ESPN get my man, Klinsmann

I've said it many times Jurgen Klinsmann is my all-time favorite athlete, he is the guy that got me excited about soccer when I was seven-years-old when West Germany won the World Cup in 1990 and Klinsmann played a major part scoring three electrifying goals. He later would help Germany win the Euro '96 and scored 11 goals over for West Germany/Germany to rank second amongst the Germans all-time and also ranks 5th all-time.

Most people in the states recognize Klinsmann from one of his two coaching jobs as he coached Germany to third place finish in 2006 in Germany then resigned and later took over Bayern Munich for 2008-09 season (which he was fired near the end of the year). But he has lived in California since he retired from football and also played in England with Tottenham.

I've also said I wished he had taken over for Bruce Arena as the U.S. Men's National Team Coach once Arena was pushed aside, and that could still be in the works down the road, but for now we will get to see why he is such a great footballing mind as ESPN have hired him to be a part of their World Cup studio analysts. He will be one of the pregame, halftime, and postgame analysts and should be extremely interesting to listen to bringing a different perspective than most U.S. fans are used.

"What I can bring to the table in analyzing games and talking is to make people understand what goes on on a soccer field actually reflects a nation," he said. "I'd like to tell people why they're playing a certain way, what's in the back of their mind. It all goes back to roots of where they grew up and how they identify with their own nation.

"I think I can add quite a bit to certain background information. How you read games, how you explain certain things that happen because of the backgrounds people have."

"Obviously in any other profession you constantly learn, and that is what I did over my playing career," Klinsmann said. "Learning languages and cultures and about their backgrounds and learning how to read people. Then moving over here to California, obviously I got to know the U.S. a lot better: the people, cultural backgrounds, their understanding of soccer and the growing interest.

"I think throughout all these different chapters -- TV analyst, coach, player -- you constantly learn about people. The World Cup is a lot about the background of certain countries. These countries and the teams and how they represent the countries in terms of playing philosophy ... emotions, how they deal with the pressure. It really helps me that I lived in so many different places."

Klinsmann did hint he wants to return to coaching and this could be just the job to catapult him to the top of the U.S. list again by exposing him to America for what he is - a brilliant mind with bountiful energy. I love the hire and although I probably will be a complete recluse when it comes to this June not missing a single game at the World Cup, now I won't be fast forwarding through any of the bonus coverage just to get to hear my boy spit his game.