Twellman to Retire?

Tucked away neatly in an otherwise euphoric article about how the Revs may pursue multiple Designated Players this winter is this little bombshell from ESPNBoston.com’s Gus Martins:

A big part of the team’s woes has been playing the season without all-time leading scorer Taylor Twellman who is suffering from post-concussion syndrome and will likely retire at the end of the season.

Yikes.  If this is true, I can’t say I’m surprised, but it’s still a bit jarring.

Wonder if TNT will end up tweeting about this.  Hmmm…

Would you take Taylor Twellman back?

Pure hypothetical with zero inside information… let’s say Taylor Twellman comes back to the Revs and says he’ll play the next two seasons for $150,000/year.  Would you take that deal if you’re the Revs?  What if it’s $100,000?  Or is it just time for the organization to move on, no matter how much he’s willing to play for?

On the plus side, if he ever does regain even 80% of his prior form, he’s well worth the money.  On the down side, there’s a decent chance you’ll just be throwing away $150,000/year.

Personally, I think about $135,000/year is what I’d feel comfortable bringing him back at.

Oh, For F***’s Sake!

You have GOT to be kidding me:

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England has battled through a series of injuries to several of its regulars in its preparations for the first match of the season, but the Revs may have picked up their most significant injury during a training session last week.

Midfield lynchpin Shalrie Joseph suffered a right hip flexor strain last Friday and will miss Saturday night’s season opener with Los Angeles.

“I tweaked it on Friday when we just shooting around,” Joseph told MLSsoccer.com on Tuesday. “I was doing a shooting drill and it was just me not stretching enough. I felt my hip flexor go and then they told me to just be smart about it and take some time off to make sure it’s right.”

I hate this season already.

Reis Goes Under the Knife… yes, again.

As if Steve Nicol didn’t have enough to worry about:

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis underwent successful surgery on his left knee on Thursday afternoon. The procedure, quadriceps tendon debridement, was performed by Dr. Thomas Gill at Massachusetts General Hospital earlier today.

Reis, 34, underwent rotator cuff surgery on his left shoulder on Dec. 1, and has been rehabilitating since then. While Reis’ expected rehabilitation time for his knee is 8-12 weeks, he is expected to be sidelined for approximately the next 12-16 weeks in total while he continues to rehabilitate his shoulder.

So, how are ya feelin’ about a 34-year old goalkeeper with a bad shoulder and a bad knee?

Twellman: I’m not ready

Revolution forward Taylor Twellman told The American Soccer Show on Wednesday that while his condition is improving, he has not yet fully recovered from the effects of a devastating collision with Los Angeles Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin in August of 2008.

“Can I say that I feel a lot better than I did six months ago?  Of course I do,” said the New England striker.  “Am I ready to go out and do diving headers, yet?  No.”

“It’s one of those processes that, you kinda have to go through it day by day – literally exercise by exercise.  You have to start over.  You have to retrain your brain.”

While speaking with hosts Jason Davis and Zach Woosley, the Revolution’s all-time leading goalscorer also talked about the difficulties in recovering from the injuries sustained in the collision.

“The complicating factor to my injury is my neck.  I’ve dealt with a serious neck injury.  It’s basically severe whiplash.”

“Getting over whiplash and post-concussion is definitely a hassle.  But every doctor I’ve seen has said ‘You’re gonna be fine.’  Unfortunately, time is the only healing factor, and right now I’m waiting.”

My Head Might Actually Explode

Honest to God, I really think Steve Nicol is trying to kill me:

“We’ve just taken the best striker in the country in the draft,” said Nicol. “[Edgaras] Jankauskas is coming back, Taylor [Twellman] is coming back, and we also have Kheli Dube, so we have four good strikers at the moment.”

I’m going to be optimistic and suggest that the over/under on the number of combined games Twellman and Jankauskas will play next year is 25.

Revs Re-Sign Three; Castro Suspended

Couple of quick hits:

• The Revs have resigned Kenny Mansally, Sainey Nyassi, and Kheli Dube.  No word on contract terms.
• Midfielder Mauricio Castro has been suspended for the first two games of the 2010 season for kicking a ball into the stands in the season finale against Chicago.  You may remember that Castro blasted a ball into the Toyota Park seats after being taken hard into the sign boards by a Fire player.  The sign boards had intentionally close to the field by the home team to limit the effectiveness of Darrius Barnes’ long throws.  Castro cut his hand on the play; the offending Fire player was not even whistled for a foul.
• Midfielder Mike Videira has had offseason hernia surgery that will keep him sidelined 6-8 weeks.

From the “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up” Department

Taylor Twellman, Cosmo Model.

I can’t even add anything to this.

Emergency Update: It just keeps getting better.

Twellman, who split last year from wife Lindsay, reveals in his Cosmo Q&A that he hates talking to women about his job (“I’m looking for a girl who’s about being with me, not about being with a soccer player,” he says), and that he’s into ladies who wear white tops with jeans and high heels. Good to know.

Ralston Done for the Year

I had a feeling when he left the field on Saturday night that it would be the last time we saw Steve Ralston this year.

Looks like I was right.

Ralston suffers season-ending knee injury
Revs captain tore the ACL in his right knee on Saturday against Seattle

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Revolution captain Steve Ralston suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on Saturday, Sept. 26, in the Revs’ match against Seattle, and will miss the remainder of the 2009 season. Surgery to repair the injury will be scheduled for a later date.

I hate to say it, but at 35-years of age, even if Ralston is willing and able to make a comeback, might the Revs be at the point where they should say, “Thanks, but no thanks”?  And if he still wants to play, deal him to whatever team he’d like to go to – Kansas City, perhaps?

At this point in his career, I just don’t like the odds of him playing as many minutes as the Revs need him to play.  Cut the cord, wish Rally all the best, and move on.

Twellman Will Live!!!

Kyle McCarthy finally solves the mystery of what the Hell is wrong with Taylor Twellman.  Of course, he may be forced to go into hiding after uncovering Top Secret information that may put the entire Revolution franchise in jeopardy.  It’s a small price to pay.