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a short-lived smile. Jeff sets up shop in Germany for the USA v. Czech Republic

In just a few short years, Jeff Carlisle went from engineer to journalist. His unlikely story begins our lengthy conversation, after the jump.

Let’s start with some background. Can you bring us up to speed on the biography of Jeff Carlisle?

Suffice it to say that I come from a pretty atypical background. I was actually an engineer in school. I went to Northwestern. I was a software engineer for 12 years. I did play soccer at Northwestern and that is basically where I caught the soccer bug. I was a goalkeeper and played there for three years. So yeah, I was a software engineer for 12 years, and in the end of 1999, I just got tired of the whole existence. I worked for a big company for six years; did the start-up thing for six years, and I had had enough. I was ready to try something else, but at the time had no idea what that was. When I quit, I didn’t really have a plan for what I was going to do. So I started to get into some coaching, and through that I met a guy named Nicholas Arellano, and he ran a website out here in Son Jose called Quake Magic dot com. I asked him if he needed any writers, and he did. I then told him I have absolutely no experience whatsoever, and he had a guy who was already covering the Earthquakes, so I asked if I could cover the college scene, and that is what we agreed to back in 2002.

Lucky for me, there were a lot of great college teams in the area. Stanford women were ranked #1 in the country, Santa Clara made it to the NCAA title game; Stanford men did the same. So I had a lot of material to cover. The next season I began covering the Earthquakes. That was 2003 into 2005.

That hardly seems like a full-time job. Was it?

No, I wasn’t getting paid anything. I knew, well, you know, I had dreams of writing for ESPN or Sports Illustrated, but I knew that I didn’t come from a journalism background and I needed an environment where I could make all the rookie mistakes. And without too much, too many consequences. I wasn’t breaking bogus stuff or anything, but I needed to be able to write and learn from my mistakes and other guys in the business. So yeah, I wasn’t getting paid anything.

After 2003, that is when I started getting brave enough to send my stuff out to magazines. 90 Minutes was the first magazine to ever publish my stuff. Then I started stringing for newspapers as well. I thought that would be good experience. So whatever – say New England came to town, I would write for Boston Globe, Boston Herald, whoever needed me. And that was great experience as well. When I was writing for Quake Magic, there was no real deadline or anything. It was just whenever you can get it up. But obviously for East Coast papers, where it was really late, they wanted the story filed just as the whistle blew.

Then in 2005 I just got in contact with the Editor at ESPN Soccernet, Jen Chang, and at the time they didn’t really have anytime for freelancers, which is what I am in the interest of full disclosure. I’m not a full-time employee of ESPN. At the time I had some stories sitting on my hard drive that weren’t San Jose related, so I thought why don’t you look at these and if you like them you can have them. He said ok and liked what he saw. I gave him them for free, but after the third one I kind of said, ok that’s as far as I’m willing to go giving them something for nothing. Fortunately, they started throwing me some crumbs. A story here, a story there, to the point where it was about a story a month. And then I guess it was August 2005 when Jen called and asked if I would be interested in covering the US National Team. Of course, I said absolutely, and they wanted me to write a column for MLS once a week, and I was like, hey, this is what I’d been waiting for.

Pretty much living the dream (of some of us, anyway).

Oh yeah, I know I am incredibly lucky and have gotten some huge breaks along the way. I cant stress enough how fortunate I’ve been. I remember at the time in August when they were asking if I wanted a steady gig, I asked if they would send me to MLS Cup. He said ‘yeah, we’re look into that.’ Then I went for the big one. Will you send me to the World Cup, and he laughed. He later got back to me and said that if they made it into the second round they would send me. I thought fat chance of that, especially after the draw came out and everyone saw how hard it was going to be. Then right before Christmas I got the word that they would send me over for as long as they stayed in it. So yeah, its been fantastic. And certainly a lot more fun than sitting in an office all day worrying about the latest software bugs.

Well, good thing I asked. Of course, I had no idea about your background. One of the blessing and curses of writers I guess, unless you get a dust jacket bio or something.

And in the meantime I continued to coach. Being a freelancer is not a situation where that by itself is going to be enough to pay the bills, so I continued to coach club teams and goal keeper training and coaching high schools and stuff like that.

