Week 2, Day 11...

In our second week of campaigning, we saw Georges St. Pierre's momentum toward a Lou Marsh trophy continue to grow.

On Wednesday, we published Matt Padanyi's article on the Muddied History of the Lou Marsh Trophy. It created a small buzz on Facebook and Twitter. If you haven't read it yet, you should get on that, it's a good read.

Later that same day, I re-capped an article by Street and Smith's SportsBusiness Daily that indicated that mixed martial arts' popularity was at an all time high following UFC 100, where Georges St. Pierre sucessfully defended his welterweight title.

Those two articles created enough interest to get us up to 106 members in our GSP for Lou Marsh Facebook group, and 60 signatures on our petition. Steady progress.

We've got some exciting interviews and articles coming up, so please check back here regularly.

To stay in the loop we recommend that you join the Facebook group, and, most importantly, please sign the petition to have GSP named Canada's top athlete in 2009!

- JCH

MMA's popularity is at an all-time high

by: John Chidley-Hill

According to this Street and Smith's SportsBusiness Daily article, the popularity of Mixed Martial Arts is at an all-time high.

ESPN's Sports Poll has been keeping track of the popularity of all the major sports since 1994, and in July MMA has achieved new levels of popularity in the wake of UFC 100.

The biggest jump was in casual sports fans, 39.2% of them saying that they were at least a little interested in MMA.

The share of avid MMA fans also grew, with 9.1% of them saying that they were very interested in the combat sport.

All this despite the off-putting comments of heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar after his successful title defence.

Given the growing popularity of MMA, the Lou Marsh selection committee should consider UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre as Canada's top athlete of 2009.

Sign this petition to help make GSP's candidacy a reality.

The Muddied History of the Lou Marsh Trophy

Susan Nattrass, the recipient of the 1981 Lou Marsh trophy, was chosen over a young Wayne Gretzky.

by: Matt Padanyi

Greatness in sport is nothing new to Canada – the nation’s history is rich and steeped in the tradition of achievement.

Names like Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, Donovan Bailey and Barbara Ann Scott are not just dear in the hearts of Canadians but of sports fans across the world.

All of the above have been recipients of the Lou Marsh Trophy, given annually to the country’s best athlete. In fact, Gretzky won it four times, more than anyone else in the award’s 72-year history (1936 was the inaugural year however the trophy was not awarded between 1942 and 1944 because of the war).

Yet Canada’s top sporting honour has been mired in criticism, both in past and now in the present.

For starters, amateur athletes are nearly guaranteed to win in years coinciding with the Olympic Games.

The last time a non-Olympic athlete won when the games were showcased was in 1998 – the award went to Canada’s most famous slugger Larry Walker.

Yet even the timing of that award seems odd.He won the year after winning the National League MVP award, a season which saw the Maple Ridge native blast 49 home runs, 130 runs batted in while hitting at a .366 clip and swiping 33 bases.

In 1998, when he won the Lou Marsh Trophy, Walker managed a relatively puny 23 long balls and 67 RBI.

Perhaps there is a chance for Canadian mixed martial artist Georges St. Pierre to win it in 2010, but with the Winter Olympics being held in 2010 it seems unlikely.

Another criticism of the award is that its selection committee is comprised of a small and ‘elite’ group of board members, as opposed to a wide spectrum of editors and writers like used by the Canadian Press in their annual awards, the Lionel Conacher Award for the top male and the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award for top female.

That might explain why in 1981 Susan Nattrass, an amateur trapshooter, beat out Gretzky for the honours when he scored an incredible 164 points in his sophomore season with the Edmonton Oilers.

It’s quite possible the old boys’ club that is the selection committee may bar St. Pierre for some political reasoning, regardless of his achievements.

The other final thing against the fight to get GSP a Lou Marsh Trophy is the fact that no Canadian striking-combat athlete has ever won the award.

George Chuvalo, long considered to have the best chin in boxing history never won it.

And contemporaries like Steve Molitor and the late Arturo Gatti were likely never even considered. And unlike MMA, the general public views boxing as a legitimate sport.

So fans, do you part and sign the petition to get GSP the national recognition he deserves. Go to http://www.petitiononline.com/gsp4lm09/petition.html and sign today, and then tell all your friends to do it too.

Five days in...

...and we're off to a good start. We've set up this blog, have put together a pretty popular Facebook group, and most importantly, we've got 39 signatures on our online petition.

There's been a groundswell of support for our cause, and we appreciate everyone who has helped out so far.

Our goal is to get 5000 names down by December, in time to influence the Lou Marsh selection committee. Right now, those 39 signatures only have us 0.78% of the way there. We need more!

Click here to help us out. Signing on the digital line takes less then a minute, and can make a real difference.

As we gain momentum we'll have more and more content on this page. Articles, interviews, and podcasts will be coming soon, so please check in regularly, or better yet, start following our feed.

We'll post next Friday with an update on our progress.

Gatorade Canada is down with GSP

This ad is making the rounds in Canada, and teaches a valuable lesson about Georges St. Pierre: you don't want to fight him.

Somewhere, Thiago Alves and BJ Penn are in quiet agreement.

Clearly, Gatorade Canada recognizes that GSP has had a hell of a year.

We appreciate that the Lou Marsh Trophy's selection committee won't be so easily swayed, so please click here and sign our petition to have Georges St. Pierre named Canada's top athlete of 2009.

Georges St. Pierre for the 2009 Lou Marsh Trophy

We, the undersigned, believe that mixed martial artist Georges St. Pierre should be awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s top athlete in 2009.

St. Pierre, fighting out of Montreal, is the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s reigning welterweight champion and is considered by many to be pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world.

Recently, St. Pierre successfully defeated his UFC Welterweight title belt against Thiago Alves at UFC 100 at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Casino and Resort. In true GSP fashion, the francophone fighter tore muscles in his groin during the fourth round but fought back the pain and went the distance to win with a unanimous decision.

In 2008, he was named the Canadian Athlete of the Year by Rogers Sportsnet, as well as the Most Outstanding Fighter by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. St-Pierre is also regarded by Yahoo Sports as the No.1 Pound for Pound fighter in the world and consistently listed as one of the sports’ top athletes.

The Lou Marsh Trophy is awarded annually to Canada's top athlete, professional or amateur. Given St Pierre’s dominance in his sport, and the example he has set as a sportsman, it is clear that he is an ideal candidate for the 2009 Lou Marsh Trophy.

Sign our petition!