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2026 preseason premonitions - Ep. 56
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Growth is gonna be key this season, let's get into it. The Cooler Guild is back! In this week’s episode we cover the Reign’s offseason roster moves, what we’re hopeful for this season, as well as the frustration that the team will be playing the opening three “home” matches in Spokane. We also highlight some other NWSL moves and the USWNT call ups for Reign players. And in the tradition of our preseason episodes of the past, we make some wild predictions.
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Show artwork by Coop
The Cooler Guild Est. 2024
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Updates
00:00:18
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to, we're back, episode 56 now of the Cooler Guild. oo I am Coop Cooper, and joined with me, as always, is my co-host, Van Crisp. What's up? we We're recording on Saturday, March 2026. On today's episode, this is a nice little preseason episode. Just to kind of go over everything that there is to talk about with the rain before the season starts next weekend.
00:00:44
Speaker
um'm sure I mean, I don't don't know what day this is going drop, but there's lot stuff to go over. um And we just wanted to give everybody kind of a quick little, i don't know, refresher on what's going on with the team and the little news happenings that's been going on and just maybe maybe some slight predictions. I don't know. We'll see where it goes. Hot takes. Let's go. Yeah, but first, some housekeeping.
00:01:05
Speaker
The Cooler Guild is part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network. You can either listen to us on our public feed or if you're a Sounder at Heart subscriber on the private unified feed with the other podcasts on the network. If you'd like to become a subscriber, just visit our page at sounderatheart.com forward slash the Cooler Guild. New subscribers get 10% off the normal rate and you'll help support everything we're doing.
00:01:23
Speaker
There's a new podcast on the podcast network. um Do you remember the name of it? Didn't just come out. Where is it? I was trying to remember the name of it. I told you about it. I listened to most of it.
00:01:37
Speaker
Is it on the Nos Orientes? Backpost Runners. ah Mark and Tim started their own little podcast with Sounder at Heart. Or at least getting pissed on there, but kind of cool.
00:01:48
Speaker
Yeah, I love that for them. We got a few little updates happening with our podcast, too. Just I've updated some graphics, made it so it matches a little bit more with the Rovalx stuff so we can keep the happy little family all coordinated. um We have a new theme song coming. and I don't know if it'll be ready for this episode quite yet, but it is getting wrapped up. I got a buddy that's
Offseason Reflections and Personal Hobbies
00:02:06
Speaker
working on it. It's going all live instruments. So that's cool. Yay.
00:02:09
Speaker
um Anyways, what's going on i I know. Fuck a i We're not doing that. Let's start off this season strong. I mean, we might use it for editing video, though. But no art.
00:02:20
Speaker
but but but I'm just saying. If Laura Harvey uses it. Oh, and Emma Hayes. And Emma Hayes. Mind you. And all the other coaches pretty much. I think it's safe assume. What did I say last year when this all shit dropped? don't know. thought so validated. Yeah. if if Yeah.
00:02:34
Speaker
I guess we can dive into that way into the USM's national team stuff. Yeah. ah How's it been going? How's your offseason been? It's been good. Yeah? Been pretty relaxing. Really? You're not like preparing for World War III?
00:02:46
Speaker
I mean, I'm in a constant state of like nervous, anxious terror, but... Yeah, but you're relaxing otherwise. Trying to find some peace, okay? Sure. Good for you.
00:02:58
Speaker
Trying to regulate here. No, it's been good. um Little update on my end. um I have given up my role as the GM of FC Olympia in the USOW. Somebody's going to be taking it over that is very much capable. I just, it's a lot of time. It's a lot of work. I did it for three seasons.
00:03:18
Speaker
it it's a lot and I love the club and love the work but there's other things that I need to focus on in my life right now and it was the best decision for me cool well yeah I'm excited for their season though yeah yeah it's not I mean even if you're in the NWSL not lucrative gigs yeah so you know gotta balance out or figure out time and all that stuff how much it's worth so Yeah, you got to know what you're worth. Other than that, my cat just turned 15. That's crazy. know.
