Today’s story on Red Bulls winger Luke Sassano didn’t include half the conversation we shared over the phone. I didn’t want to hold him for too long from his usual running drills, but we spoke a good 20 minutes, and naturally, not all of it made the paper.

Before we get to the leftovers, I’ll be getting in touch with the other recent graduates on their professional endeavors, so if there’s anything you might wish to be answered by guys like FC Lorient midfielder Andrew Jacobson, 1860 Munich back Steve Purdy or Javier Ayala-Hil, please let me know.

Now on with the rest from Sassano:

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A couple years ago, center back Steve Purdy made all the splash by signing with 1860 Munich a month or so following the end of his senior season with Cal. To put that in perspective, it’s like signing with the Clippers (Bayern Munich, stacked roster and all, are the Lakers of the Bundesliga), except the other team in Los Angeles play in the NBDL, except linking second division soccer in Europe to the NBDL is a faulty comparison. To be fair, half the teams play at a second-tier level in the United States’ fixed league systems, so it’s somewhat fitting to say he’s signed with a Mets-equivalent when they were irrelevant.

Midfielder Andrew Jacobson also grabbed headlines when he signed with French club FC Lorient earlier this year. He’s got all the tools to make it at the next level, and here’s hoping Jacobson will make an impact for U.S. soccer some time down the road (translation: for the National Team).

Now, it’s senior Luke Sassano’s turn. In a few minutes, the midfielder will likely start at midfielder for New York Red Bulls in their season opener, as injuries have given Sassano the chance to feed balls to forward Jozy Altidore. (Okay, that didn’t come out exactly the way I wanted it to.) If you subscribe to Fox Soccer Channel, tune in now for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff. Join me for some channel-flipping for the next 90 minutes between the New York opener and UCLA-Memphis. Read the rest of this entry »

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