By definition the Convey award goes to the team's Rookie of the Year. But there's a couple of different ways you could interpret that. Do you give the award to the young player who has made the biggest contribution so far this season? Or do you give it to the guy who has the best chance of being a star in the MLS?

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.

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?

By definition, the Nelly Award goes to the player who is new to the team this year and has made the most significant positive impact. The award's namesake Ryan Nelsen emerged as a star defender in the MLS shortly after joining the team, and served as United's captain during the 2004 championship run.

Our first recipient in the inaugural Benny Awards is Clyde Simms, who won the Richie Award with 53% of the vote. I thought this award would be much closer with heavy competition from Bryan Namoff early on, but Simmsy eventually pulled away for the victory.
In a bit of a surprise, the Nelly Award for the biggest contribution from a newcomer went to Louis Crayton.

By definition, the Richie Award goes to the hardest working, most underrated player on the United roster. The award's namesake Richie Williams is probably most famous for his diminutive stature, but he is second most famous for his work rate. The dude just went nonstop, constantly interrupting plays for the opposing team.

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.

Today marks an important day for the DCUMD blog, and for the entire DC United franchise in general. It is the day that we unveil the new gimmick that may soon become this blog's trademark. That's right, it's the Benny Awards! (also known as the Bennies)
Over the course of the rest of the season, each Tuesday we will release a new award category, and you the reader will be able to vote.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In an incredibly close race, the dynamic dud duo of Zach Wells and Jose Carvallo wins the Donnety Award for biggest disappointment. These two heralded acquisitions were supposed to have a heated competition for the starting goalkeeper job, but instead they were only in competition with Rod Dyachenko for this unpopular award.