He'd notched a goal via penalty against the Montreal Impact on Aug. 18, giving him the return rate of 18 goals in just 22 league games (one goal every 1.2 games).

It's the sort of proficiency, and consistency, normally resigned for the video-gaming realm, where games flash by and goals flow in.

For San Jose Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski, however, it was merely the latest goal-scoring exploit in a season that has been chock-full of them.

For a while this summer—particularly following a hat trick against Real Salt Lake on July 14, which had sprung his tally to 17 goals in 18 games, there had been serious talk of Wondolowski surpassing Roy Lassiter's league record of 27 goals scored.

Following that RSL match, one journalist even asked "Wondo," as he's affectionately known in the Bay Area, whether he would like to break the record with Lassiter in attendance.

Then, it had been a question readying entry into the "when" category, rather than "if." Nothing quite so captivates an American audience as a record chase in summer, after all.

But there is a dilemma in affixing such a powerful spotlight upon Wondo. As he'll be the first to tell you, this season—heck, his entire career—has never been about him.

It sounds too good to be true, as if one of those tried-and-true, but exceedingly lame, cliches we tend to plaster upon our athletes.

Too bad. Wondolowski's career is a reference point for being passed over, being told he's not good enough. When you've spent the first seasons of a professional career toiling in lower professional leagues and, at the best moments, in the MLS reserves, you're afforded a priceless sensibility.

Despite his rampant success in recent seasons—he is the recipient of the 2010 MLS Golden Boot, awarded to the top goalscorer (Wondo nabbed 19 that season, and lost out on the '11 award in a tie-breaker after scoring 16), and the 2011 Castrol Index Player of the Year, bestowed upon the top attacker based on a bevy of complex metrics (Wondo earned a 9.31 rating out of a possible 10, for what it's worth)—he has never grown too big for his britches.

He knows what it's like to be passed over, and his entire on-field modus operandi seems geared toward ensuring that he never loses sight of just how important a team can be. He's learned the importance of camaraderie.

This, all this, can go away so quickly—few people are more cognizant of life's fickleness than an athlete—thus, the importance of the team bond, which goes well beyond that of "brotherly," ratchets up in importance.

Wondolowski is the captain, and he often leads the team in huddles both before games and during their most frenzied moments.

It's a fitting visual verification for the metaphor that has molded this side. With decidedly less fanfare than the 2011 San Francisco 49ers, their successful Bay Area brethren, the Quakes are one of the best teams you're ever going to find.

A No-Frills Approach, a Record-Setting Pace

The clamoring, once so insistent, has dissipated somewhat in the past several weeks.

Wondolowski has scored just that lone goal in Montreal in his past five games, and with seven fixtures remaining, Lassiter's record is becoming an ever-fainter glimmer on the horizon.

His indifference to the record aside, Wondolowski has hardly diminished in terms of importance even as his goals have dried up and teams have geared their defenses toward stemming his prodigious threat.

San Jose's second-most-recent game, against the Colorado Rapids on Aug. 25, saw Wondolowski produce a bevy of deft flicks, pinpoint passes and superb control that, while they won’t end up on any highlight show, continue to augment his transformation into a complete footballer.

United States men's national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann has certainly taken note, picking “Wondo” regularly for games in the past year. (Wondo was not called up for the upcoming pair of World Cup qualifiers.)

Like a shooter suffering through an off-night and concentrating instead on his defensive intensity, Wondolowski doesn’t let missed finishes undo him, and doesn't turn off his effort once the goals stop coming. It’s a testament to his fortitude, an added boon to the vaunted Quakes attack and a perfect argument in favor of his captaincy.

It has helped produce a San Jose attack that is not only looking like one of the most formidable in club history. It was perhaps most fitting that, as one record has passed seemingly out of reach (vis a vis Wondolowski's individual exploit), another has been eclipsed (vis a vis the team).

San Jose broke its record for most goals scored in a season this past Sunday against Chivas USA, their 4-0 victory over the struggling Western Conference side gave them a league-leading 56 strikes in 2012. That's one better than the '97 Quakes produced, and there are still seven games yet to be played before the playoffs.

Wondolowski failed to crack the scorers' list in that match as well, but he did notch his sixth assist of the season when he sent in a neat through ball for midfielder Simon Dawkins to smash past Chivas keeper Dan Kennedy to give San Jose a two-goal advantage.

It's that sort of spurious play from Wondo, who frequently drops deep into midfield from his initial position farther upfield, becoming something of an attacking midfielder-cum-support striker in the attack.

That versatility compounds his menace, befuddles the opposing defense and diversifies the Earthquakes' attack. Many a pundit have derided the Quakes as a one-man attack—one of the laziest appraisals one can make.

San Jose is at its most dangerous when strikers Steven Lenhart (eight goals) and Alan Gordon (11) join Wondo up front, creating the sort of Hydra usually reserved for the most outsized of Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Wondolowski may enjoy a seven-goal cushion atop the San Jose scoring chart, but his 18 strikes constitute just 32 percent of the total output.

Contrast that to English Premier League side Arsenal last season (2011-12), who on the way to a third-place finish last season scored 74 goals in 38 games.

Their top scorer, Robin van Persie, who has since left for Manchester United, tallied 30 goals that season, or 40.5 percent of total output.

(Interestingly enough Van Persie has scored four of United's eight league goals through three games in the current season—good enough to constitute 50 percent of the attack.)

Arsenal suffered from the stigma that they were nothing more than a "one-man show" last season—something that San Jose likely hears far too often as well.

Following Sunday's Chivas match, Quakes manager Frank Yallop was asked, somewhat facetiously, whether the team had dispelled the notion that they were a one-man team.

The Canadian seemed almost taken aback at first by the absurdity of the question, and responded in kind.

"You can tell me yourself," he said, noting that he'd just seen his side score three times from free kicks against Chivas, on top of Dawkins's goal from the run of play. "The stats say that we're scoring tons of goals from everywhere."

