A press release that was just posted in the Spirit forum from their PR guy confirms that it is indeed an ACL tear and Mac will undergo surgery tomorrow.
probably no WC for her, i was thinking of watching Mac Millan and Mia combination at the WC, i think this is our best combination forward
I did my residency in San Diego, at UCSD. Excellent orthopaedics program there. I wonder if that's where she'll have it repaired, or do they have their own specific orthopod that takes care of the women's nat. team members? Huge loss for the Spirit, the USWNT and for the sport in general. She has such a great knack for scoring in the crunch. Who will step up and fill that void? I hope Wambach (twin towers with CP), but more likely Milbrett.
Are you an orthopod, ttrevett? I'm surprised that they've scheduled the graft surgery so quickly (tomorrow). I thought there was usually a waiting period for the swelling to subside? Not that I'm complaining. I don't think there is an adequate substitute for Mac's particular talents. She certainly has the biggest leg of any USWNT striker. I imagine both O'Reilly and Wambach will now make the WWC roster. Let's hope Heather is making good use of her current experience with the U-21s in Brazil.
this is terrible - shes been playing the soccer of her life for the past 2 years or so - get well soon mac!!
usually you would wait...i am kinda surprised they are doing it only 2 days after it was injured, i mean you can drain the knee <the usually do anyway> but to drain it one day and they operate the next, kinda odd...perhaps it didn't swell very bad.
This really is a blow to the Spirit, USWNT and Women's Soccer. This ACL issue is something that needs to be looked into. It's become almost a right of passage for the female athlete (soccer, basketball, hockey)- and it's doesn't have to be. I wonder if there are any knee gards being worked on that wouldn't hamper mobility? Having been through this myself (though only a partial tear) I'm feeling for Mackie... and Hege... and...
A great blow to a great lady. She'll be missed both by WUSA and the NT. I hope Ape gets over her problem with Wombach.
Damn, she's one of my favorite's too..... The quick surgery might be the new trend, Willis McGahee also had his right away, IIRC.
Mac: Actually, alot of the ACL injuries one see's in the women's game are do to the fact that they do not run properly. IE..they do not bend their knees enough. Mia and Millie have never had ACL tears because they run very well. knees bent, low center of gravity. Girls need to be taught at an early age to bend their knees when they run. if they did teach this we would not see as many of these types of injuries. Women are more supseptible to ACL's because of the way our knee's are constructed. strengthening the little stabilizer muscles around the knee would also go along way in protecting the knee from ACL's as well as MCL's.
This is terrible for Mac. I'm not an expert, is there any chance that playing a second game in two days may have had an impact on the injury, or is it just freak accident? Get well soon Mac. d
Yes, it is possible. I posted this is the SD forum and it is easier to copy from that than to post a link: =========================== From reports and from a VERY brief view I had on a sports news program I caught I think that muscle fatigue played a large part in this injury. Women are more vulnerable to this kind of injury than men due to several reasons among them: A smaller femoral notch (Where the ACL passes) and wider hips after puberty resulting a different angle and greater shearing force and from this from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor: From these two facts it seems clear that too much play in to short a time may contribute quite a bit to the tendency to an ACL injury. If the muscels are tired then they cannot possibly respond correctly and two games in two days is too much for any adult. US Soccer only cares about money. That is clear from the scheduling. If they would schedule games mid week, like the rest of the world does for the men, then we would have fewer of these injuries. It is a tribute to the great athletes in the WUSA that there are not more injuries in games played too close. =========================== Of course some of the blame also lies with the WUSA. Reducing the rosters to the tiny numbers they currently alow makes it very hard to have enough players to allow players to sit out a game when uninjured but a bit tired. It could be argued that this injury would happen anyway but I strongly believe that tired mucels should be a priamry suspect in the injury.
Mac still has hopes for WWC... http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/tue/sports/news_1s20spirit.html Below is a paragraph out of this morning's article: MacMillan, ever the optimist, ever the warrior, is not yet ready to abandon her World Cup aspirations, even though the tournament is tentatively scheduled to begin in slightly more than four months and ACLs generally require at least six to heal. She plans to have surgery today, then begin rehabilitation immediately.
Can you say, "Willis McGahee?" Then again, we're so deep in this country that The Wombat can take a roster spot and play will not be diminished.
think that running back from miami...that magahee character. honestly i doubt there is a chance in hell that she makes it back in 4 months and is able to make the roster <she might be running but not playing on the field> but i will be rooting for her 100% of the way. what a horrible thing to have happen right now.
Yes. I admire her spunk, but Mac might be risking too much to try and come back in 4-5 months (Jerry Rice anyone?). Maybe she feels this is her last Cup, but if Brandi can make it (she'll be 35 by the time of the tournament), there's hope that she can wait for the next one too. This team has the depth to work around the loss. Mac, don't do it. I've gone through this injury (although in my case it took a bicycle accident to do it). The rehab is a long and slow process that cannot be rushed. Even then it takes at least a full year to get full strength and flexibility back. Take care of that knee. Guy
The second game might not have helped any, but it did seem like more of a freak accident. She was running hard for a loose ball and stretched out to get it with her left foot. From what she said, her cleat on her right foot caught in the turf instead of moving forward and turning with her. So she ended up with all her weight on a twisted knee.