What are your present coaching affiliations? It’s off-season now, I’m guessing.

Mt Pleasant High School, but because of my club commitments I didn’t really feel like I could do a varsity high school job justice. Nick Carolotto, the guy who does the head coaching over at Mt. Pleasant, we work really well together, and he understands the various coaching commitments I have, so it works out really well.

That’s unusual, and really nice I’m sure, to be able to keep the coaching in your life. It likely helps your writing and vice versa, and if nothing else keeps your head in the game.

Oh yeah. One really does help out the other. Being in San Jose, I got to see people like Frank Yallop and Dominic Grenier up close and saw how they do things. Even the goalkeeper coach at the time, Tim Handley, I got pointers from him. So that helps my coaching, but being involved in the game as a coach helps you appreciate the game on a whole other level. I think you realize not only how hard the game is but how hard coaching is. It’s just such an inexact science.

Hell and gone from the exacting pressures of software engineering.

Oh yeah.

I’m so glad we’re talking about this, because I think it’s aloud me to connect some dots. The one thing that has always impressed me about your writing is the thoroughness. More than a writer, I see you as the reporter, almost a throw-back. A lot of people don’t think reporters exist anymore thanks to riff-raff bloggers and the columnist ilk. Your game summaries for example run beyond 1000 words sometimes. I don’t have to watch the games, just reading your stuff online gives you every minute detail of the action. And now finding out about your engineering background and the coaching, it makes sense that it would create the writer you have become.

Yeah, thanks. It is tough. The coaching helps, but as you are watching the game as a journalist, its just a totally different vantage points. You are so worried about missing the big moments that you cant really watch a game like you would a coach. Obviously as a coach, you can watch specific players performing and not get caught up if you miss a foul or even a goal. But god for bid if you are doing a game summary and (laughing as if it’s happened once or twice) you’re watching something on one end of the field and a goal goes in on the other end. Its just two different mindsets that I have to work with depending on what I’m there for on any given day.

Just to put a box around this. Did you play throughout your child hood? Were you in the system, so to speak?

NO, not at all. I picked it up late. I grew up a swimmer. I was a huge huge fan of the game. I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and so we had the Strikers from the old NASL growing up. Then I started watching Soccermate in Germany and All-star soccer on Public Television and couldn’t get enough of it, but, it was funny, I kind of thought it was too late for me to pick up this game, so when I got to college – and I had always monkey-ed around in goal with my friends growing up who actually played – I had some people who said I should try out for the team. Just to give you some perspective, this is mid-80’s you know, soccer, even college soccer, was very much in its infancy. I was just a sponge. I tried to pick up the game any way I could. I sat the bench the first two years on the team, you know, trying to get better, and then in my senior year actually got some playing time. That experience was the highlight of my college years. You just work so hard and then to actually get on the field, its just amazing.

Still connecting all of this, it’s funny to me that you went to this college with a very prestigious journalism school, but didn’t go that way.

Yeah, certainly on campus you heard about how great it was, and I had plenty of friends who were in that program, but in high school, math and science is what I was good at, not necessarily what I had passion for, which I think explains better than anything why I’m not in that field. So yeah, I got two engineering degrees – computer science and mechanical engineering – and did the corporate thing before deciding on something different.

I’ve always thought one didn’t need a journalism degree. I have a BS in environmental geology and master degree in journalism, and I probably got more education, writing and otherwise, studying science. You don’t need anything but passion for a subject to make something out of it.

Yeah. I grew up a sports junkie in South Florida. All there really was down there at that time was the Dolphins. I just adopted other teams from other cities. It didn’t matter what it was. Once I got to Northwestern, I basically adopted all the college teams, except for the Bears. I stayed a Dolphins fan. I actually lived in Chicago after I graduated for a bit and had an apartment right down by Wrigley Field. That was a lot of fun.

Ok – lets turn to soccer, although we could talk about this stuff forever. The personal stories behind the articles are always the best stuff for me. But we move on. Ok, the one question I have to ask. It’s vague, open-ended, and confusing to some, but here we go. What is American Soccer?

