Major League Soccer announced the finalists for its 2008 awards on Thursday. Columbus Crew star Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Chicago goalkeeper Jon Busch and San Jose midfielder Darren Huckerby were among the players up for regular season honors.
As expected, Schelotto and Donovan were among the finalists for leage MVP honors, with Cuauhtemoc Blanco being the third nominee. Blanco is the lone repeat finalist for the award.
Here is the complete list of award nominees:
2008 MLS Award Finalists
League MVP- Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Landon Donovan, Cuauhtemoc Blanco
Defender of the Year- Bakary Soumare, Chad Marshall, Jimmy Conrad
Goalkeeper of the Year- Jon Busch, Matt Reis, Will Hesmer
Rookie of the Year- Sean Franklin, Geoff Cameron, Kheli Dube
Newcomer of the Year- Darren Huckerby, Claudio Lopez, Andre Rocha
Comeback Player of the Year- Jon Busch, Santino Quaranta, Kenny Cooper
What do you think of the list of nominees? Surprised by any of the selections? Do you see any glaring omissions?
Share your thoughts on the nominations below.
That pic of GBS cracks me up every time. Um, How about Frankowski for Newcomer of the Year??? Who’s with me?!
Under GK of Year, I think “Jimmy Conrad” should say “Joe Cannon”
are d-mids eligible for the “defender of the year” award?
Goalkeeper of the Year- Jon Busch, Jimmy Conrad, Will Hesmer
well i pick jimmy bc he can play field
Jimmy Conrad is up for goalkeeper of the year!
What about Pat Onstadt? Best keepers this season have been Jon Busch and Pat. Joe Cannon has also been quite exceptionally for an expansion team.
I choose
League MVP- Guillermo Barros Schelotto,
Defender of the Year- Jimmy Conrad
Goalkeeper of the Year- Jon Busch,
Rookie of the Year- Sean Franklin,
Newcomer of the Year- Darren Huckerby,
Comeback Player of the Year- Kenny Cooper
And Landon has the Golden Boot. Everyone who was exceptional this season will get something to show for it.
He doesn’t fall into any of the fields, but Jaime Moreno deserves some sort of recognition. He was the only player with over 10 goals and 10 assists.
MVP: Schelotto (No-brainer)
Defender: Marshall
Goalkeeper: Not sure
Rookie: Geoff Cameron (No-brainer)
Newcomer: Huckerby (No-brainer)
Comeback: Cooper (No-brainer)
no morales for MVP
I haven’t watched enough of Conrad to know, but is he being nominated for his defense, or because he’s the second-leading scorer on the team?
First, I think it is just fantastic that Quaranta was nominated for come-back player of the year. To have gone through what he has personally and professionally and be able to contribute at the level he has for DC all year is a real tribute to his courage and dedication and talent. Congratulations.
Second – gee..FIFA sent out the nominations for player of the year – no MLS or Americans here!!! Good thing we have the MLS awards!
Nominations:
Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal and Togo), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid and Argentina), Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg and Russia), Michael Ballack (Chelsea and Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus and Italy), Iker Casillas (Real Madrid and Spain), Deco (Chelsea and Portugal), Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast), Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona and Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal and Spain), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool and England), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan and Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona and Spain), Kaka (AC Milan and Brazil), Frank Lampard (Chelsea and England), Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich and France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United and Portugal), John Terry (Chelsea and England), Fernando Torres (Liverpool and Spain), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid and Netherlands), David Villa (Valencia and Spain) and Xavi (Barcelona and Spain).
Conrad is up for both reasons. He led a very young defense that was tied for the League lead with 10 shutouts. That plus the goals equals a pretty solid season.
I’d give the MVP award to Schelotto and the newcomer award to Huckerby.
I don’t understand how Donovan is a finalist. It’s not a “best player” award, it’s the most valuable.
Yoo, I have to say as a neutral, Onstad has been very average this year. Very average.
*sigh* I knew it was coming, but Bobby Boswell doesn’t get any love considering how well he’s played this season. He’s a legit choice for both Defender of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year.
