he's a top photographer and you saw it in his picture."
One more question was why Altidore has a cast on his left hand in the shot. The reason is that it was more precautionary - he was recovering from thumb surgery and used the brace during training. He could have taken it off, but it was decided that he should leave it on for effect.
Other teammates, including defender Marvell Wynne, were impressed by the full-page photo.
"I thought it was awesome," he said." I never heard anything about it and then all of sudden, seeing him in ESPN The Magazine in an action shot like that, it was pretty amazing for such a young guy. I'm sure he had a lot of fun doing that."
Altidore joins an esteemed line of 'Next' alumni, including LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Brian Urlacher and Reggie Bush. His full-page photo can be found on page 89 and a snapshot of him can be found page 101.
"That's great company right there," Altidore said. "It's definitely hard to be compared with those guys and they go on to a lot of success so hopefully, I could follow in their footsteps."
Get your roll on
On Friday morning at 8 a.m. ET, over 30 players sleepily walked onto the bus bound for the airport and the start of the 2007 season. After a year full of changes, including a new owner, new coach, new players and personnel, the team seemed ready to go.
"I'm really excited, to tell you the truth," Wynne said. "I know that the organization and team based out of New York has been ever-changing and right now to have some stability, I think it's going to be really good."
There are several new faces on the side, including midfielder Claudio Reyna and goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus, who look to provide leadership and ability to the side. However, there are other acquisitions to boost the squad as well.
Midfielder Dave van den Bergh was acquired by New York to shore up the left side of the field. Defender Tim Regan comes in for his second go-around with New York after having a career season with Chivas USA. Eric Denton, coming from Colorado, will also provide depth to the back line. And there are a number of rookies who are looking to impress for their spot on the team.
Wynne and his teammates are looking forward to getting started.
"I think we're going to get our legs a little loose," he said about the first few training sessions. "I don't think it's going to be too crazy quite yet but the further we get into it, the harder is going to get. I probably won't be able to talk for another three days."
