The 2011 preseason started today for D.C. United, so what better time than today to begin wrapping up our 2010 Benny Awards? Well, honestly a better time would have been December, but we're a little delayed due to my getting wrapped up in the MLS Draft 2011 hype.

This will be your last chance to cast a vote for our player awards, and this is the most important. The Etchy is named for all-time great Marco Etcheverry, and its presented each year to the team's most valuable player. There's one more award remaining, but that one won't involve any voting. And yet the winner for that award is still likely to be the same as the winner of this one.

1. The team's leading scorer and MLS Rookie of the Year was just about the only offensive option for United this season. Andy Najar provided a spark when D.C. needed it and we hope that he'll continue to grow and mature as opposing teams start to figure him out more and more.

2. He's already earned the honor of winning the Popie, which is our Defender of the Year award. Will Julius James capture another award here? James was United's most consistent defender throughout the season, and was also responsible for one of the greatest moments of the season in providing an 80th minute goal in the team's victory over Toronto FC.

3. Dejan Jakovic is included here mostly because he deserves the chance to retain his title as last year's winner of the Etchy. Jakovic seemed to have regressed in 2010. Or was he just playing injured almost the entire year?

4. United's captain Santino Quaranta led the team in assists with... um... two. Quaranta also had two goals and combined well at times with Najar, meaning that one of the two of them should probably win this award. I wonder which it will be...

Following an unexpectedly long intermission, we return once again to the Benny Awards, where we honor D.C. United players for their work done in 2010.

This week's award is the Popie, named for one of the greatest defenders in MLS history Eddie Pope. The award is granted to United's defender of the year.

1. Last year's recipient of the Popie Award was Dejan Jakovic, who appeared to take a surprising step back in 2010. The young Canadian has strong tackling ability, is good in the air, and is a better dribbler than most would expect, but his season also contained far too many costly mistakes for a player of his caliber.

2. Jakovic's partner in central defense for most of the season was Julius James, who was quite easily the most improved player on the team. James went from a fringe starter who had been let go by two previous teams to the leading contender for a defensive award on the worst team in the league. Maybe that's not so much of a step up afterall.

3. Despite playing only nine matches with the club after arriving via trade from the Columbus Crew, United named Jed Zayner as its Defender of the Year. Zayner demonstrated consistency and versatility in his work at the end of the season, starting at each spot on the backline at least once. He may have been a  big reason why United looked better after Ben Olsen took over the coaching reigns.

4. Getting a lot of responsibility in his rookie year, Bill Hamid was United's best goalkeeper in 2010. He staked his claim on the starting job far earlier than anyone could have guessed before stepping aside due to injury. The 20-year old Academy signee could be asked to start on Day 1 in 2011.

Every year, the Harkesy Award is presented to the D.C. United player/coach/other who has exhibited outstanding leadership qualities. The Harkesy may even be a predictor of things to come. Last year's Award went to Ben Olsen, before he'd even retired, and long before he'd be named head coach. And the runner up last year? Santino Quaranta, who I had noted as the leader of the younger generation of players. He's now their captain.

Those two meet again for a rematch this season. And I'd be surprised if we didn't see a similar result.

1. "You talk, we will follow." That's what Julius James wrote when signing the game ball from Ben Olsen's first career win as a coach. We've already talked at length about Olsen's abilities in recent days.

2. Our second candidate also spent a brief period of time as United's coach. Briefer than any other coach in team history. It's Curt Onalfo, who was dismissed with a 3-12-3 record and just 15 goals scored in 18 matches.

3. Like the head coaching position, United also switched captains in the middle of the season. At the start, and for several years prior, the job belonged to Jaime Moreno.

4. The second half of the season, Santino Quaranta took over the armband, and immediately asserted his influence by picking a fight with goalkeepers coach Mark Simpson. Well Quaranta is still here, and Simpson is not, so you can guess who won that one.

Inspired by former child protege Freddy Adu, the Freddy Award goes to the D.C. United player that inspired the biggest story this season. Past winners of the award have included the rookie combination of Chris Pontius and Rodney Wallace in 2009, and Santino Quaranta for his overcoming substance abuse in 2008.

Who will win this year? I'd say there are two really good candidates, and then two others just to fill up the ballot.

1. There was only one D.C. United player who was the star of an ESPN feature piece on Soccer Academies in MLS. That would be Andy Najar, the league's rookie of the year, and the team's hope for the future.

2. There was only one D.C. United player who made the All-Star team, and who now once again rightfully owns the record for most goals in an MLS career. Thanks again Jaime Moreno. He retired before it was cool to retire.

3. There was only D.C. United player who shut out England at the new Wembley Stadium for the first time ever. That would be Branko Boskovic and his Montenegran National Team. Now if only he could pull off the same sort of magic here in D.C.

4. We all thought it was pretty cool when Ben Olsen was named an assistant coach for United. Sounded like a nice honorary position. But he's so much more. He's always been so much more.

This week’s award appears for the first time in 2010, as the usual Week 5 award – the Grosy – has been discontinued. The Grosy was designed to go to the "ballsiest" player (to use the technical term) on the roster, but the nominees for the award always seem to overlap somewhat with the Richie. And I’m not sure anyone really makes a great Grosy candidate this year. Nobody lives up to the tradition of Josh Gros, who was frequently seen wearing headgear and a cast on at least one arm. Sometimes both.

Instead we bring you the debut of the Esky Award, which will be presented each year to the "fan favorite" on the roster. The award is named for Alecko Eskandarian, who vaulted from good player to fan favorite based partially on the greatest celebration in MLS history. Even after leaving D.C. United and moving on to other MLS clubs, Eskandarian remained both a popular player, and an important part of the organization when he returned to take on a new role.

