Well, once again the honours system has shown itself, or at least those who decide these things, to be wonderfully out of touch with reality. Amongst the often strange and sometimes unfathomable awards there of course a number of unsung heroes and heroines who deserve the recognition of a honour, but then there are those that make no sense at all.
The one that bugs me most this time around is the singling out of only two members of the England Women's rugby team. When the men's team managed to win the World Cup in 2003, they all got something, along with other members of staff. Clive Woodward got a knighthood! But for the women only two players appear on the list. Why?
This isn't about fairness, it's about recognising that a team won not one or two individuals. Something the sport realises by giving every member of the squad a medal rather than just those who run out onto the pitch on a given day. Of course it's not always been that way. England footballers who played in the 1966 squad only got a winners medal if they played in the final, and only recently at the Paralympics have the support runners been awarded medals alongside their competing partners.
So perhaps it's time whoever it is that advises those who decide who gets honoured and who doesn't ups their personal game and makes sure that when it's a team effort the team get the recognition they all deserve.
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