25 October 2005

Transparent Aluminum? Aye Laddy, that's the ticket.

Dominic Kinnear won the Best Coach BASA as announced by Climbing the Ladder. Here was my ballot:

1- Kinnear
There was really no debate here. The voting reflected that. He deserved it.

2- Nowak
Unlike my Rimando vote, I don't think of this as a homer vote at all. Piotr took a team that lost Ryan Nelsen and Ernie Stewart, lost more defensive depth when Ezra Hendrickson went to Chivas, lost a snakebitten Alecko Eskandarian to injury, and still managed to be in contention for the Eastern Conference top seed until the last two games. Nowak hasn't won the award this year or last, but he may be the best coach of the last two years combined. And even though I was annoyed about the Freddy situation, and some of the sub choices, I don't regret this vote at all. He should get this award at some point, he's earned it.

3- Nicol
Part of me wanted to be snide and vote Mo Johnston, who does deserve at least some mention here. Instead, I went Nicol. There's a lot of talent on that New England team, but being a good coach is not just about making do, it is also about getting top performances out of top players. Nicol has done that.

Oh, and one more thing: Mike H's Soccer Blog thinks Reis is a thug too. Good for him.

3 Comments:

At 25 October, 2005 17:06, Blogger Mr. Fish said...

James Doohan, we hardly knew ye.

 
At 25 October, 2005 17:11, Anonymous Anonymous said...

My coach ballot was the same. Nicol vs. Nowak was the only tough call. I went with Nicol, because I think his team is more loaded with talent -- Twellman, Ralston, Dempsey, come on. Half the U.S. nats roster sometimes reads like the Revs starters.

I'm still in awe of what Nowak has done in D.C., in terms of discipline. The defense is better than last year, and Nelsen is gone? What? IMO, that's all about the mids and even the forwards helping out on D. It's also about hogging possession, so the other side has far fewer opportunities.

Hooray for our coach, even if he the most stubborn sunavabitch in the league.

 
At 25 October, 2005 17:12, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I meant that I went with Nicol for 3rd place, of course...

 

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