Recently in Pointless Awards Category

*UCLA product Sydney LeRoux and Hermosa Beach resident Abby Wambach were named by U.S. Soccer as the Young Female Athlete of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year respectively. Brek Shea and Clint Dempsey won the corresponding awards for male players.

Here's more from the Associated Press:

CHICAGO (AP) -- Abby Wambach has been voted the U.S. Soccer Federation's female athlete of the year for the fifth time, matching Mia Hamm's record. Clint Dempsey has been voted top male athlete for the first time since 2007.

The USSF also said Friday that Brek Shea and Sydney Leroux were the top young athletes.

Wambach won previously in 2003, 2004, 2007 and last year. Hamm won from 1994 to 1998. Wambach scored four goals at the Women's World Cup, including one in the 122nd minute in the semifinals that forced penalty kicks and enabled the Americans to reach the final, where they lost to Germany.

Dempsey scored three goals at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Playing for Fulham, he passed Brian McBride to become the highest-scoring American in the Premier League.

Online votes counted for half the total, with the rest from media and USSF representatives.

*Toronto FC announced this morning that 35,000 tickets have been sold for the March 7 CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal first leg against the Galaxy, who will make their only appearance in Toronto for the game this year. The indoor Rogers Centre holds 45,000, but ticket sales so far mean Toronto have already set a new home attendance record.

*The Galaxy open preseason training Monday, with all players undergoing physicals this weekend. Here's who is - and is not - in camp, according to a club press release:

A total of 16 players from last year's MLS Cup winning squad are expected to be on hand for the club's first day of training on Monday, while five players - A.J. DeLaGarza, Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane, Brian Perk and Michael Stephens - are currently away on international duty or on loan.

In addition to the 16 returning players that will be in attendance, new acquisitions Andrew Boyens, Nick Noble, Pat Noonan, Marcelo Sarvas and Jose Villarreal will all train with the club for the first time.

Additionally, all seven of the club's recent draft picks, as well as trialists, Bill Gaudette, a goalkeeper who played for the Columbus Crew, Puerto Rico Islanders and Montreal Impact, as well as defender J.T. Murray, a second round pick by Sporting Kansas City in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft out of the University of Louisville, will be with the club for Monday's training session.

I'll have more in Tuesday's column.

*Chelsea's Frank Lampard will not be there even though AEG head honcho Tim Leiweke is a huge fan. Who isn't? (current Chelsea management aside, apparently). But no one should hold their breath Lampard is coming to LA anytime soon.

*If you only watch one game this weekend: Make it Norwich City-Chelsea at 4:30 a.m. Sunday on ESPN2. Those of you not biased City fans (ahem) may want to see the U.S. play Chivas USA veteran Alejandro Moreno and Venezuela at 6 p.m. Saturday on Galavision. Thank heaven for soccer-loving Spanish-language channels.

*

Galaxy Head Coach and General Manager Bruce Arena, ably assisted by Assistant Head Coach Dave Sarachan, revitalized the fortunes of the once-moribund Galaxy this season and has the team in the Western Conference Final against the Houston Dynamo at 8 p.m. Friday at Home Depot Center.

And deservedly so after leading the Galaxy from worst to first in MLS and adding a second MLS Coach of the Year honor a dozen years after first claiming the award with D.C. United.

From the Galaxy press release:

In his first full season with the Galaxy, Arena helped lead the Galaxy to a 12-6-12 record and a first place finish in the Western Conference, giving the club their first postseason berth since the 2005 season. Arena claimed the award after garnering the most votes in polling of MLS players, general managers, coaches and members of the media.

Arena, 58, was named the Galaxy's head coach on August 18, 2008, replacing the recently departed Ruud Gullit. He helped guide the club to a 2-5-3 record in his 10 games in charge at the end of the 2008 season. Following his initial season in Los Angeles, Arena overhauled the Galaxy roster, with 16 of the 26 players on the club's current roster having joined the club since the end of the 2008 season.

With his new look roster in place, Arena guided the Galaxy to a club record 12 shutouts in the regular season and just 31 goals allowed, exactly half of the league-worst 62 goals that they conceded in 2008. Arena's improvements paid dividends in the attack as well, with the club receiving nine goals and 15 assists from players that he brought in following the 2008 season.

Seattle Sounders FC Coach Sigi Schmid and Columbus Crew Coach Robert Warzycha were the other finalists this year.

BTW, Arena paid tribute to the role the players have played this season after last weekend's game:

"These are special games and on Friday it will be a special game. I'm real pleased to be part of this group. This has been one of my more enjoyable jobs in the last 30-35 years. You come in every day (and) these guys are a pleasure to work with. I think their vested interest in this team has made a difference. They buy into everything."

Also, here's Arena's not-so-secret strategy for Friday night: "Show up."

