The 2009 Benny Awards

The 6th Annual United Awards Reception isn't the only United Awards Reception going on tonight. Because it's also time to announce the winners of the 2009 Benny Awards!

1. The Richie Award for the most underrated player goes to Bryan Namoff


2. The Nelly Award for the best newcomer goes to Dejan Jakovic


3. The Convey Award for the best rookies goes to Chris Pontius


4. The Donnety Award for the biggest disappointment goes to Danny Szetela


5. The Grosy Award for the ballsiest player goes to Ben Olsen


6. The Freddy Award for the biggest story goes to Chris Pontius and Rodney Wallace


7. The Harkesy Award for the greatest leader goes to Ben Olsen


8. The Popie Award for the best defender goes to Dejan Jakovic


9. The Etchy Award for the team's MVP goes to Dejan Jakovic


10. The Benny Award for the highest ADR rating goes to Chris Pontius

Award 9: The Etchy

By defintion, the Etchy Award goes to DC United's most valuable player. The winner of the award should be the player who United can least afford to live without, and who gives the team the best chance of winning. I'm going to present this award a bit differently because I want to give you more choices and less bias.

Last year's rightful winner was Jaime Moreno, whose 10 goals and 10 assists set him apart from the rest of the field. It's much harder to make an argument this season for any player to have set himself apart as much as Moreno did in 2008.

1. Jaime Moreno (8 goals, 3 assists, 23 games)
2. Christian Gomez (6, 4, 26)
3. Chris Pontius (4, 3, 22)
4. Santino Quaranta (2, 6, 22)
5. Ben Olsen (1, 1, 19)
6. Clyde Simms (0, 0, 27)
7. Dejan Jakovic (0, 0, 22)
8. Bryan Namoff (2, 4, 26)

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through Monday, and remember to post in the comments section to be eligible for the exciting prizes that I announced last week.

Next up: The Benny - Who has been the best player on average this season, as tracked via this blog? Your chance for voting is done. This one is all on me!

Award 8: The Popie

By definition, the Popie award goes to United's best defensive player in 2009. The award's namesake is former national team defender Eddie Pope. Not only is Pope widely recognized as the best defender in United's history, but he is also responsible for the most important goal in United's history.

Last year's winner was Bryan Namoff with over 50% of the vote. It's also telling of DC's defensive struggles in 2008 that the runner-up for this award last year was Devon McTavish, and he had not started a single game in central defense all year until last night.

1. Bryan Namoff is a strong contender to defend his title in 2009 with another great year. He's also contributed to the team with his most productive offensive year to date, with 2 goals and 4 assists.

2. Dejan Jakovic has been the first central defender in years to solidify his position in DC United's lineup, starting every game while healthy. He has exhibited great vision, anticipation, movement, and strength, placing him among the best central defenders in MLS.

3. Clyde Simms may not be a true defender by trade, but he is the team's best ball-winner, and he won the "Defender of the Year" award at last year's team reception.

4. Josh Wicks started 19 regular season games for DC United this year and earned 5 shutouts. His 1.40 goals against average is not among the best in the league, but he appeared to have locked down the starting goalkeeper position for the team before getting injured.

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through the end of the season, and remember to post in the comments section to be eligible for the exciting prizes that I announced last week.

Next up: The Esky - Who is United's most valuable player?

Benny Award 7: The Harkesy

By definition, the Harkesy Award should go to the DC United player who has been the strongest leader for our team this season. On-field leadership is important, but for this award, it isn't everything. And that would be evidenced by the fact that Ben Olsen won the award last year after playing only 15 minutes. The award's namesake is captain for life John Harkes who was United's captain for the first three years of the team's existence.

1. Jaime Moreno is the team's captain this season, and has always had an uncanny ability to hold the ball, distribute, and take over a match. However, Moreno has apparently only been worthy of 11 starts this season, despite his 8 goals and 3 assists.

