The list for the Re-Entry Draft is out. Any interesting targets for United?

Ante Jazic: To old (36 before 2012 season starts) and too expensive ($115k salary), but plays a position of need. This would be an extreme reach, even at a reduced salary in Stage 2.

Bobby Boswell: Way too expensive ($210k salary) and we're probably set with McDonald and Jakovic in the middle of defense, but .

Updated with press release from today. This is now official. Statements from Sigi and Boss.

Seattle Sounders FC goalkeeper Terry Boss suffered a concussion against Manchester United in the infamous friendly and a few weeks later another while suiting up for the Puerto Rico National Team.

Regularly heading a soccer ball—even just a few times a day—can lead to brain injury, according to a recent study.
Researchers used an advanced MRI-based imaging technique to scan the brains of 38 amateur soccer players then compared the images to the number of times they headed the ball during the past year.

Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl is reporting that Philadelphia Union color commentator Taylor Twellman is set to be promoted to lead ESPN soccer analyst, as John Harkes will not have his contract renewed with the company.

Harkes has long been a target of criticism from US Soccer fans for what has been seen as a career spent interjecting himself into story lines and less than stellar analysis on air.

Man, when I first read this I was totally shocked, then I was totally angry. Part of the reason why I had to really stop playing competitively was because of concussions. Thankfully I didn't have a team doctor that treated my injury like this.

Twellman went on to explain in the article that he was seeing double and at some point he was completely helpless.

Twellman: MLS team ignored my concussions - Boston.com

This is bad. Like, really bad. I mean, it was 3 years ago, so you hope something like this would never happen again. But it's still bad. Definitely shows how far we've come, and also how far we still have to go, in understanding and diagnosing concussions.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Union manager Peter Nowak downplayed the Union's prior win over Houston. And he's right. That was a long time ago, and Houston is a different and better team now, as PSP pointed out earlier this week.

The Inqy says Sheanon Williams and Gabriel Farfan will be key in tomorrow's match against the Dynamo.

Last week, Seattle-based Korrio and Wisconsin-based Axon Sports, teamed up to gather information about and raise awareness of concussions in youth soccer through a new joint initiative. Korrio CEO Steve Goldman was kind enough to take a few minutes to chat with us about the new initiative. Mr. Goldman has 25 years of experience in the technology industry, with a history of building emerging companies into market leaders.

I don't watch ESPN really outside of soccer coverage but apparently they had TT on there the other day to talk about the scourge that is concussions, which is not to be confused with the issue of cons cussin'. The former is a big issue on soccer fields the world over while the latter is largely an issue within penitentiaries.

According to the match preview on MLSsoccer.com published on Thursday morning, Sheanon Williams will miss Friday night's game against Sporting Kansas City with a concussion.

Also on the injury report with a concussion is backup goalkeeper Throne Holder.

A spokesperson for the Union confirmed to PSP that Sheanon Williams' concussion occurred during Saturday night's match against Columbus.

When fantasy football owners drafted Michael Vick, they had one main worry: Injuries. In Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons, the quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles was forced to leave the game after suffering a concussion. In that instant, fantasy football owners around the world saw their worst fears come true.

Dressed in a black suit for his self-described wake, Chivas USA defender Jimmy Conrad bade farewell to MLS last Thursday (Photo courtesy Chivas USA).

Read about the reasons for Jimmy Conrad's retirement in today's column.

Incidentally, MLS sent me a few more details of the enhanced protocols they implemented to deal with concussions, which include:

*Outside consultation - Every team has an independent neuropsychologist who works with the team doctor and head trainer to administer tests and interpret the results.

A couple things floating around my head on this Friday. The CCL, Charlie Davies and Jimmy Conrad all warrant comment. Got anything you want to say, let us know below or on Twitter.
MLS and the CONCACAF Champions League- 2011 is looking very good for Major League Soccer. Perhaps in no place more than the opening of the Champions League where MLS teams went 5 for 5 with wins.

Chivas USA Coach Robin Fraser, Jimmy Conrad and Chivas USA General manager Jose Domene yuck it up during the loosest retirement press conference in MLS history (Photo courtesy Chivas USA).

