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What time is it? Eastern time zone a tough adjustment for L.A. players
Posted: Friday November 19, 1999 05:01 PM
One of the most recognizable soccer players in America, Cobi Jones was named U.S. Soccer's player of the year in 1998. He was also a finalist for the 1998 MVP award in Major League Soccer. Jones and the Los Angeles Galaxy will play D.C. United on Sunday in MLS Cup '99. As he prepares for the league's championship game, Jones is filing an MLS Cup diary for CNNSI.com.
Friday, November 19, 1999 You know, it is my third day here and I am still trying to get used to the time change. I thought that I was used to it yesterday, but getting up early to go to practice today has really thrown me off. I have not been playing with my "A" game in practice, but I know that I will have my "A" game ready to go Sunday. I woke up at 7:00 a.m. (but 4:00 pacific time!) and went to our equipment manager's room to pick up my gear before going to training this morning. It was a little colder today, but we practiced in the morning and will be playing the game in the afternoon, so hopefully it will be in the high 50s or low 60s. We had another spirited practice in which we did out last strides for warm-ups according to our fitness trainer Jim Liston. Everyone was grateful for that, but it also gave us another sign that the end of our season was around the corner. Another important fact from our practice today is that my small-sided team won its match one more time. I teamed up with Clint Mathis, Robin Fraser, Greg Vanney, Kevin Hartman and David Winner to defeat the team "guided" by my roommate Simon Elliott and coach Sigi Schmid ... that's all that needs to be said about that! We capped off our practice with some tactical work and some shooting drills. Following practice, we cleaned up and jumped on the bus where we finished listening to Bob Marley's greatest hits album. We traveled to the World Trade Center for Major League Soccer's final media press conference where the league announced the Honda MVP award which was awarded to the Dallas Burn's Jason Kreis, whom I would like to congratulate for such a great season. Both coaches (Sigi and D.C.'s Thomas Rongen) made some comments during the conference, but neither of them divulged too much about what each team is going to be doing on Sunday at the Final. Newly appointed MLS Commissioner Don Garber reiterated some of the changes that he had announced two days earlier. Part of the changes planned for next year include the creation of three conferences (West, Central and East) playing 32 games in a condensed seven to eight month schedule, the referee will now keep track of the time on the field and the shootouts have finally been banned. He also talked about the creation of "Saturday Soccer Nights" and a weekly highlight show in conjunction with our television partners (ABC, ESPN and ESPN2). Overall, I think that the Commissioner is taking the steps necessary to give the game back to the players and the fans and hopefully take the league to the next level. Once we all finished our interviews with the media, we then went upstairs to eat. The Galaxy and D.C. United players ate and mingled with each other without any animosity. It is funny doing these events, because a lot of us know each other from playing on the same teams. You would figure that there would be a staring competition or something like that, but all I heard was laughter and people catching up with each other. I even got an opportunity to pass out photos of me from an advertising campaign for Kappa to some of the boys as a keepsake getting yet another good laugh. Overall, this was a rather long, draining and awkward day. It was long and draining because of the time difference and the early wake up today. Likewise, I think that it was awkward because we were in the same position four years ago, in the same room, same everything but just four years later. Anyway, it is now time to get a bite to eat, play some video games and get some sleep in preparation of our last day before the MLS Cup Final. Talk to you soon. -- Cobi
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