The 2014 Nothing To Do With Motorsports Forum Awards

[watka]

Hi guys,

So basically this is a thread to talk about 2014's "best ofs" outside the world of motorsport and to share the high moments and good things we've discovered this year. So here's a few of mine:

Sport
Non-motorsport moment of the year: Brazil 1-7 Germany, never thought I'd see that scoreline in my lifetime.
Best sporting event that I attended: Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons, NFL International Series @ Wembley. Great fun and really got me into the sport!
Footballer of the year: Got to be Cristano Ronaldo for his goalscoring exploits and leading Real Madrid to the Champions League. James Rodriguez runs him close though.
British footballer of the year: Gareth Bale, without question.
British sportsperson of the year: I guess I'll have to go with the majority and say Rory McIlroy. You don't win 2 majors and a Ryder Cup without being special. Lewis Hamilton and Claudia Fragapane come close though.
Team of the year: No football team (club or country) has been flawless this year - Germany have been poor since winning the World Cup and the Spanish clubs have been fighting with no team raising above another. If you're looking for dominance, look no further than the New Zealand rugby union team. Shoutouts to the Europe Ryder Cup team and the Swiss Davis Cup team.
Most improved team/sportsperson of the year: The England rugby league team is right up there now with Australia and New Zealand
Unluckiest sportsperson of the year: Elise Christie could have come home with 3 medals from the Sochi Winter Olympics but ended up with none.

Non-sport
Album of the year: I thought New Eyes by Clean Bandit was a breath of fresh air. Innovative and catchy.
Film of the year: Don't watch a lot of films, but I did really enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy. Perfect blend of superhero action and genuinely funny comedy.
TV programme of the year: Don't watch much TV either, so it takes something good to hold my attention. I'm a bit late on the uptake for the series but Educating the East End was a great watch.
Best gig I attended this year: Seeing Slowdive at Village Underground in London was pretty special for me.
Road car of the year: McLaren P1. The sheer engineering is genius, coupled with the stats.

[shinji]

Sport
Non-motorsport moment of the year: Ireland winning the Six Nations in Brian O'Driscoll's last international game, our first win in Paris since the famous BOD hat-trick in 2000. Perfection.
Best sporting event that I attended: Same as above!
Footballer of the year: Ronaldo for being comically better than his opponents.
Irish footballer of the year: Robbie Keane, MLS MVP. Rockin' it up Stateside. Or John O'Shea for that goal against Germany.
Irish sportsperson of the year: McIlroy, what a contrast to 2013! I'm onboard the Rory-slam hype train.
Team of the year: Joe Schmidt's Irish rugby team; 6 Nations champions (and a narrow loss in Twickenham from a Grand Slam) and beating both South Africa and Australia. Bring on the World Cup!
Most improved team/sportsperson of the year: Probably McIlory tbh. We knew he could do it, but the resilience of shaking off all the personal issues and getting to a place in golf that we've only seen Tiger reach in recent memory was pretty fantastic. Long may it last.
Unluckiest sportsperson of the year: Steven Gerrard. 16 years being the figurehead of Liverpool, 12 years as club captain, an icon of English football, won everything in club football except the league, and then he goes and slips. Heartbreaking.

Non-sport
Album of the year: Quite liked Damien Rice's My Favourite Faded Fantasy, but I'm shockingly poorly informed on new music.
Film of the year: Boyhood. Absolutely incredible feat of film-making, can't imagine we'll see anything like it again.
TV programme of the year: Love/Hate. There's a good reason it's a phenomenon in Ireland. Ah Nidgey
Best gig I attended this year: Neutral Milk Hotel in May, a concert I never thought I'd see. And it was fantastic.
Road car of the year: My mum's Ford Fiesta because it's what I passed my test in in July (I'm in my mum's cah, brum brum)

[go_Rubens]

Based off of watka's template, here's what I would say. I included some "worsts" for good measure.

