Usually, selecting the Bum of the Year as in easy task at MetroFanatic. In 2000, Mamadou Diallo was the runaway winner for breaking Mike Ammann's ribs. In 2001, Billy Walsh whined, cried, and bitched about everything Metro, and sucked on the field to boot. In 2002, Octavio Zambrano lost the team as it spiraled down from first place into choking and missing the playoffs. In 2003, Metro Playoff Fever was the most idiotic campaign imaginable. In 2004, Sergio Galvan Rey once again proved the Ruben Dario Hernandez Corollary that scoring goals in Colombia does not translate to MLS.

Which brings us to 2005, where the selection was difficult, to say the least. With no clear individual candidates, the selection went to the Metro Defense, a collective award for their play down the stretch, exemplified by the breakdown in the playoffs. But this year's selection is even harder, for there are three defining candidates, each of whom would make a clear winner in any other season.

The first candidate is Peter Canero. The Scottish international has proven to be one of the worst signings in Metro history. We've already dissected his horror in the a waste of $142,996 article, so let's let him be. As deserving as he seems, there are two others that top him.

The second candidate is Edson Buddle. With Metro giving up Eddie Gaven to acquire him, much was expected from the talented striker. And after he scored in the season opener to lend some justification with the trade, little did we know how often he'll fail afterwards. Buddle would score five more goals the rest of the way, three of them in an 18-minute span against Salt Lake. He then lost his starting job down the stretch and wasn't even on the bench in the playoffs. Any other year, and the Bum selection would be Buddle's. But not now.

For MetroFanatic's Bum of the Year is former GM Alexi Lalas. Without Lalas pulling the trigger, neither Canero nor Buddle would have been on the team to begin with. Not to mention various other questionable trades, including dumping Ante Razov (who would go on to score more than double the goals of any Metro striker), and getting rid of young talent acquired by Bob Bradley. It was all designed to make Metro "win now", only for Bruce Arena to say countless times down the stretch that this team is built for anything but winning now.

And it goes much beyond player acquisition with Alexi. (But before we completely bash him, he did do a good job at the draft, acquiring Marvell Wynne and Josmer Altidore; and giving away Todd Dunivant once he got to LA was sublime.) What solidifies his selection as the Bum is the countless double-talk, the idiotic indication that Metro was improved because it was a "family", the insane feud with Amado Guevara which cost the team dearly early in the season, the empty promises like Canero's signing "signing represents a significant upgrade to our flank play", the statement that "the MetroStars will benefit" from letting Michael Bradley go without getting anything in return...

And the lies. Smiling and holding up the can of Red Bull, telling Metro fans that he is here to stay... If there was one thing Alexi excelled at, it's telling people what they wanted to hear. Of course, he quit the club just four days after making that statement. And we're better off without him.

Enjoy Los Angeles, Alexi. After you led last year's double winners to their first season out of the playoffs in team history, it's a perfect opportunity for you. The bar has been set so low.