On Saturday night at Pizza Hut Park, FC Dallas will face Columbus in their final preseason game, the Pioneer Cup. However, that match will not just be the final tune up before FCD faces Houston on March 27 to open the 2010 MLS season. It will also allow the club to honor the memory and legacy of one of the league’s founding members and former team investor-operator Lamar Hunt. The Hunt family still operates both FC Dallas and Columbus.
Saturday will be extra special to FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman and starting goalkeeper Darío Sala.
Before taking over at FCD in June 2008, Hyndman coached for more than two decades at SMU, the school where Hunt graduated and always maintained close ties. It was during that time the FCD coach developed a close relationship with the American sports icon.
“I don’t think words really describe Lamar Hunt and the feelings that I had for him,” Hyndman said over the phone from Tampa, Fla., where FCD is training. “From the first time I ever met Lamar at SMU, he was unassuming, a regular Joe.”
For Hyndman, a big part of Hunt’s appeal was his incredible ability to make everyone around him feel special.
“When you walked into a room he’d always introduce you as the most important person in the room,” Hyndman said. “He’s probably one of the neatest, greatest human beings I’ve ever met in my life. He’s somebody that all of us can model ourselves after.”
Sala has been with FCD since 2005 and is the club’s longest-tenured player. After his arrival in Frisco, he and Hunt quickly developed a strong relationship based on mutual respect before the owner’s passing in December 2006.
“He went out of his way to treat his players like family,” Sala wrote in an e-mail to MLSsoccer.com. “He made a special effort to know our wives, our children, our parents. Whenever I saw him, he made a special effort to come over and talk to me about Argentina.”
The seasoned Argentine had spent his entire professional career in South America before coming to the States in 2005 to sign with FCD, a move he credits Hunt with allowing him to make.
“Soccer players in the U.S. owe a huge debt of gratitude to Lamar Hunt and as long as I’m in this league, I will work to repay it,” Sala said. “I know Mr. Hunt cared about the fans and the fan experience, so I’ve made it important in my career. I try to interact with the fans, get the crowd revved up and accept as many public appearances as possible.”
And Sala considers it a big deal to honor his memory through Saturday’s match with the 2008 MLS Cup champion Crew.
“Mr. Hunt probably wouldn’t have wanted a big fuss made over him,” the goalkeeper said. “But I know he would have backed any game that got the fans excited about FC Dallas soccer.”
