IT’S THE DAY of the 2013 RTÉ Sports awards, and one of the show’s producers is in the middle of a stressful phone call.
On the other end of the line is Chanelle McCoy, wife of champion jockey AP McCoy. She’s telling RTÉ’s Ryan McCann that her husband is stuck in Heathrow airport and can’t get a flight back to Ireland.
It’s been a good season for AP. He is just few weeks on from hitting his 4,000th winner over jumps with Mountain Tunes at Towcester, and as a result, he’s been shortlised for RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year which is he the blue riband prize of the event.
“He had a really bad day at Cheltenham,” Chanelle says in an effort to pardon AP’s absence from the ceremony. “He just doesn’t fancy it. Even if he could get a flight, I don’t think he would.”
McCann is now faced with a dilemma: how does he convey the importance of AP’s presence at the awards without admitting that he is the overall winner? Time isn’t on his side though, and the situation is now becoming dire with every passing minute. He quickly accepts that he will have to ruin the surprise if he has any chance of getting McCoy there on time. Chanelle then takes over and makes another phonecall to complete the mission.
AP McCoy with Mountain Tunes at Towcester in 2013. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
“Anthony, you need to come to these awards,” she orders down the phone.
Still in the dark about his award, AP remains unwilling. But Chanelle is determined to make sure he doesn’t miss out on receiving the honour.
“Anthony, get yourself on a plane!” comes the final demand, ensuring her husband returns to Ireland in time to make it to the stage. And he does. Just about. It’s a nice consolation after a rough day at the track. And the shock of hearing his name being announced causes McCoy to break out in a smile.
Some 12 months later and Ryan McCann is experiencing familiar emotions on the day of the RTÉ Sports Awards. This time, it’s about Rory McIlroy. The professional golfer is to be crowned the 2014 Sportsperson of the Year after becoming the first European to win three different majors after his success at the Open and PGA Championship. Despite months of communication with his agent, RTÉ can’t get a firm answer on whether he will be able to accept his award in person.
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“I still didn’t know if Rory was going to turn up on the day,” McCann says taking up the story. “Now, he did turn up and it was great. Everyone was so happy he was there, it just elevated everything.”
By now, you’re probably able to spot the pattern: important guests often withdraw from the RTÉ Sports awards. Sometimes, at the last minute. They had 13 no-shows at last year’s edition of the annual spectacle. And when it does happen, they must hastily rework the seating plan and call up guests who are on standby list to fill out the now vacant seats. McCann and his production team can only hope that they don’t lose any of the winners.
It’s a headache they could do without, but it happens almost every year.
“The whole point of these awards is to celebrate the whole year of Irish sport. We want to get as many of those people in the room as possible.
A display of trophies at the RTÉ Sports awards. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
“But because you’re dealing with winners, unless they’re winning, this can be seen as a slight. I know there’s a prestige around being nominated and, initially, they’re quite happy. But for some people, it’s not enough. They want to win. So, obviously you end up upsetting people but that’s never our intention.”
The planning for the awards typically starts in September when the busiest phases of the sports calendar have passed. That’s when the programme editor, Rory O’Neill, starts assembling a longlist of nominees for the various awards. Plenty of meetings follow to produce the final call of nominations, and the eventual winners.
The judging panel consists of senior editorial staff from within RTÉ and prominent sports journalists. This year, the selection was Sinéad O’Carroll of The Journal, Irish Times writer Malachy Clerkin, Irish Daily Mail’s Shane McGrath, and Joanne O’Riordan.
“We normally get in a room about 10 days out from the awards and spend several hours going through all the nominees,” McCann adds. “People will put a case forward for someone they feel strongly about. We deliberate, argue and when we’re eventually happy that everything’s been aired, we’ll put it to a vote.”
After all the deliberations, the judges have the final say on who the winners will be. They amended the judging structure for two years, putting the decision to a public vote in an effort to increase engagement with the show. But it wasn’t a suitable fit.
