Where's Wynalda?

In South Dakota.

Eric is a good sport

Since the start of the MLS season is around the corner, it's time to preview the teams. At espn.com, that means our editor, Jen Chang, divides the teams among the regular writers and assigns us a group of squads to cover. The previews for DC United, the New England Revolution, Colorado and Houston are already up. The ones I wrote are coming soon.

I've an extra assignment in addition to writing my articles, though. I call Eric Wynalda (now a former ESPN TV analyst) to interview him about all the MLS clubs, and his take on each one becomes a little sidebar on that team's preview. Chang had the idea for the feature a couple of years ago, and it worked out well.

Despite what people may think about ESPN as an entity, the different departments don't mix much, even when they're covering the same sport. Eric was never under any obligation to do the website any favors, but he was willing to give his perspective.

This year, however, the TV arm of ESPN ended Eric's contract. As a freelancer, I have no direct line to what happened there, but the scuttlebutt was that Eric was considered too brash and outspoken. Chang still wanted Eric's commentary for the previews, though, so I tried to set up an interview.

"Who cares what I think now?" Eric asked me when he returned my call.

Undoubtedly, he wasn't happy with how things had turned out. Sitting there holding the phone, I realized it might seem strange from his standpoint. He'd been let go from ESPN, and now here was a representative from that organization calling him for his view on teams he was no longer covering for them.

Eric is a sport, though, because he agreed to take the time to talk about the teams and again give his unique, no-holds-barred comments for our preview series.

As far as what he's up to these days, Eric mentioned doing some scouting. He's also looking into working as a sports agent. Eric "Jerry Maguire" Wynalda? Who knows? It could happen.

Every time I try to get out -

Eric Wynalda jumps back into the playing pool.

Though I didn't mention it during the Galaxy alumni game, Wynalda played in that match as well (so too did Alan Hopkins). Wynalda looked pretty lively, actually and still had skill on the ball.

What was most amusing though, was his frustration with his teammates for failing to spot his runs and get him the ball at the most opportune moments.

Apparently the match touched off a hunger for the game in Wynalda. It makes sense. His team lost, and he probably didn't want to wait a year for revenge.

I have no idea how Wynalda performed as technical director of the Bakersfield Brigade, but I do have a word of warning for his new teammates - get ready to get yelled at. Try to pick your head up and spot the run. If Wynalda is too slow to reach the ball or cannot convert, that's his fault. If you can't get him the ball, though, he can't do even a little of what he did so well for many years.

Talk like Becks

Back at the U.S./Mexico game earlier this year, Eric Wynalda sat down at the table where our little group of LA journos was sampling the press food.

He didn't eat anything - said something about watching his waistline. But he talked a little bit about some soccer stuff, making jokes about David Beckham.

At one point, he mentioned that he could pull off an impressive imitation of Becks. We tried to encourage him to prove this, as a couple of other journalists stopped by to listen.

It might have been a historic moment - Eric Wynalda getting a little shy. He said he'd save it, and we'd have to listen to him bust out the accent on the radio. He also says some other stuff on the Eric Wynalda Show.