The White Puma did it! SKC’s Jimmy Nielsen claims MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award

CARSON, Calif. – I know, almost for a fact, that this news is going to make a couple of loyal ProSoccerTalk readers absolutely twist off in a hateful rage, but here goes …

There was never much doubt that Sporting Kansas City’s Jimmy Nielsen was going to claim MLS Goalkeeper of the Year honors. Sure enough, he did.

We talked about it on the blog, never mind the crazy-good year Columbus’ Andy Gruenebaum had at Crew Stadium, or the statistically strong case that could be made for Seattle’s Michael Gspurning or even the charity case we could all make for Chivas USA’s besieged good guy of the glove Dan Kennedy. (Seriously, has somebody checked on that man lately … just to make sure he’s doing OK?)

Heck, Nick Rimando should have been folded into the conversational batter. (The dude is just too consistent for his own good; another damn solid year was largely forgotten in 2012, mostly because we all expect it from Real Salt Lake’s longtime protector.)

What cranks my engine here a little is that Nielsen was such a runaway winner in the final tally.

And what puts my journalistic shorts even more in a twist: too many of my media brethren, I am chagrinned to say, weren’t paying attention, apparently. It looks like too many just saw the White Puma’s splashy numbers, thought about his cool nickname, checked the box and moved on. They couldn’t have all been behind on the latest eps of Breaking Bad, right?

Individually, it’s fine if someone chooses Nielsen. But damn near all of us? There’s no more discussion for this thing than that?

(Then again … we did reluctantly settle on Nielsen in our ProSoccerTalk Goalkeeper of the Year award conversation.)

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