Despite the vocal detractors that get loudest when the World Cup rolls around, soccer continues to grow in America. But let's be honest: the celebrity soccer match associated with the Tribeca Film Festival is not going to outshine the celebrity flag football game held before the Super Bowl. Which is probably why I was allowed inside to ask questions. Some highlights -- and the video! -- after the jump:
- I asked Ndamukong Suh what he goes by for short. "Suh," he told me, and I stamped out the faintest glimmer of an ill-advised Johnny Cash joke.
- Suh's pretty good on the pitch, by the way. He scored the game's first goal on a nifty turn-and-shoot, and provided stout defense throughout. This happens when you have 100 pounds of muscle on everyone else in the game.
- Gina Gershon was in attendance, there to cheer on paramour Bobby Dekeyser, the handsome former FC Bayern Munich goalkeeper turned furniture magnate. His life is going okay.
- Former USMNT defender Jimmy Conrad is impossibly cheerful -- a soccer version of Chris Traeger from "Parks and Recreation."
- I successfully aided Mark Consuelos (actor and husband to Kelly Ripa) in removing some bell pepper from his teeth.
