Whoever remembers Alexi Lalas From his playing days remembers unruly red hair, thin headband and dubbus. They remember that he was traveling through Europe a little more than a backpack and a guitar.
He was the version of football of Bill WaltonLess the t-shirts and the tie tie to have listened to the Grateful Dead. Or at least it seemed that way.
Eyes can however be deceived.
“The aesthetics were certainly a very hippie counter-culture,” said Lalas, who turned out to each other. “But let's be honest, in the 90s, grungy things were in vogue. There was therefore a fashion element compared to the time.”
Barbiche and long hair have gone for a long time and Lalas, 54, has a suit to work now. However, if his appearance has changed, his policy did not do it, because if Lalas once liked a hippie, he never voted like one.
If you saw or heard Lalas during his time as a studio analyst for Fox, you know that his football opinions are as daring and direct as often unpopular. His political sockets are even more provocative, intended to arouse, for anger and annoyance, but also to provoke a boost, a moving debate and a discussion.
Alexi Lalas famous with the fans after the United States beat Colombia 2-1 in a World Cup group match at Pink Bowl in 1994.
(Eric Draper / Associated Press)
Lalas and I met for a recently conversation during lunch Tarzana Diner Or John WoodenWalton's College coach had breakfast almost every day.
I never asked Lalas for whom he voted and he never asked me, but a superficial glance on social networks makes it obvious that our ballots have canceled. Lalas remained with Donald Trump through racist speeches, crime convictions, promises to prison generals and journalists, and tax policies of 16 Nobels economists say they are destroying the American economy.
I wanted to know why.
It turns out that Lalas, a murderous physical center background which has been reserved almost three times more often than it has marked in a nine -year professional career, looks at politics in the same way that it looks at football – like a contact sport in which you are fighting to the end, then shake hands after.
Lalas spent a part formulated by her childhood in Greece, where his father, Demetrius, professor of mechanical engineering and meteorology, was director of the National Observatory in Athens. Lalas remembers passing in front of a tavern with her mother, the awarded poet Anne Harding Woodworth (including the last work “Gender: Two Novellas in Pours” deals with the fluidity of the genre in a way that was decidedly non -Maga), and asking why all the ancient Greek men shouted and shouted to each other.
“They are not angry. They talk about politics, ”she replied.
“And at the end of the cries, they would start drinking Ouzo and play in Backgammon,” added Lalas. “This type of debate, through an objective of respect and civility, is something that I have always considered and gravity. As far as politics are concerned, I appreciate it. It is interesting for me. It is entertaining for me.”
There is often not much respect and civility among the incoming messages on its social media flows. Football fans are, for the most part, liberal and cosmopolitan in the United States, therefore Lalas conservatism led him to be called a human vile, a fascist and a far-right puppet. And these are the comments we can print here.
His television character, he said, is partly a shock from the jock; He doesn't really care if you like it or hate it as long as you don't change the chain. His online political commentary can often feel the same.
However, Lalas, which appears to be reflected and contemplative, insists on the fact that he does not drag. Well, not totally.
“X is not representative of the world,” he said in reference to the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “I appreciate interaction, I like the fight. But I also recognize that it is a very, very small ribbon of the world.
“People act, behave, say things in a very different way when it is face to face. It is much more real and authentic when it is done. ”
Lalas policy, he says, is not based on labels like the Democrat or the Republican but on common sense – something that others would say that the antithesis of the Maga movement, which considers censorship as freedom, hatred as love and division as unity.
“I look at things and if it makes sense to me, I'm for that,” said Lalas. “I know it when I feel it. I know what is good, what I think. And that's what I'm going. “
These opinions were formed, in part, by a football career during which he played two years in Italy and one of another in Ecuador while representing the United States in more than 16 countries with the national team. At home, he won four major trophies in three seasons with the Galaxy, then was president of the club when the team signed David Beckham.
His political opinions are still evolving, therefore within the framework of this development, Lalas attended the two national party conventions this summer.
“My trips and the things I have seen certainly gave me a perspective and finally gave me an appreciation of what we have here, and to be proud of that,” he said about most American lunches, a hamburger half-eaten and fries. “I love traveling and I am lucky that the kick allowed me to see so many people.
“However, I'm going to tell you that it's always my favorite moment when this plane strikes the Tarmac at home.
Politics ultimately shares more similarities with football than differences, estimates Lalas.
“There is obviously tribalism involved, there is the performative aspect,” he said. “But it must also be said the consequences and ramifications are much more serious in terms of policy.”
This may be why the World Cups end with the two teams that serve the hand, one offering congratulations and the other condolences, and the elections do not. However, the line separating sports and politics is more fine. This fall, a former baseball player, Steve Garvey, introduced himself to the Senate in California while Colin Allred, a former NFL secondary and current member of the Chamber, run in the Senate in Texas.
Is it also the future of Lalas?
“No sooner,” he said. “But I never say.”
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