That sharing of the wealth has helped the Earthquakes amass a seven-point advantage at the top of the Western Conference standings, and a three-point cushion over Eastern Conference leaders Sporting Kansas City as they fight for the Supporters Shield, granted to the team with the best league-wide record at the end of the season.

Since netting a hat trick against RSL, Wondolowski has scored just once in San Jose's past seven league fixtures.

Five of those games have been victories.

Including Wondolowski, the Quakes have had seven different goal scorers during those seven matches, a span in which they have fired in 22 goals, or just over three a game (3.14 to be exact, for all the Pi lovers out there).

With the race for the playoffs heating up as the weather cools down, that sharing of the wealth will only increase in significance. San Jose has enjoyed billing as the "team to beat" in MLS for much of the season, frequently named to the top spot in the weekly Power Rankings.

That they have continued to burnish that status with Wondolowski's goal-scoring rate diminishing from rapid-fire to tepid only speaks to this side's potential.

Yallop was effusive in his belief that this year's team is the result of a conscientious, albeit frugal, spending policy that has brought in the blend of players he needs.

The Quakes are a hard-working bunch, each of them willing to fulfill the defensive duties inherent in a top side's success. Their pressing scheme is incessant, their ability to throttle teams on the counterattack—seen so brilliantly against Chivas—unparalleled.

They may be branded as outsiders, they may play in an arena without the thrills and frills of the soccer-specific stadiums enjoyed by their peers (San Jose will break ground on a new stadium on Oct. 21, with construction due to be completed by the start of the 2014 season).

But they could care less. They love their supporters—especially the boisterous 1906 Ultras, who remain standing, chanting and clapping for 90 minutes of every game.

It's in keeping with this side's record-setting philosophy that club president Dave Kaval has requested 4,600 fans to participate in that ground-breaking ceremony.

That number would easily eclipse the Guinness World Record for such an event, currently held by Unique Builders, who used 4,532 people in a 2007 project in Jaipur, India.

For now, San Jose will continue to befuddle opponents at Buck Shaw Stadium, nestled amid the sprawling Spanish mission-style splendor of Santa Clara University.

On some nights, particularly these late-summer ones of late, you're unlikely to find a more sweeping set of vistas—as Quakes winger Shea Salinas, currently injured, tweeted this past weekend.

It's hardly a wrench for the Quakes, who have not lost at Buck Shaw since last season—a run that was extended to 15 games with the Chivas win.

A True Leader

That sort of success has been bred by an unselfish streak shared by every first-team player. Wondolowski is the first to tell you that all he cares about is winning.

The forward takes time after games—doesn't matter if they're wins or losses—to pick out a player, or maybe two, who are enjoying a superb run of form.

Back in mid-July, it was Rafael Baca and Sam Cronin, the central midfielders who form the core of Yallop's 4-4-2 formation.

And when a player is struggling, as Baca was toward the end of that month, seen most notably when he was substituted for Steven Lenhart in the 59th minute of a match against the Chicago Fire, Wondolowski is the first to sidle up to him in the post-match locker room.

After that Fire match, where San Jose had fought to a 1-1 draw, Wondo huddled with Baca for a few minutes in the postgame locker room, encouraging the midfielder and telling him to toss that game aside as a mere anomaly in what has been an excellent season for the former Loyola Marymount player.

Baca took the words to heart, and has been back to his lung-bursting best of late. Against Colorado he provided a sumptuous assist for one of Gordon's goals, and he has been impeccable in his distribution in the center of the park.

Wondo did the same to Ike Opara following that Fire match.

Opara, a young center back who had come on for the injured Victor Bernardez, had been used sparingly all season before being called upon that night. Wondolowski, face etched in stern reprimand, instructed Opara that, above all, he could not get hurt.

A visible weight was lifted from Opara's back, a bark of laughter ensued. The defender has been excellent through the past few games for San Jose, which he has started at center back.

It's those sorts of anecdotes, mixed alongside that now-fabled Goonies "Never say die" mentality, that make this team one to cherish.

Many coaches praise their players, but when Yallop says after every game that there is no ego on this side, that this is a group of players who genuinely enjoy working together, you can do nothing else but believe him.

The doubting Thomases of the media aside, there's no way not to once you've watched this team live. What the Earthquakes have is very, very rare in professional sports.

It is a mentality that is exuded from the 10 players who take the field with him each game night. It flows through the coaching staff, the substitutes and the reserves, and it has created the most successful team in MLS this season.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes used in this article were gathered at San Jose Earthquakes games.

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Since returning to Major League Soccer in 2008, San Jose had won just one of its 10 previous encounters with Chivas USA, their opponents on Sunday night. The run included this season’s May 13 draw (1-1) at Buck Shaw Stadium.

But as has so often been the case this season, San Jose has a very bad habit of turning scripts on their heads. They did so again on a Sunday night that started off with a sweltering 6 p.m. PT kickoff, cutting Chivas to shreds as they took their chances, surging to a 4-0 victory.

Frank Yallop made just one change from the side that defeated Colorado Rapids 4-1 last weekend, with Victor Bernardez replacing Justin Morrow at center-back. Bernardez and forward Steven Lenhart had both missed the game while serving a one-match suspension stemming from incidents in an Aug. 18 encounter with Montreal Impact.

Morrow, who usually features as a left-back but had played some central defense this season—most notably last weekend against the Rapids—had played every minute this season for the Quakes. At 2,340 minutes, he’s tied for sixth-most among all MLS players, and it was deemed that he could have a rest.

The fourth goal—sent in quickly when left-back Ramiro Corrales caught Chivas in disarray as they attempted to set up their wall—was San Jose’s 56th on the season, and broke the previous franchise record for most in a season.

San Jose head coach Frank Yallop called that feat “phenomenal,” noting that the previous holders had included the likes of Landon Donovan and Dwayne DeRosario—both part of the 2001 and 2003 MLS Cup-winning sides.

