Would someone please be so kind as to post a PBP or a recap for those of us still at work? Much obliged
it is a piece to tell the sports world why "the swoosh" invested a million bucks in the kid. at least that is what they just said on the promo for the piece which is coming up.
How was the piece? Anyone see it? My prediction: 1) Joke about his birthday / age . Then 2) footage of him making 17-year-olds look silly, then 3) footage of him making MLS professionals look silly, then 4) self-righteous BS about kids/money with a bit of "realism" thrown in about "there is no more innocence" 5) 15 sec. of sacrificial lamb made to research this kid's potential... on to "why can't Roger win his 300th?"
freddy adu this freddy adu that!!!!!!!!!!! the kid is only 13 give him a break beside every country has kids as young as 10 but theyre not hyped because alot of things can happen...... and the us brings this kid from congo whats next youre gonna bring some afganis and iraq's to play for you......... or you want to be like the french wc98(really an all african team) and this adu kid how tall is he?????
First: Anyone getting publicity for the sport in the USA is a plus. We get soooo little. Second: He is 14 today. Third: He is from Ghana and we didn't bring him here. His mother won an imigration lottery and they came here when he was nine. He had never played organized soccer until he got here and it was a schoolmate that got him into it. Fourth: He's almost 5'8" now and about 150 pounds.
African born players on the France's WC '98 squad: Patrick Vieira (Senegal), Marcel Desailly (Ghana) and... and... oh, that's it. I guess your definition of "all" is different from the rest of us.
No, really that's pretty weak. Might I suggest a refresher course: Then come back and let us see your chops.
I saw bits of it on the 6:00 (ET) SportsCenter and it was pretty cool, Freddy and his Mom talking about the Nike deal and his future. He seemed incredibly composed and relaxed, moreso than most pro athletes, and especially for a 13 year old. Knowing how ESPN does things, and considering that there were only 3 baseball games, 1 hockey game and no NBA games, they'll probably replay it on the late SportsCenter tonight and all morning tomorrow, and then again throughout the week. I wouldn't be surprised if they had it on at halftime of the MLS game Saturday.
I just saw myself on SportsCenter! WOOOOOOO!!! It was a good-length segment. Hopefully he becomes an icon and gets people on the soccer bandwagon.
Zizou was born in Marseille (his parents were from Algeria) and grew up in the housing projects there (as did many great French players), if I am not mistaken. I wrote a biography of Zidane for my 12th-grade high school French class and I think I still remember most of it (including the part where I wrote that Zidane learned to ride a bicycle when he was four years old ); Anyway, Freddie's better!
If someone posts a clip of this you should check it out. Or make sure to catch sportscenter in the am. Freddy's skills are high lighted when he runs through a MLS team's back line, not letting anyone stop him. Amazing.
She seemed very nervous about being on TV, and also a bit nervous that all these people are going to take her son from her before she's ready (she never will be, Mom's never are). Some thoughts: Surprised about Freddy having virtually no accent (you can hear it slightly every now and then). This is not only an aside, but a fairly strong argument that if Freddy ain't 14, then he's 15 at most. If Freddy was something like 12 when he moved from Ghana instead of 8, there's no way he would sound just like every other American kid. And looking and listening to him, it's hard to think he could possibly be more than a year or a year and a half older than listed. So I think his age is as legit as it is going to get at this point. Also, SWEET DEAR LORD DID YOU SEE THE MOVES HE WAS BUSTING ON THE TOON YOUNGSTERS? How did Newcastle not walk up to Freddy after the game with a blank check and say, "Here kid, fill in the numbers." If these moves are indicative of his play, he's gonna spend the next 7 years getting fouled repeatedly ad nauseum. Refs need to keep it from becoming a farce and need to be quick with the yellows on the cynical fouls. Who was the skeptic on Freddy's age? The age difference he gave for his example was 8 years. Freddy is not 22 years old, he isn't close to it.
Not to get the thread off topic, but just to clarify: As another poster has noted, ZZ was born in France, as were all other French players on the '98 squad except Desailly and Vieira. There were players born in France's Overseas Departments (i.e. New Caledonia), but they are equivalent of Hawaii or Alaska. The idea that France is a team of foreigners is simply a myth. Just for comparison's sake, iirc, the 98 US squad had four immigrants/naturalized citizens (Regis, Wegerle, Dooley and Ramos) and two players born abroad as US citizens (Stewart and Agoos).
Just saw the clip on this mornings Sportscenter. The video clips that have been posted in the past here do not do him justice. Seeing him play, his speed, and ball control, on a good quality TV broadcast was quite an eye opener. Yeah, he schooled the Newcastle players. From the internet clips it was hard to get a feel for his acceleration and speed, but the Sportscenter piece truely showed that aspect of his game, albiet only in a few short clips. Amazing for one so young. He does seem awefull mature for a 13 year old, but I've seen that before. I was 5' 10" when I was a freshman in high school, now I'm 44 years old, and 6' 1".