View Full Version : donovan wins another honda POY award
afgrijselijkheid
07 Oct 2003, 05:53 PM
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=hondaplayerofyear&prov=st&type=lgns
i'm sorry, but it should have gone to bocanegra
afgrijselijkheid
07 Oct 2003, 05:58 PM
and by a resounding margin BSers agree with me
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=70742
onefineesq
07 Oct 2003, 06:10 PM
I really do like LD as a player and all, but the media is going LD nuts now. There is no way he deserved this award over Bocanegra and Howard, but he's getting the nod now because he is the marquee name. Its a shame that politics always get intermingled with performance the way they do.
guamster
07 Oct 2003, 06:25 PM
Originally posted by onefineesq
I really do like LD as a player and all, but the media is going LD nuts now. There is no way he deserved this award over Bocanegra and Howard, but he's getting the nod now because he is the marquee name. Its a shame that politics always get intermingled with performance the way they do.
Although I would not have minded Boca winning the award, Donovan does have the numbers to back up his claim to the award as well. From the referenced article:
"Donovan led the U.S. National Team in scoring with seven goals. In a July CONCACAF Gold Cup match against Cuba, he became only the fourth American player ever to score four goals in one game. He finished in a tie as the Gold Cup's leading scorer."
afgrijselijkheid
07 Oct 2003, 06:32 PM
Originally posted by guamster
Although I would not have minded Boca winning the award, Donovan does have the numbers to back up his claim to the award as well. From the referenced article:
"Donovan led the U.S. National Team in scoring with seven goals. In a July CONCACAF Gold Cup match against Cuba, he became only the fourth American player ever to score four goals in one game. He finished in a tie as the Gold Cup's leading scorer."
stats ain't everything... besides, los had 4 goals and 3 assists from central defense
nicodemus
07 Oct 2003, 06:39 PM
Donovan is a posterboy and it will always go to the posteboy. Obviously, he's a great player, but he's a name. It is the same reason Aerosmith continues to win Grammy's, people just know who they are.
afgrijselijkheid
07 Oct 2003, 07:00 PM
even more disturbing is the final tally (reprinted from the email release i received)
In all, Donovan received a total of 396 points by the 206 journalists who participated in the voting, which ended on Friday, August 1. Veteran forward Brian McBride, a first-time finalist for the award, finished second with a total of 194 points. Defender Carlos Bocanegra, also a first-time finalist, received a total of 130 points
and finished third
FCOL he even finished behind a guy that hardly played for the US this year - where did they pull these 206 journalists from? their NBA beats? the gossip page? high times?
what a freakin' joke...
elainemichelle
07 Oct 2003, 07:05 PM
Despite the whole Man U thing, I would've voted for Howard. Can't stand Man U in the least bit but I have to at least support the USA.
I think these media folks just voted for LD b/c they recognized the name. I don't really know of many people who have heard Howard or Boca's names but they all know who LD is. ("He's that guy with the really nice abs, right?")
guamster
07 Oct 2003, 07:07 PM
A total of 206 United States sports journalists voted:
Donovan 396 points
McBride 194 points
Bocanegra 130 points
http://www.mlsnet.com/content/03/mls1007donovan.html
It looks like even McBride pulled in more voters than Boca. Right or wrong, americans and the media love their statistics. 7 goals and 5 assists was enough to convince the media that their "posterboy" had a better year than the other two candidates.
nicodemus
07 Oct 2003, 07:08 PM
Originally posted by bluedaddy19
even more disturbing is the final tally (reprinted from the email release i received)
In all, Donovan received a total of 396 points by the 206 journalists who participated in the voting, which ended on Friday, August 1. Veteran forward Brian McBride, a first-time finalist for the award, finished second with a total of 194 points. Defender Carlos Bocanegra, also a first-time finalist, received a total of 130 points
and finished third
FCOL he even finished behind a guy that hardly played for the US this year - where did they pull these 206 journalists from? their NBA beats? the gossip page? high times?
what a freakin' joke... Maybe they finished top 2 because they were the only ones in the provacative NY Times Magazine spread.
