A number of years ago, a prominent shoe company had an ad campaign that proclaimed the reason for one athlete's greatness as his shoes. For anyone watching Sunday's game between the Kansas City Wizards and FC Dallas, one of the questions had to be" "Who is the guy in the back wearing the green shoes?"
That man was Drew Moor, who got his first start of the season for the Hoops, receiving the nod in central defense in place of Clarence Goodson, who figured in both opposing goals in FCD's 2-2 tie at Colorado on April 15.
This season is Moor's second in MLS, both with FC Dallas. After being drafted sixth overall in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft following an outstanding career at Indiana, where he played a starring role on two national championship teams, Moor made his MLS debut on April 23, 2005, against Real Salt Lake, when he was a substitute in the 84th minute.
All told, he played in 20 games as a rookie, starting nine, and also started seven reserve games. So far this season, Moor had made just one substitute appearance before starting on Sunday.
His performance in Sunday's wild 2-1 win against the Wizards caught the eye of Hoops head coach Colin Clarke.
"It (his play) was very, very good in his first game," he said. "I thought he came in very composed and was everything we knew he could be. He had an excellent game."
Moor offered a positive assessment of his own of his performance.
"It was good," he said. "I thought it was a solid performance over 90 minutes. I was a little disappointed to give up that goal late. The coaches talk and preach and as defenders, we talk about can we hold leads late in games? We talked about that all year last year and at the beginning of this year. So, I'm a little disappointed. But I think we deserved the three points."
His great showing was made a bit easier to follow for fans by his green shoes.
"When I first got them, I hated them and told everyone that there was no way I was wearing these," he said. "Then, I started noticing that nobody else wears them. That's really not my style. I'm usually just a black shoes guy. I figured that since nobody else is wearing them, I'll go for it. I haven't seen anybody else wearing them and kind of like being a little different."
For the Dallas native, playing in his hometown alongside several other natives of Big D, including current Hoops leading scorer Kenny Cooper, forward Ramon Nunez and midfielder Mario Torres, is a testament to a great youth soccer climate in the area.
"It shows that the North Texas area is a good place for youth soccer," Moor said. "It's a very good place for kids to develop and a very good club system. With guys like me, Kenny, Ramon and Mario in MLS, it shows that this is a hotbed right now."
In fact, Cooper was one of his teammates back in their club days and Moor loves them being teammates again.
"It's awesome to have Kenny (Cooper) as my teammate again," he said. "We've just been real close. He hasn't changed. He's still just a workhorse, a big target guy that is still very good with his feet. I think he and I help push other and demand and expect a lot of each other. We did when we played club soccer together and we still do that now."
While his start against the Wizards might have been a surprise to some, to Moor, it was not surprising in the least, especially after a strong preseason.
"My preseason goal was to win a starting spot and I think I was close," he said. "Colin and (assistant coach) Steve (Morrow) told me I was. For whatever reason, they went with (Greg) Vanney and Goodson and they obviously had a very good start to the season."
Moor was glad for the opportunity to start on Sunday, which came at Goodson's expense. But he knows his fellow center back's performance in the Colorado game is the exception rather than the rule.
"Clarence had a little bit of a tough time in Colorado which gave me an opportunity," he said. "You're not going to see that much from him. He's going to be at the top of his game most of the time."
That means he and Goodson will be competing for playing time, but the competitiveness and camaraderie of the entire team are things that Moor thrives on.
"It's going to be competitive," he said. "It was like that through the preseason and the first two games. It's going to be competitive but that's what makes a good team, a good back four. The more competitive we are as a team, the better.
"The back eight or nine of us are a very tightly-knit group," he said. "We demand a lot out of each other and are very competitive in practice. But the most important thing is that we support each other no matter who is playing. We're always learning from each other, always pushing each other. I think that's the way it should be."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
