBC
You should be given an OBE for your services to ignorance. You obviously DON'T have to be famous at all to be knighted. It isn't part of the criteria and if you don't know who Mark Rylance is then you clearly aren't a film watcher. And how miserable you APPEAR to some shouldn't detract from the fact that you are one of the best sportsman Great Britain has ever produced. Ken was found not guilty. Jeeeeez.”
If there was a like function on here, I'd be using it for this post.
Originally Posted by elliecat:
“So Britain's joint most decorated Olympian gets an MBE and Ennis-Hill gets made a Dame. Obviously Jason Kenny needs to up his celebrity status because at this rate his wife will be a Dame before he gets Knighted. The whole honours system is a joke. (I'm not even going to talk about Beckham or Wintour).”
The Kennys have both been awarded CBEs, which I think is appropriate. I'd be totally surprised if they aren't getting Sir Jason and Dame Laura in four years time, but if for some reason they don't do well at the next Olympics, it will come at some point anyway.
Originally Posted by jeffiner1892:
“The sporting ones have always been very inconsistent. In 2005 they gave EVERY member of the Ashes team an honour but snubbed Steven Gerrard because "they could only give out a certain amount of honours for sport" but somehow managed to find enough honours in 2012 for EVERY gold medallist AND a few silver medallists.”
They made an announcement in 2012 not to limit the number of gongs for Olympians, as had apparently been the case in the past. Everyone who got a gold at the Olympics or Paralympics got a minimum MBE, which is fair enough, but I do agree that it's all a bit uneven, and it's much easier to rack up multiple golds in certain sports, and especially certain Paralympic sports. Jess Ennis deserves being a Dame more than
Originally Posted by Sinking feeling:
“No it doesn't, but it cheapens the awards given to those who actually did something worthwhile without becoming a millionaire in the process.”
The UK honours system is supposed to be about outstanding achievement, and the top awards are especially for those who are outstanding at an international level. The fact that sports like tennis are well remunerated only adds to the level of the competition. It's an award for brilliance, not a condescending pat on the head.
Originally Posted by eggchen:
“Honours have always been handed out as simple recognition of high achievement in whatever it is a person does, and that includes sport, the arts, entertainment etc. They aren't reserved solely for the "worthy" cases.
It's like saying "Pfft an Oscar just for acting in a movie?" but that is exactly what the award is for, a simple recognition.”
Exactly. There are multiple categories for honours, and one is for sport and another is for the arts, but there are other categories for science and engineering etc. It's just that this year there are extra athletes getting them, and the public like reading stories about them, so they get the headlines.
Originally Posted by Evo102:
“But you are overlooking Coe's subsequent political career including being chief of staff to William Hague when he was leader of the opposition. His elevation to the Lords after serving as an MP was I suspect more down to politics than his sport achievements.”
Coe became Lord Coe when he took up an actual position in government which was associated with a role in the House of Lords. It is essentially a job title when done properly, as it was in Coe's case. The same applies to Lord Sugar, who was made "Enterprise Champion" by the government of the day. They are political appointments, although generally not considered to be particularly party political - even if they do associate with a party. It's a process to give an individual working on government projects access to civil service support and so on. Some of them are naff, and you get the likes of Lord Loyd-Webber complaining because he's expected to work in exchange for the title, but the fact is they are expected to do something, not just use it for upgrades on flights.