00:03:46
Speaker
Good old boy. in that way. What? I meant good old man. Ew. Yeah, we could
Preseason Optimism and Team Strategy
00:03:53
Speaker
cut that. No, I'm keeping in. um what about you what are you been up to uh i don't know a bunch of random shit just random shit i've been crafting doing some random stuff made some ornaments over the holidays got into felting for a bit in a minute i'm pretty good at it it's super annoying i hate that like i can pick up fiber it's pretty easy because i just feel like i have to do them i do feel like i made some of the felting ornaments and i was like this is my calling
00:04:19
Speaker
which is like so annoying and like i don't want to like what i just have to like sit here and just keep crafting these cute little creatures and whatever but like truly they're so good and i know you sent me pictures some of them yeah i had like my friends who are like also in like fiber arts and stuff they came because there was a festival dark arts it's like a beer fest that they come to visit for and showed them like one of the ones i made they were like what the fuck there's i was like this is like my third one And it's like so fucking good. i was like, how is felting ornaments my calling?
00:04:50
Speaker
i don't have currently have enough needles to continue it because you have to get special little felting needles for it. Not easy to source in a small town. And I feel like I don't want to pay shipping for like little needles. It's just no one's had free shipping yet. So I'm just I got it. But I think at some point I'm going to have to hunker down and get some ready to sell for the holidays.
00:05:08
Speaker
Open that Etsy. ah up Yeah, I mean, I might just go to some, like, markets in town. That's cute. Because there's a lot of makers and
Roster Balance and Season Challenges
00:05:16
Speaker
markets in town, but yeah, I don't know. Not really much, a whole lot going on my x expect's kind of My Xbox, so like it won't play any high-performance games right now, which is annoying because i just bought Baldur's Gate. Oh. Which is, i was really excited to play it, and and it won't work, but I can play Power Rush or Simulator still. Yeah.
00:05:33
Speaker
Priorities. Yeah, so at least I can, like in ah you know, get take take the edge off of my day with some power washer simulator. oh Yeah, it's been nice. It's been nice to just kind of dink around and focus on random shit, you know. But we do have some rain rain stuff coming up now, finally. Time to lock in. Yeah.
00:05:53
Speaker
kind of just I feel like it just kind of comes up and it sneaks up on you. feeling optimistic. I think the way way that the season ended last year, though, kind of has me a little... The way the season ended both for the team, our team, and then how it ended for the league, kind of I feel like I have a lot of questions about what the rain plan to do. yeah And I don't know if they've addressed all those things in the offseason um based on the fact that they really haven't signed in the e any big names, which I think some of us are frustrated about. But let's, ah I guess maybe we should get into first like the new players. Should we should we just get right into it?
00:06:25
Speaker
Yeah, let's get into it. We have gotten, you know, some new contracts, new players, probably the bigger name. i mean, if you want to call it a big name, somebody in the NBISO has a lot of experience. ah Brittany Ratcliffe has has joined the Reign.
00:06:38
Speaker
um She was with the Spirit last year. She's kind of been with a lot of teams and has a lot of experience in the league. ah She's forward. don't know. I know sometimes we get a little clogged up up there, but i do think we need some veteran experience up there, especially with Lynn still being on maternity leave. What was your reaction to seeing us sign her?
00:06:58
Speaker
um I didn't really think a lot of it. And then i think it was Susie in
New Kit and Season Predictions
00:07:03
Speaker
the discord was saying like, it makes sense with losing um AMC. We have an experience for they can come in, kill games and just be kind of like a solid player. Yeah, I think also when we lost Latsko, right? Like we never really filled that role ever. So and the pot there was so there was a lot of positivity from like players from the spirit who who played with her being really upset that she was leaving. So I think that's a good sign. I think that shows that we're bringing in some leadership. Yeah, I think too, like the spirit there, we're so stacked that it might be hard for a player like her to get time. Yeah. And, you know, somebody that maybe coming, you know, in the last years of her career. yeah Like wants to make a little bit of an impact. So it'll be good. Yeah. You say the end of her career. and and God, i get a little sick of hearing that when acquire players. I just do.
00:07:55
Speaker
i am I think she brings something else that I'm excited about. But yeah, I do think when when we're signing people and you know it's near the end of their career, it's a little frustrating. But um we do have so much young like young players that like what's the point of bringing another young player in? you know Especially up top. do you know what like I feel like you're probably the one who's going to know about the goalkeeper situation that we brought in.
00:08:17
Speaker
ah Evan Osteen and Niku Purcell. Yeah, I mean, Niku was on team last year, but didn't play any any minutes. Niku's great. She's, I think, getting some time with the u twenty three s So I would assume that would be your your first backup.
