RTE Sports Personaliy of the Year

whiskeyman

To my shock, the Kilkenny hurler won this. I would have put my house on Derval O'Rourke to win (and, in my opinion, rightly win this honour).

The panel were grumpy old men, and Pat Spallane even admitted this and called the voting panel a sham when two of the best sportspeople of the year in the country (in his opinion) were women - both World Champions at that (Derval and Katie Taylor).
George Hook made the interesting comment, that the winning team of the Leinster Schools rugby cup probably got more media coverage than O'Rourke and her medal victories in the World and European Championships.

First off, I agree Shefflin is an amazing talent, but I just thought the achievements of O'Rourke far exceeded Shefflins.

Any thoughts?

(On other note, anyone think the way the voting was done was a joke? Each was asked beforehand one or two people that have in their minds, before actually telling their nomination. They should have kept it a silent ballot to be honest).

Mushy

I thought Derval would have won it aswell. But did ya hear that Kiernan lad trying to defend athletics. Get over it, its a minority sport in this country, thats why its not that recognisable for O' Rourke. And then saying drugs are in every sport...yes, they are, just nowhere near the extent to which they are found in many others.

Pat Spillane was no great there either, just goiung for what would be perceived as the popular comment in each situation. Makes himself look good against the rest. But yes, the judging was awful, should have been left to the public to decide. Everyone knew Munster would get team of the year, so leave that to the panel to formally announce it.

PS: Im not underestimating the achievements of the two women in that field by saying Spillane was going for the popular vote. Derval should have won through that IMO, and dont know how Katie wasnt considered more. She destroyed(underestimate) her competition in India

Pherekydes

I've no doubt Henry Sheflin is a superb hurler, probably the best in the country (world) right now, but what would he achieve if he transferred over the border to Carlow? His success is largely due to the fantastic Kilkenny team he has alongside him. The Sports personality of the year should go to someone in an individual sport, unless it's a really bad year, which it wasn't.

tipex

I agree that Derval O'Rourke was totally robbed, I think the panel were a bunch of grumpy old men and there was not even a woman on the panel. I think the minority vs majority sport is completely irrelevant and unfair on the participant, you have to look at what the person achieved in their own individual field and the coverage Derval received was huge this year. She became a star and a knockback like this by RTE was completely unfair and will probably prove to be somewhat demoralising to her. She was robbed blind but she looked absolutely stunning being robbed.

Jimoslimos

Ah well lads & lassies at least it wasn't as much as a sham as the BBC SPOTY

whiskeyman

Sums it up really...

Todays Irish Times TV View wrote:

Mary Hannigan

TV View: You know the way RTÉ is often criticised for not being adventurous enough to showcase the best of new Irish comedy, opting instead for inexpensive imports of British and American shows? Well, hats off to them, on Saturday night they made up for their erstwhile conservatism when they unleashed on us a quartet of home-grown comedians who made us laugh more heartily than Little Britain, Seinfeld and Peter Kay combined when they failed to choose Derval O'Rourke as the RTÉ sportsperson of the year.

Honest, at first we thought Eamon Dunphy, George Hook, Cyril Farrell and Ted Walsh were just having a laugh - "That's a cracker," we cried, sides in need of restitching. But their fellow judges, Jerry Kiernan and Pat Spillane, didn't seem amused at all, so we should have guessed something was up.

(Kiernan and Spillane, incidentally, voted O'Rourke Irish sportsperson of the year largely because she is the Irish sportsperson of the year. Quirky, eh?)

Granted, this judging business is entirely subjective, whatever floats your boat, but . . . world gold and European silver?

Now, you don't need to be an authority on sport to be able to recognise the genius of Henry Shefflin, whose talent borders on the godlike. Indeed the fella's probably done enough already to get into the Hall of Fame.

And the quality of that shortlist - Bernard Dunne, Katie Taylor, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Paul O'Connell, Kieran Donaghy, Aidan O'Brien and Jessica Kürten - tells us just how breathtaking a year it was in Irish sport.

O'Connell, we reckoned on the night, might, like Spain's Glory Alozie in Moscow (did we mention the world gold?), have had the honour of finishing runner-up to O'Rourke, not just because he won the Triple Crown and European Cup and is world class, but because he just seems to be an all-round gem of a sportsman.

But . . . world gold and European silver?

"There is no question for me that Derval O'Rourke has been the outstanding sportsperson of this year, by quite a distance," as Kiernan put it, and you have to assume if RTÉ had imported an inexpensive British or American panel of judges (which maybe they should do next year) and presented them with the mere facts they'd have agreed with him.

"Why are we even discussing this," they'd have asked. "World gold and European silver? Derval, no contest."

Although, we were left wondering if two of the judges were even aware O'Rourke had a gold medal in her 2006 collection, alongside that silver.

"I didn't even know about Derval O'Rourke till about a couple of months ago," said Ted of the woman who won gold back in March. "I think it's very badly advertised," he said. Eh?

O'Rourke was on every front page, back page, middle page this year, was the lead item on radio and television news when she won her medals, did a string of in-depth radio interviews with RTÉ, and appeared on Tubridy Tonight, The Late Late Show and The Panel, to name but three.

The list goes on. There are fewer ads for toys coming up to Christmas than there were for O'Rourke's achievements. How could you have missed them, unless you weren't all that interested?

And George? Well, he had us confused: was he referring to O'Rourke's European silver when he reminded us that "a number of years ago I voted against Sonia O'Sullivan because I didn't think we should celebrate coming second, so I have a problem about coming second"?