2. Ben Olsen leads by example on the field, exuding courage, heart, brains, and whatever Dorothy was looking for too. Olsen has been one of the few players on the team who looks like he has given all he's got every match of the year.

3. Santino Quaranta appears to be poised to take over as the leader of the next generation of players on the team. He has been the most vocal in the media, and has set a fine example for the rookies and other younger players.

4. Tom Soehn is by title the technical leader of the team. Parts of this season have certainly been a challenge for Soehn in assembling a strong lineup every week with injuries to key personnel and international appearances to fend off, but he was able to guide the team to first place for much of the first half of the season before being faced with these issues. Late in the year though, with United falling from playoff competition and dropping multiple home matches, Soehn may have lost his team.

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through the end of the season, and remember to post in the comments section to be eligible for the exciting prizes that I announced last week.

Next up: The Popie - Who is United's best defender this season?

Benny Award 6: The Freddy

By definition, the Freddy Award goes to the biggest story for DC United this year. This award should go to the individual who has created the biggest stir around DC this season. The award's namesake Freddy Adu wasn't only the biggest story in DC when he was on the team, he was also the biggest story in MLS. Still to this day, the most frequent question we United fans get from non-soccer-fans is "Does Freddy Adu still play for them?"

Last year's award went to Santino Quaranta after Goff's article on his struggles with painkillers gained national attention.

1. Kevin Payne and his very public argument with Adrian Hanauer of the Sounders sent waves through the DC sports community, starting with the full page ads the team ran in every newspaper they could find. This propaganda was a huge success by marketing standards, resulting in attendance of over 17,000 at the US Open Cup Final, but unfortunately did not result in a win.

2. Josh Wicks and his short temper earned him some bad publicity nationwide after stomping on Freddy Montero in the Open Cup Final. And that was just a week after he had a shoving match with Marc Burch in the middle of a game.

3. Christian Gomez returned to DC this season after being an incredible disappointment in Colorado, and he returned with something to prove. Gomez was cast aside last year in favor of fellow Argentinian Marcelo Gallardo, but returned to the team in 2009 earning 6 goals and 4 assists to easily surpass Gallardo's production.

4. Chris Pontius and Rodney Wallace may be stars in the making for DC United. These two rookies have taken the league by storm, and are respectively #1 and (tied for) #2 on the team in appearances this year.

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through the end of the season, and remember to post in the comments section to be eligible for the exciting prizes that I announced last week.

Up next: The Harkesy - Who is the team leader?

Benny Award 5: The Grosy

Before we get to the award, an announcement...

Over the next two and a half weeks, we'll be running a contest here with some pretty cool prizes to give away. And to win them, all you have to do is vote for the Benny Awards! The team's hooked me up with the following prizes: a DC United/Volkswagen team scarf, the 2009 DC United media guide, and a Gatorade/MLS towel. To enter, you just need to post in the Comments section, and somehow identify yourself. You can identify yourself either by posting with a public Google account so I can see your email address when you comment, or sign your comment with your email address, or just send me an email at dcu.umd[at]gmail.com to let me know which comment is yours. Yeah its that easy. There are 6 awards left including this one, and you can vote once per award, so that's 6 chances to win!

I will be giving out the prizes after the last regular season match as follows:

The Gatorade/MLS towel will go to the funniest/most creative comment.
The 2009 media guide will go to the most convincing/intelligent comment.
The DCU/VW scarf will go to a comment chosen completely at random.


Now let's get down to business.

By definition, the Grosy Award goes to the DCU player who you think of as a warrior. To the guy who isn't afraid to lay his body on the line, play through injuries, and do whatever it takes to win. The award's namesake is Josh Gros, whose soccer career actually ended way too early because he was exactly the type of warrior that I just described.

Last year's winner was Santino Quaranta, who was frequently seen playing with a cast on his arm, and played through multiple injuries throughout the year.

1. Luciano Emilio is nominated mainly for his performance at Marathon in the opening CCL match, in which he literally split his head open while scoring. He returned to the field moments later and played the remainder of the match with a bandage.

