12 December 2023 , 13:29
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There was a time when there was no shortlist for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award … and it gave the corporation its Bob Nudd moment.
You could vote for whoever you wanted in the old days and, in 1991, the nation’s anglers - of which there are plenty - orchestrated a campaign through their trade magazine to try and get Nudd the nod.
Nudd, from Chelmsford, Essex, was, and is, fishing royalty, four times a world champion and the star of DVDs such as ‘Commercial Carp Tactics’, ‘Paste on the Pole’ and ‘Surface Fishing with Controller Floats’.
He received a record number of votes for SPOTY in 1991 but the Beeb discounted them because they reckoned the campaign amounted to fixing.
And let’s face it, Bob and his rod would hardly have given the awards evening the stardust it likes to have.
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But what you have now is the BBC fixing it for their own purposes.
By producing this six-name shortlist, they are not giving the magnificent Josh Kerr what could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to win what is still considered to be a blue-riband honour.
If beating one of the greatest athletes of all time, Jakob Ingebrigsten, to win the world 1500metres crown does not get you nominated, what does?
Josh Kerr celebrates after winning the Men's 1500 Metres Final at the World Athletics Championships (PA)Becoming the oldest UK champion THIRTY YEARS after you became the youngest UK champion? Nope, no place for Ronnie O’Sullivan either.
Instead, we have Rory McIlroy, the Florida resident who, in 2023, extended his run without a Major to nine years.
We have Frankie Dettori, who won a few good races in his money-spinning retirement year (only he hasn’t actually retired) but was soundly beaten in the Longines World’s Best Jockey Rankings by Ryan Moore.
We have Stuart Broad, who took 22 wickets in five Test matches against the Aussies as England failed to reclaim the Ashes.
Goalkeeper Mary Earps is the long odds-on favourite to win SPOTY and had a very creditable World Cup but the Lionesses lost in the final and have failed to qualify for the Women’s Nations League finals, costing Great Britain’s women footballers the chance of competing at the Olympics next summer.
O'Sullivan has been overlooked despite winning a record 22nd Triple Crown title (AFP via Getty Images)The worthiness of Alfie Hewett’s place and the nomination of Katarina Johnson-Thompson are beyond question and you can, of course, argue quite strongly for the inclusion of the other four.
McIlroy, Dettori, Broad and Earps are all box office, that is for sure.
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But the shortlist should have been longer, simple as that.
Up until 2018, there was a 12-person shortlist but, probably prompted by Superbike rider Jonathan Rea being voted into second place in the 2017 edition, it was reduced to its current six.
Whether or not you have any time for the whole Sports Personality of the Year thing, being nominated for your achievements remains a big deal.
And, for the sake of the award’s credibility, it is a big, negative deal that neither Kerr nor O’Sullivan will get a chance to win it this year.