A more detailed preview is here.

Arena's introduction.

Previous Coach of the year winners:
2008: Sigi Schmid - Columbus Crew
2007: Preki - Chivas USA
2006: Bob Bradley - Chivas USA
2005: Dominic Kinnear - San Jose Earthquakes
2004: Greg Andrulis - Columbus Crew
2003: Dave Sarachan - Chicago Fire
2002: Steve Nicol - New England Revolution
2001: Frank Yallop - San Jose Earthquakes
2000: Bob Gansler - Kansas City Wizards
1999: Sigi Schmid - Los Angeles Galaxy
1998: Bob Bradley - Chicago Fire
1997: Bruce Arena - D.C. United
1996: Thomas Rongen - Tampa Bay Mutiny

It's one of the more pointless awards MLS hands out, but for what it's worth the reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year beat out the Chicago Fire's Brian McBride (who may have stopped playing in MLS, but never stopped playing excellent attacking soccer - is he available next year in South Africa?) and D.C. United's Ben Olsen (who last I heard hadn't really come back and was contemplating retirement because of injury).

But Thornton, 36, is as worthy a winner as they come considering he won his first MLS Goalkeeper of the Year title in 1998 with the Fire, a season in which he also helped the team to both the MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup. Thornton won his last significant team honor with the Fire in 2003 when they won the Supporters Shield.

But in 2007 after eight seasons with Chicago, Thornton left and played for three clubs (Colorado, New York and Chivas) in two years and almost found himself out of the game.

Zach is back indeed.

From the Chivas USA press release: Thornton earned the Comeback Player of the Year award due to his strong play throughout 2009 after enduring two difficult seasons in 2007 and 2008. He led Chivas USA to a 13-11-6 record and posted a career best 12 shutouts and 0.87 goals against average, which ranks second all-time in MLS history behind Pat Onstad's 0.82 mark in 2007. His 12 shutouts were one shy of the Chivas USA record, set in 2007 by Brad Guzan, who also earned Goalkeeper of the Year honors in that season. In being named Goalkeeper of the Year last week, Thornton became one of just three players to win the award twice, joining Joe Cannon and Pat Onstad.

BTW, here are the other MLS Comeback Player of the Year Winners over the years:

2008: Kenny Cooper - FC Dallas

2007: Eddie Johnson - Kansas City Wizards

2006: Richard Mulrooney - FC Dallas

2005: Chris Klein - Kansas City Wizards

2004: Brian Ching - San Jose Earthquakes

2003: Chris Armas - Chicago Fire

2002: Chris Klein - Kansas City Wizards

2001: Troy Dayak - San Jose Earthquakes

2000: Tony Meola - Kansas City Wizards

The big Zach attack. (AP Photo)

Readers of this blog didn't agree, but Chivas USA's Zach Thornton was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year today, 11 years after first taking the honor with the Chicago Fire.

That time span between awards was undoubtedly one of the reasons the 36-year-old took the honor, beating out the Galaxy's Donovan Ricketts and Seattle Sounders veteran Kasey Keller (both in their first MLS seasons). Thornton equals the feats of Joe Cannon and Pat Onstad in becoming one of only three MLS goalkeepers to win the award twice.

"Whenever you're mentioned in that class of goalkeeper, with [Joe and Pat], you have to feel good about yourself," said Thornton. "To wait this long and to have gone through what I've been through and to be able to win the award again is outstanding."

At one time Thornton was seen as a fading, aging, washed up goalkeeper with youngster Dan Kennedy eagerly waiting in the wings to seize his opportunity.

But Kennedy got injured, Thornton dropped 15-20 pounds at the urging of Chivas USA Coach Preki and all of a sudden Zach was back helped by a very good back four in front of him.

From the Chivas USA press release:

In 2009, Thornton led Chivas USA to a 13-11-6 record and posted a career-best 12 shutouts and 0.87 goals against average, both of which were the top marks in MLS.

Thornton's goals against average this season ranks second all-time in league history behind Pat Onstad's 0.82 in 2007, and his 12 shutouts were one shy of the club record, set by Brad Guzan in 2007.

Thornton became the second Chivas USA goalkeeper to win the award, following Guzan's record-setting campaign in 2007.

Thornton ranks second all-time in MLS in shutouts (70) and wins (125), behind only former Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.

So this seems as good as any segue to mention that Thornton's efforts between the posts are among the 32 nominees (he has two of them) for MLS Save of the Year. The top 10 saves will be announced a week from today, with the winner announced Nov. 18.

Watch the video:

Vote here.