So who on United’s current roster can reach the popularity of Alecko Eskandarian?

1. The young phenom Andy Najar has attained national attention for his rise from the D.C. United Academy to MLS Rookie of the Year. For United fans though, it was his overtime goal in the U.S. Open Cup Qualifying match against Real Salt Lake that lifted Najar to stardom. Ever since that moment, RFK Stadium becomes electric when Najar dribbles at an opponent.

2. In his final season as a member of United, Jaime Moreno probably didn’t see the minutes that he deserved. The sight of Moreno standing next to the fourth official always meant that the game was about to change, for better or worse. The club dedicated an entire month’s worth of web coverage to Moreno, and even that probably wasn’t enough for all he did to help building the organization. 12 trophies.

3. The team captain now and into the future is Santino Quaranta. In terms of providing insight, media relations, and tattoo art, Quaranta is the best on the team.

4. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but Kurt Morsink finished second in the dcunited.com fan voting. His mom must have a lot of friends?

 
The competition for the Donnety Award this year is quite fierce. It's almost as if many of DC United's players were more worried about winning the Donnety Award than about winning games.

The award is named for Matias Donnet, the Argentinian star midfielder who had played previously at Boca Juniors and Venezia before coming to D.C. in 2006 with loads of potential. But he would play in only eight matches, score only one goal, and leave in disgrace before the end of the season.

Does that remind you of anyone on our current roster? Or maybe more than one player?

1. Christian Castillo embodies what the Donnety Award is all about, and in any other year, he would probably run away with the vote. But this year, there are just so many good candidates! Castillo appeared in 10 matches before losing his starting job and then eventually losing his contract. He scored two goals against the U.S. in World Cup Qualifying with El Salvador, but couldn't replicate those abilities in MLS.

2. United missed the playoffs by one point each of the past two seasons while going without a consistent starting goalkeeper. The last time they made the playoffs was when Troy Perkins was in net, so naturally the team would shoot right back to the top after signing him back, right? It didn't work out that way. Perkins looked nothing like his former self in the early parts of the 2010 season, and even lost his starting job to a 19-year old rookie.

3. The only other significant international signing this offseason was Danny Allsopp. How United expected a 32-year old Australian to replace a guy who had scored 42 goals over the previous three seasons, I'll never understand. Five goals in 23 maches isn't a great strike rate for a starting forward.

4. But at least that's a better strike rate than Pablo Hernandez can brag about. The Argentinian forward didn't come to D.C. with much fanfare, but his stat line is particularly disappointing because he showed so much damn skill and potential. Most of us prefer that our forwards actually possess the ability to score occassionally.

Sorry Bill Hamid. Sorry Jordan Graye.

The Convey Award has been cancelled this year. There won't be any voting for DC United's rookie of the year on this website. It would have been a runaway anyway.

MLS announced their Rookie of the Year award yesterday. Andy Najar. The first United player to win the award since Ben Olsen, and the youngest player in any major American sports league ever to win such an award.

And so for our Benny Award series, the rookie of the year award on this blog will forever more be known as The Andy.

As you know, I voted for Najar, and I did my best to lobby my fellow SB Nation soccer editors to cast their ROTY votes for Najar as well. Yet I was still worried that a Tim Ream campaign was gaining traction with the main stream media, since he was the only legitimate contender playing for a playoff team.

But Najar prevailed, and he deserves it. He was far more electrifying than the other candidates, and certainly a more complete player, despite being years younger. He's already come a long way.

"Nobody knew me at the start of the season, but now? I don’t know. I just feel like I am a professional. I learned a lot of stuff: discipline, how to play hard, how to play for the team, how to play for the fans."

For what it's worth, Hamid would have been a great candidate for the Convey/Andy Award in most other years. Especially when you consider that in 2008, Ryan Cordeiro won the award in a year that three out of the four candidates have not played an MLS match since.

So maybe the election results aren't going the way you'd like tonight. You've still got a chance to influence another poll with your vote!

The Nelly award is named for Ryan Nelsen, DC United's former captain and center back who guided the team to an MLS Cup in 2004 before departing to Blackburn of the EPL and leading his New Zealand squad to a scoreless tie against Italy in the World Cup. Awesome.

As a new requirement this year, we'll be nominating only players that were acquired via transfer, trade, or free agency. Rookies don't qualify. This serves to make the Nelly Award a bit more comparable to the MLS Newcomer of the Year Award. But mostly, it's just to ensure that Andy Najar doesn't win ever single award.

Last year's Award went to Dejan Jakovic, who beat out Chris Pontius in a vote that wasn't as close as expected.

1. One of the key acquisitions this offseason that was supposed to make a difference on the scoreboard for United was Danny Allsopp. Say what you will about the guy's speed and awareness, but at least he could shoot. Allsopp was tied for the team league in goals with five.

2. The biggest preseason acquisition though was Troy Perkins. After United had missed the playoffs by just a point each of the previous two seasons despite some obvious goalkeeping flaws, Perkins was supposed to be the final piece to elevate them back to the postseason. It didn't quite work out that way, but he did have five shutouts.

3. While other MLS teams brought in well-known and highly-skilled designated players in midseason, United turned instead to Branko Boskovic. The Montenegran international immediately showed a positive ability to control the orchestrate the attack, but was occassionally a defensive liability when playing in central midfield.

4. Appearing in 14 matches since being acquired from the Uruguayan First Division, Pablo Hernandez demonstrated great amounts of skill playing as a withdrawn forward. However, its never good when one of your forwards finishes the season without a single goal.

Cast your votes for the next two weeks and feel free to argue your choice in the comments.