Drawing a page from Joe Buck’s playbook, Alexi Lalas isn’t fazed by your opinion.
During a recent in-depth interview with The Athletic, the Fox Soccer commentator and retired USMNT player acknowledged his role as an entertainer in sports media. He views himself as a performer, a term that can sometimes elicit negative reactions. However, he clarifies that being entertaining doesn’t preclude authenticity or genuineness.
As for Lalas, how he conveys information is just as significant as the information itself.
“When I go on TV, I put on a costume, and when that red light goes on, I don’t want people changing the channel,” he says. “I don’t care if you like me or you don’t. I am as human as I possibly can be with the recognition that, on television, things have to be bigger and bolder.”
And that approach from Lalas has made him no stranger to backlash.
“Life’s too short and **** them,” Lalas says bluntly.
“Ultimately, I’m talking about soccer. I know we get incredibly passionate and emotional about these things — something I love about sports. I try to be honest, and sometimes it comes off in different ways, and people perceive it differently. It’s one thing over a keyboard but it’s a very different type of interaction in normal life. There are people that come up to me who disagree with me, but we have a cordial, civil, and respectful conversation, even if we vehemently disagree about things on and off the soccer field.”
However, it’s outside the realm of soccer, where Lalas often courts trouble. While everyone has an opinion, his social media strategy seems designed to provoke. He champions his right-leaning views, seemingly seeking reactions from those who disagree.
While The Athletic’s Adam Crafton pointed out to Lalas that X (formerly Twitter) can be a machine designed for misinformation, he maintained his stance that it’s primarily for information, acknowledging, however, that he doesn’t expect to solve world problems through his social media activity.
He also likened his social media use to playing a video game.
“There’s an element of poking the bear and being provocative that I enjoy,” he said. “When it comes to things off the field, like politics, there is a cathartic release to being honest, especially in this day and age. There was a time we were all so bold. And now we live at times, unfortunately, in fear of the real backlash that can come from just saying something people disagree with. Whether it’s politics or sports, I don’t want to live in a world like that. Maybe this is just the way I retaliate.
“I’m not saying that it’s smart or prudent, especially if it can be alienating to people. When it comes to separating the sports and the personal, sometimes they blur, and sometimes they infect or affect the other side. But I will only live once, and I’d rather just be as honest as I possibly can, regardless of whether anybody listens or cares.”
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.