00:08:34
Speaker
Evan Osteem, I'm not really familiar with her other than the youth national team stuff, but seems promising. It's clearly just a development signing, though. Yeah. Dickies are number one. But we also don't have Cassie Miller still. Yeah, she's still out on season ending injury. So I guess that's why they brought in Evan. Yeah.
00:08:51
Speaker
And I could see once Cassie Miller comes back that maybe they send Evan Osteen out to ah like a USL team. Yeah. Super League team. Yeah. That's kind of what I was thinking.
Upcoming Matches and Event Announcements
00:09:02
Speaker
but We'll see, though. Yeah. I think the last notable one that i wanted to bring up was Sofia Cedeno, 19 year old midfielder. She has ties. I went and watched like a little interview with her. i had captions that were translated because she's half Panamanian. And so it was a Panamanian like YouTube channel or something like that. And so she did an interview with them. But she's got ties to the same ECNL club that Adama and McCammon were in in Dallas. um So I think, you know, if someone's if a club is producing players like Adama and McCammon, I've got pretty I feel pretty solid about getting another player yeah um from that place.
00:09:40
Speaker
I don't know. I watched the interview and I really did enjoy her energy. It was kind of hard to find highlights on her just because she's been floating around a little bit. She she was kind of in and out with the with the rain, um but they you know gave her an actual contract now. um But she seems to be mostly playing the eight role or the 10 role when she is on the field. I do think that's something we need to bolster, place we need to bolster up. So, um you know, how do I feel about another young player coming into the team? i don't know.
00:10:09
Speaker
I'm over here kind of shrugging. i i Yeah. If she can be productive, great. But hey we're just that gap is getting bigger and bigger. Yeah. We're getting players the beginning of their career or towards the end.
00:10:23
Speaker
Where's the middle? Where's where's these players? Where are the players that are peaking? Where are? yeah You know what I mean? like And that's that's I guess what I was going to bring up with what I said in the beginning. It's like the teams that were in the final and the team that won. I mean, those are people that are in the primes of their career and they're just stacked with players like that.
00:10:43
Speaker
I'm not saying I don't think this team can find a way to beat these teams. I like, you know, give give them any random day. And i do think they have the ability to beat them. But we're talking about making a run to the playoffs and doing something they've never done before. Yeah. And as fans, I want a team for this year. Yeah. I don't want a team for next year because last year I had to sit and hear, ah well, we're growing. Yeah. And then hopefully this year is going to be, you know, a good season.
00:11:08
Speaker
yeah i don't want to I don't want to be a broken record this year and be like, well, next year. Yeah. And I mean, every year there's going to be improvement, but like how patient am i do I have to be?
00:11:20
Speaker
Like, i I don't know. Like, I don't want them to blow it all up. But like, I just have questions about who they're bringing in. And is that really all that they need to start competing with teams like Kansas City, teams like Gotham, teams like Spirit?
00:11:34
Speaker
I just don't know. I would hope that they're feeling it out in the beginning of the season and then the transfer window window, they'll be able to go big. Yeah, if they need to. Yeah, I think that's kind of, that's the best possibility. Yeah. I think, I mean, a lot of this is riding on how is Mia Fisher going to look this year? Yeah, I've got that. I've got that in the... Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:56
Speaker
I guess we'll just to cover up the rest of the contract stuff. ah There was a mutual option exercise recently from Montessir. um She's staying with the rain through 2027. like this move. I know it's a bit controversial, but as a player that kept growing last season and then seeing her in the preseason game. Yeah, I like where she's headed and I think she might finally be a little bit comfortable. Yeah. ah So I another year. Hell yeah. Give her a chance. Yeah, i don't know. i I get a lot of the pushback that some fans had about this. There's why. i think that's a good question. ah But preseason, she did look very, very good.
00:12:37
Speaker
I don't know how good Angel City is going to be this year, because like what I saw for her against Angel City looked really great. Angel City, notably not a great team. Yeah. but it's a great brand but a great brand not a great team um so i don't know there's yeah i liked what i saw from her there i'm hoping that i my skepticism is squashed yeah so i see now how like my real feelings are about what's happened
00:13:09
Speaker
Like in real time, I'm like, oh, yeah, things are fine. I'm like, are they? i don't know. I don't know. It's going to take going to see some games. But it's hard doing it's hard doing these preseason episodes because like last year, we kind of it was pretty much best case scenario last year because we really anything. Anything was better than the season before. Yeah.