Sport (or football, mostly)
Non-motorsport moment of the year - Brazil 1-7 Germany - Turned on the game at the 33rd minute and was stunned. Surprised Brazil came back with a goal. I will remember this as long as I live.
Best sporting event I attended - The only sporting event I attended as a spectator was an IndyCar race, so I'll have to say the canoe slalom race I did in Minden, Ontario, Canada as a competitor. Will never forget the insanity of the high water there.
Footballer of the Year - Cristiano Ronaldo - If Lionel Messi actually did something other than mediocrity in the knockout stages of the World Cup, and his mediocrity in La Liga as a whole, I'd say something different, but Ronaldo has been by far the best overall player yet again. He's already scored (I think?!) 24 goals in 15 matches in La Liga, and led Real Madrid to the Champions League final. For me, Messi didn't come close to Ronaldo thanks to poor World Cup performances and La Liga showings for Bracelona (remember October 26 in El Classico?! Even Suárez on his league dèbut did more than him...)
Worst Footballer of the Year - Mario Balotelli - Can't add much other than his usual off-the-pitch controversies including his most recent one of rascist tweets and his on-the-pitch stupidity.
Best Manager of the Year - Diego Simone for turning Club Atlético de Madrid into a La Liga winning club, meaning La Liga went to someone else other than Barcelona or Real Madrid for the first time since the turn of the century. 1996 to be precise.
Worst Manager of the Year - Jurgen Klinnsmann - Seriously, his decisions in the World Cup were super retarded. I mean, it's a bloody surprise the USA made it to the round of 16 when his managing was not doing anything to help him. Keeping Donovan out of the starting lineup is about as stupid as you get.
American Footballer of the Year - Landon Donovan - What a way to go out in style.
American Sportsperson of the Year - Tim Howard - Had an epic World Cup and the only reason he has had problems with conceding has been because of poor defending from both Everton and Team USA.
Team of the Year: Southampton FC/SD Eibar - If you asked anyone about where they thought Southampton would be in the middle of the summer transfer window, or even on the eve of the season, a large amount of people would have said they'd be relegated. They used their £75m extremely wisely and came out with a team even better than last year and ran second for a long while. The only concern is their very tough schedule; they have only beat Arsenal in the League Cup, otherwise they haven't been able to beat a top side. As for SD Eibar, the fact that they made it to La Liga and are miles better than the other promoted teams and currently reside 9th considering they meeded to raise €1.7m to compete in the first place is astonishing. Their crowdfunding campaign worked, also gaining them worldwide exposure. Considering their budget is less than a thirtieth of giants Barcelona and Real Mardid, they've performed splendidly. Their smashing of Alméria last night said it all.
Most improved team/sportsperson of the Year - Costa Rica - Their world cup performance was sheer excellence. Took Uraguay, Italy, and England to school in the group stages and made it to the quarterfinals when predictably Germany beat them. Definately a feel good moment along with Greece.
Worst team of the Year - Manchester United - They are finally looking okay again, but it's taken until December to make themselves somewhat okay. But the whole year in general has been a complete mess.
Unluckiest Sportsperson of the Year - Steven Gerrard - He's done everything he can to win the Premier League. His team let him down at Crystal Palace, conceding 3 late goals, and he let himself and his team down slipping on the pitch vs Chelsea. What happens? Bloody Manchester City win the Premier league. Now he's been screwed over even more by promising signings that have falied to deliver, Daniel Sturridge's injury problems, Brendan Rodgers being an idiot, and the departure of Luis Suárez to Barcelona. I'm starting to think he'll never win a Premier League title, which would be one of the biggest crimes of football, but unfortunately if that's the case, justice can't be done. Liverpool are certainly not winning the league this year, and Gerrard's time left is not long.

Non-Sport
Album of the Year - Can't really say anything for music, as I can't care too much for it.
Film of the Year - Same for films, I can't care much for them (haven't gone to a single movie theater all year).
TV Program of the Year - Can't say much, again. Everything I watch is sporting related anyway, none of my nominations would count for non-sport things.
Best thing I did this year - Visiting fantastic Ontario, Canada - I really wish I could have stayed. I went there for canoe slalom training and racing in Barry's Bay and Minden, and I ended up wanting to stay for much more time than 7 days. Shame I had to go through customs back into the USA, which even though it sounds great being here all the USA is (where I am anyway) is a bunch of retards.
Road car of the Year - Have to agree with the McLaren P1. It has that name for a reason!

