Year-end Sounders FC awards from Examiner

November 11, 2:24 PMSeattle Soccer ExaminerDavid Falk

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Look! It's Taylor Graham...on the pitch! (Rick Morrison)

Most Improved: Sounders fans. 2,200 average in 2008, 31,000 average in 2009.

Best use of least time: Roger Levesque. He didn't get to play that much, but he scored three of the biggest goals of the season in the US Open Cup final, at Columbus and at Kansas City.

Biggest Pleasant Surprise: Tyrone Marshall. So, I guess the mellow Jamaican who lost the plot with Toronto FC's porous defense in 2008 still has game, after all.

Biggest Unpleasant Surprise:  Tie: the unpredictable form of Brad Evans and Fredy Montero. Come back in 2010, guys, but not with split personalities, please.

Prettiest Goal: Patrick Ianni's back flip against Houston at Qwest Field. In fact, it was so pretty that the Sounders decided not to score again at Qwest for over 100 days, just as a way of honoring it.

The Best of Qwest Field: The field plays well, isn't too narrow, and was free of NFL lines the entire season.

The Worst of Qwest: The huge crowds are proving to be more of a motivation for the visitors than they are for the Sounders.

Worst Award Award: Dale Chihuly gets a "Golden Scarf?" WTF.

Best Emerald City Sign(s): "This End Up!" two-poles the next match after running up a giant banner upside down, on national TV, the previous match.

You've Come A Long Way Award: Greg Vanney, who by season's end was on the top of his game as color analyst.

You've Got A Long Way To Go Award: Kevin Calabro. Good grief, it is one thing to be learning a new sport, and quite another to be continually getting names of players and even opponent clubs wrong. Sigh. It just wreaks of not caring.

Seahawks? Who? Award: Jose Romero of the Seattle Times. This guy threw himself into covering the Sounders this year. Result? Best coverage of any club in Major League Soccer.

Best North End All-Inclusive Snack Combo: Hot Dog with Nacho Cheese, Onions and Peppers. (Get the hot dog and nachos, then scoop the cheese onto the dog using one of the chips) By the end of the season us Northenders were trying all sorts of combinations to make the same 'free food' taste new and appealing. Hey Sounders, next year let's add a cheapo burger and hot drinks, okay?

Best Home Match: Home Opener against New York. The event lived up to the wait. How often does that happen?

Worst Home Match: Any of the 0:0 draws will do, but I'll go with the nil-niller against Toronto FC. Borefest. Let down. Not fun.

Best Away Match: No question winning the Open Cup at DC.

Worst Away Match: Again, no question. The 4:0 stinker at San Jose before over 600 traveling Seattle supporters.

Best Defender: Jhon Kennedy Hurtado.

Best Midfielder: Osvaldo Alonso.

Best Attacker: Freddie Ljungberg.

Best Field Player (overall): Osvaldo Alonso.

Give us a smile, Best Field Player Ozzie! (Rick Morrison)

Most Valuable Player: Kasey Keller. I waited and waited before picking my MVP. It was really down to four guys: Keller, Ljungberg, Alonso and Montero. I think the playoff series against Houston cleared that logjam up rather nicely.

Most Frustrating Player: Easily Montero, whose form and ability to defend, pass, create and convert would show or not show based solely on...well if I knew what it was based solely on, I'd be rich, wouldn't I?

Most Pleasing Player: Leo Gonzalez. Suddenly the left back position came alive for the Sounders, on offense and defense.

Best save: Tyrone Marshall's clearance and subsequent ground work on the PK spot in Columbus.

Best Club Promotion: That "Scarf Seattle" thing was a real trendsetter, no?

Worst Club Promotion: Easily the stupid "Sounders Supersearch sponsored by Disney." I was onboard until the fan vote, the really cheesy finals show, and then the secretive way in which the winner was dumped during pre-season. Oops.

Without Leo: scary left. With Leo: happy left. (Rick Morrison)

Best Qwest Chant: "Seattle.....................Sounders!"

Worst Qwest Chant: "You suck, asshole!" Yawn.

Best Sounders Photos: Rick Morrison. Duh.

Best Sounders Fan Videos: Club 234.

Best Player Personality "Fit" with the City of Seattle: Roger Levesque. He's like one of us now, I swear.

Busiest Sounder who never played: Taylor Graham. He might have played a little, but not much, due to injury. Still, he became one of the more well-known personalities on the team with his posts, videos and appearance on The Price Is Right.

Best Place On The Internet To Talk Sounders: GOALSeattle.com's forums. Of course it is self-serving, but it is also true. A great mix of supporters, fans, newbies and longtimers post every day over there. (SeattleSoccerTalk.com)

Worst Place On The Internet To Talk Sounders: The MLS News & Analysis Forum at Big Soccer. Trust me.

Worst Sounders Uniform Combo: Blue shirt, green shorts. A true no-no. We saw it in pre-season photos, mainly, thank goodness.

Best Sounders Uniform Combo: Green shirt, blue shorts. I thought I'd prefer all green, but nope. The home combo is the classic.

 Worst Sounders Expansion Draft Pick: Khano Smith, anyone? Of course we did get something for him before he went to New York and lost the plot even further. So, maybe Jarrod Smith as a close second? The doctors and trainers have been kept busy by Smith, haven't they...

Best Sounders Expansion Draft Pick: Despite how he upsets some fans with his loping running style, Nate Jaqua had his best numbers as a pro after being drafted away from Houston.

Best March to the Match: How can you go wrong when you combine thousands of Sounders fans with hundreds of zombies dancing to "Thriller" by Michael Jackson?

Most Overheard, Overused Story Award: Hey! Did you guys know that Drew Carey was wooed by Joe Roth to own part of the Sounders when Carey went to a Hollywood restaurant with a broken hand for their first meeting? And that he said one condition of getting involved was having a marching band? Thought so.

In Retrospect, That Was Pretty Awful Award: Drew Carey rubbing his ass with a Sounders scarf at the awkward "Fashion Show" introducing the new uniforms. Um, for charity.

Share YOUR award choices in the comments section below, or join the discussion in the GOALSeattle.com foums.