Jeff Cunningham is on fire like few others have ever been in MLS. After a slow start to the 2009 season, the 33-year-old striker has taken off ever since the departure of Kenny Cooper to 1860 Munich. Since Cooper left, Cunningham has scored 16 goals in 13 games, including last night's game winning goal against San Jose.
Cunningham's goal scoring antics has created a tight race between him and forward Conor Casey for this season's Golden Boot award. Casey has appeared in four less games than Cunningham due in part to his place at the Confederations Cup in South Africa.
The two have more or less left Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Fredy Montero in the dust at 12, and Landon Donovan and Dwayne De Rosario at 11. Barring a sensational run by any of those four, it is likely Cunnigham's or Casey's to lose.
Will Donovan or Montero go on a late run? Anyone else going to sneak in?
Share your thoughts below.
I vote for Cunningham despite seeing him muff 3 or more glorious chances last game, some in front of an open goal. He’s fast, *can* shoot well, and has the eye of the tiger.
And MLS referees do not know how to call an offside
casey is a bull in a china shop
if you take out extra time pks or pks in general he is nowhere close the cunningham.
CC has 3pks in the last three games? not quite barn burning statistics
Chupacabra – hilarious!
“Headers scored by players with shaved heads will only be worth .33 points due to blinding head glare affecting the goal keeper’s ability to see”
damn I wanted Montero to win – c’mon Colombiano! nice dude too met him after the game when i visited seattle
Errr I meant to quote that. I agree with you kpugs. I find myself doing the same thing.
I pray Casey doesn’t win it, he is so effing terrible for the national team that I now root against him professionally in the hopes that he stops being called up.
Robin, to misquote Bruce “Almighty” Arena about MLS, “There is a lot of parody in this league.”
Well at the start of the season it was between Montero, Schelotto, and Donovan…Then Casey started scoring goals out out of no where and currently Cunningham is doing the job now…So I say Cunningham to win the Golden Boot
Cunningham is better and deserves it more, so I’m rooting for him. What a transformation! Almost as impressive as his goalscoring has been his assists and team play.
Casey is overrated, and where is he without penalty kicks and hat tricks which bunch so many goals into so few games?
tiebreaker: how many shots of cuervo you can down in 5 minutes.
“It’s about how many goals you score folks. Period. End of story”
Agreed, but what’s the tiebreaker?
Cunningham wins the Golden boot, FC Dallas makes the Playoffs. They then make a run like the Red Bulls Last year and then 2010 is the same outcome as the Red Bulls. Probably a dream but it could happen.
chupacabra wtf? golden boot in any competition is given to the highest goal scorer.
Chupacabra, that cracks me up.
I love all the people who come on here and start saying things about how Golden Boot ought to be about averages based on games played and such.
It’s about how many goals you score folks. Period. End of story.
Not a fan of Cunningham… But you can’t deny the fact that he can literally score in bunches when he’s locked in.
Why is Casey in the MNT camp when Cunningham has the hot hand….uh…i mean foot.
Unless Dallas makes the playoffs – then Cunningham should not be considered for MVP. That’s supposedly the reason given why Landon Donovan didn’t win it last year – he had 20 goals and 9 assists and yet wasn’t MVP of the league. Why? Because the Galaxy didn’t make the playoffs.
Posted by: Nicole | October 08, 2009 at 12:47 PM
We are not talking about the MVP race, its the goldenboot race.. the player with the most goals.
The Golden Boot competition really should have rules that are more complicated than the NFL and chess. Here are my suggestions (combined with some of yours):
-PKs don’t count
-Assists are worth .33 points
-The number of goals will be divided by the number of games played and multiplied by the amount of minutes at a ratio of 1:5
-Away goals will be multiplied by 1.5
-Home goals will be multiplied by .75
-Goals scored against Bouna Coundoul will not count whether home or away
-Goals that are scored when the ball hits the post will be divided by 3 and then multiplied by 2
-Goal of the Week award wins two bonus points
-Goal of the Year will result in a 10 point deduction due to ballot stuffing by Seattle fans
-Goals scored in the same direction as blowing winds over 10mph are worth on .88 points
-Goals scored against blowing winds over 10mph get 1.13 points and a fruit cup
-Headers scored by players with shaved heads will only be worth .33 points due to blinding head glare affecting the goal keeper’s ability to see
-If your last name is Donovan or Beckham you get 1,000 bonus points
*You don’t need to score any goals to actually win the damn thing
Nicole, the Golden Boot goes to the highest goalscorer, not the MVP.