Um, (pause) god, that is a tough question. I guess a couple of things come to mind. I think it is a melting pot and I think the American style, if you will, and I know there is the perception that it is the lilly-white suburban influences that are all consuming, but when I think of American soccer, I think of a melting pot. I think of all the various ethnic enclaves that play the game in streets and playgrounds, and then there’s the suburban aspect of it as well. I think as the country goes forward the thing will be bringing together all of those disparate elements. But I also think a lot of people like to rag on American soccer but it’s one the rise. It’s getting better and better. We have a long way to go, there is no disputing that, but there I think there is an impression that this melting pot doesn’t exist, but it does. There are a lot of kids out there who just pick up a ball and find a place to play.

What are your thoughts on the MLS rule changes? Or more broadly, what do you see in the future for MLS?

I think the Beckham rule is a good compromise. Having grown up a fan of the NASL and watching its demise, I think uncontrolled spending is certainly not healthy. I think also that MLS needs to bring in some stars with some pizzazz and spark. Say what you will about David, but if he were to come here, it would certainly put a lot of butts in the seats. He would get people to notice. Now, the trick is to get those people top continue to notice. That’s the danger with the rule. People come once for the spectacle but then don’t return. The league has survived this long because it’s been fiscally responsible, so the rule changes will bring in some foreign stars but its not totally out of control either.

The best thing to happen is that each team will have its own youth academy or development system. I don’t know if the general sporting public or even soccer public gets that, but that is huge in my eyes. Instead of having one Bradenton (home of USSF residency program), you’ll have 13 Bradentons. Clubs will have a lot more invested in developing home-grown talent. I think that is fantastic news. It’s going to take awhile for those programs to bear fruit, but it is totally a step in the right direction.
Expansion, I think they need to be careful, but I think they are doing it slowly, which is smart. I still think that MLS needs to find a way to market this game correctly. I’m not a marketing expert, and I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know what that answer is, but the game needs more passion. They need to find a way to get people to care. Some fans, like in Houston at the Cup, are fantastic, but how do you make that passion grow, replicate it? I think that’s the big issue that is facing the league… Did I miss anything (laughing)?

No no. I think those are opinions held by a lot of us. Unfortunately, with US Soccer there is a lot of wait and see, and as humans, and especially Americans, and even more especially as sports fans, patience is sometimes hard to come by. I know I constantly have to check myself. In this waiting game, we’ve got the youth systems now and the Designated Player Rule, but what about the exiting players. What about the Dempseys and plenty of others who seem to be looking for the first chance to bolt. Is it simply a hope that at some point they wont; that they’ll be happy staying here?

Yeah, that’s a tough one. For a lot of players, that’s their dream. Go to Europe and put their skills up against the very best players in the world. The will have to approach it on a case by case basis. Certainly, a guy like Clint Dempsey is someone they need to try to keep, but once he stated his ambition, I don’t think there’s a lot the league can do about it. And then it becomes a question of ‘do we sell him for something, or let him go for nothing?’ So, certainly they did it with Landon Donovan and Eddie Johnson, though you could argue it would have been better to let him go to Benfica for whatever is was, 4, 5 million. Until enough money is flowing through this league to get the best players in the world to come here, it’s going to be a selling league… for a while. Look at the players leaving Brazil and Argentina. Those are selling leagues too. There’s no disgrace in that. Or at least I don’t think there is.

Yeah, I’ve been saying this forever. I don’t get the crying. Let them go. It spreads the word that Americans can play, and until we can play at a high level for European clubs and in the international stage, we wont be anything but the little brother who gets shit on.

Yeah, again, until we get the money to keep ‘em and bring ‘em over, that’s the reality people are going to have to live with.

Obvious example being the World Club Rankings, of which MLS isn’t even considered. That has to say something right there. its not a criticism, its just the, as you say, reality of the present global soccer landscape.

Yeah. Respect is slow to come, you know. Until we start doing better at some of these international club competitions, that’s the way its going to be. In that regard, the calendar really works against MLS teams. As much as people like to rag on the CONCACAF Champions Cup, we need those tournaments. It’s all just stacked against MLS teams. I mean, look at where Chelsea was in August. That 5 percent of sharpness they were missing is a huge difference, and for the same reasons you see MLS teams struggle coming out of an off-season to play in these games. The new competition with Mexican teams is a good thing, because it falls within the MLS season. There might be a little more success and play more attractive soccer then they will than in say February or March.

