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Guest
Here's one of the good pieces. In fact, I think it is one of the best as it is very balanced - it notes that she has had a bit more help than most could hope for but that she did this herself and worked hard for it AND shock horror it even notes eventing as a real sport!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From the Northrn Echo....
Skill and courage make Zara a worthy winner
THERE are plenty who will denounce Zara Phillips' success in the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year awards as nothing more than the deferential pandering of a society still in thrall to the monarchy.
Phillips, 11th in line to the throne and the most privileged winner of Britain's premier sports award since her mother, the Princess Royal, claimed the crown in 1971, is an easy target for those who rail against the continued influence of the class system within sporting circles.
As various critics commented yesterday, it is not just anyone that can turn up at their local equestrian centre and embark on an eventing career that will lead to a world title.
Phillips' titled background undoubtedly contributed to her success, with a surfeit of both time and resources helping to further a career that was fashioned from a love of competition rather than necessity.
The contrast with Beth Tweddle in particular is marked. Tweddle, who finished third in the BBC poll, claimed a world gymnastics title, despite training in a run-down gym in Toxteth, one of the most impoverished areas of Liverpool.
Without her gymnastic success, Tweddle's life would almost certainly have taken a very different course and the 21-year-old's story is fashioned from repeatedly overcoming the odds.
But just because Phillips has been born with the advantages that were denied to Tweddle, it would be wrong to deride her achievements as intrinsically inferior.
It is one thing being presented with the opportunities to make something out of your life - it is quite another to show the discipline and desire needed to seize them.
Yes, Phillips is a rich girl with a pony, but the world is full of rich girls with ponies and only one of them is world three-day eventing champion.
Given her royal status, it would have been easy for Phillips to have spent her formative years attending endless social functions and revelling in a vacuous culture of celebrity.
Plenty of her contemporaries have gone down that route, seeking to achieve nothing more than an invite to Paris Hilton's next party.
Instead, the Queen's eldest granddaughter has spent countless hours developing a symbiotic relationship with her horse, Toytown, and working her way towards a place on the British eventing team.
She achieved that because of her efforts in the saddle, not because of her name or status.
Thanks to the nation's rural past, Britain boasts a proud eventing heritage and, even today, the competition for the senior squad remains intense. Phillips would not have made it had she not devoted considerable time and energy to honing her riding skills.
And rather than simply using those skills for her own personal pleasure, Phillips, who was once considered to be a royal rebel simply because she had a tongue stud, has chosen to test them in one of the most demanding sporting environments of all.
Those who have claimed that three-day eventing is "not a sport" should try standing next to a 4ft fence when a rider is hurtling towards it at breakneck speed.
To do so requires a surfeit of skill and courage, and Phillips displayed both as she claimed gold at the World Equestrian Games in Germany.
Only days earlier, the dangers of eventing had been tragically illustrated when one of Phillips' closest friends, Sherelle Duke, was killed after a fall at a horse trials in Brockenhurst.
Distraught at the death, Phillips was urged to miss her friend's funeral by Duke's boyfriend, who told her to win the world title as a fitting tribute to the Northern Irish rider,
Fighting back tears, Phillips did just that, drawing on the same emotional bravery that enabled Darren Clarke to overcome the death of his wife, Heather, as he helped Europe retain the Ryder Cup.
Sport stands or falls by such displays of emotional and physical courage, and Phillips' achievements should not be lessened because of her privileged background.
As the make-up of the BBC's shortlist proved, Britain has hardly been overwhelmed by sporting heroes this year.
It would be wrong, therefore, to criticise one of the country's few winners just because she has benefited from a helping hand along the way.
The bold bit sums it all up for me!!
From the Northrn Echo....
Skill and courage make Zara a worthy winner
THERE are plenty who will denounce Zara Phillips' success in the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year awards as nothing more than the deferential pandering of a society still in thrall to the monarchy.
Phillips, 11th in line to the throne and the most privileged winner of Britain's premier sports award since her mother, the Princess Royal, claimed the crown in 1971, is an easy target for those who rail against the continued influence of the class system within sporting circles.
As various critics commented yesterday, it is not just anyone that can turn up at their local equestrian centre and embark on an eventing career that will lead to a world title.
Phillips' titled background undoubtedly contributed to her success, with a surfeit of both time and resources helping to further a career that was fashioned from a love of competition rather than necessity.
The contrast with Beth Tweddle in particular is marked. Tweddle, who finished third in the BBC poll, claimed a world gymnastics title, despite training in a run-down gym in Toxteth, one of the most impoverished areas of Liverpool.
Without her gymnastic success, Tweddle's life would almost certainly have taken a very different course and the 21-year-old's story is fashioned from repeatedly overcoming the odds.
But just because Phillips has been born with the advantages that were denied to Tweddle, it would be wrong to deride her achievements as intrinsically inferior.
It is one thing being presented with the opportunities to make something out of your life - it is quite another to show the discipline and desire needed to seize them.
Yes, Phillips is a rich girl with a pony, but the world is full of rich girls with ponies and only one of them is world three-day eventing champion.
Given her royal status, it would have been easy for Phillips to have spent her formative years attending endless social functions and revelling in a vacuous culture of celebrity.
Plenty of her contemporaries have gone down that route, seeking to achieve nothing more than an invite to Paris Hilton's next party.
Instead, the Queen's eldest granddaughter has spent countless hours developing a symbiotic relationship with her horse, Toytown, and working her way towards a place on the British eventing team.
She achieved that because of her efforts in the saddle, not because of her name or status.
Thanks to the nation's rural past, Britain boasts a proud eventing heritage and, even today, the competition for the senior squad remains intense. Phillips would not have made it had she not devoted considerable time and energy to honing her riding skills.
And rather than simply using those skills for her own personal pleasure, Phillips, who was once considered to be a royal rebel simply because she had a tongue stud, has chosen to test them in one of the most demanding sporting environments of all.
Those who have claimed that three-day eventing is "not a sport" should try standing next to a 4ft fence when a rider is hurtling towards it at breakneck speed.
To do so requires a surfeit of skill and courage, and Phillips displayed both as she claimed gold at the World Equestrian Games in Germany.
Only days earlier, the dangers of eventing had been tragically illustrated when one of Phillips' closest friends, Sherelle Duke, was killed after a fall at a horse trials in Brockenhurst.
Distraught at the death, Phillips was urged to miss her friend's funeral by Duke's boyfriend, who told her to win the world title as a fitting tribute to the Northern Irish rider,
Fighting back tears, Phillips did just that, drawing on the same emotional bravery that enabled Darren Clarke to overcome the death of his wife, Heather, as he helped Europe retain the Ryder Cup.
Sport stands or falls by such displays of emotional and physical courage, and Phillips' achievements should not be lessened because of her privileged background.
As the make-up of the BBC's shortlist proved, Britain has hardly been overwhelmed by sporting heroes this year.
It would be wrong, therefore, to criticise one of the country's few winners just because she has benefited from a helping hand along the way.
The bold bit sums it all up for me!!
