PRAGUE – League reporter Mike Royko sat down with Prague Sparta’s top scorer Robert Thomas for a chat about the upcoming All-Star Game in his city. Thomas stays in shape for the EURO League by playing in North America ‘s top beer league with the St. Louis Blues and lives part of the year in St. Louis, Mo. But he said he prefers Prague and he opened up to Royko about the city, the All-Star Game experience and playing for General Manager Peter Ott.
ROYKO: Pretend I don’t know anything about Prague and tell me about the city.
THOMAS: The land where Prague came to be built has been settled since the Paleolithic Age. Several thousand years ago, trade routes connecting southern and northern Europe passed through this area, following the course of the river Vltava.
ROYKO: Can you fast forward a bit?
THOMAS: OK. Well, Charles IV of the Holy Roman Empire once called Prague “cool” and it’s still cool 700 years later. Praha, as we called it, is a beautiful city with the most modern of conveniences and old world charm. Everybody who visits here wants to come back.
ROYKO: You were the All-Star Game MVP last season with 5 goals and 2 assists. That must have been a dream come true for you.
THOMAS: (silence)
ROYKO: Was it?
THOMAS: Mike, you know I am a pass-first guy so I was a little disappointed that all seven points weren’t assists, to be honest. But it was a great experience. I got to have a few beers with guys who have been my enemies for years and the women? … they were all over us as we went from bar to bar. The nightlife in Dublin is special.
ROYKO: An all-nighter, eh?
THOMAS: Not exactly. Peter Ott suddenly showed up while we were in the very popular Temple Bar and broke up the party. He said he didn’t want his team evolving into “Berlin South.”
ROYKO: Oh right, because all the Smurfs do is party. I get it. How is playing for Ott, anyway?
THOMAS: Fantastic. He lets the coach coach and the players play, which I love. The best part of Team Ott are the long losing streaks because he always tries to cheer us up with his sock puppet shows in the dressing room. They are fantastic, usually based on some science fiction (sci-fi) story he has come up with. He started it about 8 seasons ago with two characters – Duke Krok and Dr. Radek Zalenka – but he has put in a lot of effort and resources to expand the cast since then. Now he has three characters. The last show had Duke Krok trying to save the world from the “evil” Dr. Zalenka of the planet Sayle. The newer character, Perak the Spring Man, became a traitor and deceived Duke Krok. Earth was taken over by Dr. Zalenka and everyone died. It was great.
ROYKO: Yeah, that must have been … partially interesting, I guess.
THOMAS: My only complaint is that Peter uses the same voice for all three characters, so it can get confusing at times.
ROYKO: Why don’t you say something to him?
THOMAS: Oh no. Brady Tkachuk once suggested putting a mustache on Perak the Spring Man and he was traded to Kosice the next day. Those sock puppets are Peter’s world. You don’t suggest changes.
