Another Grateful Dead fan … A vote for Vonnegut …and Adin BrownÆs desire to shine after injuries kept him out of the 2000 Olympics. Get to know 22-year-old Brown in SoccerAmerica.comÆs series on the USAÆs most promising talent. INTERVIEWED BY BRYAN ALVAREZ Name: Adin Brown Position: Goalkeeper Height: 6’5″ Weight: 200 Born: May 27, 1978 Hometown: Pleasant Hills, Calif. College:William & Mary 2000 MLS Season 13 games, 4 wins, 7 losses, 1 tie, 2.04 GAA, 2 shutouts. SOCCER AMERICA: What do you do when you’re not playing soccer? Adin Brown: I play a lot of golf and I read a lot. SA: What is your favorite book? AB: Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five”. SA: Who is your favorite actress? AB: Meg Ryan. SA: Who is your favorite muscian? AB: The Grateful Dead. SA: Do you like listening to music before the before a game? AB: Sure. It helps me relax and mentally prepare before a game. SA: What’s your current living situation? AB: I live with a friend of mine from school (William & Mary). SA: How did you adapt to living in a new city? AB: I love it there. I think it’s a fantastic city. There’s a lot of stuff to do. The mountains are about an hour and a half away. SA: Do you ski? AB: No. But, I’m into camping and fishing. SA: Being on the road so much, do you get homesick? AB: I’m pretty much over that. SA: What are your impressions of your first year in the MLS? AB: It was a tough year. Hopefully, this is year is better and injury free. I’m hoping to stay healthy and see where that leads me. SA: How did you deal with being injured for such a long time? AB: It was a hard time for me. But, you get through it just like anything else. You realize that there are other important things in life, other than soccer. SA: You’re religion is Christian Science. Did your surgery conflict with that? AB: A bit. I had to deal with it once before. I decided to go the medical route. I don’t feel that my relationship with God has changed because of it. I went away from my religion a bit and chose that route. SA: How is the MLS different from the college game? AB: It’s faster. Players are more intelligent. They interpret the game quicker.. SA: What is the biggest adjustment you had to make? AB: I had to adjust to the mental aspect of the game. I have to read the game much faster. SA: What was your favorite moment from last season? AB: It was a game against Chicago. We won 2-1. I had a bunch of saves and I got my first assist. SA: Who has been your greatest influence? AB: I think everyone has helped especially the older guys like (Paul) Bravo and Celo (Marcelo Balboa). They show you how to deal with the pressures and situations in the game. SA: How do you plan to improve in your second season? AB: I’m looking to get more experience so I can get better at my position. Then, I’ll take it from there. SA: What are your opinions about college and high school players coming out early? AB: I think it’s definitely going to improve the sport in America. On an educational basis, I guess it’s their decision. I think it’s great when players come out early and still finish their school while they’re playing. SA: What can the MLS do to improve? AB: I think we need to get a better fan base and improve our ratings on TV. I think if we can get more soccer-specific stadiums out there, more fans will come out to see us. SA: What can the MLS do to retain its young stars? AB: I think they doing it. Instead of paying foreign stars big bucks, why not pay the young American stars big bucks. It doesn’t send a good message when foreign players are making the maximum salary and some of them aren’t even playing. At the same time, you have young American stars hardly making anything while they’re playing every game and working their a** off. SA: What is your opinion of single-entity? AB: I don’t know much about it. I think in some situations the league has to be unfair to get the league jump-started. To make some things happen, there are things that the early players have to deal with. But, it really hasn’t affected me to this point. SA: What’s your commitment to the MLS? AB: I have five years on my contract. SA: What is your relationship like with the fans? AB: It’s great. It’s kind of funny to think that people actually come out to see us play soccer. It’s great having little kids look up to you. I try to give back what I can. I think the entire Colorado organization is into giving back to our fans and the community. SA: Do you get recognized in public? AB: Hardly. Maybe once or twice last year. SA: Who is the toughest opponent you faced last year? AB: I’d have to say Chicago. SA: Are you a soccer fan? AB: Somewhat. I watch from time to time but not enough to have a favorite team. SA: You had a solid offer from a team in Norway. Why did you turn that down? AB: It was a number of things. First of all, Colorado turned it down. Then again, at the end of the season, I thought I was heading to Norway, but the league turned it down. In return, I said, “If you’re not going to let me go to Norway, give me a reason to stay in the States.” So, I got offered a new contract. SA: Do you eventually want to play abroad? AB: I’d like to if the right situation presents itself. SA: Are there any countries you want to go to? AB: I kind of want to stay out of England. Every trip I’ve had over there have been the worst trips in my life. SA: How is Spring Training going? AB: It’s going very well. We went 4 and 1 in Portugal. In Florida, we had some good things come out of our first game. And, there is a lot to work on. SA: What are your predictions for this year? AB: None. We’ll just take it game by game. I think we’ll end up doing well. SA: What do you plan to do after you stop playing? AB: I’d like to coach. I’d like to be a coach, or an assistant in the MLS. If not, maybe a nice collegiate job somewhere. I’d always like to be involved in soccer.