Chris Hoy BBC Sports Personality of the year - NOT Hamilton

antfly

Graeme_S wrote:

antfly wrote:

Rob Spedding wrote:

Mark Webber lives in Oxfordshire. And he rides a bike. SPOTY? (Yeah, alright he's Aussie, and hasn't won owt but hey...)

Maybe he`s a non-dom so doesn`t pay tax. Good for Panis though maybe he was a Monaco resident.

Nope, Panis lived in France proper, not Monaco (which politically isn't "in" France as far as I'm aware).

Pretty sure Webber's a proper British resident, he lives with his partner who owns a restaurant. To be a non-dom he'd probably have to spend most of the off season outside the UK wouldn't he? I don't believe he does so.

Fernando Alonso also lives in the UK, but he owns a house in Switzerland as well, so could well be a non-dom.

In the UK such individuals have a special tax status which limits them to paying tax on income and gains from UK sources, and on foreign income and gains which are remitted to the UK.

As they both work for British based Formula 1 teams I suspect they couldn't get away with being non-doms to avoid paying tax on those earnings anyway could they?

I`M no expert but not being in the country for 6 months of the year doesn`t apply to non-doms,that`s just for the rest of us.Maybe Webber isn`t earning enough to move to Switzerland but I am sure there are many ways for him to not pay 40% of his earnings to our govt,especially as he`s not even British.If I was earning tens of millions I might even consider moving to the isle of man.What annoyed me about Hamilton was that when he moved he claimed it was for privacy and to get away from the press.Does he think we were born yesterday?
Oh,and isn`t Monaco a principality but still part of France,like Wales is part of Britain?

Earthbound

I know my posting style is bolshie and confrontational but it's purpose is not to bash Hamilton but to put his sporting achievements this year in their correct context. He's done very well to win the F1 championship, but he's done nothing exceptional. Someone wins F1 every year, this year it's Hamilton and by the narrowest possible margin. Someone DOES NOT win 3 Golds in sprint cycling at every Olympiad. No Brit has won 3 Golds in one Olympics since London 1908. Hamilton's achievements are admirable but they are simply not exceptional in comparison to other achievements this year in sport.

As frenchfighter has thoughtfully documented Adlington, Cooke, Ainslie et al have all had significant achievements in their respective sports in this Olympic year, in comparison, Hamilton's achievement are merely very good.

There is of course a whole media circus hyped up around the glamour and money of F1 that will surely see Hamilton win SPOTY, but that has nothing to do with his sporting achievement.

I just viewed, as cycling weeky did a few weeks ago and has again in today's issue, that this was an opportunity to get recognition for our sport in a year when cycling has achieved so VERY much. And the fact that so many people on here will do anything BUT vote for cycling is frankly bewildering.

To have people like parsnip say "I'm voting Hamilton beacause earthbound says not to" is a sad reflection on the way some people do think and will vote - with no sound rational sporting justification for their decision.

Like I say, Hamilton has undoubtedly done well, but his achievements this year are just NOT exceptional, Hoy and Adlington and Cooke and Ainslie have been EXCEPTIONAL.

frenchfighter

Great post Earthbound - agree with all you say.

method

Earthbound wrote:

I know my posting style is bolshie and confrontational

Is it? Sycophantic and patronising judging by your opener, haven't bothered to read any of the rest.

pintoo

Earthbound wrote:

I know my posting style is bolshie and confrontational but it's purpose is not to bash Hamilton but to put his sporting achievements this year in their correct context. He's done very well to win the F1 championship, but he's done nothing exceptional. Someone wins F1 every year, this year it's Hamilton and by the narrowest possible margin. ...

Like I say, Hamilton has undoubtedly done well, but his achievements this year are just NOT exceptional, Hoy and Adlington and Cooke and Ainslie have been EXCEPTIONAL.

OK, that's a more reasonable post, but it's still a) opinion and b) misinformed.

There are very few who get to even race F1, fewer still who win the Championship. LH has done it at a very young age after years and years of dedication. He only won this year "by 1 point" and only lost last year by the same margin. Just because you find Hoy's, Adlington's and Cooke's achievements more exceptional than Hamilton's, it doesn't relegate Hamilton to "not exceptional". It's been a great year for British achievement. Can we not celebrate them all without having to undermine others? Please feel free to vote for who you want, for whatever reason you want, even if it's a negative one, but don't expect not to get a reaction if you're spreading negative and incorrect judgements on people who are at the top of their chosen field.

E.g. I have absolutely no interest in equestrian events. I can't judge achievement in those at all, but I won't diss people for taking part in them just because I'm uninsterested and ignorant of what they do.

DavidBelcher

pintoo wrote:

Earthbound wrote:

I know my posting style is bolshie and confrontational but it's purpose is not to bash Hamilton but to put his sporting achievements this year in their correct context. He's done very well to win the F1 championship, but he's done nothing exceptional. Someone wins F1 every year, this year it's Hamilton and by the narrowest possible margin. ...

Like I say, Hamilton has undoubtedly done well, but his achievements this year are just NOT exceptional, Hoy and Adlington and Cooke and Ainslie have been EXCEPTIONAL.

OK, that's a more reasonable post, but it's still a) opinion and b) misinformed.

There are very few who get to even race F1, fewer still who win the Championship. LH has done it at a very young age after years and years of dedication. He only won this year "by 1 point" and only lost last year by the same margin. Just because you find Hoy's, Adlington's and Cooke's achievements more exceptional than Hamilton's, it doesn't relegate Hamilton to "not exceptional". It's been a great year for British achievement. Can we not celebrate them all without having to undermine others? Please feel free to vote for who you want, for whatever reason you want, even if it's a negative one, but don't expect not to get a reaction if you're spreading negative and incorrect judgements on people who are at the top of their chosen field.

E.g. I have absolutely no interest in equestrian events. I can't judge achievement in those at all, but I won't diss people for taking part in them just because I'm uninsterested and ignorant of what they do.

Good post - it's been an exceptional sporting year all round thanks, as you say, to a talented, determined, hard-working bunch of people, and they all deserve their fair share of recoginition and credit. Contrast this with the overexposed TV presenters and journos mentioned in other Bikeradar threads, who seem to have acheived success, recognition and a prominent place in the public eye despite their talent - or lack of it - being like Fairy Liquid (i.e. a little seems to have gone a long way).

David

captain_oakley

Said all I've got to say on this matter...... your all wasting your time.

Thieves broke into the BBC the other night and stole this years SPOTY results.

Enjoy the show, I'll be on a Hawks Bay Wine Tour that day, and will be raising a
glass or two.... to British Cycling, you've done us proud.

Please England do the 'All Blacks' at Twickenham........ I need the bragging rights
after the Summer!!

'The Flintbones'

cougie

Ignoring all the arguments - hamilton will win the individual because f1 gets bigger ratings than cycling does.
I hope that the gb olympic cycling team will win the team prize. How you can say that they are not a team is beyond me - look at how cohesive they were !

Mark Alexander

I don't care too much, both deserve it but only one can win.