An idea floats between a couple ESPN articles, something about "bigger-than-reg'lar" personalities. The first is a Q & A with Alexi Lalas, a man who has never shied away from grating on the nerves of others. The second piece deals in something a bit different - the question of whether Clint Dempsey is a new breed of American player ripe for expor, or whether he's an aberration from the long-standing tradition of high-effort/low-skill Americans - but the question of big personality does move between the two.
But the basic idea is best encapsulated in something from the Lalas item:
""ESPNsoccernet: You were always known as a showman, on and off the field. Who in MLS right now brings that type of excitement to the league? Is MLS lacking in that department?"
"AL: Hell yeah, it's lacking. For the most part, we've created a generation of players who are unwilling or unable to show any personality. At times it's mind-numbing. Somebody do something. Grow some Valderrama hair! Date a supermodel! Clint Dempsey isn't everyone's poster boy just 'cause he scored in the World Cup. He made a rap video and plays with that attitude he's got. It's great. Like it or not, controversy, rumor and speculation are good for the game, and we don't have enough of it. So, like I tell my players: Don't bore me. Have an opinion. Make me and everyone else interested in who you are as a player and person. Make an impression."
It's things like this that make me like Lalas a little more. There's an upside to being small-market and MLS, whether league or players, doesn't exploit it enough. There's a hell of a lot of latitude between the bland, middle-America kind of player that overwhelming populates MLS and someone three times as "bad" as Dempsey. No one should be running around breaking other players' jaws - that's the dark side - but there's certainly room for chips on shoulders, odd-ball sponsorships (here, if there isn't, this needs to be changed immediately), and just generally embracing the weird. And that's where Joe Namath's example comes into play; doing things like panty hose ads and all that odd-for-sports crap Namath did back in the day has its place.
So, yeah, Lalas was right about something. In truth, if you're going to read only one of these, the Lalas isn't all bad.
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