Some Love for a Real USMNT Star

From Charlie Davies miraculous recovery all the way down to Eddie Johnson's consistent substitution appearances over the past couple of weeks, it seems like everything's coming up Milhouse for the USMNT these days.  Even potentially awful developments have been followed by reassuring prognoses (see: Clint Dempsey), leading at least this blogger to wonder if the good fortune just might lead to even bigger things this summer.  But all wishful thinking and superstition aside, I think it's time to give some props to the guy behind the recoveries of two of the USMNT's most important players, Oguchi Onyewu and Charlie Davies.  Jim Hashimoto, the head trainer of US Soccer's rehabilitation program, deserves a raise for the work he's done to help guide the aforementioned duo to smoother recoveries than any of us could have hoped for, and for helping countless American soccer fans rest a little easier as soccer's biggest stage draws near.  

Onyewu's torn patellar tendon initially had even the most respected writers, let alone the millions of part time doctors that seem to congregate in soccer forums across the internet, questioning if the back line stalwart would be available for South Africa at all, while Davies' extensive injuries had even the most optimistic fans (i.e. me) convinced that we'd have to wait until 2014 to see a World Cup stanky legg.  But under the watchful eye of Hashimoto, and with the support of each other, Gooch and Chuck have made such incredible strides that the question has shifted from "will they be healthy by June?" to "how much time will they get in with their respective club teams before June?"  When you consider for a second that Davies injuries were originally believed to be career threatening (and potentially life threatening), the fact that he's openly discussing his belief that he can be back to help Sochaux secure a spot in Europe this season is absolutely unbelievable, and Jim has played a big part in that.

I know Hashimoto isn't the only one involved, with surgeons, doctors, and the players themselves (not to mention their support systems) deserving of some serious praise.  But I'm going to give Jim the spotlight today for what he has done in this process, since he's been one of the most prominent players throughout.  It's comforting to know that the national team has such a capable individual waiting in the wings for the inevitable injuries that come with rigorous demands of professional soccer, and US Soccer should be commended for assembling a quality staff of health experts to take care of their most visible employees.  Too often, US Soccer is the target of criticism from various fronts, most of which boil down to an impatient dissatisfaction with the rate at which the USMNT is climbing up the ranks (slow and steady, folks), but we would be remiss if we didn't acknowledge the other facets of building a successful national team (like putting together a top-notch rehabilitation team) that take place away from the field, which Sunil and company have been quietly fortifying over the years.  His Delaware rehab center might not exactly have the same glitz and glamor as the HDC, but it has really been a godsend for a community that was once mired in uncertainty and pessimism.  In the midst of all that turmoil, recovery, frustration, and now rapid progress, Hashimoto has provided the expert touch to not only keep the uphill climb steady, but to also keep both players in check and complication free  by making sure they don't push too hard along the way.

But in the background of the rapid recoveries of Gooch and Charlie, there's a stark contrast, a possible picture of what might have been had these players not had the benefit of a guy like Jim Hashimoto.  Jermaine Jones, who is still trying to rehab from surgery on a hairline fracture that he suffered last summer, has hardly had the same type of seamless road to recovery, despite the fact that his injury would seem to be the least serious of the three players.  Now, I know that all people recover at different rates and have unique bodies (superhuman ones, in the case of people like Charlie Davies), but I can't help but wonder if things would have been a little different if Jones was going through rehab in Delaware with Hashimoto, rather than in Europe.  Had he done so, who knows, maybe we would have already seen him suit up for Bob Bradley by now or, at worst, gotten some good looks at him with Schalke over the past couple of months.  But as it stands now, he's looking like a real-long shot to make it to South Africa, and all the hype and fuss surrounding his change of allegiance seems to have been for naught.  It would have been hard to believe three and a half months ago, but out of Jones, Onyewu, and Davies, it's the German-American who is most likely to be watching the World Cup from his couch come June. 


With this ramble going farther and farther off track, I just want to finish off with one request, to a certain injured Fulham star.  Clint, I don't know much about PCLs or how you recover from them, but do me this one favor: give Jim Hashimoto a call.  Listen to what he has to say, and if he thinks you'd benefit from going to Delaware, go.  The guy has been like Midas so far, and I'm sure he'd get you back on the field even quicker than any of us thought possible.