“We were really clinical, and we could have scored a few more,” Yallop said. “And that’s not to rub it in on anybody, but I just think that our team right now is the team that’s moving the ball well, working very hard for each other and we have quality players in important positions in front of goal. Our chemistry is excellent, and we’re scoring from all over the place.”

Bernardez opened the scoring in the 11th minute, before Simon Dawkins added a second in the 39th.

Thirty-five-year-old left-back Ramiro Corrales, the last remaining member of the league’s inaugural 1996 season, rounded off the scoring with free-kick goals in the 71st and 81st minutes.

“Simon Dawkins again, what a player,” Yallop said, referring to Dawkins’ two goals against Colorado. “I’m really happy for Ramiro (Corrales) to get two goals. His first goal was a fantastic free kick, and the second was just bright play; he’s just a really bright player. It’s nice of Victor (Bernardez) to get on the sheet too. So I’m happy for a lot of the guys tonight.”

Corrales had been battling injury for much of the past month, but Yallop said that after two weeks of excellent training sessions, he pulled the fullback aside ahead of the Rapids match and told him he’d earned a starting role based purely on merit. This was the second consecutive game Corrales had started at the position, and captained the side.

Robin Fraser, head coach of Chivas, had drilled his side well about the game-changing importance of San Jose’s midfield foursome. Composed of two central holding players (Rafael Baca, Sam Cronin) and two wingers (Simon Dawkins, Marvin Chavez), it is the engine room for most of the Earthquakes’ play.

The road side thus kept three players in the center, including rigorous tacklers Shalrie Joseph and Oswaldo Minda—right-winger Tristan Bowen would pinch in to condense the space even further—when San Jose gathered possession in its own third, attempting to choke out any opportunities to find the influential Baca and Cronin.

San Jose’s fullbacks, normally so adept at getting forward in the attack, were forced to stick to their defensive assignments during a start of the game in which Chivas were dominant.

“I thought, to be honest, Chivas played well tonight,” Yallop said. “They didn’t finish their chances, but when you’ve got a clinical team playing against you, and you miss three or four chances and we get one, and it’s, boom, goal, it’s got to be frustrating.”

The first real chance of the game came just after five minutes, when a deflected shot from Chivas forward Casey Townsend fell to talented 19-year-old striker Juan Agudelo, whose point-blank effort was stifled by a last-ditch sliding challenge.

Traded earlier in the season from New York Red Bulls, the Colombia-born but NY-raised Agudelo has found it difficult get a firm handle on this season, in which he’s scored two goals and added three assists in 14 games.

Following the third foul on Cronin in 10 minutes—he and Minda were locked in a personal battle of sorts—Bernardez lined up a 30-foot effort from left-center of goal.

The gigantic center-back’s strike was low and forceful, and it skipped twice past a helpless Dan Kennedy to give San Jose a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute. The big defender’s celebration was formulated, but it was hard to begrudge him his moment—it was, after all, just his second goal of the season.

Shalrie Joseph attempted to emulate the finer of his two goals from his previous game against New England Revolution two minutes later, but the Grenadian’s right-footed curling drive from just atop the penalty area bounced wide of Busch’s goal.

Agudelo had his golden chance seconds later. Picking off a lazy back-pass to Busch, the forward found himself one-on-one and at a slight angle with the keeper, but he lost his nerve and fired straight at him, the ball firing off Busch’s chest as he rushed to snuff out the danger.

Chris Wondolowski then hit the crossbar with a header on a cross sent in from Steven Beitashour on San Jose’s ensuing counter. It was end-to-end stuff, just 15 minutes into the match to boot.

Townsend could not take advantage of a free header off a good Tristan Bowen cross in the 28th minute, sending his effort wide left of Busch’s goal. The chance marked the first time Busch had been threatened since the previous Agudelo chance, and it would just about end Townsend’s threat on what was a very quiet night for the forward.

Agudelo again was sent through into space in the 34th minute, and while he had Bernardez beat for pace, his attempted nudged shot with the outside of his right foot was saved by Busch for a corner.

Alan Gordon’s excellent pressing won possession in the Chivas half early in the 39th minute. The ball fell to Marvin Chavez, who recovered quickly and played a pass to Wondolowski in space.

The striker turned and sped toward goal before sending a neat left-footed pass for Simon Dawkins, who was making a diagonal run across the top of the box. The ball was played a bit behind him, but the Englishman was able to take his touch into space and fire a shot past Kennedy to give San Jose a two-goal advantage.

In a manner similar to the way they’d responded with the first goal, it was a superb response to extended pressure from San Jose.

“We don’t get perfect balls played in to us, so we work with what we get,” Dawkins said afterwards. “This was one of those situations where it worked. We practice finishing every day after training for that reason.”

Gordon had called Dawkins the best player on the team, echoing the words of winger Shea Salinas one month earlier. Though he had found it hard to get into the game at the outset, thanks to Chivas’ midfield tactics, Dawkins’ ability to change a game at a moment’s notice was again witnessed first-hand.

Three goals in his past two games and five in his past eight: quite the return for the 24-year-old. Passing by Dawkins in the postgame locker room, Morrow told the assembled reporters that the team had taken to calling the Edgware native "James Bond reincarnated."

While Chivas had threatened at disparate moments to start the second half, Dawkins again found the best chance when in the 64th minute he cut in from the left wing and fired inches over Kennedy’s bar.

Bowen, who had easily been Chivas’ best attacking player on the night, forced a 68th-minute save from Busch, who fisted his left-footed effort over the bar.

A timely interception on the ensuing corner sprung Steven Beitashour into space. Racing down the left flank, three options emerged to Beitashour's right. He picked Chavez, whose left-footed curler was saved by Kennedy.

It was a theme of the night for San Jose—their frenzied pressing game had picked apart Chivas on numerous occasions, leading to good opportunities on the counter.

“When you press it makes it easier to get the ball back,” Rafael Baca said. “When we do that right, we’re very dangerous, getting the ball in good spaces.”

