BBC Sports Personality of The Year 2007

[ONEDUNME]

I'm sticking with my man Murray. The thing should be judged over a year. Giving it to a bloke because of another flukey cup run is a no goer in my view.

[kompressaur]

Lewis Hamilton 13/8 Sporting Odds
Andrew Murray 7/2 Extrabet
Amir Khan 25 Blue Square
Johnny Wilkinson 25 William Hill
Joe Calzaghe 33 Stan James

[trickrick]

Just had a recap on the odds, and to be fair, we have a motley collection really..

I can appreciate Lewis being the outright odds on favourite, but I must admit, at such skinny odds, I would still be a tad wary due to the fact that Formula 1 is an ITV institution now.. Also - who's to say he aint gonna finsh 3rd or 4th and if that's a case its certainly a said enditement on British sport if he wins..

Frankie is a worthy 2nd palce. He is a popular guy and he has achieved the ultimate for him - winning the Derby. A jockey has yet to win this award and although he has finished in the top 3 before, I'm sure this is his best chance. Don't forget the Derby was beamed live from the BBC and therefore quite a coup for them..

Bit of a shite collection below.. Jonny Wilkinson??? Give over.. Joe Calzaghe?? Should have won it earlier and he's done nothing to improve on that year.. Amir Khan?? Lets see a World title first...

Oh dear - lets scan a little further down..Yep the usual suspects...Beckham, Gerrard...yawn..

Deary me..A sad state of affairs.. Lets consider sporting events to come up in the near futute.. World Athletic Chamionships due..Hmmm..Not a great deal..Paula has won it already.. But wait..Sheffields finest Becky Lyne became the United Kingdom's third-fastest female 800m runner of all time at the Norwich Union British Grand Prix in Gateshead on Sunday.
The 23-year-old finished second behind Kenyan Commonwealth champion Janeth Jeptosgei in a new personal best of one minute 58.20 seconds.

"I'm in shock," said Lyne, who came home ahead of world-class duo Seltana Ait Hammou and Mina Ait Hammou.

"I've been trying so long to break two minutes but didn't expect it so soon." Possible..but maybe not high profile enough..

How about golf..Anyone there.. Must admit I like the look of Justin Rose. One of the form golfers and certainly capable of being in the pecking order for a Major..However he's generally 40/1 to win a Major and 50/1 to win SPOTY..Hmm..Still another for the shortlist..

Oh Andrew Murray - probably won't even start Wimbledon..However if he does and has a run to the final he'd be a biggie..What's his odds?? 10/1 at best..Still not good odds..

So we arrive back at the 2 favourites...Lewis Hamilton is the obvious biggie, but at those odds I'd look at something a bit meatier..Frankie Dettori looks a nice bet at 8/1 (Stan James), with Justin Rose a lively outsider at 50/1 (Bet365 and Skybet)

IGNORE THE BBC FACTOR AT YOUR PERIL !!!!!!!

[stereoman]

Lewis Hamilton was 13/8 only four weeks ago!?

Ye gads! Wish I had that much optimism what with him being a best-priced 4/1 ON to win SPotY now.

[Beanie]

Thats a pretty big lay for me at that price(if I could be bothered tying my money up for that long that is.)

Deffo an odds on favourite, but given that he's non-bbc and non-white he has two fairly major 'reality' betting hurdles to overcome there. Zara Phillips was the BBC darling last year and come final night they'll deffo be pushing Dettori for all they're worth to try and snatch the prize from the ITV man.

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

What about Beckham here folks?

A wonder goal from England to save their qualifying campaign and then we know what would come from that.

What he has done to force his way back into the Madrid and England set up has been superb and is a great reason in itself as it gives off the impression of never giving up on something and if you want it you can get it bla bla bla.

Worth a few quid depending on the price imo.

[all_funkt_up]

Originally Posted by ONEDUNME

Murray has just broken into the top ten in the world at 19. A decent showing at Wimbledon and it's a straight fight between him and Hamilton in my view.

He missed the Hamburg tournament a few weeks back. If he plays wimbledon and plays well then he may have a decent chance. But, it's all down to his fitness. If he doesnt play at Wimbledon then I think you can write him off altogether.

Infact, if you fancy him for the SPOTY, you would be better off backing him to win wimbledon as the only way I can see him winning SPOTY is by winning at the all England.

[mullet1984]

1715: Paddy Power are paying out on Lewis Hamilton to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in wake of his fine start to the Formula One season.

Hamilton leads the World Championship and won his first race in Canada last weekend.
The British star had been available at just 1/7 prior to the payout. Hamilton had started the season in March as a 25/1 outsider for the award.
The Irish bookies say the move will cost them £50,000, although it was made up of a steady stream of bets rather than any huge bets - the biggest bet struck on the market was just £100.
Paddy Power said: "Lewis Hamilton has been head and shoulders above any other British sports star this year so we're getting out our chequered flag early in the race for BBC Sports Personality. Surely only Andy Murray winning at Wimbledon will be able to stop Lewis now.
"It's not been a vintage year for British sport so far. No-one's stood out on the football pitch whilst the cricket and rugby teams have arguably gone backwards from previous glory years. However Lewis Hamilton has shown he's got a rare sporting ability and less-talented sports stars than him have won the award before."

