A SMILE, A SONG AND A SHEEPSKIN NOSEBAND

I really don`t have much of a problem with AP McCoy winning the BBC Sports Personality of the Year at last night`s televised shindig at the NEC in Birmingham.   After all, he`s been champion jockey for 15 seasons, has won over 1,000 races and my good friend on the Isle of Wight, the Itchen Sitter, tells me from personal experience that Mr. McCoy is a genuinely humble, nice family man.  

So good luck to him and I suppose I could be labelled curmudgeonly for introducing a couple of notes of disappointment about last night`s result.   Now I know nothing about horse riding at all, despite having a distant relative who lives at Lambourn (where McCoy lives) and who, before retiring, was a professional National Hunt jockey and rode in the Grand National a few times.   I wouldn`t know how to lay a bet and have never entered the mysterious world of betting shops - I just can`t see the attraction - so perhaps I am entirely unqualified to pass any comment on Mr. McCoy and his profession.  

 But I`m just a bit nervous of the fact that during Mr. McCoy`s career so far, no less than 16 horses have gone to the great stable in the sky whilst he has been piloting them around the racecourses of the world.  Maybe last night`s award should have gone jointly to him and the equine partners who have made his career so successful. 

My other concern is for the voting process itself.  Years ago we used to fill in a coupon from the Radio Times with our suggestion as to who might win it and post it off to the BBC who then counted the votes and declared a winner.   That had its flaws of course, for example when the show jumping fraternity bought up all the copies of the Radio Times, filled all the coupons in and, lo and behold, Princess Anne went and won it.

Oli assaulted by team mates

Nowadays, the BBC publish a list of candidates for whom we can vote by telephone ("calls cost 15p each from a BT landline; calls from mobile phones might be significantly higher") and I`m intrigued not so much by the choices on offer as by the undemocratic denial of those who we might have nominated ourselves, given half a chance.   For example, I might have wished to vote for Rickie Lambert Southampton`s Goal Machine and my close neighbour Mr. Slightly might have entered a plea for Gills midfielder Dennis Oli.  Indeed, our combined wish might have seen votes cast for our street`s hard working gay icon pacy flanker Scott "Buzzin` Six Pack" Wagstaff.  

But I should have know better, for last night`s event was all very `BBC,` all very Sue and Gary, all very nice and correct without a ripple of contention.   I find the whole thing deliciously ironic that the BBC can`t find a real personality to host their Personality of the Year show and it was such a waste that Ian Holloway was sitting in the audience rather than telling it like it was.  Now he can wear a sheepskin noseband with the best of them.