I've been a little bit surprised by some of the fan reactions we've seen over the past few days since the announced departure of Tom Soehn as head coach of DC United. The most common sentiment has been "Thanks for your service", which is nice, but maybe not entirely genuine coming from the same people who were writing (and probably chanting at games) "FIRE SOEHN" so frequently in the past.

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2009 was a rough season for Ben Olsen and DC United. (Getty Images)

We knew going into 2009 that the calendar for DC United could be a fairly packed one. Possibly Champions League matches, US Open Cup title to defend, summer friendlies, and of course the regular season slate. It turned out to be just the case as DC United played a schedule so packed this year it definitely raised some eyebrows about how little depth MLS clubs really do have.

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Great to see Rookies doing so well! Interesting to hear their perspective on how their season went.

JM

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Goalkeeper of the year -- Nov. 4
Nominees: Kasey Keller (Seattle), Donovan Ricketts (L.A.), Zach Thornton (Chivas USA)
Who will win: Thornton. Veteran might have put up his best year in the league.
Who should win: Thornton. This team overachieved and its MVP is the reason why.
Fair Play Finalists -- Nov. Click to continue reading...

Here's the full list as released today by MLS:

Goalkeeper of the Year
Kasey Keller - Seattle Sounders FC
Donovan Ricketts - Los Angeles Galaxy
Zach Thornton - Chivas USA

Fair Play Finalists - Individual
Kasey Keller - Seattle Sounders FC
Pat Onstad - Houston Dynamo
Steve Ralston - New England Revolution

Comeback Player of the Year
Brian McBride - Chicago Fire
Ben Olsen - D.

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Seattle's Kasey Keller is a finalist for numerous Major League Soccer awards, including goalkeeper of the year. (photo by Jonathan Ingraham/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

Major League Soccer released the finalists for the league's 2009 awards today. The winners will be announced starting Wednesday and ending Nov.

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Hot off the presses from the league front office. Major League Soccer has announced the finalists to their season ending awards today. Only a few shockers jump out at me here with these but I'll get to that in a moment.

Keeper of the Year (to be announced Nov. 4)
Kasey Keller, Seattle
Donovan Ricketts, Los Angeles
Zach Thornton, Chivas USA

Defender of the Year (Nov.

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When posting the 2009 ADRs earlier this week, I asked what jumped out at you. Well here's some questions that jumped out at me:
1. Is Dejan Jakovic really all that good? The biggest surprise for me on the whole was Jakovic's even 3.00 rating. After winning three Benny Awards, you would have thought his rating would be among the best on the team. Click to continue reading...

_______________________________Photo by ISIphotos.com

Being the top rookie in any MLS rookie class is an accomplishment, but being the best rookie in arguably the strongest rookie class in league history makes the 2009 MLS Rookie of the Year award more special than most.

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_______________________________Photo by ISIphotos.com

Being the top rookie in any MLS rookie class is an accomplishment, but being the best rookie in arguably the strongest rookie class in league history makes the 2009 MLS Rookie of the Year award more special than most.

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In case you missed the announcements on Twitter last night, here are the winners from the 6th Annual United Awards Reception:

• Volkswagen Most Valuable Player: Clyde Simms
• Defender of the Year: Bryan Namoff
• Fans' Choice Award: Chris Pontius
• Goal of the Year: Bryan Namoff's diving header vs.

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The 6th Annual United Awards Reception isn't the only United Awards Reception going on tonight. Because it's also time to announce the winners of the 2009 Benny Awards!

1. The Richie Award for the most underrated player goes to Bryan Namoff
2. The Nelly Award for the best newcomer goes to Dejan Jakovic
3. The Convey Award for the best rookies goes to Chris Pontius
4. The Donnety Award for the biggest disappointment goes to Danny Szetela
5. The Grosy Award for the ballsiest player goes to Ben Olsen
6. The Freddy Award for the biggest story goes to Chris Pontius and Rodney Wallace
7. The Harkesy Award for the greatest leader goes to Ben Olsen
8. The Popie Award for the best defender goes to Dejan Jakovic
9. The Etchy Award for the team's MVP goes to Dejan Jakovic
10. The Benny Award for the highest ADR rating goes to Chris Pontius

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By defintion, the Etchy Award goes to DC United's most valuable player. The winner of the award should be the player who United can least afford to live without, and who gives the team the best chance of winning. I'm going to present this award a bit differently because I want to give you more choices and less bias. Click to continue reading...

The playoff scenarios are mind-boggling.

It is actually possible for United to find its way into the MLS Cup playoffs regardless of win, loss or draw tonight, but the likelihood is very slim if the Black-and-Red come away with anything but a victory in Kansas City. The Wizards cannot make it to the post-season, but will certainly come out hoping to put on a show for their fans in the last home game of the year.

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We spoke to a bunch of the guys today about Saturday's regular season finale in Kansas City. The game is a must-win for United as it vies to be one of six teams to capture one of the two remaining playoff spots.

More from...

• Chris Pontius
• Lawson Vaughn
• Dejan Jakovic
• Steve Cronin

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QUESTION ON MY MIND
Who is going to MLS Cup in Seattle? I am. Let me know if you are.
STARTERS
Chicago needs a result tonight to guarantee their spot in this years MLS playoffs. Click to continue reading...

It's been a fabulous season for rookies in MLS. All across the league, rookies have peppered starting lineups, as the 2009 draft yielded one of the best returns ever.

As a result, narrowing the candidates is a tough call. Two rookies in D.C., Rodney Wallace and Chris Pontius, started almost every single game for United, and Pontius showed his class with a couple of spectacular goals this season.

