Bennett robbed at RTE sports awards

Arduach

padd b1975 wrote: »

For the record Sam Bennett finished just over five and a half hours behind the winner of the tour.

Case closed as far as I'm concerned.

Does this have to be spelled out.

What build is a top cycling sprinter??

What build wins the Tour and is able to climb?

Would you berate Paul O'Connell for not outsprinting Shane Williams??

FileNotFound

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The irony of condemning Bennett and "his filthy sport" yet lauding Michelle Smith to the heavens. Credibility in short supply.

The past of his sport has nothing to do with it really. Blood passport's etc been there for his entire career. Raced against my brother in underage.

We were joking that were you to look at an equivalent to Taylor achievements this year, it would be like Bennett winning a few national races. Sad

Arduach

Lundstram wrote: »

This post is hilarious.

On the one hand you're calling Michelle Smith one of our finest athletes and on the other you're calling cycling "a filthy sport".

The irony completely lost on you, of course because you're too busy calling all males sexist.

Crazy post.

Someone who knows nothing about sport but comes along to bring gender into it.

Sonia O'Sullivan was a world class athlete where there was a large talent pool. None of us have an issue with gender, just ignorance.

Stihl waters

Deleted User wrote: »

Is anyone else thinking "Who dafuq is Sam Bennett?"


I honestly have never heard of him.

My first thought was somebody got mugged in rte, my second was who dafuq is Sam Bennett

DraftDodger

Nobody takes cycling seriously anymore for christ sake. It's a pretend sport akin to WWE wrestling. I'd say there are less drugs been taken on the liffey boardwalk on a daily basis than a stage of the tour de France

Arduach

Arduach wrote: »

Well that shows you know very little about sport. I wouldn't boast!

I'd be the first to admit that. But if someone like me knows who Katie Taylor is but doesn't know who Sam Bennett is, is that not a decent reason for her winning?

castletownman

Bennett's achievement is overblown I think. Yes he did well to win the sprint race, but at the end of the day, how many sprint champions can the lay-man name in cycling? People remember the Tour de France yellow jersey winners, however tarnished some of those may be. I would liken his achievement to a golfer like Luke Donald or Ian Poulter- the former was a world number one in the sport at one stage but never won a Major, while the latter has a great record in the Ryder Cup but again hasn't taken home a Major (and never will).

And you'll now have some wannabe cyclist stars on here lambasting why I am wrong, and are probably the type that wear lycra while negotiating through traffic on the way into work, oblivious that road rules apply to them too. But that's an entirely different topic.

Arduach

DraftDodger wrote: »

Nobody takes cycling seriously anymore for christ sake. It's a pretend sport akin to WWE wrestling. I'd say there are less drugs been taken on the liffey boardwalk on a daily basis than a stage of the tour de France

Would you take boxing seriously down through the years? Mafia involvement etc?

How about Delphine Persoon being robbed of a world title because KT had all the connections and backing behind her and Persoon part time? You couldn't take that serious could you?

There's doping in rugby, gaa, all endurance and power sports.

Irishphotodesk

YakerK wrote: »

Another person missing the point entirely. That's not relevant to Bennett's successes - I'm not going to make yet another analogy, just do some research before commenting. starting with the various contributors to this thread.



If you think boxing isn't filthy (from a PEDs point of view) you are very naive! That doesn't diminish Taylor's achievements over the years, just as cyclings history shouldn't diminish Bennett's.
Bennett for me did better, he's the very best at the very top level within his sport and he got there this year. Taylor has been there a while, so for me just maintaining a standard isn't as worthy as getting there for the first time when it comes to something like "sports person of the year". That's nothing to do with Gender.
Obviously a very subjective award, so anyone can easily make a case either way. I'd have given it to Sam, but not fair to say he was "robbed" either.

My apologies for interrupting the flow of the thread, the highlighted part is what I wish to raise as a concern.