[roblo97]

Sport
Non-motorsport moment of the year: Brazil 1-7 Germany, that was an insane match
Best sporting event that I attended: Not Applicable.
Footballer of the year: Messi, still breaking records and he has ages left in him.
British footballer of the year: Gareth Bale, no shadow of a doubt.
British sportsperson of the year: Moeen Ali for his rise over the year from "Moeen who?" to esily the best player in the England cricket team.
Team of the year: Southampton for loosing most of their good players and then buying better ones. Also unlucky last night against Man United.
Most improved team/sportsperson of the year: Costa Rica, just amazing at the World Cup.
Unluckiest sportsperson of the year: Steven Gerrard for that slip.

Non-sport
Album of the year: Sempiternal by Bring Me The Horizon was amazing and Sleepwalking is one of the best songs I have ever heard
Film of the year: Not Applicable
TV programme of the year: The Last Leg is absolutely hilarious.
Best gig I attended this year: Not Aplicable
Road car of the year: Renault Megane 275 Trophy because it is great hot hatch and the fastest front wheel drive car at the Nurburgring, but, for how much longer?

Best Manager of the Year - Diego Simone for turning Club Atlético de Madrid into a La Liga winning club, meaning La Liga went to someone else other than Barcelona or Real Madrid for the first time since the turn of the century. 1996 to be precise.

Valencia called to let you know that they won La Liga in the 2003-2004 season

[takagi_for_the_win]

Non-Motorsport moment of the year: James Rodriguez' goal against Uruguay. Magical is simply the only word to describe it.
Best sporting event I attended: Toss-up between my ex girlfriend's hockey county final, or the Ulster Football Minors Final. Think the Ulster final shades it to be honest.
Footballer of the year: Shared between Ronaldo and Bojan.
British footballer of the year: Bale
Irish footballer of the year: John O'Shea
Team of the year: I'll go with New Zealand's rugby league team, never a dull moment when they're playing.
Most improved sportsperson: Bojan

[go_Rubens]

Best Manager of the Year - Diego Simone for turning Club Atlético de Madrid into a La Liga winning club, meaning La Liga went to someone else other than Barcelona or Real Madrid for the first time since the turn of the century. 1996 to be precise.

Valencia called to let you know that they won La Liga in the 2003-2004 season

Thanks for that reminder. I need to make sure I don't use Wikipedia as much as I do...

Still, Simone did a fantastic job with Club Atlético de Madrid.

[andrew2209]

Best Manager of the Year - Diego Simone for turning Club Atlético de Madrid into a La Liga winning club, meaning La Liga went to someone else other than Barcelona or Real Madrid for the first time since the turn of the century. 1996 to be precise.

Valencia called to let you know that they won La Liga in the 2003-2004 season

Deportivo La Coruña called, they won in 1999-2000.

[roblo97]

Best Manager of the Year - Diego Simone for turning Club Atlético de Madrid into a La Liga winning club, meaning La Liga went to someone else other than Barcelona or Real Madrid for the first time since the turn of the century. 1996 to be precise.

Valencia called to let you know that they won La Liga in the 2003-2004 season

Deportivo La Coruña called, they won in 1999-2000.

my memory only went back to the 2003-2004 season because of a book I have on football from that season.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

Valencia called to let you know that they won La Liga in the 2003-2004 season

And 2001-02...

[go_Rubens]

Alright, Barça and Real winning La Liga are less common that I knew of. Then again, there's my 14 year old self and Wikipedia that didn't help me

[Ataxia]

Oh, nice idea! Cool to see what other interests people have apart from motorsports, I guess.