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.C. United
Zach Thornton - Chivas USA

Visa Defender of the Year
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
Jhon Kennedy Hurtado - Seattle Sounders FC
Chad Marshall - Columbus Crew

adidas Referee of the Year
Alex Prus
Ricardo Salazar
Kevin Stott

Rookie of the Year
Stefan Frei - Toronto FC
Omar Gonzalez - Los Angeles Galaxy
Chris Pontius - D.C. United

Coach of the Year
Bruce Arena - Los Angeles Galaxy
Sigi Schmid - Seattle Sounders FC
Robert Warzycha - Columbus Crew

Newcomer of the Year
Kasey Keller - Seattle Sounders FC
Freddie Ljungberg - Seattle Sounders FC
Fredy Montero - Seattle Sounders FC

Volkswagen MLS Most Valuable Player
Jeff Cunningham - FC Dallas
Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy
Shalrie Joseph - New England Revolution

MLS begins handing out awards Wednesday when the Goalkeeper of the Year and Fair Play Award (Individual & Team) are named.

Not much to quibble about there. Any notable omissions? Surprise contenders? But if Dallas had made the playoffs, Cunningham would have had a strong case for MVP. And did Olsen really "come back?"

The first one is a toughie and has an obvious local angle.

(With apologies to Mr. Thornton for misspelling his surname in the poll).

A busy weekend of soccer with all three pro teams playing at home and the U.S. in the final of a FIFA competition for the first time:

10 a.m. Saturday - The runaway WPS-leading Sol plays its last weekend game of the season at the early hour at Home Depot Center against the Chicago Red Stars. There's a ticket special: two for $30 plus a Marta bobblehead and a $50 ESPN Zone game card. Call 1-877-4-SOL-TIX.

7 p.m. Saturday - Chicago must defeat Tigres Saturday and then Chivas USA must beat San Luis by at least two clear goals to advance in SuperLiga. Tickets start at $15. Call 1-877-CHIVAS-1 for tickets.

11 a.m. Sunday - Coverage begins on ESPN and Univision for the U.S. showdown with Brazil in the Confederations Cup final. BTW, the National Soccer Hall of Fame tweeted that the organization "is requesting a game ball from Sunday's championship match for display What else should we ask for?" What about a U.S. win?

7 p.m. Sunday - $1 beer, $1 dogs as the 2-3-9 Galaxy play the Western Conference leading Houston Dynamo in Carson. Call 1-877-3GALAXY for tickets.

In related news, the Galaxy's Landon Donovan has again been nominated for an ESPY.

So has the Sol's Marta. The current and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year is up against Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa, Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice and Russian tennis player Dinara Safina in the category of Best Female International Athlete. I'm told only ESPN's international viewers can vote in this one.

ESPN hands out the awards in July at the Nokia Theater at LA Live.

Busy (and slow-starting) day working on Tuesday's column, a preview of this weekend's game of the MLS season so far: Saturday's match-up between MLS leader Chivas USA and second-place team the Seattle Sounders at Home Depot Center. I'll post that in the morning. (The Galaxy play in San Jose Saturday, BTW).

Names in the news include:

*Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, who today became only the club's third to be named MLS Player of the Week after making five saves in the 0-0 draw with Chivas USA on his MLS debut. Ricketts joins Kevin Hartman and Joe Cannon as the only goalkeepers in Galaxy history to keep a clean sheet in their first-ever start for the club.

The only other Galaxy goalkeepers named MLS Player of the Week: Jorge Campos (1996) and Kevin Hartman (1999 and 2002).

*Question: Will David Beckham improve his chances of playing for England at the 2010 World Cup sitting on the bench in Milan or playing in L.A.? Daily Mail.

*Midfielder Alberto Lopez, 17, from Aurora, IL, won the nationally-televised player search Sueño MLS 2009 and will receive an invitation to join the Chicago Fire Juniors.

*South (Torrance) High's Lauren Hein was named Daily Breeze Player of the Year, while South's Brad Gomez was named Coach of the Year.

It wasn't even close (thanks to an e-mail campaign resourceful CSUDH soccer fans employed to drum up votes).

But it is no less deserved after bringing a national title back to the South Bay.

Here's hoping for an equally successful 2009 for Flanagan and the Toros.

And thanks to all who took the time to vote.

Happy New Year!

'Tis the season.

Not only for journalists to use that over-used phrase, but for largely meaningless end of year awards. Still, they're also fun.

So this blog is joining the party with a highly prestigious (ahem) award of our own: the 100 Percent Soccer Southern California Soccer Personality of the Year.

Read the column then cast your vote. We'll announce the winner New Year's Day.

Thanks for reading.

Capping a breakout year, Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan was named U.S. Young Soccer Athlete of the Year Thursday, He scored a team-leading two goals in three games at the Olympics and played an increasingly influential role for Chivas USA directing traffic and sparking offensive assaults from midfield. He also scored the U.S. Soccer Goal of the Year.

More on the other award winners here.