April's Fool

You can't expect people not to make a joke of it when an interview with Alexi Lalas appeared on espn.com on April Fool's Day.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=521758&root=mls&cc=5901

The fact is that Lalas appears to have whatever the opposite of the Midas Touch is when it comes to MLS clubs. One club he GM'd was relocated, another went from barely respectable to mediocre and yet another went from simply boring to completely awful. Either that's a run of bad luck to equal Job or Lalas isn't very good at creating the stability needed for competitive teams.

And frankly, that makes me a little sad. Despite his awful record as a GM, Lalas does "get" a lot of things about the sport. I read the interview hoping to find more ridiculous statements, but instead found a lot of things I agree with.

Lalas wants to be a leader and understands that being a leader sometimes means failing: "Yes. While others prefer to wait and see how things play out, we prefer to lead the charge. Of course when you're out front you expose yourself, but that's the difference between leaders and followers."

Or how about the following: "There's nothing wrong with the circus. To be honest, the alternative is a boring situation where nobody cares one way or the other. We will continue to be provocative and progressive. Winning is always the fundamental part of the equation, but I make no apologies for the circus and I'm proud to be the ringmaster."

Indeed, I'd rather have a league that's a circus as opposed to one that no one cares about.

But if I agree completely with what Alexi's saying, I can't say I think he's doing a good job. The difference between leaders and followers may be the willingness to expose yourself, but the difference between wise men and fools is knowing your strengths.