Emma Raducanu is the right choice for SPOTY, but Lewis Hamilton's exclusion from the shortlist is a shame

LISTEN! We all know Emma Raducanu has been nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the year award.

After a shortlist, which did not include Sir Lewis Hamilton, Britain's greatest sportsman, is the Beeb now actively trying to sink its flagship?

The BBC's shrinking sports portfolio means that we can continue to talk about SPOTY until the cows are home.

We can debate whether or not the term "personality" should be used, but personality is rarely a factor.

It can be argued that the programme is watched more by your Nanna than by genuine sports fans. Or that it was always a messy apples-and oranges comparison business.

Yes, it seems that no one is able to do anything right anymore.

The FIA cannot run a motor race, Uefa cannot run a Champions League draw, and our government can't even run a country.

The idea of crowning the nation’s sportspersons of the year is still a worthy one.

It is a concept that still has value. The BBC should try to get it right.

This means Hamilton should be on the ballot.

The British love a humble, gracious, heroic, and hard-working loser more than anything. British Nannas are more fondly in love with them than any other.

Hamilton was gracious, magnificent and hard-working when he was robbed of the record eighth title in Abu Dhabi.

He is the only British athlete who can say that he is the greatest ever in a major international sport.

He was part in a thrilling rivalry with Max Vertappen, which revived Formula One's interest.

If we are really to consider the concept of "personality", then Hamilton, a two-time SPOTY Winner, has displayed more of that quality in the past twelve months. He is an outspoken advocate for human rights, often threatening his sport's bosses.

If you truly believe that the BBC is 'woke', then how can you reconcile Hamilton's exclusion from a list consisting of six names which usually exceeds double figures?

It was a great year for British sports, with the successful Olympics, England reaching its first major football final since 1966, and Raducanu's triumph at the US Open, undoubtedly the most remarkable British sporting accomplishment.

It was certainly not one of those bleak 'let’s just give it Princess Anne or one her children’ years.

Are any of the five other SPOTY candidates more worthy than Hamilton, after Raducanu?

Tyson Fury won one fight in 2021, but it was less convincing than we thought.

He is also a prisoner of war, has served a drug ban and is connected to a crime lord.

Raheem Sterling was a great Euros player but struggled throughout the year to make it into Manchester City's first line-up for the most important matches.

Tom Daley was an amazing story, but he did finally win the Olympic diving gold medal in synchronized event. I'm sure you don't remember the name of his synchroniser. Synchronizing takes two.

Adam Peaty was the first British swimmer ever to win an Olympic title. Is he better than many other Team GB swimmers, particularly Jason Kenny and Laura Kenny, who are cycling spouses?

Oder does Peaty get the cut because your Nanna was ogling him in tight, sequined pants on Strictly Come Dancing recently?

Dame Sarah Storey is an inspiration, but comparing paralympians with people who don't have a disability is probably the best way to compare apples-and-oranges.

Maybe the Beeb made a conscious Horlicks of this list so that we could all start talking about it.

They might see this as proof that SPOTY still has relevance.

Hamilton may have more serious injustices, but his omission will render the public vote meaningless.

Fools' rules

SPORT must have rules or football would be a medieval Pancake Day between two villages, lasting all day with many murders.

Do you view sport as entertainment or do you treat it with deadly seriousness and demand ultimate justice?

Although Michael Masi, the Formula One race director, clearly misunderstood Max Verstappen's chance at winning the title in Abu Dhabi in a final-lap race, his instincts were admirable.

Masi told Toto Wolff, Mercedes chief: "It's called motor racing. . . we went motor racing."

Masi can't withstand Sunday's chaos, but he still sounds like a decent guy to share a pint of beer with.

Remember how VAR was going remove all controversies in football and allow us enjoy Match of the Day, without having to worry about endless penalty decisions? How is that idea progressing?

"Havin' a stinker!"

WHEN Andrey Arshavin was playing for Arsenal, he said to us: "If it were in my power to ban women driving cars and withdraw all their licenses, I would do so without hesitation."

You know what? If women had done yesterday's Champions League draw instead of Arshavin, Uefa blazers and a few Uefa blazers they wouldn't have gotten it so wrong that they needed a redraw.

They wouldn't blame 'the software' anymore, I'm sure.

NEWCASTLE required a manager to manage their defense, both before and after they entered the January transfer market.

They chose Eddie Howe instead, who was a former footballer for Bournemouth and used to be praised by Pep Guardiola because he played expansive football when his Bournemouth team was beaten by Manchester City at The Etihad.

Leicester's 4-0 stuffing of Newcastle suggests that little has changed.

Teflon Joe's KOL

JOE ROOT was the first Englishman to lose The Ashes in his two first attempts as captain. He still has a chance to get the job.

Root choosing the wrong team to play in the First Test and winning the toss and bowl when the conditions called for it -- all this suggests that he is extremely lucky to be in the post.

Root is an excellent batsman, but his captaincy has seldom been of any use.

England has won one of the last ten Tests, and it is possible that this will be one in fourteen by the end.

Teflon Joe has the same nonstick properties as England's slip cordon.

There are many theories about who should be the captain of a football team.

Usually, on the Continent the armband goes to the longest-serving or most experienced player. It's often the loudest player.

There is a consensus that a central midfielder or centre-back is the best position to be a skipper of a team.

Arsenal is currently trying to decide if the captaincy should be retained with a player who sometimes doesn't show up on time and doesn't always seem very interested in what he does.