“I think we have a hard-working midfield,” Yallop said toward the end of his post-match press conference. He was particularly proud of Dawkins and Chavez—two wingers who had showed excellent work rates tracking back in defense.

“If you’re an attacking player, and you’re going to play for a team that I coach, you’ve got to be able to work back and work hard. I think that it’s taken me awhile to get those types of guys, but we’ve got them. We have a bunch of two-way players who want to work hard defensively and get forward when they can.”

Baca credited the side’s fitness levels for allowing them to play that sort of game without seeing attacks peter out due to fatigued touches and balls sent just out of the reach of tiring players.

After San Jose had again picked the pockets of a lackadaisical Chivas side in its own half, Rafael Baca was bundled over as he attempted to run on to a neat one-two pass from Sam Cronin. Ramiro Corrales, captaining for the night, took the free kick and sent in a lovely left-footed shot that curled into Kennedy’s left-hand corner in the 72nd minute. It was Corrales’ first goal of the season, and the 55th scored by San Jose in 2012, tying the club record for most goals in a season.

The long-time league veteran then attempted to turn provider on the Quakes’ ensuing possession, but his attempt to get his ninth assist of the season was spurned when Kennedy saved Steven Lenhart's header.

Corrales would break the season record in the 81st minute, again from a set piece stemming from an egregious tackle by Minda on Wondolowski.

Taking advantage of miscommunication between the Chivas players—many of whom had their backs to him—Corrales took his free kick quickly and sent in a bouncing effort at the far post. Kennedy, unable to do anything more than lunge unsuccessfully at the shot, was furious with his wall.

San Jose had its fourth goal for the second time in eight days.

The win pushed San Jose's record to 16-6-5 on the season, good for 53 points, and gave them a three-point cushion atop the Supporters Shield standings. Sporting Kansas City, currently leading the Eastern Conference, are second in that race, sitting at 50 points.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes used in this article were gathered at the game.

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The Chicago Fire and their coach, Frank Klopas, came into Sunday night’s game needing a win. Less than one minute into the game, they were well on their way.

A Patrick Nyarko goal off a Dynamo turnover got the fans happy barely after the opening kick. The Fire’s second-fastest goal (47 seconds) in team history was just the beginning of what they had in store for the Houston Dynamo in their 3-1 win.

An excited Toyota Park crowd of 17,007 watched one of the Fire’s most aggressively played games to date. If Nyarko’s goal struck a match, a following goal by Daniel Paladini in the 19th minute of play ignited the flame.

Paladini used a deke to get Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall out of position for the score. The goal was set up with a crisp pass from the active, though unlucky, Alvarez Fernandez to put the Fire ahead 2-0. The Fire never looked back.

During the first half, the Fire attacked on every possession; their passes were effective and they showed patience to set up for additional scoring opportunities.

One of those opportunities came when Fernandez received a well-placed pass from forward Sherjill MacDonald. The midfielder proceeded to set his feet for the shot but he kicked it too hard as the ball flew to the right side of the net.

On another scoring opportunity, Fernandez had an additional chance to put the Fire ahead 3-0. Instead of passing the ball to MacDonald, Fernandez kicked the ball directly into the arms of Hall.

The first half could have gone a different way had a Dynamo goal by forward Macoumba Kandji been allowed. Kandji appeared to have hit the ball with his arm so the game officials disallowed the goal.

It was the only true threat the Dynamo had in the first half.

The second half had its share of highlights. This included four athletic saves from Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson. There was a moment during the 72nd minute of play when Johnson had a succession of diving saves. This threw the beloved fans in “Section 8” into a frenzy.

The Dynamo would indeed score late in the 89th minute, thus ruining Johnson's bid for a shutout.

The Fire answered with a goal from Alex in extra time, giving the Fire a 3-1 victory, improving their record at home to 10-2-2.  

Game notes: Sunday night’s game was the first without Marco Pappa. Pappa had an immediate transfer to SC Heerenveen.

Saturday was coach Klopas’ 45th birthday.

Ernest Shepard is a Bleacher Report featured columnist; all observations were acquired first-hand.

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With their troubled start to the season an increasingly fading memory, the Los Angeles Galaxy extended their undefeated streak to six games in all competitions with a comfortable 2-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night.

L.A.'s Brazilian midfielder, Juninho, opened the scoring just before halftime when he blasted one from 35 yards out, beating Caps keeper Brad Knighton to find the top corner and make it 1-0 in the 41st.

"Juni’s been doing that a lot recently in training and in games," David Beckham said afterwards. "When he’s got his shooting boots on there’s not many goalkeepers that can stop him."

It was Beckham who eventually doubled L.A.'s lead in the 79th minute.

Robbie Keane was bundled over on the edge of the 18, and L.A. was awarded a free kick from 20 yards out. The former England midfielder and renowned dead-ball specialist stepped up to the mark and put his shot over the wall into the back of the net, leaving Knighton absolutely flat-footed to make it 2-0 Galaxy.

The goal was Beckham's sixth in a period of just eight games.

"I'm not usually scoring that many," said the former Manchester United man. "But I'll take it."

Keane also found the back of the net earlier in the game. However, his 32nd-minute effort was disallowed for being offside.

But despite not getting his name on the score sheet, the Ireland forward put in a good shift and nearly opened the second half with a goal when he broke through the Whitecaps back line and put a shot on goal that was blocked by Knighton.

"The concern you have with your striker is if he’s not getting chances," said Galaxy coach Bruce Arena afterwards, "and Robbie got a good number tonight and he’s gonna finish his share. I think he played well and was pretty dangerous."

Beckham was subbed off in the 85th minute to a rousing chorus of cheers from the 20,168 in attendance. His replacement was Edson Buddle, who is still making his way back from injury and has struggled to find the form he enjoyed two seasons ago before he left the Galaxy for a second division side in the German Bundesliga.

The Galaxy had one last opportunity to extend their lead when Michael Stephens broke through on goal in the 88th minute. However, the workmanlike holding midfielder allowed himself too many touches in the penalty area, and Vancouver was able to nullify the danger.

