Thursday 23 May 2013

Let's call the Memorial Cup what it is: the Memorial Cup. It's not the [title sponsor] Memorial Cup.


One more thing people, it's the Memorial Cup, plain and simple.  Not anything else.  We don't have to, shouldn't, and mustn't contort ourselves to affix a company's name in front of the title just because they paid Sportsnet a couple of mill.  Just because Darren Millard and his stooges and the announcers are being forced to say this unwieldy phrase eight times a period doesn't mean we have to jump through the same hoop.

That company didn't invent the Memorial Cup, or play any part in its development as a grand Canadian tradition.  All they've done is shovel money into Ted Rogers' estate.  We get no benefit from it.  They get no credit.

From Wikipedia:
The trophy was originally known as the OHA Memorial Cup and was donated by the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) in 1919 to be awarded to the junior champion of Canada. From its inception until 1971, the Memorial Cup was open to all Junior A teams in the country and was awarded following a series of league, provincial and regional playoffs culminating in an east-west championship. The three-league tournament format began in 1972 when the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association divided the Junior A rank into two tiers, naming the Memorial Cup as the championship of the Major Junior level.

The Memorial Cup was proposed by Captain James T. Sutherland during World War I, who wanted to create a trophy as a memorial to remember the OHA's players who died during the war. When the trophy was created, it was dedicated in honour of the soldiers who died fighting for Canada in the war. It was rededicated to honour all soldiers who died fighting for Canada in any conflict during the 2010 tournament.

Let's honour the tradition and legacy that is the Memorial Cup, and not sully it by parroting what the talking heads at Sportsnet are bleating incessantly.

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