Sports Personality Of The Year? Let's Just Party Instead!

In almost every international tournament, Britons baying for success end up disappointed, often before the event is even half way through. As a nation, we stand these people - who regularly end up in the newspaper for one nightclub misdemeanour or another, one extramarital trifling or another, or the occasional on-pitch inappropriate remark - on pedestals and eulogise them as pillars of our nation.

The Olympics? Paralympics? Wimbledon*? The Tour de France? Ryder Cup?

With six races of the Formula One season remaining, there's even a solid chance of a British success story here, too, whether it be with a driver or a constructor. (Or maybe even both.)

Which all makes me wonder why we constantly create such a rabid following of football.

In almost every international tournament, Britons baying for success end up disappointed, often before the event is even half way through. As a nation, we stand these people - who regularly end up in the newspaper for one nightclub misdemeanour or another, one extramarital trifling or another, or the occasional on-pitch inappropriate remark - on pedestals and eulogise them as pillars of our nation.

If there's one thing that should come out of 2012, it's that there are some fantastic sports people in our country who often get forgotten about (and certainly not paid as much). Pick up a newspaper and the back page will almost always be covering a football story.

And yet, in 2012, the rest of the sporting industry has had a stonking year. Bradley Wiggins in the Tour de France? Jessica Ennis, Mo Farrah, Luke Campbell, Laura Trott, Victoria Pendleton, Jade Jones in London 2012? (I've had to cherry pick some names there, so long is our list of success in the Olympics.) Oliver Hynd, Ellie Simmonds, Helena Lucas, Jonnie Peacock, Danielle Brown, Sarah Storey in the Paralympics?

These are just some of the names of people who've won gold - let's not forget those who did so brilliantly to achieve silver or bronze.

In August, I had the pleasure of meeting Etienne Stott and Timothy Baillie during the FIA World Endurance Championships at Silverstone and they were the most down-to-earth, really nice people you could ever hope to meet. Rather than being boastful of their gold medal success they were almost shy, embarrassed by the adulation thrust upon them.

And now, with dramatic success in the Ryder Cup, more names can be added to the list of Britain's fabulous sportspeople in 2012.

All this makes me wonder how on Earth we are going to be able to pick a Sports Personality of the Year this year. The list of possible entrants is going to be mammoth and the running so close. Any one of Britain's competitors, in any one of the myriad sports that have taken place this year, are eligible for winning the BBC's most prestigious sporting award.

Except footballers.

They should look to the hard work, dedication and true sportsmanship that has been shown this year, and take some lessons. And football, in general, could do with learning a bit from how the other sports manage themselves.

Maybe then there might be a chance that when we reach the World Cup in 2014, I won't be faced with a pub full of crying fans, all depressed that, yet again, they've been let down by their national team.

In the meanwhile, BBC, I recommend you scrap the voting system for Sports Personality this year and just have a ding dong of a party to celebrate the success of all our brilliant competitors.

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*I include Wimbledon; mostly because Murray did, at least, make it to the final.

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