Sport
Non-motorsport moment of the year: The 2014 World Cup as a whole. It was fantastic.
Best sporting event that I attended: I didn't manage to go to any this year. Money and that...
Footballer of the year: Manuel Neuer. The way he stands in front of his goal, surveying his half like the lord of the land is just incredible. Fantastic 'keeper.
British footballer of the year: Raheem Stirling, simply because everyone else will say Bale. One of the few lights in a terrible World Cup for England; a really special player.
Team of the year: I'd have said Liverpool FC for the first half of the year, but the wheels came off that. So, uh, Atletico Madrid?
Most improved team/sportsperson of the year: West Ham United. Sam Allardyce was berated for his rock-ape Route 1 football, but this season West Ham look like a new team. They're playing slinky, sexy football and they've even got Andy Carroll scoring.
Unluckiest sportsperson of the year: Daniel Sturridge. Watching Liverpool suck from the sidelines whilst collecting leg injuries like they were Pokemon cards.

Non-sport
Album of the year: I did a thing about this in the Top 10 thread. Kasabian's 48:13 takes it, but special mentions go to The War On Drugs' Lost In The Dream and I Forget Where We Were by Ben Howard.
Film of the year: 22 Jump Street is hilarious.
TV programme of the year: Season 6 of Parks and Recreation was amazing. I loved it.
Best gig I attended this year: Well, I went to Glastonbury, didn't I? CHVRCHES were awesome, The Black Keys were pretty ace...but my god, Kasabian absolutely killed it on the final night. It was the best thing I've ever seen.
Road car of the year: Lamborghini Huracán. Mm-mmm.

[watka]

Alright, Barça and Real winning La Liga are less common that I knew of. Then again, there's my 14 year old self and Wikipedia that didn't help me

If you want a league where its dominated by a handful of teams, look no further than the Portuguese league. It's only ever been won by 5 different teams in the 80 seasons it has been running. Furthermore, 78 of those seasons have been won by just 3 different teams (Porto, Benfica and Sporting of course).

[Ataxia]

Alright, Barça and Real winning La Liga are less common that I knew of. Then again, there's my 14 year old self and Wikipedia that didn't help me

If you want a league where its dominated by a handful of teams, look no further than the Portuguese league. It's only ever been won by 5 different teams in the 80 seasons it has been running. Furthermore, 78 of those seasons have been won by just 3 different teams (Porto, Benfica and Sporting of course).

Or the Scottish Premiership, which has been won by one team every year under that guise...

[dr-baker]

Alright, Barça and Real winning La Liga are less common that I knew of. Then again, there's my 14 year old self and Wikipedia that didn't help me

If you want a league where its dominated by a handful of teams, look no further than the Portuguese league. It's only ever been won by 5 different teams in the 80 seasons it has been running. Furthermore, 78 of those seasons have been won by just 3 different teams (Porto, Benfica and Sporting of course).

Or the Scottish Premiership, which has been won by one team every year under that guise...

Would that be Celtic or Rangers?

[DanielPT]

Alright, Barça and Real winning La Liga are less common that I knew of. Then again, there's my 14 year old self and Wikipedia that didn't help me

If you want a league where its dominated by a handful of teams, look no further than the Portuguese league. It's only ever been won by 5 different teams in the 80 seasons it has been running. Furthermore, 78 of those seasons have been won by just 3 different teams (Porto, Benfica and Sporting of course).

Why overcomplicate things having loads of teams winning stuff? It's called status quo and we love it (unfortunately). We here like to belong to teams that win stuff not teams that lose. This is why the supporters outside those three mentioned barely exist.

[Miguel98]

Alright, Barça and Real winning La Liga are less common that I knew of. Then again, there's my 14 year old self and Wikipedia that didn't help me

If you want a league where its dominated by a handful of teams, look no further than the Portuguese league. It's only ever been won by 5 different teams in the 80 seasons it has been running. Furthermore, 78 of those seasons have been won by just 3 different teams (Porto, Benfica and Sporting of course).

Why overcomplicate things having loads of teams winning stuff? It's called status quo and we love it (unfortunately). We here like to belong to teams that win stuff not teams that lose. This is why the supporters outside those three mentioned barely exist.

