BWitcher

Not saying it would or should have been Tai Woffinden, the debate was due to Orions claim of how popular sailing as a sport is with the British public and he was using speedway as a way of proving it. That's pretty much been settled. Nick Matthew is the now 3 time World Squash champion and was more deserving than Ainslie. Phil Taylor has been once again utterly dominant in the world of Darts, notching his 16th World Title at the start of the year he has added all the other majors bar the Premier League where he was runner-up. Absolutely shocking that he is not on the list. There are numerous other candidates and World Champions in their chosen sports. Absolutely every single one of them has a better claim to be on the list than Ainslie.

Again, utterly irrelevant. This is meant to be a contest of sporting achievement for 2013. Folk know who David Beckham is, by your assertion he should have been on the list too. Folk know who Ben Ainslie is because its rammed down their throats, they can't escape it. It doesn't mean folk have any great love for sailing. It's just another example of how the media controls people to such a great degree. Folk only come to know who someone is if they are given the coverage in the first place. We only know some of the disabled athletes (apologies if that isn't the correct term) because the para-olympics were held in London and it was hyped to the extreme. Had Tai been included (and I'm not one who is saying he definately should have been) then his name would have become familiar to viewers. They would have learned what he did and how he did it, obstacles he overcame etc and the next time they saw his name they would be more aware of who he was. Not sure what you are trying to say about the viewing figures, as the figures for when Tai won the GP will be significantly higher than they were for the bog standard Elite League match that attracted more 2.5 times the viewers that the 'greatest comback in the history of sport that was hyped up in advance as a must see event' managed. I didn't include the GP's as they are on Eurosport and I believe available to more households? Thus it would be unfair and put the mighty sailing at a disadvantage.

I'd even disagree there to be honest Tsunami.. What team is it? USA? With a crew of mostly New Zealanders, Ainslie as tactician? It was basically New Zealand v New Zealand with only the money men deciding the 'nations' involved. You are right though, the event was hyped to the extreme and to garner such low figures speaks volumes.

The figures are on the list. The final number is the amount in 000's. So Americas Cup highest figure was 30. EL Speedway was 72. Worldwide is irrelevant as we are discussing Sports Personality of the Year, which is a British award. The reality of this situation is despite the mainstream press/media bigging it up, drilling it into the public what a big amazing event this is, very few people could be bothered to watch the culmination of what was being hyped as 'one of the greatest sporting comebacks of all time'... that quite clearly suggests they weren't really bothered doesn't it?

