Gordon Bradley Memorial Service

If you are in the DC area on May 9.

Also see this short piece by John Feinstein that appeared in the Sunday Washington Post Outlook Section.

He was a soccer teacher-- not just in the sense of teaching players the intricacies of a corner kick or how to set up to defend a free kick, but in the sense that he taught people about the game: how to watch it, how to understand it, how to play it and coach it, but perhaps most important, how to love it. He was never a soccer evangelist -- he never told people, as some advocates of the game do, that they should love soccer or that they needed to understand more about soccer. He was just always there to answer any question, lead any clinic, talk to any group, return any phone call. He coached the best players in the world and he coached 5-year-olds kicking a ball for the first time. And loved all of it.

Bradley had the honor of coaching three of games legends, Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Johann Cryuff and is amazing that in his long career he spent 16 years coaching the George Mason Patriots soccer team right here in the DC area.

I never met Gordon Bradley (I now wish I had), but I love the game of soccer as he did. I want to be like him, someone who loves the game so much that it doesn't matter if it a bunch of five year olds on the field chasing a ball or the greatest World Cup final you can imagine, but just participating in the game at any level.

To be frank, the world needs more Gordon Bradley's and not just in soccer but in any sport. Every game needs a Gordon Bradley, to spread the message of the game and not just as a business.