First Pitch Friday - Arne Friedrich

I know very little about Chicago sports outside of the Cubs. As I've said before, I'm a fan of the Cubs because of WGN, not due to any particular ties to the city of Chicago. But I know even less about soccer. Not that I'm your typical soccer-hatin' Murican. I played a lot growing up. To me, it's just not that interesting to watch outside of highlight reel goals and/or saves. Playing was fun. Watching? Not so much. But, on my list, it still ranks higher than basketball and Nascar.

All that said, I had no idea who Arne Friedrich was. I assumed a Blackhawk. Or maybe an up and coming actor because he does seem to be unfairly attractive in addition to having an athletic build.

So soccer player didn't come to mind right away but it makes sense too. After some searching I saw him described as a world class soccer player from Germany. I saw he only had one goal last year for the Chicago Fire but also quickly noticed he was a defender. They probably don't have many chances to score, right? He's played a bunch of games for Germany but apparently had a back injury that curtailed his career a bit.

Is a European player playing in the MLS the equivalent of an aging MLB veteran going to Japan?

He has resigned to play with the Fire again for the 2013 season, but don't ask me when that is!

On a side note, if I was partial to any international soccer team, it would probably be Germany. My dad was stationed in Germany during my middle school years (late 80's-early 90's). In fact, we moved there just a few months before the Berlin Wall came down. I remember West Germany winning the 1990 World Cup and their star player was a guy named Lothar Matthaeus. I'm pretty sure he was one of the best in the world, but I liked him for no other reason than my name (Matthew) is Matthaeus in German. Ah, how easily kids are entertained. My brothers even called me Lothar for a while.