So my poll results are in, and there's some clarity in the trends. Without any question the brightest star in the polling was Bright Dike, who earned top points to play MLS ball for the green team next year. My take? Dike is strong and smart but his vulnerability is being muscled by highly physical defenses. The MLS thrives on highly physical defenses. I'd say Dike is a contender but not a given. Next on the list were Ryan Pore and Steve Cronin. I have to agree with Cronin as a choice. He's shown smarts and cool under pressure. And he's had a broad range of experience. All of that militates to a shot next year. Pore is an easy "of course". He's a quality player: passionate, intelligent, and a natural shooter. I'd say the risk next year is that opposing defenders will just physically chip away at him. MLS is like a prison farm---a hard row to hoe. As opposed to the beauty of the game. Also ranking up there in voter estimation is Ian Joy, a defender who's had increasing impact on the Timbers' play this year. His experience in MLS and in the Bundesliga make him a likely yes. Not doing so well in our voting were Taki, Nimo, Keel, and Ross Smith. I can hypothesize about what voters might have thought in terms of their qualities but it would only be speculation. Truth be told the 2011 Portland Timbers will likely sport a very new and different look, regardless of current player performance, because John Spencer will have his own vision of how to craft a team. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. Hey? Is Sebastien LeToux available? If he's on our team he can't score against us!
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