Abby Wambach is among those poised to take home one of the 2011 Yanks Are Coming US Soccer Awards.
Loyal Readers,
It’s that time of year again. Sparing you the cliches about how it seems like we just handed these things out a few weeks ago, it is indeed time to cap a rollercoaster year for US Soccer with our website’s awards. First, a few notes about the hardware up for grabs, and how the awards process works.
This year, The Yanks Are Coming will hand out thirteen awards, up two awards from last year’s eleven. Most the awards are positive, but at TYAC we are never shy about criticism and two of the awards fall into that category– they are, in a sense, awards for doing nothing “award worthy.” Of our thirteen awards, the three we consider to be the most prestigious come with plaques that TYAC actually mails to the winner. The plaques are oak with bronze labels for the winner and we take a great deal of pride in sending them out, particularly given how our awards process works. The three awards that involve actual “hardware” are:
1. The Claudio Reyna Technical Trophy, honoring the Most Improved American Soccer Player over the course of a calendar year.
2 (AND NEW!!) The Bob Bradley Award, honoring excellence by an American-born OR American team manager.
3. The Brian McBride Award, honoring the Most Outstanding American Soccer Player in a Calendar Year.
A full list of the awards, and the winners from a year ago, will be provided below, but first a note on the process, which has changed a bit, though still reader-inclusive. This year, and moving forward, we have decided to utilize balloting from our entire staff as well as other reputable websites to generate a list of finalists for each award. This differs from last year where we utilized reader votes as well as our writing staff and writers from other sites in a winner take-all “count em up” voting process. The initial balloting to determine finalists ended last Friday, and we think the list of finalists is impressive, fair and accurate.
This is where the readers come in: your votes absolutely matter. Our panel of writers and journalists from other sites will vote again, but there votes will be coupled with reader votes to determine the actual winners of the awards, which we will announce beginning Monday, December 18.
One final thing to note: last year, we accepted votes via e-mail and Twitter. This year, we will only accept ballots in the comment section. If you vote and have never posted here– your comment will “await moderation”, but we assure you we will post your ballot and count it. Unlike college football– we wanted transparency in voting and hope having a ballot other readers can see doesn’t discourage you from participating. Hopefully, it will encourage good debate for awards (and there are several) where balloting may be close. Thanks for reading– and remember to vote!!
Now- the actual awards, with an explanation of what each award is for, as well as a notation of who won last year in parentheticals. Keep in mind, finalists are already determined by a panel of our writers and other soccer writers from US websites and publications. Your votes are only for the winner.
Why vote? Because this sort of legacy deserves annual recognition.
The Mathis Lalas Award (Best Hairstyle By an American Soccer Player)
2010 Winner: Stu Holden
2011 Finalists:
Brek Shea
Megan Rapinoe
Kyle Beckerman
Free Freddy Darko Adu Marinovich Golden Leaf Award (Most Disappointing American Soccer Player)
2010 Winner: Robbie Findley
2011 Finalists:
Michael Orozco-Fiscal
Tim Ream
Charlie Davies
Brian Ching Award (Hardest Working Person in American Soccer)
2010 Winner: Clint Dempsey
2011 Finalists
Clint Dempsey
Michael Bradley
Tim Howard
Sunil Gulati
Jon Levy Lightning Cup Award (Player Most Likely to Give you fits of Joy and Alcohol-Induced Rage in 90 Minutes)
2010 Winner: Jozy Altidore
2011 Finalists:
Jozy Altidore
Jermaine Jones
Landon Donovan
The Romo Award. Because not every award has to be a good thing.
TONY ROMO AWARD (Most Overrated or Over-Hyped Player in American Soccer)
2010 Winner: Jose Francisco Torres
2011 Finalists:
Tim Ream
Maurice Edu
Michael Orozco-Fiscal
CLAUDIO REYNA TECHNICAL PLAQUE (Most Improved American Soccer Player)
2010 Winner: Stu Holden
2011 Finalists:
Omar Gonzalez
Brek Shea
Jozy Altidore
MEOLA KELLER AWARD (Most Outstanding American Goalkeeper)
2010 Winner: Tim Howard
2011 Finalists:
Hope Solo
Tim Howard
Paul Caligiuri Award (Best Goal)
2010 Winner: Landon Donovan, 91st Minute vs. Algeria
2011 Finalists:
Abby Wambach, 120 + 2, Brazil, World Cup Quarterfinals
Landon Donovan, Gold Cup Final, vs. Mexico
AMERICAN MARADONA (Best American Player 23 or Younger)
2010 Winner: Michael Bradley
2011 Finalists:
Brek Shea
Alex Morgan
Jozy Altidore
Derek Zoolander Award (Most Really, Really, Really Good Looking American Soccer Player)
2010 Winner: Carlos Bocanegra
2011 Finalists:
Alex Morgan
Carlos Bocanegra
Hope Solo
BOB BRADLEY AWARD (Managerial Excellence by American-Born or National Team Manager)
No 2010 Winner- Award is New. Finalists are:
Bob Bradley
Bruce Arena
Jason Kreis
Pia Sundhage
Can Clint Dempsey Repeat as TYAC's McBride Award Winner?
BRIAN McBRIDE PLAQUE (Most Outstanding American Soccer Player)
2010 Winner: Clint Dempsey
2011 Finalists:
Clint Dempsey
Abby Wambach
Tim Howard
FRANKIE HEJDUK AWARD (Free Beer Movement “Hard Partier of the Year”)
NEW, FINALISTS:
Fan Write-In, or, courtesy of Free Beer Movement...
CJ Sapong
Thanks for voting. We look forward to delivering three plaques and announcing the winners.
Happy Holidays.