Will A Canadian CFLer Ever Win Athlete of the Year?

List of CFLers that have won athlete of the year...

Lou Marsh Trophy

Joe Krol 1946
Russ Jackson 1969

Lionel Conacher Award

Bummer Stirling 1938
Fritz Hansen 1939
Tony Golab 1941
Joe Krol 1946
Joe Krol 1947
Lionel Conacher 1950 (Male athlete of the half-century)
Normie Kwong 1955
Russ Jackson 1959
Ron Stewart 1960
Russ Jackson 1969

If you include use of motor skills then the only person who isn’t an athlete anymore is that woman who spent so much time immobile that she fused with her couch. Flushing a toilet is not an athletic activity. If we go by websters definition of athlete then the only two on that list that would qualify as athletes are the wheelchair racer and the weightlifter. Shooting, driving, and riding a horse are not sports. If we are going to count riding a horse as an athletic activity then I think the guy that rides the horse from one of the field to the other in Calgary whenever the stamps get a touchdown should win the award before any CFL players because he over the course of a season does more work

Wow. It's only been 45 years. I guess us marginalized cfl fans shouldn't get too greedy eh?

Even by Websters Definition, it takes a great deal of strength and endurance to be an equestrian, I would suggest the same could be said for competitive motor racing.

It takes alot of energy and skill to be a professional farter....but no one is trying to make it an olympic sport.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatulist

Indeed. You don’t see any overweight drivers in the top levels of any form of pro racing. While the engine does most of the work in propelling the vehicle, it takes a great deal of strength, endurance, and skill to make sure that the car is doing what it needs to do at all times for many hours straight (no stopping for commercial breaks like in “real” sports) in order to get the best time and/or position. It’s also worth noting that these cars move at speeds more than double the typical highway speed, and in some forms of racing on some tracks, the cars are actually touching for most of the race. It’s not your typical drive to work or Sunday afternoon stroll through the countryside.

If we want to deny auto racing the label of “athletics” or “sport”, perhaps we should also strip those labels from activities like hockey or tennis, because it is the stick or racquet that is propelling the puck or ball, not the players themselves. The players just get themselves to the right place and swing in the right direction.

It takes no strength or endurance to hold a steering wheel and press on pedals with your feet. If it did require strength or endurance to be a professional race car driver men and women would not be competing in the same league otherwise men would have an inherent advantage and is the reason you dont see men and women competing in the same league in real sports against one another. “Can’t be done if overweight” and “Requires an athlete to be done” are not the same thing. You do not need to be an athlete to drive a car without hitting someone. Nor is whipping a horse a sport either.

If a gridiron player ever wins this award again… chances are that hell have to play in the NFL… Maybe a Canadian QB who wins the MOP and Grey Cup could win this award but the odds of there ever being a Canadian QB again are slim to none when there arent even any Canadian coaches.
Excluding hockey…we really have no pros playing in our own country… Name even one… Our MLS teams, NBA and MLB team have no Canadians of note… Jeorme Messem is decent but if you were picking a CFL expansion team and could pick anyone… Would Messam even be on it? You might pick him only because the ratio forces you to. Quite frankly there really isnt much about the CFL that makes it Canadian other then its fans and the tradition.

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Read this article from fourty years ago!!! There were no Canadian coaches and no Canadian QBs… The CFL has been America’s league for a very very long time.

I would suggest otherwise, it takes a great deal of strength, agility and endurance to drive a race car. As for a competitive equestrian, I think you greatly underestimate the strength it takes to handle 1500 Lbs of thoroughbred. Jockeys are fit, strong and competitive. Don’t forget the modern Olympic games were originally to showcase military skills which included horsemanship and marksmanship. Even the ancient Olympics was a showcase of military skills.

Still, in equestrian, the horse is doing most of the work. In race car driving, the car is doing most of the work. I rather them give the award to the damn horse.

Horse and rider work as a team, if you take that arguement to an extreme then nobody on a team sport could win the award. Football for example, the quarterback is one out of twelve, the other 11 do the bulk of the work.