Don’t you sometimes think that the stimulating, insightful observations sportspeople come out with during post-match analysis should be rewarded somehow ? Not only are these people athletes, but they’re also philosophers. We, the listeners, wonder how it felt to have lost the match, and they explain that, at the end of the day, they did their best but it wasn’t good enough. Obviously they’re sad about it, but they’ll just have to go back to the drawing board and make up for it next time. We, the listeners, now have an insight into the game, deeper than we could ever experience first hand.
Fortunately, the BBC annually award a prize to The Sports Personality of the Year, which isn’t an oxymoron, but a serious award to recognise the importance of these great people. Congratualtions to Kelly Holmes for winning this year and proving that, apart from running faster than some other people earlier this year, she also has a great personality. Here are some examples of why she was the obvious winner:
“I hope to take part in the indoor season, and that really will depend upon how much I train and my progression,”
“The hardest thing was focusing on the race and pretending that I hadn’t already won one.
“Every single year I’ve said ‘oh, if only I hadn’t had that injury I’d have done even better,'”
“The most important thing now is to enjoy my sport and appreciate all the things it gives me.”
There’s just not enough of this inspiring stuff on TV and Radio.