2. Clyde Simms and Dejan Jakovic each took just about 3 weeks to recover from hernia surgery, an operation that cost Marcelo Gallardo half his season in 2008.

3. Ben Olsen has issues with both of his ankles, his knees, his chest hair, and probably more. Yet after sitting out all but 15 minutes last season, he is back with a vengeance and fighting for the team with every minute that he spends on the field.

4. Greg Janicki got back spasms from sitting on the bench too long and was placed on injured reserve.

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through the end of the season, and remember to post in the comments section to be eligible for prizes.

Up next: The Freddy. What has been DC United's biggest story this year?

Benny Award 4: The Donnety

By definition, the Donnety Award goes to the player who has been the biggest disappointment for DC United in 2009. The award's namesake Matias Donnet came to United in 2006 and was seen as a potential all star due to his pedigree after playing for Boca Juniors, as well as spending some time in Serie A. But Donnet turned into a huge disappointment, playing in only 8 matches for United.

Last year's "winner" by just a hair was the star-studded combination of Zach Wells and Jose Carvallo. These two were brought to DC with high hopes of establishing a goalkeeper competition. Wells won the competition, but then took 17 matches to earn his first clean sheet. Meanwhile, Carvallo looked awful in his few appearances.

1. Luciano Emilio has been a scapegoat for a lot of fans this season. His 9 goals this season leads the team, but that's down from 11 in 2008 and 20 in 2007. Emilio may be a big disappointment when you consider his $750,000 salary, but is he really the biggest disappointment this year?

2. Fred has demonstrated a noted drop-off since joining MLS from Australia's A League. His 2 goals and 4 assists this year is identical to his stats from 2008, but he has not had the impact on games that he was having in 2007, and he now sits solidly behind two rookies on our depth chart.

3. Danny Szetela joined United via the allocation system in mid-July, but has only played in two league matches. Initially we heard that he was benched because of the "coach's decision", which seemed to indicate that he had done something to piss Tommy off. But lately all we've heard is that he isn't playing because he just isn't as good as the other players in front of him. Regardless, Szetela has yet to make an impression on the team, which some might call disappointing.

4. Greg Janicki earned himself a starting job in central defense last year and was in position to be Jakovic's chief backup this year. Uninspiring play and one terrible performance against Marathon instead earned himself a regular spot on the "Not in 18" list, and then eventually on the DL.

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through the end of the season, and feel free to argue for your choice in the comments section.

Up next: The Grosy - Who is DC United's gutsiest player?

Benny Award 3: The Convey

By definition, the Convey Award goes to DC United's rookie of the year. The award's namesake is Bobby Convey, who coincidentally is on the other side today. Convey was very promising in his short time here in DC, and started 18 matches his rookie season, which sounded like a lot until this year.

Last year's Convey Award went to Ryan Cordeiro with a huge 76% margin. Cordeiro now plays for USL-2 Real Maryland, and the only nominee still in the league is Mike Zaher. Pretty good chance that will not be the case with the strength of our 2009 draft class.

1. Chris Pontius was the leading contender for MLS Rookie of the Year early in the season, and with 4 goals, he is tied with Zakuani for most goals by a rookie. Pontius has played in most matches at forward, but has also seen time at right wing, central midfield, and now looks to have secured a job starting on the left wing.

2. Rodney Wallace has emerged as the most versatile player on the team. He has started at left wing, left back, but mostly in central defensive/holding midfield. With appearances in 25 of 26 games this season, Wallace has been very productive with 3 goals and 3 assists.

3. Brandon Barklage looked well on his way to becoming a fan favorite with his exciting play-making style. He had two goals in two Open Cup matches before injury unfortunately forced his season to end early.

4. Milos Kocic lost the goalkeeper competition to Wicks, but his potential has been clear in his 2 MLS starts, and in shutouts in the CCL and Open Cup.

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through the end of the season, and feel free to argue for your choice in the comments section.

Up next: The Donnety - Which DC United player has been the biggest disappointment in 2009?

