The du Nord Question & Answer Session With Grant Wahl
du Nord, July 16, 2009
Interview conducted and edited by Paul DemkoGrant Wahl is, without question, the best soccer writer in the United States. A decade ago -- when mainstream coverage of soccer was about as common as cholera outbreaks in Antarctica -- that wouldn't have been much of a compliment. Back then Wahl's dogged reporting and seamless prose for Sports Illustrated was manna for futbol fans. These days, thankfully, there are a few other redoubtable reporters on the beat, but Wahl remains the preeminent U.S. soccer scribe. If there was any lingering doubt about that status, Wahl has quelled any disputes with publication of The Beckham Experiment. It is the definitive account of Goldenballs Goes to America -- and the best book ever written about soccer in this country. Wahl was a fly on the wall during two years of media frenzies, front office buffoonery, coaching incompetence and, most of all, disastrous results on the field. It's a riveting, sharp-eyed and often hilarious peek behind the curtains at the travels and travail