Perfect time of year for heroes to get us off the sofa

Turn on your TV for any length of time this next few weeks and sooner or later you are likely to be treated to recorded moments of rare magic

It’s nearly Christmas which, in sporting terms, means tonnes of cricket beamed into our windswept homes from sunnier climes, endless darts from the Ally Pally and a raft of annual reviews and awards to remind us of just how much memorable sport we watched in 2013 but aren’t now that the sector is staging its annual go-slow.

RTÉ will deliver its ‘Best of’ offering tomorrow evening, the BBC has already decided that the sour Scot Andy Murray is their ‘Personality of the Year’ while Sports Illustrated has declared Denver Broncos quarterback Payton Manning to be primus inter pares among the good and great that vie for divine status and dollars in the US.