It's your opinion that being successful once is better than maintaining success for almost a decade ? Is that correct ?

If this is your belief then you are most entitled to it, I do disagree with your opinion, but it's acceptable to disagree on things.

Arduach

castletownman wrote: »

Bennett's achievement is overblown I think. Yes he did well to win the sprint race, but at the end of the day, how many sprint champions can the lay-man name in cycling? People remember the Tour de France yellow jersey winners, however tarnished some of those may be. I would liken his achievement to a golfer like Luke Donald or Ian Poulter- the former was a world number one in the sport at one stage but never won a Major, while the latter has a great record in the Ryder Cup but again hasn't raken home a Major (and never will).

And you'll now have some wannabe cyclist stars on here lambasting why I am wrong, and are probably the type that wear lycra while negotiating through traffic on the way into work, oblivious that road rules apply to them too. But that's an entirely different topic.

How many female world boxing champions can the lay man name?

Strumms

hynesie08 wrote: »

Won the sprint but came 138th in the overall? Should probably learn to cycle up a hill before we start throwing awards at him.

He won and was awarded the green jersey, the first Irishman to win it in 31 years.. in the course of that achievement he won 2 stages on that same tour.. did any Irishman ‘ever’ achieve two stage wins on the same tour ? Answer.... No they did not.. not Stephen Roche, not Seán Kelly, not anybody here...He won one stage too of the Vuelta Espana... Roche beat Peter Sagan, into second place on the Tour green jersey leaderboard. Sagan is a green jersey monster specialist having won it on SEVEN previous occasions and was the defending the jersey having won it the previous year. The most successful green jersey winner in the history of the Tour De France... Roche stopped him in his tracks..

But of course, Katie Taylor... right.:rolleyes:

irishgrover

Iodine1 wrote: »

Probably going against the populist mob but Katie, while a great sports star did nothing in 2020 compared to the achievements world wide by Sam Bennett. I don't think the anonymous RTE panel put any time into researching what Bennett achieved. At risk of drawing the woke mob, but look realistically, what do you think?

the tone of your post kinda takes away from the validity of your message..
"the populist mob", "risk of drawing the woke mob"... --- your attempt to validate Sam Bennett by suggesting that Katie is just the product of politically correct wokeness coupled with an anonymous judging panel is really a bit odd.

YakerK

castletownman wrote: »

but at the end of the day, how many sprint champions can the lay-man name in cycling?

If that is your logic how many female boxing champions can the lay man name?

Would be very few contenders for the award if that's the criteria and they'd all be male soccer, rugby or (maybe!) GAA players.

DraftDodger

Arduach wrote: »

Would you take boxing seriously down through the years? Mafia involvement etc?

How about Delphine Persoon being robbed of a world title because KT had all the connections and backing behind her and Persoon part time? You couldn't take that serious could you?

There's doping in rugby, gaa, all endurance and power sports.

Yes there is doping in all sports by some but nothing as widespread as cycling. It's the fact cycling has refused to clean up it's act that makes it a joke sport.

Arduach

Deleted User wrote: »

I'd be the first to admit that. But if someone like me knows who Katie Taylor is but doesn't know who Sam Bennett is, is that not a decent reason for her winning?

Because you've heard of KT since 2006...that helps.

Sam had a huge year this year. It's sports star of the year, not the last 15.

EmmetSpiceland

Personally, I’d have given it to Ciarán Kilkenny, but that’s just me.

Taylor is, still, a deserving winner. She has, almost singlehandedly, put her sport on the works stage, fought all comers, completed obligated title defences and hasn’t shirked any potential “banana skins”.

With all the “drama” that goes with cycling you’d have to wonder if one of the main reason Bennett didn’t get it was that they might have to strip it from him in a few years. Or at least have the award, potentially, brought into “disrepute”.

You only have to look at all the “muck” that’s been raked up about highly decorated British cyclists.

