This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Lehi • Three weeks and counting down. That's the attitude of Real Salt Lake defender Chris Wingert, left arm encased from hand to elbow in a red-tinted cast.
Wingert fell awkwardly at Toronto on Aug. 13, breaking his wrist. The prognosis for return was six weeks, but now it looks more like Wingert will be back for the Chicago Fire game at Rio Tinto Stadium on Sept. 28.
"It stinks being out," said the 29-year-old MLS veteran, who spends much of his training time keeping his legs in shape. "When I get back, I hope to be close to 100 percent. It's not like a lower-body injury. I've just got to keep working hard the next couple of weeks so I can be as close to 100 percent as possible."
This injury is not as simple as a straight-ahead fracture. Wingert, who has broken his wrists several times in his lifetime, asked if he could play with a cast. That idea was ruled out after determining further damage to the complicated injury could result in surgery and more down time.
"Even with a cast, if I fall, it will break," Wingert said.
At the time of the break, RSL (12-7-6) trainer Tyson Pace said, "It's called a Colles fracture. It's when they fall on an outstretched hand, basically, and the radius and ulna will break depending on how they land. He actually broke the styloid process on his ulna, and the head of the radius, so he kind of crushed that bone section. But what it does is dislocates, and then it steps up, and so you end up with a really nasty-looking fracture."
Playoff position
The 2-1 victory against Philadelphia moved RSL into fourth place in the Western Conference with 42 points, one more than the Colorado Rapids and four behind third-place FC Dallas.
A positive result Saturday at second-place Seattle could move RSL to within three points of the Sounders. Real has also played two games fewer than Seattle and Dallas, and three games fewer than the Rapids.
Saturday's 2 p.m. game will be one of the few played on field turf. RSL coach Jason Kreis is undecided whether to have his team practice on the fake grass.
"We've gone up the day before to train and they always stick us on a different type of turf so it doesn't do us any good," Kreis said. "They will also wet it, so the ball runs really fast there. I actually think it suits us quite well. We're a team that likes to play on the ground, likes to play quick."
Twitter: @rsltribune —
Real Salt Lakeat Seattle
P Saturday, 2 p.m.
TV • KMYU 2.2