“You don’t know people’s intentions when they’re voting,” McCann says explaining their reason for reverting to the original format.
“Maybe they’re not looking through the criteria as intently as we do. It can [become] a popularity contest. So, we brought it back in house.
RTÉ's Head of Sport Declan McBennett. Naoise Culhane
Naoise Culhane
“The other thing that can happen is the Irish have a good sense of humour and sometimes you can end up with the one on the list who is the least likely to win.”
Public scrutiny is something the RTÉ crew face every year when the nominations are announced. Another wave of objection tends to follow after the winners are revealed. Unanimous agreement is almost impossible to achieve when the decision is both a subjective and objective call. Everyone will quibble. There’s an acceptance with that.
The intention of the awards is to honour the best of Irish sport from the year gone by, but that message is often lost when people feel a great oversight has occurred. This year is no different. Having three Olympic gold medallists in the running for the top individual award makes it all the more difficult.
“It’s been the tightest year ever this year,” McCann says.
“If you look at the sportsperson of the year list, it’s incredible. For a small nation to have that level of achievement, it shouldn’t in any way be a negative that somebody hasn’t won. To be in a place where we’ve got five gold medalists on that list, picking between them is such a difficult job.
“There are bronze Olympic and Paralymic athletes that haven’t featured this year. In plenty of other years, they would have won the award. It’s incredibly competitive.”
Come Sunday morning, McCann will be arriving in RTÉ at 9am to start the preparation for 2024 edition of the awards. The set they will be using is the same one that hosts the Late Late Show which seats around 230 guests. Most of the work will done at that point, thanks to the input of programme director Dave Berry and assistant producer Elaine Buckley. Technical checks will be sorted throughout the day before the curtain drops for the live TV coverage.
Joanne Cantwell and Darragh Moloney will be presenting the show as usual this year, and will be joined on stage by Jacqui Hurley. The winners have been decided but won’t be revealed until Sunday night.
McCann is just hoping that he doesn’t receive too many phonecalls.
“You’re hoping for a calm day and it doesn’t always turn out like that.”
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'We get in a room 10 days out from the awards and spend several hours going through nominees'
IT’S THE DAY of the 2013 RTÉ Sports awards, and one of the show’s producers is in the middle of a stressful phone call.
On the other end of the line is Chanelle McCoy, wife of champion jockey AP McCoy. She’s telling RTÉ’s Ryan McCann that her husband is stuck in Heathrow airport and can’t get a flight back to Ireland.
It’s been a good season for AP. He is just few weeks on from hitting his 4,000th winner over jumps with Mountain Tunes at Towcester, and as a result, he’s been shortlised for RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year which is he the blue riband prize of the event.
“He had a really bad day at Cheltenham,” Chanelle says in an effort to pardon AP’s absence from the ceremony. “He just doesn’t fancy it. Even if he could get a flight, I don’t think he would.”
McCann is now faced with a dilemma: how does he convey the importance of AP’s presence at the awards without admitting that he is the overall winner? Time isn’t on his side though, and the situation is now becoming dire with every passing minute. He quickly accepts that he will have to ruin the surprise if he has any chance of getting McCoy there on time. Chanelle then takes over and makes another phonecall to complete the mission.
“Anthony, you need to come to these awards,” she orders down the phone.
Still in the dark about his award, AP remains unwilling. But Chanelle is determined to make sure he doesn’t miss out on receiving the honour.
“Anthony, get yourself on a plane!” comes the final demand, ensuring her husband returns to Ireland in time to make it to the stage. And he does. Just about. It’s a nice consolation after a rough day at the track. And the shock of hearing his name being announced causes McCoy to break out in a smile.
Some 12 months later and Ryan McCann is experiencing familiar emotions on the day of the RTÉ Sports Awards. This time, it’s about Rory McIlroy. The professional golfer is to be crowned the 2014 Sportsperson of the Year after becoming the first European to win three different majors after his success at the Open and PGA Championship. Despite months of communication with his agent, RTÉ can’t get a firm answer on whether he will be able to accept his award in person.