YakerK

Irishphotodesk wrote: »

My apologies for interrupting the flow of the thread, the highlighted part is what I wish to raise as a concern.

It's your opinion that being successful once is better than maintaining success for almost a decade ? Is that correct ?

If this is your belief then you are most entitled to it, I do disagree with your opinion, but it's acceptable to disagree on things.

Not quite - but I don't think Katie elevated herself this year. She arguably maintained her standard, but that's debatable due to lack of fights.

Sam on the other hand went to a whole different level (and he was already operating very close to the top)

Larbre34

Why would Sam Bennett be given spoty for finishing 138th in something? He was even last of the Irish entrants!

Arduach

DraftDodger wrote: »

Yes there is doping in all sports by some but nothing as widespread as cycling. It's the fact cycling has refused to clean up it's act that makes it a joke sport.

Prove it's not to the same extent as cycling? Governing bodies often protect their own sport.

5 of the starting amateur 15 1995 South African WC winners are dead before 50, most of heart attacks bar Van der Westhuizen. It's way above the norm. Read Laurent Benezech on French rugby doping.

castletownman

Arduach wrote: »

How many female world boxing champions can the lay man name?

Katie Taylor. Which more than at any stage in the sport's history.....Bennett isn't a Tour de France champion.

Arduach

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Personally, I’d have given it to Ciarán Kilkenny, but that’s just me.

Taylor is, still, a deserving winner. She has, almost singlehandedly, put her sport on the works stage, fought all comers, completed obligated title defences and hasn’t shirked any potential “banana skins”.

With all the “drama” that goes with cycling you’d have to wonder if one of the main reason Bennett didn’t get it was that they might have to strip it from him in a few years. Or at least have the award, potentially, brought into “disrepute”.

You only have to look at all the “muck” that’s been raked up about highly decorated British cyclists.

To quote Jerry Kiernan, no amateur, who isn't pited against international competition should be a sports star of the year.

Too shallow a pool. 2 or 3 of his own team were as good as him, James McCarthy etc.

And I'm a gaa man who played county. It's an amateur sport.

Arduach

castletownman wrote: »

Katie Taylor. Which more than at any stage in the sport's history.....Bennett isn't a Tour de France champion.

That's all you can name. Exactly. There's hardly anyone in her sport.

Most here would know Robbie McEwen, Mark Cavendish etc if they were Irish too.

Arduach

Arduach wrote: »

I can't believe someone would have the 'confidence' to post on a sports thread and post that!

I am a very confident person.

Strumms

Larbre34 wrote: »

Why would Sam Bennett be given spoty for finishing 138th in something? He was even last of the Irish entrants!

Because the achievements on the tour are not limited to the ‘general classification’

His achievements and focus ultimately was winning the green jersey, the jersey awarded for points classification. He won and achieved it. His tactics were in line with that.

Richard Hillman

Richard Hillman wrote: »

Katie Taylor beat up an amateur and a semi pro.

Sam Bennett is the fastest man in the world on 2 wheels

I suspect Joan Mir is quite a bit faster.

breezy1985

YakerK wrote: »

Not quite - but I don't think Katie elevated herself this year. She arguably maintained her standard, but that's debatable due to lack of fights.

Sam on the other hand went to a whole different level (and he was already operating very close to the top)

Katie should have won it last year when she won those titles and was way more deserving than some lad who won a trinket in a sport for pensioners. And now Sam loses out because the judges want to make up for last year which isn't really fair.

Any talk of gender politics is BS me too has been going on a good few years now so how does it explain all the men that keep winning. I assume though this argument is the OPs real agenda otherwise the thread would be in sport or TV and not after-hours

breezy1985

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I suspect Joan Mir is quite a bit faster.

I suspect it's Joan Mirs bike that is fast not him

Lundstram

"I never heard of Sam Bennett so he doesn't deserve it"

What a strange way to argue.

The award is for 2020, doesn't matter what Taylor did in previous years, it's irrelevent. Bennett was sensational this year and deserved it.

