Bryan Namoff chat transcript

I’ll be headed to see the old man during Christmastime in good ol’ Rockford, Illinois. Make sure you get the poker table out!

Santino is better looking than me only because he uses large quantities of murray’s in his hair which allow his spikes to be strong enough to pierce skin.

However, if you think he’s better looking, I can certainly say I dress better than him. Case in point.

Silver, gold, platinum! Boo-yah, Tino! Good luck on Saturday.

I wouldn’t call it “fun” when they’re running full speed at you. It’s always exciting to match up against the best and see what you’re made of. I hope to be able to play in front of the biggest crowd of my career, so make sure you bring your friends. Can we sell out FedEx field?

Bryan Namoff.

Seriously, though, Landon.

Gee, I wonder, you two have the same name, Ryan!

If you don’t know by now, it’s Ryan Nelsen, who is the captain of the Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League. I taught him everything he knows.

I can’t say that I miss rooming with Troy Perkins on the road, but it’s nice to see that he’s getting the recognition that he deserves with the U.S. National Team. He was a great goalkeeper to play with.

Foul, foul, foul.

We need to make sure we’re behind the ball, stay compact, we’re behind the ball, stay compact, and we should also stay behind the ball and stay compact.

[Devon McTavish just popped in and says, “force him backwards.”]

Well, more than anything, it’s allowed me to pick on the rookies and boss around everyone. It’s nice having coffee ready for me when I come in the morning and a bagel at my locker.

Seriously, it’s great to be able to help out some of the younger guys and rookies. I’ve been in the League for a long time now and I hope I can provide some guidance for them. They push me to be a better player, so I try to help out where I can.

Charleston is by far one of the best pre-season trips we go on and believe me, I’ve been on some terrible ones – Guadalajara when I got the “Mexican Monster,” was in bed for three days and lost ten pounds – don’t drink the water or eat fruit, in my case. Segovia, Spain – it snowed a foot the day we arrived and we had to train in it for two weeks. ¡No bueno!

Anytime you play in Germantown and in the Open Cup, it’s always been a struggle. Why, do you ask? The whole setting is different and when you’re playing lower level teams, they have a tendency to play up to your level – and likewise, MLS teams have a tendency to play down – for them, it’s usually the biggest game of their careers and they come out firing.

I’m glad that we don’t play a lot of the starters early on in those games, because it’s a great opportunity for some of the guys who don’t log the majority of minutes to get their chance to show they belong on the field.

We’ve had two great standouts so far this year in Chris Pontius and Rodney Wallace, and I think you’re starting to see that younger players, especially with our team, are now being given the opportunity to jump in right away in a starting role. I think it’s pretty rare that you see the younger players making such an impact early in their career, such as those knuckleheads.

And as some of the veterans, such as myself, keep getting fitter and better as the years progress, it will definitely be more difficult to knock us off the pedestal. Yes, we are legends in our own minds [laughs].

Let’s get one thing straight. It’s Br-Y-an.

Yet, no one calls me by first name, anyway – I haven’t been called that since the first grade. It’s just Namoff. I’m trying to follow our own one-name Brazilian, Fred.

Not only would I love to have him as a teammate because of his skill and international experience, but I would love to have his golden, flowing, curly mane. He’s a player with his work rate and fitness level that could fit in well with the MLS style of play.