Having expected a slightly more stereotype “Aussie” , the staff of PH - Weekly was proven wrong by the appearence of Australia´s former hockey national Michael McCann. He kept his cool throughout the one-hour lasting interview, spiked with quite personal questions. No outbursts, no flying chairs but instead refreshingly honest, inside-yielding answers - He even reads.
Born in one of Sidney´s subburbs the mule, as he was called amongst his former team mates because of his unrivalled ability not to run as fast as one might think of a professional hockey player, started playing hockey at the age of four and stuck to the stick ever since. When asked for a role model that influenced his career the most, he answered with a boyish smile, which apparently enables him to attract, an in the Kurpfalz fairly uncommon species of Austrian women, that his former coach had a great impact on his career. He said that: “When he and the boys of his coach played in the driveway with the hockey sticks, with which his coach won the olympic gold medal back in the 1960´s,” these were the moments where he knew that:”He wanted to know exactly what it would feel like winning such a title.”
However, at this stage he was not aware what sacrifices the pursuit of these ambitions would cost him. Not only did he have to train up to thirty-five hours a week but also because the salary of even a national hockey player cannot be compared to the wages of whiny football players, he also had to work up to forty hours weekly in a hotel to make a living. Unfortunately this came with an even higher price because his eleven years lasting relationship finally gave in to the pressure of combining sport, work and private life. However, he mentioned that he would, although torn between his experiences, likely stick to this decision he made back then. After all it led him to the city of Mannheim where he now works as a trainer himself. Here he now sometimes meets former opponents from international matches who, as he puts it:“avoid talking to him.” Appearently because he made a far more lasting impact on them whilst playing against them than he had expected. When asked why this might be, he answered:”I disliked every opponent simply because he wanted to win and so I might have made some enemies over the years.”
In hindsight I personally regret asking if one of his mates never came up with the nick name “Jim”, as in the actor Jim Carrey. Although I can relate to the Mule or even Stiffler ( most likely related to his resemblance to the actor Sean William Scott, although we never asked for possible other reasons) it would strike me as the most fitting comparison. After all this interview has shown that Michael is a multi–faceted, great character whom we all wish the best of luck for his furture challenges, wherever they may lead him next.
