The Lou Marsh Award

A day late and a dollar short on the Lou Marsh award, which was handed out on Monday to Cincinnati Reds first baseman and native of Brampton, Ontario, Joey Votto. Votto faced some stiff competition to take home the award, and some say he won it over some other very deserving candidates.

Votto was definitely not a run away winner for the Lou Marsh award and he wasn’t a run away for the National League MVP either. Votto had a great season for the Reds. He was in the running for the Triple Crown all season and took the Reds to within games of the playoffs. The Baseball Writers of America are currently in give the MVP award to anyone but Albert Pujols mode. Realistically, Joey Votto should have been in the conversation for the NL MVP award, but probably shouldn’t have won the award and without the NL MVP he would never have won the Lou Marsh Award.

Since Joey Votto, in my opinion wasn’t the proper choice for the Lou Marsh award, there are many other deserving candidate that should've been given recognition this year. The athlete who should have won was Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks. He took the Hawks to the Stanley Cup championship and won it for the city of Chicago for the first time since 19XX. He also lead team Canada to the gold medal in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, If Sidney Crosby had not scored the golden goal in overtime of the gold medal game, it would've been Toews, who would've received all the recognition for being the top forward at the Olympics. For someone who accomplished so much at a young age this would have been the icing on the cake to a great year.

Another athlete that the Canadian press could have considered was George St. Pierre. St. Pierre dominated the UFC this year and on the mixed martial arts scene and is considered one of the three best fighters pound for pound. He is the primary reason that the UFC is sanctioned now in Ontario and he better be on the card in Toronto on April 30. He dominated all his fights this year and was the star of the UFC Ultimate Fighter TV show. It would be tough to give him the award because he doesn’t fight that often and this will always make it difficult to win the award if you are not involved in one of the mainstream sports.

Another group of athletes that had a very small sample of competition but had great contribution were the Canadian Olympians from the Vancouver winter Olympics. In an Olympic year it always seems Olympians have a good chance of winning the Lou Marsh award. These athletes had all eyes on them for two straight weeks. The difference this year was the Olympians that made the biggest splash did not win multiple medals. Whether it was Alexandre Bilodeau or Joanie Rochette, there were some great stories but no one that could knock off Joey Votto.

In the end Votto is a great story for the Lou Marsh award. He overcame physical and mental challenges to rise to the top of his sport and was recognized, not only in the baseball world, but also by his country.