Ah yes, it's the day we've all been waiting for - the return of the Benny Awards!

If you're new to this blog, then you will learn that the Bennies consist of a series of categories, each with four United players nominated. You the fans get to vote on the winner for each category, and the winners are revealed at the end of the season. You can vote up to once per day per category, and once again, you cannot vote for yourself! Here is the schedule for when the voting will begin for each category:

1. The Richie - Friday, 9/18/09
2. The Nelly - Tuesday, 9/22/09
3. The Convey - Saturday, 9/26/09
4. The Donnety - Friday, 10/2/09
5. The Grosy - Tuesday, 10/6/09
6. The Freddy - Friday, 10/9/09
7. The Harkesy - Tuesday, 10/13/09
8. The Popie - Friday, 10/16/09
9. The Etchy - Thursday, 10/22/09
10. The Benny - Tuesday, 10/27/09

All winners will be revealed the week or two after the conclusion of the regular season.

During the voting for the Nelly last year, after I unfortunately left Santino Quaranta off the list of nominations for an award that he probably would have won, it was decided that I should consult with you guys before finalizing all the nominations. I have a pretty good feel for who should be nominated for most awards, but here's a couple that I'd like to solicit your help on:

The Richie - Who do you consider to be most "underrated" players on United's roster? Doesn't even necessarily have to be a starter, but who do you think is given less credit than he deserves?

The Grosy - This award goes to the player who you look at as a warrior - a gutsy player who ignores injuries, overcomes adversity, and leaves it all on the field. Who does this describe this year?

The Freddy - I sometimes have a different perspective on things as a blogger, so what do you think were some of the biggest storylines for United this year?

I appreciate your help. Please tune in on Friday for your first chance to vote in the 2009 Benny Awards!

By definition, the Benny Award goes to the player most recognized for his contributions in the DCUMD blog. The award's namesake of course is Ben Olsen, the guy who everyone likes to call the talisman for DC United. Benny has meant more to this club on and off the field I think than any other player in its history. And on a day that we've all already voted our opinions on something else equally important, this is the one award with no formal voting at all. I've already got the winner in mind, and it's based on the player ratings that you've all been reading on this blog from every game throughout the entire season. Yeah, it's time for me to be a little selfish.

So with that description, and with these ratings in mind, who do you think should win the Benny Award?

Tom Soehn- C R R C R T T C C T T C R T R T R T
Zach Wells- C R C T C R C C R T R C R
Louis Crayton- T C C R R R
Jose Carvallo- R
James Thorpe- T
Bryan Namoff- R C T T T T C T T C T T R R T R T
Gonzalo Peralta- C C T T R R C R C R R R
Gonzalo Martinez- C T C C C C C R R R R C R R R T
Marc Burch- T R C R C R T T C C R R C C C R T C R C R R R T T T T
Devon McTavish- C T R C T R C C C R C C R R R R T R
Greg Janicki- T T C
Mike Zaher- T R
Pat Carroll- T R C C R
Clyde Simms- T C T R T T T C R T T R R T

Jaime Moreno- C T C R T T T T T T C T T T R C C
Luciano Emilio- R T R T R R C T T T T T T R T R T C R C C
Francis Doe- C T C T R T T
Thabiso Khumalo- C T R C R
Franco Niell- C R R

= T
= C
= R

By defintion, the Etchy Award goes to the team's Most Valuable Player. The winner of this award should be the player who had the biggest influence in driving the team to victory. The award's namesake Marco Etcheverry helped deliver 3 MLS Cups to the club, and was named League MVP in 1998. He's also a member of the all-time MLS Best XI.

1. A great candidate for this award is our captain Jaime Moreno. With 10 goals and 10 assists this season, Moreno continues to be one of the most productive players in the league, even at age 34. A lot of people said his career was over before this season, and a lot of people have already been saying it after this season, but don't let them fool you. Because there is no doubt that DC United is a better team when Moreno is on the field.

2. Last year's league MVP Luciano Emilio was once again one of the top scorers in the league with 11 goals. Although he was quiet early in the year, and probably never fully recovered from injuries late in the year, Emilio is still one of the best strikers in the league, and this season even added 5 assists.