Benny Award 2: The Nelly

By definition, the Nelly Award goes to the United player who has made the most significant positive impact in his first year with the club. The award’s namesake Ryan Nelsen became a starter shortly into his first season with United, and would go on to guide the team to an MLS Cup in 2004.

It’s a testament to the total failure of our 2008 acquisitions that not one of last year’s nominees is still on the team. The winner, Louis Crayton, was the only player to make it onto the roster at the start of 2009, only to lose his job to one of this year’s contenders.

1. Josh Wicks has earned 5 shutouts in 18 starts for DC this season, and has at times looked like one of the top goalkeepers in MLS. Wicks is a good shot stopper and controls his box well. It’s only because of some mental errors and a bad temper that leads some fans to question whether or not he is a long-term solution. I’d put my money on Josh Wicks to win a fight against any other goalkeeper in the league.
2. Dejan Jakovic joined the team this off-season from the famed Serbian club Red Star Belgrade, and also looks to have earned a starting role for the Canadian National Team. This young defender has taken a leadership role in our backline, and has the patience to distribute out of the back without turning the ball over (a rare quality on this team). It’s hard to imagine how poor DC would be without Jakovic, but it might also be hard to give this award to any defender when United is still the fourth worst team in the league in goals against.


3. Chris Pontius the rookie from UCSB has appeared in all but one league match this season, and gives the team a versatile option at either forward or midfielder. With 4 goals and 2 assists on the season, Pontius has looked best when playing up front with good service from Quaranta on the wing.


4. Rodney Wallace the rookie from Maryland has appeared in all but one league match this season, and gives the team a versatile option anywhere in the midfield. Wallace’s aggression, speed, and fitness level has benefited him even when occasionally filling in at CDM, but he has done the most damage (3 goals, 3 assists) from the left wing.

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through the end of the season, and feel free to argue for your choice in the comments section.

Up next: The Convey – Who is DC United’s rookie of the year?

Benny Award 1: The Richie

By definition, the Richie Award goes to the most underrated player on the United roster. The award's namesake Richie Williams was probably the hardest working player on our championship teams in the 90s, but flew mostly under the radar when compared to the better known players.

Last year’s winner by a wide margin was Clyde Simms, earning over 50% of the vote. This year’s nominees are:

1. Clyde Simms continues to be one of the best defensive midfielders in MLS, while still going virtually unnoticed in the national scene. Simms is a great ball-winner, and this year has even done well when occasionally forced to take on a new role as central defender and leader of the back line.


2. Bryan Namoff was the runner-up for this award last year, and has very quietly had his most productive season ever with two goals and four assists, all while being our most consistent defender. It still makes no sense to me that Namoff is repeatedly passed up for USMNT duty in favor of guys like Marvel Wynne.


3. Marc Burch earns his first Benny Award nomination by virtue of being the lowest rated DC United starter in the eyes of most fans. But does he deserve to be rated higher? Burch has improved defensively every year since being converted to a left back, his left foot continues to be a weapon when serving long crosses in from the back, and let’s not forget the Burchie bomb, which earned him a goal against Dallas just a couple weeks ago.
   
4. Jaime Moreno owns the record for most career goals in MLS, but this year he hasn’t really gotten the respect that he deserves, even from the coaching staff. Moreno has only started 10 games so far this season, but he is still second place on the team with 7 goals (just 2 behind Emilio, who was started 20 games). Sure, some of those goals may have come from penalty kicks, but Moreno has scored 2 more goals than Blanco this year, and has the same number of goals and assists as Ching, yet he only gets a fraction of the national media attention that they get.
   

poll by twiigs.com

Please enter your votes now through the end of the season, and feel free to argue for your choice in the comments section.

Up next: The Nelly – What new addition has made the biggest impact for United this year?

The Benny Awards 2009

Ah yes, it's the day we've all been waiting for - the return of the Benny Awards!