Well, I still support my home town squad, who are in the second league and go to more matches from them than the team I support from the big three, Porto. But to be fair, it custs a lot more money tickets to a Porto game than to go to a stadium just 10 minutes away from my house.

[DanielPT]

Why overcomplicate things having loads of teams winning stuff? It's called status quo and we love it (unfortunately). We here like to belong to teams that win stuff not teams that lose. This is why the supporters outside those three mentioned barely exist.

Well, I still support my home town squad, who are in the second league and go to more matches from them than the team I support from the big three, Porto. But to be fair, it custs a lot more money tickets to a Porto game than to go to a stadium just 10 minutes away from my house.

You're in F1Rejects. As they say you are the exception that proves the rule.

[CoopsII]

Sport
Non-motorsport moment of the year: The Scottish, beg pardon, British lads and lassies of the Team GB Curling team winning their medals in Sochi
Best sporting event that I attended: My lads Under 7s victory against a very handy Sandbach Tigers side.
Footballer of the year: Other than my lad, none. They are, without exception, c***s.
British footballer of the year: See above. Also, I think I've watched too much Rugby to take these useless falling-over specialists seriously.
Team of the year: The X-Men
British sportsperson of the year: Carl Fogerty for his exploits on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here
Unluckiest sportsperson of the year: Andy Murray - unable to match a stellar 2013 gave the British critics ammunition to kick him once again.

Non-sport
Album of the year: Morrissey - World Peace Is None Of Your Business
Film of the year: Rush (OK, not a film from this year but I only watched it in 2014)
TV programme of the year: Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle
Best gig I attended this year: Pop Will Eat Itself - Sheffield
Road car of the year: Skoda Rapid, because its the company car I was given for the year.

[Klon]

Sport
Non-motorsport moment of the year: Daniel Bryan winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 30. Odds were overcome and joy was had, even if injury trouble kept him out of action shortly after that.
Best sporting event that I attended: SG Flensburg-Handewitt vs. FC Barcelona Handbol, Champions League. After all this time of living in Flensburg, I finally went to see a game of my famous home team, a truly entertaining experience.
Footballer of the year: Malcolm Smith for being the first defender to become Super Bowl MVP in over a decade.
British footballer of the year: Having this category on an international board founded by Australians just proves that we should bomb the United Kingdom back to the stone age to break their delusions about their importance to the world at large.
British sportsperson of the year: See above
Team of the year: Well, there is only one choice, really: San Antonio Spurs
Most improved team/sportsperson of the year: Kawhi Leonard was a starter even last season, but being the NBA Finals MVP is obviously a great step up from that.
Unluckiest sportsperson of the year: Daniel Bryan finally gets his moment of a life time and then reality strikes.

Non-sport
Album of the year: Albums are economically retarded, therefore none.
Film of the year: Stromberg - Der Film, mostly because my name is in the credits for being one of the crowd-funders.
TV programme of the year: Pro7 Newstime, because outside of new Simpsons episodes (which aren't that good), it's the only show I watch consistently that isn't reruns.
Best gig I attended this year: I don't attend gigs, therefore none.
Road car of the year: Since I don't care about road cars, I bow to peer pressure and say McLaren P1

Edit: Remembered more important things

[CoopsII]

British footballer of the year: Having this category on an international board founded by Australians just proves that we should bomb the United Kingdom back to the stone age to break their delusions about their importance to the world at large.

Wouldn't it just be easier and quicker to change it to your own country like most people would know to do?

[Klon]

British footballer of the year: Having this category on an international board founded by Australians just proves that we should bomb the United Kingdom back to the stone age to break their delusions about their importance to the world at large.

Wouldn't it just be easier and quicker to change it to your own country like most people would know to do?

a) I don't particularly care about German football either and b) it's about making a point.

[CoopsII]

British footballer of the year: Having this category on an international board founded by Australians just proves that we should bomb the United Kingdom back to the stone age to break their delusions about their importance to the world at large.

