Club Arnage

Hello,

I hope you don't mind me posting this on here, but as many of you will recall, Markko Martin's co driver Michael "Beef" Park was tragically killed in an accident on the Wales Rally GB in September.

Many members of another web forum, www.britishrally.co.uk have decided to vote for him as their nomination for BBC Sports Personality of the year .

Michael was a real charactor in the rally world and will be sadly missed and it would be a real nice gesture in his memory if we could get him short listed for the award so that he at least gets a mention on the program.

To vote, click this link and enter your normination " Michael "Beef" Park " along with your e mail address.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sports_personality_2005/4353078.stm


Thanks.

Done

A top nomination

Done.

A worthy idea.

Top idea, will pass this on to all that I know.

I've voted for Beef, for all the good it will do though. All bets closed on Freddie Flintoff in Sept; I've voted for him too.

Done.

done

Excellent idea, my vote goes his way!! I will be encouraging all I know to vote for him.

There was a letter sent into Autosport this week from Marie (his wife) & family thanking everyone for all the support, there are plans to help upcoming drivers with a foundation in his memory.

Done

Done - if even someone else does win it, it deserves our vote to at least get a mention.

MG Mark

Done, too.
 :)

 I expect that it'll be Freddy Flintoff too, though and I haven't voted for Freddy!

Another typically British stupid possibility is Mr Best now he has passed on!
 :(

Done

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I've got to play devils advocate on this one, and I'm sure I will catch all kinds of grief for this but, just for the hell of it...
Why does getting killed suddenly make you a nominee for Sportsman of the Year when in most cases being a rally co-driver will barely get you a pint on the house at the local pub.  Sorry but I don't get it.  I've always found this a bizarre thing, the way people suddenly get deified when they kick the bucket.  I dont know much about him, he seemed like a good bloke, but Sportsman of the Year? If anything it should disqualify you, Autocourse traditionally excluded any driver who became deceased during the season from their driver ratings.
Fax

Fax I fully understand your view point.
I dont think that Beefy will get in the top five let alone win - safe bet that that is Freddie Flintoff (someone else you may not of heard of playing a game that you might not understand ;)) If out of the tragdedy of Beefy's death more awareness can be made of motorsport - in particular in this case ralling - then I think its a good reason to put a vote in. I guess the same would of happend if Guy Smith or Dan Welden had died too.

Just my point of view............

Bobblehat you hit it on the screws perfectly. Dan Wheldon won the Indy 500 AND the IRL Championship but will barely be a blip on the radar, but somebody buys the farm and they get a Sportsman of the Year nomination...Huh?
Fax

The whole idea is to make the BBC sit up and take note, so that he gets a mention.  Why the hell should David Beckham keep getting nominated, he is part of a team and has no personality, or Tim Henman who has won bugger all.

Michael park was one of the biggest personalities in the WRC and will be sorely missed, as will Richard Burns.

True i do think that Dan Wheldon deserves the award but I bet he gets very little mention.

Chris, I go back to my earlier post, if everyone feels so strongly about him, why didn't vote for him last year or the year before.  God forbid but if Guy Smith or Dan Wheldon buy it, they'll be some kind of saint. But because they're still one of us mere mortals, they're just back page of the sports section news.
Fax

Fax, i voted for Freddy Flintoff when nominations started. I have now voted for Beefy. Why? He was a personality, always seemed to be cheerful.
I know he won't win it, it would be good if he got a mention on the show, and let's face it he won't get a chance next year. And yes there are more succesful people in motorsport this year but you can call this my sympathy vote.

To be honest, the whole concept of the BBC Sports personality award is flawed anyway.

Are we meant to nominate people for their personality or for their sporting achievements ?

Like i said, Beckham is or appears to be a idiot and dull, Tim Henman boring as hell, etc , so how can we vote on personality unless you actually know the people.

If its about achievements, then it should be called the BBC sports achievements awards.

I would love Dan Wheldon to win it as he's the only Britain to have won something major as an individual rather than a team sport.

I would also like to see Alex Zanardi recieve the award for disabled sports people for returning to winning ways after his accident by winning WTCC races and the Italian Touring Car Championship.

Agree with what your saying Chris, as I said in my first post I'm just playing devils advocate in the name of debate.  What Zanardi has done is very impressive even if I  always thought him a bit over-rated as a driver during his F1 and Champ car days.  As for Beckham?  I've never understood the fascination with that guy.  Granted you've seen him play alot more than me but everytime I've seen a game he's been in, he appears to sleepwalk through the match, at best looking dis-interested.
Fax

I would like him to get a mention purely as he's a top bloke. very little written about him, but a top man in his field. Too much we look at Football and tits like Beckham et al.

Amazing but George Best will get a mention, great talent, top c0ck for wasting all his life for a bottle. Another person who wasted too much.

Great to see more commetns though.

Just to throw my tuppence worth in the ring.. :)

I can see it all seeming a little silly voting for someone purely because they died, but I see this as being more about the recognition people like Beef deserve. There are many unsung heros in sport who get no mention, they do it for the love of the sport & the thrill of competition.

Motorsport gets minimal coverage in the mainstream media in the UK, we have a world champion in the WTCC & there was no mention of it in any of the non specialist press, likewise Dan Wheldon or Gary Paffett's championship wins were widely ignored. Compared to the attention Katherine Legge got at the first day of her F1 test last week, they were all there to report her prang on the first day & promptly buggered off, the fact that she put some semi-respectable times in on her second day was ignored by most.

Richard Burns' death was a sharp contrast from the rolling news coverage from outside the hospital of George Best in his last week (partly down to a big difference between the way the 2 men handled their respective illnesses??) As sad as any death is, one was self inflicted, the other took a man in his prime, but Burnsie's passing was barely mentioned & in some cases misreported. http://www.channel4.com/news/special-reports/special-reports-storypage.jsp?id=1219

Michael Park was (from what I've heard) an outstanding bloke who was willing to give many young rally enthusiasts advice & help. Even if he & Markko Martin had have won the WRC championship together I wonder if they would have got much more than 2 minutes worth of attention on the BBC's end of year show. The shoddy excuses for footballers & our favourite national tennis player always get expansive coverage every year, for the effort people put in the rewards should match (or maybe I'm too idealistic!!) for those at the top of their arena.

Personally I hope both Michael Park & Richard Burns get a mention in the show, they both deserve no less.

the BRDC gave mention to richard burns in their annual awards. he got an award for courage and sportsmanship

dan wheldo took the main awards, but andy priaulx (world touring cars) Gary Paffett (DTM) and Lewis Hamilton (Formula 3 Euroseries) all got awards as well.

oh no, sorry have been away for a few weeks, only by reading here did i find out Richard Burns died...     inevitable, but still so sad