3. Our best defender this year has been Bryan Namoff. With so many new faces on the back line, Namoff was forced to take on more of a leadership role than in years past. The team struggled at times in defense, but it was rarely due to any faults by Namoff.

4. Clyde Simms displayed his best year to date with 2 goals and 2 assists while playing a central defensive midfield role. Simms was the model of consistency this year, being the only player on the roster to start all 30 games.

By definition, the Popie Award goes to the DC United defender of the year. I think this category is pretty self explanatory. The award's namesake Eddie Pope was the MLS Defender of the Year in 1997, and anchored our team in central defense from 1996 to 2002. Pope remains a member of the MLS All-Time Best XI. It's a bit hard to make an argument that any of United's defenders this year reach Pope's stature.

1. Ironman Bryan Namoff has been our most consistent defender, if nothing else. Earlier in the year I would have argued that he was having his best season as a pro, but I'm not sure that's still the case. Namoff should be considered one of the best right backs in the league, and even played well in central defense this year when he had to.

2. Maybe not the biggest, but certainly the tallest signing this offseason was Gonzalo Peralta. He had some great games this year in shutting down some good offensive players, but also made a few too many individual mistakes that led to goals. Hard to say whether or not the voting for this award would be any different had Peralta been healthy the entire year.

3. The most versatile player on our roster has got to be Devon McTavish. This year, he has played center back, right back, right midfield, and center holding midfield. The problem is that no one seems to know which position he's best at. McTavish began the year as our fifth option at the back, but has since won his starting job back from Martinez. Although not the most physically talented player on the team, Devon has mostly held his own in defense.

4. Sure, he's not exactly a defender, but Louis Crayton also deserves your consideration. Since joining the team, Crayton may not have a winning record (the team is 3-5-3), but he has already helped the team earn more clean sheets than Zach Wells.

View poll results

(the 2008 Benny Awards)

By definition, the Harkesy award goes to the United player who has demonstrated outstanding leadership ability. The award's namesake John Harkes is known as Captain For Life. Not only was he our team's first captain, but he was literally our team's first player.

1. United's captain this year is Jaime Moreno, and although Jaime is not the typical in-your-face Beckham style captain, I think he gets his point across. Moreno is usually cool and collected, and leads by example with his level of dedication and work ethic.

2. The other nominal leader of the team is the coach Tom Soehn. Soehn guided the team to a US Open Cup win (it's so easy to forget that). But his tactics and lineups this year have sometimes been questioned, and some indications late in the year may point to a theory that Soehn has maybe lost the support of his players.

3. Despite playing for a very short amount of time, a major leader in our locker room is Ben Olsen. One of my favorite memories of this club this year was the week that United announced the signings of Gallardo and los Gonzalos, Olsen took the group to see a Washington Wizards game as a sort of bonding experience. On and off the field, Olsen is our leader and our talisman.

4. It's not really worth even putting anyone else on here, is it? Early in the year I had Peralta penciled in as a nominee because he was a vocal leader in the defense, and I even considered adding Crayton. Gallardo, Emilio, and Simms have all worn the armband at some point this year, but really no one else is going to beat the above three for votes. If you disagree, please let me hear it in the comments.

By definition, the Freddy award goes to the player who created the biggest story this year. Not necessarily as a distraction, but just a story that created a lot of buzz and got people talking about the team. The award's namesake Freddy Adu was easily the biggest story for MLS as a whole in the 2004 season. Even though he was never a regular starter for United, he will always remain a part of the team's history as the youngest player ever to play a professional sport in the US at age 14.

The best piece of soccer journalism this season was Steve Goff's piece on Santino Quaranta and his past struggles with drug addiction. This article was mentioned numerous times during United broadcasts on television. My favorite part of the article was about how Olsen and Moreno vouched for Quaranta and convinced the front office to give him another chance. Quaranta's play this year has shown that he deserved it.