But when it was all said and done, Vancouver had barely mustered a shot on goal, while L.A. had conjured up what was arguably one of its best team performances on the season. The red-hot Galaxy now head into the international break in forth place and even with Seattle on 43 points.

Alex Baker is a Contributor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand.

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"They still can't say what's going to happen to me when I'm 50."

Can you imagine going through life not knowing what will happen to your brain over the next 15 years? The number of athletes, at all levels, who suffer through post-concussion complications is staggering. Thousands of athletes—many who continue to play without any medical treatment or diagnosis—struggle through simple, everyday activities because their brains have been battered and bruised for far too long. 

Thankfully, people are starting to address the rising concern about concussions head on (please pardon the pun). In soccer, the issue is as serious as ever.

Former MLS Defender of the Year Jimmy Conrad is one of a growing number of soccer players in the United States—and around the world—who had to end his career prematurely because of concussions. (That's his quote at the start of the article.) Conrad was smart, though. He got out when he could live a pretty normal life, suffering from occasional headaches but still able to work out and play pickup games without any serious day-to-day medical concerns.

Other players aren't so lucky.

Take Taylor Twellman, for example. The former U.S. International and MLS Most Valuable Player hasn't been able to work out in three years. Now working TV for ESPN, Twellman is able to travel around the world calling soccer matches, but he can't so much as run on a treadmill without suffering from debilitating post-concussion symptoms.

Twellman told me:

Right now I'm at a strong limitation. I can't do anything consistent with my heart rate over 125. I told myself, 'I'm going to give up the working out part to let this brain heal and see if that works, because no one else has done that.' Most athletes would say they are going to work out and rather have a headache. I say I'd rather have no headache.

Twellman is extremely outspoken about concussion prevention and research, recently creating a foundation to raise money and awareness for the growing concern in sports.

There has been so much talk about concussions and other brain injuries in the NFL this offseason—from thousands of lawsuits filed by former players to issues of depression and even suicide—the spotlight needs to be on protecting the brain for all athletes, especially those who go onto the field of play with no protection on their heads at all.

There are more concussions in soccer than any sport but football, and still to this day many of those injuries go unreported, misdiagnosed or completely mistreated.

Former D.C. United defender Bryan Namoff filed a $12 million lawsuit this week against his former team, claiming medical negligence that led to the end of his career. Namoff was hurt in a game on Sept. 9, 2009, and played three days later, the last game of his career.

Three years removed, Namoff is still suffering from the effects of his injury, telling a reporter after speaking to a group of high school kids, "every minute of every day, I have a headache. It’s the invisible nightmare."

Maybe Conrad was lucky to get out when he did, playing a full career in MLS despite suffering side effects from multiple concussions during his years on the field. Still, he has no idea what his brain will look like when he's older.

A fun-loving character in the sport who now shows off his personality working for KickTV, Conrad seemed oddly somber when speaking to me about his future, explaining that doctors cannot tell him what his life will be like over the next stage of life. At 35 years old with two young daughters, he is left pondering what he may remember of high school graduations, weddings and grandchildren.

Sadly, Twellman, Namoff and a host of other former athletes can't look that far ahead. They are still more worried about tomorrow. 

Twellman has a burgeoning media career as the lead soccer analyst in the United States for ESPN and is using his position to not only help grow the game, but raise awareness for an issue that ended his career and changed his life. 

Everyone says 'back in the day,' but that's BS. This was 2008 and I had every symptom you see out there—sleep apnea, sleeping too much, headaches in and out, nausea, dizziness—I had it all, but I could still walk onto that soccer field at 60 percent and score five goals in eight games after being punched in the face, so people said, 'eh, you are fine.'

Obviously, we know now that he wasn't fine. He may never be fine again.

The problem in soccer is that without sweeping changes to the way the game is played, there aren't too many ways to prevent what causes concussions.

In the history of American football, players went from unprotected heads to leather helmets to rudimentary hard-shell helmets to adding facemasks to the state-of-the-art protective headgear players wear today. Still,  nothing is good enough to stop players from getting occasional concussions when colliding with each other.

Soccer players are still in the Stone Age when it comes to protecting their heads on the field. Will soccer start to implement helmets at the youth levels? Some youth teams have voluntarily started wearing the soft helmets that international players like Chelsea keeper Petr Cech wear. Still, nobody can guarantee those soft helmets prevent much of anything.

Twellman said:

If you want to wear the helmet and you are 100 percent asymptomatic and symptom-free, I am for that helmet. But right now we have this logic that says, 'well, I have this concussion problem so I'm going to wear the helmet.' No. It's not going to stop you from getting another one.

If you want to wear it, that's fine, but we can't tell parents their son or daughter has a concussion and throw the helmet on and they are going to be fine.

When I asked Conrad if he ever wore protective headgear during his career, even the padded headband like Philadelphia Union All-Star Carlos Valdes wears this season after suffering a head injury at the start of the year, Conrad said no, but joked, "if I did, I would probably remember your name right now." 

MLS has done a lot more in recent years to protect and inform players of the perils of concussions. The league has reached out to youth organizations and schools to make sure they understand how to properly diagnose and treat a concussion.

It doesn't matter much if a player is concussion-free in the pros if the guy had 10 before he gets there. An elbow in high school—heck, an elbow at five years old—is more dangerous than one as an adult.

The human brain isn't fully developed until we are mid-to-late teenagers. Yet youth groups routinely practice drills with kids getting balls kicked or thrown at their heads, all in the name of learning proper technique. It turns out that may be doing more damage than good. And that fails to mention in-game injuries at the youth level, where a bump on the head is often treated the same as a scrape on the knee.

Still, with all the research and all the treatment plans and all the warning signs, it is hard to know what to do in each case. Should kids sit out for a mandatory month after a concussion? Should they sit out longer? Seasons just aren't that long, and if a top youth player says he or she feels fine and looks symptom-free, what can a coach do but put the kid back in the game?