00:13:30
Speaker
And we made the playoffs like hell yeah. Yeah. I would assume that making the playoffs and advancing the playoffs would be the goal this year. Yes. And with the roster that we currently have and not having seen a lot of them play together with the new roster, I just don't know yet. Yeah, there also hasn't been a lot. I think we were hoping to do this episode sooner, but there actually hasn't been a lot of footage to go over. So no it's it's kind of a mystery. We're waiting for news to drop. We're waiting for preseason games. Just like catching minor clips from ah like a closed door friendly. Like it's not, there's not a lot of lot to parse through that's going to give us a ton of information. Yeah, they're making it really hard for us this year. Yeah, which Laura Harvey is already known to be a little sneaky.
00:14:15
Speaker
I just don't know what to make of what's happening yet. Yeah. The other notable contract, Laura Harvey, speaking of, ah she's going to signed through 2028. She is the winningest coach in the MWCLE history, case someone who listens to this podcast somehow doesn't know that. I did see a lot of negative reaction from from fans. I would say a lot of people who weren't Reign fans were kind of shitting on it.
00:14:40
Speaker
People hate to see women succeed. I did see some Reign fans be like, I don't know, but I'm like, what's the path if not Laura Harvey right now? I also think that with what they're developing, this was part of the plan. These young players come in to play for Laura Harvey. Yeah. Yeah, that's always been their like sticking point. Like there's like a one point that kind of goes through all of these players and it's like, well, want to come play for Laura. I talked to Laura. I don't play for Laura.
00:15:08
Speaker
and don't think anyone's out there sitting and and saying I want to play for who's the fucking guy in Kansas now. know what saying though yeah so i i like the move and you know you can sit on her all you want for another two years three years yeah but deal with it deal with it think i think some people aren't realizing like the frustrations that i like that are within the roster maybe don't stem from laura harvey very much so stem from other people who are in charge of signing players and building this roster not coaching it think she's she's making it work with what she's got pretty well i would say
00:15:45
Speaker
And that's the thing. Like people were love to hate on Harvey ball. Harvey ball got a mediocre team to the playoffs. Yeah. And held on for a very long time. I like her. I don't see any reason to move on. Given what this roster is built, like there is going to be a need for development. And she's, I think the right player person for the job on that. Yeah.
00:16:05
Speaker
Um, yeah, Quickly go over player movements that we had during the offseason. Backup goalkeeper, Maddie Prohaska, went to Louisville. We got some money exchange for that. Some intra intra-league transfer funds, who wouldn't be technical, and some allocation money. she i mean, she's got a better chance to get playing time over there, maybe. I'm not really sure. but Jordan Bloomer yeah is has been balling out.
00:16:28
Speaker
Different environment, though. Yeah, different environment. And I think there's another goalkeeper. They have three goalkeeper, four goalkeepers. Jesus. um So, you know, maybe get her a chance to win that second spot. Yeah.
00:16:40
Speaker
Get some experience to be on a different team. It's all should be good for her. Free agents that we had that have left team and where they're at now. ah AMC, you know, did not sign with us, unfortunately, our opinion. unfortunate She's out in France now, Strasbourg. don't know if I'm saying that right. She looks like she's having a fantastic time. Of course she is. She's the she's always bringing the good vibes. ah G is back in South Korea. Julia Lester is somebody I kind of actually hoped we would have maybe tried out again, but she's out in Sporty Jack, so that contract's over. And then the very short-lived career Reign ended for Michaela Clough. She's retired now. So glad i don't have to think about that situation anymore. And then the Olivia Vandria, I don't know what's going on with her life and her personal life. um But her, I think, I don't know what's going on with her soccer career. But the rain did agree to mutually terminate the contract. And I don't even think she's playing in Spokane anymore.
00:17:43
Speaker
I don't, yeah, I don't think so. I didn't see her on anything. So I don't know what's going on with her. I hope she's all right. I do see you're kind of bopping around doing some soccer stuff still. So, yeah you know, maybe a comeback will happen someday. I don't know, but it's time for the rain to move on. So the captaincy for the team, since we have Lou Barnes no longer on the team, is going to be shared between Werther and Fishlock. Yep.
00:18:05
Speaker
After bopping around the ah speaking of bopping around, bopping around. Just going to be the the word of the day. then when we Remember, remember, they really, to like trying out the captain band like randomly for a while. Yeah.
