I was originally thinking if we keep Gaven and Higuain there was nobody else on this roster I would be sad to see go (outside of the youngsters who essentially cost us nothing). That is a huge loss for us. The front office better be scrambling to find a good use for that extra cap space.
We now have cleared up $500k worth of space this week. That's a whole DPs worth, which without Eddie we are sorely going to need.
Son of a... I was really looking forward to watching him next year. I only got to see one game with him. . Best of luck to Mr Gaven.
So depressed. The Crew opener is going to feel weird knowing that Gaven is not going to be running out on the pitch.
So. Eddie was kinda irreplaceable. What do we do to try and plug that gaping hole now? EDIT: God forbid Chad Marshall decides between now and February to throw in the towel RE: Concussion concerns.
Eddie retiring leaves a major hole on the flank. We could try Dom and Anor out there again next year but I'd rather have Dom up top than Jairo.
Eddie reminds me in some ways of Conor Casey, Marvell Wynne or even Jon Busch, in the sense that I believe it might be a long while before any American players come along that possess their unique sets of qualities and abilities. As you say, Gaven really is irreplaceable. We can look abroad or within the league, but we won't find a player with his never-ending movement off the ball, willingness to take people on when he had the ball, and show the same type of commitment to defending as he did attacking. There's only one Eddie Gaven!
How much does Eddie's retirement affect what we're looking for in the off-season? If he skill-set is so hard to come by (undoubtedly so), can we realistically find a fill-in or do we just focus on the offense and hope Anor or Speas/Finlay can pick up the slack?
We are looking for a tough yet quiet player who can score, dish out assists, work hard, and grow a mother-fu$king epic beard. Should be simple.
You're not going to find a guy of Gavens quality and only pay him 195k. I have no idea how Sanchez was paid more than Eddie
... ... earn fouls at a ridiculous rate, play any midfield role, be a capable back-up goalie... My reaction went from to to to
Up until today, I was thinking that the Crew 4.0 might try to trade Marshall and his big contract away. Do you think the Crew still will do this?
Yeah, if you had told me yesterday that a "long time Crew stalwart" was going to retire today, I would have guessed Marshall. An ACL is a bummer injury to recover from, but do-able; long-term, it can lead to some arthritis, I suppose, but nothing catastrophic. One too many concussions, OTOH, and your retirement can be sad & ugly...
I don't think we can afford to from a leadership standpoint. If Chad leaves, who's the longest playing player on the team? I'd say we'd have a significant vacuum of leadership in the locker room regardless of who wears the Captain's band. Defense was shaky even with Chad being his anchor-self. I dare not think what it would turn into should he leave - and were I the FO, I wouldn't trade him but for someone significant. That also doesn't count how much an institution Chad is in Columbus. He's been with the team since 2004 and has had a stellar career. I don't think the Crew can afford to lose two icons like Gaven/Marshall in the same off-season.
I tore my right ACL running out a ground ball in HS Summer baseball. Repaired it with a piece of my patellar tendon. There's definitely some localized soreness/sensitivity where the pins are that keep it in place. Did that when I was 16. Came back and was as good as new after 6 months of recovery/rehab. Kept playing baseball and still marched in marching band (quads/quints). It also didn't hinder me at all and I didn't need a waiver for it to get into the Army. It wasn't an issue for me during basic (ran a 13:20 2-mile) or AIT or while deployed. Granted I had to take some measures to keep things good (always wore my kneepads as one of the screws on top bulges the skin and makes kneeling extremely uncomfortable/painful). I was also Field Artillery, so I was used to carrying heavy weights (combat load on patrol was over 100lbs at altitudes over 6,000ft but I lucked out in that I was Light FA and only had to deal with 105mm instead of 155mm - lol). I had the choice of a cadaver tendon but was creeped out - had I gone with the cadaver, I doubt I'd notice my knee had been repaired. I was lucky though, my surgery was done in Columbus by Raymond Tesner who was the Ortho for the US Ski Team.
I can't believe you compared The Beard to Connor Caseyor Marvell Wynne. The rest of your post was spot on.
I would say that at 26, Gaven was still in the prime and his ACL recovery would have been simple. He's still young and healthy. He would have healed just fine. Now, had it happened in his mid 30s? That's a different story.
No doubt, but at 16 you still heal like you eat fetal stem cells for breakfast. Your body is literally still growing. EDIT: Though, on second thought, being a professional athlete and having first rate medical and training staff might just balance out.