Another big story this season revolved around Ben Olsen's ankles, but most of all, his only 15 minutes played this year, emerging to a standing ovation from a packed RFK Stadium. This brief appearance inspired a blog post by Dan Steinberg, which was eventually blown to new proportions with weeks of arguing between soccer fans and elitist fans of other sports. This was followed up eventually by an above-the-fold front cover WaPo Sports story comparing the TV ratings of United and the Nationals.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the theme of the season, which was bringing in foreign acquisitions to replace proven quantities at several positions, highlighted most by the replacement of Christian Gomez with Marcelo Gallardo. This season has of course had its share of highs and lows which, coincidentally or not, also tend to follow the pattern of Gallardo's injuries.

Another underlying theme would be the trials and tribulations of Tom Soehn as head coach of United. There were pleas from United fans to fire Soehn up until around week 8 (not the least of which came from this blog). Soehn then helped rally the troops as they enjoyed a 6 game winning streak, but then has since hit rock bottom once again, with his job remaining in jeopardy going into the final 3 weeks of the regular season.

View poll results

(the 2008 Benny Awards)

By definition, the Grosy Award goes to the player with the most cajones. In general, the nominees for this award are players who aren't afraid to play through injury and leave it all on the field. The award's namesake Josh Gros was famous for his work rate, and his career with DC United has seemingly ended way too soon, thanks to the numerous concussions he'd received throughout his time here. Gros's energy and consistency has been sorely missed this season.

1. The only United player to wear any head protection this season was Bryan Namoff. His reputation as the team's "Iron Man" makes him a strong candidate. Or maybe this is all just an excuse for me to link this picture again.

2. Santino Quaranta is another guy who has played through pain multiple times this year. He's spent most of the season with a cast on at least one of his arms, and even finished one recent match with a bloody sock. Tino returned to DC this year as a kind of polarizing figure, but his heart has never been questioned.

3. Team newcomer Ivan Guerrero is nominated purely due to one play in a match earlier this season, in which Guerrero lunged to cross a ball that was about to go out of play for a corner. Quaranta wound up scoring on the cross. Guerrero wound up falling into the advertising boards and injuring himself.

4. Despite participating in only 15 minutes of action all season, Ben Olsen certainly deserves a nomination for playing through injury. As the team's emotional leader, Olsen displayed a bit of bravery that a lot of other players on this team could learn a lot from, and those 15 minutes may have been the high point of the season.

(the 2008 Benny Awards)

By definition, the Donnety award goes to the player who has been the biggest disappointment this year. Yes, harsh, I know. But this award's definition could probably be interpreted in a couple different ways. And because I love controversy, of course I will leave that interpretation up to you. Do you give the award to a guy who has played well at times, but hasn't lived up to the hype or to his high salary? Or do you give the award to a more marginal player who was expected to take a step forward this year, but instead took two steps back? The award's namesake Matias Donnet came to United in 2006 with star potential, having previously played in the Serie A, and having won numerous championships with Boca Juniors. But he made only 8 appearances in DC.

1. Many fans have expressed their disappointment with Marcelo Gallardo this year. There's no question that he's made some positive contributions this year while on the field, but does his 4 goals and 3 assists in 14 league appearances justify his Designated Player status and his $1.8 million salary?

2. After some really encouraging minutes toward the end of the 2007 season, I don't think I was the only one who felt like Rod Dyachenko was poised to have his breakout season in 2008. But now he seems less and less likely to be invited back to the team next year. As a quick reminder, not only did we trade a first round draft choice to Toronto (which they used on Pat Phelan, now of New England), but we also chose to protect Dyachenko last year over Brian Carroll in the Expansion Draft.

3. We heard a lot of hype this offseason from Payne and Kasper about the possibility of having a goalkeeping competition between Zach Wells and Jose Carvallo. As it turns out, the competition was over who could get cut first. Carvallo won. And Wells now seems to be restricted to Champions League duty for the remainder of the season.

4. The forward who made the smallest contribution this year was Franco Niell, who spent only a short time with the club. Niell did manage to score a goal in the Champions Cup, and had a wee bit of success in the Reserve Division, but he spent most of his time with United on the ground.

(the 2008 Benny Awards)