The Adu phenomenon has also reached smaller, non-MLS markets with equal force.
After an afternoon game in Chicago in early June, he and his teammates headed to O'Hare Airport, but instead of going back to Washington, Adu was at the other end of the terminal with his agent, Motzkin, and a Sierra Mist representative awaiting a trip to Des Moines for an appearance at a minor league soccer game that night. A crowd of more than 6,600 helped the local team set an attendance record.
Adu, with his arm around Ray Trifari, D.C. United's director of team administration, draws a crowd as he exits the tunnel for an exhibition game in Rochester, N.Y., where 14,000 turned out.
(Kevin Clark -- The Washington Post)
|
|
Similar scenes have unfolded in Charleston, S.C., where United held a portion of its spring training, in Rochester, N.Y., where 14,000 turned out for a midweek exhibition, and in Richmond, where the minor league Kickers set a franchise record with 8,776 fans on July 21.
"Freddy-mania took on a life of its own," Garber, the league commissioner, said. "He connects in a way that is extraordinary. There is something unique about this kid and people really caught onto that and made it into something far bigger than we thought it ever would be."
At times, however, Adu has been clearly worn down. The roughest part, he said, has been making appearances when he hasn't been playing well. "I still had to put on a nice face and be a nice person, but inside it didn't feel right because I didn't feel like I deserved it," he said.
In midseason, his schedule was cut back. Under the new plan, interviews were granted every few days instead of every day and his promotional calendar was lightened.
"We have to get back to the commitment we made to him and his family that we would help develop him as a young soccer player," Garber said. "We're still going to manage his appearances and let people get close to him, but we've got to take a step back and let Freddy start growing and getting on the field and doing what everybody believes he can do."
A Learning Experience
On the field, Adu's maiden season has not been perfect. In June, he slipped into a rut and was noticeably unhappy. His playing time was inconsistent and, when he was in the game, he sometimes looked like a kid lost among grown-ups in a busy department store.
His frustration peaked after a game in Dallas on June 26, when he played only the last few minutes. He told the Dallas Morning News that he was tired of coming off the bench and having only limited time to make an impact. Upon the team's return to Washington, according to sources, a stern Nowak told the players that they should refrain from airing their complaints through the media. Nowak and Adu then had a long talk, and Adu admitted he had made a mistake by going public.
"I wasn't thinking," he said. "I was mad, that's all. Peter's here to help me, he's on my side, and I need to communicate with him and let him do his job."
Since then, Adu seems to have revived his joy of playing.
"I've rediscovered myself all over again," said Adu, who always seems to be smiling now. "For a while there, I wasn't me and things weren't going great and I was complaining about having to do all that stuff. But it's just normal now. I'm having fun again and I'm playing well. I feel great and hopefully I can keep that going."
His contributions on the field have picked up. He went nearly three months between goals, but these days he looks more comfortable with the ball and at ease around his teammates.
"I was thinking too much when I first came in here," Adu said. "I was worrying about what people thought of me and what my teammates thought of me. I was trying to fit in too much. I wasn't being myself. Now I'm being myself. After one game [in May], I said to myself, 'You've never played this bad in your whole life, what is going on?' I sat down and thought about it, watched game tapes and realized some of the things I was doing were terrible."
