Sporting Chameleon end-of-year awards 2010
BACK by popular demand and a few days late the Sporting Chameleon end-of-year awards.
The Previously Being Rubbish But in 2010 Being Really Good Award.
Blackpool FC.
With just one FA Cup trophy in their 123 history, but now a bona-fide Premier League mid-table side with European possibilities, this surely is Blackpool’s era. Sod Stanley Matthews.
Honourable mentions: San Francisco Giants.
The Always Being Really Good And Continuing To Be So in 2010 Award.
Tony McCoy.
Honourable mentions: Manny Pacquiao, Rafael Nadal.
The Always Being Really Good But Being Rubbish in 2010 Award.
Michael Schumacher.
More popular with F1 fans than ever before, but mainly because he was a shadow of his robotic seven-time champion self on his return to the sport. Any other driver would have lost his seat for 2011.
Honourable mentions: Fabio Capello, Tiger Woods.
The Always Being Rubbish And Continuing To Be So in 2010 Award.
Audley Harrison.
Let the David Haye fight be his last.
Honourable mentions: England football team.
Game/Match/etc of the Year.
John Isner v Nicolas Mahut, Wimbledon Round One, June 22-24.
A tennis match so noteworthy that it has its own Wikipedia page. Life stopped as Isner and Mahut, two names that will be forever linked, fired down serve after relentless serve. Heroic.
Honourable mentions: Amir Khan v Marcos Maidana, Inter Milan 4-3 Tottenham Hotspur.
Footballer of the Year.
Wesley Sneijder.
Lionel Messi is the world’s best with Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi and Andrés Iniesta all ahead of Sneijder as well. But football, like all sports, is about winning trophies and he inspired Inter Milan to the treble, as well as dragging the Netherlands to the World Cup final.
Honourable mentions: Messi, Iniesta.
Cricketer of the Year.
Sachin Tendulkar.
His 200* against South Africa in February, the first double ton in an one-day international, was 2010′s top individual performance in any sport. Also managed seven hundreds in just 14 test matches including two doubles plus a 98 at an average of 78.
Honourable mentions: Dale Steyn, Alistair Cook, Graeme Swann.
Newcomer of the Year.
Blackpool FC.
It may be odd to call a team founded in 1887 newcomers, but in Premier League terms the Seasiders are brand new and have added a new dimension to the competition. Brilliant for the neutrals and all within a £10,000-a-week wage limit.
Honourable mentions: Javier Hernández, Steven Finn.
The Salvador Dali Award for 2010′s best moustache.
Australia rugby union full-back Kurtley Beale.
The Sporting Chameleon Sports Personality of the Year Award, which for legal reasons is nothing like the BBC version.
Rafael Nadal.
Nobody dominated his sport in 2010 as much as Nadal did, which is more impressive considering he counts the greatest tennis player of all time, who is far from past his best, as his main rival. Only an early-season injury prevented him from scooping all four Grand Slams.
Honourable mentions: Pacquiao, McCoy, Ian Holloway.
Click here for the Sporting Chameleon end-of-year awards 2009.
