Crew: If shoe fits, wear it

Players weigh several factors, such as size, feel and playing surface, before choosing their footwear

By The Columbus Dispatch  • 
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Eric Albrecht, james d. deCAMP

Deciding which shoes to wear can be a difficult choice for some Crew players, such as Eddie Gaven, with so many options available. Others, though, will find a pair, lace up and hit the field with no thought at all.

He plays the only position in which handling the ball is allowed, but it's his shoes that are the most important pieces of Crew goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum's equipment.

Gruenebaum wears big, padded gloves, but his shoes are his leather-and-laces multi-tool. They also serve as his scapegoat when things go wrong.

"Every time I miss-hit a ball, I immediately blame my shoe," said Gruenebaum, who is the No. 2 goalkeeper behind starter William Hesmer. "Or the grass."

Verbal abuse isn't the only heat taken by the Crew's shoes. Despite a handwritten sign banning the practice, they often end up stashed in the training room hydrocollator, which is designed to heat hot packs. The players, however, covet the heat because it helps break in the leather, which in the age of loudly colored, paper-thin, synthetic Nikes is still the preferred shoe material of most players.

"Leather will last a long time if you maintain it, but it does stretch and will eventually wear out," Crew equipment manager Rusty Wummel said. "Synthetic shoes will wear out, too. We go through a lot of shoes. Any piece of equipment you want to conserve, but footwear is pretty important."

Wummel said the average player will go through five to 10 pairs of shoes in a season. Defender Danny O'Rourke, who has a personal shoe contract with adidas, and midfielder Robbie Rogers (Nike) go through the most. O'Rourke said he probably uses about 20 pair per year.

O'Rourke and Rogers are among the 13 Crew players who have personal shoe deals. All but two are with Nike or adidas, the dominant manufacturers in the United States. Hesmer wears Puma, and rookie forward Ricardo Pierre-Louis has a deal with Diadora.

The rest of the Crew players wear a $200, supple kangaroo-leather model provided by league sponsor adidas. The shoe has the latest bells and whistles, including a rubberized portion of the upper and laces that stretch up the side of the shoe to provide a flatter striking surface, and molded, bladed cleats instead of spikes.

Coach Sigi Schmid is not a fan of the bladed bottoms. Players who don't like the fit or feel of the style they are provided will often trade or buy their own. Manufacturers don't seem to mind as long as the player plays in their brand.

"Size and feel are important," said Schmid, who also has a personal deal with adidas. "I'm old-school. I want to be wearing traditional studs and I'd prefer for my players to wear them, too."

Some players bounce between types of cleats depending on field surface. Others find one style is more comfortable.

"I don't like to train in studs," Hesmer said. "I like to train in blades, and then wear studs during games. I do like to stick with a pair of shoes that get broken in and keep them for a while. I think shoes are a really big deal. It's really nice to have a pair of shoes you can rely on."

Others couldn't care less about their footwear. One Crew player with a shoe contract said he forgot his shoes when he traveled overseas to an international tournament. He said he went to a local sporting goods store, bought a pair for $30 and noticed no difference between the cheap shoes and his normal top-of-the-line model.

He requested not to be identified because the shoe company that provides him footwear and performance-based cash incentives would not be pleased with the tale.

Wummel said shoes are important to the pros but only to a point, and there is no need for amateurs to break the bank for the latest style.

"Technically, you don't even need shoes to play this game," he said. "If you're playing casually, there is no need to go out and spend $150 on a shoe. Just break them in properly and make sure they fit.

"Honestly, there are some pros that pick their shoes based only on how they look."