BASAs: Defender of the Year

1st 2nd 3rd Points 1 Danny Califf 6 1 1 34 2 Eddie Robinson 2 2 1 17 3 Tyrone Marshall 1 3 1 15 4 Jimmy Conrad 1 2 1 12 5 Michael Parkhurst 2 3 9 6 Brian Carroll 1 5 6 Steve Jolley 1 5 8 Wade Barrett 1 1 4 9 Todd Dunivant 1 3 10 Brian Namoff 1 1 10 Jay Heaps 1 1 10 Samuel Caballero 1 1 10 Greg Vanney 1 1 (5-3-1 scoring system) Danny Califf got half of the first place votes (nobody else with more than 2) and takes the award. His teammate on the league's best defensive team, Robinson, was the runner up. However, none of the runners up were named on even half of the ballots. It seemed like people preferred either Califf or Robinson, as only twice were both on the same ballot. But none of the runners up really threatened. As with Robinson, Marshall, Conrad, and Parkhurst received little support and were way out of the running. It's always hard to rate defenders (who don't show up on the stats), especially from only watching games on tv. That's probably why 13 guys were named on the ballots here. There were a few interesting choices...Jolley? At least for Carroll, his name is close to "Califf," so at least there's the chance of an error there. Conrad won the official award, just announced by MLS yesterday. He only finished fourth here. Are the players, coaches/gms, and media seeing something we aren't? The other two finalists were Califf and Marshall. Results Schedule 10/24-Goalkeeper of the Year (Pat Onstad) 10/25-Coach of the Year (Dominic Kinnear) 10/26-Rookie of the Year (Michael Parkhurst) 10/27-Defender of the Year (Danny Califf) 10/28-Young Player of the Year 10/31-Midfielder of the Year 11/01-Old Player of the Year 11/02-Forward of the Year 11/03-Best XI 11/04-Player of the Year (Bigsoccer thread)