With the close of his first season as President and General Manager of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Alexi Lalas sat down with LAGalaxy.com to talk about his first Galaxy campaign, the holidays and music.
Q: With the team in the offseason, what do you do away from The Home Depot Center and away form the Galaxy?
A: "There is a misconception that the offseason is a time of rest for the front office. As a matter of fact, this is a time when the planning and the preparation become accelerated. We are hard at work at putting together a team for 2007. I have a 14-month-old daughter and a wife at home, and we are still in the process of finding somewhere to live. I've still got my guitar. So when I'm not taxing my brain trying to figure out the latest rule and regulation regarding a designated player opposed to a discovery player, I am finding solace in my family, hanging out and doing a lot of running.
Q: Having said that... How does the offseason differ from when you were a player and now working in the front office?
A: If I were still a player I would probably be sitting on a beach somewhere. Or sitting in a bar somewhere. Maybe even in a bar on the beach. Gone are the two-hour workdays and the charmed life that professional athletes enjoy during their career. But I'm not complaining, because this is as challenging as anything that I've ever done. In some sense it is even more rewarding than anything I did on the soccer field. It's a lot of hard work, but it's enjoyable.
Q: What memory will you take away from your first season as President and General Manager of the Los Angeles Galaxy?
A: Well, I think we learned a lot of lessons this year. I was proud in the way the team finished the year. I was proud of Frank Yallop, and the way he put the team in a direction that will continue through the offseason and into 2007. I was extremely proud of the front office staff for the way they handled a very difficult year on and off the field. I think we learned a tremendous amount of our selves. In a certain way it was also a wake up call for this organization, which has enjoyed a great amount of success over the years. That success was due a lot of hard work, and sometimes you need to be reminded.
Q: Any special plans for the holidays?
A: I am going to be going back east for the holidays. It will be a working holiday. For Christmas I will be in Florida with my family, but come New Year's I will be dealing with the Galaxy Combine and then the draft. I will make sure we are educated and do our research, because right now we have a bunch of picks in this draft. We want to make sure we use them wisely.
Q: Last book you read?
A: I am a connoisseur of airport books, those paperback books that get you from LAX to Kennedy (Airport). The detective and John Sanford novels you can buy at every airport in the world, and you know what you're going to get. I am also notorious for my inability to sleep on planes, and therefore I am the one lonely person in the dead of night at 30,000 feet, somewhere over Iowa, with the light on reading my John Sanford novel.
Q: What CD is currently playing in your car stereo?
A: I don't deal with CDs anymore; it's all MP3s now. I am a big fan of Butch Walker, who is a solo artist. I play a lot of his stuff. Then it's all old school: 80s metal and Ratt.
