Random shots - 11-06-2008

Goff reports that Tom Soehn to return for third season with DC United. The rest of the coaches in the east all applaud that move.

Another rumor: Lopez returning to Mexico is being discussed. I asked a couple people about this yesterday and found out nothing. Seems one or two admitted they had heard that but only online, not through the club.

Speaking of someone not saying much, Luis Bueno interviews Preki who says nothing much.

You can vote for who want to for Hall of Fame over at Ives: Who gets your vote for Hall of Fame. At last check, Preki was leading with Agoos and Stewart close behind. I think Preki would be deserving…

Ives also reports that Eddie Johnson may get more playing time. Got to take advantage of other players injuries sometimes.

Mike’s Former Wizards update is now posted.

2008 MLS Awards round 2

Crew’s Marshall wins Defender of the Year.

I would have voted for Conrad. He anchored a young back line. He had to contend with frequently changing lineups around and in front of him and a team that could rarely give them a lead to work with. Jimmy played every minute this year in leading the team to 10 shutouts. Of course I might just be biased…

Referees Jair Marrufo and Kermit Quisenberry were honored with the adidas Referee of the Year and adidas Assistant Referee of the Year awards.

2008 MLS Awards round 1

Chicago Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch was voted the 2008 Panasonic Goalkeeper of the Year.

New England Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst was named the winner of the MLS Fair Play award, and the Revolution earned the MLS Team Fair Play award, recognizing the MLS club with the fewest disciplinary points during the 2008 regular season (I don't think Khano Smith helped).

Still to be announced:
MLS Comeback Player of the Year Finalists
Jon Busch - Chicago Fire
Kenny Cooper - FC Dallas
Santino Quaranta - D.C. United (my vote)

Visa Defender of the Year Finalists
Jimmy Conrad - Kansas City Wizards (my vote)
Chad Marshall - Columbus Crew
Bakary Soumare - Chicago Fire

Adidas Referee of the Year Finalists
Michael Kennedy
Jair Marrufo
Terry Vaughn

Gatorade Rookie of the Year Finalists
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
Kheli Dube - New England Revolution (my vote)
Sean Franklin - Los Angeles Galaxy

MLS Coach of the Year Finalists
Dominic Kinnear - Houston Dynamo
Sigi Schmid - Columbus Crew
Frank Yallop - San Jose Earthquakes (my vote)

Volkswagen MLS Most Valuable Player Finalists
Cuauhtémoc Blanco - Chicago Fire
Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy
Guillermo Barros Schelotto - Columbus Crew

Newcomer of the Year
Darren Huckerby - San Jose Earthquakes (my vote)
Claudio Lopez - Kansas City Wizards
Andre Rocha - FC Dallas

Conrad should be in the MVP finalists, a defending, scoring, player leading quote machine like Jimmy is the clear MVP to me...

Kansas City Wizards practice 11-05-2008

Went out to watch practice yesterday and today before the press conference. Got to see the part of te usual scrimmage but not the whole thing. Herculez was not playing with the first team (out with red card for next game). It looked like Roger will probably be in the lineup but coach has not determined the lineup for sure yet.


At one point Kraus came on for the starting team. Over the next 5 minutes he scored an awesome goal and had a sweet assist. Nice to see him play like that.



They practiced PK's after the scrimmage, always an entertaining opportunity. Overall the team looked sharp and ready to play.

Got shoes?

In this previous post, Double good cause we talked to Davy and Lance about their former coach. Coach Brian Arendale lost his house when Hurricane Ike hit Texas. Davy and Lance are auctioning their shoes to raise some additional money for Coach Arendale. If this is your sort of thing, go bid. If this is not your sort of thing, go bid and raise the cost for someone else. I have one question guys, what size are they?

Random shots - 11/4/2008

Hillcrest Road has now made 500 posts. Great job dude, keep it up. How do I get a job doing that?

Mike finds the Wizards after USL 1 player. Interesting, a Cuban in camp last week and now they are looking at a guy from Northern Ireland playing in Puerto Rico. Can not fault PV and CO for looking around.

The Wizards announced their team award winners on Saturday:

Defender Jimmy Conrad – Team MVP

Midfielder Davy Arnaud – Budweiser Golden Boot & KCW Heart Award

Midfielder/Defender Jack Jewsbury – Defensive Player of the Year

Midfielder Roger Espinoza – Rookie of the Year

Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman – U.S. Soccer Foundation Humanitarian of the Year

Forward Ivan Trujillo – Reserve Team Player of the Year

Mike gives his Down the Byline awards. Can’t really argue with them, but I think we need a few more. I will be working on my version shortly.

The Sunday after Stats seem small this week. Dig some more up!!!

From late last week, Wizards lowering ticket prices. Nice move by the Wizards and something not often seen nowadays. Of course my seats only go down by a half buck a game...

Andrea Canales talks about the significance of Jozy's goal. She also contrasts that with some other Americans that played in Spain. Anyone remember Tab Ramos? I never really liked him much but her article makes me look more favorably.

Interestingly, Andrea’s former blog-partner Luis has more on Jozy.

Interview Poll #13

Who should we interview this week? Mike of Down The Byline and I are continuing the weekly interview poll.

Kevin Hartman - The Wizards amazing goalie
Roger Espinoza - Wizards rookie of the year
Davy Arnaud - lone goal scorer

Write in a candidate if you think someone else is deserving. If you have questions you want asked, keep it fairly respectful and write them in the comments. We are running out of season and opportunity to do interviews. Go to the poll on the side of this blog and vote for who you want interviewed. You can also vote at Down The Byline and both votes count.