With the development of equipment, the prevalence of marketing from big athletic companies and big sponsorship deals, equipment seems more important than ever. I too remember the Eurosport catalogs that I would read religiously but I never was able to order from them cause I just didn’t have that disposable income. To switch things up a bit, your current gig now is as a commentator for Fox Soccer Channel. How seamless of a transition was it from player to commentator? If you look at all the potential post-playing day careers, what differences in personality are suited for say coaching vs. managing vs. commentating?

The transition from player to commentator has been challenging from the standpoint I’m learning from scratch. Since I didn’t go to school for this, I find myself flying by the seat of my pants and getting experience that way. There are a lot of little things you need to pick up like getting an “ear” (so you can hear the producer and director talking to you from the truck) to being able to find story lines that you think would be interesting to a viewer, being able to stick to your monologue while people are talking in your ear and the most important aspect, being able to show your personality when that little red light comes on and you know you’re live.

I think you find a lot of ex-captains finding their way into the coaching roles because they’re for the most part natural born leaders, although that doesn’t make them good managers. I always found it interesting to see which of my teammates were getting involved in the local youth set up and who wasn’t because you could definitely see the difference in the individuals playing style, attitude and work ethic.

Similar to coaching, I find a lot of people who have played the game are incredibly knowledgeable about it, but struggle to communicate it to others. Early in my career I would find myself watching my teammates being interviewed or doing public speaking appearances and I was always impressed with one person in particular, former United States International and current ESPN analyst Alexi Lalas. Alexi is in my opinion the best out there. You might not agree with what he’s saying or like him from his playing days, but the moment that little red light comes on the man is larger than life. My first week in Boston during my rookie year I watched Alexi do an interview for a national broadcast before our game.

If you knew/know Alexi, he’s a very quiet individual around people he doesn’t know. But the moment he’s called upon, he’s got this personality on camera that will knock you off your feet. Watching him that day going from completely mellow, to full on celebrity persona, to head down and doing his own thing (all in the span of five minutes) was THE motivating factor for me to learn how to do the same thing.

And now when I’m asked if I’ve ever done something before (color analyst, play by play, sideline, sit down interviews, desk shows, MC-ing events, etc), I always say yes even if I’ve never done it. In my opinion, that’s the best way to learn. Sink or Swim.

I think you’ve just provided a great little Post-Career Commentating 101. Things like these are part of the whole soccer scene that people rarely get a background understanding of and I think the most important aspect does seem to be a continuation of one’s individual personality on the TV screen. To round things off, any last words and of course, predictions for the 2010 World Cup?

Appreciate the opportunity man!

I’m going with Group G (Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast and Portugal) as the group to watch at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Serbia, Spain and the under-performing Argentina are the teams I’m keeping my eye on, besides the England vs. United States opening Group C match.

And at the end of the day, I’m really hoping the FIFA and South Africa can pull this off, especially with what happened to Togo at the Africa Cup of Nations.

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