Nice to see that Geoff Cameron actually got his recognition for Rookie of the Year, though that award belongs to Sean Franklin (not because he’s better – Geoff plays Centerback better than Sean, and probably Right Back too – but because a lot of voters live in Southern California)
^ That isn’t to say that Bobby has been the best defender or the most comeback-y, but that he deserves a nomination for stepping up on the league’s best defense.
@ SonicDeathMonkey
Since when is a 1.08 GAA average?
Quaranta’s nomination should be for “Recovery of the Year (allegedly) rather than a comeback, per se.
Speaking of which … How does one get suspended 10 matches for consuming a legal product, but get off scot-free for (allegedly) doing a Tony Montana-size pile of toot?
Quaranta’s nomination should be for “Recovery of the Year (allegedly) rather than a comeback, per se.
Speaking of which … How does one get suspended 10 matches for consuming a legal product, but get off scot-free for (allegedly) doing a Tony Montana-size pile of toot?
Conor Casey isn’t even nominated for Comeback Player of the Year? What a joke…
Javi Morales? No awards for him. Wow!
As a Fire fan, I love Blanco, but I really don’t think he deserves a top 3 listing as MVP.
As an RSL fan I was also a little suprised that Javi didn’t get the finalist spot over Blanco, but at the end of the day its between Landon and Guillermo anyway.
Also, I also have to question how Conor Casey didn’t get any comeback player of the year love. I felt he was much more productive all season long than Quaranta, just not as good of a story I guess.
Hmmmm…Who gets best blog of the year?
Blanco should be replaced by Morales.
Lopez newcomer of the year? Don’t make me laugh….
I like Jimmy Conrad, but he’s not deserving this year. Olave deserves that third slot, or maybe Segares. (Or Boswell. Or Conde — all better than Conrad this year.)
And Morales over Blanco for the third MVP slot.
Winners:
MVP: GBS
Coach: Sigi
Defender: Marshall
Newcomer: Huckerby
Comeback: Quaranta
Fair Play: Hell if I know. Give it to Angel, he’s class.
GK: Busch or Cannon (biggest ripoff of these finalists is no Cannon)
Rookie: Franklin
Conor Casey with 10goals this season. Including a hat trick. That deserves some attention and merit. As well as Moreno with 10goals and 10 assists. He should be on the shortlist as well.
Are JPA and Emilio coming back next season for Red Bulls and United?
I think MLS did a decent job in the nominations. Morales, Casey, and Onstad all have a good case to be considered, but I think the players that are on those lists also have a good case.
I was a bit shocked that Lopez was on the list of newcomers of the year, but then when I thought about it, I couldn’t disagree (not because he was great, but because there weren’t a lot of “newcomers” who did fantastic this year).
And Brian Ching? 13goals with 5 assists in 25 games. He needs to be shown some love.
League MVP- Guillermo Barros Schelotto,
Defender of the Year- Chad Marshall
Goalkeeper of the Year- Jon Busch
Rookie of the Year- Sean Franklin
Newcomer of the Year- Darren Huckerby
Comeback Player of the Year- Kenny Cooper
sure landycakes had a ton of goals, but he didnt lead his team to anything, Javi morales should of taken his spot on that list! i sure hope he gets out of the mls this off season!
I’d go with
League MVP- Guillermo Barros Schelotto
Goalkeeper of the Year- Jon Busch (Jimmy Conrad’s a goal keeper too?)
Defender of the Year- Bakary Soumare
Rookie of the Year- Sean Franklin
Newcomer of the Year- Darren Huckerby
Comeback Player of the Year-Santino Quaranta -God love him for coming back from the hell his life had become. Peace be with you Santino and stay the course.
Donovan for MVP. 20 goals, 9 assists. what more do you want?
Franklin obviously ROY.
2 awards is pretty surprising considering how crappy of a season it was for LA.
But how come Edson Buddle doesn’t get any love on the comeback player? What a year for him.
I didn’t realize Jimmy Conrad was such a good goalkeeper
I didn’t realize Jimmy Conrad was such a good goalkeeper.