Rub some dirt on it, right? Wrong. Parents are getting smarter than that.

Twellman cautioned:

The 'injury' of concussions has legs that are scaring the living crap out of some parents, and rightfully so. Now when kids hear that, it's okay if a kid wears a helmet.

This article was going to be a pound-the-desk plea to have soft helmets mandated across the sport. Then I realized I never wore a helmet and I played soccer for decades without getting a concussion. We shouldn't be over-reactive by encasing our kids in bubble wrap, but we do need to make sure we are prepared for situations when warning signs show up.

That said, we mandate that kids wear protection for their shins, why not their brains?

That we keep reporting on the NFL lawsuits and discussing this topic and getting quotes from former players means there is a chance some kid somewhere may stop and think about the headache he got in practice and tell his parents about it. He may do that instead of running out onto the field the next day and the day after that until he gets double vision and can no longer walk straight. 

It is true this article is a bit self-serving; as a youth soccer coach, I hope every parent in the country reads this, not just to nod along with my words, but to read what Twellman and Conrad say, to see what Namoff is going through and realize they need to provide a safe path for their kids.

In most cases, a broken leg will heal. We have come a long way in the last few years, but still, nobody really knows how to heal a broken brain.

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The New York Cosmos are making a comeback to the MLS.

On July 12, the Cosmos were introduced as the 10th franchise, returning to play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 2013.  At the same press conference, they made it no secret of the fact that their aspirations were to return to the top flight of American soccer. 

On the same day mlssoccer.com reported that MLS Commissioner Don Garber was looking to put a second team in New York City.  He mentioned the New York Cosmos as one potential team, but did not delve into the topic any further.

All signs point to the Cosmos looking to be that team.

In 2009, The London Daily Mail reported that former owner, G Peppe Pinton, had sold the club's image rights to Paul Kemsley, former vice president of Tottenham Hotspurs.  During his tenure, Kemsley, hired an All-Star front office, including former United States player Cobi Jones and former Cosmos legend Pele.

Yet no one has been more vocal about the club's direction than former French international Eric Cantona, who was named director of soccer in January 2011.

Cantona has quickly become the face of the Cosmos resurgence, making no secret of his objectives for the club, as reported by Leander Schaerlaeckens of ESPN.com in a 2011 article:

Cantona hopes to have the core of a first team emerge from the academy in five years' time and a side that is entirely homegrown not long after that. Lofty aspirations, but he's thinking even bigger. "The [goal] will be for the United States to win the World Cup with Cosmos players," he said. "I think in 20 years' time. Maybe before."

Schaerlaeckens also reported that the Cosmos already have three academy members serving on the U-17 national team, serving good on Cantona’s aspirations.

If there is any man for the job, it’s Cantona.  And if there’s any team to bring prominence to the MLS, it’s the Cosmos.

In an age where social media and technology have become tantamount in communicating, they have also given teams the capability to brand themselves worldwide, garnering a much wider audience.

Take Manchester United for example.  Forbes ranks them as the second-highest-valued team brand in the world.  The team estimates that it has 333 million supporters from Asia alone, as well as racking up over 27 million likes on their Facebook page.

The Cosmos have the history that has already made them world famous.  Back in the late '70s, they were the hottest ticket in town, averaging over 47,000 fans a game at one point, while fielding legends such as Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Giorgio Chinaglia. 

And they have continued that legacy into the 21st century with an aggressive marketing campaign.  Since 2009, the Cosmos Copa NYC has brought soccer to the streets of New York through a World Cup style tournament between local “national teams” of New York. 

They also have begun to sell team apparel, which includes having released a line inspired by the 1977 NYC blackout, tailored by English sportswear provider Umbro.

And if that wasn’t enough, they have taken their cause overseas, having played Manchester United in Paul Scholes’ Testimonial Match, fielding world-class players such as former Italian national team captain Fabio Cannavaro and former American international Brian McBride.

The Cosmos lost 6-0, but they had gotten what they were looking for—the world's attention.

The MLS needs the Cosmos.  The Cosmos represent American soccer, having changed the way it was played and they way it was received.  Professional soccer in America was non-existent.  After the Cosmos’ five NASL championships, high attendance records and high-profile status, America began to take notice.

When the NASL folded in 1984, the MLS sprung up only 12 years later, trying to pick up where their predecessors left off.  And to MLS's credit, the league has grown significantly, expanding to 10 cities, as well as ranking eighth in average attendance amongst worldwide soccer leagues according to a tweet by MLS Vice President of Communications, Dan Courtemanche.

But with the Cosmos, the MLS will achieve another stratum of success.  Getting a team that is known worldwide will raise MLS’s profile, and at the same time, it will allow the New York Cosmos to once again relive the legacy that created American soccer.

Follow me on twitter @ardsep

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As the MLS season begins its stretch run, a unique dimension about the league takes shape.

Unlike so many other major sports, MLS teams jockey for position and yet remain fairly close in the standings.

Months of league play have done little to separate many of the teams, a sign of effective parity.

So with the playoffs now beginning to emerge on the horizon, many squads still have a decent chance at postseason play.

Here's a look at some of the hotter teams, and conversely some that are downright gruesome.

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Two goals apiece from Simon Dawkins and Alan Gordon fired the San Jose Earthquakes to a 4-1 victory over Colorado Rapids Saturday on an abnormally breezy late summer evening at Buck Shaw Stadium.

The win exacted a fitting measure of revenge for the Quakes, who had not lost at home since last season against—fittingly enough—Colorado. Their current unbeaten streak at Buck Shaw now extends to 14 games (10-0-4).

San Jose was playing without three of its normal starters, with striker Steven Lenhart and central defenders Victor Bernardez and Jason Hernandez sitting out due to one-game suspensions incurred during last Sunday’s match against Montreal Impact.

Save for a span of 10 or so nervy minutes in the second half when Colorado pulled a goal back to make it 2-1, the makeshift central defense of Ike Opara and Justin Morrow held strong.

