The 2013 Gibson’s CFL Player Awards will be doled out tonight at Conexus Arts Centre in a gala ceremony co-hosted by comic Brent Butt and CFL analyst Glen Suitor. To offer their thoughts on who will win each of the six awards we’re joined by Dog Blog football analysts Ron Mexico, Cal Corduroy and Earl Camembert. Okay fellas, who are your picks to win:
Most Outstanding Player: Jon Cornish (Calgary RB) vs. Ricky Ray (Toronto QB)
RM: Cornish. Ray would’ve had it but for his injuries. Cornish has been consistently great.
EC: Cornish, unfortunately. He also wins the Gibson’s as the biggest tit in the league.
CC: As much as I hate him, I think the fact Ray was hurt for a number of games gives the nod to Cornish.
Outstanding Canadian: Jon Cornish (Calgary RB) vs. Henoc Muamba (Winnipeg LB)
RM: Cornish easily, but Muamba had a great year and was Winnipeg’s nominee for three of the awards.
EC: Cornish. He also wins the Gibson’s for the biggest Canadian tit in the league too.
CC: Hmmn… would love to see Cornish not win this one, but it seems difficult to award him Outstanding Player and then give Outstanding Canadian to Muamba. Is it obvious I despise Cornish? If they had a biggest asshole award, he would win by a hair over that knob Henry [Hamilton QB Henry Burris].
Outstanding Defensive Player: Charleston Hughes (Calgary DE) vs. Chip Cox (Montreal LB)
RM: Real close one between the two best defensive players by far. I’ll go with Hughes… who is a clown.
EC: This is the closest of the bunch. Cox has been fantastic and has had one of the great defensive years ever. Hughes has been really good. I think Cox wins in a nail-biter.
CC: Time to go to the East. Toss up as far as I can see, but Cox will win.
Outstanding Offensive Lineman: Brendon LaBatte (Saskatchewan) vs. Jeff Keeping (Toronto)
RM: LaBatte. The second best lineman in the league was another former University of Regina Ram, Calgary’s Brett Jones.
EC: I’ve never heard of Jeff Keeping. LaBatte in a landslide.
CC: There was some static regarding LaBatte’s play during the Riders losing skid (you know, the one where they went 3W-6L after going 8W-1L to start the season). So my vote goes to Keeping.
Outstanding Special Teams: Rene Paredes (Calgary PK) vs. Marc Beswick (Hamilton DB)
RM: Paredes. Didn’t the east have a good returner?
EC: It should be a cold day in hell that that twerp from Calgary wins anything.
CC: That femme Paredes wins in a slam dunk. Political correctness? I wonder what colour gown he’ll wear to the ceremony?
Outstanding Rookie: Brett Jones (Calgary OL) vs. CJ Gable (Hamilton RB)
RM: Jones. I watched him a ton. Rookie offensive linemen struggle. Rookie centres are almost unheard of. He did a great job all year.
EC: How did [U of R head coach] Frank McCrystal manage not to win anything with Akiem Hicks (New Orleans Saints), Stefan Charles (Buffalo Bills) and CFL rookie of the year Brett Jones in his lineup? Oh wait, he hasn’t won anything at the university level.
CC: A Canadian offensive lineman born and raised in the province where the awards will be handed out, who played all 18 games at centre for the team with the fewest sacks in the league, in a category that has never been given to an offensive lineman, versus a running back from the east with 782 yards rushing? Should be a no-brainer.
