matthew Posted December 29, 2003 Share Posted December 29, 2003 Top 10 vote-getters in balloting conducted by The Canadian Press and Broadcast News for CanadaÕs female athlete of the year in 2003 (with 3-2-1 points structure): Team 1st 2nd 3rd Tot Perdita Felicien 33 6 4 115 Melanie Turgeon 12 11 6 64 Hayley Wickenheiser 7 10 18 59 Emilie Heymans 7 9 8 47 Clara Hughes 8 8 5 45 Beckie Scott 4 11 8 41 Cindy Klassen 5 10 4 39 Charmaine Hooper 3 3 7 22 Lori Bowden 2 4 4 18 Colleen Jones 2 3 4 16 Flame away, I think they deserve it. I'm glad to see that a blood test is more significant than playing out of position at a World Cup, leaading a team to an upset semifinal spot, being named to the tournament all-XI and scoring the goal that got us to the semifinals. I'm really surprised she wasn't in the top three or four. Felicien was a gimmie (just as Weir will win men's and Gagne will be second and no one else will be real close). cheers, matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auger9 Posted December 29, 2003 Share Posted December 29, 2003 i haven't heard of half of those people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew Posted December 29, 2003 Author Share Posted December 29, 2003 I'd never heard of Lori Bowden, but apparently she's a triathlete. The others are all strong interntaional athletes, but I don't think too many had the year Charmaine had. Especially taking her WUSA year into account too. Oh well. cheers, matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ref Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 Besides Hooper can any of these gals even play soccer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elaine Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Auger9 i haven't heard of half of those people. lol .. then you aren't up to snuff on your canadian female athletes! maybe i'm the lone minority that recongizes all those names, but i must say that charmaine is in definite good company regardless if she should have finished higher in the balloting. elaine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loud Mouth Soup Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 Other than Heymans, I knew all of these ladies right away. Tough call this year, but I think they made the right call, no matter how biased my love of footy might make me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auger9 Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Elaine lol .. then you aren't up to snuff on your canadian female athletes! maybe i'm the lone minority that recongizes all those names, but i must say that charmaine is in definite good company regardless if she should have finished higher in the balloting. elaine lol. Sorry. I've heard of Jones (i think), beckie scott, everyone knows wickenheiser, and turgeon. According to who i know, hoops or wickenheiser shoulda won, or scott i guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 Lori Bowden is a triathlete, who happened to win the Ironman Triathlon this year. It may have actually been the second or third time she has won the event. Her husband is also a top Ironman triathlete, who has won the men's division once or twice as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew Posted December 30, 2003 Author Share Posted December 30, 2003 Felicien is the hurdler who won at the World track championships, Turgeon had a good year downhill sking. Everyone knows Wickenheiser. Heymens is a really young diver, who is a good medal hope in 04 I'd think. Hughes is the cyclist/speed skater that won summer and winter medals. Not sure what she did this year though. Scott is the biathlete who won gold in Salt Lake a year after the fact when the two Russians failed drug tests. If that had happened in Feb and not Dec, would she have been so high? Cindy Klassen is the successor to Catriona Le May-Dona I suspect in speed skating. Colleen Jones is a curler/TV personality. As I said I hadn't heard of Bowden, but it sounds like she had a good year. Pretty good company to be sure, I wouldn't argue with Felicien and Turgeon being one-two, but I thought Hoops was better than eighth. cheers, matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Rollins1555362254 Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 For the benefit of Auger9... Perdita Felicien = World 100m hurdles champion and VERY deserving of the honour Melanie Turgeon = World champion alpine skier - downhill Hayley Wickenheiser = Greatest female hockey player ever - played professionally against men this year Emilie Heymans = world diving champion 10m platform Clara Hughes = only Canadian to win Olympic medals in both summer and winter games - cyclist and speed skater Beckie Scott = Bro, er, silv, er GOLD medalist in Cross-country skiing - first North American to do so Cindy Klassen - world class speed skater Charmaine Hooper Lori Bowden - As mentioned above, Iron Woman champion Colleen Jones well, she's a curler! She is also the weather girl on Newsworld!! Hooper is placed appropriately, IMHO.