It's not up on the website yet, but .... D.C. United News Release For Immediate Release - October 23, 2002 Contact: Doug Hicks (703-397-5448) or Boris Flores (703-397-5452) D.C. United Names Season Award Winners CHANTILLY, VA (October 23, 2002) - Nick Rimando, Marco Etcheverry, and Eddie Pope were announced today as the recipients of D.C. United's club awards for the 2002 season. The awards will be presented at United's annual club seat holder dinner, to be held tonight at Maggiano's in Washington, DC. Rimando was honored as United's HONDA Most Valuable Player and the ADT Defender of the Year, his first awards from the club. Etcheverry was named the Budweiser Scoring Champion, and Pope was named the US Soccer Foundation Humanitarian of the Year for his off-field work in the community. The HONDA MVP, the ADT Defender of the Year and the US Soccer Foundation Humanitarian of the Year were determined through balloting of media members, while the Budweiser scoring champion is given to the team's leading scorer based on points, with two points for a goal and one for an assist. HONDA Most Valuable Player: In his first year with D.C. United, Rimando was the only United player to play in every single minute of the 2002 season, with a league-high 2,588 minutes in his 28 starts. While registering seven shutouts for the season, Nick kept the team's playoff hopes alive with an impressive command of the backfield. After his third shutout over LA, in week 15, Rimando brought on the attention in becoming one of six players recognized as the MLS Player of the Week on multiple occasions. ADT Defender of the Year: Rimando's exceptional season was capped off with being named as United's ADT Defender of the Year. The California native notched and set a team season record of 131 saves in 28 games. His saving grace places him at the MLS number two spot behind the MetroStars' Tim Howard. Rimando posted a 1.39 GAA this year (second in club history to Tom Presthus' record-setting 1.37 in 1999). Budweiser Scoring Champion: For the first time in his seven-year history with the club, midfielder Marco Etcheverry finished the season as the D.C. United Budweiser Scoring Leader. The United captain ended the season with 14 points (3 goals, 8 assists). Etcheverry's helper on the last goal of the season broke him out of a first-place tie with fellow midfielder Bobby Convey. Etcheverry's eight assists was also a team-high, giving "El Diablo" at least a share of the team lead in the category for all seven years of the club's history. US Soccer Federation Foundation Humanitarian: Since 1997, Eddie Pope has worked to introduce the sport of soccer to inner-city youth in North Carolina and Washington, D.C. areas. Through his non-profit foundation, The Eddie Pope Foundation, Eddie works with area Boys and Girls Clubs to also address health, nutrition and other personal issues. Most importantly, Pope believes soccer provides a venue for children to learn and build teamwork skills and gives them a sense of personal achievement. The EPF's overall mission is "to use the sport of soccer to help develop the mind, body and spirit of at risk youths." Honda ADT Budweiser US Soccer Foundation AT&T MVP Defender Scoring Champion Humanitarian Wireless Rookie 1996 Marco Etcheverry Jeff Agoos Raul Diaz Arce - - 1997 Marco Etcheverry Eddie Pope Jaime Moreno - - 1998 Marco Etcheverry Eddie Pope Roy Lassiter - - 1999 Jaime Moreno Jeff Agoos Roy Lassiter - - 2000 Jaime Moreno Jeff Agoos Jaime Moreno Eddie Pope - 2001 Jaime Moreno Eddie Pope Abdul T. Conteh Abdul T. Conteh Santino Quaranta 2002 Nick Rimando Nick Rimando Marco Etcheverry Eddie Pope - --- WWW.DCUNITED.COM ---
DC United's Official Awards [R] http://www.dcunited.com/index.cfm?section=main&cont_id=138999 MVP: Nick Rimando Defender: Nick Rimando Humanitarian: Eddie Pope Scoring Champ: Marco Etcheverry* * Denotes winning the title in a very very sad year for scoring, clearly the nadir of United's short but storied existence.
can't really argue with any of those. the scoring one is based on points, little tho they may be. nick obviously had the best year on the team and eddie is certainly worthy for all the great work he does in the community. too bad united didn't boot an award just to give us some offseason fodder for discussion.
La Barra Brava's own generalismo Oscar was in attendance check out a few candid photos of the event at barra-brava.com (see photo gallery). See you all on Saturday around the keg. Vamos United!
MORE Pics from the Awards: http://www.barra-brava.com/photo gallery/D.C. United awards 2002/index.html
Still, this is one of those years where the awards don't mean as much because we were so damned awful. I think winning a roster spot for next year will please most of the players.