So ahead of the team nominees announcements this week, any thoughts as to who you would choose, and who should advance and win?

My picks:

MOP

BC - Bryan Burnham, Cal - Reggie Begelton, Edm - Trevor Harris (even with 5 games missed), Sask - Cody Fajardo, Wpg - Andrew Harris (will get through the Winnipeg vote despite the suspension)

Ham - Brandon Banks, Tor - McLeod Bethel-Thompson edges out S.J. Green, Ott - Dominique Rhymes, Mtl - Vernon Adams Jr.

Fajardo (sorry 17to85, he will get it) vs. Banks in the finals, Banks takes the prize

MODP

BC - Garry Peters, Cal - Tre Roberson, Edm - Vontae Diggs, Sask - Charleston Hughes, Wpg - Willie Jefferson (although Winston Rose would be a decent candidate in other years)

Ham - Simoni Lawrence (although Ja'Gared Davis is a strong candidate too), Tor - Abdul Kanneh, Ott - Anthony Cioffi, Mtl - John Bowman (lifetime achievement award)

Whomever of Roberson, Hughes and Jefferson (my choice by a hair) comes out of the west beats Lawrence in the final vote

MOC

BC - Lemar Durant, Cal - Cory Greenwood, Edm - Kwaku Boateng, Sask - Cameron Judge, Wpg - Andrew Harris

Ham - Ted Laurent (name recognition over Tunde Adeleke's stats), Tor - Cleyon Laing, Ott - Brad Sinopoli (despite a really down year), Mtl - Henoc Muamba

If Harris survives the PED vote of conscience, he is a lock to win. If not Judge vs. Laing (barely over Muamba) and give it to the 'Rider.

MOOL

How the hell should I know? It won't be a Lion, that's for sure. Bombers are probably in good given their rushing dominance.

MOR

I'll defer to 3downnation and their assessment:

https://3downnation.com/2019/10/18/each-teams-top-three-candidates-for-most-outstanding-rookie/

I think Lawler may edge out Exume for the Bombers given his late season success, but the finals is likely Holley of Calgary vs. Acklin of Hamilton. Unless the Stamps finish 3rd in the west, I see Holley being the vote.

MOST

BC - Sergio Castillo, Edm - Sean Whyte, Cal - Terry Williams, Sask - Jon Ryan, Wpg - Janarion Grant

Ham - Frankie Williams, Tor - Chris Rainey, Ott - Richie Leone, Mtl - Boris Bede

Grant was the best for the time he played, but with only 11 games and few kick returns, I sense he will not make the final cut. It will be Williams vs. Williams with Frankie taking the win (and shout out to Chris Rainey for a strong 3rd place finish)

 

Just bought my ticket to the CFL Awards night yesterday.   Time to start planning what my protest sign will look like.    The media has made this a story so I guess they achieved their goal.   Time for the CFL to reconsider how awards are voted upon.

22 minutes ago, Bomber_fanaddict said:

So what happens if he sets the field on fire again next year and puts up similar numbers? Is he still going to get shunned?

As long as he doesn’t pee hot he’ll be fine.

32 minutes ago, Bomber_fanaddict said:

So what happens if he sets the field on fire again next year and puts up similar numbers? Is he still going to get shunned?

Then he gets the awards, assuming he doesn't fail another PED test.

24 minutes ago, fan4life said:

Just bought my ticket to the CFL Awards night yesterday.   Time to start planning what my protest sign will look like.    The media has made this a story so I guess they achieved their goal.   Time for the CFL to reconsider how awards are voted upon.

This is interesting, and I never really thought about this. The media has made this a story since it happened. Now the local media chooses not to select AH and it's another BIG story. They probably had their articles written and ready to go even before the nomination process, and just waiting for the clicks. Go to any of the local media's websites and you're sure to see how Harris was snubbed. Who was he snubbed by???

Bauming on the radio a few days ago crapped on Harris and said that it was a blemish to the league and how bad would it look when the CFL is trying to expand to new countries if the MOP was a guy suspended for taking illegal stuff etc... etc...

Bauming 100% did not vote for Harris. 

Yep...Naylor mentioned that Bauming said their take was "It's not good for the league" and Farhan Lalji immediately said "who are they to decide what is or isn't good for the CFL??" and I think that's a really good point. 

4 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Bauming on the radio a few days ago crapped on Harris and said that it was a blemish to the league and how bad would it look when the CFL is trying to expand to new countries if the MOP was a guy suspended for taking illegal stuff etc... etc...

Bauming 100% did not vote for Harris. 

 

Shunning the top Canadian (by far) and a leading candidate for MOP based on his play is good for the league Bauming? What an idiot. I have lost respect for that trio of goofs. I hope Andrew and the Bombers make access for them a lot more difficult now. Wanna play king maker, go use the washroom in the parking lot. Oops, sorry no players are available for comment right now Bauming. Sorry not enough room in the locker room for ya guys right now...you can come in after the players leave. I don't know why your press pass isn't working at the gate before the game, we can get new one to you in a couple months.

I guarantee that trio of idiots just lost any kind of respect, cooperation, and goodwill they might have had in the Bombers locker room that's for sure.

Edited October 30, 20196 yr by gcn11

Just now, gcn11 said:

Shunning the top Canadian (by far) and a leading candidate for MOP based on his play is good for the league Bauming? What an idiot. I have lost respect for that trio of goofs. I hope Andrew and the Bombers make access for them a lot more difficult now. Wanna play king maker, go use the washroom in the parking lot. Oops, sorry no players are available for comment right now Bauming. Sorry not enough room in the locker room for ya guys right now...you can come in after the players leave.

