Most folks know this, but I didn't see a thread: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=252741&cc=5901 http://www.dcunited.com/index.cfm?section=main&cont_id=171344 Very curious how he plays once he returns.
It seems like alot of players not just on dcunited but other MLS teams get hernias. Is it that just the mls doctors know how to diagnoise it or ?? cheers
John Trask said something interesting last year about the hernias players like Convey and Tino were getting. He said contrary to popular belief, the MLS ball is a bit heavy and if you mishit it when trying to curl it, you can get abdominal problems. Once players get used to the ball, then it's not a problem. He may have been just being polite and it's a total guess, but I thought it made sense. Of course, MLS has changed balls like 5 times now, so maybe that's why veterans like Mathis had a problem this year. Anyway, most likely just speculation on his part you understand, but I thought it was an interesting answer.
I dont follow most foreign leagues as closely as I follow MLS but is there anyone who can show that MLS has a higher rate of hernias per player than other leagues. IMHO I doubt that a ball that probably ways a couple of ounces more would really make that much of a difference, then again if I were the team doctor no matter what the injury I would prescribe a couple of shots of Captain Morgans. So take that for what its worth
Hernias A coworker of mine just had a hernia operation... here's what I learned about them. A hernia occurs when the muscles that surround your intestines crack or split allowing your intestines to slowly "seep" through the muscle "shell." Once symptom would a bulge in your lower abdomine. They occur in men and women. The analogy that I heard was to think of a tire with a bulge in it. The outer tire is the muscles, the inner tube is the intestine. (not a pretty picture ). Hernia's can occur at anytime and are not caused by certain events, like lifting something heavy. However, someone my have a hernia and not notice it until they lift something heavy, coughing, or kicking a ball. The operation itself is an out patient surgery. It takes about 3 hours or so and the patient can walk out later in the same day. Obviously, for Galin and Mathis, they demand more from their bodies than the average Joe, so it requires a longer time to heal. From what I understand is that Galin had a sever hernia and that would obviously take more time to bring him back to the level at which he was before the surgery.
One thing that I noticed with Convey and Santino's hernia was that it doesn't take long to get most of the way back (~70%) but it takes a very long time (~1 year) to get all the way back. While they're returning, their speed, quickness and performance are significantly effected. This does not bode well for our new central defender. I wish Galin a safe and speedy recovery, but I'm not expecting him to be "possibly the best defender ever in MLS" that Hudson originally touted him to be. IMHO, we need an organizer back there, and while Petke is very talented, I don't think he's the organizer we need. So, I'd advocate pulling Nelsen back until we get Ivanov back enough to be more effective. This makes the passing on McKeon even more curious. I wonder if Hudson has anyone up his sleeve for Dmid? -Tron