In certain sports such as gymnastics, figure skating, synchronized swimming, diving, and to a lesser extent, boxing, the winner is not determined by who wins the race or scores the most goals but instead, the winner is made by an arbitrary committee called the judges. And in such cases, there’s always some controversy as to whether one agrees with the judges scores. The best example in recent history must the 2002 Winter Olympics in pairs figure skating, when Sale/Pelletier was originally chosen to win the Silver Medal instead the Gold that was given to a Russian couple and that erupted a huge scandal. After it was determined there was some corruption, Sale/Pelletier was given a second pair of gold medals. Justice was also eventually served when Sylvie Frechette was given a duplicate gold medal after a judging error. But in the 1984 summer games, Canadian boxer Shawn O’Sullivan dominated his American opponent Frank Tate and forced Tate to take two standing eight counts. But when it came to a decision, Tate won a unanimous decision for the gold.
In other leagues, I’m sure the same thing happens as well. I stated several times before that I was furious about Markus Naslund not being selected as the 2002 MVP All-star game. The CFL is definitely no exception.
There’s already several threads about on-field officiating, so I’m not going to bring that up. But there’s no thread about CFL individual awards and possible controversy. The CFL awards are determined by the Football Reports of Canada. I acknowledge that winning CFL awards may not fall in the same kind of category as Olympic awards when decided by a committee. But that said, CFL awards should at least acknowledge possible controversy. From my knowledge, there are three kinds of individual awards in the CFL that is determined by a group of judges:
1. Season individual awards (including nominations)
2. Grey Cup individual awards (MVP and Top Canadian)
3. Selected as a CFL All-star
There must be winners that you disagree with. I will list my top 10 decision disagreements. Obviously, my recollections are mostly about the Lions, so naturally I will mention more examples that involve them. But I’ll list some non-Lions that I definitely remember.
TOP TEN CFL PLAYERS THAT WERE SNUBBED FOR CFL AWARDS
10. Ned Armour for 1985 GC Offence MVP
The 1985 GC Offence MVP was given to Roy Dewalt who three for 394 yards and 3 TD’s. That was good, but one thing that was not noted that Dewalt only completed half of his passes at 14-28. That said, perhaps Ned Armour’s three catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns was more worthy of offence MVP honours.
9. Jeremaine Copeland for 2002 GC MVP
Anthony Calvillo was awarded the GC MVP despite completing only about a third of his passes at 11 of 31. I would have awarded to Jeremaine Copeland with his two touchdowns.
8. Derrell Mitchell for 1998 East Division MOP Nominee
In the 1998 season, Derrell Mitchell caught a then-record 160 receptions for 2000 yards, which is third for total pass receiving yardage in a season. However, the East Division MOP nomination was given to Mike Pringle.
7. Great special teams players prior to 1999 :no:
Prior to 1999, there was no individual award prior to 1999 when the John Argo Special Teams Award was introduced. So in that sense, great special teams players were snubbed with an individual award.
6. Al Brenner as 1972 Most Outstanding Defensive Player for the East Division
In 1972, Al Brenner of Hamilton set the record for most interceptions in a season with 15. But the East Division nomination for the Most Outstanding Defensive Player was given to Jim Stillwagon of Toronto.
5. Kent Austin as the 1992 MOP
With all the media attention to Doug Flutie after he moved to Calgary, it may have overshadowed Kent Austin’s great performance in 1992 who had better passing statistics than Flutie. In 1992, Austin had 459 of 770 for 6225 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 30 interceptions for a 59.6 percentage. That 6225 passing yards and 459 completions is still second highest for most passing in a season. But perhaps because of all the media coverage, the West Division nomination for MOP was still given to Doug Flutie, despite his passing statistics in 1992 was slightly worse than Austin at 396-688 for 5945, 32 touchdowns, 30 interceptions for 57.6 percentage.
4. Matt Clark for 1991 West Division MOC Nominee
In his rookie 1991 season, Canadian Matt Clark had nine 100+ receiving yard games and 1530 yards, which is highest in his rookie year. The rookie award nomination was awarded to his teammate Jon Volpe, but Clark was eligible for the West Division MOC nomination – but that was given to Edmonton’s Blake Marshall.
3. Greg Mohns for Coach of the Year in 1999 :x
While there is usually a correlation between the coach that won the Grey Cup and who is selected as coach of the year, there are several exceptions every season and 1999 was one of them. In the NHL, coach of the year is often awarded to one who improves his team from his previous year, and I’m shocked why it wasn’t applied to Mohns. In 1999, the Greg Mohns and his Lions improved drastically from 1998 where they had 9-9 for 18 points for a third place West Division, to a 13-5 for 26 points and finishing the West for the first time in 12 years. The winner went to Charlie Taaffe but Alouettes essentially had to the same team with 25 and 24 points respectively.
2. Lui Passaglia for the 1994 GC MVP
I have mentioned that several times already, so I won’t go into too much detail now. I’m shocked that they would give the dubious honour to someone on the losing team, Karl Anthony. In that game, early in the game Anthony got an interception after a short pass hit the back of Ray Alexander and bounced into his arms, and in the second quarter he received a lateral pass on an interception for a TD. But Anthony was absent when McManus completed his three long completions on the second half. That was a huge snub not only by the Football Reporters of Canada, but to CBC as well.
Now for the biggest CFL award snub…..
1. Cory Philpot for 1995 West Division MOP Nominee
In 1995, Philpot won the Eddie James Memorial Trophy when he led the West Division with rushing yards but more importantly, he set a then-record of 22 TD’s in a single season. Despite all that, the West Division nominee for MOP went to Calgary’s Dave Sapunjis. In 1995, Sapunjis had 111 catches for 1655 yards and 12 touchdowns for 1995 MOC which was good, but he did not break any season records by any means. I’d say Philpot with his record breaking season had a better chance of winning MOP against the eventual winner, Mike Pringle.
