Sunday, December 03, 2006

It should have been Nicole

Watched the glitzy BBC Sports Pesonality of the Year tonight. It looked a really good night out. I was offered a ticket but couldn't go. I suppose it was entirely predictable that Joe Calzaghe would win - but my vote went to Nicole Cooke. And I would vote for Nicole to win the UK title as well. She has performed brilliantly over the last year and is the best cyclist Britain has ever had - and by a long mile. If she was French or Italian or Spannish or anything else European, she would be winning every award in sight. Maybe next year Nicole.

Joe had a good year though. The total destruction of Jeff Lacey was one of the finest exhibitions of the noble art that I have ever seen. But he let himself down by going in against the headbutter, Bika with far too cocky an attitude - and nearly paid the price. He just needs to tempt Bernard Hopkins out of retirement for one last big payday in the States - and then hang up his gloves while he still has his looks and brain intact.
Joe is not too popular in our house because of the caustic comments he made about Tim Henman, who is probably the best tennis player that Britain has ever produced. ( I can't remember Fred Perry). It really annoys me when so called sports fans dismiss Tim as a 'loser' as Calzaghe did. Its like calling Giggs a loser because he never won 'World Footballer of the Year'.

I wonder whether we modern, compassionate, reasonable Welsh Tories are supposed to enjoy watching fighters knocking six bells out of each other. But I can't help it . I could get into a fight playing conkers - when I was young. I even enjoyed the Zidane headbutt - and to this day, think it an entirely understandable response to family insults.

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