RTE picked the easy choice, they are an embarrassment of an organisation.

castletownman

Chris Froome wins a few titles, and people were saying it should be taken with a pinch of salt given the doping history in the sport. Remember the asthma medication?

Sam Bennett comes out of nowhere to win the sprints title of the Tour de France, having never contended for it before, and all of sudden there isn't any accusations of doping in the sport.

The sport lost it's credibility years ago.

Sephiroth_dude

AdrianBalboa wrote: »

Following me around yet again, and you still don’t have the balls to confront me personally. Pathetic.

AdrianBalboa wrote: »

That poster is following me around. He has some bizarre grudge against me where he will thank every single post disagreeing with me, make snide indirect remarks about me and accuse me of holding multiple accounts.

Unfortunately he is a Boards.ie “power user” so the moderators will let his bizarre vendetta against me slide and ban me for calling out his low-level bullying.

That’s all I will say on the matter and I won’t post in this thread again. Katie Taylor is a legend.

Don't post in here again.

Nermal

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Taylor is, still, a deserving winner. She has, almost singlehandedly, put her sport on the works stage, fought all comers, completed obligated title defences and hasn’t shirked any potential “banana skins”.

There haven't been that many 'comers'.

Sam came top of a much, much bigger pyramid.

Arduach

castletownman wrote: »

Chris Froome wins a few titles, and people were saying it should be taken with a pinch of salt given the doping history in the sport. Remember the asthma medication?

Sam Bennett comes out of nowhere to win the sprints title of the Tour de France, having never contended for it before, and all of sudden there isn't any accusations of doping in the sport.

The sport lost it's credibility years ago.

Thierry Henry handballs in 2009 v Ireland and the country goes into national mourning.

Delphine Persoon is robbed of a world title, in worse fashion, and the Irish public don't want to hear a bad word, our KT is great. Bar brave journalists like Eamonn Sweeney, who said a rematch wouldn't give justice. Persoon was denied on the night.

I've seen doping in GAA as far back as 1993, i've already posted on boxing and rugby. What about running and sprinting?

Is it just cycling you have a grudge against?

P.s. He didn't come out of nowhere. This isn't Michelle Smithesque.

Do you want to ban swimming? Horse racing, your own county man Jim Bolger says it's rife with doping.

McGinniesta

Iodine1 wrote: »

Probably going against the populist mob but Katie, while a great sports star did nothing in 2020 compared to the achievements world wide by Sam Bennett. I don't think the anonymous RTE panel put any time into researching what Bennett achieved. At risk of drawing the woke mob, but look realistically, what do you think?

The RTE news room are still waiting on news of the sinking of the titanic.

Don't be surprised that they the sports department don't have any idea what's happening.

Neagra

i believe some in rte wanted to pick bennett but given the serious doping issues in the sport there would be a genuine fear bennett could get caught down the line and rte and whoever the judges are would take serious flak for choosing bennett

this is not a swipe at cycling or bennett - but just cycling has been at the forefront of sport doping.
it is ingrained in the sport.

taylor is a worthy winner anyway but also the safer the option

Strumms

castletownman wrote: »

Chris Froome wins a few titles, and people were saying it should be taken with a pinch of salt given the doping history in the sport. Remember the asthma medication?

Sam Bennett comes out of nowhere to win the sprints title of the Tour de France, having never contended for it before, and all of sudden there isn't any accusations of doping in the sport.

The sport lost it's credibility years ago.

Two things..

1) He won the points classification , not the sprints title.

2) he didn’t come out of nowhere. He won 6 stages that year across all races he participated in...in France, Spain, Australia, Belgium and Hungry....

If you want to imply or accuse him of doping, you might need evidence..

Aongus Von Bismarck

It’s an award whose reputation was permanently tarnished when it was decided to award it to that absolutely repulsive Conor McGregor. Cage fighting is the WWE for angry and frustrated adult men who are susceptible to slick marketing.

