Frankie Hejduk: The beer chugging elf surfer

When the LA Galaxy come to town to play the Chicago Fire and you're offered by your footy teammate a free ticket (row 6, half line), well, you think David Beckham...Landon Donovan...yes! So, we provided our manager with poorly coordinated excuses as to why we couldn't play in our club's friendly that same day (he claimed an injury and I told the truth - thus exposing his injury as a lie), and we were ready to see the Hollywood bros. in action.

Only one hitch- er two: Becks was suspended due to an accumulation of yellows and Landon "Largest Forehead in the Universe" Donovan had a hurt pinky finger (inflamed knee, actually, but I wouldn't put it past the prima donna).

Naturally, we were disappointed, but luckily a majestic stadium, free fleece blankets upon entry, and "damn, that grass is well-kept" seats made the fact that we knew nobody on the pitch a non-issue. Nobody, that is, except for an tireless aged elf and former USA international defenseman, Frankie Hejduk.

Hejduk is small and wiry like a marathon runner with long golden locks that he tucks behind his rather pointy ears. These features, together with a rather sprightly way of movement, make one think 'elf' the way observing Puyol makes one think 'caveman'. The guy has 85 caps for his country, won an MLS Cup title in 2008 with the Columbus Crews, and even had a fairly successful spell at Bayer Leverkusen from '98 to '02.

But, the most admirable things about the guy: 1) he's apparently an awesome surfer and 2) check it>

or, even better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_X8anlNYQk

btw: 2-1 Galaxy. Chicago Fire are sitting on 4 points in five matches (bottom of the Eastern Conference)