CFLers were asked to name one player for each of the 10 questions in the poll. Players were asked to answer the questions privately and anonymously. More than half of the league participated in the Poll as 218 players cast ballots.
Winners (Percentage of vote)
Best: Anthony Calvillo, Montreal (37.4 percent)
Most Respected: Anthony Calvillo, Montreal (48.1 percent)
Most Underrated: Kevin Glenn, Hamilton (17.1 percent)
Best Hands: Ben Cahoon, Montreal (24.9 percent)
Biggest Threat to Score From Anywhere on Field: Chad Owens, Toronto (43.7 percent)
Strongest Arm: Henry Burris, Calgary (56.5 percent)
It would be interesting to see who the runners-up were, especially on the categories where the player had under 25%. The guys with 40% and higher (Calvillo, Burris, Owens), you can be pretty sure that they had a comfortable lead. But in those with lower percntage of the vote, was the runner-up just behind or way behind him? For example, who was in second behind Glenn at 17.1%, and did that player have 2%, or 17.0%?
I know the Rider fans are disappointed they didn't win any awards. However, if they had a "Worst Mathmeticians" category, they would have won that with a score of 100%.
No, the statisticians who came up with the CFL Power Ranking formula have got that one hands down. Any ranking that could put the only team eliminated from the playoffs as the third most powerful could only be described as mathematically challenged.
Calvillo is the best player? Not one of his best seasons, despite his numbers. Burris has had a better season at quaterback and Owens, Boyd and Reid have had better seasons as well.
It sucks that they don't show the top three. Is any body really surprised AC is most respected or Cahoo is selected as having the best hands? It would be good to see some of the other vote getters..
Gosh, I wish people would stop taking digs at the ones who came up with the power ranking formula when the critics themselves don't seem to have much of a clue about the mathematics that goes into it (you don't learn much from their explanations, mind you). It takes much more sophisticated mathematics to get to the formula than the ability to count to 12.
You're right, this hasn't been one of his better seasons. And still, he has the highest QB efficiency rating in the league, the best completion rate, the best interception rate, the most completions, and second most TD passes (aw, he missed one). And he led his team to first place in the east (ok, maybe not that tough). Given that, I'd say he's still been the best quarterback in the league this year.
Best player in the league? I think you're right that Owens could be considered to be better, or maybe Reid. Not Boyd - while he's impressive to watch when he gets going, his stats show he isn't even the best running back in the league, let alone the best player.
Excuse me. Math major here too. Took a few stats courses back in school, and have recently had to relearn it to help with my daughter's psychology studies. So yes, I might just understand "some" of the mathematics going into the formula. I also know that if you take too small a sample or a skewed sample, it can affects the confidence level of your results. So when they looked at just the 2009 season, they might have missed a factor that can significantly affect the score of a game, for example, fumbles (interceptions are already factored in through the QB efficiency rating).
I also took a few science courses, and one thing you learn there is that in any experiment, you state your hypothesis, perform your measurements, and then test your results against your hypothesis. In this experiment, the hypothesis was that their formula was correct, that the four factors identified were the only determining factors. The season is the experiment, and the standings would be the measurement. And from what I can see, the measurements have proven the hypothesis incorrect.
So I am going to continue to take digs at their Power Rankings, because they don't hold up to reality.
I would go one step further. Since stats exist going back decades. They could have tested their theory against previous years, verified by that years standings to get an indication of whether or not their ranking system was valid before exposing them to public ridicule.
Boyd yards from scrimmage first, rushing yards first, attempts first, yards/carry (among backs with over 100 attempts) 3rd behind Reid and Jamal Robertson (6.3, 6.3, 5.9). Makes him the best RB in the league in my books.
Burris has more TDs than Calvillo but about one million more interceptions. I'll take the guy who protects the football over the chucker with Brett Favre Syndrome.
Calvillo has also missed 2 and 1/2 games. He also wont be playing this week so that would make 3 1/2 games. If AC plays at least 2 of those games he finishes with the most td passes and yards.
Yards from scrimmage first - 122 yards ahead of Reid - agreed
Rushing yards first - 11 yards ahead of Reid, less that 1% difference
Attempts first - might that explain his "huge" lead in rushing yards?
Yards/carry (among backs with over 100 attempts) 3rd - right, NOT first
You left out a couple of other stats that define a great running back.
Fumbles - last (highest number)
TDs - tied for second last
As I said, when he gets going, he's amazing. Give him the ball in open field, and watch out. But other backs are better than him at carrying the ball out of the backfield. And it's his fumbles in particular that bring him down in my books.
I'll take him over any back this year. You can knock him for his fumbles, but if a back is not putting up the other numbers, especially yards and yards/carry zero fumbles mean nothing. I mentioned Boyd as someone who I thought deserved consideration for best player over Calvillo. If I was to pick I would take Owens as best player. Best numbers in his catagories with second place not even close and often has big plays that have turned what should/could have been Argo losses into wins.
And I'd take Reid over Boyd. Better yards per carry, and fewer fumbles. And unlike Boyd, Reid has to compete for pass receptions with a couple good receivers, which could explain his lower receving yards. I might give him second best.
As for Owens, I totally agree. I'm surprised he wasn't put forward by the Argos as MOP. Personally, I feel he would have been a shoe-in. Nobody better at returns (sorry, fellow Ticat fans, but yes, he has performed better than Thigpen this year), and a good receiver as well, especially for yards after the catch. Absolutely amazing.