Jessica Ennis comes top of our list of the best picks for BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2012!

So, why is Jessica Ennis number one. . . ?

If there is one athlete who had the weight of the country on her shoulders at the beginning of the year, then it’s Jessica Ennis.

The poster child of London 2012, Jessica Ennis was expected to win. Now, I don’t know about you, but the idea of having an entire country expecting you to win a gold medal in one of the toughest Olympic events seems pretty damn terrifying to me. Yet somehow, Jessica Ennis went out and completely obliterated the competition. She looked like a freaking machine on the track.

The only problem with Jessica Ennis this year is that she won her gold medal too easily. The final event in the women’s heptathlon was a bit of an anti-climax because really, she’d already won. Unfortunately, this makes Jessica Ennis’ achievement a little less memorable than other entrants on this list.

Take Andy Murray, for instance. Even though he did smash Roger Federer to pieces in the final of the men’s singles tennis, there was always that doubt that maybe Federer would come back at two sets down and win. There was always that tension, and it’s the tension that makes for a memorable win. The same is true of Mo Farah. No one knew he would win until the very end of his races. And because of the tension, because of the emotion of the event, we remember it as though it were yesterday. Jessica Ennis’ victory, on the other hand, is more easily forgotten because it wasn’t as tense.

So, in hindsight, Jessica Ennis’ accomplishment seems less than Andy Murray’s and Mo Farah’s because it was less tense and because she, basically, won too easily.

But if you rewind back to the beginning of the year, it was all about Jess. She was the star. She was the focal point of London 2012 and she didn’t just deliver, she utterly shone.

For Jessica Ennis to not be recognised as the star of sport this year would be a travesty. The sporting world put her in the position to be the personality of the year and she delivered. It’s as simple as that.

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Continuing our countdown of the best pick for BBC Sports Personality of the Year we come to Andy Murray and Bradley Wiggins.

BBC Sports Personality of the Year Pick #3: Andy Murray:

If this were Sports Personality Development of the year, Andy Murray would win hands down.

Who even knew that Andy Murray had a personality prior to 2012?! Before this year, Murray seemed like a grumpy Scottish git. Sure, he was supported by fans in both England and Scotland, but only because he was seen as being the one blooming chance for us to actually win Wimbledon.

Then came 2012 and that Wimbledon final which made Andy Murray who he is today. Who could forget the sheer emotion Andy Murray showed? Sure, he may have lost the match, but his personality achieved an important victory that day. That was the day Andy Murray transformed before the public eye. It was a truly touching sporting moment.

Murray needed to be defeated at Wimbledon. Defeat cut through that tough exterior of Andy Murray and brought out the true man that he is. It’s no coincidence that Murray’s game soared to a new high after that memorable Wimbledon defeat. Coming so close to success only to suffer defeat transforms a person, bringing out a level of desire, belief and determination never seen before. You don’t need to be a sportsman to experience such a moment of transformation. It’s a right of passage that happens to us all.

In many ways, it isn’t Andy Murray’s godly strength on the tennis court that makes him who he is, but his weaknesses.  Many of the athletes on this list seem superhuman. Murray, on the other hand, has shown not just his great strength, but his weaknesses to. He, perhaps above all other athlets this year, has shown the truest reflection of a person: the weakness, the strengths, the defeat, the triumph. For this, Andy Murray has earned the love of millions.

BBC Sports Personality of the Year Pick #2 Bradley Wiggins:

32 year old Bradley Wiggins set the country on fire with his win of the Tour de France. Then he went and scorched again with his fourth Olympic gold medal (seriously, four golds,. . . ? That’s just greedy). It’s no wonder William Hill bookmakers have him pegged as firm favourite at 2/5 odds. He’s the smart money, but he’s just not my pick.

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It’s one heck of an accomplishment to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year in the average twelve months of sport. But this year, when so much has happened in British sport, is an altogether different challenge.

