Santino Quaranta

Last week was by far the slowest week in the DC United blogosphere since probably March 2007. All we've had to talk about was one closed scrimmage: a 1-0 loss to Chivas, with only a very brief match report, and appearances by Dane Murphy and Spencer Allen. Who? Got me.

And the only other newsworthy item from last week was the foot injury to Jeff Carroll, which could keep him out 3-6 months. This is unfortunate news because I was expecting JC to start making some appearances with the first team this year, but that probably just moves Dan Owens up one slot on the depth chart, and hopefully JC will be back late in the year to provide some relief when other key guys might be tiring.

But this week is off to a mini-bang, with the strong scent of a lot of hair product, with the news that Santino Quaranta has come crawling back to the black and red. Who didn't see this coming?

Quick story: My wife and I were in the spectator seats behind the La Norte section for the game against the Red Bulls last year that saw Moreno break the record. After the game, we moved up because some of the players were coming around and she wanted to get her picture taken with them. Fred and Simms both went into the locker room just before getting to us. Then Santino Quaranta comes out in his nice jeans with his hair up like he was on his way out to a club, and started signing autographs. Once I recognized him, we left immediately. He wasn't even in uniform for that game, yet of course he still wanted attention like he's an actual player.

With that said though, I don't have a problem with United giving Quaranta a trial. Just like Gardner, Quaranta needs to be viewed as a guy who has at one time been a starter in MLS, but has been out of the league due to poor performances of late. Despite only being age 23, I wouldn't count on Quaranta accepting a deal to be on the Developmental roster. But if he can beat out Gardner, Moose, and Walker for that final roster spot, then it's because he played well enough to deserve it. And I for one will welcome him back and cheer him on, just like any other player on the field.