Chung with fair play award? Damn ballot box stuffing. Should have gone as a shared honor between Mathis and Razov.
Apparently awards were selected with this idea in mind: throw a bone to the fans of teams that have nothing to be proud of this year. Keep the rabble pacified.
Alexi Lalas - Defender of the Year. Fewer goals allowed, he scored more points (12 to 7), played more minutes, and has led his team to two finals, and a supporters shield, the league's best record, etc etc, and Chicago finished below .500 and got a real early exit in the playoffs. Pick any of these above joe cannon for gk of the year, howard, rimando, busch, I mean howard and rimando both got shelled with shots, made incredible stop after incredible stop, and put up decent number with questionable teams in front of them. Busch came from out of nowhere to be very nearly the leader in goals against and lead his team into the playoff semi finals. Come Back - Ben Olsen, if you're injured for two years, and come back and play some meaningful minutes, is much more of an acommplishment then getting hurt in October 2001, and missing a total of 1 mls match before coming back.
Rimando deserved but, I believe that Cannon had a better year than Howard.....not a terrible choice.. I thought Lalas would win either comeback or defensive player of the year though...
C.J. Brown Ante Razov Zach Thornton BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA.... No seriously, what profiled said except I would have thrown in Milton Reyes for Defender of the Year and Kevin Hartman (along with Busch) as a Keeper of the Year candidates.
I can't believe Lalas did not win either comeback or defender of the year either. With all the #@$% he has taken from fans, this would have been nice pay back. Andy
It's a horrible choice. There are at least three GKs that played better than Cannon: Howard, Rimando, and Busch. Cannon has good numbers because of really good defense in front of him, but he gave a bunch of really soft goals.
The thing was that the really good defense wasn't there most of the time. Wade Barrett and Eddie Robinson tried to hold it together, but the defense as a whole struggled. When one of the finalists led the league in goals allowed and missed the playoffs, and another couldn't help his team avoid being the worst in the league, Cannon is not a surprising choice. I think Busch should have had more consideration, but he suffers from not being a starter long enough to build a national reputation.
I agree with your thoughts above with the exception of Olsen whom did not have any significant impact or playing enough playing time to be considered for a season long award.
Fair enough. As for the San Ho fan, if you're going to go by numbers alone, then Cannon shouldn't win it, it should be either Harman or Busch, both had better numbers and carried their teams further.
Cannon led the league in shutouts and was .01 behind Hartman and Busch in GAA, and was a consistent starter for the entire season, unlike Hartman and Busch who both missed 10 or more games. Carrying their teams further is irrelevant, as this is a regular season award.
The biggest problem I had with Lalas in the comeback category was that he didn't come back from anything. As for defender of the year, he's not the best defender around. He's good in the air, and good offensively, and his positioning is much improved. However, much of his defending seems to consist of staying close enough to offensive players to A) head away any high passes and B) knock the offensive player down if they are about to beat him for pace. It's a good thing for him that the MLS refs don't call persistant infringement.
No problem with this, really. Gato didn't start at the beginning of the season. Bunch of good keepers this year, anyway. Had to go to someone, I guess. Interesting choice. You know, this reminds me of a fun word game. Maybe you'd like to play. Simply arrange these words into a sentence: You've Got To Be Fucking Kidding Me Enjoy!
I saw him 4 or 5 times, and that's what I saw. Since Twellman's still day to day and will be severely hampered by his knee injury if he does play, "speedy" Lalas might have half a chance.
Re: Re: More awards given out It's really THAT hard for you to believe Carlos Bocanegra was a better defender this year than Lalas?
You couldn't be more wrong, dolt. Past winners on teams who had something to cheer about: Aquafina Goalkeeper of the Year Winners 2000 Tony Meola KC Wizards MLS Cup Champs 1999 Kevin Hartman LA Galaxy You may recall they went to the Final 1998 Zach Thornton Chicago Fire MLS Cup Champs ADT Defender of the Year Winners 2001 Jeff Agoos SJ Earthquakes MLS Cup Champs 2000 Peter Vermes KC Wizards MLS Cup Champs 1999 Robin Fraser LA Galaxy MLS Cup Finalist 1998 Lubos Kubik Chicago Fire MLS Cup Champs 1997 Eddie Pope D.C. United MLS Cup Champs ACE Comeback Player of the Year Winners 2001 Troy Dayak SJ Earthquakes MLS Cup Champs 2000 Tony Meola KC Wizards MLS Cup Champs
Re: Re: Re: More awards given out Gee. Let me think about that for an eighth of a second. Played more games, gave up fewer goals, led his league-leading defense. This makes Landon winning US player of the year look like a good choice in comparison.