As with every year in recent history, the sporting year is celebrated by the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards ceremony; an awards show that recognises the British and to a lesser extent foreign sporting-exploits over the past twelve months. Luckily, in 2012, I was offered the opportunity to help out with rehearsals for the show, an opportunity which a seized and relished like no other.
Having spent the night in a Travelodge, I made my way to the London ExCeL Arena on a brisk Saturday morning in December, still fighting-off a severe bout of tiredness throughout my walk. I hardly a perked up when I did eventually arrive, with a health & safety briefing hardly helping my situation. To be honest, the excitement hadn't quite yet kicked in.
It didn't take long though. Before long I was issued with my own 'access all areas' type pass-card, stating my name and role as a 'Contractor'. Very professional. My road to excitement soon reached fever-pitch soon after, as I walked into the SPOTY arena for the first time, an arena that come Sunday at 7:30 pm, would hold 16,000 live audience members and be entertaining BBC One's viewers at prime time.
It soon became apparent that my role as a volunteer would be crucial to the shows rehearsal. Michael Jackson (snigger now, and get over it) as lead Floor Manager explained that I would be representing the identity of certain sporting athletes that would be present during the actual show. This was in order to allow the cameramen, visual-mixers, sound and floor manager themselves, to create a real-sense of how the ceremony would pan out, and fine-tune every single last detail to proceedings. For example, 760 camera shots were planned for SPOTY 2012, with every single one needing to be practised.
Throughout the weekend, I was issued with the task of 'being' some biggest sporting stars of 2012 and, well ever. For example, Christian Horner, Boris Becker, David Brailsford, Mo Farah, and the man himself, Bradley Wiggins. It's these last two names that required the most effort and thought, with both having to take to the stage at one point and deliver speeches, thoughts, answers, and the occasional joke. No joke.
Im not going to lie, it was scary. With 60+ cameras looking you in the eye, it's hard to think of intelligent things to say, especially in the case of the 'winning' the main SPOTY award during rehearsals, with the persona of Wiggins... which was very much the case. Despite cracking the joke of: 'Ive won more Tours than Lance Armstrong', I doubt I got anywhere near the levels of excellence that Wiggo excelled to himself on Sunday evening.
The highlights? Standing on stage, being interviews by Gary Lineker and Sue Barker, whilst chatting away to David Beckham. Absolutely, surreal. It's still not sunk in, and I doubt it ever will! Regarding 'surreal', standing on stage with a performing Emeli Sande a matter of meters away, was also off-the-scale.
Come show-time, I'd spent nigh on 20 hours as part of rehearsals, and seen the Awards performed no less than five times! Despite this, the show was an absolute treat, and a privilege to have been a part of, especially in 2012. Our Olympic year.
I'll gloss over the shows' after-party details and leave this post with the notion that having suffered minimal sleep, endless hours of rehearsals, and the horror of London's transport and food pricing, it was one of the best weekends I've ever had. Im sure to take the experience I gained and the insight into the operation-required to pull such a show off, into the rest of my life. A great way to round 2012 off, a year that has without hesitation been the finest in, Britain's, and Sport-in-general's,and my, lifetime.
That concludes my top ten 2012 Sporting Memories. Feel free to share your own favourite memories with me either on TracksideOffside or Twitter. Have a happy festive season readers!
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