SOCCER

RACHEL NICHOLS, Washington Post Sports Writer, July 2, 2003
CZIKOWSKY: Wimbleton? How can England be concerned about Wimbleton when Beckman has become a Spaniard? England is in national mourning.
NICHOLS: You wouldn’t believe the Beckham attention over here. They have full page spreads on him in all the papers. He is the lead story on most of the talk shows, and they showed his physical with Real Madrid yesterday on television. I won’t even get into what’s in the tabloids today.
The English may be in mourning, but they certainly aren’t sitting quietly by while Spain steals their player.

ABBY WAMBACH, Washington Freedom Player, August 5, 2003
CZIKOWSKY: Did you see “Bend it Like Beckham”? If so, what did you think of the movie? Are you observing an increase in interest in your sport following this movie?
WAMBACH: I have seen it. And I think any publicity about women’s soccer is good publicity. There were times in the movie when women were playing and you could tell it was women. It was great—it’s great to see a celebration of women’s sports in general in a movie. And it’s just great to say we have a women’s soccer movie out. It’s an awesome thing for us.

EDDIE GAVEN, MetroStars Player, July 30, 2004
CZIKOWSKY: At what age did you start kicking a soccer ball, and how much have you practiced soccer in your life?
GAVEN: I first started playing when I was four or five and I’ve practiced every single day after I turned eight. I would just go out and play every single day trying to get a good feel of the ball. And I think that’s what helped me most become the player I am today.

BEN OLSEN, DC United midfielder, March 26, 2008
CZIKOWSKY: Are you or any of your teammates superstitious? If so, what are some of the superstitions some of the players go through?
OLSEN: I think we all have some things we do but mostly it’s more of a routine then a superstition. For instance, I eat the same thing before a game but it’s because I seem to perform better with that type of food.
Deman Kovalenko had a lot of them.
CZIKOWSKY: If you see a team losing its hunger, what do you do to get your team back on track?
OLSEN: Losing has a way of motivating a team and getting back the hunger. We can still taste last year’s loss and the new guys on the team have things to prove.