Sports Personality Of The Year -- Part II

Read part I of this article here. The series concludes with part III tomorrow.

F1 drivers have actually filled the runner-up spots in each of the last three years ⎯ world champion Jenson Button last year, Lewis Hamilton in 2008 (his Championship winning year) and 2007. But neither Englishman have excelled during 2010.

Boxer David Haye defended his WBA Heavyweight Crown twice in 2010 however neither were broadcast on terrestrial television which, vitally, includes the BBC. He also looks a penalty kick to do so again against Audley Harrison in Manchester on November 13. However his fights have not been broadcast on terrestrial television and, vitally, that includes the BBC.

Similarly he is nowhere near as popular as the likes of Frank Bruno who, amazingly, never landed the SPoY. I’d love to say fill your boots with the 66/1 on offer about him but I cannot.

It is easy to put a line through snooker too. The game has had a torrid year in the press amid match fixing allegations.

Regardless, snooker may enjoy considerably more live coverage on the BBC than horseracing but Steve Davis was the last snooker playing winner of the Award back in 1988 while no snooker player has finished in a top three position since Stephen Hendry in 1990.

As for football, the World Cup was a washout and, based purely on his achievements during the preceding twelve months, there was no good reason for Ryan Giggs to have won last year’s Award.

It was purely down to the hundreds of thousands of Manchester United faithful giving their stalwart a thank you gift of a telephone vote in return for his loyalty to the club down the years.

So, this year, if someone is going to stand in McCoy’s way it is going to be a golfer or, even more likely, an athlete.

Amongst the 142 medals won at the Commonwealth Games, 37 of which were gold, not one belonged to heptathlete Jessica Ennis. However, the 24-year-old pin-up girl was just 9/2 to win SPoY last year (ultimately finishing third) on the back of her heptathlon gold medal in the 2009 World Championships.

This year she has won the European Championships, winning all seven disciplines that make up the heptathlon in a Championship record score, and repeated the dose in the World Indoor Championships (which does not feature a javelin or 200 metres and is called a pentathlon for those that want to nitpick).

With BBC Sport’s long-term emphasis on the 2012 London Olympics, athletics will doubtlessly receive massive coverage in their SPoY show ⎯ as the great hope for gold there – and therein I am taking all the 14/1 currently available about her receiving the accolade.

But the biggest bet of all is reserved for the opposition of Tony McCoy who will also need to see off the Ryder Cup golfers headed by US Open winner Graeme McDowell (currently the second favourite in the SPoY betting) and Lee Westwood who has just reached world No. 1 status.

Mentions must also go perennial darts world champion Phil Taylor, who would be as worthy a winner as Tony McCoy being an equal master of his field, but he cannot win being a face which only features on the SKY Sports.

Tom Daley, a 10-metre platform diver who netted gold in the Commonwealth Games, is surprisingly short in the betting (at 20s). Granted his school boy status and cute smile will attain some votes, but you would have to very much doubt a competitor from such an obscure sport could attain enough public support to prevail.

Then again the queen’s granddaughter, gymkhana rider Zara Phillips, won the Award in 2006 and that remains one of the biggest mysteries of all time and fitting of a scene from the X Files.