Personally, I think he's the best outside back we have and he's worthy of at least being on the All-Star Ballot.
Well, since I'm going to the game, I'd love to see Hott Toddy play. Not that I don't get to see him play enough, but any chance I can get.... Seriously though, he's a great player. But this is his first year. And I don't really think he's become an "all-star" yet. Then again, I don't know that Craigy's really an all-star player either. So I don't know. Todd will have a lot of time to shine. He's got many years ahead of him.
It's a shame that Waibel's on the ballot. After watching his abysmal performance on Saturday I realized that he's absolutely lost without a central defense to tell him what to do. It certainly didn't help to have Agoos get hurt and Eddie Robinson leave the game, moving us into some kind of 3-5-2 formation. Dunivant should be on the ballot.
You are so lucky, I have to settle for those occasional close-ups he gets when he takes the corner kicks. Sure it's Todd's rookie year, but it's also Ricardo Clark and Mike Magee's rookie year for the Metrostars as well as Alecko Eskandarian's for DC and that didn't stop them from getting their names on the ballot. He's definitely one of the top rookies in the league and a top contender for Rookie of the Year. He'd just better be on that ballot next year.
Alecko and Mike are both forwards. Unfortunately, defenders never get any of the glory. They don't score a goal every game. If a goal is scored by the other team it's always some defender's fault (or the keeper - but most of the time it's a defender). And so on and so forth. You get my drift.... It's crazy but I really, really think that's why those two were on the ballot and Todd wasn't. Hate to say it, but defenders just never get the recognition they deserve. Such is their life.
Last time I checked Dunivant had more goals and total points than "Alecko" and he was a pt behind "Mike".
I realize that. You realize that. But the players that get the most recognition for their stats are not typically defenders. Forwards are typically heroicised (is that a word?!) and get more public recognition. Ask some random person if they know who Landon is. Then ask them if they know who Todd is. Wait, I'll ask my mom (she's not even a soccer person - she knows some stuff cuz of me).... Yeah, she definitely knows Landon. Todd - not at all.
Ask her who "Alecko" is or "Mike", not Landon.......Dork! That's like asking someone who doesn't know basketball if they know who Shaq O'neal is, as opposed to who Ben Wallace is.
I'm probably the last person to defend Waibel this season, but switching from outside back to center back is a big change (speaking from experience here...). The angles are completely different, you don't have the sidelines (especially at Spartan) to help, you have to cover more players running through your area, etc. But yes, Waibel has completed maybe one pass per game to a teammate. At least Ibsen could make a pass now and again...
All you have to do is go to a baseball game any season, and check out their All-Star ballots, to realize what a farce the ballots are. Waibel won't get voted in(?), and the managers will name the remaining players who really deserve to be there. PS--you left out the option, "I'm not surprised he's not on the ballot, yet wouldn't be surprised if he's named to the team." So I didn't vote.