A different side of Hamm

Often perceived as aloof, a soccer icon opens up

Did you see it? If you caught Mia Hamm's Founders Cup goal two weeks ago -- a cutting, swerving whoosh of explosion and skill -- consider yourself lucky. As Hamm gets set to play for the U.S. against Scotland this Saturday in Columbus, she's performing as if it's the summer of 1998 again, blowing by defenders and scoring golazos with ruthless regularity.

And the amazing thing is, she isn't even in top form yet.

"I'm still not as strong as I was prior to the surgery," Hamm told me recently, referring to the cartilage in her left knee, which was repaired in February. Her deceleration needs to improve, she says, and turning to the left remains difficult because the knee twists painfully on occasion. Backpedaling is not easy, either. "My career as a defensive back is over," she deadpans.

The injury was enough to keep Hamm in a second-half sub's role during the WUSA season, and yet her nine goals in 13 games suggest that something powerful is afoot in her career. After a painful 2001, during which her marriage dissolved and her game struggled like never before, Hamm has been reborn in 2002. Her relationship with Nomar Garciaparra -- the top icon/icon coupling in sports for my money -- is thriving, and so is her soccer. Sometimes shy and distant in the past, Hamm displayed a winning affability and dry wit during our hour-long talk.

"Soccer used to be my whole life, and as I get to the point where I see my career is coming to an end, I'm just enjoying it more," says Hamm, now 30. "I guess it comes with old age, knowing I'm not going to be able to do this forever." At the same time, she still plans on competing at full speed at the international level through next year's World Cup and the 2004 Olympics. "I think I'm still getting better in certain aspects," Hamm says. "My first touch is a lot better than it used to be, in terms of my touch under pressure, and that's due to playing more midfield, where your touch has to be closer. I think my speed and agility are better than they've ever been."

One big reason for her prolific year, Hamm says, was her offseason work at the same center in Tempe, Ariz., where Garciaparra endures his grueling winter workouts. And while the conditioning surely helped, the companionship couldn't have hurt either.

"He's my best friend. That's about the best way I can put it," Hamm says. "We're just like anyone else. We talk about things that happen in our day. He's there for me, and that's the greatest thing. Whether I express everything that day or don't say anything, the fact that he's there makes all the difference."

The feeling is mutual. Despite Hamm's schedule, she has attended "about a dozen" Red Sox games this season. And Garciaparra? "He's able to see me play," Hamm says. Then she smiles, as we both imagine the scene of Nomar staring at a TV screen in the Sox clubhouse. "He gets PAX, which is nice."

On to some questions ....

There have been a lot of rumors about English clubs being interested in Brian McBride, and that MLS is asking for an extremely high transfer fee. Does McBride want to play in England, and if he does, why is MLS making it so hard for him to do so? I would think that fee might discourage a player of McBride's talent.
—Jake, Ashland, Ohio

Sadly, McBride has been hurt more than any other U.S. player by the economic catastrophe in European soccer. At 30, he's running out of chances to go abroad, and he was definitely interested in a proposed summer deal that would have sent him to Everton in exchange for cash and the return of Joe-Max Moore to MLS.

Long story short: McBride was upset because he feels MLS wasn't responsive enough to the offer. MLS says it never received a concrete offer from Everton at all, and thinks McBride was misled by a European agent who tried to broker the deal. Complicating matters is that if McBride stays in MLS, he'd like to rework his contract à la Chicago's Josh Wolff, who re-upped with the league right before the World Cup. Stay tuned: There's definitely some bad blood between McBride and MLS right now.

Jason Kreis is always among the scoring leaders of MLS. Why is he not a part of Team USA?
—Grady, Kaiserslautern, Germany

Good question, and one I dealt with in a column a couple years ago. The fact is, international soccer isn't the same as the club level, and the only way to find out if a player can hack it is by putting him out there. Even though Kreis is a former MLS MVP (and has a chance to win it again this year), he has never performed well for the U.S. in the chances he has received. You could argue that he has hardly had enough opportunities to gauge his skills internationally, and you'd have a point, but these decisions are generally made on the basis of national team training, not just the games themselves. A similar case is Dante Washington, who played himself out of a national team future based on his poor performance during a training camp.

