The Best and Worst Sports Trophies
Every sport has a champion, every champion receives a trophy declaring them the best at what they do for that year or season or event. They come in all shapes and sizes. Rings. Belts. Cups. Statues. Here is my list of the 10 best and the 5 worst trophies in sports:
The Best:
10. Tour de France Maillot Jaune (Yellow Jersey)
History: The first Tour de France winner was crowned in 1903 and in 1919 the over-all time leaders and over-all winner were given the Yellow Jersey and it's been done that way since.
Coolest Part About It: It's the only trophy that is used during the sporting event (Except for the wrestling champions that use their belts to knock out their oppoents).
9. Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Champion Belt
History: This contest goes back to 1916 when four immigrants tried to settle an argument about who was the most patriotic at Nathan's Famous' first restaurant. The first winner downed 13 hot dogs in 12 minutes. The International Federation of Competitive Eating has over seen the event since 1997 and most recently the event has been dominated by Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi who currently holds the record with 53 3/4 hot dogs eaten.
Coolest Part About It: It’s color is yellow, after mustard.
8. America's Cup
History: The America's Cup is sailing's #1 regatta. It's called the America's Cup because America held it from the 1st race in 1851 until 1983 when Australia finally won it. 25 challenges over 113 years, the longest streak in sports history.
Coolest Part About It: It’s named after it’s most dominant champions. It would be like naming the NBA Finals trophy, “The Celtics Trophy.”
7. Heavyweight Boxing Champion
History: There was a time when this would have been the clear #1 in my mind, but since there are now 4 large governing bodies with world title belts (World Boxing Council, International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Association and the World Boxing Organization) and there is no desire to unify the belts, how can it be the best sports trophy. The WBA is the oldest and most recognized, dating back to 1921.
Coolest Part About It: The lineage goes back to bare-knuckle champion from Boston John L. Sullivan.
6. Heisman Trophy
History: The coolest statue trophy on the list, the Heisman Trophy is awarded to college football's player of the year and is so prestigious that it is given it's own live ceremony every year at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City until 2002 when the club closed it's doors after the financial fallout from 9/11. The best thing about the trophy is if you ask just about anyone what they know about the trophy, all most all of them will try and do the pose.
Coolest Part About It: Spawned the ever popular “Do the Heisman on Dat Ho” dance.
5. World Series Ring
History: Every pro baseball player's dream is to finish their career with one or more of these. The championship symbol of America's past time is the coolest trophy of the team sports in which a series decides the winner.
Coolest Part About It: All the stats that get jam packed on there.
4. Olympic Gold Medal
History: You have to wait 4 years just to compete for it and when you win it you get to stand taller than the runners up and listen to the national anthem being played.
Coolest Part About It: It gets placed around your neck like a Roman champion.
3. Super Bowl Ring
History: It's the countries biggest sporting event and Dan Marino, considered by many to be the greatest quarterback of all time, doesn't have one and is thought less of because of it. On the downside, as a player your fingers may have been broken so many times that you can't wear the ring when you retire.
Coolest Part About It: The team works together to design it.
2. The Masters Green Jacket
History: The Masters is one of the four golf majors and is held every year at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Since 1949 the winner is awarded a green jacket, which is the official coat worn by members of Augusta National while on the club grounds. The tournament winner becomes an honorary club member and has to return the jacket to the grounds after their 1st year as champion. The winner gets to pick what the meal will be for his championship dinner.
The Coolest Part About It: The winner is awarded the jacket by the previous year's winner, which can be fun if that guy just came in 2nd
1. Lord Stanley's Cup
History: The Cup predates the NHL by decades and includes the name of every player on every team that has ever won it. The original resides in the Hockey Hall of Fame, followed by two duplicates, one that is awarded to the Finals champion, and a second which substitutes for the Cup while it is out with the winning team.
The Coolest Part About It: Every player on the winning team gets the cup for a day to do what ever they want with it, no questions asked...Amazingly that tradition only started in 1995
The Worst
5. World Series of Poker Bracelet
A bracelet? I suppose a repeat winner gets the matching ear rings. (Actually if you win again you just get another bracelet)
4. World Cup Soccer's World Cup Trophy
1. It’s not a cup.
2. Soccer Sucks
3. World Series Trophy
There is nothing fun about this trophy. It looks like it could fall apart at any moment. Like the flag polls could just fall out like those little plastic bats or golf clubs on the trophies you got as a kid. And what if you dropped something in the middle there? You'd have to roll up your sleeve so it didn't get caught on a flag and carefully reach down to grab whatever it was you dropped. If that's not bad enough, it's got a lame ass name: The Commissioner's Trophy
2. Olympic Silver Medal
I can’t really say it better than Jerry Seinfeld…so:
Jerry Seinfeld: “The Olympics is really my favorite sporting event. Although I think I have a problem with that silver medal. 'Cause when you think about it, you win the gold-you feel good...you win the bronze-you think, "Well at least I got something." But when you win that silver it's like "Congratulations, you *almost* won. Of all the losers-you came in first of that group. You're the number one *loser*. No one lost ahead of you.”
1. NIT Championship Trophy
65-other teams are better than you and are playing in the NCAA Tournament. Congratulations for winning the National Invitational Tournament, aka, 66th Place.