The Earthquakes didn't miss a beat.

San Jose were dominant throughout, producing a vintage display that coach Frank Yallop called “one of the best” he’d seen in his almost eight seasons of managing the club (2001-03, 2008—).

The win took San Jose to a league-best 15 wins and pushed their lead in the Western Conference standings to seven points over Real Salt Lake. San Jose still have a game in hand, as well.

They went four points clear of Eastern Conference leaders Sporting Kansas City in the race for the Supporter’s Shield, although SKC have a chance to cut back into that advantage when they host New York on Sunday.

Dawkins Excellent Once Again in Midfield, Alan Gordon Rampant Up Front

It’s getting to the point where defenders know what’s coming when San Jose midfielder Simon Dawkins runs at them on the break, but they remain helpless to stop it.

On loan from English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur for the second consecutive season, Dawkins, a natural attacking midfielder, has a marked proclivity of cutting infield with his right foot whereupon he frees himself up to either fire an attempt on goal or spread a pass to an arriving teammate.

It is his syncopated change of pace, compounded by a bevy of deft feints, that keep the movement fresh, and therefore the defenders continually befuddled.

In the 11th minute, Dawkins was sent into space on the left wing from a superb left-footed through ball by Gordon.

"You talk about hold-up play, and it doesn’t get any better than that," Yallop said of his striker. "Chest, down, great ball out wide to Simon, who's 1 v 1, and I think he enjoys that. He’s not really a wide player, so he enjoys coming in centrally."

"The defender’s coming toward me, so I feel if I take one touch I can take it past him and he won’t be able to get himself set," Dawkins said. "I’ve been working at that in training every single day, and thankfully it paid off today."

The first goal was clinical—a low, right-footed drive past keeper Matt Pickens’s near post. Yallop called it a "great shot." His second, in the 68th minute, put the game out of reach. 

Taking his throw-in quickly, San Jose midfielder Marvin Chavez picked out Sam Cronin in an advanced midfield position, whereupon Cronin played a quick ball into the path of Dawkins, who was surging to his right.

The ball fell perfectly into the Englishman’s path and, after pausing briefly to ready himself, Dawkins fired a first-time shot (again with his right) past Pickens, again past the keeper's near post.

He would almost add a third goal in the 87th minute, but fired his fearsome drive into the side netting. Still, he pushed his season total to six goals (although the PA announcer said he’d scored his fifth on both of his goals).

Speaking to reporters afterward, Dawkins playfully chastised himself for missing out on his hat-trick. "I should have had a third," he said, chuckling. "But I fired it into the side netting."

Gordon nearly got a hat-trick of his own. The tall striker, who had not featured for San Jose since July 28 against Chicago (successive suspensions), and had not scored since July 22 against Vancouver, immediately made his presence felt.

There are few forwards more energetic than Gordon, and throughout the first half he was ubiquitous, charging down defenders like a bull who’d just seen red.

His assist for Dawkins’s opening goal was excellent, as was his eye for goal, still sharp after two games on the bench. Gordon continued to put Pickens under pressure, forcing the keeper into a string of saves before he finally got his goal in the 43rd minute.

Rafael Baca did superbly to erase Hunter Freeman—who had a howler of a first half—with a clever stepover, launching a left-footed cross to the back post where Gordon rose to meet it and head down to make it two-nothing heading into halftime.

After Dawkins pushed San Jose to a 3-1 advantage, Gordon rounded off the scoring adroitly.

Taking advantage of Ramiro Corrales's header in midfield, which bounded into the Colorado penalty area, Gordon raced onto the loose ball and, after touching past center-back Marvel Wynne, dispatched his shot into the back of the net.

It was a statement game from the Quakes, who Yallop had exhorted in a team meeting before the game to use this Rapids encounter as an opportunity to banish memories of their loss last weekend. 

"I thought tonight, we have to make a statement where we’re top of the league; let’s stay there," Yallop said. "Let’s not limp into the playoffs."

The weather was a fitting forecaster: the season is now heading into its stretch drive, and while the Earthquakes are getting closer to locking up a playoff spot, they want to do so with panache.

Brief Worries After Colorado Score

The second-half had begun at a bit of a canter, but it would fire into life in the 54th minute when Martin Rivero sent a bending corner kick to an unmarked Tyrone Marshall, standing in the middle of the penalty area.

Marshall could do nothing else but head past Jon Busch to pull back a vital goal and send the momentum swinging back to his side.

"They made a sub where Hunter Freeman came off and Marshall came on, so everybody had their marks during the first half, but obviously with the substitution nobody had picked up Marshall yet on a set piece and he pretty much had a free run at (the header)," Opara said.

"That can’t happen, but going forward I think we’ll figure that out as a unit, and when a substitution is made to quickly react and go from there."

"That goal was a bit of a wake-up call," Dawkins said. "We knew that we needed to keep our game the way we’d had it in the first half, and attack, and we ended up getting those two additional goals." 

"We were just weathering the storm, weathering the storm, and we knew that at some point it would open up, so we were playing long balls and trying to stretch them out," Opara said. 

"Finally, we had guys underneath who could create, and we had guys who could finish well. Overall tonight, it was a good effort."

Opara hailed Morrow’s play on the night in particular, repeatedly telling both reporters and Morrow alike in the post-game locker room that he just "follows the All-Star’s lead." (Morrow played in the MLS All-Star game on July 25.)

Fire back into dominance they did, with the final minutes of the game seeing a thoroughly frustrated Colorado side unable to cope with some sublime, sweeping passing movements from the Quakes, one of which nearly ended in a stirring goal. 

Kaval Sets a Date for Construction to Begin on New Stadium

Construction is set to begin on San Jose’s new soccer-specific stadium in October of this year, and Earthquakes president Dave Kaval wants to make it a memorable start.

Not just in fans’ minds, mind you. He wants this thing etched into the history books.

During a halftime speech to the assembled crowd at Buck Shaw, Kaval said that it would take 4,600 participants to break the standing world record for biggest groundbreaking.