Love your work for both Sports Illustrated and at CNNSI.com. Next summer the U.S. National Team is scheduled for the Gold Cup and the Confederations Cup. How are the U.S. National Team and MLS going to deal with this fixture congestion?
—Dennis P. Crawford, Lincoln, Neb.

Thanks for your note, Dennis. It appears likely that the U.S. is going to host the Confederations Cup, and MLS execs have said they would seriously consider halting their season during the tournament, which sounds like a bright idea to me. As for the Gold Cup -- according to the CONCACAF Web site an official date hasn't been set yet, but it's likely it would take place before the MLS season.

I am hoping that the newfound interest in soccer here in America will lead to more coverage. In the meantime, what are the keys to strengthening MLS? Will we continue to develop young talent or should we look overseas for pros past their prime? I was one of the 70,000 on hand for the Madrid-Roma game in New York. How can we get more games like this? Americans idolize the best, so how can we get the best here?
—Richard Davis, Washington, D.C.

Richard, I'm glad you want MLS to continue growing, but I certainly hope you attend D.C. United games and don't just come out to watch exhibitions like Real Madrid-Roma. The best way to make the league stronger is to support it and its efforts to bring young talent (American and otherwise) through the pipeline.

I'm a huge soccer fan. I'm also a huge college basketball fan. I know you cover both. So, Grant, if you had to choose between attending four Final Fours or one World Cup, which would you choose and why?
—Keith Bundy, Woodbridge, Va.

Easy. I'd choose one World Cup over four Final Fours. My favorite parts of the NCAA tournament and World Cup are always the early rounds anyway. Now, if you made me choose between four entire NCAA tournaments and one World Cup, I'd choose the hoops. They're both great events, and similar in their length and design, but four will always trump one in this case.

Thank you for your wonderful "Love Letter to Korea." I was in Korea for the World Cup and had an absolutely great time. The atmosphere and the people were amazing. If you had to pick one moment that truly defined World Cup 2002, what would it be?
—Sung, Baltimore

Many thanks, Sung, to you and to all the deservedly proud Koreans who sent e-mails and provided such a welcoming reception at the World Cup. (A Korean monk named Seol Bong even sent me a remarkable piece of pottery "on behalf of the Korean people" recently, which was so kind as to be overwhelming.)

My favorite moment of the Cup was Ahn Jung-Hwan's golden goal to eliminate Italy in the second round. It was a classic game, and the home fans celebrated as if they'd won the tournament, filling the streets and waving Korean flags through the night. It hardly hurt that I spent the evening sharing pitchers of OB with the locals at one of Seoul's finest watering holes, but that's another story entirely.

A comment about the U.S.'s under-19 women's world title: Although it was heartbreaking for a Canadian fan, fans in the U.S. should be proud of the level of play and class displayed by their team. Canada is very proud of how well our team fared. I will always cheer for Team Canada, but the U.S. U-19 team won a very tough game, deserves the champion's label and has a new fan. Well done, ladies.
—Ken Linner, Owen Sound, Ont.

Thanks to Fox Sports World, perhaps the greatest TV channel ever invented, I got to see the last couple of U.S. games from the U-19 world championship in Canada. Nice work by the Yanks, particularly to beat the Canucks (that's not pejorative, is it?) 1-0 on Lindsay (Don't Call Me Roy) Tarpley's golden goal in front of 47,000 screaming Canadians last week. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but more folks in Edmonton showed up for the U-19 final than for the world track and field championships in the same stadium last year. Go figure.)

That's all for now. Questions, comments, story ideas or scoops? Send them HERE.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Grant Wahl keeps you up to date with the world of U.S. soccer twice monthly at CNNSI.com.

 

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