Edited.. The links just seem to take you to the same page. However, if you search for Sky Sports 3 and 4 and click on the relevant weeks, you will find the figures there. Sky Sports 3 w/e 29 Sep 2013 000's 1 WWE LATE NIGHT RAW - LIVE (MON 2500) 165 2 ELCHE V REAL MADRID - LIVE (WED 2055) 62 3 LIVE EUROPEAN TOUR GOLF (SAT 1330) 58 4 REVISTA DE LA LIGA SPECIAL - LIVE/#BARCE (TUE 1800 46 5 THE RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP-ARG V NZ (SUN 1502) 38 6 LIVE AMERICAS CUP SAILING (TUE 2100) 30 7 LIVE AMERICAS CUP SAILING (MON 2100) 28 8 WWE RAW/#WWE RAW EP 1060 (MON 1702) 27 9 THINKING TACKLE (THU 1900) 26 10 WWE RAW (FRI 1630) 25 w/e 22 Sep 2013 000's 1 MARSEILLE V ARSENAL - LIVE/#MARSEILLE V (WED 1930) 413 2 GALATASARAY V REAL MADRID - LIVE/#GALATA (TUE 1930 104 3 EUROPEAN SENIORS TOUR GOLF (WED 2200) 43 4 LIVE WORLD CUP OF POOL/#WORLD CUP OF POO (SUN 1800 42 5 LIVE PGA TOUR GOLF/#BMW CHAMPIONSHIP D5 (MON 1500) 42 6 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE HIGHLIGHTS/#UEFA C (FRI 1544 33 7 LIVE WORLD CUP OF POOL/#WORLD CUP OF POO (SAT 1801 32 8 THINKING TACKLE (THU 1859) 32 9 WHATS THE STORY?/#AMERICAS CUP 2013 - TE (SUN 2100 27 10 LIVE AMERICAS CUP SAILING (THU 2100) 27 w/e 15 Sep 2013 000's 1 ROSS COUNTY V DUNDEE UNITED-LIVE/#ROSS C (SUN 1230 53 2 AS RUN INSERT/##2 2011 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE (SAT 1025) 47 3 LIVE PGA TOUR GOLF (SAT 1800) 45 4 THINKING TACKLE (THU 1900) 38 5 BRITISH PAR 3 GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP (WED 1900) 35 6 LIVE AMERICAS CUP SAILING (SUN 2100) 28 7 WWE BOTTOM LINE/#WWE BOTTOM LINE # 591 (SAT 1030) 25 8 SUPER LEAGUE FULLTIME (MON 1800) 22 9 WWE SMACKDOWN (SAT 0830) 22 10 LIVE CURRIE CUP RUGBY UNION (FRI 1800) 20 w/e 15 Sep 2013 000's 1 WWE LATE NIGHT RAW - LIVE (MON 2500) 169 2 NEW ZEALAND V SOUTH AFRICA - LIVE/#RUGBY (SAT 0800 140 3 LIVE SUPER LEAGUE PLAY-OFF (SAT 1430) 125 4 LIVE SUPER LEAGUE PLAY-OFF (SAT 1701) 116 5 LIVE PGA TOUR GOLF (FRI 2000) 74 6 ELITE LEAGUE SPEEDWAY (MON 1930) 72 7 LIVE PGA TOUR GOLF (THU 2000) 63 8 LIVE PGA TOUR GOLF (SUN 1741) 45 9 LIVE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR GOLF/#EVIAN MA (SUN 1008 44 10 AUSTRALIA V ARGENTINA - LIVE/#RUGBY CHAM (SAT 1054 39 That pretty much ends the debate about how interested the public really were about Ainslies 2013 achievement. Of course he will still get votes, but those will be based upon his name.

No it wasn't massive. I've already proven that to you. It attracted viewing figures barely 1/3rd of a minority sport such as speedway. All of this DESPITE all the mainstream press it received.

No, not in my view. Its a factual view. Ainslie was a tactician, that is it. He was one part of a 203 man team in an event contested by 2 teams. What next, Ivan Lendl is up for an award as he was Andy Murray's coach? Again, you are harping on about the 'public' and their apparent obsession with sailing. Have you got the viewing figures for the UK for the Americas Cup to back it up? Edited to save you the trouble. This epic race that the 'public' so passionately care about was the 10th most watched programme on Sky Sports 4... this is the 'deciding race as well'. It is below Pool!!! Edited to add further.. it attracted viewing figures of 1/3rd of the average viewing figure for Elite League Speedway during 2013. 22,000 being the figure. Ooops.. I apologise, another edit.. the above figure relates to an earlier race.. the deciding races really captured the imagination of the public as Orion says, they pulled in an epic 28,000 for the penultimate, and the final epic last race pulled in an outstanding 30,000 viewers! In week Ending 15th September 2013.. Live Americas Cup Sailing... 28,000 viewers.. Live Elite League Speedway ... 72,000 viewers.

Ben Ainslie quite simply should not be in the Top 10 list. His ONLY contribution to the year was as a 'tactician' in a 2 team event solely for billionaires. He didn't win any World Titles or anything of note. In years when he was won Olympic golds etc, yes he was a worthy contender, but this year including him is ridiculous.

