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Sports Personality of the year
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Contender 541 View Drop Down
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    Posted: 15 Dec 08 at 5:28pm

Originally posted by Philsy



Hoy has a quite massive lead, which surprises me because I would have
thought that Hamilton had a much larger public profile.

These things are all down to how well-known the person is, rather than
how good they might be. Meaningless, really...

 

It also helps that there was a massive campaign north of the border to vote for 'their' man

Chris Hoy - nice guy and deserved to win.  It has to be said though that in a 'normal' year the vast majority of the guys and gals in the final ten would have walked it for their achievments
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winging it View Drop Down
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Posts: 3958 		Post Options Post Options   Quote winging it Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Dec 08 at 5:22pm
I think it boils down to the fact that nearly everyone has ridden a bike at some time in their lives, so they can appreciate the effort involved and relate to the sport.  Add to that, most tracks are easy to watch and understand - they go round in a loop and the first one across the line is the winner. 

So Jo public can watch and relate to cycling much, much more than they can relate to a bloke sitting in a boat and pulling bits of string and going in strange directions.

Even if they don't cycle for sport, many people cycle for leisure and many cycle to work.  People will always appreciate something more if they can relate to it or understand it.
the same, but different...

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Iain C View Drop Down
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Posts: 1113 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Iain C Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Dec 08 at 4:21pm

Jim whilst recumbents can be faster in terms of terminal velocity due to reduced frontal area, there are many disciplines of cycling that they just would not translate well into, mountain biking, track cycling, and anything involving hills! 

Mind you, an MPS in 8 knots is still dull compared to F1 or track cycling!
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Posts: 0 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Guest Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Dec 08 at 4:10pm
I guess we differ on this one Jim ...
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JimC View Drop Down
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Posts: 6662 		Post Options Post Options   Quote JimC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Dec 08 at 3:47pm
Originally posted by Guest#260

Originally posted by Iain C


I do wonder if sailing would have done better if Ben was sailing an MPS or similar as his Olympic boat...

The cyclists are racing state of the art bikes; just imagine if Hoy et al were still riding bikes designed in 1949 ... it would be absurd but sailing is still showcasing relics ... well most of the events are ...

But cyclists aren't riding start of the art kit. Recumbent type cycles are much faster than the conventional type, but are banned for racing. What the cyclists have are bikes that were essentially designed in the 19th century, tricked up with carbon whizzo parts and built with new materials - so make Ben's 1949 tricked up with carbon parts and built with new materials Finn look really modern...

I'm afraid that I really don't think that it makes any great difference to the public how modern or "fast" the boats are... A Finn goes, what, one third of the speed of a pushbike, and an MPS maybe half the speed. Like wow.

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oz man View Drop Down
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Posts: 247 		Post Options Post Options   Quote oz man Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Dec 08 at 3:05pm
i think ben did well to come 4th. we cant really expect the voting public to back sailing/sailors when the sport is run so badly nationally and internationally.
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Posts: 33 		Post Options Post Options   Quote AdrianM Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Dec 08 at 2:51pm

 

[/QUOTE]

Thats the point I make on these debates about Olympic eqipment.

The cyclists are racing state of the art bikes; just imagine if Hoy et al were still riding bikes designed in 1949 ... it would be absurd but sailing is still showcasing relics ... well most of the events are ...

[/QUOTE]

Not sure, I think it would have been more watchable if they had all been on Raleigh Choppers with the three speed Sturmey Archer central column gearshift hurtling down a 1 in 3.....



Edited by AdrianM
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Jamie600 View Drop Down
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Posts: 718 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Jamie600 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Dec 08 at 2:34pm

 

It didn't help either that all the shots of Ben seemed to have been slowed down, presumably for artistic effect, but it didn't really demonstrate the effort and workrate that Ben puts in. I thought they might have shown the medal race, preferably upwind, where even a non-sailor could appreciate how hard he is working as he carves the boat over the waves, miles in front of the other competitors. Slowed down, it just looked like he was bobbing about going nowhere fast.
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Philsy View Drop Down
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Posts: 344 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Philsy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Dec 08 at 2:29pm
Originally posted by jlecou

Ben came fourth:


Vote result:

Chris Hoy 283,630 votesLewis Hamilton 163,864Rebecca Adlington
145,924Ben Ainslie 35,472Joe Calzaghe 34,077Andy Murray
19,415Nicole Cooke 18,256Christine Ohuruogu 7,677Bradley Wiggins
5,633Rebecca Romero 4,526


 



Hoy has a quite massive lead, which surprises me because I would have
thought that Hamilton had a much larger public profile.

These things are all down to how well-known the person is, rather than
how good they might be. Meaningless, really...
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Guest View Drop Down
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Posts: 0 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Guest Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Dec 08 at 1:48pm
Originally posted by Iain C

I do wonder if sailing would have done better if Ben was sailing an MPS or similar as his Olympic boat...you cannot fail to be impressed by the speed, power an acceleration of Hoy or Hamilton on their repective racetracks...but unless you are a sailor, Finn racing will never look exciting I'm afraid...

Thats the point I make on these debates about Olympic eqipment.

The cyclists are racing state of the art bikes; just imagine if Hoy et al were still riding bikes designed in 1949 ... it would be absurd but sailing is still showcasing relics ... well most of the events are ...
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