If you're new to this blog, then you will learn that the Bennies consist of a series of categories, each with four United players nominated. You the fans get to vote on the winner for each category, and the winners are revealed at the end of the season. You can vote up to once per day per category, and once again, you cannot vote for yourself! Here is the schedule for when the voting will begin for each category:

1. The Richie - Friday, 9/18/09
2. The Nelly - Tuesday, 9/22/09
3. The Convey - Saturday, 9/26/09
4. The Donnety - Friday, 10/2/09
5. The Grosy - Tuesday, 10/6/09
6. The Freddy - Friday, 10/9/09
7. The Harkesy - Tuesday, 10/13/09
8. The Popie - Friday, 10/16/09
9. The Etchy - Thursday, 10/22/09
10. The Benny - Tuesday, 10/27/09

All winners will be revealed the week or two after the conclusion of the regular season.

During the voting for the Nelly last year, after I unfortunately left Santino Quaranta off the list of nominations for an award that he probably would have won, it was decided that I should consult with you guys before finalizing all the nominations. I have a pretty good feel for who should be nominated for most awards, but here's a couple that I'd like to solicit your help on:

The Richie - Who do you consider to be most "underrated" players on United's roster? Doesn't even necessarily have to be a starter, but who do you think is given less credit than he deserves?

The Grosy - This award goes to the player who you look at as a warrior - a gutsy player who ignores injuries, overcomes adversity, and leaves it all on the field. Who does this describe this year?

The Freddy - I sometimes have a different perspective on things as a blogger, so what do you think were some of the biggest storylines for United this year?

I appreciate your help. Please tune in on Friday for your first chance to vote in the 2009 Benny Awards!

Awarding the rest of the Bennies

In an incredibly close race, the dynamic dud duo of Zach Wells and Jose Carvallo wins the Donnety Award for biggest disappointment. These two heralded acquisitions were supposed to have a heated competition for the starting goalkeeper job, but instead they were only in competition with Rod Dyachenko for this unpopular award.

The Grosy Award for the bravest United player this year goes to Santino Quaranta, a guy who played through numerous injuries, which endeared him to the fans much more than several of our more renowned acquisitions who would rather sit on the sideline (or in their home country).

After some early competition, Santino Quaranta became the first United player to win multiple awards when he pulled away late to win the Freddy Award. Not only did Quaranta have to fight off his struggles with addiction, but he also had to fight off Olsen's media darling status and Gallardo's comparisons to Gomez in order to capture this award.

In perhaps the biggest surprise on the ballot, Ben Olsen emerged as the winner of the Harkesy Award, despite playing only 15 minutes all season. Even though his injuries kept him out the whole year, Olsen led by example in his training and work ethic, and edged Moreno by a slim margin in this contest.

With the team giving up a second to worst 51 goals this season, one defender still stood out and captured the Popie Award, and that was Bryan Namoff. DC's Ironman was about the only consistent part of our defense this year.

In another runaway affair, Jaime Moreno emerged victorious as the team MVP in voting for the Etchy Award. Moreno's 10 goals and 10 assists in the twilight of his career made him one of the few bright spots for the team.

And to close out the ceremonies, the 2008 Benny Award goes to Jaime Moreno. This hard working 34 year old is going strong, and the team and this blog will be happy to have him back next year.

Awarding the Richie, the Nelly, and the Convey

Our first recipient in the inaugural Benny Awards is Clyde Simms, who won the Richie Award with 53% of the vote. I thought this award would be much closer with heavy competition from Bryan Namoff early on, but Simmsy eventually pulled away for the victory.

In a bit of a surprise, the Nelly Award for the biggest contribution from a newcomer went to Louis Crayton. Despite playing only half a season for the team, and having a fairly mediocre 1.58 GAA, the underdog Crayton earned the victory, defeating more overpriced newcomers like Marcelo Gallardo.

I totally agree with the outcome of the voting for the Convey Award, because I think that Ryan Cordeiro was the best rookie on the team with the most potential and deserved to win. But I do question the integrity of this poll a bit. How come 91 people voted in this poll, but no other poll had over 50 votes? Perhaps there was some kind of Huskie Conspiracy?

