The sexists bitterly complain of a surfeit of testosterone, whilst I regard the list of nominations for the Sports Personality of the Year as nothing more than a load of cobblers.
Just in case you have missed this storm in a D cup, it was the unlikely pairing of Gabby Logan and Clare Balding who initially brought this drastic disparity of male domination to our attention before Harriet Harmon MP contributed her habitual cackling indignation to the squabble.
The lack of ladies among the choices does smack of bias but if you look beyond the deflectory babble the list itself is far from inspirational.
Too many of the nominations listed or subsequently suggested to balance the gender scales, are mentioned only for their potential grasp of glory in London 2012 which does rather place the cart before the horse.
Within the ranks of the forty-eight previous winners of SPOTY there have been of course numerous winning Olympians but only AFTER they had successfully competed and collected gold.
To make a further point there have been twelve female winners of SPOTY with ten of them being Olympic champions, and for the record and in keeping with this sexist slant the other two were Mrs Mike Tindall and her mother the then Mrs Mark Phillips.
There is any number of anomalies surrounding this particular award should you care to seek them out.
Andy Murray and “personality” in the same sentence for instance. Messrs Cook and Strauss are splendid cricketers but they hardly have you teetering on the edge of your seat in tingling anticipation.
Last year lobbyists affected the inclusion of Darts superstar Phil Taylor who was a delighted runner-up, yet this time round despite him playing on another planet from his peers he doesn’t get a mention.
Last year’s winner AP McCoy remains head and shoulders (some distance for a jockey) above his rivals and he also is surprisingly ignored.
The BBC of course are interested only in generating interest for their annual sporting extravaganza and are only concerned with ratings.
They could and probably should have encouraged more female viewers by looking a little more closely at the predominately “lads mags” vote registering publications. We blokes had better beware a domestic spat over the TV remote control rights in a couple of weeks time when the programme is aired.
It’s fair to say, however, that even had “Woman’s Realm” or “Knit Today” been ballot outlets the only realistic additions are minimal.
Leading lady jockey Hayley Turner must surely be one and perhaps Charlotte Edwards, skipper of the all conquering England ladies’ cricket team and the most capped ODI player in history could be another.