Entire article: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/grant_wahl/02/24/dc.united.coach.olsen/index.html VENTURA BEACH, Calif. -- For a club that finished dead last in the 2010 MLS points race, D.C. United sure has an intriguing team heading into the 2011 campaign. The four-time MLS Cup champion features the league's most talked-about signing, Charlie Davies, the U.S. forward who joined on loan in his attempt to come back from a horrific 2009 auto accident. United also has 17-year-old midfielder Andy Najar, the reigning Rookie of the Year, who has put some adult muscle on his wiry frame. What's more, the revamped roster includes a host of other new faces, from gritty midfielder Dax McCarty to touted rookie center back Perry Kitchen to seasoned veterans in goalkeeper Pat Onstad, midfielder Fred and forwards Josh Wolff and Joseph Ngwenya. Yet perhaps the most fascinating addition of all will be that of 33-year-old Ben Olsen, the youngest head coach in MLS, who has taken over the full-time job after serving in an interim role at the end of last season. The former United midfield stalwart wasn't expecting to get his big chance when his new gig was made official on Nov. 29, 2010.
I can't wait to see what Olsen, Fraser and Winter can do in their first full seasons. May not be the playoffs, but all three of these teams will be much tougher to play against than last year.
This is a tangent, but I figured it belonged in a Ben Olsen thread. In addition to being a hopefully successful new coach, our Ben is a true rennaisance man. Here's squib from the newletter from Bread for the City, a DC charity that provides food for the less well to do among us. Under the heading "Friends of Ben" on page 6 it says: "DC United Head Coach Ben Olsen hosted a second successful art show to benefit Bread for the City. In order to “give back to the community that has given me so much,” Ben corralled a number of local artists -- including the Redskin’s Chris Cooley, Susan Burnstine, Mike Dowley, Rosemary Feit Covey, Ben Ferry, Katri Hunter, Choichun Leung, Peter Loge, and Michael Weber -- to contribute to a great auction in support of our services. Occassions Catering provided free food and Premier Distributors donated drink. Hosted at Morton Fine Art, the evening raised over $8,000. Thanks to everyone who contributed and attended!" Under a photo Ben, the caption says: "DC United head coach, Ben Olsen, organized an auction of artwork (including his own) to benefit Bread for the City." Who knew coach Ben was also an artist?! Here's the link to the newsletter. Bread for the City does great work. And Ben is part of it. http://www.breadforthecity.org/Document.Doc?id=197
It's been reasonably well publicized -- his work as an artist has been the subject of a number of articles in local periodicals that have been linked-to over the years. In 2005, the Washington Post Magazine did a big spread on him and his art. I searched their site for a link to an online copy of the article but couldn't find one.
Yeah, in hunting for a link to the Post Magazine article, I found a past discussion about that jersey here. Folks in that discussion were also unsure if it sold (bidding started at $300).