00:18:16
Speaker
But we're just back. so I guess we just realize that's where it naturally belongs. um And fish luck. don't know how many minutes she's been on the field. Yeah. But if she's on the field, obviously she's going to be the captain. You had put in, this is kind of, I just feel like I'm hit hard, I've had a hard time getting the groove of this thing right now. um But that's fine. This is the first episode of the year.
00:18:36
Speaker
So speaking of rosters, go I just went over everything that's kind of moved you around. What do you think, like, what do you think, do you think there's, I would say there's probably not, but like, do we think we have a balance of growth within the team and acquiring players? um What, how do you feel about what is being built within the team right now?
00:18:56
Speaker
I want to feel really positively about it. Yeah. But again, I won't know until I see the product. Yeah. um The vibes seem great. They're always good at that. I know. So good with vibes. But Laura Harvey is vibe queen, you know? Yeah.
00:19:12
Speaker
ah Our acquisitions seem to be hopeful at best. There's nothing really solid, right? You're not bringing in Croy Bethune. God, that would have been nice. You know, you're not signing Mercario.
00:19:25
Speaker
Not yet. This is my hope, but I can tell by my silence, I don't have a lot of faith right now. um Yeah, our acquisitions are lacking. um I do feel positively about the growth. um And he'll talk about that more with like players to watch. But i how do you feel about it? I know that we both were waiting for like a big signing to drop and it brings somebody exciting in.
00:19:49
Speaker
The way that players have been talking about this team, I'm trying because i they seem to think that their championship caliber, that they have the ability to beat anybody, which I do think is true. That's the beauty of soccer, right? like Yeah, but they need to score goals. And who's going to score rules yeah what has changed there i i don't i don't know and i mean is that a is that a tactical change that just needs to happen i don't know but is it like a matter of bringing adames into a different different role i don't i we can't we don't know what the fucking team is doing right now because they haven't given a shit to see but at the same time like they haven't changed a lot with the roster how how i think it's more about even it presentation Yeah. Right. How is Laura Harvey going to arrange the team?
00:20:37
Speaker
How are we going to set up a formation to get the best out of every player? Yeah. And to get results? That's going to be the big question. There's it's a big mystery right now. um I think it's pretty clear that we're not going to be like shield contenders. I don't feel like that's going to be a thing. 27 minutes into episode 56. All right. I'm gonna hold you to that when we win the shield this year.
00:21:01
Speaker
ah ah I mean, I don't know. Maybe I'm just reading the end to be so totally wrong. That could be very true. But I'm just I don't see it. i don't I don't see it. I look at the way that they talk about It's like we're going to just take one one game at a time. And maybe hey maybe that is the the key to success. I do think that that is like a good thing to keep in mind because I don't want to like win the shield and then crash and burn out like in Kansas do every year. Like, do you have bigger priorities, which would be to win the championship? Because we haven't done it before. we have a fucking Starna jersey and I'm getting sick of it. am sick of it. And I just don't understand what has changed that much in the offseason to take us over that line.
00:21:43
Speaker
Do I think it's worth blowing everything up to try to like just do it for one year? No. But I think that there's a piece in the midfield to help unlock all of our forwards that we've got. Very talented forward pool that could take this team to that level. And I haven't like, could it be Meza? I don't know. Laura seems to like to play a little bit more defensive minded.
00:22:02
Speaker
So I'm just still confused. Yeah, that's fair. i mean, i I agree with you, but you know me. The Optimist. I'm like, could win the Shield. Nah. I mean, don't anything happens. The year that we won it last was weird. It was weird. But just, don't know. I don't know. I feel like Gotham, for some reason, I just feel like they're just going to fucking do everything next year. This year, I guess. We'll see. We did get to watch one game.
00:22:25
Speaker
Yep. The preseason friendly down at the Coachella Valley Invitational, where we played Angel City and won. 1-0. On a Montessir goal. It was a nice little, little, uh, being in the right, right, right space kind of goal. Um, taking your shot when you got it.
00:22:40
Speaker
i would definitely, we need to see more of that. There was also another friendly, but we didn't get to see anything, at least in the context of like anything besides an Instagram reel. Yeah. But it sounded like they, they, what, they put up like five goals at least. Was it six? Six goals on Utah.
00:22:59
Speaker
That's, ah you know, like Utah sucks. Yeah, Rain did six goals. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I'd put this in the community question thing. um But yeah, Utah, not very good. But when we've played Utah in the last year, we weren't putting six up on them.
