College Prep

When D.C. United announced the acquisition of Austin da Luz from the Red Bulls on Sunday, it brought back pleasant memories of when we first started to seriously follow collegiate soccer. da Luz was part of Wake Forest's terrific 2007 national championship squad and, along with Lyle Adams, is the second player from that team to have been signed by United.

In 2007, da Luz was a substitute in Wake Forest’s 2-1 win over Ohio State. He was one of fourteen Demon Deacons to take the field that day -- each of whom went on to play at least some professional soccer.

Coming off the bench along with da Luz was current Chicago Fire midfielder Corben Bone and current New England Revolution striker Zack Schilawski. Starting for Wake Forest was Schilawski’s current teammate in New England, Pat Phelan, along with Chivas USA’s Michael Lahoud, San Jose’s Sam Cronin and Ike Opara, Real Salt Lake’s Cody Arnoux, and Marcus Tracy, currently at the Danish-side Aalborg, and Brian Edwards, the keeper for the Swedish second-division side Dergefors IF (a team currently in contention for promotion to the Allsvenskan).

The remaining four players, including Lyle Adams (D.C. United and Austin Aztex), each can claim some professional experience: Julian Valentin (L.A. Galaxy and FC Tampa Bay), Jamie Franks (Wilmington Hammerheads and Rochester Rhinos), and Evan Brown (Seattle Sounders).

That season, Maryland dropped its one game against Wake Forest in Winston-Salem two to nothing. The Terps would bow out of the tournament in an emotional upset win for a visiting Bradley squad overcoming grave tragedy.

The Terps of 2007 were no pushovers -- current MLSers Omar Gonzalez, A.J. Delagarza, Rodney Wallace, Jeremy Hall, Graham Zusi, and Stephen King were on that team (as was Thorne Holder, currently with the Philadelphia Union; Rich Costanzo, currently with the Rochester Rhinos; Sean Flatley, currently with the Charleston Battery; and Drew Yates, currently with the Harrisburg City Islanders) -- and it was unquestionably a good season to be introduced to collegiate soccer at Ludwig Field.

This likely explains why I do not understand arguments that college soccer is somehow retarding the development of the game in the United States.

For all of the players mentioned above, amateur soccer in NCAA division I competitions gave them a chance to play at high levels of competition against talented opponents, even if for only a limited portion of the year. The education they received (even if only partially completed) likely also provided some comfort to each as they pursued careers as professional athletes in a field with limited opportunities available to Americans.

In any event, we view the addition of da Luz as a positive development and look forward to seeing what he can do as part of United.

Taking Charlton to Pound Town

Last Sunday, a trip to the Imagination Stage in Bethesda resulted in a pleasant afternoon watching their current rendition of Bunnicula. This year's version of the play effortlessly blends elements intended to maintain the interest of adults in the audience with a fast paced storyline that never loses the interest of the (very) young barely filling in their seats. Because so much of the live entertainment intended for children is insipid in nature, the quality of the production was greatly appreciated and stoked our daughter's interest and enthusiasm for going to a children's event at the Studio Theatre yesterday morning.

By the time it was over and our daughter was comfortably ensconced in Logan Circle, Charlton had just started the remarkable feat of blowing a three goal lead at Carlisle. Reduced to getting irregular updates on the collapse from Charlton Life, I started thinking about the last time that we got to see Mike Grella, who seemed to be playing a seminal part in forcing Charlton's disintegration. Back in September of 2008, Grella visited Ludwig as part of a ranked Duke team that posed a serious challenge to the eventual national champions.

Grella was destined to be a Blue Devil. Cocksure and the opposite of charismatic, Grella looks like he could have walked off the screen as one of the legions of villains in a Lethal Weapon movie. On that September night, in front of a charged audience of over 6,000 in College Park, the Terps held Grella in check, winning the match on a set play headed home by Omar Gonzalez.

After the season, Grella turned down the opportunity to play for Toronto FC in the MLS and headed to Europe to try his fortune. A number of Americans that pay attention to the sport, I think, wrote him off for the decision even after an impressive trial with Leeds United netted him a contract at Elland Road, because he was toiling in the third division of English soccer. This would have been a ridiculous conclusion to draw considering LUFC's illustrious history and, even conceding the current hard times for the club, any team that beat Manchester United at Old Trafford to advance in the FA Cup offers more than anything an MLS team could come up with.

The fact that Grella has not been able to secure a regular berth with Leeds in the Npower Championship and the criticism he drew for refusing to join fourth-division Bradford City on loan to get playing time this season did not bode well, but early returns from his limited run alongside former USMNT golden child Frank Simek at Carlisle seem to be promising.

There was a lot of talent on the field for that September game and I think that it might be fair to at least raise the argument that Grella's career shows the most promise of anyone who participated in the game. Most of this sentiment reveals profound pessimism about the ability of USSF and MLS to build the career of U.S. soccer players.

Darrius Barnes played all 90 minutes for Duke and is now a regular starter in the New England Revolution's back four. Maryland's defensive back four has also done pretty well in country -- Omar Gonzalez and AJ Delagarza have impressed for the Galaxy; Rodney Wallace is a key part of DC United and was sorely missed this season; and Rich Costanzo has acquitted himself well with the now-defunct Thunder and the Rochester Rhinos in the U.S. second division. Jeremy Hall seems to have returned to health and is back in the starting lineup alongside some tremendous teammates with Red Bulls; Graham Zusi is an important contributor for the KC Wizards; and Drew Yates got paid to play professionally for FC Tampa Bay last season.

In fact, of the players on the field that day, the only other student athlete that went to Europe to play was, I think, Graham Dugoni, who last month headed to Norway to play in the second division for Mjondalen (and has seen only limited playing time).

Of these players, who is the most likely to be playing at the highest levels in Europe? At the moment, I think it is fair to say that the answer is Mike Grella. He still has to perform and show that he can play at a much higher level, but it seems far more likely that Grella will be tapped up from his current spot than any of the others, no matter how well they are doing in the MLS. Maybe that's wrong, but Grella showed yesterday that he has the ability, and if he can translate his skills into performance, he has put himself in the best position to take advantage of it.