NEW YORK - Jimmy Conrad considers himself a morning person, if for only one reason.
"Because breakfast is my favorite meal," the Kansas City Wizards defender said. "My favorite part of the morning is eating breakfast and then going back to sleep. There's something about sleeping after eating a hearty breakfast that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside."
But Conrad didn't have that option Monday. Sure, he enjoyed the most important meal of the day, but then he was off on a whirlwind media tour in Manhattan, taking the message of Major League Soccer to the masses in the media capital of the world.
"I feel like when we're in (New York) we need to spread the word and take some responsibility to making sure the word gets spread about the league and say things that are positive, but are also realistic about what our league is and where we're going," Conrad said.
Joined by D.C. United midfielder Ben Olsen, New England Revolution striker Taylor Twellman and FC Dallas star Duilio Davino, Conrad spoke to various media outlets in Manhattan, starting as early as 7:30 a.m. with an appearance on Fox Business News by Olsen and MLS Commissioner Don Garber.
From there, Olsen, Twellman and Conrad were part of a roundtable discussion, first with ABC Radio and then with various media outlets, including Reuters, NYTimes.com and ESPN the Magazine.
"I feel like there's a lot of refereeing I have to do between those two guys," Conrad said of fellow U.S. national team teammates Olsen and Twellman. "They're quite the characters, but I think they're very passionate about the game and where the sport is going. Ultimately they care about what's happening and they just want to make it better for everybody."
Twellman left MLS headquarters and did an interview for ESPN First Take, while Conrad headed downtown to the Union Square offices of Big Think.com. He joins the likes of musician John Legend, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams and Newark, N.J. mayor Cory Booker to be interviewed by the growing site.
"That's going to be interesting," Conrad said. "There's definitely some big names attached, so I could understand why they wanted me. Insert sarcasm."
Twellman and Conrad met up again back at MLS headquarters where they both appeared on the MLSnet.com show "Extra Time," with Shep Messing and Greg Lalas, for segments that will air later in the week.
"It was fun," Twellman said. "Obviously anytime you promote the league and promote the sport it's good times. We're with good guys with Jimmy and Ben and we have good clean fun."
Meanwhile, a few blocks away, Davino was finding out how hard it is for a former Mexican national team defender to sit down and enjoy lunch in a midtown Manhattan Mexican restaurant. As he dined on sopes and tongue tacos for lunch, the former Club America star was swamped with photo requests and signed more than a dozen napkins for patrons, the kitchen staff and one rather inebriated customer.
Davino talked about his departure from America, referring to it as something that took place "in good terms," and said he is very happy about moving to Dallas and joining a league that he believes will continue to grow in stature.
Barely 24 hours after he arrived in New York, Conrad was back on a plane to join his teammates in Kansas City in preparation for the opening of the 2008 season. His work in New York is done, the word has been spread.
"Ben, Taylor and I have been part of the league for a long time and we've seen how much it's grown in the past five years," Conrad said. "We take a lot of pride in making sure it grows in that rate as we near the end of our careers."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