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew Posted December 30, 2003 Author Share Posted December 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by MediaGuy For the benefit of Auger9... Hayley Wickenheiser = Greatest female hockey player ever - played professionally against men this year Clara Hughes = only Canadian to win Olympic medals in both summer and winter games - cyclist and speed skater Beckie Scott = Bro, er, silv, er GOLD medalist in Cross-country skiing - first North American to do so Hooper is placed appropriately, IMHO.... So what did Hughes and Scott do this year? To earn accolades as 2003 athlete of the year? Salt Lake was awhile ago. And what did Wickenheiser do this year? Sure she's the best ever, but it was a quiet year on the women's hockey stage. Yeah she played with men. If competing with men is more valuable than excelling against women for women athletes I think there's a problem. Anyway they're all great women athletes and I wish them all well, but I still think Hooper got over-looked. cheers, matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ref Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by matthew Anyway they're all great women athletes and I wish them all well, but I still think Hooper got over-looked. cheers, matthew I agree with your opinion. I would like to add this: what is the point to publicly recognize an athlete that the majority of the public has never heard, at least the Voyageurs public. The Canadian Press and Broadcast News pay so little attention to soccer that goes to explain this voting. Hooper seems to have been an afterthought to these people. When a person or athlete has done so much and gain so high public recognition in recent times that is when you give them an award. Now in all fairness, just think how popular Kara Lang is nowadays, Sinclair, Latham, MacLeod, just to name a few. Didn't a couple of these gals got soccer votes from places like Mozambique and Trinidad & Tobago? Now, that I call being popular. Let us think for a minute that the Canadian Women soccer team had won the World Cup, or even come second. Do we think that Hooper would have placed first? no way Jose, she still be stuck in 8th place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 One thing to note is that every woman who finished higher than Hooper --- except for Wickenheiser, but I'll get to that in a moment --- plays an individual sport. Obviously it is much easier for athletes to stand out in individual sports than in team sports. This is especially true when the team sport in question is soccer, because soccer features extremely few individual statistics and so the only way to evaluate an individual performance is to understand soccer and watch that individual play in many matches --- something that I doubt many of the voters did or are even capable of doing. Heck, it is even more difficult for soccer players to stand out (especially to non-experts) when they play defence, as Hooper did in the WWC (defenders very rarely, if ever, win the big men's awards). As for Wickenheiser, she is an exception because what she did in 2003 (ie. playing with men) was essentially an individual achievement, even though she plays a team sport. I'm not saying that a woman playing with men is or isn't worthy of this award, just that the individual nature of the achievement makes it stand out in a team sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew Posted December 30, 2003 Author Share Posted December 30, 2003 Good point DJT. I didn't notice the individual sport thing. But I suspect you're onto something. In the men, it's surprising how few team sport athletes don't win. If they do it usually takes a significant record to do it. cheers, matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 I guess I am one of the few who has heard of them all, and in fact, have seen all of them perform within the last 24 months. Can't say that I find myself getting to concerned about the order of finish other than to think that Becky Scott is being rewarded for a 2002 performance. Nevertheless, since the Olympics bronze has turned into gold and she probably didn't get her props in 2002. Hooper does not get the respect she deserves. No question about it. But all of the athletes on the list are deserving of recognition. Hooper does not get enough recognition in her own sport to catch any more attention from the Canadian press corps in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbin Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 Last year I was harping on about Beckie Scott and how she should have been athlete of the year in 02 not only because of her excellent performance but also because she very publicly stood up to Dick Pound and the joke that is WADA and came out on top. However, as an athlete she has not had as significant a year in 03, and courtroom wrangling does not enter into it. She should not have been on this year's list. Other than her, though, I can see that Charmaine got about the placing she deserved. Klassen and Hughes both had stellar World Cup speed skating seasons--and aren't we always complaining that no one cares about soccer in non-World Cup years? what about skaters in non-olympic years? And as for Colleen Jones... well she's a better curler than broadcaster, I'll give her that. But it's probably significant that it's media people voting--I imagine personality had a little to do with her getting two first-place votes... Allez les Rouges, M@ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Rollins1555362254 Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by matthew So what did Hughes and Scott do this year? To earn accolades as 2003 athlete of the year? Salt Lake was awhile ago. And what did Wickenheiser do this year? Sure she's the best ever, but it was a quiet year on the women's hockey stage. Yeah she played with men. If competing with men is more valuable than excelling against women for women athletes I think there's a problem. Anyway they're all great women athletes and I wish them all well, but I still think Hooper got over-looked. cheers, matthew Hughes won medals at the PanAms in cycling against a fairly strong field. I would suggest that Clara Hughes is the most underrated Canadian female athlete of the past ten years. Scott... I can see your point, however, her story has been a big (and important) one. She probably would have been a better choice for 'newsmaker of the year' (and a better