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It's been a fabulous season for rookies in MLS. All across the league, rookies have peppered starting lineups, as the 2009 draft yielded one of the best returns ever.

As a result, narrowing the candidates is a tough call. Two rookies in D.C., Rodney Wallace and Chris Pontius, started almost every single game for United, and Pontius showed his class with a couple of spectacular goals this season.

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See all the action from last night's draw in Mexico - how about that world-class strike from Chris Pontius?

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Hoy dos de nuestros cuatro equipos que participan en la concachampions tuvieron acción:

El Toluca recibió en el Nemesio Diez al equipo estadounidense DC United. Aunque el partido terminó empatado a un gol, los Diablos Rojos del Toluca conquistaron la primera posición del Grupo B de la Liga de Campeones de la Concacaaf.

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A year after every MLS team failed to reach the knockout round of the CONCACAF Champions League, the defending MLS champion Columbus Crew has stepped up to make sure Major League Soccer will be represented in the current Champions League Tournament.

The Crew tied the Puerto Rico Islanders, 1-1, on Tuesday night to lock up a quarterfinal berth.

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A year after all but one MLS team failed to reach the knockout round of the CONCACAF Champions League, the defending MLS champion Columbus Crew has become the first Major League Soccer team to earn a place in the quarterfinals.

The Crew tied the Puerto Rico Islanders, 1-1, on Tuesday night to lock up a quarterfinal berth.

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United got a goal from rookie Chris Pontius on an incredible 25-yard smash in the sixth minute, but Lawson Vaughn gave the home side a penalty in the 62nd minute that was put away by Lopez to draw Toluca even. The 1-1 score line stood at the final whistle.

The draw means United must wait and see what happens in the CD Marathon-Jabloteh game on Thursday evening.

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Finishing 1-1 against the leader of the Mexican Primera Division on the road is a better result than most of us expected, and probably a better result than we deserved. Still, thanks to some inspired play by a few individuals, and some poor shooting by Toluca, we emerged with a single point.
A win would have secured our spot in the Champions' League quarterfinals, but let's not count ourselves out yet. Click to continue reading...

By now, everyone knows what need to happen tonight - D.C. United needs to win to keep its playoff hopes alive.

The team will have to do it without several key players, as Bryan Namoff (concussion), Josh Wicks (dislocated shoulder, MCL sprain), Santino Quaranta (ruptured plantar plate), Ben Olsen (red card suspension) and Chris Pontius (yellow card accumulation) will all be watching from the sidelines.

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Just in case you needed any help getting fired up for Sunday. And if you're looking for further inspiration there's this:
But before we get to Sunday, we'll spend some time on the weekend undercard:
Last week: 1-3
Year to date: 84-116 (.420 or 17 games over blind chance)
REAL SALT LAKE at TORONTO FC. Click to continue reading...

By definition, the Freddy Award goes to the biggest story for DC United this year. This award should go to the individual who has created the biggest stir around DC this season. The award's namesake Freddy Adu wasn't only the biggest story in DC when he was on the team, he was also the biggest story in MLS. Click to continue reading...

Darrius Barnes is currently leading the way for the rookies. (Getty Images)

Its finally Friday, though I will admit this week has flown by for me due to it being a four-day work week and things being fairly steady on both the regular job front and this place. I had planned to do more than what had been posted today but I blame the weird rainy weather here in Dallas for me not getting around to some of it.

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Well, here it is. The guys were pretty brave, eh?

From the left: Chris Pontius, Bryan Namoff, Clyde Simms, Jaime Moreno, Santino Quaranta and Ben Olsen.

Dan Steinberg of D.C. Sports Bog has the full story. The issue hits newsstands tomorrow.

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This was clearly a match between two teams going in different directions. Chivas was starting guys like Maicon Santos, Jesus Padilla, and Yamith Cuesta - all who joined the team in August and have already claimed starting jobs. They haven't been afraid to bench their veterans like Razov, Galindo, and Marsch and have instead sought out better players. Click to continue reading...

DC United comes off its 2-1 loss to San Jose to win 5-1 against San Juan Jabloteh. And what do you know...the youth played a huge factor in this with the help of Christian Gomez and Fred. Scoring for UNited was Gomez (13′,68′), Fred (30′), Khumalo (43′, 92+'). They key in this match was how well the youth wokred together for this win.

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Everyone was in good spirit's after last night's 5-1 drubbing of San Juan Jabloteh. See what Boyzzz Khumalo, Milos Kocic, Chris Pontius, Christian Gomez and Tom Soehn had to say after the game.

• Tom Soehn & Christian Gomez press conference
• Boyzzz Khumalo
• Chris Pontius

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Last week I made a big mistake in reading too much into the results of a win against a weak opponent. Learning my lesson, let's just say that this match was a pleasure to watch. This is the second time this season United has scored five goals, and it looked like the boys were having fun out there.
Does that mean though that they will carry this momentum into the match Saturday against Chivas? Click to continue reading...

This weekend had set itself up really nicely for DC United. After losses by Seattle and RSL, and ties by Colorado, Chivas, and Toronto, DC United only needed a home victory against the worst road team in the leauge in order to move into 5th place. But the underdogs continued to impress. Not only did United lose, but they really deserved to lose. Click to continue reading...

After dropping a 2-1 decision to the San Jose Earthquakes, United will be looking to get back to the win column with a Champions League match against San Juan Jabloteh. The Trinidad & Tobago side finds itself at the bottom of Group B without any points. A win over Jabloteh and a Marathon loss to Toluca tomorrow would give United a berth in the quarterfinal stage of the tournament.

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