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Sir Bradley Wiggins ...



El Presidente

The ONLY Gay in Brighton
Helpful Moderator
Jul 5, 2003
40,017
Pattknull med Haksprut
Louis Smith !!! I end my case

The Honours System is a complete Joke and now holds no merit

To be honest I don't believe any sportsman should get an honour from the Queen , there are millions of other people who come before them .

Every British soldier for a start ....... And all the other Services

How about people who know when to use capital letters?
 




hart's shirt

Well-known member
Jul 8, 2003
11,082
Kitbag in Dubai
Here's the full list of Olympians and Paralympians:

OLYMPIANS IN NEW YEAR HONOURS
Knighthood: Ben Ainslie - sailing; Bradley Wiggins - cycling

CBE: Katherine Grainger - rowing; Jessica Ennis - athletics; Mo Farah - athletics; Victoria Pendleton - cycling.

OBE: Charlotte Dujardin - equestrian; Jason Kenny - cycling; Andy Murray - tennis; Laura Trott - cycling.

MBE: Nicola Adams - boxing; Tim Baillie - canoeing; Laura Bechtolsheimer - equestrian; Scott Brash - equestrian; Alistair Brownlee - triathlon; Steven Burke - cycling; Luke Campbell - boxing; Peter Charles - equestrian; Katherine Copeland - rowing; Helen Glover - rowing; Alex Gregory - rowing; Carl Hester - equestrian; Philip Hindes - cycling; Sophie Hosking - rowing; Jade Jones - taekwondo; Anthony Joshua - boxing; Peter Kennaugh - cycling; Dani King - cycling; Mary King - equestrian; Ben Maher - equestrian; Ed McKeever - canoeing; Joanna Rowsell - cycling; Greg Rutherford - athletics; Louis Smith - gymnastics; Heather Stanning - rowing; Etienne Stott - canoeing; Anna Watkins - rowing; Peter Wilson - shooting.

PARALYMPIANS IN NEW YEAR HONOURS
Dame: Sarah Storey - cycling.

CBE: David Weir - athletics.

OBE: Sophie Christiansen - equestrian; Ellie Simmonds - swimming.

MBE: Jessica-Jane Applegate - swimming; Natasha Baker - equestrian; Danielle Brown - archery; Mickey Bushell - athletics; Hannah Cockroft - athletics; Mark Colbourne - cycling; Josef Craig - swimming; Deborah Criddle - equestrian; Aled Davies - athletics; Neil Fachie - cycling; Jonathan Fox - swimming; Heather Frederiksen - swimming; Oliver Hynd - swimming; Helena Lucas - sailing; Craig MacLean - cycling; Nigel Murray - boccia; Jonnie Peacock - athletics; Josie Pearson - athletics; Pam Relph - rowing; Naomi Riches - rowing; James Roe - rowing; David Smith - rowing; Lily van den Broecke - rowing; Sophie Wells - equestrian; Richard Whitehead - athletics.


Some good discussion points here - here's my take on things:

The danger with Louis Smith is that people will remember him for his recent celebrity television dancing efforts rather than for what gave him the opportunity for that visibility in the first place.
Plenty of politicians and other sportsmen/women have preceded him there - Widdecombe, Ramprakash, etc.

I'm sure it's being awarded not just for his efforts in London where he anchored the men's artistic team all-round gymnastic to the bronze (the first for 100 years) and individual silver on the pommel horse with the same score as the gold medallist, but for 6-7 years at the top of his sport where pre-London Britain have had comparatively little success. One could say that his Beijing bronze medal was the pick of the bunch, coming as it did after years of British underperformance on the world stage.

Individual medals at 3 successsive World Championships from 2007-2011, a team gold at the 2012 European Championship along with 4 silvers, and a Commonweath individual gold from 2006 has shown him to be genuinely world-class at his chosen profession. The award of the 'entry-level' MBE is entirely fitting and possibly even overdue - it could be argued that it should have been awarded after Beijing.


Without going too much into other discussions, Phil Taylor is a Darts legend. To be at the top of any profession for the better part of 2 decades is an amazing accomplishment. Regardless of how people view what he does, and also whether they view it as a sport as such (for the record, I do), he should be rightly lauded for what he has done. Matters away from sport shouldn't affect the person's entitlement to the public honour - it is, after all, given as 'services to .............'. That's not to say that people holding honours, sporting or otherwise, should be somehow immune to the law as anyone else is (unfortunately the Saville situation immediately comes to mind here), but rather that success in a chosen field can be recognised without recourse to continued personal character observation.

The argument that the validity of sports can be judged on what and the amount of spectators eat / drink at these events is frankly spurious. One wouldn't have thought there'd be too many in agreement with stopping or limiting the pie/pint deals at Falmer because it could be seen as bringing football as a sport into question.


If there still exists an attitude of snobbery towards the likes of darts, one could also see that reversed with the likes of the equestrian and rowing events which accounted for 11 and 12 of the honours respectively. Yet comparisons within sports have limitations - can we really say that one success in sport is more valid than another, regardless of their relative popularities? And it wasn't so long ago that all the 2003 England Rugby World Cup winning squad were awarded MBE en bloc. So, on reflection, I'm sure this year's honours are well-deserved by all recipients. We simply see the medals won and are protected from all the hard work, dedication, preparation and sacrifice that was put in on roads, velodromes, pools, lakes, stables, sports centres, etc.
 
