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The Fantastically Horrible Thierry Henry Interview

Some people may have already seen this interview, but it's worth sharing. It's fantastically horrible on so many levels. I'm not sure what the goal of the interview is, but if it is to portray stereotypical ignorant Americans that know nothing about soccer, then they pulled it off flawlessly. Here is a video of the interview:



Let's run through the choice moments:

1. Henry's shoes.

Not really related to the interview, but what are those things? They look like the shoes Michael J. Fox wears when he goes to the future in Back to the Future II. I would mock them except that the Euros are always ahead in fashion so it's only a matter of months before things like that are all over the streets in the US.

2. Best. Question. Ever.

The interview starts off simple enough until the female co-host ("fo-host") jumps in with this fantastic line: "So you just won the World Cup, right?"

Excellent. You couldn't script a worse line. Look, I realize soccer isn't a mainstream sport in the US. I realize that many people don't even follow the World Cup at all. But really though? How does she say that? She can't know anything about soccer. If she did, she would have known France didn't win the World Cup. But these co-host people are so plastic there is no way they are writing any of the material. How did no one on the staff not know that France didn't win the World Cup? It must have been some bitter staff member who got edged out by the fo-host for the lead position and she was exacting her revenge.

But it's especially bad since not only was France not even close to not winning the Cup, they had one of the worst World Cup showings ever. It's like Andy Roddick losing in the first round of Wimbledon and then having an interview after the tournament and someone saying, "So, how does it feel to be the Wimbledon champion?" Good stuff.

3. The highlight video.

So the fo-host somehow makes her way through that last question with some awkward laughter and staggers through the next question about excitement and playing here in the US. The best part though is that while Henry is talking they show the video of the most controversial goal ever. The one that Henry scored off a handball. The goal that sent France to the World Cup and sent Ireland home. You can see in the video all of the Ireland players running and complaining to the ref. It's easily the most controversial goal in Henry's career and one of the more controversial international goals. Henry has had an amazing career. He was a human highlight film in his prime and had some remarkable goals. Is this the best they could come up with? They probably just googled his name and posted the first video that came up. What makes it even better is that they show the clip two more times during the interview. Either these people are utterly clueless or they are just sick and twisted co-hosts - not out of the realm of possibility by the way.

4. The racism question.

This question is actually fine. I'm not saying racism doesn't exist in Europe for some of the players. It's pretty well documented that it does. It's only great because with how little these people seem to know about soccer in general, the fact that Henry is saying that part of the reason he wanted to come here to play was to escape some of the racism probably leads them to believe that black players in Europe have to fly on separate planes or can only wear used jerseys worn by other players.

5. The reason Americans don't like soccer? Blowouts.

Another great statement by the mo-host. I don't think it's the blowouts. No one likes a blowout - in any sport. I think it's the lack of high scoring or general lack of understanding of the sport that turns people off.

6. The MLS season:

This is actually forgivable offense, but still funny. At the end of the interview the mo-host says, "When does [the MLS season] start by the way?" Um, four months ago. We are right in the middle of it. Hard to blame him on that one though since many soccer fans don't even that the MLS exists, let alone when the season starts. Of course, if I was interviewing an MLS player, when the season started is a simple fact I might bother to research prior to the interview. You know, along with other simple and basic information about the guy, like if their country won the most recent World Cup. Stay classy and cheesy co-hosts. I know you will.
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4 comments:

  1. Wow, what an interview. How horrible. Henry did well to answer professionally.

    Well, it only took him 25 minutes to get his name on the books tonight. A much better debut than other big namers.

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  2. I love the body language, the hosts are like falling out of their seats yelling questions at him before he can finish one and he is leaning back as far away as he can.

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  3. Haha. It's true. They look like they would go over and sit on his lap if they could.

    I saw the highlights of the game. We'll see how things turn out, but I think he will do well in the MLS. He's still a very good striker. Better then everyone else in the MLS, just not good enough to be at the top clubs in the Euro leagues. I think he will score goals and gain interest and recognition because of it. Beckham doesn't score goals and he's never been a goal scorer. So his popularity and interest off the field doesn't really translate for non-soccer fans into watching him play. I don't think Henry has nearly the amount of interest off the field as Beckham, but he definitely attracts casual fans and if they see him constantly convert and score goals on the field, I think his impact on the MLS will be much greater than Beckham or any other player.

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  4. I actually didn't know Henry was coming. I'm playing FIFA 2007 right now as Arsenal, so I'm psyched to have Henry coming to visit RSL.

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