Let the sideshow begin.
NFL wide receiver Chad Ochocinco begins his tryout with Sporting Kansas City Wednesday morning (11 a.m.), when he'll try to impress coach Peter Vermes and secure a contract with Major League Soccer.
Sporting Kansas City is streaming the tryout live on its Web site, although it is closed to the public in Kansas City.
On Tuesday, Ives spoke with Vermes for his latest column on Fox, and the coach said that he believed Ochocinco was serious about the trial but that it was a long shot that he'd make the team.
Give the rest of the interview with Vermes a read and let us know what you think about this unique trial.
Do you hope Ochocinco makes it? Think this is a waste of time? Wish it was't happening? Like the publicity for MLS? What position do you see Ochocinco playing?
Share your thoughts below.
The funny thing is he said he would actually play for free, you should hear his post-first day interviews on youtube. It’s pretty shocking how humble he is. Saying there is no way he will ever be able to catch up to the other guys out there and how thankful he is for just the chance to get out and train with the team. How much skill is required to play soccer and how he missed all of that.
yeah homophobia is almost as cool as racism.
Seriously I was pretty neutral/curious about this whole thing before I read these posts but now I’m totally pulling for ocho, I hope he plays half an MLS season, is the league leading scorer and then quits and goes back to playing football just to show all the haters what’s up, Keep stuntin’ ocho
Yeah I can’t stand players with that type of attitude… like Charlie Davies doing the stanky leg every time he scores. Talking about how he’s going to make it back, he’s going to be the best. What a showboating chump, you don’t see people acting like that at the country club.
I think what William was trying to say is that there aren’t many black men in American soccer from urban working class backgrounds, so it’s you know, a civilized gentleman’s game and he wouldn’t want his sport tarnished by those types. My grandfather has always felt something similar about them letting Tiger Woods play golf… you get the idea.
What a joke…
Hey, people are talking about Sporting, Bro. My Baltimore local sports radio almost never talks about soccer unless the US is playing in WC and they are talking about it.
So the rebranded name is getting out there.
And it didn’t cost them a lot of money. The webcast stuff was probably a drop in the weekly operating expenses budget.
Very interesting vegan analogy.
The NASL was a wild ride (I’m old enough to have attended those games). It did lay some sort of roots.
In the end, it’s all fun to talk about.
By the way, just for the record–I was always a “Marianne” guy, myself.
SporKs = better nickname than your favorite MLS team
This is by far the best comment in this whole thread.
The SporKCs are not a sub-par MLS squad!!
Keep in mind it’s the opinion of one anonymous person on the internet who “met” him once.
American soccer fans have a massive inferiority complex.
Example 1: thinking promotion/relegation and other changes to make MLS more like Europe are all that’s keeping it from popularity here
Example 2: thinking a prominent professional athlete trying out will somehow show the world that MLS is a joke league
Not only is your comment awful in every conceivable way, but Sporting Kansas City is a much better name than Wizards. Embrace the Sporks.
+1
hey-oo
I’d say GK (big, good reflexes, good hands) or CB (big, tall, physical, has a better chance of scoring with a header than with his feet as a forward).
I don’t think it’s racism (I like to give people the benefit of the doubt), but it’s definitely stereotyping.
“He may have picked the wrong person to call a “gangsta,” but he is right that this phenomenon of athletes…”
But Ochocinco is the ONLY professional athlete from another sport currently trying out for MLS. What is the relevance of any other athlete to this discussion?
Ochocinco is certainly egocentric, but he’s hardly a gangsta. Unless by “gangsta” you mean “black.” Yeah there are plenty to gangsta idiots in US professional sports, but what exactly is “gangsta” about Ochocinco?
Also, he is a huge soccer fan, not only visiting clubs like Real Madrid and being friends with soccer stars, but he watches tons of soccer on tv.
Aside from that, look at his quotes in this article:
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/humility-not-hubris-story-day-1-85
How much more humble and respectful could he be? As far as soccer is concerned, he’s not even egocentric (yet), so then what’s the problem?
