Friday, March 28, 2008
Abe outtakes
Abe Thompson...my profile is here.
I got acquainted with Abe through my indoor team at Dulles Sportsplex. The father of a friend and former UMd teammate of his plays on my team, so on a couple of occasions the college guys would help our humble division 3 team roll to victory, just to get some touches in their offseason. I don't care what level you're playing at: Lord, what a joy it is to have real, matchwinning quality on your team. Abe is of such quality on and off the pitch and graciously called me up for a great interview.
"I think maybe on the field, he disrupted [our chemistry] a little bit, just because when we brought him in I think we only had maybe seven or eight games left in the season, and it’s always hard for a player coming in to adjust to a new league and for him to adjust to us and us to adjust to him. As far as in the locker room goes, he was one of the funniest guys on the team and just a great personality to have. If anything, off the field I think he helped boost morale."
-on over-the-hill Brazilian World Cup vet Denilson's arrival, and subsequent fizzle, in Dallas
"Obviously Sasho and the rest of the coaching staff, they do a great job of recruiting and he does a good job of bringing in high-caliber players. Playing against guys like that day in and day out, naturally you’re going to get better. So you have some guys that maybe going in, weren’t really thinking about turning pro, by the time they’re done, having played all those years against other great players, they’ve gotten so much better that now that’s a reality."
-on the soccer benefits of matriculating at the perennial NCAA powerhouse that is Sasho Cirovski's U.Maryland program
"Obviously, if you have the opportunity at a young age to go overseas, you probably should, because playing at that level over there is going to pay big dividends for you later. But as far as the college ranks go, it’s always a bit tough to predict how a player will turn out, because there’s some big-name guys that get picked up that turn out to not really be good choices. And there’s a lot of guys that get picked up and people raise their eyebrows wondering what the reason for that pick, and they end up being great players. It’s a bit of a crapshoot, really."
-on the college-pro quandary that faces promising young Americans
"It’s definitely tough. I was in that situation for two years myself. It’s tough making that little amount of money, especially if you’re far away from home. You’re contributing and working hard every day, just as the other guys on the team are, but not receiving anywhere near the amount of compensation that other guys are."
-on the struggles of young MLS players scraping by on a developmental salary's poverty wages
"We talk just about every day...Just financially, he’s making more money than he would’ve here, and also, every soccer player in the world grows up dreaming of playing overseas...This is an opportunity for him and he decided to take it: a change of scenery, experience a different culture, and he’s going to make some good money while he’s at it."
-speaking approvingly of childhood friend and former teammate Clarence Goodson's decision to turn down a new contract with MLS and take his chances in Europe. Goodson plays for IK Start in Norway.
I got acquainted with Abe through my indoor team at Dulles Sportsplex. The father of a friend and former UMd teammate of his plays on my team, so on a couple of occasions the college guys would help our humble division 3 team roll to victory, just to get some touches in their offseason. I don't care what level you're playing at: Lord, what a joy it is to have real, matchwinning quality on your team. Abe is of such quality on and off the pitch and graciously called me up for a great interview.
"I think maybe on the field, he disrupted [our chemistry] a little bit, just because when we brought him in I think we only had maybe seven or eight games left in the season, and it’s always hard for a player coming in to adjust to a new league and for him to adjust to us and us to adjust to him. As far as in the locker room goes, he was one of the funniest guys on the team and just a great personality to have. If anything, off the field I think he helped boost morale."
-on over-the-hill Brazilian World Cup vet Denilson's arrival, and subsequent fizzle, in Dallas
"Obviously Sasho and the rest of the coaching staff, they do a great job of recruiting and he does a good job of bringing in high-caliber players. Playing against guys like that day in and day out, naturally you’re going to get better. So you have some guys that maybe going in, weren’t really thinking about turning pro, by the time they’re done, having played all those years against other great players, they’ve gotten so much better that now that’s a reality."
-on the soccer benefits of matriculating at the perennial NCAA powerhouse that is Sasho Cirovski's U.Maryland program
"Obviously, if you have the opportunity at a young age to go overseas, you probably should, because playing at that level over there is going to pay big dividends for you later. But as far as the college ranks go, it’s always a bit tough to predict how a player will turn out, because there’s some big-name guys that get picked up that turn out to not really be good choices. And there’s a lot of guys that get picked up and people raise their eyebrows wondering what the reason for that pick, and they end up being great players. It’s a bit of a crapshoot, really."
-on the college-pro quandary that faces promising young Americans
"It’s definitely tough. I was in that situation for two years myself. It’s tough making that little amount of money, especially if you’re far away from home. You’re contributing and working hard every day, just as the other guys on the team are, but not receiving anywhere near the amount of compensation that other guys are."
-on the struggles of young MLS players scraping by on a developmental salary's poverty wages
"We talk just about every day...Just financially, he’s making more money than he would’ve here, and also, every soccer player in the world grows up dreaming of playing overseas...This is an opportunity for him and he decided to take it: a change of scenery, experience a different culture, and he’s going to make some good money while he’s at it."
-speaking approvingly of childhood friend and former teammate Clarence Goodson's decision to turn down a new contract with MLS and take his chances in Europe. Goodson plays for IK Start in Norway.
Comment posted by Charles Boehm @ 3:54 PM 
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