JOEL HELMICK SELECTED IN THE MLS SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT

FARMVILLE, Va. - Longwood University men's soccer senior Joel Helmick|Springfield (W.T. Woodson) has been selected by the Colorado Rapids with the 14th pick in the fourth round of the 2012 Major League Soccer (MLS) Supplemental Draft.

This is from the website of the Arena Soccer League's Louisville Lightning, with whom Houston Dynamo first round pick Colin Rolfe has been training since the end of the NCAA season. It's nice to see this from Rolfe, simply because there are many people in this market who have never even heard of the guy, even though his college accomplishments at Louisville are impressive to say the least.

Interestingish article here on the Portland Timbers website. (yes, this is Rich, but I like American things, too).

So while recent history suggests the Number 8 [pick in the MLS draft] has produced some promising young players, perhaps the most famous MLS Number 8's of all time was the New England Revolution's Number 8 selection in 2004: Clint Dempsey.

Photo: Paul Rudderow

In a conference call on Wednesday, Union assistant coach John Hackworth confirmed that Michael Farfan is in northern England training with English Premier League club Sunderland. "But with Michael, he's there because he wanted to make himself fully prepared and ready, he wanted to go experience it and make sure he's ready for preseason," Hackworth said.

Omar Gonzalez will return to LA Galaxy after suffering a serious injury in his first training session while on loan with German side FC Nurnberg.
The 23-year-old defender will have surgery for a left ACL rupture after colliding with right-back and fellow American Timothy Chandler. He has officially been recalled from his loan spell by the Galaxy to undergo treatment.

The Legend of Clint Dempsey continues to grow at Craven Cottage.

Just over a month removed from eclipsing Brian McBride's record 36 career goals scored by an American in the English Premier League, the former Revolution midfielder pulled the trigger three times in a 4-0 FA Cup tournament victory over Charlton Athletic on Saturday.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Editor's note: At the end of the 2010 season, we posted a series of season reviews of every Philadelphia Union player. Over the next several weeks PSP continues with a review of the 2011 season.

Scouts spend all year watching college players on the field, then they show up at the January combine and throw it all out the window.

Currently considering trading TFC Academy for magic beansFor a brief period a little over a year ago, Earl Cochrane was in charge of Toronto FC lock, stock and Barrett. While Jurgen Klinsmann was busy searching the planet for the management team that would eventually be headed by Aron Winter, Cochrane had the keys to the player cabinet and even seemed to be in the running to grab the permanent GM job.

Three Sporting KC players have been called up by Jurgen Klinsmann for the upcoming US Men's national team camp in Phoenix and Los Angeles. Teal Bunbury returns to the US national team, having been a part of the quite a few of Klinsmann last few squads, although he's yet to make an appearance for the national team under the new manager.

D.C. United goalkeeper Bill Hamid and former JMU standout and 2011 MLS Rookie of the Year C.J. Sapong have been called into the upcoming U.S. Men's National Team camp to prepare for matches against Venezuela and Panama.
Hamid spent time during the offseason training with EPL team West Bromwich Albion and is eligible to compete in 2012 Olympic Games qualifying.

The first few months of the Klinsmann era weren't as successful as many might have hoped in terms of wins and losses, but after ending the 2011 calendar with a respectable 1-0 defeat in France and a solid 3-2 win in Slovenia, there's definite positive momentum heading into 2012.
The slate for next year is far from finalized, but it will give fans an opportunity to gauge just how much progression is being made and who will play significant roles going forward, as along with multiple friendly matches, the U.

Zach Pfeffer is no longer all alone as the only Philadelphia Union Home Grown Player. The 16-year-old midfielder now has fellow former academy star Jimmy McLaughlin as a teammate on the Union's first team roster.

McLaughlin started all 22 games possible at Colgate in 2011, including the University's 4-1 loss to Rutgers in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Photo: Earl Gardner

The Union announced on Monday the signing of 18-year-old Jimmy McLaughlin to a Home Grown Player contract.

McLaughlin, a graduate of Great Valley High in Malvern, played club soccer for FC Delco before playing this fall as a freshman at Colgate. McLaughlin started every game in hi s freshman year and was named Patriot League Rookie of the Year.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

By just about any measure, it has been a good year for the UNC-Charlotte 49ers.