Part of just wants to look at MLS as a developmental league for the national team. When I was a kid it was all about the national team. With no professional league to grab a developing mind early on, it was the national team that filled and continues to fill that void. It’s hard to accept the new league. I guess, as you said, respect is slow to come. So in that regard, I’d rather see our national team players over in Europe where the competition is best and where they can get in with the yearly schedules all the top players are on. Is that ludacris?

Well, in theory it sounds good, but guys like Clint have to be careful about where they end up. The rumor is he is going to Charleton, a team on the verge of relegation, and if they do, then they will probably change managers. The new manager has no allegiance to Clint Dempsey. He didn’t pick him or recommend to the board that they buy him, and then it becomes a very difficult situation for him. Going back, you saw it with Eddie Lewis. The team didn’t get relegated, but the manager got fired. The new guy comes in, decides he doesn’t like him, and now he’s stuck. Now, I’m sure his agent is going to do everything he can to make sure Dempsey ends up in a good situation, but its not enough to say – go to Europe and everything will take care of it self. Go back and you’ll find plenty of players who went to Europe and couldn’t crack the first team somewhere.

Not sure if you saw it, but Jack Bell did a piece in the New York Times on Benny Feilhaber, and there was a quote in there about how Benny doesn’t hang out with his teammates. He reasoned this away with the fact that the competition is so tough during practice for spots on the first team, that you don’t develop friendships as much. He then went on to say that his friends in MLS don’t have that reality to deal with. It just stood for me as a perfect example of the differences in I don’t know, seriousness, for lack of a better word. Are you fighting for your life or fighting for a job?

Yeah, it’s also a cultural difference and something that American players are going to struggle with going over there. But I also think that comes from there being so much money at stake. The rewards are just so much more in Europe. But culturally, Americans have this team attitude that we’re in it together no matter how much money we make. I think that strikes me as unique, but credit to Feilhaber, he’s cracked the line-up and seems to be doing really well over there.

Yeah, there’s been about 15 articles on him in the last few weeks. A flurry of press the likes I haven’t seen for anyone in a while.

Yeah, I see him as one of the guys cracking into the national team sometime in the next cycle. But I don’t think I’m going too far out on a limb for that one.

I’m really looking forward to 2007. For the first time, I feel like we have a new slate. There’s going to be a new coach with new opinions, and a lot of older guys maybe hanging up their international boots by choice or not. I can see a lot of turnover in just the starting 11. 2007 could be a free-for-all.

Yeah, you know a new cycle always does that. Guys who have been there have to prove themselves all over again and younger guys get their shot. The Gold Cup and Copa America will be interesting. I’m especially excited for Copa America, not just to see how we stack up, but it’s going to provide a valuable competitive environment for us. Gold Cup isn’t enough. There is not enough pressure; the competition isn’t high enough, but they will get that in South America.

Who are some guys you’d like to see in there?

Ricardo Clark is one. I’d love to see him. Kenny Cooper is another. You see how big he is; he looks like your prototypical target man, but then you see him with the ball at his feet and he’s pretty adept there as well – out wide or up top, wherever he can fit. How about Chris Rolfe. He had some injuries, but he didn’t look out of place with the national team. I’m trying to think of some central midfield types, but I can’t think of too many. I think that will be a big problem moving forward. How do you replace Claudio Reyna? Granted he had a tough end there at the World Cup, but I don’t think there are many other players who can control the tempo like he does, and particularly on the road in CONCACAF, that is something the US is going to miss. Whether Landon Donovan ever becomes that guy, who knows.

You have to choose today. Who is your goalkeeper for 2007? This should be close to your heart I’m guessing?

I still think Kasey Keller and Tim Howard are at the top. Marcus Heinemann is there, but older. I think the job is Howard’s to lose. Especially now that he is getting playing time at Everton.

You mentioned an impending wedding in just a few weeks; I guess I better let you go so as not to undercut your standing in that new job. Congratulations and thanks for spending the time.

All right Adam. Thank you.

End

(Congratulations to Jeff and his new bride, who are now married.)