First is first and second is nowhere? Well, okay, but back in March O'Rourke came . . . first.

At least George and Ted had the grace to acknowledge that women's sport doesn't get the recognition it deserves, just before they failed to give O'Rourke the recognition she deserves. Ah, lads.

Earlier, Spillane talked of watching the BBC Sports Personality of the Year programme the previous week, and how "for three hours they celebrated mediocrity".

Harsh, but when you compare the BBC shortlist (Jenson Button, Phil Taylor, Ricky Hatton, etc) to RTÉ's, well, maybe he had a point. But, as it proved, the worse-than-mediocre decisions of four of his fellow judges resulted in O'Rourke's brilliance neither being celebrated nor acknowledged.

A crackin' night for Irish comedy, then; we even got a new joke that will rival the best. Did you hear about the Irish athlete who won gold at the World Indoor Championships and silver at the European Championships but didn't win the RTÉ sports person of the year award? Cripes, they'll be rolling in the aisles.

© 2006 The Irish Times

Thunder_struck

whiskeyman wrote:

Sums it up really...

Superb article, although maybe a bit timid about what was quite probably the real reason those four ignoramuses didn't vote for O'Rourke: she's a sportswoman :rolleyes:

I don't take these awards too seriously, as the article says they're all subjective, but what happened on Saturday was just a joke and an insult to an Irish sports star who excelled internationally in 2006, at the very highest level. And finished up with a gold and silver medal.

PS Spot on about Ted Walsh! Does the man not read newspapers, watch the television or listen to the radio??

Thunder_struck

Slow coach wrote:

I've no doubt Henry Sheflin is a superb hurler, probably the best in the country (world) right now, but what would he achieve if he transferred over the border to Carlow? His success is largely due to the fantastic Kilkenny team he has alongside him. The Sports personality of the year should go to someone in an individual sport, unless it's a really bad year, which it wasn't.

Not sure I'd agree, still think you can be individually brilliant on a team and so should be taken on your merits against an individual sportsperson in an awards thing - - does that make any sense? eg DJ Carey is his prime would have been a match for our greatest individual sports star, in my humble opinion.

As a hurling fan there's not much I love more than watching Sheflin play but the fact is that Kilkenny were hardly tested until they got to the final this year, so it made no sense to me that Sheflin was the award winner this time around. If he'd been picked two seasons ago I'd have understood.

Pherekydes

Would Shefflin have been picked if he played for a weaker county? He would have been even more outstanding compared to his teammates, but as regards winning the All-Ireland or the Sports Personality of the year? I don't think so. He would be nothing without a decent team beside him. He would be an outstanding sports guy for sure, but what would he achieve?

I find RTE's coverage of Athletics deeply embarrassing and the level of ignorance that was displayed by the "Panel" was breathtaking. But whose idea was it to let Dunphy or Hook into a TV studio anyway? RTE's. These guys are well past their sell-by date.

I mean, Catherina McKiernan is retired now. She should be dragged into the studio (by the hair, if necessary).

RTE's sports coverage is oriented very heavily towards the male side of things, with wall-to-wall coverage of Racing, Golf and Soccer. Sports that have some sort of 50/50 gender split, like Athletics, are virtually ignored, unless it's a really big major and only if there's Irish interest (whatever that might be-didn't apply to the Soccer World Cup).

Anti-RTE rant over: carry on!

kevmy

I agree Derval should have got it. Not only did she have the best achievements this year but she improved the most and she really raised her own profile and that of athletics. It was a defining year for her. No offence to Henry or O'Connell but they are at that high level for many a year and didn't deserve it over someone who had a fantastic year.
For me it was between 4 Derval, Kieran Donaghy, Katie and Dunne. I think Dunne best years are to come so he will get it again. Katie suffers from a low profile sport and a erratic level of opposition. Donaghy got no mention for turning around Kerrys season and capturing the nations imagination.
As for Dunphy, Hook and co. Sure let them talk about the Sporting Year but having them vote on different sports is strange. They are perfect inside there own sports with there usual sparring partners but some showed ignorance away from there own sport. Kiernan especially, his comments about GAA being played only within Ireland is worthless. It was an award for IRISH Sports Person of the Year not the Best Well Known Irish Sports Person Outside Ireland.

kevmy

Thunder_struck wrote:

As a hurling fan there's not much I love more than watching Sheflin play but the fact is that Kilkenny were hardly tested until they got to the final this year, so it made no sense to me that Sheflin was the award winner this time around. If he'd been picked two seasons ago I'd have understood.

QFT

Thunder_struck

kevmy wrote:

QFT

Do you mean

(a) 'quoted for truth'

or

(b) 'quit f--king talking'?



If it's (b) break it to me gently.

irish_bob

derval o rourke was without doubt the most deserving winner
the guy with the mullett , whats his face , the failed marathon runner said it right that he would perfer someone from an international sport win
while hurling is a great game , ive never warmed to it or as george hook said , its only played by 10 decent counties, henry sheflin could win this award almost any year as cork and killekenny are the only 2 counties who win the all ireland of late
where as derval o rourke achieved possibly a once in a life time best
as for the judging panel, well walsh the racing guy like cyril farell are both small town parochial men who were always going to vote for the gaa entry
as for dunphy , well he,s always telling anyone who will listen how much he loved hurling , george hook , not sure what his game was but he did say that he didnt like rewarding those who come 2nd which i thought was very tactless
all in all , a very regressive result