The little-known school of the Atlantic-10 dispatched defending champions Akron and scored in the final five minutes against stingy UConn to steamroll their way into the College Cup.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

There will be no repeat for Caleb Porter and the Akron Zips.

The defending champions were unceremoniously dumped out at the hands of unseeded Charlotte with a 1-0 defeat Sunday night. A first-half goal from A-10 rookie of the year Giuseppe Gentile proved to be the difference as Charlotte handed Akron its first regulation loss in NCAA play since 2008.

With the NBA lockout now a thing of the past, NBA rookies can put down the Ramen noodles and pick up their million dollar contract. Which rookies are favorited to win the 2012 NBA Rookie of the Year? Here are top five NBA ROY favorites:

1. Derrick Williams, Minnesota Timberwolves
Derrick Williams is ready to ball in the NBA and could put up amazing stats.

Photo: Earl Gardner

Not to sound too surprised, but when the Union released their Protected List for Wednesday's Expansion Draft, I joined in the shouts of delight that reverberated around the greater Philadelphia area. The Union got this list exactly right. All of the veterans who helped lead this team are safe.

This post by TSG staff

MLS continued it's full court marketing press by issuing it's unprotected list just a day after the MLS Cup final.

2012's Jack Jewsbury...

Some fascinating players on the take (for the take?). Here's a feasible team based upon a balance of "Don't get blown out" and "Priming for growth.

Ladies, gentlemen, we have now entered the last 24 hours of the 2011 MLS Season. It's been a good one, perhaps one of the best, and, as we prepare for the final in LA, I'm sure we all have our bets on which team will take the cup. But first, let's catch up on the results of MLS's annual awards.

Brek Shea won my MVP vote. (Getty Images)

I've been holding off on posting my year-end picks for all of the MLS awards until this week. The week of MLS Cup seemed to be as good of a week as any to post this material. With nothing else going on (aside from a US game tomorrow) it just seemed like the right time.

Time for the midfielders and don't forgot to vote for the others here.

How it works

• Vote by posting a Yes (to Protect) or No (don't Protect) in the subject of a comment, then explain why in the message
• We (the editors) will keep track of all the yes/no votes for each player
• At the end of the whole roster we will total up the results and post the community's Protected list
• Your list will be compared to the list of each contributing editor
• The only player we will not be voting on is Darlington Nagbe as he is automatically protected based on his Generations Adidas Status.

And so it begins. With Gavin Wilkinson flying all over the world and John Spencer herding in a new set of trialists I think it's safe to say, at this point, the Timbers office is 100% focused on 2012. Not that I would have expected anything else, mind you.

First up it looks like the Timbers will host tryouts, once again, in January.

Featured Image: Nicolae Stoian

The Philly Soccer Page is fortunate to be able to share its readers the work of five staff photographers: Daniel Gajdamowicz, Earl Gardner, Michael Long, Paul Rudderow and Nicolae Stoian. Along with photographs by contributing photographers Nate Monahan and Eryin Wandel, we present a look back at the Union's 2011 home season along with the road games we were able to cover, special events and more.

Galaxy center back Omar Gonzalez, seen here challenging for the ball with New York's Luke Rodgers, is the 2011 MLS Defender of the Year (AP Photo).

Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez, who turned 23 Oct. 11 and stands 6-5, has become the youngest-ever winner of the MLS Defender of the Year award.

Union

Sebastien Le Toux has won the Fair Play Award for the second year in a row. Bien fait!

Le Toux said of the award, "It may not be the most prestigious prize that people are asking about, but I'm very happy to get [this award] this year. It means I am always respectful on the field so I'm glad that the league and the referees know that.

Ives Galarcep writes of why Peter Vermes stands out among an elite list of top coaches in Major League Soccer this season.
While it certainly can't be argued that standout coaches Bruce Arena, Sigi Schmid and Jason Kreis didn't once again show why they are some of the best coaches in MLS, and among the best in league history, but in terms of helping a team reach new heights and helping multiple players enjoy breakout seasons, it's tough to argue with Vermes as the MLS Coach of the Year.

