Steinbrecher will have a lot of time to find out: Tuesday afternoon, he turned his back on U.S. Soccer and resigned his position as general secretary after nine years as the political boss of the often fractious Fed, citing his desire to spend more time with his family. That may be, but in recent weeks political winds had begun to circle around the South Loop, and Steinbrecher's departure will surely be thought of as partly politically motivated by savvy observers.

"I'm feeling a tremendous sense of liberation right now, honestly. I really do want to spend more time with my family -- you know, I've spent something like 40 weekends a year away from them. The politics are always there -- I've gotten it from every side, but I think I've done OK with it for the last 10 years. But you're always facing it and fighting it, and you know, I just felt it was time for a change for everyone. A time for a change for me, and a time for a change for them."

USSF has no immediate replacement; a search committee will convene later on this month, and Steinbrecher has said he will stay on until his successor is named.

The loss brings the number of senior executives to depart from the Fed to six: Over the last two years, Mark Noonan, Dan Flynn, Jim Trecker, Jim Froslid, Bob Black and now Steinbrecher have all left the Fed for other jobs (Noonan recently joined Major League Soccer). In addition, USSF lost its most competent public relations man in Brian Remedi earlier this year, and has had other internal frictions.

The defections from the sport aren't limited to USSF: MLS lost almost its entire marketing department, including Randy Bernstein (who left for Yahoo!); one of their public-relations Men of the Year in Rick Lawes (CONCACAF); and two GMs, Jamey Rootes (for a NFL job in Houston) and Billy Hicks (to head up the fledgling XFL).

Speaking of MLS losses, league commissioner Don Garber said that the defections "were a good sign that [soccer] is becoming a credible place to work and train people to move on to bigger and better things."

On Tuesday, Garber had this to say: "Hank Steinbrecher's energy and passion for the sport of soccer will be missed not only by Major League Soccer, but everyone he has worked with during his tenure with U.S. Soccer. Hank has played a key role in strengthening the relationship between the federation and MLS. We wish him the best in his future endeavors."

Steinbrecher's departure is somewhat bittersweet: By his own admission, he had a mixed track record -- "Not every one of my shots scored, but I think I've played a good game" -- but he has remained one of the most complex and fascinating figures inside the sport, and for that he will surely be missed. Quick with a quote, he was a favorite of the media (and anathema to whomever it was that was supposed to be handling USSF's p.r. that day), but a controversial figure in the business where opinions on his competence, drive, ambition and even common sense were called into question.

Was he a buffoon, as some openly offered during the dark days of the 1998 World Cup campaign? Was he a self-interested glad-hander, content to hand out USSF lapel pins while Rome burned? Or was he a master politician who masked his genius with naivete? After all, this was the man who turned the tables on Alan Rothenberg and seized control of what has become a $30-million-a-year business.

Steinbrecher was and is all of these things. Seriously underestimated for years by some of the other soccer sharks who have swum on, Steinbrecher managed to pound through year after year with a thick skin and disarming smile. He was clever enough never to show his frustration in public, and savvy enough to know just what he should be frustrated about in the first place.

"I don't want to sound trite, but I really do think in my heart I've always had the game in mind,"˛ said Steinbrecher. "But it's tough, because we're a very large, very complex organization that has all aspects of the game under one umbrella. Wešve had to balance the needs of the pros with that of the 10-year old player.

"The thing I'm proudest of is that we've put into place an infrastructure. When I came on board, I felt that was very necessary. The national teams have become solid on the field, and now the next step is Project 2010."

The legacy Steinbrecher leaves is impressive: under his stewardship, the national teams have gone from being forgotten relics of a sporting past to serious, wage-earning machines. The Fed itself has ballooned from barely break-even days to an organization that can afford to pay its top executives handsome six-figure salaries. (Steinbrecher earned $271,662 in 1997, according to tax records). U.S. national team games are now presented commercial-free on free TV. The U.S. women have won two World Cups, and the men have now taken part in three, including the ground-breaking hosting of the tourney in 1994.

To be sure, in recent months some of the luster has come off the crown: MLS is struggling against inertia and perception, and the continued lack of support among American sports fans for the national teams, as evinced most recently at the Gold Cup, is cause for deep concern. That said, Steinbrecher inarguably contributed mightily to the game's present health.

"I've always tried to be a gentleman," said Steinbrecher. "I hope that I've succeeded."