MVP- GBS
Defender- Chad Marshall
GK- Jon Busch
Rookie- Geoff Cameron
Newcomer- Darren Huckerby
Comeback- Kenny Cooper
This was a great season!
Blog of the year= SBI
@ trent_RSL
Why would you want to see Morales leave?
I think you gotta nominate Greg Sutton for GK of the year. I’d prolly give the award to Busch in the end but TFC’s record would of been even worse without Sutts in the pipes.
Ives,
I assume you mean Joe Cannon for Goalkeeper of the Year candidate and not Jimmy Conrad.
Juan Pablo Angel should get nod over Blanco for MVP candidate.
Weak year for rookies.
I’d have Connor Casey over Kenny Cooper for Comeback nominee.
Darren Huckerby is runaway to win Newcomer award.
Jimmy conrad is a goalie now?
For those who aren’t as so positive on Jimmy Conrad, realize that in addition to scoring a huge number of goals for a CB, the rest of his entire backline was mostly comprised of rookies or players with little experience. The most experienced player he played with in defense was Jack Jewsbury, a converted forward->midfielder->defender and now plays in the correct role in midfield. Other than that, his two partners in central defense were Tyson Wahl who had ~1000 minutes prior to this season and Holhbein with ~400 minutes. Rookies Marquess, Leathers and Myers all spent time on the outside and Harrington wasn’t even in defense for a good part of the year.
Not to mention he is one of two field players to play every minute of every game, including several open cup matches as well.
It’s only fair if you judge a player on his merits alone, not based off of how his team performed. I won’t go as far to say that Jimmy deserves the award – I feel that way, but I’m a bit biased. But he definitely deserves the nomination and strong consideration.
GBS
Chad Marshall
Will Hesmer
Dube
Huckerby
Cooper
Santino is comeback player of the year hands down… But bummed that edson buddle was not nominated!
Missing GK was Reis
Chad Marshall had to play with Danny O’Rourke, one of if not the worst defender in all of MLS, as your center back partner. He should win the Defender of the Year by default.
League MVP- Guillermo Barros Schelotto
Defender of the Year- Chad Marshall
Goalkeeper of the Year- Will Hesmer
Rookie of the Year- Sean Franklin
Newcomer of the Year- Darren Huckerby
Comeback Player of the Year- Santino Quaranta
mvp: G.B.S.
keeper: Hesmer
defender: Marshall
rookie: Dube
newcomer: Huckerby
comback: Busch
My picks
League MVP- Guillermo Barros Schelotto
Defender of the Year (tough one here)- Bakary Soumare
Goalkeeper of the Year- Jon Busch (with a healthy nod to Hesmer)
Rookie of the Year- Sean Franklin
Newcomer of the Year- Darren Huckerby (biggest impact signing I have seen in MLS)
Comeback Player of the Year- My DC United heart wants to say Quaranta for what he overcame, but objectively has to go to Cooper.
Blanco: 7 goals, 11 assists
Morales: 6 goals, 15 assists
Morales helped lead his team to the playoffs for the first time in team history. Plus, did anybody see where Blanco went during the middle of the season?
Either way, Landycakes or GBS will win, but it is unbelievable Morales gets snuffed…again.
Once again Morales is snubbed. Blanco is very talented but he is lazy and took a couple of months off this summer. I hope this adds extra motivation for Morales to have a huge postseason.
2nd the Morales for Blanco comment.
Boswell also came to mind for Defender of the Year more than Conrad.
He also deserves consideration for Comeback Player of the Year, but those are 3 pretty good stories he’d have to bump aside.
How about Jamison Olave for newcomer of the year? No body can convince me that Claudio Lopez had a good year. He has looked like Donovan in the 2006 WC, invisible. It disappoints me that MLS seems to go for big names rather than actual production when they hand out these nominations.
Who really votes on this? Coaches, execs, fans, the press?
Who makes the selection?
it would be the biggest joke ever if quaranta didnt win comeback player of the year. the guy was spending tens of thousands of dollars on drugs and painkillers, and he almost jumped off a building top when he felt he couldnt take it anymore. the fact he is mainly a starter for dc united is a miracle. that truly is an amazing comeback.