Our very own Matt Besler recently returned to Kansas City after National team duty. I sat down with him to talk about the now infamous "Beslering", his love for Notre Dame, and Aurelien Collin...on the flute? Check it out!
Jamila St. Ann: Are you upset that “Beslering” never caught on?
Matt Besler: Not really. It was kind of an embarrassing picture of me and all the guys were giving me a hard time. That it looked like I was…ya know, I was squatting down…it wasn’t the best picture of me.
JS: Scenario: You’re being crowned “King of the World”. What is your first ‘royal decree’?
MB: That there are free iPhone 5 chargers, everywhere you go because I always forget mine and I always need one.
JS: You’re a big golf fan. Name your dream golf foursome.
MB: Hmmm…Michael Jordan. He was, and still is, my favorite athlete. And he’s a big golfer, a big gambler. So I’d like to take his money; that’d be cool. I’d probably golf with Phil Mickelson, too. He’s a professional golfer and he’s my favorite golfer. He’d be there to have somebody who’s really good at golf. And then my fourth would be…Steve Carrell, the comedian. Every golf foursome needs a funny guy in it and his character in The Office is one of my favorite tv characters.
JS: So you said that Michael Jordan is your favorite athlete. Do you have any other sports idols?
MB: I grew up with Michael Jordan being my number one, hands down, by far. I liked Mario Lemieux, the Pittsburgh Penguin hockey player. He was one of my favorite athletes. And I grew up watching Marcus Allen and Joe Montana play for the Chiefs.
JS: Is there any significance behind the number 5?
MB: To be honest, no. It was the number that was assigned to me. But I say that I wear for George Brett. And the legend Kerry Zavagnin, our assistant coach.
JS: Construct a band out of your teammates.
MB: Let’s go…Aurelien Collin on the flute. Just because I would pay money to see him with a flute, playing a very elegant instrument. Dom Dwyer on the drums, I don’t know why. I don’t know, Jimmy Nielsen on guitar. And on bass, C.J. Sapong is on bass.
JS: And on lead vocals?
MB: Trying to think of who sings a lot… I’ll put C.J. on lead vocals, because he sings the most, but he’s horrible. A terrible singer. He’ll be bass and vocals.
JS: Guilty pleasure tv show.
MB: I’m a huge fan of Friday Night Lights. It’s my all time favorite tv show. Huge fan of Tim Riggins, he’s the man.
JS: Any TV shows you don’t want to admit being a fan of?
MB: No, not really. I mean, I’ve seen episodes of the Bachelor, but I’ve never watched it.
JS: Did you cry when Notre Dame lost in the national championship last year?
MB: No, I was very hopeful that they would win, but I knew it wouldn’t be quite likely. Alabama is basically an NFL team.
JS: Give me a prediction for the Notre Dame football team this year.
MB: Uh...three losses, and we sneak into a BCS bowl game.
JS: Your brother plays for Notre Dame’s soccer team. Since he’s a midfielder, give me a prediction for how many assists he’ll have.
MB: I’m going to give him a low number. I’m going to go with five. Because he broke my All-Time goals record in high school, his senior year, so he always gives me a hard time. But I always have to remind him that I have more assists than him, so I’m more of a team player.