What other year has contenders as closely pegged as Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis, Bradley Wiggins, David Weir and co.? Any of the contenders in this years BBC Sports Personality of the Year would be worthy winners. Making this list of the top five sports personalities has been no mean feat. But after much head scratching, here’s my pick of the top five contenders.

The Top Five Sports Personalities of the Year

Pick #5 :  David Weir

It is, naturally, important for the BBC to recognise paralympians as well as Olympians in the Sports Personality of the Year award. And of all the many paralympians worthy of winning the award, David Weir tops the list.

With four wins (TS4 marathon, 5000m, 1500m and 800m) wheelchair athlete David Weird was one of Britain’s most successful athletes at London 2012.

Posting on his Twitter account after his nomination, David Weir commented, “Thanks for the wicked messages on #BBCSPOTY such a honour to be in the top 12 another step forward for Paralympic sport.”

 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Pick #3: Mo Farah

If there was one moment of London 2012 that we Brits will remember forever, surely it is Mo Farah’s double gold. If there is one image of the year that is etched forever in our minds, it is surely that strange, near-spiritual concoction of triumph and exhaustion striking Farah’s face like thunder as he crosses the finish line.

Mo Farah gave us all a moment of pure exhilaration. You didn’t need to be a fan of athletics to recognise the beauty of Mo Farah’s victories. They were a victory for an entire country.

Far more important than Mo Farah’s efforts on the track are his efforts in the fight against poverty and disease in East Africa. Please, if you have the time, show your support for the Mo Farah Foundation by visiting the website HERE.

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FINALLY. It has finally happened. We’ve waited so many years for this night and Andy Murray has DONE IT! Murray wins the US Open against Novak Djokovic in one of the greatest tennis finals of all time.

Apparently, however, Andy Murray isn’t quite as happy about the win as the rest of Britain. He barely smiled after winning, and in this press interview he practically looks dejected.

It’s happened. The secret to making Survivor Series 2012 the best ever has been found. The idea—genius, really, if I do say so myself—is to make Survivor Series 2012 and all subsequent Survivor Series genuinely about survival.

Make WWE Survivor Series What it was Born to Be

Think back, if you will fellow WWE fans, over the past few years and answer me one question. What has been the most memorable moment in wrestling over those years?

There’s a very good chance that your pick of a memorable moment involved a retirement. Over the past few years the WWE has said goodbye to Ric Flair in an amazing match VS Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 24. We’ve seen the surprise ending of Edge. Undertaker put Shawn Michaels into retirement in the main event at Wrestlemania 26, and right now the biggest story in the WWE is about HHH’s yes / no / maybe retirement.

Retirement has become the emotional backbone of the WWE. But really, it’s not retirement that gets us all so interested, it is survival. If Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels had said “It’s time for me to quit, good bye,” things wouldn’t have been half so exciting. Instead of this, we had two career threatening matches at Wrestlemania and pseudo-career-threatening-match at Summerslam between HHH and Brock Lesnar.

Survival has become one of the most important words in WWE. Why not take the idea and make the most of it? Why not make the annual Survivor Series headline with a career threatening match? Heck, Survivor Series already has a perfectly fitting title, and it’s already one of the biggest events in the WWE. It’s not as though it would be hard to find the matches either. There only needs to be one major retirement each year. In all likelihood, CM Punk, John Cena, The Undertaker, HHH and Rey Mysterio will all need to retire in approximately the next five years, so that’s Survivor Series sorted up until 2017 already.

Survivor Series becomes the PPV of survival with an annual career threatening match

It’s almost too perfect.

Vince, you kinda owe me for this idea. Just put a load of funds on my WWE credit card as a reward for services rendered to the WWE. Thank you, Vince. 

While you’re at it, here’s my pick for the first 5 retirements to happen at the annual career threatening Survivor Series match.

 The Next Five Retirements at WWE Survivor Series

2012: HHH

2013: The Undertaker

2014: Rey Mysterio

2015:  John Cena

2016: CM Punk

And since we’re speaking about it. Has HHH really retired? Find out here: HHH retirement.