Bauming is on the Jets beat now anyhow for NHL.com, like the rest of them. 

1 minute ago, JCon said:

Bauming is on the Jets beat now anyhow for NHL.com, like the rest of them. 

Good. Hope he stays there.

Lost all respect for Bauming on this. 

Cross-contamination is a huge issue and rather than address that, he sticks to the story of the athlete being 100% responsible for their body.  That's known as the strict liability policy and other sports are now questioning that line of thinking.

There's an article on The Athletic about this right now, with the head of the UFC's anti-doping program. 

https://theathletic.com/1325861/2019/10/26/in-a-contaminated-world-can-common-sense-prevail-with-the-ufc-anti-doping-policy/

So what happened to the product sample Harris sent in to get tested? Haven’t heard anything about that. Wouldn’t that prove if it was his mistake or the products mistake. 

1 minute ago, Tiny759 said:

So what happened to the product sample Harris sent in to get tested? Haven’t heard anything about that. Wouldn’t that prove if it was his mistake or the products mistake. 

It takes a while for results to come back. He's just a guy off the street with a low volume sample. Also, if the test comes back positive, he's going to need to protect himself, legally, if he's going to say anything. 

53 minutes ago, mfranc said:

As long as he doesn’t pee hot he’ll be fine.

Kiss off

 

7 minutes ago, JCon said:

It takes a while for results to come back. He's just a guy off the street with a low volume sample. Also, if the test comes back positive, he's going to need to protect himself, legally, if he's going to say anything. 

And if The test comes back negative, does that make the decision to leave him off the awards list the right one? 

22 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Yep...Naylor mentioned that Bauming said their take was "It's not good for the league" and Farhan Lalji immediately said "who are they to decide what is or isn't good for the CFL??" and I think that's a really good point. 

Reverse my opinion on those guys for this topic. 
Bauming. C’mon man, you were here all year,

Lalji. Good po8nt

4 minutes ago, Tiny759 said:

And if The test comes back negative, does that make the decision to leave him off the awards list the right one? 

Ifs, Buts, Candy, Nuts. 

 

But, no, not really. He did his time, right? I mean, Banks was nominated and he's been suspended before. When was he last tested? What about the test one week earlier that showed Harris was clean? 

Edited October 30, 20196 yr by JCon

21 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Bauming on the radio a few days ago crapped on Harris and said that it was a blemish to the league and how bad would it look when the CFL is trying to expand to new countries if the MOP was a guy suspended for taking illegal stuff etc... etc...

Bauming 100% did not vote for Harris. 

If Bauming wants to take a moral stance against Harris alleged PED use, I disagree, but okay. 

But his rationale about this hurting the CFL's potential in other countries is completely wrong. If the CFL wants to sell the game in other countries (ones that no little about football) you have to promote best players in those countries. If (big if) the CFL ever gains any popularity in other countries it will do so because of CFL stars becoming known there (BLM, Harris, Banks, Burnham, Jefferson, etc.), and some foreign born players eventually becoming a decent CFL player. No one in Germany or Mexico will ever be purchasing a Mike Miller jersey. They might purchase a Harris jersey. If part of the plan is to promote the CFL stars in other countries, then the media has to get on board that train! Hype the stars you idiots! Harris is a CFL star. Hall of famer. That's who football fans in other countries would get interested in. 

11 minutes ago, JCon said:

Ifs, Buts, Candy, Nuts. 

 

But, no, not really. He did his time, right? I mean, Banks was nominated and he's been suspended before. When was he last tested? What about the test one week earlier that showed Harris was clean? 

Hey I believe Harris should have been nominated too. But if he took PEDs either knowingly or just due to carelessness, I can see the argument of why they wouldn’t want to leave them off the ballot. It seems to be if you take a drug one year, the next year is a clean slate for you.

15 minutes ago, JCon said:

Ifs, Buts, Candy, Nuts. 

 

But, no, not really. He did his time, right? I mean, Banks was nominated and he's been suspended before. When was he last tested? What about the test one week earlier that showed Harris was clean? 

Banks was busted for recreational drugs not PED’s.  Totally different.

Listen, whether he did or not, do you honestly believe he could put up those numbers, before and after with a little help from his friends? 

1 minute ago, mfranc said:

Banks was busted for recreational drugs not PED’s.  Totally different.

Ya totally man..

I do think the league needs to have a rule in place for situations like this, either it being that player in ineligible to receive awards or eligible. 

3 minutes ago, mfranc said:

Banks was busted for recreational drugs not PED’s.  Totally different.

Except the tainted supplement for harris had 0 performance enhancing effect. He was clean the week before, it was a sub micro dose amount found in his system, and clean right after. Even a modern high quality steroid would do very little in that situation. For an ancient 70s bulk steroid you would very literally receive zero performance enhancing effect. 

The league has long been a refuge for those with this type of past so the moral stance doesnt stand up either. From Juran bolden, to ricky williams, andre rison, robert baker, Marcus thigpen and Jordan reeves, to the ton of chris jones recruits that ended nfl stints due to drugs and more.

The team should pick its players then let the media vote for the rest of the process. The coaches and gm of each team know exactly the guys that were most valuable to them.

Just, wow! After we win the Grey Cup, or maybe just before or even during, maybe Andrew Harris can give a "shove it" speech to the Winnipeg media a la Henry Burris.