“The only thing I’m probably good at is just being fast as hell,” Ochocinco said, surrounded by a mass of cameras, microphones and recorders. “That’s about it right now. To play this game there is an art to it, a skill to it. That skill takes a long time to perfect and master.
“That’s why they call it the beautiful game,”
I think this is good publicity that moves beyond the stunt.
NFL players don’t do slow-twitch training. It’s all about explosion and burst. I’m not surprised his fitness is poor, but that comes quickly with training.
More important to me would be how he looks off the ball. Does he appear to know where to find space and how to make runs to open up space for others?
Kansas City have an MLS cup and beat Man. United last year. What exactly is your problem with them???
I have been having this argument with a good friend for years so I’ve been paying close attention to this. Basically his argument is that America is not good at soccer because all of our best athletes play other sports, basketball, football, ect. and if those athletes were to play soccer (if you took an nba team, nfl team and trained them for a year or two they would probably stomp everyone in the MLS). I always argue that he is wrong and that Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, ect. are just as good of athletes as Kobe, Lebron, T.O., Tom Brady ect. But maybe I’m wrong. I think if a big star like Ochocinco was in the league and could make it sure it hurts MLS cred but then again, maybe it just means the US really does have an untapped resources and this will attract more people into playing soccer from non-traditional soccer backgrounds like being an upper-class white kid or a child of an immigrant family. Let’s just see what happens, but agreed, probably a long shot.
I too had these guys on my high school soccer team, but high school ≠the pros.
Some say a waste of time. Others say a massive waste of time.
I clicked on that fully expecting to get Rickrolled. Imagine my surprise.
Being a Spaniard, Nadal may have played soccer throughout his life much more regularly than Ochocinco has. In other news, the sky’s blue today. 🙂
Anyone can play guitar.
Word.
I can’t believe Vermes can say with a straight face, that this is real.
People saying this is bad for MLS or soccer in the USA have it all wrong.
Firstly, it’s getting the MLS even more in the spotlight.
Secondly, it’s nice that a popular NFL player says he loves soccer and his dream was to play it.
Is it all a publicity stunt? Obviously. But hey it’s all good for the league in the end.
It’s kinda like when Michael Jordan wanted to become a MLB player: do people really think that was bad for baseball in this country?
finishing my post:
t’s kinda like when Michael Jordan wanted to become a MLB player: do people really think it was bad for baseball in this country or that baseball was a joke because an NBA player was trying out for a team?
People saying this is bad for MLS or soccer in the USA have it all wrong.
Firstly, it’s getting the MLS even more in the spotlight.
Secondly, it’s nice that a popular NFL player says he loves soccer and his dream was to play it.
Is it all a publicity stunt? Obviously. But hey it’s all good for the league in the end.
It’s kinda like when Michael Jordan wanted to become a MLB player: do people really
Re: A&B- Give yourself some credit man. You’re a smart guy.
Re: C-It’s a matter of semantics:
I agree that it’s a lame publicity stunt and maybe those don’t usually pan out in American soccer. However, I am all for these cheap stunts. Not because I think they are brilliant, but because something is better than nothing.
If people are against animal cruelty and become vegan, they are supporting nothing. If they could support humanely raised food, then they are supporting something.
So, I’ll roll my eyes at publicity stunts, and hope they can help grow soccer in the US. You have to think that NASL was one giant publicity stunt that wasn’t sustainable. What would MLS be without the roots that were formed then?
You have a good point but I think you might have the wrong athlete. I believe that was said by Barry Sanders. I can remember Walter Payton spiking the ball and doing jumping High Fives routinly after scoring a touchdown. Remember he played for the 85 Bears!
The difference is, kickers and punters aren’t “real” (gridiron) football players. Kicking is kicking, so it’s plausible that a GK might be able to do it. Didn’t the Jets have a Aussie Rules football player for a while?
OTOH, all field soccer players gotta run for 90. El senor 85 won’t have the lungs.