This is all great news to Joey Saputo, who was the founding president of the Impact in 1993, still holds that title and spearheaded the construction of Saputo Stadium, which opened in May. Saputo is the son of Lino and Maria Saputo, who in 1952 immigrated to Canada and laid the foundation for Saputo Inc., the largest dairy processor in Canada and one of the largest in the world. Joey, 43, is also a devoted husband and father to four young, energetic boys. In a recent question-and-answer session, The Gazette learned more about him than most soccer fans know. Gazette:What's your worst memory from high school? Saputo: I was trying out for the soccer team and begged my mother to buy me a pair of cleats. She insisted that I make the team first, but we went out and bought them anyway. I didn't make the team, but never told her. And one day she picked me up from school and when we passed the players practicing on the field she asked, "Why aren't you out there?" She was upset because I didn't tell her I didn't make the team. Best memory from high school? I went to a great school, West Island College. The school itself, the whole five years I was there were great. Dumbest thing you ever did? Geez, there's so many of them. Your favourite sports team, aside from the Impact? Miami Dolphins. I'm a season-ticket holder and go down to games - that's how ridiculous I am. I'm a fan of the Canadiens, too, having grown up in Montreal within that hockey mentality. Why the Dolphins? The first time I went to Florida was in 1972 and that year the Dolphins went undefeated and won the Super Bowl. I remember going down there as a kid during Christmas and seeing all the hype. Everything was Dolphins, Dolphins, Dolphins. If you could have been a professional athlete, what sport would it have been? Hockey. I've never played hockey at a high level, but always played hockey and still play three times a week Whom do you consider the greatest athlete of our time? Jean Béliveau. Not only was he successful on the field, but he was successful off it, and he gives so much of his time back to the community. That's something more and more athletes need to do and, unfortunately, we're losing that. I didn't see him play, but when you take a look at the gentleman today, you know what he's meant to the club. He's absolutely the definition of class. What do you do to relax? Believe it or not, I enjoy working. That's one of the biggest problems I have, because when I get home, I go into my office and get ready for the next day. To me, I enjoy working, but don't consider it work. I relax by trying to plan things that are coming up. Obviously having four boys, I enjoy spending a lot of time with them. They're very much into sports, so I try to spend as much time with them as possible, whether it's bringing them to soccer or hockey practices. It can be stressing because having four boys, you're all over the place, but it's also relaxing when I spend time with one of them at a time. Who makes the best Italian dish in your family? My mother, but my mother-in-law is close. She's a great cook, too. I'm a pasta and rice guy. Favourite actor or movie? Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Don't really have a favourite movie, just those two actors. Best book you've read? Angels & Demons (by Dan Brown). I read it before I read The Da Vinci Code and thought it was really good. Greatest fear? Not being successful at what I do. I like to go into everything knowing that I'm going to succeed. My biggest fear is thinking it's not going to happen. If you had the opportunity to do one thing over again in life, what would it be? My biggest regret? I had the opportunity to go away to university in the U.S. and didn't. I was more worried about getting through school (he graduated from Concordia University, economics) and going to work and didn't take advantage of an opportunity to experience something like that. If I had to redo it, I would embrace the opportunity. Turning to soccer, what does the Impact having qualified for the group stage in the CONCACAF Champions League mean for the franchise, the city, country and soccer in general? It's an opportunity to showcase the club and the stadium to a different level of soccer. The exposure is tremendously important. You can do well in your league and against (Major League Soccer) franchises, but at the end of the day when you're playing against teams coming from Honduras and Mexico and Panama, and the rest of the CONCACAF, it's great. We've been given the opportunity to represent Canada. As one of the oldest franchises and having been successful for a number of years, so it's fitting that we are the first Canadian club to be represented at this championship. It's a honour and important for us to do well. This year marked a new era for the team with a new stadium. Were you concerned when the team got off to a slow start on the field? More as a fan and less as someone involved day-to-day with the club, I was. You're bringing a club to a new stadium where you really didn't have home-field advantage playing there for the first time. As a fan, there was some concern about the fact we weren't scoring goals. We knew we had this talent, but it wasn't being utilized. But I had assurances from Nick (De Santis, the technical director) and the rest of the technical staff that we were too good of a team to end the season the way we started it and that things were going to turn around. They did. Is the future of the franchise necessarily in Major League Soccer? There may be other options out there and we have to explore all the different ones. Right now, we're fine where we are. There is the aspect of MLS that's looming and we're going to take a look at that. Does it mean we're going to go into it at all costs? Not necessarily, but the soccer landscape is going to change over the next couple of years and we have to be smart and financially responsible about the decisions we make. Your family, your father in particular, has supported your passion for the game every step of the way. Was it easy to get that support? Would there have been professional soccer in Montreal without it? Absolutely not. I've said it publicly that if you really take a look at who truly is the guardian angel for soccer in Montreal, it definitely has to be my father. It was tough. It wasn't easy when we were drawing 2,000 and 3,000 fans and at the time he didn't see the potential that was there. But I was very persistent, saying it was a huge opportunity. He sees it now and kind of thanks me for being so persistent. But I can honestly tell you that if my family hadn't supported that particular dream, there's no way we would have what we have today. Joey Saputo
