We Talkin' Bout PRACTICE

Yesterday, I had a day off, and decided to go watch the Crew practice at Ohio Dominican. Having never been to an official Crew practice, I was under the impression that the event was attended by at least a few members of the media, or fans, or someone.

The only media member there was "Mr. High School Sports" himself, Larry Larson, of 610 WTVN. He's a legend in the Columbus radio world, and he's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. He talked to me for a solid 20 minutes before practice, and he proved to be very knowledgeable about the team. He was also genuinely bummed that he missed the win last week. If you ever see him at a sporting event, and he's not in the middle of something, introduce yourself. You won't be disappointed.

But other than Mr. Larson, there was no one there other Crew players and staff. So when Sigmund walked onto the grounds, I asked him if this was a closed practice, or if I could watch. I had my trusty notebook with me, and he pointed to it and said, "As long as you're not passing any notes to the Red Bulls, yeah you can watch."

Utter blasphemy, Coach! I would never betray the Black and Gold! Satisified with my allegiance to the Crew Nation, Sigi granted me access to the practice.

My main reason for attending practice was to catch a glimpse of the new aquisition, Gino Padulla, who was in uniform. I tried to nose around for some info on whether or not he would be playing this weekend, and the Crew staff were tight lipped about it. My guess is that he won't play, as he only saw limited action in one of the full squad drills, and didn't participate in the full scrimmage. From what I saw, he looked a little rusty on the ball, but not bad. Probably just needs another week or two with the boys, and he'll fit in. Also, S&C coach Steve had Padulla and Guilherme So' running for the second half of practice, so my guess is Padulla needs to get his fitness up before he sees gametime. As for So', they're still working out his work visa (I think), which would mean they're not wasting practice time on someone who isn't available yet.

Other observations:

- Sigi has quite the fatherly presence in practice. He's a little of a hard-ass, but he always takes the time to bring the player over and explain why he's getting onto him. Watching him in practice helped me understand even more why he was so successfull in college, and why he seems to get a lot of growth out of his younger players.

- Brian Bliss was on hand, as was Mr. McCullers, the latter of which was surprising to me. I always thought of M&M as a behind-the-desk GM, worried as much about the ROI as he is about the right back. While that may still be the case, I have gotten the sense over the last few weeks that he is a soccer guy first, and a businessman second. Which is good for this club. I am willing to admit that I was wrong about him in my earlier criticisms of his decisions.

- For as much skill as he exhibits in games, Robbie Rogers seems to get an inordinate amount of correcting in practice. Play was stopped 3-4 times to show him how he was in the wrong position. It's hard to remember that he isn't old enough to buy a beer yet. The kid is magic on the field though. I hope he can stay out of Sigi's doghouse, if such a place actually exists.

Finally, midway through the practice, I looked across the field, and saw a strange car driving around the parking lot. It was one of those Red Bull jeeps with the can of Red Bull on the top of it. Apparently, New York did send their spies after all...