Goodbye Nicky. Thank you for your inexplicable dedication and awesome play. You will never be equaled.
Some nice sentiments on a Sounders board for Nick, here. Nobody has anything bad to say about the guy, except that they hate playing against him. They may not like RSL but everyone loves Nick. I hope he sticks around in some capacity. Cheers to the G.O.A.T.!
Maybe the broadcast didn't show it, but I found the lack of an ovation for Nicky kind of dumb. Not saying I expected it to happen, but a classy organization would give Nicky a nod even in their moment of triumph
I am going to miss Rimando so hard. As I’ve seen along with you all, no one seems to have a bad word to say about him. I honestly don’t know how you accomplish that as a professional athlete, except by being pure class I suppose. I found myself wondering if his quiet, polite, professional demeanor actually plaid into his never winning Goalkeeper of the Year, since he never drew attention to himself as a “personality” through antics. If so, it’s a sad commentary on the way the system works, but also, stuff that award all the more. I’m obviously just rambling, but I don’t know what else to do!
I really think it’s because he never did the MLS/Europe thing nor played a high profile role with the USMNT. And to be honest, the guys who won the award had great seasons the year they did if I recall correctly.
Rimando, like so many others that are consistently good, was victim of his own success. It became expected that Rimando would be great in goal. When you go look at the list of winners, especially over the last 10 years, you have to laugh at how many names on there are not good GKs anymore, if they still play.
It's difficult when the length of evaluation for these awards is only one season. I guess a player's reward for being consistently top-5 in a position but never first is a long and well-paid career. They should have a player of the quinquennium (it's a word, dumbass) or something to recognize consistent bouts of excellence.
Rimando wins the MLS Save of the Year against the Rapids (natch!) https://www.mlssoccer.com/save-of-the-year/2019
Great piece in The Athletic - "How Nick Rimando's Final Match Highlighted His Brilliance One Last Time" - that is worth your time if you have a subscription.