November 28, 2015 will go down as a memorable day for British sport and more importantly, British sportsmen. In Leicester, Sheffield's Jamie Vardy became the first player in the history of the Premier League to score in more than 10 consecutive games. Hours later in Dusseldorf, Tyson Fury entered the pantheon beide Ali, Frazier, Louis and Patterson to defeat Wladimir Klitschko and become world heavyweight champ.
We're nearing the time of the year when gongs are distributed to the men and women who won the year and the people of the Britain face a legit conundrum when trying to decide who will be the British Sports Personality of the Year for 2015. Will it be Vardy, the non-league football star turned Premier League marksman, who this summer was filmed racially abusing an Asian man in a casino? Or will it be Fury, the no-hoper turned world champ with views from the last century on homosexuality and abortion?
William Hill's #spoty odds are intriguing this morning. Fury has surged to 4/1 after last night, though he still trails Jessica Ennis-Hill, who won the heptathlon at the Worlds but was not shortlisted for IAAF athlete of the year, and Andy Murray, who's second in the world right now but won zero grand slams this year and lost to Federer at Wimbledon in straight sets. Vardy is way out in the betting at 14/1, though with every goal he scores, his odds shorten.
There are many comical aspects to this list - Wayne Rooney is somehow 20/1 despite being rutted in the worst spell of his career, Mo Farah is 33/1 despite fending off doping allegations all summer and AP McCoy gets a mention because he retired. With all respect to Ennis-Hill, Fury's achievement blows all the others away - though its possible Vardy's streak will be still going on December 20th, when the award is given out in Belfast.
So who will it be: the footballer who had to take racial sensitivity courses four months ago or the man who likens the legalisation of homosexuality with the coming of Satan? It should be a wonderfully uncomfortable evening for the BBC however it plays out.
Vardy and Fury the heroes of the sporting day. Op-ed heaven.
— John Brewin (@JohnBrewin_) November 28, 2015
