Kei Kamara is interrupting our ‘Giovinco for MVP’ talk; By Steve Davis
Back in July, Toronto’s Sebastian Giovinco put an early chokehold on Major League Soccer’s Most Valuable Player honor, the one newly named for Landon Donovan. Giovinico was dominating to a degree rarely seen over 20 MLS seasons, operating with a killer combo of polish, verve and sophistication seen even less […]

Back in July, Toronto’s Sebastian Giovinco put an early chokehold on Major League Soccer’s Most Valuable Player honor, the one newly named for Landon Donovan. Giovinico was dominating to a degree rarely seen over 20 MLS seasons, operating with a killer combo of polish, verve and sophistication seen even less over the league’s two decades. Toronto FC was the beneficiary, raking in huge dividends for its significant investment in the Atomic Ant.

Never mind that TFC teammates Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley were tied up much of the summer, doing what they could to keep the United States men’s national team stitched together. Driven by Giovinco’s goals and assists, TFC positioned itself for a long, long overdue arrival into Major League Soccer’s post-season.

So Giovinco became the clear front-runner for MVP. An easy choice, really. When he nailed a hat trick inside Yankee Stadium, a touchstone moment in a nationally televised, high-profile July contest in the league’s largest media market, I figured he had the thing won for sure. Those are the game-changers, so to speak, as MVP voters consider their choices.

So I wrote it, and so did others: Giovinco’s got it! Tell the engravers to get started.

But were we a little early? Is there someone out there who might – just might – still be able to pry that thing out of Giovinco’s little Italian mitts?

It’s not Benny Feilhaber, whose team is slumping mightily. Sporting Kansas City lost again Sunday. Now winless in five, Peter Vermes’ team has pretty much frittered away most of those games in hand – the MLS aces up their sleeves that they had held so confidently for much of the summer.

Rather, it’s Kei Kamara, the prolific Columbus Crew striker who probably should have been a bigger part of the MVP conversation all along.

Oh, we certainly considered Kamara. But this consideration had a token feel to it. For one, there was Giovinco; his tale was the big fire sucking all the oxygen from the room. TFC has been fascinating to behold since its first kick in 2007, an organization of abundant resources and enviable crowd support, but one simply unable to get out of its own way.

SEE MORE: 10 things we learned from MLS gameweek 27.

Yet here was Giovinco, a diminutive fellow, playing and Italian William Wallace, finally leading the beleaguered BMO masses to a better place and time.

And there was Benny Feilhaber, recognized by everyone as one of the league’s top passers and playmakers in 2015. Well, recognized by everyone, it seems, except U.S. manager Jurgen Klinsmann. But that’s another conversation.

Meanwhile, Kamara was third man in this small dogpile. He kept scoring, grabbing at early edge in the Golden Boot chase and refusing to slow his powerful pace.

Today, with six MLS rounds to play, he’s starting to trot away with that Golden Boot. With both goals in Columbus’ road win at Philly, Kamara has himself a 20-goal season. And counting.

That in itself is worthy. But the Crew have five games remaining, which gives their Sierra Leone international an outside shot at matching the league’s single-season record of 27.

Even if Kamara can’t get there – it really is a stretch at this point; not impossible, but hardly likely, either – Kamara’s season has plenty of MVP-worthy accoutrements. He has seven assists, six game-winners and (perhaps most importantly) zero goals from the penalty spot. Most Golden Boot winners get to enjoy that edge; Federico Higuain takes the spot shots around the Crew’s Mapfre Stadium.

Gregg Berhalter’s team remains well-positioned for the playoffs. The weekend’s 2-1 win at Philly was a great response to that highly disappointing, nationally televised result from Round 27, as the Crew fell at home to the second-youngest MLS lineup fielded this year. Columbus sorely missed Kamara and just couldn’t break through in a 3-0 loss.

Enigmatic youngster Jack McInerney, filling in for Kamara, who was away on international duty against Dallas, just isn’t the ruthless, clinical and dependable finisher that Kamara has been in 2015. Simply put, Columbus is a legitimate playoff threat with Kamara on the field, but just another mid-rung MLS side without him, one probably struggling to remain above the playoff red line.

That’s what we often say about league MVPs: they singularly, significantly elevate their team’s ability and upside.

Feilhaber’s team is slumping bad. An injury interrupted Giovinco’s momentum. He’s back now and was active on Sunday against New England, but ultimately couldn’t make hay as TFC fell to Jay Heaps’ surging Revolution.

So, let’s open this conversation anew. And someone go please tell that engraver to hold off a while.