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The Darkest Day

I don't think any of us who cover sports for a living ever lose sight of the fact that every single athlete's career hangs by delicate threads of sinew. We've seen enough great pitchers blow out their rotator cuffs, enough quarterbacks rupture their Achilles tendons to accept this. Injuries are part of sports.

So why do I find myself so distraught over the news that Clint Mathis suffered a season-ending ACL tear during a training session with the U.S. National Team? Why am I finding it hard to write the normal sports story -- you know, the one about who is going to have to fill Clint's void -- and seem to be fixated on the injury?

I guess it is because I cannot hide that, when it comes to soccer, I am a fan, a zealot, a geek, whatever. And what Mathis has been doing for the past year has been so uplifting for guys like me. Watching a kid from Conyers, Ga. -- a product of the much-maligned U.S. Youth System and the even-more-maligned U.S. College Soccer System -- turn into the best player in MLS and the most exciting player on the U.S. National Team has just given me this incredible sense of "we can play this game" satisfaction.

Since he came to the MetroStars from Los Angeles last year as part of an MLS-mandated "parity above everything" deal, Mathis has basically evolved into the league's most important player. He turned a struggling Metro franchise into a high-scoring winner and gave the fans of that club their first star that was more than a name on the marquee. Mathis' star was not defined by hype or promise, it was defined by production. Thrilling production. Highlight reel goals. Killer passes. Dramatic performances.

After the 2000 MLS season, Mathis took his act to the National Team, into World Cup qualifying. A goal at Barbados in a victory that moved the U.S. into the final qualifying stage. An assist against Mexico in Columbus. A goal at Honduras. An assist against Costa Rica. And then back to the MetroStars ... and back to producing thrills.

Perhaps what makes Mathis so endearing is that he's unable to hide his cockiness, even as he spews Nuke LaLoosh clichés about "getting good bounces" and "trying to enjoy the ride." Just watch him play. Working the refs. Working the guy who's marking him. Working his teammates. Dude knows he's good. I don't care what he says when I take my pen and pad out.

Mathis was going to be the MLS MVP and scoring leader this year. Dispute that statement if you want, but at least admit he was on his way. His goal against Dallas, that 70-yard solo mission, will surely be voted the league's Goal of the Year. Probably the only player in the league capable of outdoing that one is Mathis himself. And it makes me sad, as a fan, that we won't get a chance to see that goal in the next four months.

Yes, this was going to be a big year for Mathis, and there was a big payoff coming at the end. There were going to be some offers from Europe, for sure, but more important was the counter offer that was going to come from MLS. The league has allowed the likes of Joe-Max Moore, Eddie Lewis, Tony Sanneh and Frankie Hejduk to leave. My guess is that Stuart Subotnick, the MetroStars investor-operator who's trying to get a stadium built in Harrison, N.J., was going to make sure Mathis stayed put, not only for the sake of his club, but for the sake of the league. Who knows when you develop another Mathis?

Injuries are part of sports, I know. But how often do injuries affect a team, a league and a country? I know, I'm acting like a geek. But I'm bummed out. Get well, Clint.

Boot Room Regrets

It wasn't the Barry Bonds story or the Stanley Cup finals that have kept me from writing the Boot Room the past two weeks (and this week, too, since all you're getting is my feelings on Clint's injury), I've just been searching for inspiration.

I might have found it the other day, as I passed through a toll booth on the Garden State Parkway and saw this triple-bill is coming to the PNC Arts Center later in the month. Journey (sans Steve Perry), Peter Frampton and John Waite. I've got just the right thin tie for that one.

Oh, and by the way ... to show you that even though I'm covering hockey, my mind is still on soccer: Look-a-likes: Avalanche coach Bob Hartley and Miami Fusion midfielder Preki.

In Tight Space

Not news, but more opinion.

The only time to make a coaching change in MLS is when you don't make the playoffs. Frank Yallop in San Jose and Ray Hudson (who got half a season last year in Miami) have done a great job of turning over rosters and putting their clubs into the league's upper echelon.

On the other hand, my gut tells me Tampa Bay (51 points last year!) would have been a lot better off with Tim Hankinson in charge while Hankinson's new club, Colorado, would have been better off if they'd stayed with Glenn Myerick. In Dallas, it seems Mike Jeffries is doing a nice Dave Dir impression, that is keeping a league-owned team on a steady course of good, not great soccer.

The MLS refs are under siege and I think it's a travesty. The players, coaches and GMs in MLS act like refs around the world don't make questionable decisions and the league's competition committee gives the players, coaches and GMs too much of their time each week to hear out their complaints.

If you're going to critique the refs every week over every debatable call, they're certainly going to go into their next match with a bunch of junk bouncing around in their brains. I get the reason the refs are losing control not because they can't control a match but because the league is trying to control them. People need to accept that the refs and linesmen have a very difficult job. I'd almost like to see the classic youth soccer move where the ref hands the whistle to a coach and says, "You think it's so easy, you come out here and call the game."

Hristo Stoitchkov is injured for the second time this season and you have to wonder if the 34-year old Bulgarian star's MLS career is coming to a close. After looking so good in the latter parts of last season, and reporting to spring training in excellent shape, Stoitchkov has struggled to find his form since turning an ankle late in spring training.

Last year, when he was at his best, Stoitchkov was a powerful player with a burst of speed over 10 yards that would leave even the fastest MLS defenders in his wake. So far this year, he's shown no explosiveness and is trying to rely on trickery. If this hamstring injury takes Stoitchkov well into the summer, and he loses as much fitness as he lost after the ankle injury, you have to wonder how much Chicago will get out of him this season. And, since he's a maximum salary player, you then have to wonder if Chicago will be able to afford risking another season with him.

I'm out of here until who knows when. As the aforementioned Steve Perry once sang (at least this is how my college roomate interpreted it): "The wheels on this guy keep on turning. I don't know where I'll be tomorrow."

Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail jeff.bradley@espnmag.com.