Ed Thorp Trophy

Post Reply
sheajets
Posts: 1103
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 12:22 am

Ed Thorp Trophy

Post by sheajets »

Originally the league championship trophy was passed from team to team (much like the Stanley Cup) only on the Ed Thorp Trophy there was really no space to carve every players name on it, just the team and the year supposedly

I love the idea of having one league trophy that is not permanently kept but celebrated and revered as a one of a kind icon that you earn the right to posses for a year...and then have to go back and earn it again.

However the trophy itself never really developed the reputation of anything prestigious or special during its day it seems, and its unfortunate. It didnt have the history or legend tied to it that the Stanley Cup did at the time but I think the league even back then should've highlighted, promoted it, and tried to elevate it as the most coveted award in all sports. Who cares if it is or isn't...build that legend up. By today it would've been something every American would recognize.

I've always been underwhelmed by the Lombardi Trophy. It's nice looking, and iconic in its own way...but it's also small, simple, and new ones are handed out year after year. For the NFL I would've preferred they adopted a more Stanley Cup type tradition that could be an everlasting link to the leagues earlier days. What the NFL does now when a team wins a Super Bowl is taken directly from the NHL. The on field celebrations and trophy presentations...that's not an NFL thing. When the Super Bowl ended the players would jump around, the coach got carried off, Disney got its sound byte...and everybody made their way to the locker room for the trophy presentation. Now it's all done on the field because the league saw how incredible hockey celebrations came across on television.

I understand the CFL does this with the Grey Cup which is passed on year to year...but I know next to nothing about Canadian football.
rhickok1109
Posts: 1473
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 8:57 am

Re: Ed Thorp Trophy

Post by rhickok1109 »

sheajets wrote:Originally the league championship trophy was passed from team to team (much like the Stanley Cup) only on the Ed Thorp Trophy there was really no space to carve every players name on it, just the team and the year supposedly
Well, originally there was the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup. It was donated in 1920 as a traveling trophy, with the provision that a team could keep it permanently by winning three consecutive championships. it disappeared after 1920.
Post Reply