The New England Revolution have maintained remarkable roster consistency throughout Steve Nicol's time in charge, and perhaps no one epitomizes that like Steve Ralston. The former Tampa Bay Mutiny star has become the heart and soul of the Revs since his arrival via dispersal draft in 2002, and the winner of the first-ever MLS Rookie of the Year award in 1996, now 33, plays the role of grizzled veteran -- literally.
"It obviously comes out a little bit more with my playoff beard here, with all the grays I've got in there," said a grinning Ralston when asked about his age. "But I've been the oldest guy on the team here for the last couple of years, so I'm used to it. They call me Old Man River, but I'm OK with that. I try and still keep up with the young guys."
STEADY-EDDY PARKHURST: Nicol has been full of praise for the rock at the center of his back line, Michael Parkhurst. As a draft prospect coming out of Wake Forest University, Parkhurst was widely dismissed as too small and slow for the professional ranks. But the Irish-born center back has been a revelation for New England since his breakout rookie season in 2005, and his sterling reputation continues to grow as he earned 2007 Defender of the Year honors.
"The one thing we knew we were getting was a smart player," said Nicol. "I think people have always questioned his physical size and all the rest of it. But when you're such a good brain, you don't need to be 6-6 and 15 stone (210 pounds) and knocking lumps out of center forwards. If you're as smart and read the game as well as he does, you don't get involved in stuff like that. He has no need to get involved in fighting somebody, because he's too smart for them."
Parkhurst is responsible for what may be the most jaw-dropping statistic of the season: 2,197 minutes played, zero cautions, zero ejections and just five fouls committed. His head coach called it "absolutely unheard of" -- and went on to share his thoughts on why Parkhurst's opportunities to dislodge Oguchi Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra from the U.S. national team's back line have failed to materialize.
"Playing with the national team is a wee bit like a club team: sometimes it needs an injury or a suspension or something like that to happen for you to get your chance," said Nicol. "So far, the two center backs on the U.S. [team] have been fit, they haven't been suspended, they haven't been injured, and they haven't had too big a loss of form, so there's no reason why the coach would change that. So it may take one of those things to happen for him to get his chance -- and all of a sudden they'll think, he better stay there."
TWELLMAN ANXIOUS: With the continued success the Revolution has had over the past six years, Revs forward Taylor Twellman believes his team needs to win a title to cement their place in league lore.
"We've talked about it a little bit," Twellman said. "To a certain extent, we're a dynasty, making it to four finals in six years. We just need to win one to put the cherry on top."
NICOL RICHLY: A former Scottish international, Nicol has been searching for a way to watch his native country's massive European Championships qualifying match against Italy on Saturday afternoon, which the Scots must win to book their place at Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland. Unfortunately for him, it looks as though the Revs' practice schedule and media responsibilities will interfere with his prospects of tuning in when the Scots kick off at Glasgow's Hampden Park at 12:00 noon EST.
But Nicol jokingly promised a one-on-one showdown between him and Houston coach Dominic Kinnear before Sunday's MLS Cup Final. Nicol was born and bred a Glasgow Rangers fan, while the Scottish-born Kinnear supports bitter crosstown rivals Celtic FC.
"Absolutely, aye," said Nicol, a twinkle in his eye, when asked if he held that allegiance against Kinnear. "I'm going to turn up with my Rangers shirt on Sunday ... We'll have a good fight in the tunnel before we come out."
Charlie Boehm and Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
