ON THE MARK.

YEAR END AWARDS ARE USELESS.

Every December, news editors, sports editors, entertainment editors, business editors and weather editors try to come up with the definitive "Year End Awards" for best, worst and most promising from the past 12 months.   That's an awful lot of ground to cover, and quite frankly, I don't need to be reminded of what happened last February, and I certainly couldn't care less that it was number #8 on somebody's list of memorable moments.  In Sports, it all starts with the Lou Marsh Award, which is named after the late sports editor of  the Toronto Star.  I'm pretty sure, as sports editor, Mr. Marsh came up with a few year end awards of his own.  Soccer player Christine Sinclair was this years recipient.  Well deserved.
    The Canadian Press will soon announce it's Male, Female and Team of the year. Do you really care? Sportsnet and TSN will have THEIR athletes of the year (unless they've already announced them and I missed it) and I'm sure they'll have the obligatory Top Ten Plays of the Year, Saves of the year, Goals of the year, Catches of the Year, Dropped passes of the year and Missed dunks of the year.  Don't be surprised if they add Popcorn Vendor of the year, and Craziest Fan of the year.
       And to make this year-end assault even more interesting, look no further than Tennis Canada, which named Aleksandra Wozniak it's Female Player of the Year for the fifth time.   Now, being a tennis fan, I know who Wozniak is.  She's ranked #43 in the world and rarely, if ever, challenges the big hitters.  She's not that great a player, and winning this award is akin to being named Canada's tallest midget.   The fact that no other female tennis player even came to mind might give you a hint as to where female tennis is in this country.    And as for Milos Raonic winning the Men's award.....well, let's just say it was about time somebody OTHER than Daniel Nestor got some recognition.  By the way, did you know that Wozniak was named Canada's Female Athlete of the Year in 2009?  It's true.  Her accomplishment that year was becoming the first Canadian in ten years to reach the 4th round of a Grand Slam event.   Not the quaterfinals, the 4th round.  Must've been a tough field that year.
     I guess the only good thing about this time of the year are the arguments that center around the selections.  It's pretty much a lock cinch that there will be opposition to the year-end winners.   A few years back, baseball player Larry Walker had an outstanding season, only to lose the Lou Marsh Award to Jacques Villenueve.  Upon hearing that Villeneuve had won, Walker remarked "You mean I got beat by a car?".   And so it goes.  I expect Sinclair will win Female Athlete of the Year and it's possible that Raonic will win Male Athlete of the Year.   The team of the year?  I don't know.....how about the Toronto Argonauts? 
I'm interested in your choices on this matter.  I know year-end awards are silly, but hey,  shouldn't EVERYBODY have an opportunity to choose their favourites from 2012?