Like fans, journalists like to watch great players; players capable of fantastic quotes, we love even more.

United States National Team and Chivas USA defender Jimmy Conrad announced his retirement on Thursday. The 34-year-old had been attempting to return to the club after recovering from multiple concussions. "I spoke to people that are close to me, like my family, but mainly it was the doctors and coaches who helped me come to this conclusion," Conrad said in a press statement.

Are you an athlete, coach, teacher or school administrator at a middle or high school? If so, here's a great opportunity we heard about to apply for some state-of-the-art concussion software which can help combat concussions.

According to the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, up to 3.

An interesting spectacle to Saturday night's United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League title match between the Laredo Heat and Kitsap SC Pumas was a padded rugby-style helmet worn by Kitsap player, Kyle Johnson. The helmet was approved by the league for use by Johnson as he recovers from a concussion suffered earlier in the season.

Concussions In Soccer Are Serious Business, But Are They Being Treated Right?

Shameless self-promotion, but I'm curious what everyone thinks.

A.J. DeLaGarza suffered some kind of head injury against the Sounders on July 4th. The diagnosis varies depending on who you talk to, with the Galaxy calling it a contusion.

More and more sports teams continue to allow younger players into their professional ranks. That's good for individual sports franchises in a couple of ways. Everybody loves to see a young kid shine on the field and compete well against older, more experienced players. It makes us feel good because it appeals to the side of us that root for the underdog.

Jack Jewsbury. Josh Wolf. Davy Arnaud. Jimmy Conrad.
One of these things is not like the other!
Yes they have all spent a massive amount of time with the Sporting Wizards KC. I guess Josh Wolf is the only true striker on that list. But that's not what different.

US Youth Soccer and CDC Team Up - Heads Up Concussions in Soccer - VYSA

The NFL has taken steps to learn about the danger of concussions and protect its players. We've also seen NBA and NHL teams become more serious about concussions. Now baseball is getting into the act. On Tuesday, Major League Baseball announced a new disabled list solely for the use of players dealing with a concussion.

Katie Brewer, Glendale Falcons (2010)

As the Spring season gets off to a slow start, I'd like to point to an increasingly important issue within sports. Two of the finest players produced in the State of Missouri have both seen their careers cut short due to concussions. Lori Chalupny first dealt with issues in 2006 and now, at the age of 26, is likely no longer able to play for the US Women's team.

As the dust settles on the memorable opening night at RFK, D.C. are now preparing to take on the New England Revolution.

Team updates, news, and links below.

The biggest question going into the next match will be how D.C. line-up at the back. After a strong first showing, there will be forced changes for Olsen to deal with.

Lineups are in:

Arsenal: Starters: Wojo, Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, Clichy, Denilson, Wilshere, Diaby, Nasri (c), Arshavin, Bendtner Bench: Almunia, Rosicky, Ramsey, Squillaci, Eboue, Gibbs, Chamakh

Sunderland: Starters: Mignolet, Ferdinand, Mensah, Bramble, Bardsley, Henderson, Muntari, Malbranque, Richardson, Sessegnon, Gyan Bench: Gordon, Riveros, Welbeck, Colback, Noble, Knot, Al Muhammadi

Nothing too surprising about that lineup Koscielny is apparently not just fit enough to play, but to start.

Speaking of young footballers, this from Joe Posnanski is a must read.

In this, Joe looks at top quarterback selections in the NFL draft and points out that these players almost never make it to the levels expected of them. In case you're not aware, the system in the NFL is that each season the worst team gets to choose first from a pool of all the nation's young talent, and so on and so forth.

In the middle of this long New Yorker article about the impact of concussions on NFL players, there's a tiny paragraph about soccer with an interesting assertion:

Troy Polamalu suggested soccer as an alternative for squeamish fans. But soccer players collide sometimes, too (Taylor Twellman, a forward with the New England Revolution, recently retired because of ongoing symptoms from a neck injury sustained in 2008), and the ball is harder than you think.