Tune in next week as we reveal the winners of the Donnety, the Grosy, and the Freddy. Voting in these categories ends on Saturday, and there's one category that is still too way too close to call.

Award 10: The Benny

By definition, the Benny Award goes to the player most recognized for his contributions in the DCUMD blog. The award's namesake of course is Ben Olsen, the guy who everyone likes to call the talisman for DC United. Benny has meant more to this club on and off the field I think than any other player in its history. And on a day that we've all already voted our opinions on something else equally important, this is the one award with no formal voting at all. I've already got the winner in mind, and it's based on the player ratings that you've all been reading on this blog from every game throughout the entire season. Yeah, it's time for me to be a little selfish.

So with that description, and with these ratings in mind, who do you think should win the Benny Award?

Tom Soehn- C R R C R T T C C T T C R T R T R T
Zach Wells- C R C T C R C C R T R C R
Louis Crayton- T C C R R R
Jose Carvallo- R
James Thorpe- T
Bryan Namoff- R C T T T T C T T C T T R R T R T
Gonzalo Peralta- C C T T R R C R C R R R
Gonzalo Martinez- C T C C C C C R R R R C R R R T
Marc Burch- T R C R C R T T C C R R C C C R T C R C R R R T T T T
Devon McTavish- C T R C T R C C C R C C R R R R T R
Greg Janicki- T T C
Mike Zaher- T R
Pat Carroll- T R C C R
Clyde Simms- T C T R T T T C R T T R R T

Marcelo Gallardo- C T R T R R C R

Fred- T R C C C T R C R C T C T R R C R

Santino Quaranta- R T C R C C R T R T T C T T T C C R C

Joe Vide- T R T T R

Rod Dyachenko- C C R R R C R R R R C R C R

Dominic Mediate- R C R

Dan Stratford- R

Ryan Cordeiro- T C C C

Quavas Kirk- R C R T R C

Craig Thompson- C R C R C R R

Ivan Guerrero- T T C R C T T R C

Ryan Miller- C

Jaime Moreno- C T C R T T T T T T C T T T R C C
Luciano Emilio- R T R T R R C T T T T T T R T R T C R C C
Francis Doe- C T C T R T T
Thabiso Khumalo- C T R C R
Franco Niell- C R R

= T
= C
= R

We'll dive into this more later in the week, and start announcing the winners of the Bennies next Tuesday. There's still a bit of time left to get your votes in, and some of the categories (especially the Donnety and Harkesy) are still too close to call.

Award 9: The Etchy

By defintion, the Etchy Award goes to the team's Most Valuable Player. The winner of this award should be the player who had the biggest influence in driving the team to victory. The award's namesake Marco Etcheverry helped deliver 3 MLS Cups to the club, and was named League MVP in 1998. He's also a member of the all-time MLS Best XI.

1. A great candidate for this award is our captain Jaime Moreno. With 10 goals and 10 assists this season, Moreno continues to be one of the most productive players in the league, even at age 34. A lot of people said his career was over before this season, and a lot of people have already been saying it after this season, but don't let them fool you. Because there is no doubt that DC United is a better team when Moreno is on the field.

2. Last year's league MVP Luciano Emilio was once again one of the top scorers in the league with 11 goals. Although he was quiet early in the year, and probably never fully recovered from injuries late in the year, Emilio is still one of the best strikers in the league, and this season even added 5 assists.

3. Our best defender this year has been Bryan Namoff. With so many new faces on the back line, Namoff was forced to take on more of a leadership role than in years past. The team struggled at times in defense, but it was rarely due to any faults by Namoff.

