Athletes Who Need More Love: Sports Writers Blow, Including Myself

Before we get started, don't take that title seriously, it's just that I'm a little bitter about something that happened just prior to the New Year.

Every year, Canadian sports writers take part in the voting for the male and female recipients of the Lionel Conacher award.

In the past, the likes of Wayne Gretzky and Steve Nash have deservedly received the award, and this year, it's difficult to argue with the selection of Sidney Crosby, who led Canada to Gold in Vancouver despite strong competition and unmeasurable pressure incomparable to any other athlete in the country. Toronto's own Joey Votto overcame clinical depression due to the sudden death of his father to win National League MVP for the Cincinnati Reds, beating out perennial MVP candidate Albert Pujols. Alexandre Bilodeau finished third in the voting and became Canada's first Olympic athlete to win Gold on home soil.

My beef is not with the selection of the top three, but with the remainder of the Top 10, as follows;

4) Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks, Team Canada Hockey Gold Medalist
5) Geroges St-Pierre, UFC Athlete, Weight-Class Champion
6) Jon Montgomery, Skeleton Racer, Olympic Gold Medalist
7) Jasey-Jay Andersen, Dual Slalom Snowboarder, Olympic Gold Medalist
8) Andy Fantuz, Saskatchewan Roughrider, Top Canadian CFL athlete
9) Alexandre Despatie, Springboard Diver
10) Ryder Hesjedal, Cyclist, Tour De France 4th-Place Finisher (Can. record)

In brief, Toews won both Gold and the Stanley Cup - I'm cool with the recognition of his year, but not necessarily with 4th place. Georges St-Pierre is the face of Mixed Martial Arts, seems to be a good person who works hard at his craft and is a proud Canadian. Despite the fact I can't stand UFC and the use of a hyphen in his name where perhaps a period is better-fitted, I'm okay with this selection because he is perhaps the most famous of the ten athletes worldwide. I can't really argue with the selection of Andersen at 7th, for nearly a decade now, he has been a podium mainstay on the World Cup scene and is a multiple Olympic medalist.

Before I vent, perhaps I should pause for a moment to collect my thoughts - ahhh fuck it. Ryder Hesjedal finished 4th at the Tour De France, by far the most difficult and physically challenging of the aforementioned sports. You could not walk some of the hills these dudes climb on their bikes.

He was not expected to finish anywhere near the top, and was originally selected by the Team Garmin captain to fulfill the duty of domestique, which is essentially a role that requires sacrifice, selflessness and a commited sense of teamwork that puts the lot ahead of any single rider.Some are chosen to win, others to facilitate - prior to the start of Stage 1, Ryder was selected in the latter category. He overcame all of these odds to finish 4th, ahead of many of the greatest cyclists of this generation. I could argue that he deserved to win the award - actually, I think I just did.

Hockey is a Canadian dominated sport and Crosby is one of several Canadians that excelled in Vancouver, Joey Votto is the third Canadian MVP of the last 15 years (Justin Morneau, Larry Walker) and Bilodeau's performance consisted of the best 2 of 3 rounds in one day. Not to take anything away from the three aforementioned athletes, but Hesjedal would have been canonized by the Catholic Church by now were he an Italian, French or Spanish national.

Jon Montgomery rode a fucking slide down a hill and chugged beer - no wonder why the Canadian Sports Writers loved the guy. Andy Fantuz is an above-average receiver in the CFL. Were he in the NFL competing amongst the elite athletes in his sport, then perhaps he would deserve the recognition. He was in a first-year psychology class of mine at the University of Western Ontario, and a friend of mine does play in the CFL, so I won't really tell you how I feel. Alexandre Despatie - are you fucking kidding me? The guy is at least 5 years past his prime and in comparison with his primary competition, the technically brilliant Chinese Diving Team, he absolutely cannot compete. The only reason he appeared on so many podiums is because aquatics competitions limit competitors in diving to two per country in individual events.

By no means do I want to criticize any of the above athletes, well maybe Mr. Montgomery, but the point is, I wholeheartedly support amateur athletics and athletes. Canada needs to do a better job at both promoting and supporting its amateur athletes. Half of the athletes on this list qualify as amateur athletes and deserve all the recognition they get and a great deal more.

Ryder Hesjedal deserves the recognition of a proud nation, and the accolades that go along with being an elite athlete on the world stage.