It's been nearly 11 years since Eddie Pope felt as refreshed and rejuvenated as he does right now. Not that he's complaining, because he wouldn't trade his U.S. National Team experiences — both good and bad — for anything.
He admitted, however, that finally experiencing a true offseason was fantastic.
"This is actually the first preseason I've had with my club team. I've always started with the national team for about 11 years," said Pope. "I feel a little fresher coming in. I really want to feel the rewards toward the end of the season with the extra month of rest."
That's great news for Real Salt Lake. Assuming Pope stays healthy, the odds of which have improved significantly since his retirement from the national team, Real coach John Ellinger can realistically pencil Pope in at center back every game this upcoming season. He no longer has to worry whether Pope will be called into national team camp a couple of times a year.
Both mentally and physically, Pope believes that extra month of rest will make a huge difference come August and September, when his now-33-year-old body would often start to break down from the heavy workload.
Pope also believes with the extended offseason, 2007 could be one of his best years as a pro.
"I'd like to think so. Unfortunately as an individual, you do as well as your team, and that's the big focus, how we do as a team," said Pope, who's in his third year with RSL. "The better we do as a team, the better everyone will do as individuals. That's what's important."
The framework starts right now according to Pope.
"At some point, we have to realize the expansion tag needs to be clipped away, and we should know each other's tendencies by now, and we ought to know each other's expectations," he said. "There's no need to be tentative around each other."
With every significant player back from last year, not to mention a healthy Daniel Torres and newcomers Freddy Adu and Luis Tejada, Pope doesn't see any reason why RSL can't win its first game on April 7, and then countless more after that.
As for Pope, another benefit of retiring from the national team is the prospect of playing for his club longer. He doesn't know if it will pan out that way, but let's just say he understands where Brett Favre is coming from.
"It's one of the luxuries of being a little older, you can just play until you don't feel like it anymore," said Pope. "When I get burnt out I get burnt out, but until then I'll continue to enjoy it, because once you're done, you're done."
A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY: Steve Magleby has had a busy week.
Between participating in Real Salt Lake training camp, attending classes at BYU, not to mention commuting back and forth between Salt Lake City and Provo, it has been anything but an average week for the BYU student.
Magleby, a 6-foot-2 midfielder, was invited by coach Ellinger to participate in the first week of training camp which began Monday at the University of Utah. Magleby has fared well with the MLS club and noticed right away the difference in the speed of play.
"It's so much faster and more intense," he said. "Sometimes at the college level it's not quite as intense and fast. You've got to think a lot faster and be on your toes."
Magleby knows that anything can happen, and there's always an outside shot RSL will keep him around longer. Realistically, he knows after this week his stint with the likes of Jeff Cunningham and Freddy Adu will be over, and he'll return to Provo to join his BYU teammates who are in training camp as well.
"It's been a good experience, and it will be good for my season at BYU," said Magleby. "And if they decide to keep me, that's another plus right there."
BYU, which participates in the PDL of the United Soccer League, begins its season in May and is schedule to play an exhibition game against Real Salt Lake in St. George in late March.
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com