4. Clyde Simms displayed his best year to date with 2 goals and 2 assists while playing a central defensive midfield role. Simms was the model of consistency this year, being the only player on the roster to start all 30 games.

poll by twiigs.com

(the 2008 Benny Awards)

Award 8: The Popie

By definition, the Popie Award goes to the DC United defender of the year. I think this category is pretty self explanatory. The award's namesake Eddie Pope was the MLS Defender of the Year in 1997, and anchored our team in central defense from 1996 to 2002. Pope remains a member of the MLS All-Time Best XI. It's a bit hard to make an argument that any of United's defenders this year reach Pope's stature.

1. Ironman Bryan Namoff has been our most consistent defender, if nothing else. Earlier in the year I would have argued that he was having his best season as a pro, but I'm not sure that's still the case. Namoff should be considered one of the best right backs in the league, and even played well in central defense this year when he had to.

2. Maybe not the biggest, but certainly the tallest signing this offseason was Gonzalo Peralta. He had some great games this year in shutting down some good offensive players, but also made a few too many individual mistakes that led to goals. Hard to say whether or not the voting for this award would be any different had Peralta been healthy the entire year.

3. The most versatile player on our roster has got to be Devon McTavish. This year, he has played center back, right back, right midfield, and center holding midfield. The problem is that no one seems to know which position he's best at. McTavish began the year as our fifth option at the back, but has since won his starting job back from Martinez. Although not the most physically talented player on the team, Devon has mostly held his own in defense.

4. Sure, he's not exactly a defender, but Louis Crayton also deserves your consideration. Since joining the team, Crayton may not have a winning record (the team is 3-5-3), but he has already helped the team earn more clean sheets than Zach Wells.

poll by twiigs.com

(the 2008 Benny Awards)

Award 7: The Harkesy

By definition, the Harkesy award goes to the United player who has demonstrated outstanding leadership ability. The award's namesake John Harkes is known as Captain For Life. Not only was he our team's first captain, but he was literally our team's first player.

1. United's captain this year is Jaime Moreno, and although Jaime is not the typical in-your-face Beckham style captain, I think he gets his point across. Moreno is usually cool and collected, and leads by example with his level of dedication and work ethic.

2. The other nominal leader of the team is the coach Tom Soehn. Soehn guided the team to a US Open Cup win (it's so easy to forget that). But his tactics and lineups this year have sometimes been questioned, and some indications late in the year may point to a theory that Soehn has maybe lost the support of his players.

3. Despite playing for a very short amount of time, a major leader in our locker room is Ben Olsen. One of my favorite memories of this club this year was the week that United announced the signings of Gallardo and los Gonzalos, Olsen took the group to see a Washington Wizards game as a sort of bonding experience. On and off the field, Olsen is our leader and our talisman.

4. It's not really worth even putting anyone else on here, is it? Early in the year I had Peralta penciled in as a nominee because he was a vocal leader in the defense, and I even considered adding Crayton. Gallardo, Emilio, and Simms have all worn the armband at some point this year, but really no one else is going to beat the above three for votes. If you disagree, please let me hear it in the comments.

poll by twiigs.com

(the 2008 Benny Awards)

I'll be back probably tomorrow with something on the games from last week.

Award 6: The Freddy

By definition, the Freddy award goes to the player who created the biggest story this year. Not necessarily as a distraction, but just a story that created a lot of buzz and got people talking about the team. The award's namesake Freddy Adu was easily the biggest story for MLS as a whole in the 2004 season. Even though he was never a regular starter for United, he will always remain a part of the team's history as the youngest player ever to play a professional sport in the US at age 14.

The best piece of soccer journalism this season was Steve Goff's piece on Santino Quaranta and his past struggles with drug addiction. This article was mentioned numerous times during United broadcasts on television. My favorite part of the article was about how Olsen and Moreno vouched for Quaranta and convinced the front office to give him another chance. Quaranta's play this year has shown that he deserved it.

