Looked through the list waiting to see one that would stand out either as a "sportsman" or as a "personality".
Forgotten most of them already .
Lets rule them out
Not Vardy, all the Olympians (except Mo), all the ones ive never heard of,

which leaves Bale, Murray, Farah, Skelton and Willet

Willet--no
Murray..not again but probably
Bale..uhm--Great player but not British enough
Farah...the somalian cockney--lose it on his unsportsmanlike behaviour to team mate.
Skelton....crikey--I didn't know he was still alive. Last time I saw him was before I got married. At 58 Online voting will rule out most of his supporters.
Surprise Nigel Farage didn't make the list sure he plays Bar Billiards and darts down his local

I think Murray deserves it, Brownlee is the only other that is in with a chance.

Brilliant sportspersons they might be. But 'personalities'? Come on! The thing that they have in common is a total lack of any personality due to their 100% commitment to jumping or running or kicking etc.

Nothing wrong with this if it is what they want to do, of course, but it doesn't make for a very interesting person at the end of it.

The title is a clumsy attempt to de-genderise the award, but I think 'Sportsperson of the year', or even 'Sport of the year' would be much better. 'Personalities' they 'aint!

Surely some aspects of personality are determination and dedication, as it is a sports award these are more relevant than inter-personal skills, otherwise Les Dawson may have been a contender?

Point taken, but it doesn't alter the fact that all monomaniacs are boring outside their speciality. One expects a 'personality' to be able to engage with people in discussions over a wide range of topics and the intensive training needed to excel in sport makes for the exact opposite.

Even talking about their own sports they have a tendency to lapse into a monotone, devoid of emotion and excitement, and one feels one's eyes glazing over. Listen to Murray describing a match for an example of this.

I think 'Sport of the year' is a title that fairly honours the considerable achievement made by the victor. Pretending they have splendid personalities too is overegging it. These people are highly focussed, and I respect them for it, but it is unfair of us to expect them to be engaging and interesting people comfortable in a non-sporting environment as well.

Media spotlight and political correctness seems to have them always guarded if they get any media coverage at all. A one minute interview after crossing a finishing line is about all you get of their "personality".even when some go on to be tv pundits they dont stand out.
I would have given it to nick skelton if like the brownlee lad he had helped his horse over the last jump if it had collapsed.

No women on your list ,Fish ! Why not ? What about Laura Trott ?

Not an intentional omission--just lumped together in Olympians---none of which stand out over each other. All great athletes no doubt.

I found the whole thing a joke, its time it was scrapped.
Sports people earn far too much money for doing in real terms nothing! get Knighthoods MBE's etc bloody joke, how about giving it to the people who work seven days a week for minumum wage[ sorry living wage ] come home at the end of the day so exhausted they fall aleep before having any tea, and have to get up at the crack of dawn or before to do it all over again!

They couldn't afford the time off work plus expense of getting down to receive it. I disagree about the doing nothing ..some of the training regimes outside of their normal work can be gruelling. Don't think some of the Olympians get paid much...as for footballers though.!

I have to agree with most of what you say. Watching these sort of self absorbing contests where they constantly pat each other on the back , makes me vomit. Who the heck are they anyway ? Admittedly they work, train hard but they are in it as a profession and get paid accordingly. Something they thoroughly enjoy . If we are reduced to making sports personalities into little gods, and a huge hoo haa about it, the country needs to look behind the curtains and see how many others are far more worthy. Get rid of this stupid contest and refrain from making them all on the honours lists too. Surely they don't reach those levels. Heroic men were once given honours, and by todays standards of those receiving honours, it is cringe worthy and humiliating to the memory of those who truly deserved them.

Here we go again for 2017..not heard of half of them. Think I would go for Mo this year as he has retired (last 10 winners all men)



A shortlist of 12 contenders has been announced for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2017 award.

They will go forward to a public vote on the night of the live show in Liverpool on Sunday, 17 December. The nominees are:

Elise Christie - Short Track Speed Skating; Sir Mo Farah - Athletics, Chris Froome - Cycling, Lewis Hamilton - F1, Anthony Joshua - Boxing, Harry Kane - Football

Johanna Konta - Tennis, Jonnie Peacock - Para-athletics, Adam Peaty - Swimming, Jonathan Rea - Motorcycling, Anya Shrubsole - Cricket, Bianca Walkden - Taekwondo