Ever since news of Mauro Rosales' injury first broke, there was a pretty strong expectation that he'd be healthy enough to at least suit up for one of the Seattle Sounders' MLS Cup playoff games. Even after coach Sigi Schmid warned us that the injury was slow healing, we held out hope. The source of our hope? Well, mostly blind faith. But there were also those among us that were hoping Schmid was simply pulling a "Hayden Fox" with his star midfielder.
In case you are unaware of the particulars of early-1990s sitcoms, here's what happened: On the eve of the Fox's big bowl game, his star quarterback gets injured. News comes out that he's wheel-chair bound and likely out for the foreseeable future.
Despite this, Fox's team hangs tough and with his team needing a score at the end of the game, he summons his quarterback who has been faking all along! The quarterback rushes onto the field and leads his team to a game-winning score.
Every time one of my teams has an injury to a star player in an important game, I always hope my team's coach is just waiting to spring a "Hayden Fox." They never do. Schmid didn't either.
As the lineups came out on Wednesday, Rosales' name was no where to be found. Most certainly not in the starting lineup and not even on the bench. If the Sounders are going to overcome their 3-0 deficit, they'll need to do it without their playmaker. Let's hope...
If you feel like watching someone go crazy tonight, be sure to follow this StoryStream as Jeremiah will be giving a highly emotional recounting of the game whenever the moment strikes him.