JEREMY HALL
(New York Red Bulls)
AGE: 21
POSITION: Defender
HOMETOWN: Tampa, Fla.
YOUTH CLUB: Hillsborough County
COLLEGE: Maryland
STARTING OUT: My mom went to sign me and my brother up for baseball. But, the registration was full. My brother tried to convince me to play soccer instead. I eventually gave in. I remember going to practice in jean shorts and shinguards over ankle socks.
EARLY SOCCER MEMORY: My best early soccer memories were being selected for the U-17 national team and winning the State Cup with Hillsborough County.
FIRST CLEATS: Cheap Wal-Mart brand Mitre cleats.
CURRENT CLEATS: Adidas adiPures.
OTHER SPORTS: Basketball. I'm a huge basketball fan.
FAVORITE TEAMS: Chicago Bulls, San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Rays, Tampa Bay Mutiny (when they were around), Maryland, Manchester United and the Chicago Cubs.
FAVORITE PLAYER: Michael Jordan, Roy Lassiter, Dwayne Wade.
FAVORITE MOVIES: "Bad Boys II"
FAVORITE ACTORS: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
FAVORITE ACTRESSES: Eva Mendes and Hayden Panettiere.
FAVORITE TV SHOWS: "True Blood," "ESPN SportsCenter," "King of Queens."
LIVING SITUATION: I live in a three-bedroom apartment with teammates Nick Zimmerman and Bouna Coundoul.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: It's probably going to be Omar Gonzalez [Los Angeles], Chris Pontius [D.C. United] or Stefan Frei [Toronto FC]. Those are the top three.
MLS EXPERIENCE: It's definitely been one to remember. There have been positives and negatives. I'm learning a lot. One negative has been the losing. I'm not used to losing many games. Also, I switched to defender. So, learning a new position has been a positive.
COLLEGE: It was awesome. We were national champions. Also, five guys went in the draft. I also got to play with guys like Chris Seitz and Maurice Edu before they left. Coach Sasha (Cirovski) has done a good job with the guys. It's weird not being there because it went by so fast.
MOST INFLUENTIAL COACH: I'd have to say my club coaches at H.C., Tony Padilla and Javier Lopez. When I started with them, I really didn't know the fundamentals. They coached me through college and I really learned the game from them.
MEMORABLE COACHING ADVICE (from youth coach): In U.S. U-17s, John Ellinger told us to respect everyone but you can't fear anybody.
HOBBIES: Relaxing, watching movies, listening to music and shopping.
MUSIC: I like a bit of everything. I like rap, hip-hop and R&B.
READING: I'm not really a book guy. I did read Tony Dungy's autobiographies though. I like magazines.
VACATION: I've always wanted to go to Australia. The best place I've been so far is Brazil.
FAMOUS PEOPLE YOU'D INVITE TO DINNER: Michael Jordan, Dwyane Wade, Sean Johnson and Eva Mendes.
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