The media give it publicity because of money and because the name Ben Ainslie is entrenched in the public consiciousness. It's nothing to do with the popularity of the sport per se. As you say, you can't argue against Andy Murray winning in any shape or form. Wimbledon is one of the worlds biggest sporting events. As for 'hardly anyone' following tennis outside of Wimbledon, that is a massive exageration. For sure, there is a big % who only watch Wimbledon, but saying 'hardly anyone' watches the over events is a bit OTT:

You haven't shown me any evidence that the public cares about sailing. The public have an awareness of it as its one of the sports the media choose to give wide publicity too.. but as for caring, or indeed watching.. quite different. It's a sport that people take interest in every 4 years when the Olympics comes round and then quickly forget about afterwards.

His name is Tai, the joke of calling him 'Tia' has long since worn thin, and for those who still do it, it speaks volumes about them. So what? That just further emphasises the point. Nobody really gives a damn, nobody really watches it, but its rammed down our throats. You're actually defeating your own argument here. You're now telling us that people should only be nominated, not on their sporting achievements in that given year, but on the basis of if the media has chosen to give that particualar sport coverage. Ainslie should not be on that list whatsoever. A technical advisor in an event against one other team that had nothing to do with the UK at all. I'm not saying Woffinden should definately have made the 10 either, there are others. Phil Taylor is one notable glaring omission.

We're not talking about 'around the world'. We're talking about the UK. How many people watched it in the UK?

Aha! Finally someone else sees the obvious, the massive difference in Klindts scoring when on the outside gates compared to the inside gates. Yet nobody bothered to question the team manager over why he didn't take advantage of that.

Screen scored paid double figures from 4 riders in his DEBUT aged 16.

A fallacy.

If ever evidence was needed that Russell is wrong, here it is. Meanwhile, as I posted earlier and seems to have garnered a record number of likes, the TV negotiations should be IRRELEVANT. Set the leagues at a level the clubs can afford. If a tv company wants to show it, fair enough, any money gained from that should be invested into the sports future.

Interesting Starman, you have already admitted that the worst GB rider available as the 4th rider is better than Gino Manzares. I'm waiting on your response of who is better.. Ricky Wells or any of these Harris/King/Cook/Barker? I'll save you the trouble of answering. You know as well as I do that Wells is not as good as any of those. Neither is Ryan Fisher. So the USA's 2nd,3rd and 4th member of the team are NOT AS GOOD as GB's 4th rider. Which leaves us with one other.. ah yes, the World Champion. So, as its 'all about how good the riders are', we can clearly see the GB riders are better than the USA riders... yet we lost, so the blame lies elsewhere.. Middleditch.

Let's not rush things. One question at a time or Starman gets a little overwhelmed.

The more I read, the more I come to the conclusion the problem doesn't lie with BSI who go about their business in a professional manner. The problem lies with Polish speedway. We know many of the owners are, shall we say, not entirely reputable with links to certain organisations. They are used to bullying to get what they want. Indeed we only have to look at the recent Polish Playoffs to see an example of that. Haven't they already tried to throw a spanner in the GP works with their "1 GP rider per team" rule, which they were soon forced to back down from.

Ok so you admit. Gino Manzares is not better. How about Ricky Wells. Is he better than King/Barker/Cook?

You haven't explained anything. It's a simple question. Is Gino Manzares a better rider than any of (giving you a choice here) King/Barker or Cook? Simple question Starman. Yes or No.

What is your point? That Gino Manzares is a better rider than any of Danny King/Ben Barker/Craig Cook etc?

I'm assuming this line can only be painted using the official patented paint supplied by Barry Briggs?

I don't see why we need to wait for any Sky negotiations at all. Sort the leagues out so they can all run within their budgets WITHOUT tv money. If Sky, or another company subsequently come on board then that is a bonus and that money should be used towards the future of the sport.

I'm not applying for the job, so once again an irrelevant answer. The facts are, Middleditch presided over one of the most embarassing results in the history of British Speedway.