one than boring ole' Paul Martin). Hooper suffers from being part of a team rather than being an individual athlete but... there are SIX world champions on that list (Klassen won the world all-around speedskating championship - I didn't mention that in my list). She is in good company and is approximately (one or two spots higher, I could buy...) in the right position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ref Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by mattbin I can see that Charmaine got about the placing she deserved. Allez les Rouges, M@ Well, maybe in your books. IMHO Chairmaine Hooper deserves far more than all others combined. Some of these ladies had one single top performance that earned them a place. Hooper on the other hand has had 15 years (and still going strong) of being the best in female soccer representing Canada and many games withing each year. IMHO the people voting should be voted out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Rollins1555362254 Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by The Ref Well, maybe in your books. IMHO Chairmaine Hooper deserves far more than all others combined. Some of these ladies had one single top performance that earned them a place. Hooper on the other hand has had 15 years (and still going strong) of being the best in female soccer representing Canada and many games withing each year. IMHO the people voting should be voted out. With all due respect... Your comment shows the same type of ignorance regarding the accomplishments of the other athletes as you are accusing the voters of demonstrating regarding Hooper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbin Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by The Ref Well, maybe in your books. IMHO Chairmaine Hooper deserves far more than all others combined. Some of these ladies had one single top performance that earned them a place. Hooper on the other hand has had 15 years (and still going strong) of being the best in female soccer representing Canada and many games withing each year. IMHO the people voting should be voted out. If those are the standards that are being voted on, sure, but this is a best-of-the-year thing, not a lifetime achievement award. And to say that Clara Hughes or Melanie Turgeon have not been representing Canada with world-class performances over a number of years is rather dismissive. It may be that others are paying closer attention to those athletes' sports than you are. I imagine that if there was a "women's team of the year" award, incidentally, our soccer team would rate rather higher. Allez les Rouges, M@ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex M Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 A lot of people here admitted to not knowing half the people yet still believe that Hooper should have been higher. That's pretty funny. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 I believe there is a women's team of the year that gets voted upon (as well as men's). I would think the Women's Nats should win the woman's & the Men's U20 ought to receive some consideration for the men's (though they probably won't). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ref Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by MediaGuy With all due respect... Your comment shows the same type of ignorance regarding the accomplishments of the other athletes as you are accusing the voters of demonstrating regarding Hooper. No offense taken. On the contrary I think it proves my point. If I am ignorant I should certainly not vote and nor should the other ignorant voters that I am accusing. Why is there a vote anyway? maybe because not all voters are of the same opinion perhaps. So according your standards, everybody must vote exactly the same, otherwise they are misinformed or shall we say ignorant? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtlfan Posted January 1, 2004 Share Posted January 1, 2004 The real joke here is that some of the voters at the Canadian Press are not qualified to cover sports as they are limited in their knowledge. The year Charmaine Hooper had was outstanding. To do it at 35 years old is remarkable. She carried her Atlanta team to a final, and her National team to the Semi-finals of a World Cup. But the real story is how she works at practice. This was the key for the success of the National team. The rest of the players were constantly motivated by her work ethic and her total commitment to the team. Meanwhile south of the border the AP have different opinions. (Mia Hamm 4th place) Here are the results for AP female athlete: Sorenstam received 47 first-place votes and 249 points in voting by AP member newspapers and broadcast outlets. Taurasi, the player of the year who led UConn to the national title, got six first-place votes and 102 points. Justin Henin-Hardenne, who won the French Open and U.S. Open and finished the year at No. 1, finished third with 44 points. She was followed by soccer star Mia Hamm (31 points) Julie Krone (11 points), the first female jockey to win a Breeders' Cup race. oh, by the way, some clown at CP voted Tod Bertuzzi male athlete of the year. I guess he figured only hockey players are athletes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted January 1, 2004 Share Posted January 1, 2004 quote:Originally posted by mtlfan The real joke here is that some of the voters at the Canadian Press are not qualified to cover sports as they are limited in their knowledge. That's not a joke, that's the reality of any award based on voting. If you want these awards to exist then this fact must be accepted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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