Larbre34

Strumms wrote: »

Two things..

1) He won the points classification , not the sprints title.

2) he didn’t come out of nowhere. He won 6 stages that year across all races he participated in...in France, Spain, Australia, Belgium and Hungry....

If you want to imply or accuse him of doping, you might need evidence..

Oh I don't think he was doping. Nobody does.

If he were, he would surely have done better than 138th place.

Strumms

Larbre34 wrote: »

Oh I don't think he was doping. Nobody does.

If he were, he would surely have done better than 138th place.

He DID better, he won the green jersey

Mervyn Skidmore

Here's a chance to use my one and only Tour de France joke.

Q. What does the Tour de France and Amsterdam have in common?
A. Lots of people on drugs riding bicycles.

Arduach

Neagra wrote: »

i believe some in rte wanted to pick bennett but given the serious doping issues in the sport there would be a genuine fear bennett could get caught down the line and rte and whoever the judges are would take serious flak for choosing bennett

this is not a swipe at cycling or bennett - but just cycling has been at the forefront of sport doping.
it is ingrained in the sport.

taylor is a worthy winner anyway but also the safer the option

Not for a minute. RTE in 2025 facing questioning for picking somone, in good faith, as sports person of the year for 2020??

If that was the case anyone who praised Michelle Smith, like Gary O'Toole, Bill O'Herlihy and countless others in RTE in 1996, should have been stood down.

Neagra

Arduach wrote: »

Not for a minute. RTE in 2025 facing questioning for picking somone, in good faith, as sports person of the year for 2020??

If that was the case anyone who praised Michelle Smith, like Gary O'Toole, Bill O'Herlihy and countless others in RTE in 1996, should have been stood down.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/courage-of-an-honest-athlete-1.181775

and thats dated 1998

FileNotFound

castletownman wrote: »

Bennett's achievement is overblown I think. Yes he did well to win the sprint race, but at the end of the day, how many sprint champions can the lay-man name in cycling? People remember the Tour de France yellow jersey winners, however tarnished some of those may be. I would liken his achievement to a golfer like Luke Donald or Ian Poulter- the former was a world number one in the sport at one stage but never won a Major, while the latter has a great record in the Ryder Cup but again hasn't taken home a Major (and never will).

And you'll now have some wannabe cyclist stars on here lambasting why I am wrong, and are probably the type that wear lycra while negotiating through traffic on the way into work, oblivious that road rules apply to them too. But that's an entirely different topic.

I would counter that with Katie almost losing to a part time boxer and beating an oldy who had never even fought outside Spain.

Katie a full time elite pro beat a few pro ams and barely in one case.

Bennett achievement was at least against the best in his sport.

Not some second rate and has been in Eddie's back yard.

Honestly I love Katie but this was a farce.

And I don't even own a bicycle haha.

FileNotFound

Tom O Neil wrote: »

Why do boomers hate MMA but are completely ok with boxing?

Maybe they really dislike the man rather than the sport. And only know the sport due to that man.

McGregor did well in his sport years ago at this stage, has done more bad than good in the real world since - from a good idol perspective (my personal opinion)

I think he raised mma profile, all others in sort paid better now. But in recent times he lost the plot a bit.

Arduach

Neagra wrote: »

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/courage-of-an-honest-athlete-1.181775

and thats dated 1998

Swimming was Gary's sport, so he felt more obligation.

An anonymous panel of mixed sports, not so obliged.

RTE put on massive coverage the evening Bennett won the final stage of the Tour in September. Also the presentation. I don't for a minute think future drugs scandals entered their minds.

Also McGregor won in 2015 and his reputation, even then wasn't the cleanest.

FileNotFound

castletownman wrote: »

Chris Froome wins a few titles, and people were saying it should be taken with a pinch of salt given the doping history in the sport. Remember the asthma medication?

