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Rapids players miss grade as Major League Soccer announces award candidates
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Major League Soccer announced the final candidates for the leagues seasonal awards today. The awards cover such prizes as:
- Goalkeeper of the Year
- Fair Play Finalist, Comeback Player
- Defender of the Year
- Rookie of the Year
- Newcomer of the Year
- Referee of the Year
- Coach of the Year
- League Most Valuable Player
Rapids players cannot make much of an argument for inclusion. Certainly goalkeeper and defender of the year are awards that will go to players who were less generous to the opposition than the 2009 Rapids were.
The Rapids did not significantly feature any of the team's rookies this year. Nor did the Rapids have a come-back player.
The one award a Rapids player might have challenged for was the, Fair Play Award. This years candidates for the award include, Kasey Keller, Pat Onstad, and Steve Ralston. Ralston's a perennial favorite for this award, as one of the leagues cleanest players.
The other two choices for, Fair Player, were rather odd. Keller's an odd choice considering he has the distinction of being one of the few goalies that has been red-carded. Onstad had a reasonably clean season, but his, "super light bump," on Freddie Montero might not reflect well on the award should he receive it.
Ralston's probably the most deserving of the group. Sadly, it might be the last award the injured veteran receives from MLS. Give it to him, he's a good guy.
There's really no case to be made for Gary Smith as Coach of the Year. Or, any Rapid player for MVP, though Omar Cummings might have been a dark horse had the team not imploded down the stretch.
Within the team there are some awards, some serious, that are due. Here's my votes:
- New Comer of the Year - Scott Palguta. Baudet might end up being great, but a broken wrist, and a red card didn't help the team much. Jamie Smith never really got going either. Had either player really got going though, Palguta might still be the choice. Palguta came to the Rapids as a player unknown outside the USL and the Rochester Rhinos. He immediately gained playing time while Cory Gibbs went through one of his injury spells. Palguta neatly slotted in and did a very nice job in the Rapids defense. So well in fact that later in the season, one often wondered if he would have been the better choice down the stretch than Cory Gibbs.
- Rookie of the Year - The Rapids rookies saw little playing time. Ross Schunk saw some garbage time duty. Matt Holody saw some as well, but had the more distinguished run. Holody earned a yellow card and a goal in his limited minutes. The best performance of any of the Rapids rookies.
- Best Impression of a Tank Award - This easily goes to Conor Casey who lead the team in goals and fouls.
- Defender of the Year - The woodwork was the first thought that came to mind as the Rapids final weeks still burn brightly. Jordan Harvey was the Rapids most consistent performer in the back and deserves the award. His season's play was dimmed by the games at the end where the Rapids really needed him to be Colin Clark, but that's unfair. For the role he's intended to play on the team Harvey was the most consistent defender.
- Best Rapids Hair - Long gone are the days of the mulletted, dreadlocked, and flowing locks of players like Beckerman, Valderrama, Balboa, Trittschuh, Sawatzky, and Nico Hernandez. Rapids went from one of the hairiest teams in the league to one of the cleanest cut. Baldness reigns as the style of choice for Rapids players. Still the award must be given and the one player that has consistently earned it is Nick LaBrocca. Nick starts the games neatly quaffed, but by games end he looks like he'd run through a wind tunnel - not surprising considering the amount of ground he covered. Matt Pickens was the runner-up for the Jesus-do he sported when the season began.
- Come-Back Player - There just isn't a candidate for the award. We do hope that Colin Clark, Jamie Smith, and Jacob Peterson can hold a heated competition for this award next year.
- Team M.V.P. - Omar Cummings gets the award. Conor Casey and Omar were really neck-and-neck for team M.V.P. Omar lead the league in assists, mostly to Casey, and was the Rapids second highest scorer. Both important stats, but not good enough to eclipse Casey's Rapids record setting season. No, what clinches it for Omar was the way he picked up the slack while Casey was at the Confederation's Cup. The Rapids were on a roll until that point, and everyone wondered how the team would do without its hot foot. Omar put those worries to bed.