In a ceremony outside the stadium an hour-and-a-half before kickoff (an Earthquakes media representative expressed pleasantly surprised at the strong turnout), Kaval had first revealed that construction was set to begin on the new stadium in October, with designs on it being ready to go by the start of the 2014 MLS season.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes used in this article were gathered at the game.

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When the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced that they were charging cycling legend Lance Armstrong with taking performance-enhancing drugs, I honestly wondered if they had found something new.

After all, Armstrong has never failed a drug test. Considering how long the rumors have been floating around about him, you know that he was tested. A lot. During his run of seven consecutive wins in the Tour de France, I'm sure he couldn't even look at a bathroom without some guy in a lab coat trying to hand him a plastic cup.

That changed when I read the letter the USADA sent to Armstrong, his lawyer, the RadioShack cycling team and the governing body of cycling (reproduced here).

The letter starts out by talking about the agency wanting to talk to cyclists about doping in the sport. They indicated they had wanted to speak with them face-to-face and have them be truthful about their experience with doping in cycling.

The key, for me, was the fourth paragraph of the letter. It says:

With the exception of Mr. Armstrong, every other U.S. rider contacted by USADA regarding doping in cycling agreed to meet with USADA and to truthfully and fully describe their involvement in doping and all doping by others of which they were aware. Mr. Armstrong was likewise contacted through his legal counsel and given the opportunity to meet with USADA to fully and truthfully disclose all knowledge of anti-doping rule violations committed in the sport of cycling. However, Mr. Armstrong declined USADA's offer.

Basically, the USADA was going hunting. They were looking for people to rat out others in the sport and when Armstrong declined to participate, they decided he was guilty.

You may be wondering what this has to do with Sporting Kansas City. Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports tried to make a connection with this tweet:

Hate to say it because I otherwise like the club a lot...but shame on @sportingkc and its now-tainted stadium. kansascity.com/2012/08/24/377…

— Martin Rogers (@mrogersyahoo) August 24, 2012

The "now-tainted" stadium in question is Livestrong Sporting Park. The club has an agreement with the Lance Armstrong Foundation to donate $7.5 million in revenue to the fight against cancer over a six-year period. A portion of every dollar spent at the facility, regardless of whether or not it's during a Sporting KC game or some other event, goes to the foundation to end cancer once and for all.

Evidently, Rogers doesn't think the club should be associated with trying to cure cancer.

In a statement released to the media on Friday, club president Robb Heineman said:

The naming rights partnership between our stadium and Livestrong provides an opportunity to spread health and wellness messages that emphasizes the spirit of cancer survivorship. Livestrong’s focus is the fight against cancer and the support of 28 million people around the world affected by this disease, and we believe strongly in this mission. The statements made last night by the Lance Armstrong Foundation speak for themselves: moving forward and continuing the fight against this horrible disease.

Using Rogers' logic, Nike and Anheuser-Busch must also be tainted because they're not disassociating themselves from Armstrong.

When Armstrong announced Thursday that he would not be agreeing to arbitration of the USADA's accusations against him, he didn't admit guilt. He pointed out that he has never flunked a drug test.

Evidently, Rogers has never had a taxpayer-funded agency coming after him with a pre-determined outcome in its mind and the patience to wait as long as it takes to break him down.

Armstrong deciding not to fight against the USADA is not an admission of guilt. All it is, is Armstrong not wanting to put himself, his family or his foundation through a protracted battle. If Rogers could tell me with a straight face that he wouldn't do the same thing under the circumstances, he's a better liar than I am.

Even if they share a name, the foundation is much bigger than any one man, even a man of Armstrong's stature. The foundation has raised more than $400 million to try to find a cure for cancer, as well as helping people suffering from the disease. A witch hunt in which the target decides not to fight can't change that, nor should it.

I applaud Sporting KC, Nike and Anheuser-Busch for keeping their priorities straight on the issue. I would hope Rogers can get his straight soon.

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David Beckham has had an interesting few weeks.

Left out of Stuart Pearce's Team GB squad for the 2012 London Olympics, the former England captain played a huge role in the stunning festivities of the opening ceremony.

Speeding up the River Thames, Becks delivered the torch to Sir Steve Redgrave, and the rest is history.

On Thursday night, Beckham delivered again.

He provided two assists and a goal in the CONCACAF Champions League against an Isidro Metapan side that couldn't contain his passing brilliance.

The team from El Salvador gave it a good go, but fell 5-2 to the MLS outfit.

Just before halftime, Beckham stepped up to take a routine corner. Swinging the ball near to the front post, the closest defender and keeper were caught off guard. Eventually, the ball was fumbled in for a rather strange goal.

A tad fortuitous for the Manchester United legend, but remarkable nonetheless.

Such a strike has been reminiscent of Beckham's recent form, where he's contributed five assists and six goals to L.A. Galaxy's difficult season.

His performances continue to question whether Pearce was correct to leave him out of the Team GB's squad.

Ryan Giggs only started two of four fixtures at the tournament. Beckham's current fitness would have afforded him more time on the pitch and provided a thoughtful alternative to energetic wingers such as Scott Sinclair and Craig Bellamy.

Unfortunately for British fans, the man who sent England to the 2002 World Cup with a stunning injury-time goal against Greece was never given the opportunity to shine.

His role may have been reduced, but as ever, he dealt with the disappointment in the best way possible: playing excellently for his club.

Although his season hasn't been perfect from a disciplinary point of view, Beckham continues to influence the team with impressive displays. One petulant ban against the San Jose Earthquakes is the only blemish on an otherwise stellar record this year (via The Daily Mail).

A record that, since he's been in the MLS, is looking to be Beckham's most productive ever. From a goal-scoring point of view, he has already surpassed his previous best.

The English ace is still one of the best dead-ball specialists in the world. Any player who can consistently hit the danger zone from set pieces deserves a little luck, and against Isidro Metapan, Beckham finally got it.

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