Grant Wahl (1974 in Mission, Kansas) is an American sports journalist who is best known for being a writer for Sports Illustrated. He is also the author of the controversial book, The Beckham Experiment.

In 1996, Wahl began his career working with the Miami Herald as an intern. From there, he joined Sports Illustrated in November 1996. By October 2000, he was promoted to the position of senior writer. Wahl mostly covers soccer for both the magazine and SI.com.

In his career, he has reported on 12 NCAA basketball tournaments, five World Cups, and three Olympic games.

He first gained critical acclaim for his 1998 cover story Where's Daddy?, which documented the growing number of illegitimate children born to professional athletes. Since then, he has written numerous cover stories and profiles on athletes. In addition, Wahl has received four Magazine Story of the Year awards given by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

Wahl’s wrote his first book in 2009 called The Beckham Experiment. The book was a New York Times Best Seller.

Graham Zusi (pronounced /ˈzuːsi/; born August 18, 1986 in Longwood, Florida) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer.

Zusi had a breakout year in 2011 that led to a national team call-up. Zusi settled into an advanced, right-sided spot in Sporting Kansas City's three-man midfield where he displayed his smooth passing and set-piece ability.

Zusi played college soccer at the University of Maryland, College Park. During his college career Zusi played in 89 games, recording 28 goals and 20 assists, and helped Maryland win the National Championship in 2005 and 2008, scoring the game-winning goal in the 2008 National Semi-Final and Championship Games.

During his college years Zusi also played with Central Florida Kraze in the USL Premier Development League.

Zusi was drafted in the second round (23rd overall) of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft by the Kansas City Wizards. He made his professional debut on 21 March 2009, in Kansas City's first game of the 2009 MLS season against Toronto FC.

James "Jimmy" Conrad (born February 12, 1977, in Arcadia, California) is a retired American soccer defender who last played for Chivas USA in Major League Soccer. During his 13 year MLS career, he was four-time MLS Best XI and the 2005 MLS Defender of the Year. He also earned 27 caps with the United States men's national soccer team and went to the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Conrad attended Temple City High School in Temple City, California and was a four-year letterman in soccer. Conrad played at San Diego State University in 1994 and 1995, and then transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles. While playing for UCLA, he was a member of the 1997 NCAA Championship team.

Undrafted by MLS, Conrad had an unsuccessful trial with the Los Angeles Galaxy. However, the Galaxy coaching staff recommended he play for one of their affiliated lower division teams. Consequently, Conrad contacted the now-defunct San Diego Flash of the A-League which gave him a contract. In 1999, Brian Quinn became the head coach of the San Jose Clash. When Quinn began searching for an additional defender and goalkeeper for the Clash, Ralf Wilhelms, head coach of the Flash and a former teammate of Quinn on the San Diego Sockers, recommended Conrad and Flash goalkeeper Joe Cannon. The Clash signed Conrad that year. He played with the club, later re-branded as the Earthquakes, for four seasons, helping them to the MLS Cup in 2001. In 2000, he also played for Lech Poznań in Poland.

Troy Perkins (born July 29, 1981 in Springfield, Ohio) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer.

Perkins is a graduate of Thomas Worthington High School, in Worthington, OH, and played college soccer at the University of South Florida and the University of Evansville. He was named third-team All-Conference USA in 2001, and second-team All-CUSA in 2002. He transferred to Evansville for his senior season. At Evansville, he allowed only twenty-one goals in nineteen matches, compiling a 1.09 goals-against-average. Perkins also played in the PDL for the Cape Cod Crusaders in 2002 and 2003.

Upon graduating in 2003, Perkins went undrafted. However, he was signed to a developmental contract by D.C. United. Not expected to contribute, Perkins was given an opportunity after both Nick Rimando and Doug Warren lost their starting positions. Perkins proved up to the task, and went on to start sixteen games for the team, posting a 1.62 goals against average. Although Perkins was performing well, the team suffered during his tenure, and he was replaced near the end of the season with Nick Rimando, who would also start for United throughout the playoffs.

Andrew Francis Mangan (born 30 August 1986) is an English footballer who plays for Fleetwood Town.

Born in Liverpool, Mangan began his education in football with Blackpool at the age of 15. He was there for three years scoring 49 goals all together in reserve and youth team football. He also made his professional debut at the club, at the age of 17 in a 1–0 defeat to Chesterfield on 24 April 2004. He made just 2 professional appearances at Blackpool under Steve MacMahon. With the arrival of Colin Hendry as manager in Mangan's third year at the club, he found it hard to break in to the first team and went out on a work experience loan to Northern Premier League Premier Division side Hyde United, scoring 2 goals in 7 appearances, helping them secure the league title along the way. It was thought Mangan would return to Hyde the following season but he rejected them in favour of a full time contract with Accrington Stanley, after impressing during the clubs pre-season schedule.

At Accrington Mangan played 2 full seasons helping them gain promotion to The Football League for the first time in 50 years. After making his debut in a 1–0 win over Canvey Island on 13 August 2005, Mangan scored his first goal for the club in his third appearance during a 3–1 defeat to Cambridge United. In his first full season Mangan played in 45 cup and league games scoring ten goals, being mainly used in the last forty minutes as a substitute. In his second year at the club Mangan became frustrated with the lack of starts he was getting. From his 38 total appearances, of which only five were made as a starter, he scored 6 goals. At the end of the 2006–07 season, Mangan was offered a two year deal from Accrington but rejected in favour of Bury, having appeared in a pre-season friendly for the club against Everton.