Another big story this season revolved around Ben Olsen's ankles, but most of all, his only 15 minutes played this year, emerging to a standing ovation from a packed RFK Stadium. This brief appearance inspired a blog post by Dan Steinberg, which was eventually blown to new proportions with weeks of arguing between soccer fans and elitist fans of other sports. This was followed up eventually by an above-the-fold front cover WaPo Sports story comparing the TV ratings of United and the Nationals.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the theme of the season, which was bringing in foreign acquisitions to replace proven quantities at several positions, highlighted most by the replacement of Christian Gomez with Marcelo Gallardo. This season has of course had its share of highs and lows which, coincidentally or not, also tend to follow the pattern of Gallardo's injuries.

Another underlying theme would be the trials and tribulations of Tom Soehn as head coach of United. There were pleas from United fans to fire Soehn up until around week 8 (not the least of which came from this blog). Soehn then helped rally the troops as they enjoyed a 6 game winning streak, but then has since hit rock bottom once again, with his job remaining in jeopardy going into the final 3 weeks of the regular season.

poll by twiigs.com

(the 2008 Benny Awards)

Award 5: The Grosy

By definition, the Grosy Award goes to the player with the most cajones. In general, the nominees for this award are players who aren't afraid to play through injury and leave it all on the field. The award's namesake Josh Gros was famous for his work rate, and his career with DC United has seemingly ended way too soon, thanks to the numerous concussions he'd received throughout his time here. Gros's energy and consistency has been sorely missed this season.

1. The only United player to wear any head protection this season was Bryan Namoff. His reputation as the team's "Iron Man" makes him a strong candidate. Or maybe this is all just an excuse for me to link this picture again.

2. Santino Quaranta is another guy who has played through pain multiple times this year. He's spent most of the season with a cast on at least one of his arms, and even finished one recent match with a bloody sock. Tino returned to DC this year as a kind of polarizing figure, but his heart has never been questioned.

3. Team newcomer Ivan Guerrero is nominated purely due to one play in a match earlier this season, in which Guerrero lunged to cross a ball that was about to go out of play for a corner. Quaranta wound up scoring on the cross. Guerrero wound up falling into the advertising boards and injuring himself.

4. Despite participating in only 15 minutes of action all season, Ben Olsen certainly deserves a nomination for playing through injury. As the team's emotional leader, Olsen displayed a bit of bravery that a lot of other players on this team could learn a lot from, and those 15 minutes may have been the high point of the season.

poll by twiigs.com

(the 2008 Benny Awards)

Award 4: The Donnety

By definition, the Donnety award goes to the player who has been the biggest disappointment this year. Yes, harsh, I know. But this award's definition could probably be interpreted in a couple different ways. And because I love controversy, of course I will leave that interpretation up to you. Do you give the award to a guy who has played well at times, but hasn't lived up to the hype or to his high salary? Or do you give the award to a more marginal player who was expected to take a step forward this year, but instead took two steps back? The award's namesake Matias Donnet came to United in 2006 with star potential, having previously played in the Serie A, and having won numerous championships with Boca Juniors. But he made only 8 appearances in DC.

1. Many fans have expressed their disappointment with Marcelo Gallardo this year. There's no question that he's made some positive contributions this year while on the field, but does his 4 goals and 3 assists in 14 league appearances justify his Designated Player status and his $1.8 million salary?

2. After some really encouraging minutes toward the end of the 2007 season, I don't think I was the only one who felt like Rod Dyachenko was poised to have his breakout season in 2008. But now he seems less and less likely to be invited back to the team next year. As a quick reminder, not only did we trade a first round draft choice to Toronto (which they used on Pat Phelan, now of New England), but we also chose to protect Dyachenko last year over Brian Carroll in the Expansion Draft.

3. We heard a lot of hype this offseason from Payne and Kasper about the possibility of having a goalkeeping competition between Zach Wells and Jose Carvallo. As it turns out, the competition was over who could get cut first. Carvallo won. And Wells now seems to be restricted to Champions League duty for the remainder of the season.

4. The forward who made the smallest contribution this year was Franco Niell, who spent only a short time with the club. Niell did manage to score a goal in the Champions Cup, and had a wee bit of success in the Reserve Division, but he spent most of his time with United on the ground.

poll by twiigs.com

(the 2008 Benny Awards)