CJ Sapong interviewed shortly after finding out that he had won the MLS 2011 Rookie of the Year. CJ gave a small performance of the first draft of his Rookie of the Year rap. He also wants the fans to help him get Hope Solo to the awards dinner. My article on examiner Many of CJ Sapong's goals were acrobatic like this one against New York

CJ Sapong interviewed shortly after finding out that he had won the MLS 2011 Rookie of the Year. CJ gave a small performance of the first draft of his Rookie of the Year rap. He also wants the fans to help him get Hope Solo to the awards dinner. My article on examiner Many of CJ Sapong's goals were acrobatic like this one against New York

Yes, I know it's been a week since I wrote. Sorry, school comes first. Here's something to tide you lovely people over till I can write a proper article. Keep in mind that my offer to help contribute to the MLS offside stands, and that if you're interested you should email me at kaufmb@d-e.

The first year end award has been named today, the rookie of the year, and no surprise to anyone, CJ Sapong brought home the rookie of the year award. Most people I think expected the forward to bring home the award, the surprise was going to be in by how much Sapong won by. And in each category of voters, Sapong finished well ahead of the next closest person in each section.

The first year end award has been named today, the rookie of the year, and no surprise to anyone, CJ Sapong brought home the rookie of the year award. Most people I think expected the forward to bring home the award, the surprise was going to be in by how much Sapong won by. And in each category of voters, Sapong finished well ahead of the next closest person in each section.

Major League Soccer announced the first of many 2011 season awards today by naming former James Madison University standout C.J. Sapong as the MLS Rookie of the Year for 2011.
Sapong beat out D.C. Uniteds' own Perry Kitchen to win this years award recognizing the leagues best first year player.

Major League Soccer announced the first of many 2011 season awards today by naming former James Madison University standout C.J. Sapong as the MLS Rookie of the Year for 2011.
Sapong beat out D.C. Uniteds' own Perry Kitchen to win this years award recognizing the leagues best first year player.

Sporting Kansas City forward CJ Sapong was named Major League Soccer's Rookie of the Year on Tuesday. Sapong scored five goals and had five assists while playing in every game for Sporting in his debut season. "Receiving this honor is very humbling, but it would never have been a possibility without the help of so many people," Sapong said in a press statement.

Specifically, David Beckham is in the running for Comeback Player of the Year, GM and Coach Bruce Arena is seeking a second Coach of the Year honor in three years, while Omar Gonzlaes, is up for Defender of the Year. Gonzales has been voted Galaxy Defender of the Year two times in a row.

Also of note: longtime South Bay resident Sigi Schmid of the Seattle Sounders is another Coach of the Year finalist, while former Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman of FC Dallas is also up for Goalkeeper of the Year.

Today MLS named their finalists for all of their awards and two members of the Sporting KC team have been nominated for year end awards. The least surprising of the two, CJ Sapong has been named a finalist for the Rookie of the Year award. Sapong has to be considered the front runner and probably odds on favorite to win the award.

Today MLS named their finalists for all of their awards and two members of the Sporting KC team have been nominated for year end awards. The least surprising of the two, CJ Sapong has been named a finalist for the Rookie of the Year award. Sapong has to be considered the front runner and probably odds on favorite to win the award.

by Pedro Gomes
The Colorado Rapids headed into Live Strong Sporting Park to face Sporting Kansas City down 2 goals and a handful of starters. They had a difficult task ahead of them and the 18,565 fans and heavy rain were not going to make it any easier for them. Sporting got the first couple of chances in the match and in the 28' converted on one of those.

In early October I wrote a piece about the Minnesota Stars Luke Mulholland and his whirlwind year. He graduated from college, was signed by the Wilmington Hammerheads of USL PRO, was up for Most Valuable Player for the league and was voted Rookie of the Year by the league. He then singed with Minnesota for [.

Leading Rookie of the Year candidate CJ Sapong lead the crowd in what has become an iconic chant at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park during games. When CJ scores goals like this less than a minute after he enters the game, how can there be any other choice for Rookie of the Year?