These were trophies presented to the East and West division champions respectively up until 2004 when they were replaced by the half maple leaf thingies you see at the division finals today.
The Dixon trophy stems back to 1912 while the Taylor trophy was first awarded in 1948.
Why were such venerable trophies retired and replacd with trophies that look like they were minted at a kids sports photography company?
I HATE the new ones. They remind me of the AFC and NFC conference trophies in the NFL. The Dixon trophy is especially historic, and their "retirement" was a HUGE mistake IMO.
LTF
Cause they wanted to market the league to show give awards that were easy to understand, I never even heard of those trophies, I have no problem with the new versions awarding east and west conference champions. Its a small time trophy anyways, the Grey Cup is all that matters for promotion.
The NHL plans to rename all of it's trophies... The Hart , The Selke, The Lester Person... could soon have names like The Gretzky, The Lemiux, The Obama.
why not just call them "best player on the field" award and "best first year player" award..
and the "best guy trying to get the ball carrier" award..
I respect your view cflisthebest, but I feel that thinking like your is part of the problem that faces the league. I understand that it is necessary for an entity to re-brand itself every once in a while. I like the new league logo. There was a time when I could not imagine a different logo than the old 60s helmet. The new one works so well, I can't imagine the league without it. A new brand can allow for an older product to connect with a new generation, and allow for a reconnection with older fans. But the CFL did this at the expense of its own HISTORY. An award given since 1912 is put out to pasture, replaced with an abstract, NFL conference championship looking clone. In fairness, I have a personal connection to the trophy, so I do not claim impartiality, but I believe the CFL made a terrible mistake.
In the late 40s, the league retired the Hugo Ross trophy which was the WCRFU trophy for 27 years, and replaced it with the Taylor, but there is a HUGE difference between 27 years and 92 years of history. The history of this league is one of it most precious commodities, and for the CFL to hold it so cheaply should be worrying for all its fans. When the NHL renamed (i.e sterilized) the conference and division names, they wiped away decades of Canadian tradition, and great names like Smythe, Campbell, etc... were removed. I do not want this for the CFL and I do not believe that the CFL can afford to squander its history. I believe that its history is its most powerful asset. Its hard to argue against something that is so culturally relevant and has been for a century, and that is not an argument of passion or preference, its based on history. Just my thoughts, you may take them or leave them as you choose.
LTF
yeah I prefer keeping tradition, and educating the new fans about the history of the game instead of trying to change things for these new fans.
you don’t see the NFL doing that do you? they stay with what works and the fans have to learn about the NFL… the NFL doesn’t re-brand their league to suit the new fans…
Here is the story about Piffles Taylor:
[url=http://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/Saskatchewan/keep_an_eye_out_for_piffles.htm]http://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/Saskat ... iffles.htm[/url]