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New Years Honours List (UK)

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bosseye

Member
Ah, New Years honours and that yearly list of who, why and wtf. The headline names are usually Olympians.

New Year Honours 2017: Olympic heroes and entertainers recognised - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38470732

- Knighthood for tennis chap Andy Murray.
- knighthood for runner Mo Farah (are we still racists for not voting him sports personality of the year...?)
- Knighthood for comedian Doddy Ken Dodd
- Dame for heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill
- Knighthood for dressage rider Lee Pearson
- Knighthood for Kinks guy Ray Davies
- knighthood for Opera Singer Bryn Terfel

And so on. How do we feel about the various people honoured and maybe you have opinions about the system as a whole; idiotic waste of time or quintessential British institution?
 
F

FreeMufasa

Junior Member
Always funny to see how in denial some brits are about racism in the U.K.

I'm hearing a lot of "mo was knighted! So how are we racist???"
 
S

slider

Member
I wish it was more for the common person. I mean, great, Gary Barlow/David Beckham get a gong. As if lots of money and the adulation of fans isn't enough.

Obviously I haven't really thought this through...

Full disclosure: I know a fair few people who have had an investiture.

Edit: Maybe I mean press focus. I'd love it. "Maureen gets MBE for years of service working in hospital with sick kids". Those things do seem to be covered locally I suppose. Ah, fuck it. I've got nothing to say.
 
M

Moze

Banned
These are always heavily biased towards sports people. But I guess it's because success in sports is something that can be measured objectively.
 
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autumnleaf

Member
Glad for Mo and Murray. I was worried they would be considered too young and still competing so would have to wait. Two of the greatest British sportsmen ever.
 
T

The_Hitcher89

Member
Moze said:
These are always heavily biased towards sports people. But I guess it's because success in sports is something that can be measured objectively.
Click to expand...

Its a tough one

Sometimes I think they should be reserved for sportspeople who go to particular lengths to encourage others to get into sport, but they probably do that just by being good enough at their sport to remain in the headlines.
 
H

hohoXD123

Member
I wouldn't be as annoyed about these mainly going to sportspeople and Tory donors instead of scientific researchers/doctors/teachers/etc. if they were also known for their outstanding philanthropic endeavours. As it is though, it's mostly a meaningless system.
 
B

BossDarkseid

Member
jem0208 said:
What's all this about being racist for not voting for Mo Farrah?
Click to expand...

A thread was made for SPOTY that posited that the UK was racist for not voting as much for Mo Farah over Andy Murray. No one disputed that racism exists but pointed out Murray had one of those years that wint be topped by a Brit tennis player for decades, if ever.
 
J

Jonnax

Member
The fact that political donors and certain government posts come with a free knighthood cheapens the value of it.
 
F

FreeMufasa

Junior Member
BossDarkseid said:
A thread was made for SPOTY that posited that the UK was racist for not voting as much for Mo Farah over Andy Murray. No one disputed that racism exists but pointed out Murray had one of those years that wint be topped by a Brit tennis player for decades, if ever.
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Nope...most people said they could understand murray wining this time. But mo's was behind a few other people.
 
M

Mr. Sam

Member
Mo finished way down the list after a year that frankly was pretty comparable to Murray's. Double double Olympic champion. Whatever the reason, it was bollocks.

Obligatory: fuck the honours system and the horse it rode in on.
 
M

milanbaros

Member?
Mr. Sam said:
Mo finished way down the list after a year that frankly was pretty comparable to Murray's. Double double Olympic champion. Whatever the reason, it was bollocks.

Obligatory: fuck the honours system and the horse it rode in on.
Click to expand...

He came 4th. That is hardly way down the list, especially when there was a clear winner in Andy.
 
M

milanbaros

Member?
Mr. Sam said:
It's not first or second, where he belonged. Not to diminish Nick Skelton's accomplishment but fucking hell.
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Nick Skelton coming third was hilarious and random. I definitely would have placed Mo above Nick.

There is no ranking system in the votes though. If everyone who voted Andy would've placed Mo second it doesn't matter. Nick had a section of the population who love a broken neck story.
 
A

autumnleaf

Member
Mr. Sam said:
It's not first or second, where he belonged. Not to diminish Nick Skelton's accomplishment but fucking hell.
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I agree Mo should have finished second but he has been top 3 before and nominated quite a few times now and there were a lot of British Olympians winning gold so he doesn't stand out as much. And to be honest while it's not right Mo's winning is almost expected, he just repeated what he did in 2012, each time Murray won he had to do something new (Wimbledon, Davis Cup, World #1). Mo couldn't have done any more but people grow to expect his success, his best chances were probably his first couple of breakthrough years.
 
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