CultureMap Video

Houston's Mr. Big? Putting a price on Mike Chabala, a Dynamo with hair flair

Dynamo Mike Chabala usually doesn't have much trouble picking up the ladies.
Photo by Michelle Watson/LastNightPics.com
Chabala started 22 of the team's 25 games in 2010, but he's still finding hisway this season.

Want to get up close and personal with your favorite Houston Dynamo player? Head to Drink Houston on April 30th for Cruz'in for A Cure, a fundraiser and party organized by Dynamo player Danny Cruz to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Best of all, the night will include a bachelor auction of 11 Dynamo hotties. Who should you bid on? Let CultureMap's dating personality quiz be your guide.

In Working Girl, Melanie Griffith tells Harrison Ford she's got a mind for business and a body built for sin. That's one way to describe Dynamo defender Mike Chabala, a 26-year-old team veteran who graduated early from the University of Washington with a degree in economics — he even interned at Pacific Capital during college. With his smarts, smooth moves — and oh, that hair — could he be the date for you?

Chabala took time to answer all the important questions for CultureMap after Tuesday's practice.

Stats:
26 years old from Fresno, Calif.

Zodiac sign:
Gemini

Idea of a perfect date:
"Dinner, drinks, dancing — you can't really go wrong with that."

Do you believe in love at first sight?
"Yes."

If you were an animal, what kind of animal would you be?
"Lion. King of the jungle."

Who's your celebrity crush?
"It used to be Gwyneth Paltrow, but I've moved on to Taylor Swift."

Do you open doors for women?
"Absolutely."

Favorite make-out music:
"It's gotta be some old school hip-hop or something R&B."

Give us your best pick-up line:
"Hi, I'm Mike Chabala."

Sarah's appraisal: $4,800
Hmmm, he's cute, he's smart, he dances, and he watches The Notebook? Chabala is either a dream date or smart enough to know what women want. Either way, he gets big points for being interesting, but this smooth operator (his teammates call him "Hollywood") has one significant drawback — a girlfriend.

Caroline's appraisal: $4,995
I've crushed on him since he was a rookie (I think it's that Cali surfer-boy shag) but he loses value for taking so long to accept my Facebook friend request. Kidding, kind of. (Call me).

Longtime sportswriter Chris Baldwin's appraisal: $1,600
Let's keep a little perspective and shift things to the playing field. Sure Chabala has hair to envy, but he's not a full-time starter. Chabala's sort of streaky and is that what you're looking for? Though his lessons in perseverance might be invaluable (Chabala really fought to get where he is). There is no way he should go for more than Geoff Cameron, breakout rookie Will Bruin or arguably even speedster Corey Ashe, who are all in this auction, from a sports perspective. And isn't that what it's all about.

Who doesn't want to debate the 4-4-2 vs. the 4-3-3 formation at dinner?

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Dynamo difference makers

Shirt off & bids high: Bachelor auction of soccer hotties brings in the bucksfor LLS

Lovel Palmer ups the ante by showing off his abs at the Dynamo Cruzin' for aCure auction.
Photo by © John M. Boni/CatchlightGroup.com
Goalkeeper coach Tim Hanley created a frenzy, selling for a whopping $800.
Photo by © Michelle Watson/CatchlightGroup.com

The sun was still out as Houston Dynamo players and fans filed into Drink Houston on Saturday night for Cruzin' for a Cure. The spacious club felt open without hordes of people, and even with hip-hop playing and the bar doing steady business, the place seemed not quite ready for prime time.

"I think we might have done ourselves a disservice by having this a little earlier," confused Dynamo defender/event organizer Danny Cruz. But though the dance floor might not have been fully rocking, the moment 95.7's Sarah Pepper climbed up to the stage over the bar to begin the Dynamo bachelor auction, the energy in the room totally changed.

Suddenly girls in party dresses seemed to fill the floor, waving their orange bid placards energetically to get the attention of Pepper and the Dynamo Girls who were hanging out in the crowd as spotters.

Pepper started out by flirting with keeper Tyler Deric about how good he smelled and hyping Will Bruin's Friday night hat trick to pump their date prices to more than $200 each. The bidding atmosphere was competitive from the start, and Pepper had a knack for convincing people to keep the prices for dates going up.

It was an atmosphere that was so contagious, that even a mild-mannered reporter like this one could get inspired to put money down for her own Dynamo (Kofi Sarkodie, in case you were wondering). It was just that kind of scene.

Plenty of players pulled out all the stops to coax women out of their money — Lovel Palmer took his shirt nearly off to flash his washboard abs, and Mike Chabala got on the microphone looking for "Tyler Deric's mom." Cruz and Geoff Cameron both brought in big bids, but in the end it was 51-year-old goalkeeper coach Tim Hanley who created a bidding frenzy.

With a half dozen women bidding enthusiastically, Hanley's selling price was more than double most of the players at a whopping $800.

Between the cover charge, the bachelor auction and the silent auction featuring outings with other Dynamo players, Cruzin' for a Cure brought in more than $10,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, supporting Cruz's very personal cause and also his bid to win LLS Man of the Year.

But for the lucky ladies who made a date with the Dynamo, the fun is just beginning.