I was told by a few people that I absolutely had to interview Michael "Nano" Nanchoff because he and I would get along really well. Things like that are always scary because you can't help but wonder what someone means when they say that. So when the 23-year-old midfielder agreed to join me at <a href="http://www.redcardsportsbar.ca/index.php" target="_blank">Red Card Sports Bar</a> for <i>'Nightcap With A Whitecap'</i>, I had no idea what to expect.
Three hours later, I was delighted at how charming, witty and well-spoken Nanchoff is, and how dedicated he is to earning every minute of playing time he can get.
As always, we start with "What’s your favourite nightcap?"
<i>Well, I’m not an eighty year old man, so I don’t need to have a White Russian on the rocks to help me sleep or anything, but I am a fan of beer.</i>
Care to elaborate?
<i>All beers, nothing specific. I’ll drink something as dark as a Guinness or as light as a Natty Light.</i>
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Yikes, Natty Light? (For those of you who haven’t tried a Natural "Natty" Light, don’t.)
<i>Not by choice, but it takes me back to my college days...</i>
Which, let’s not forget, were not that long ago. Moving on, favourite Whitecap?
<i>He’s no longer a Whitecap, but it was Michael Boxall, hands down.</i>
Yes, your bromance is legendary, how about a current Whitecap?
<i>Right now I’m a big fan of two people: John Thorrington and Alain Rochat.</i>
I’ve heard Rochat mentioned several times before, so let’s start with John Thorrington. Why Thorrington?
<i>He is an unbelievable leader and he has definitely taken me under his wing in terms of giving positive advice.</i>
He’s not one of the most popular guys out there, so that’s an interesting choice.
<i>I respect everyone’s opinion, just as I would hope they respect mine, but people don’t know who he is. He is a fantastic person. He is a family guy, his wife is an incredible person, his baby girl is the cutest thing - she smiles non-stop, uncontrollably - and that has to come from somewhere. That’s just one of the reasons why I like him; he’s also an incredible soccer player.
This year he has held down the midfield, he has worked his tail off, which unfortunately has maybe lead to him fatiguing and picking up the injury against LA, but just like he always has, he’ll bounce back. That’s another reason I look up to him, I’ve had my fair share of injuries. I have learned a lot from him.</i>
How about Alain?
<i>He’s one of my idols. Not just because he’s left-footed like I am. He is one of the most well-rounded professionals, even though I’ve only been around professionals for two years...
You know what, correction: Alain is THE ultimate professional. If I were to elaborate on that we’d be sitting here for hours.</i>
I think my favorite part of these interviews is hearing you guys talk about each other. There seems to be so much admiration and respect among the players.
<i>You just cannot pick one person. Like [YP] Lee. His English has improved drastically since the beginning of the season, which is really cool to see. He’s always asking how to spell certain words and sentences, and he brings his English class quizzes into the locker room every day.
I was really struggling recently, when my best buddy from college passed away, and I don’t really know YP, and he doesn’t know me, we respect each other and get the job done, but for someone like him to come up to me and give me a hug, that was the ultimate respect factor. Especially for someone that is as legendary as he is.</i>
Speaking of soccer legends, how much pressure do you feel because of your family’s soccer history? (Both Nanchoff’s father, George Nanchoff, and his uncle, Louis Nanchoff, played in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), and for the US National Team in the 1970’s and 80’s.)
<i>I get that question a lot, and I don’t know if I’ve answered it truthfully to everyone who has ever asked me. I say "no", but at the same time, when I really think about it, someone like my dad who has achieved so much, alongside my uncle as well, it’s tough to fill shoes like that. It really is.
That was a different brand of soccer. My dad and I were similar players, both left-footed, creative, had the vision and what not, but times have changed and the game has totally changed. I’m not going to use that as an excuse by any means, but if you’d let me use an excuse, that would be it. (laughs)
My dad was never the type that treated me like a robot, he always told me that if I wanted to be the best I had to go out and achieve it myself. He would be there to support me along the way, which was awesome, but he never put that added pressure on me that a lot of people think there was.</i>
What are you hoping to achieve? Have you set some personal goals for this year?
<i>Well, my first personal goal is to win the FIFA World Championship... on PlayStation.</i>
Oh wow, that’s a very lofty goal.
<i>Just kidding. Let’s see, seriously? A starting role, for sure. I’m itching to play. I’m going to keep busting my butt to get that role and I’m going to earn it eventually.
Personally, and I think it’s collectively felt as well, I think that we can win the MLS Cup this year.
We have to keep understanding each other a little bit more, every single day, and when that happens it can turn into something special. But if it starts to taper off a little bit, that’s when things can start to quickly go downhill. Especially in pro sports, having that team camaraderie is huge.
Did I just start ranting right there?</i>
Don’t worry about it. You sound pretty psyched about this season. You also made some headlines this year with Team Nanchoff, how is that going, do you need more recruits?
<i>Team Nanchoff is exploding! It’s out of this world, seriously. There’s a guy in the army, in Afghanistan, who sent me a message on Facebook to see if he could get a "TeamNanchoff" t-shirt sent to him!</i>
That’s awesome! What are some other favorite memories from your time on the Whitecaps so far?
<i>Usually my favorite memories come from the playing field, but something that really stands out to me was last year, during the Soehn-era, we went out to Deep Cove and spent the day out there. We got away from the game, we didn’t even think about it for a day. People rode around in canoes, flipping each other over. We shot arrows. Some were a lot better than others... I am not talented at shooting arrows. I missed the target about 101% of the time, if that’s even possible.
That’s actually a tough question because more great memories continue to come along all the time. Ask me this again in a year and I’ll give you a new answer.</i>
Challenge accepted. In the meantime, what is your favorite MLS stadium to play in?
<i>BC Place is sick! BC Place is awesome. I’m not a huge fan of the turf, but that’s not a big deal. The architecture is pretty great. Also, CenturyLink Field is ridiculous. I got goose bumps when I went in there. Then Eric scored that goal and ten people are celebrating and me, the lone idiot, is standing in the corner with his hands on his head just confused because it was such a sweet goal. I was shocked.</i>
Don’t worry, I think the rest of us were just as shocked. Do you have anything you’d like to say to the Whitecap fans?
<i>I love them! They’re getting better and better every single game. They really are. It starts with the Southsiders and the Curva Collective and it seems like every game there’s another section added on that starts to chant. They’re starting to pick it up and it’s great!
We’ve won more than last year, so obviously we think that helps.
Slowly but surely we’re earning more of [the fans’] respect, and we just love them.</i>
And with guys like Nano around, it’s hard for the fans to not love the Whitecaps right back.
Hopefully everyone (including the fans!) have fully recovered from the 3-0 loss to LA and are ready for a little <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/%23CapsOnTour" target="_blank">#CapsOnTour</a>, kicking off tonight against the Colorado Rapids, followed by Chivas on Saturday.
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I want to give a HUGE shout out to <a href="http://www.redcardsportsbar.ca/index.php" target="_blank">Red Card Sports Bar + Eatery</a> for giving us the rock star treatment and unofficially sponsoring Nightcap with a Whitecap this month. Thank you so much!
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