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Anyone that knows me, knows that I hate repetition in awards. Lebron winning consecutive MVPs irritated me so much that I would have voted for just about anyone last year. When Kevin Durant won, I threw a little party in my head *insert crying emoji because he's out for 4-6 months,* but I digress.
As much as I hate it, I have to give this week's award to Darlington Nagbe, as I did in my first addition of this award.
Hear me out here adoring (sort of) fan base. Nagbe was very, very good in Portland's match against FC Dallas on Saturday.
He was the catalyst for many of the Timbers' attacks and he finally got his reward in the 62nd minute.
Showing some true skill to break away and dribble around a FC Dallas defender, Nagbe slid a tantalizing ball through to Darion Asprilla, which led to a cross for Maximilliano Urruti, who blasted the ball into the back of the net.
I'll credit him with the hockey assist there, but he was fantastic for much more than just that moment.
But don't take my word for it, here's Grant Wahl's take on him.
Watching Portland-Dallas & wondering if Darlington Nagbe might be a candidate for USMNT attacking central mid if he gets eligible this year.
— Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) April 5, 2015
When one of the most renowned soccer writers in the nation thinks you can play on the national team, it's great. When he thinks you could compete for one of the hardest spots to break into on the national team?
Well that's just fantastic.
Nagbe deserves nothing less and if he keeps up these kind of performances, he may break my aversion to repetitive awards and you might see his face week after week.
On a totally unrelated note, Nagbe's game just so happened to be the one in which former Akron coach Caleb Porter was snubbed during the post-game handshake by FC Dallas coach Oscar Pareja, which sparked #Tissuegate.
This year's MLS season already has a "gate" and we are barely a month through, take that NFL and #Deflategate.