During our conversation in Brazil, Ben told me that he had not revealed where he was going. Instead, he lied his soccer team by telling them he was getting extensive tests for cancer-tests that would last two months. "I haven't let the cat out of the bag. And I could and maybe should with my girls who think that I'm in a hospital somewhere dying, essentially," he said. "I had some tests done on what they thought was a brain tumor, last year, but it wasn't, but I did, so I told them I was going back in for testing. I said I'm going to have a lot of testing and evaluations; that was when I flew out there the first time, to L.A. So this time I said I've got to go back out, get some testing done, and be away for two months."
Ben also told me that the "team is in shambles right now" because he left them without his presence. He also said, "I am phenomenal at manipulating people. … I manipulate my assistant coaches. My highest-paid assistant coach right now is getting $5,000 a year. I have a staff of six. It's the biggest coaching staff in the NCAA. Nobody has six coaches. I have these girls come and pay $20,000 a year to come and play for my school and not give them a dime of scholarship, there's others that I do. I'm awesome at manipulating."
