All the end-of-year reviews are agreed: 2008 is a year that's going to be hard to beat for sporting magic.
But we're going to do our best to cheer up the nation in 2009 - however gloomy the news agenda. And almost all the stars from our Top 10 will be in top-quality live action on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳.
The people's choice - - will be with his fellow British cyclists in Poland in March for the World Track Championships. will feature in the World Swimming Championships in Rome in the summer, and we'll be giving extensive coverage to the World Athletics Championships with from Berlin.
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It's a bit longer journey back to London this year and I'm writing this on a train passing through the Midlands on a frosty, misty morning that says Christmas is just around the corner. If proof were needed, a Virgin Trains chaplain has just appeared along with an entire choir singing carols - except in coaches A and B where there's overcrowding...
But top of the agenda: thank you, Liverpool. . It was a wonderful arena with great facilities, and every impression I got was that the audience there - and the sports stars - had a ball. .
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With now, planning for the next Winter Olympics has stepped up a gear and we've been in Vancouver and Whistler this week on a site visit for the .
They take place from 12 to 28 February and, with less than 14 months to go, it's been a busy few days visiting venues, scouting for live locations, securing accommodation and meeting a lot of the people we'll be working with when the Games come around.
With the different sports split between , which is the largest city ever to host the Winter Olympics, and the ski resort of , we want to make sure that our live presentation represents both locations.
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Some of our ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Sport offices around Television Centre are beginning to empty as our production team moves to Liverpool for this year's .
The set is being installed; rehearsals in the will soon be under way; and then the giants of the sporting world will be converging on Merseyside ready for Sunday night's programme.
As ever, there's plenty of press comment - mainly around the incredibly competitive shortlist for this year's main awards, though there's the usual mixture of wit, wisdom and acid comments about the show itself.
I have no problem with commentators commenting - and people like always make me laugh in the most positive sense - but it's worth explaining why Sports Personality has changed over the years.
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From a lecture to Lincoln University, 3 December 2008:
I want to be optimistic. That may seem like an odd thing to say in the middle of , and with daily reminders about the complexity - and - of modern life. But I want to make a case for hope around the biggest event in the UK in generations: the . And I also want to outline the case for sport as a vital part of the existence of every citizen, and for the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s role in supporting that.
Now, I think it's important to say at the outset that I'm not departing from the tradition of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ impartiality. The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ will report freely and fairly on the London Games and we'll represent every strand of British opinion. It wasn't easy for the London bid at the time, but we did broadcast while London was in fierce competition to win the Olympiad. We'll continue to report on .
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We announced on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One's The One Show on Monday 1 December.
After a quite sensational year, it is no surprise that the list is one of the strongest we've ever had.
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