Piper has an appointment with Dr. Wolin in Chicago on Monday the 4th and says he feels great and has run at 21 mph on the Frappier treadmill during his latest session in the intensive conditioning program. He's played several games and is working out in the field with players on a regular basis. Inquiries to various United Soccer League teams have gone out as well as contacts made with a Mexico scout and coaches fromn other countries.
Piper recieved a nice surprise the week of March 12th when Paul Broome of the Dallas Burn called him from the MLS' pre-season camp in Florida. They had a good conversation and Pipe found out that Broome is getting married. Congrats, Paul! Piper, his girl friend, and parents are meeting in Dallas April 6th to attend the Burn's season opener on the 7th at 7:30 p.m. and maybe get together with Broome after the game.
Jan 29th: Another Round of Acceleration Piper has begun another round of the Frappier Accelertion program to bolster his rehab work and is already getting near the 10 mph mark on the treadmill. His second post op visit with Dr. Wolin is set for Friday, Feb. 2nd. Quad work is being stepped up.
Our number 11 suffered a torn ACL in his left knee during the 10th game of the 2000 season in Kentucky at Lindsey Wilson College, just three days before his 24th birthday. He suffered the injury on his own when trying to cut while running at speed during the game.
Later, back in Springfield, MRIs showed the extent of the damage and contacts were made with various surgeons and it was decided to go with Dr. Preston Wolin in Chicago who had performed the same operation on Chicago Fire forward Josh Wolff and recently worked on the left knee of the Fire's Bulgarian playmaker Hristo Stoitchkov in his capacity as Team Physician. Piper's surgery was held off until after the NAIA nationals to allow time for the initial swelling to go down.
Dr. Preston Wolin, Chicago Fire Team Physician
Piper had the surgery in Chicago the Tuesday after Thankgiving with his father and girl friend, Becky, with him. The surgery was done as an outpatient and took about 2 hours after starting at approximately 7:00 a.m. Right after surgery, Dr. Wolin was happy to announce that only the ACL was damaged and everthing else in the knee was perfectly fine...a great relief to everyone since it meant less surgery and a shorter rehab time.
Pipe was at the physical therapist at 9 a.m. the next morning, going through his first rehab session which was extensive, lasting well over an hour. He went back to Springfield to begin his rehab and had an appointment to check on the progress of the knee on Jan 5th in Chicago (see photo above and below) with both the doctor and the physical therapist. Piper was told that the knee was very stable and his rehab progress about on schedule but that he needed to step it up a notch or two because those working with him in Springfield were not pushing him hard enough.
Dr. Wolin's surgery nurse checks Piper on Jan. 5, 2001.
According to the doctor's staff, it looks like the knee will be ready to go April 1st. Piper is looking towards joining a professional team this Spring .
UIS Finishes 2000 Season Ranked No. 4 and Regional Champions. Knocked out of Nationals in Quarter-final. UIS won its Regional Championship and was seeded fourth at the NAIA National Tournament in Albuquerque. The team was without both its captains as Piper Lee had a torn ACL and Belize player Gerardo Campos injured his ACL in the last game of the regular season. The team handily defeated Nova Southeast in its first game but was defeated by nemesis Lindsey Wilson College, eventual National Champion, in the Quarter-final held the next day. The team completed the season at 17-3-1.
Pipe put in 8 goals in the first 10 regular season games, as well as assisted on 5 other goals.
Piper attended the Dallas Burn's 2000 MLS season opener and ran into Southern Methodist University friend and former SMU 'keeper Erin Poole on the steps of the Cotton Bowl. Erin now works for the Burn, as does another of Piper's SMU friends, Paul Broome, who is in his second year on the team. Also attending with Piper was his girl friend Becky Sunderlin and his parents. In the background can be seen the famous Texas State Fair ferris wheel. The Cotton Bowl was the site of several '94 World Cup games, two of which Piper attended.
Piper hits 100 point level in UIS career at '99 Nationals:34 goals and 32 assists.
College Soccer Online ran a series of five stories on the 1999 NAIA men's tournament. Look under "Archives" for these stories:
"Preview of the NAIA Tournament"
"Usual Suspects Get Through NAIA's First Round"
"Top Four Seeds Advance in NAIA Tournament"
"Lindsey Wilson and Mobile to Meet in Final of NAIA"
"Lindsey Wilson Takes 4th Title"
Update: Rob keept goal for Des Moines Menace of USL Premier Development League during summer of 2000.
Wonder what Piper's mom's like? Well, check out her web site, you'll never guess what this very popular web site's subject matter is about. She's had hundreds of visitors from around the world. See it at: http://lonestarwebs.com/Gallery.html
Piper was featured in the weekly soccer column of the San Antonio Express-News. The article touched on Piper's third year at UIS and the team's accomplishments. (8/99)
