Friday, November 17, 2006

Men of the Mountains dominate Awards


It was BC night at the Rogers CFL Awards on Thursday night, as the BC Lions collectively won all but one award on the night. An impressive display of domination of the awards show not seen for quite a while.

Broadcast live (and extremely well done) on TSN and hosted by the always smooth Brian Williams, the night quickly became the Lions review!

Of the Leos who collected trophies on Thursday, Geroy Simon was key to the night. The Lions receiver who had an amazing year for Vancouver this season made three trips to the podium to collect his hardware.

Simon was recognized as the Outstanding Player in the CFL for 2006, a most deserved bit of recognition for his efforts in Vancouver this year, with a contract extension until 2009, there's every chance they may have to rename the award the Geroy Simon award by the time 2010 rolls around.

Simon also found himself as the people's favourite, winner of the Rogers People's choice award as voted on by football fans across the country. To begin his trek to the podium on Thursday, Simon was called up on stage to receive the award as outstanding player in the West

The other national double winner for the Lions on Thursday was Brent Johnson, the most impressive Defensive End to come along in the CFL for a number of a years. Johnson who controls a game from his perch on the Leos D line was honoured as Best Defensive Player of the year and Best Canadian of the Year, a testimony to his formative football years in Kingston Ontario.

On the other side of the line, Rob Murphy picked up the award for Outstanding Offensive Lineman for his work in protecting the hides of Dave Dickenson, Buck Pierce, Jarious Jackson and Joe Smith to name a few that wander around behind the Lions line.

The Rookie of the Year award belonged to Aaron Hunt, the rookie Defensive Lineman for the Lions who made Dave Ritchies' life a lot easier in those defensive meetings, Hunt has quickly grasped the nuances of the Canadian game and added great skill to an already impressive looking Leos D line.

The Lions even collected an award for off field activities, as Mark Washington received the Tom Pate award for his contribution to the community. Washington is heavily involved in working with youth in Vancouver and was a worthy if reluctant recipient of the award.

The only national award that the Lions didn't get their paws on was the Special Teams award which went to the Stampeders Sandro DeAngelis, who should have been offered status as an honourary Lion just for the sake of continuity.

Charles Roberts was awarded the Terry Evanshen award for his outstanding play in the Eastern Division this season.

Eight awards over the night, seven of them bound for British Columbia. But, for the Lions there is but one more award that has yet to be handed out, and that one they'll get to work on at 5 pm Manitoba time on Sunday.

Only the Montreal Alouettes stand in the way of the Lions and the Big One, the Grey Cup. Th re's room in the duffel bags for one more trophy and like an American Express card, the Lions won't want to leave Manitoba without it!

View the list of The Winners here!

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