I’m cheering for Cunningham to win it…he’s on fire and deserves it.
As LAMETRO says, Jeff has appeared in more games but based on minutes played has 2 more full games (based on 90 minutes) than Jeff.
Casey = 1928 minutes (21.4 equiv of 90 min games)
Cunny – 1739 minutes (19.32 equiv of 90 min games)
So, with more goals, a higher goal/90 rate and a ton more assists not to mention at least double the number of crucial GWG goals (7, Casey isn’t even on the chart so has 3 at most)….it’s not even a contest.
What I want to know is why does MLSnet have OMAR CUMMINGS in the MVP race and not Casey OR Cunny?!
You know what I find more interesting. Casey and Cunningham were both former Toronto players, a team that can’t score on average. As for who should win it, it should be Jeff’s. He has scored 17 and help set up 8 more. That is 25 goals he has had a hand in. Casey has also played less games but has more minutes clocked in than Jeff. In fact you can say that Conor has played about 2 games more than Jeff on minutes alone.
juan pablo. watch out, guys, two games left, 4 goals each game.
As an aside, shouldn’t the tiebreaker be number of games played? If Cunningham wins it in a tiebreaker where he played 4 more games because Casey was called up for the Nats it seems like Casey got penalized for playing well enough to be called up.
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Better yet how about minutes played? Cunningham should not be punished for Dallas failing to realize he should be playing?
Although it is true Cunningham has appeared in more games than Casey, I am willing to bet he has played less minutes because for most of the first half of the season Cunningham was a late sub for Dallas. Goal per minutes played would be an interesting stat for a tiebreaker.
Cunningham will win it. The tiebreaker is assists and Cunningham leads Casey 8 to 1. Casey has to outscore Cunningham by 2 over the last two games to win it, and I don’t see that happening. The head to head matchup between them next week should be interesting though.
As an aside, shouldn’t the tiebreaker be number of games played? If Cunningham wins it in a tiebreaker where he played 4 more games because Casey was called up for the Nats it seems like Casey got penalized for playing well enough to be called up.
Hate that guy. Cunningham couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn in Toronto and actually whiffed on two goal-line sitters. When he’s off, he’s way off. Lousy attitude, and he can’t do it anymore with the pressure of actual fans watching.
Posted by: jloome | October 08, 2009 at 12:29 PM
While that maybe true for his time in Toronto, I will say the guy has been tremendous both on and off the field in Dallas. He dropped the prima donna crap, and is actually busted his ass for goals this season. You are welcome to hate what he was, but you also should credit him for growing up and becoming a better player and teammate.
Unless Dallas makes the playoffs – then Cunningham should not be considered for MVP. That’s supposedly the reason given why Landon Donovan didn’t win it last year – he had 20 goals and 9 assists and yet wasn’t MVP of the league. Why? Because the Galaxy didn’t make the playoffs.
The Golden Boot Award should be based on goals scored during the run of play. Moreover, it should be based on full game equivalents with every ninety minutes played counting as a game.
Juan Pablo Angel with back to back 5 goal games to end the season and take the golden boot.
Hate that guy. Cunningham couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn in Toronto and actually whiffed on two goal-line sitters. When he’s off, he’s way off. Lousy attitude, and he can’t do it anymore with the pressure of actual fans watching.
Casey’s going to win it, because he keeps scoring on penalties. For you folks keeping track at home, that’s 3 out of the last 4 games where he’s done basically no work to get a goal.
And I’m a Rapids fan.
Cunny for MVP.
I pray Casey doesn’t win it, he is so effing terrible for the national team that I now root against him professionally in the hopes that he stops being called up.