He is fair, when being fair is tough. He stands up and defends the right but unpopular stance, and he takes the heat for others on his staff when they make mistakes not out of a desire to be a martyr, but because his shoulders can carry the burden of public errors for those who cannot. He tells the truth when a lie is easier. He is a man of character in the truest sense of the word. Think before you act.
Hank is a scholar of people and issues.
He knows his material before he makes decisions and recommendations. He gathers information and makes sure others have what they need. His actions are governed by the fact that he knows his material. Eleanor Roosevelt once wrote, Small minds discuss people, average minds discuss events, great minds discuss ideas. In the years I have known Hank Steinbrecher, he discussed ideas for making our game better, ideas for improving the structure of soccer, and oh, yes, the two events that he loved, the 1994 Men s World Cup and the 1999 Women s World Cup.