He's 1/4 with Spodds!

[stereoman]

Just having a think who the ten on the shortlist will be...

*DEAD CERTS*

* Joe Calzaghe
* Frankie Dettori
* Lewis Hamilton
* Ricky Hatton

*WHY AREN'T THEY BEING MENTIONED?*

* Dario Franchitti
* James Toseland

Can't think of any cricketer, footballer, someone in rugby or anyone else who really deserves a place on the shortlist of ten as of right now.

Amir Khan? Andy Murray? Monty Panesar? Kevin Pietersen? Michael Vaughan? Jonny Wilkinson? Are you having a laugh!?

Philips Idowu has an outside chance of being on the shortlist but only if he wins a gold medal at the IAAF World Championships later on this month.

Not many sporting events of any insignificance left. I doubt even if England won the Rugby World Cup that any player could beat out Lewis Hamilton.

...with voting probably done on the night again it'll probably be someone flukey who just happens to get the public imagination and vote to finish third like Beth Tweddle did last year.

Who's favourite after Lewis Hamilton? Lord knows but even though consensus says Ricky Hatton it might just be Frankie Dettori who gets second to BBC viewers.

All sorts of theories are out there such as 'Boxers don't win SPotY these days' or 'The BBC won't allow somebody from a rival channel to win'. Mind how you go.

[stereoman]

Hmmm. Today's Bettingzone Market Moves:

1440: Athlete Christine Ohuruogu is 25/1 with Coral to be crowned the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, following her sensational 400m World Championship victory in Osaka today.

Her fellow Brit Nicola Sanders took the silver medal in Japan, and Coral offer 16/1 that British athletes complete a 1-2 in next year's Olympic 400m final.

"To win gold just three weeks after a 12-month ban has ended is an amazing achievement, and will surely mean that Christine Ohuruogu wins her fight to represent Britain in Beijing next year," said Coral's David Stevens.

That last point will be picked up by anyone who received a press release from William Hills shortly after Ohuruogu's triumph, offering 20/1 that she's even allowed to run in the the 2008 Olympics.

However as far as we can tell that market isn't yet appearing on the Hills website...

Ohuruogu was a 50/1 no-hoper for the event with the firm at the start and a 14/1 chance when she lined up for the start of the final - with Sanders a better fancied 4/1 shot.

Hills had quoted 25/1 that the pair would finish first and second.

"Patriotic punters are celebrating, but they would have been much better off had Nicola won with Christine second," said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.

=========

Christine Ohuruogu will almost definitely be amongst the ten shortlisted but I'd be surprised if she garnered any votes. Nicola Sanders would have been more popular if she'd won the gold medal.

[trickrick]

Presumably her ban was a drugs - related ban? I have no idea what the ban is for.. However if it is, can you realistically think that someone like that can win SPOTY irrespective of the fantaastic achievement today?

[Napoleon Solo]

Her ban was for missing three out-of-competition drugs tests, so she's not been caught taking drugs per se.

If that 20/1 is available for Ohuruogu to compete at the the 2008 games I'm going to snap that up. Normally anyone banned for drugs-related offences are disqualified by the British Olympics Association (?) from competing in future Olympic games.

Seeing as Ohuruogu looks like one of only a few decent medal prospects they're expected to overturn that ban in this instance as she wasn't actually caught taking any performance enhancing substances!

[stereoman]

On a related note...

1615: William Hill have slashed the odds about Christine Ohuruogu competing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics from 20/1 to 5/2 after a flood of bets for her to do so.

They now offer 2/7 that she will fail to take part in the Games.

Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe originally said: "We can't see any way Christine will be permitted to run in the Olympics after her ban for missing drug tests, so are prepared to offer 20/1 that the authorities will relent and allow her to take part."

But now his firm have dramatically backtracked, he's now saying: "It appears that the prevailing wisdom in the athletic world is that Christine may well be allowed to compete, on the basis that there is a precedent for athletes who have missed drugs tests being allowed to take part.

"We had punters breaking world records to dash to our shops to bet on Christine competing at the Games. However, our bet is for her physically to take part in the Games, and bets will be lost if she is ruled out through for any reason - a ban, through injury or for forgetting to turn up!"

1610: Earlier we told you Christine Ohuruogu was 20/1 with William Hills just to compete at next year's Olympics, but that's now been backed down to 5/2.

Spokesman Graham Sharpe said earlier today:

It looks like they could have got this one badly wrong!

[rcgills]

Originally Posted by Napoleon Solo

Seeing as Ohuruogu looks like one of only a few decent medal prospects they're expected to overturn that ban in this instance as she wasn't actually caught taking any performance enhancing substances!

Not quite as cynical as that sounds, as they have actually backed down on a couple of other people lately too, according to the BBC:

However, Ohuruogu has appealed and her chances of success were boosted when the BOA recently cleared triathlon world champion Tim Don and judo player Peter Cousins, who both missed three drugs tests

Although having said that, maybe they're both decent medal prospects too, in which case it is every bit as cynical as it sounds

[stereoman]

Hmmm. Jamie Murray won't win SPotY but I think he'll be in the shortlist of ten regardless of what happens today at the US Open.

He isn't in most bookies' shortlists though despite some Bettingzone fluff when he won the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles with Jelena Jankovic as his partner.