Sam Bennett comes out of nowhere to win the sprints title of the Tour de France, having never contended for it before, and all of sudden there isn't any accusations of doping in the sport.

The sport lost it's credibility years ago.

In fairness your point of view is dated and to say Sam came from nowhere shows you don't follow the sport in any way.

Thus your opinion will be a bit warped. Same prob applied to the panel.

But Katie almost lost to a cop and beat a 37 Yr old who never fought outside here own nation prior. All that in her bosses back yard. And considering she is an elite pro that is a poor year at best. That alone shows she didn't deserve it.

At least Sam Bennett bet the best...

castletownman

I would contend that Bennett winning the sprints classification having never come close to doing so before is the definition of "coming out of nowhere".

And I wasn't implying that he was doping, only that we can't downplay Froome from winning a few Tour titles due to the doping culture in the sport, but at the same time ignore the possibility, however slim, of it happening when Bennett wins.

FileNotFound

castletownman wrote: »

I would contend that Bennett winning the sprints classification having never come close to doing so before is the definition of "coming out of nowhere".

And I wasn't implying that he was doping, only that we can't downplay Froome from winning a few Tour titles due to the doping culture in the sport, but at the same time ignore the possibility, however slim, of it happening when Bennett wins.

Sure he has. He has been a sprinter his entire career. I have literally seen the lad since he was young.

Your showing your myself up fir just hating cyclists now. Haha you haven't a clue about the sport.

I didn't know froome was up for the award - did you dream that - as otherwise he has no purpose in this convo.

This year Sam Bennett achieved far more than a poor Katie Taylor year. Simple really.

You've missed his national champs win, his stage wins in tour down under, vuelta stage wins, so on and so on.

If you weren't so lazy you could have googled him and sounded a bit more informed haha.

Such a second rate troll... You need a new game. Only rte could award you for this performance. Lol

statto25

castletownman wrote: »

And you'll now have some wannabe cyclist stars on here lambasting why I am wrong, and are probably the type that wear lycra while negotiating through traffic on the way into work, oblivious that road rules apply to them too. But that's an entirely different topic.

Why bring it up at all then?

FileNotFound

Tom O Neil wrote: »

I am not interested in MMA but the people who hate it all seem to be much older than me, like 50+. It's a generational thing I guess, but what is about the sport that makes them seethe so much?

They will probably say it's violent, it's run by gangsters, the competitors are scumbags....but isn't the same true for boxing?

100% and boxing more corrupt. Hate it all they like but mma fighters take lumps out of each other for pittance and most of the time shake hands after. Think mcgregor mouth warped opinions too much.

gormdubhgorm

Iodine1 wrote: »

Probably going against the populist mob but Katie, while a great sports star did nothing in 2020 compared to the achievements world wide by Sam Bennett. I don't think the anonymous RTE panel put any time into researching what Bennett achieved. At risk of drawing the woke mob, but look realistically, what do you think?

As a very casual observer of both sports (boxing/cycling) I would agree with you. In a year where the main sports in Ireland were underwhelming to say the least, this was a perfect opportunity missed to look at another sport which Ireland gives minimal attention to.

You could argue of course that boxing is the similar situation. But in the case of Katie Taylor v Sam Bennett. It is clear what has happened the bigger more recognisable name won. Which is ironic considering Katie Taylor has often gave out about RTE's coverage and treatment of boxing.

I think by RTE logic if Sam Bennett won, many people would say who? They clearly wanted someone with a 'profile'. To give the award an aura of recognition to the general population.

It seemed they were stuck for a recognisable name from the GAA, Soccer, Rugby or Horse Racing so said 'ah sure we will pick Katie everyone know the name. Plus there will not be much knowledge about the sport compared to main ones - so we can get away with it'.

It does smack of that because even as casual observer in little snippets of reports on Bennett, he had a great year. When even the likes of me took notice it surely says something. Someone who would not be into cycling.