Yamaguchi wins Mac-Herman

Florida State's Mami Yamaguchi won the Mac Herman this year. We shut her down pretty well, but not many other teams did.

Congratulations to her. The fight for the award was a lot more wide open this year than most. Actually the whole season was more topsey-turvey than any I can remember---

Interesting - I don't even recall seeing her name as being in the very elite in the nation. Being on a high profile team helps, sure, but she wasn't even on my radar. (Obviously, my radar has gaping holes in it.)

I was thinking Amy-Rod, Cheney, Averbuch (or 2 or 3 other UNC players), Hanks, or some other "name" would nab it.

Question for anyone: Are the player of the year awards generally based on the regular season only, or do play-offs count. Obviously, the best player in the country could be on a losing team, and would probably be over-shadowed by the elite players on the high profile teams.

If you look at her numbers, they were better than the other contenders, and Fla. St. was by far the best offensive team this year.

AROD didn't have a season that stood out until the playoffs. I believe voting ends with the regular season - at least that what the website said.

That answers my questions, geez. I knew F.S. was a high scoring team, but I don't recall seeing a scoring list showing Mami having the biggest numbers.

I'm glad the voting ends with the regular season. That is the fairest way, IMO, to judge ALL the players for the various awards.

One more question: We saw several tremendous performances by GK's this past season. Are there national awards for them? For some reason, I don't recall seeing a GK of the Year award anywhere. I know they qualify for a Defensive Player of the Year award. But, really, a defensive player is a defensive player. GK is a singular, very special and crucial position. Does anyone agree with me that there should be a separate GK of the Year award?