Oracle: What’s your most embarrassing moment?

EL: I was riding my skateboard, actually right near the athletic building, last year. I was just riding: I’m on my way to class, I’m in a hurry and I just eat it. Face first into the concrete, my hands are scraped up, my knees are scraped up and I had to go and get treatment because I had all of these cuts and bruises, and it had nothing to do with soccer. There were football players walking by, and they saw me, and they kind of like smirk at me every time they see me now.

O: Tell me the biggest difference between Florida State and USF.

EL: The biggest difference is that FSU has a long-standing tradition of athletic excellence and it’s been established for how many years, and USF is a young program and we’re trying to make a name for ourselves.

O: Compare the FSU football games to USF’s.

EL: I would say an FSU football game – it’s like 80,000 people all just roaring in unison with every single ball that’s thrown, every pass that’s made. Every time a rusher makes two yards on a play, it’s just – it’s a lot more. It’s like life or death. (At USF) it’s about drinking at the game; it’s not really if we win or lose.

O: Talk about your travels.

EL: Yeah, I played soccer in Norway. I also played soccer in Italy, and also Chile. So three different countries, and I’ve seen three different aspects of the game in all those places. There are just different philosophies and soccer has so many dimensions to it, and once you step outside of the United States you can really learn about it.

O: What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen or done?

EL: In the summer of 2004, I went to Pamplona. I was there for the Running of the Bulls and I saw people thrown up in the air by their horns. Crowds of people, riots in the streets – it was the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.

– Tony Marquis