Thoughts on the Callahan and MVP Awards

[ckerr4]

Although I might have helped start the Callahan Award, I think it long
ago became property of the sport in general.

Not only is who wins or who loses the Award determined solely by the
players, but the criteria for who should be considered a serious
candidate is now more by general consensus than any actual guidance in
the rules.

I've always believed all MVP awards can't help but be flawed -- any
award that isn't purely quantitative (he ran a 9.9 100m, "He's the
Fast Man in the World") has varying levels of subjectiveness.
Completely remove the sportsmanship component of the Callahan and you
could still endlessly debate on who was the sport's best player. Like
many team sports, you can immediately argue whether offensive players
should be valued more highly than defensive players, should a player's
team need to achieve a certain level of success, etc, etc.

I've been involved with a number of young teams that have gone on to
be very good teams, and to me, a team's most valuable player is the
gifted, dedicated athlete, who also helps build a team up either
through organization, recruiting, charisma, etc. Whether in the role
of teammate or coach, these players are getting my MVP vote every
time.

Finally, although I'm happy to get painted with the broad "spirit"
brush, personally, my level of what's acceptable sportsmanship isn't
all that demanding. I think the overall level of sportsmanship in
ultimate is outstanding (and something that as a sport we really
should be proud of -- not endlessly trying to tear down in some sort
of misguided exercise to prove we're a "real sport"), and as long as a
player don't flagrantly cheat, spit on, punch or verbally abuse other
players, I'm good to go.

I'm sure some Callahan voters have higher standards than I do for what
they want to see in terms of sportsmanship from the winner and some
have less. But almost all MVP awards (as do "hall of fames") include
some level of sportsmanship (explicitly or not) and ultimate, a sport
where even at the highest levels players initiate all foul calls, has
to include sportsmanship as one of its criteria for its most valuable
player award.

Anything else would be ridiculous.

Charles

[hsgr...@gmail.com]

Well said Charles. I think the fact that people who have played
against nominees are voting for them says a lot about the winner. If
you're the best player in the game that's great, congrats, but it
doesn't mean much if nobody respects you or if everyone hates playing
against you cause you're a jerk. It's the person who best combines
athletic talent with sportsmanship AND leadership that will and should
win.

Congrats to Courtney and Joe, who I and the majority of the college
ultimate players believe, best exemplify EVERY criteria of the
Callahan award.