RTE Sports Personality of the Year

**OwlsFan** · 11/12/2007, 1:17 PM

What a joke the RTE home page for this is:

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rtesportsawards2007.html

In case you don't know whom they want you to vote for, there is a picture of Padraig Boreington telling us about his victory at the British Open Golf championship and then beneath that an interview with the man. Doh! Then you toggle down and vote.

I voted for Stan

**Block G Raptor** · 11/12/2007, 1:36 PM

anyone want to start a campaign to get Kieran Fallon the award for the craic

**OwlsFan** · 11/12/2007, 2:31 PM

I think Stan would be better

**Dodge** · 11/12/2007, 2:34 PM

I nominated Drogheda for team of the year. Anything to stop Kilkenny ****ing hurlers winning it every year

**gustavo** · 11/12/2007, 2:42 PM

Stan and Drogs FTW

**DaveyCakes** · 11/12/2007, 4:01 PM

Team of the year has to be the cricket team

**John83** · 11/12/2007, 4:04 PM

Originally Posted by DaveyCakes

Team of the year has to be the cricket team

I agree. Remarkable results mark them out as the only national team here performing beyond expectations.

**OwlsFan** · 11/12/2007, 4:38 PM

I voted for Stan and the cricket team

**NeilMcD** · 11/12/2007, 6:29 PM

Harrington deserves it. Why vote for Stan unless you are having a joke, not a very good one either.

**TheBoss** · 11/12/2007, 10:22 PM

I think the Cricket Team has to be the Team of the Year and the person, I think that Richard Dunne has to be a strong candidate.

**rambler14** · 12/12/2007, 12:04 AM

Padraig Harrington and the Mighty All Conquering Ramblers. If i didn't vote for Ramblers i'd give it to the cricket team.

**OwlsFan** · 12/12/2007, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by NeilMcD

Harrington deserves it. Why vote for Stan unless you are having a joke, not a very good one either.

Very perceptive of you. God, you're a bit of a dry old stick. Harrington doesn't have a personality and it's called a Sports Personality vote. My vote for Stan was a vote against RTE (who on the front page have saturated coverage of Harrington) and Harrington himself.

If it Sportsperson of the Year, then Harrington would deserve it but I still wouldn't vote for him because of the way RTE have set it up. It's like one of the old Soviet voting forms where there was only one candidate

I am not sure if there would be any other candidate though. Dare I say it Roy Keane for getting Sunderland promoted or Trent Johnstone even though he's not Irish.

**Dodge** · 12/12/2007, 11:44 AM

Originally Posted by OwlsFan

Harrington doesn't have a personality and it's called a Sports Personality vote...

If it Sportsperson of the Year, then Harrington would deserve it but I still wouldn't vote for him because of the way RTE have set it up.

it is actually Sports Person of the Year and not Sports Personality of the year (unlike the BBC award)

The only two Irish sports people to excel in world terms this year were Harrington and Katie Taylor.

**Jerry The Saint** · 12/12/2007, 5:02 PM

Originally Posted by OwlsFan

Harrington doesn't have a personality and it's called a Sports Personality vote.

Very harsh, I think it's fair to say he qualifies as either a sports person or a sports personality

per·son·al·i·ty (pûr'sə-năl'ĭ-tē)
n., pl. -ties.
1. The quality or condition of being a person

Everyone uses the name of the BBC award as an excuse to slag off any number of sports persons (Harrington, Federer, Wilkinson etc.) just because they're not gifted stand-up comedians as well as being quite good at something sporty. Personally, I think it's a good thing that a lot of them don't seem to have great "personalities" - you can't have it all (and shouldn't be allowed to

)!

The alternative is usually someone like George Best or Alex Higgins who were marvellously entertaining sports personalities but had some pretty nasty inner demons to deal with and probably would have been a bit annoying if you actually knew them personally.

**Rovers fan** · 12/12/2007, 6:40 PM

Originally Posted by Dodge

it is actually Sports Person of the Year and not Sports Personality of the year (unlike the BBC award)

The only two Irish sports people to excel in world terms this year were Harrington and Katie Taylor.

Ya but to be fair harrington does face stiffer competition week in week out

**Dodge** · 12/12/2007, 9:05 PM

Originally Posted by Rovers fan

Ya but to be fair harrington does face stiffer competition week in week out

Well up on the merits of female boxers are you? Maybe she's just that good...

**NeilMcD** · 12/12/2007, 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by OwlsFan

Very perceptive of you. God, you're a bit of a dry old stick. Harrington doesn't have a personality and it's called a Sports Personality vote. My vote for Stan was a vote against RTE (who on the front page have saturated coverage of Harrington) and Harrington himself.

If it Sportsperson of the Year, then Harrington would deserve it but I still wouldn't vote for him because of the way RTE have set it up. It's like one of the old Soviet voting forms where there was only one candidate

I am not sure if there would be any other candidate though. Dare I say it Roy Keane for getting Sunderland promoted or Trent Johnstone even though he's not Irish.

First you got the name of the award wrong which is pretty crucial here. I think if you start a thread slagging RTE you should maybe get your facts right. Harrington deserves it end of story.

**kingdom hoop** · 13/12/2007, 12:02 AM

Originally Posted by NeilMcD

end of story.

But you never told us if they all lived happily ever after!

I agree on Harrington. The amount of dedication and self-belief he has shown throughout his career deserves unending plaudits. To then crown, not cap, it all with the achievement of winning a major this year was great to see, especially as it was from a man who shows you don't need to be anything particularly special to be very successful. (I know he's always been class, but he didn't rest on his lauras) A fantastically friendly and forthcoming ambassador for Ireland, and perfect role model for lazy people like me who just presume success will fall at their door. I can certainly say I am proud of him.

Majors are really what professional golf is all about. But with the dramatic increase in advertising money and correlative media pandering to new-age World Championships and Fed-Ex Cups I think they've been devalued somewhat. But golf has always been a game of prestige and honour, not money. I think the players feel the same way. While they're obviously happy to have their pockets lined, majors are an immeasurable currency. Respect and value within a sport should be crucial criteria when judging awards so for all those reasons, plus he was the first Irishman to win the Irish Open in 20 odd years, Harrington would get my vote even if there were stronger, in a metaphorical sense, contenders than Katie Taylor.

**OwlsFan** · 13/12/2007, 1:34 PM

Originally Posted by NeilMcD

First you got the name of the award wrong which is pretty crucial here. I think if you start a thread slagging RTE you should maybe get your facts right. Harrington deserves it end of story.

I did indeed but if you read my first post, I primarily focus on the fact that it is a totally biased voting page with Harrington plastered all over it. He does deserve the sportsperson of the year award but it's a joke the way the voting page is set up. Hence my protest vote for Stan.

He's also a dry, humourless bore which reminds me of someone else. Hmmmm, I wonder who that could be.

**kingdom hoop** · 13/12/2007, 3:26 PM

Originally Posted by OwlsFan

He's also a dry, humourless bore which reminds me of someone else. Hmmmm, I wonder who that could be.

Aw, don't be so hard on yourself.

I don't think Harrington is as bad as you've made him out to be, or as he comes across on the Late Late interview, I'd say he was nervous or something, mind you Pat Kenny doesn't exactly have his guests jumping out of their seats with excitement at the best of times anyway.

What makes you think he's so bad? When he strides the fairways he always has a huge grin on his face, always acknowedges the crowd with a big, genuine smile and a wave. Hardly the sign of a man with no personality. And when he's interviewed after a round, he's always open, engaging and, frankly, personable.