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tweenster

New member
Oct 16, 2009
595
Lincoln
Cycling in the UK has only been a popular hobby until CHris H
This comment is complete tosh and removes ANY credibility for your argument.

Taylor is a very big fish in a very, very small pond, and his world titles may be considered to be on a par with the American 'World' Baseball Series. I don't think that anyone doubts that Taylor is dedicated to his sport/profession/hobby (delete as you see fit) but to compare it to the achievements of Wiggins, who has won medals at more than 1 Olympic Games plus the Tour de France is, I believe, laughable. And this is my opinion so nothing you can say will change that, just like you have your opinion and nothing I will say will change that. That is the way of the world; let it be.

And lets not forget that to receive an award you have to be nominated; perhaps no-one nominated Taylor because his achievements were not considered to be good enough. The responsibility of nominating is, I believe, that of the 'sports' governing body, so if he has not received an award it can only be viewed as an own goal.
 


Ward1971

New member
Oct 24, 2012
323
This comment is complete tosh and removes ANY credibility for your argument.

Taylor is a very big fish in a very, very small pond, and his world titles may be considered to be on a par with the American 'World' Baseball Series. I don't think that anyone doubts that Taylor is dedicated to his sport/profession/hobby (delete as you see fit) but to compare it to the achievements of Wiggins, who has won medals at more than 1 Olympic Games plus the Tour de France is, I believe, laughable. And this is my opinion so nothing you can say will change that, just like you have your opinion and nothing I will say will change that. That is the way of the world; let it be.

And lets not forget that to receive an award you have to be nominated; perhaps no-one nominated Taylor because his achievements were not considered to be good enough. The responsibility of nominating is, I believe, that of the 'sports' governing body, so if he has not received an award it can only be viewed as an own goal.

I agree everyone has their own opinion and we should let it be ,

some opinions are based more on facts than others thou

Still it has passed a few hours while I'm waiting to leave for the AMEX
 


Stat Brother

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
73,888
West west west Sussex
I agree everyone has their own opinion and we should let it be ,

some opinions are based more on facts than others thou

Still it has passed a few hours while I'm waiting to leave for the AMEX
So you admit how wrong you are :lol:




(been at work, missed all the fun)
 






Stat Brother

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
73,888
West west west Sussex
Like I said some opinions are based more on fact than others , so I'm not wrong ...........
Oh when you used the word FACT with DARTS and SPORT I assumed you were admitting defeat and had seen the error of your ways.
 


Mackenzie

Old Brightonian
Nov 7, 2003
34,028
East Wales
Louis Smith !!! I end my case

The Honours System is a complete Joke and now holds no merit

To be honest I don't believe any sportsman should get an honour from the Queen , there are millions of other people who come before them .

Every British soldier for a start ....... And all the other Services
Louis Smith's achievement in the Olympics was astonishing. The standard of world gymnastics has never been as high as it is right now. Not convinced that he was worthy of an honour, like a lot of the others, but knowing how hard a gymnast needs to train I think you've been a bit unfair on the lad in singling him out.
 




Ward1971

New member
Oct 24, 2012
323
Louis Smith's achievement in the Olympics was astonishing. The standard of world gymnastics has never been as high as it is right now. Not convinced that he was worthy of an honour, like a lot of the others, but knowing how hard a gymnast needs to train I think you've been a bit unfair on the lad in singling him out.

Yes your right I'm sorry !

I forgot he won Strictly Come Dancing as well
 


Ward1971

New member
Oct 24, 2012
323
Oh when you used the word FACT with DARTS and SPORT I assumed you were admitting defeat and had seen the error of your ways.

Other than the event that Taylor was involved in outside of Sport . ( which i agree he should pay a price )

Based on his Sporting achievements lone thou, I have no evidence presented to me that convinces me he does not deserve to be Knighted if Wiggins is .
 


Mackenzie

Old Brightonian
Nov 7, 2003
34,028
East Wales
Yes your right I'm sorry !

I forgot he won Strictly Come Dancing as well
That's alright. My daughter is on the fringes of the Welsh acrobatics squad, it involves about 16 hours training a week at the moment (she's 10 years old) so I'm quite involved/protective about the sport.

:)
 




Stat Brother

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
73,888
West west west Sussex
Other than the event that Taylor was involved in outside of Sport . ( which i agree he should pay a price )

Based on his Sporting achievements lone thou, I have no evidence presented to me that convinces me he does not deserve to be Knighted if Wiggins is .
Other than the fact Wiggins has been knighted for services to SPORT, and darts isn't a sport.



Hey I'm only playing along because the rest of the 'geeks' have and they'll all laugh at me, for not joining in, when I next go 'home'.
 


Thunder Bolt

Silly old bat
Louis Smith !!! I end my case

The Honours System is a complete Joke and now holds no merit

To be honest I don't believe any sportsman should get an honour from the Queen , there are millions of other people who come before them .

Every British soldier for a start ....... And all the other Services

Servicemen get a gong for being in the area of a conflict for a consecutive 28 days regardless of achievement there. It doesn't depend on nominations or political approval.
 


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