Basketball is king at Butler University. So it was no small compliment when Bulldogs product and Houston Dynamo first-round SuperDraft pick Zach Steinbergerwas interviewed by the Bulldogs radio broadcast team at halftime of Wednesday night's hoops game vs. Creighton.
And Steinberger did not disappoint, explaining his unique preparations for the rookie season awaiting him in the Bayou City, where the steamy summer conditions are feared throughout MLS.
“I've been training as hard as I can – I've actually been doing hot yoga, because all the fans keep berating me about it, how brutal the summers are in Houston,” said the midfielder, whose new team kicks off their 2015 preseason on Monday. “So I'm like, 'I've got to be ready for this.'
“If they're saying it's hot and they're in the stands, I can't imagine what it's going to be like to be playing 90 minutes in 100-degree weather.”
The Dynamo surprised observers by taking Steinberger with the eighth overall selection of last week's draft in Philadelphia. Despite showing enough promise as a teenager to nearly earn a pro contract with England's Middlesborough FC, he had fallen off many MLS clubs' radar after a difficult senior season in Indianapolis that he called “lackluster to say the least,” marked by a serious facial injury in a September match vs. Indiana.
His description of that episode suggests that Dynamo beat writers may have a quotable rookie in the locker room this season.
“I fractured my cheekbone – it was not [fun],” he said on Wednesday. “I ended up saving the goal, which was a game-tying goal, so that was huge for our team. Granted, my face was caved in and now I've got two metal plates in it. Maybe they'll call me metal face in the future.”
