Larin, make the most of this second chance.
Larin needs to succeed for reputation
It was refreshing and uplifting to hear Orlando City star Cyle Larin admit his mistake, apologize for his recent DUI arrest and say it his mission to regain the trust of his team and his fans.
You know what would be even better than hearing him say it? Watching him do it. Watching him become a team leader, a community paragon and an MVP candidate who leads his playoff-starved team and town into the postseason and perhaps even to an MLS Cup.
Obviously, Larin and his Orlando City Lions are still a million miles away from such a wellordered redemption story following Wednesday night’s 3-1 loss to Toronto FC. With Metallica blaring away down the street at Camping World Stadium, the Lions must have taken the band’s iconic metal-head anthem “Enter the Sandman” to heart. The Lions seemed to be sleep-walking through much of the match.
Larin hasn’t scored a goal in more than a month and has only scored two goals in the last 13 matches after scoring six times in Orlando City’s first six games. Kreis, unsolicited, lambasted MLS refs after the game and claimed part of the problem is
Larin and the Lions are officiated differently.
“The number of times we’ve had defenders draped all over Cyle Larin in the box and he goes down and we don’t get any penalty kicks, it’s so many occasions I just can bear it anymore,” Kreis railed. “... It’s beginning to feel like in this stadium referees will not make critical calls for us for whatever reason. It appears referees are bending over backward to show they’re not going to show any bias. Perhaps it’s due to us having a raucous crowd. Whatever it is, I’m absolutely tired of it. I don’t think we should stand for it. It’s unacceptable. It has to stop.”
Kreis will almost certainly be fined for these critical comments, but he doesn’t seem to care. And who can blame him? With Larin’s DUI arrest and subsequent three-game suspension, it’s been a stressful time for Orlando City’s head coach and the entire franchise.
If Larin wants to regain his reputation off the field, he must begin to recapture his dominance on it. After all, nothing rebuilds the image of a professional athlete like winning. It is — and always has been — the great American deodorizer.
Ask Ray Lewis and Kobe Bryant — the former who overcame a murder charge and the latter who overcame a rape charge — to become sports champions, legends and even role models.
Larin’s transgression obviously pales in comparison, but the point is this: Great athletes and great teams often times rally around adversity and use it as a motivator. Is there any question Tom Brady was on a mission last year to show all those Patriots haters and Roger Goodell where they could stick their deflated balls?
Larin has a perfect opportunity to make something good out of something bad. He has certainly been contrite and said all the right things, but I think back to when the great Tom Coughlin was coaching the Jacksonville Jaguars during their heyday. He had the Latin phrase — “Res, Non Verba” — painted across the doorway so players could see it as they exited the locker room. Res, Non Verba. Deeds, not words. Now, more than ever, Larin and his teammates need to work harder, play better, be more committed to their craft. After Larin’s DUI arrest, you could tell Kreis was livid — not just because his star player had been arrested, but because his star player was out drinking late a day-and-ahalf before a home game against Montreal.
Kreis lectured his players before the season started about their off-field behavior and even jettisoned a couple of players because he didn’t like their party-boy images. On several occasions during the offseason, Kreis says some
of Orlando City’s most ardent supporters told him that players were out too late and drinking too much.
“That’s why we went into the preseason with the very clear message that this was no longer going to be acceptable,” Kreis said.
Kreis even says he took Larin’s DUI arrest as a mark against himself because obviously his antipartying message didn’t get through to one of his best players. Who knows, maybe it took someone of Larin’s stature getting arrested to finally get the message across and bring the team together.
If Orlando City is going to come together, it better start happening quickly. With a less than half season left to play, they are in fifth place in the standings, but only one point up on sixthplace Columbus.
It’ll be interesting to see how the team reacts moving forward. Will they rally around Larin or will they splinter?
“We believe we’re a family,” Kreis says, “and families come together when mistakes happen.”
Translation: Res, Non Verba. Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on Twitter @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on FM 96.9 and AM 740.