My wife goes into the hospital this afternoon with early pregnancy issues (all is fine). Anyway, as we head to the waiting room area to be admitted, there were some people already there ahead of us. I get settled for a bit, then look across at the people sitting in front of me. There's one female who was obviously pregnancy, another female who looked like a mom, and one guy in a hat. I see the guy talking to his wife (I assume its his wife) and it hits me...ummm, is that Fred? I wasn't quite sure it was him but thought I'd be a jackass and ask. Indeed, it was Fred, his wife, and a family friend. Well, I got a chance to talk to him for well over an hour. I'll make this short, but I asked him about living in the states (he said he loves DC), we talked about Gallardo (who he called a very good player), we talked about Emilio (about how he's a slow starter), and we talked about why the team is playing like ****. He said he chalked it up to the infusion of new players, but that they will eventually gel. I brought up his pacifier goal celebration, and his wife said that would be the last time he ever does that. His English is quite good, and he was VERY nice. I did ask if he told the coaching staff that he may not make it to practice tomorrow, and he replied, "yep, I talked to Tommy and he said no problem." I'll write more later. I'm tired as shit from the day.
Most importantly, I'm glad everything's OK with your wife. Less importantly, thanks for the update -- I wish I could have joined in the conversation. If you think of any other cool tidbits from the conversation, please do tell.
I'm with Bootsy's initial thought. And thanks for the Fred spotting and the report. I imagine he's not used to being recognized, so it must have been an interesting experience for him also.
Hope all is well with the wife. Just went through it so I feel ya. Pretty cool sighting, did he act surprised that anyone recognized him?
He was a little surprised that I recognized him. With a hat on, it made a little more difficult for me to spot him, too. I asked him about the Australian league in comparison with MLS and he said MLS was much better. He said he didn't like Melbourne as much because he prefers a larger city. I talked to him about his contract and he said he had another year (is that right?). I asked what he wanted to do after that and he said he didn't know, but it seems like he really enjoys it here. Oh, he thinks Kaka is the best player in the world. Shocker.
<SNIP insignificant details> Dude, what is the scoop on the hat? What kind of hat? Baseball cap, sports team, clothing line, surfing company? Cowboy hat? Snow cap? Beanie? I hope it was a cowboy hat. He's our gaucho.
I'm glad all is well United1. If the Melbourne faithful read this thread there will be aneurisms down under.
Baseball-style cap. It had something strange on the front. And no, I don't mean a Red Bull logo. Shirt and shoes were all Nike, however.
Yeah, I'm quite surprised that he conversed for so long in English. I guess I should have tried to speak to him in English then. I have spoken to him a couple of times when I have been at practice, but it's been in Portuguese. I assumed he was still struggling a bit with English, because when I have heard Jaime talking to him at practice, Jaime has spoken to him in Spanish (very slowly, as obviously that's not Fred's language either). I figured (wrongly I see now) that the reason Jaime did that was because Fred didn't know English well enough to hold a long conversation.
Get the hell out! I'm 29 weeks too. And I swore someone told me she was close to term - like 36 or 37. Ah well. She's really nice too. I met her and Fred along with some other DC United supporters last year and it was a lot of fun.
Good to hear that your wife is okay. Way cool that you got to chat with Fred. That must have made going to the hospital slightly less sucky. Wonder if Srdan can arrange for some pink and blue tifo when all the DCU and Barra babies are born.
United1, you are nicer than I am, I would have titled this thread "Fred in the Hospital" or something equally as panic-striking
Um... I think McTavish is only comfortable in a back four with another solid player in centreback, and is not comfortable in a three man backline?
Sigh... So close to some terribly juicy gossip! We're just not ready for the British tabloids are we?