The Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With a Single Healed Tendon

RIMANDO RETURN DELAYED: In the Washington Times, John Haydon gets the scoop that Nick Rimando's foot hasn't healed up all nice and pretty yet. In fact, during a training session, he heard a "pop". As someone who has heard that pop, that ain't a good thing. In similar news that might upset some people, Nowak issues a vote of confidence to Troy Perkins:

"This time is important for him and the team is standing behind him," coach Peter Nowak said. "The confidence he has now is pretty good but you are as good as your last game. The keeper's job is that if you make a mistake the whole team suffers."

Well, I mean, it's a sort of vote of confidence. Look, it's Piotr Nowak, he's not going to buy you chocolates, you know?

ANOTHER FREDDY GROWS UP STORY: Normally I haven't been linking to these, but on MLSNet Chris Boehm actually puts together a well constructed Freddy-centric piece. Worth reading? I think so. It may be stuff we already knew, but it sounds different somehow.

CARNIVAL #1: Yes, another reminder. The Carnival of American Soccer is still taking submissions. I think we have seven to eight now, some from a few new places, some from old friends. Again, I'm still taking submissions, probably until I write the thing tomorrow afternoon. So if there is a post, commentary, or just quick observation you think is interesting, drop it in an email to TheDCenters[AT]gmail[DOT]com. (If you are curious about what a blog carnival is, check out Carnival of the NHL #13 and #14.)