Wouldn't it just be easier and quicker to change it to your own country like most people would know to do?

a) I don't particularly care about German football either and b) it's about making a point.

Oh you're making a point alright, you don't do gigs but managed to navigate that question without invoking helpful images of genocide.

[DemocalypseNow]

Sport
Footballer of the Year: Javier Zanetti. The way he recovered from an injury that knocks most out of the game permanently even in their 20s, never mind their 40s...he's made of sterner stuff.
Sportsperson of the Year: Javier Zanetti. A level of professionalism, humility and resilience rarely seen in his discipline.
Retiree of the Year: Javier Zanetti. Il capitano per sempre.

Non-sport
TIME Magazine Man of the Year: Javier Zanetti.
Deity of the Year: Javier Zanetti
Javier Zanetti of the Year: Javier Zanetti.
Scumbag of the Universe: Luciano Moggi

[DOSBoot]

Sport
Non-Motorsport Moment of the Year: Germany 7 - Brazil 1: Checked it out about 35 minutes in. Had to take a second look at the scoreboard to see if that was right. Watched the rest of the game to see the pure comedy that followed. Wish I could have watched that from the beginning.


Non-sport
Album of the year: Journeys by Timecop1983: Yet another great masterpiece by the Dutchman.
Film of the year: Captain America: The Winter Soldier I enjoyed the most this year. With Fury, and Godzilla as honorable mentions.
Best Gig I attended this year: Seeing [b]Geto Boys with all the original members. Got to shake hands with all of them.

[watka]

British footballer of the year: Having this category on an international board founded by Australians just proves that we should bomb the United Kingdom back to the stone age to break their delusions about their importance to the world at large.

Wouldn't it just be easier and quicker to change it to your own country like most people would know to do?

[a) I don't particularly care about German football either and b) it's about making a point.

Oh you're making a point alright, you don't do gigs but managed to navigate that question without invoking helpful images of genocide.

Don't worry Coops, the Germans tried it once before and it didn't end well for them.

But yes, I put British with the intention of people changing it to their country. I never said the categories were fixed.

[DemocalypseNow]

British footballer of the year: Having this category on an international board founded by Australians just proves that we should bomb the United Kingdom back to the stone age to break their delusions about their importance to the world at large.

Wouldn't it just be easier and quicker to change it to your own country like most people would know to do?

a) I don't particularly care about German football either and b) it's about making a point.

Congrats, point made. You're an apologist for American thinking it can decides what the rest of the world should do. Well done.

[CoopsII]

He's also so massively a caricature of tuetonic literalness as to be a pastiche.

"Zer forum it says British footballer, I guess I could ignore it or select a German sportsman of mein own choosing but, nein, I cannot think outside of der box!!"

[watka]

We love you really Klon. In a platonic way, not in a creepy Coops-DanielPT way.

[Nessafox]

We love you really Klon. In a platonic way, not in a creepy Coops-DanielPT way.

I do love him in a creepy CoopsII-DanielPT way, though.

[Alextrax52]

My turn

Non Motorsport event of the year: Gotta be Brazil 1-7 Germany I was in stitches when Germany scored 4 in 10 minutes
Best sporting event i attended: I only made it to one event: Liverpool 4-0 Dortmund our last friendly before the season proper. What a shame that performance has only been seen once this season
Footballer of the year: Lionel Messi (The man just dazzles with more records and goals)
Team of the year: Dutch Speedskating team 23 medals at the Sochi Games says it all. Also dominant on the world cup tour
Most improved team of the year: Southampton football club From survival battlers to top 8 and now top 5 over 2014
Unluckiest athlete of the year: 4 choices for me. 1 Steven Gerrard for that capitulation at the end of 13/14. 2 Elise Christie for 3 disqualifications at the Sochi Olympics. 3 Marie Dorin Habert, A shattered ankle and pregnancy stopped her from showing her best this year and 4 Russian Biathlete Dmitry Malyshko, finished 4 races in 4th position without a single podium including missing out by a heartbreaking 0.2 in one of them