“I still didn’t know if Rory was going to turn up on the day,” McCann says taking up the story. “Now, he did turn up and it was great. Everyone was so happy he was there, it just elevated everything.”
By now, you’re probably able to spot the pattern: important guests often withdraw from the RTÉ Sports awards. Sometimes, at the last minute. They had 13 no-shows at last year’s edition of the annual spectacle. And when it does happen, they must hastily rework the seating plan and call up guests who are on standby list to fill out the now vacant seats. McCann and his production team can only hope that they don’t lose any of the winners.
It’s a headache they could do without, but it happens almost every year.
“The whole point of these awards is to celebrate the whole year of Irish sport. We want to get as many of those people in the room as possible.
“But because you’re dealing with winners, unless they’re winning, this can be seen as a slight. I know there’s a prestige around being nominated and, initially, they’re quite happy. But for some people, it’s not enough. They want to win. So, obviously you end up upsetting people but that’s never our intention.”
The planning for the awards typically starts in September when the busiest phases of the sports calendar have passed. That’s when the programme editor, Rory O’Neill, starts assembling a longlist of nominees for the various awards. Plenty of meetings follow to produce the final call of nominations, and the eventual winners.
The judging panel consists of senior editorial staff from within RTÉ and prominent sports journalists. This year, the selection was Sinéad O’Carroll of The Journal, Irish Times writer Malachy Clerkin, Irish Daily Mail’s Shane McGrath, and Joanne O’Riordan.
“We normally get in a room about 10 days out from the awards and spend several hours going through all the nominees,” McCann adds. “People will put a case forward for someone they feel strongly about. We deliberate, argue and when we’re eventually happy that everything’s been aired, we’ll put it to a vote.”
After all the deliberations, the judges have the final say on who the winners will be. They amended the judging structure for two years, putting the decision to a public vote in an effort to increase engagement with the show. But it wasn’t a suitable fit.
“You don’t know people’s intentions when they’re voting,” McCann says explaining their reason for reverting to the original format.
“Maybe they’re not looking through the criteria as intently as we do. It can [become] a popularity contest. So, we brought it back in house.
“The other thing that can happen is the Irish have a good sense of humour and sometimes you can end up with the one on the list who is the least likely to win.”
Public scrutiny is something the RTÉ crew face every year when the nominations are announced. Another wave of objection tends to follow after the winners are revealed. Unanimous agreement is almost impossible to achieve when the decision is both a subjective and objective call. Everyone will quibble. There’s an acceptance with that.
The intention of the awards is to honour the best of Irish sport from the year gone by, but that message is often lost when people feel a great oversight has occurred. This year is no different. Having three Olympic gold medallists in the running for the top individual award makes it all the more difficult.
“It’s been the tightest year ever this year,” McCann says.
“If you look at the sportsperson of the year list, it’s incredible. For a small nation to have that level of achievement, it shouldn’t in any way be a negative that somebody hasn’t won. To be in a place where we’ve got five gold medalists on that list, picking between them is such a difficult job.
“There are bronze Olympic and Paralymic athletes that haven’t featured this year. In plenty of other years, they would have won the award. It’s incredibly competitive.”
Come Sunday morning, McCann will be arriving in RTÉ at 9am to start the preparation for 2024 edition of the awards. The set they will be using is the same one that hosts the Late Late Show which seats around 230 guests. Most of the work will done at that point, thanks to the input of programme director Dave Berry and assistant producer Elaine Buckley. Technical checks will be sorted throughout the day before the curtain drops for the live TV coverage.
Joanne Cantwell and Darragh Moloney will be presenting the show as usual this year, and will be joined on stage by Jacqui Hurley. The winners have been decided but won’t be revealed until Sunday night.
McCann is just hoping that he doesn’t receive too many phonecalls.
“You’re hoping for a calm day and it doesn’t always turn out like that.”
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best of the bunch RTE Sports Awards