nicodemus
07 Oct 2003, 07:09 PM
I wonder if he was more excited by the trophy or the really big key.
http://www.mlsnet.com/content/03/images/honda0000donovan.jpg
Roehl Sybing
07 Oct 2003, 09:21 PM
Take out Cuba in the Gold Cup and this would not be a discussion. Boca was a more consistent player this year.
lplaksina
07 Oct 2003, 10:05 PM
Originally posted by bluedaddy19
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=hondaplayerofyear&prov=st&type=lgns
i'm sorry, but it should have gone to bocanegra
That would be in your humble opinion, right? And of course as a member of bigsoccer, you're obviously more knowledgeable than any sportswriter.
Get over it, it's a small prop for a good year.
Boca a good player, and so is Brian. Any one of them deserves the award, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION.
onefineesq
08 Oct 2003, 12:39 AM
Originally posted by guamster
Although I would not have minded Boca winning the award, Donovan does have the numbers to back up his claim to the award as well. From the referenced article:
"Donovan led the U.S. National Team in scoring with seven goals. In a July CONCACAF Gold Cup match against Cuba, he became only the fourth American player ever to score four goals in one game. He finished in a tie as the Gold Cup's leading scorer."
well duhhhhhh, of course he has more goals ......... he IS playing forward, isn't he? the trophy isn't for top goal scorer. it's for player of the year. and as you have noted, 4 of those goals came against a week side that we beat 5 or 6 to nothing. where was Donovan when we needed a big goal against a REAL team, say Brazil the 2 times we played them? oh yeah, that was Bocanegra, our CENTAL DEFENDER who was too busy scoring! it ain't about stats, it's about effect on the game. and consistently, Boca has had more of a positive effect on games than has LD.
voros
08 Oct 2003, 04:17 AM
Bocanegra really got badly hosed here. I thought it should have been a slam dunk for him. He not only had a better year than anyone else, he might have played the best throughout the year of any USA defender in recent memory.
Terrible.
bigdush
08 Oct 2003, 07:57 AM
I try to look at it as which would have the most negative impact if they couldn't step on the field?
Thinking of it that way, I say that Mcbride is definitely a rung lower than Charlie and Landon.
Although a fairly tight race, I think that Charlie was more important (valuable). No matter who he took the field with in defense, he always finished as the veritable "mortar" holding the sometimes shaky brick wall together.
Example: Without Bocanegra (due to his offensive and defensive prowess) the Brasil game never goes to extra time and USA walks off in big time defeat in regular time .
Bruce S
08 Oct 2003, 08:26 AM
Originally posted by voros
Bocanegra really got badly hosed here. I thought it should have been a slam dunk for him. He not only had a better year than anyone else, he might have played the best throughout the year of any USA defender in recent memory.
Terrible.
I can't agree with you there.I think Boca would have been a good choice, but Landon led the team in scoring and is an absolutely indispensable part of the attack.It is one thing to say that Carlos deserved it, but hosed? I don't think so.
By the way, the top attackers always win the awards-that is ther nature of the sport I guess. Has Pope won this? I don't think he has but I am not sure.He certainly deserved it over the years.Who was the last defender to win the EPL player of the year? I know that Steve Nicol won inthe 80s but has any defender won since?
MarioKempes
08 Oct 2003, 08:33 AM
With all due respect to Landon, I would have voted for Bocanegra. My 2nd choice would have been McBride, especially for his time with Everton.
afgrijselijkheid
08 Oct 2003, 08:37 AM
Originally posted by MarioKempes
With all due respect to Landon, I would have voted for Bocanegra. My 2nd choice would have been McBride, especially for his time with Everton.
the award is given for USMNT play, not club play
Bruce S
08 Oct 2003, 09:10 AM
Originally posted by MarioKempes
With all due respect to Landon, I would have voted for Bocanegra. My 2nd choice would have been McBride, especially for his time with Everton.
as bluedaddy said, it EXPLICTLY is for national team play.If club was included, who else but Friedel could have won last year?