00:23:13
Speaker
Right. So that does give me a little bit of hope for scoring goals. But that's that's gonna be the key, right? Mm hmm. yeah just wish So much is up in the air. so much is up in the air. to be so um We'll definitely have a little bit more to go off of once we get into the season. Yeah.
00:23:30
Speaker
I'm always frustrated in these preseason episodes. And then I feel like after the first game, i'm going to be like, okay, ill I see the vision. And then by like the third game, I'm like, do I? i hope that changes this year. i want them to come out with a bang. Yeah, I think that's a good time to bring up.
00:23:46
Speaker
The rain kind of got fucked over. So you say you want to open everything up with a bang. I like how feasible is that going to be when they're not even playing in their home stadium or anything and they're playing in a place they're not super familiar with or comfortable with.
00:24:00
Speaker
It just adds another layer to this. Like, i don't know what the fuck. I'm not going to know what to make of this team until things really kind of get settled in. Yeah, that's not going to be till like game five, six. not great. It's not good.
00:24:12
Speaker
and So I guess, hey, yeah, I guess just keep developing players. But it wasn't really working at home last year anyway. ah Yeah, the scoring has been an issue. Yeah, you're not wrong. Maybe the change in venue is our 12th man.
00:24:25
Speaker
Maybe, maybe. i sure hope so. I am very frustrated about the situation. Do we want to talk about that right now? Like the rest of that? What's going on there? um Because Seattle is hosting the men's world cup. bill They, because the Seahawks did so damn well this last season, which I'm very happy about as a Seattle fan. Yeah. Always root for that. But because of that, it delayed the necessary improvements or changes that they needed to make in Lumen field to be in compliance with the FIFA regulation stuff. Cause the Seahawks like one home field advantage, like the whole fucking playoffs. Yeah. So it delayed everything by like, what, a month or something like that? um So that means the rain, which, hey, I don't know if this is like they underestimated the Seahawks. um I don't know if they just didn't give a shit or like knew that Spokane might have to be an option. Whatever, whatever happened. At some point, the rain knew that the games are going to have to be played at Spokane because it's the only stadium in the state of Washington that meets the NWSL guidelines that isn't Lumen Field. The next closest would be Portland. I don't want to play in Portland, personally.
00:25:32
Speaker
um Do I think Spokane's a great option? I don't i don't know. So weird. It's so weird. ah But anyway, so they're going to go play their first three quote unquote home matches in Spokane. ah There's a Wednesday game, March 25th, Saturday game, March 28th, and then Saturday, April 4th. The communication was piss poor with the season ticket holders to say the least. Yeah, pretty bad.
00:25:55
Speaker
I don't know why that was so bad. Like, just be transparent about it. I think they were trying to hold back on information, trying to encourage people to get refunds because they knew that this U.S. Women's National Team game in Seattle was coming up, but they couldn't reveal that at that point. So I think they just thought everyone would be cool with it, but like, no. We're not cool with it.
00:26:16
Speaker
That's a lot of money people put into these games. Yeah. and you're talking about three fucking games getting moved to hours and hours and hours away. Three home batches. After they went on like this whole thing about how all games will be in Seattle. Yep. There was like a whole part of their marketing strategy was talking about like every game here.
00:26:32
Speaker
No, you lied. And then you were weird about it yeah oh what did you what what because you're not we're not season ticket holders um but bella did an article on this did you read that one yeah bella what's the publication that she works for bell bella bella under my bella um ah rihaana ah Yeah, Bella Munson, ah if you want to go find her on Blue Sky, she's got the link for the article that she did um on this, but she kind of did like a little bit of a dive into the reactions to season ticket holders and all that stuff. I think there is some very warranted frustrations. what did ah
00:27:14
Speaker
What did you think about everyone getting angry? I think it's justified and I agree with them. Yeah. um I think people are not necessarily frustrated with having to move the games because there's nothing else they could have done. But the communication from the team to season ticket holders, like you said, was piss poor at best. And they were like promising to rectify, promising to rectify, but not offering a solution. Yeah.
00:27:40
Speaker
Until later and later and later. Of course, people are going to be frustrated with that. They also weren't being transparent about like, we will offer refunds. Like that will be an option. Yeah, I don't. It wasn't well executed by any means. And they really need to get their shit together. That's how I feel about it.
00:27:57
Speaker
I wish they would have like partnered with like a hotel or something and then like gotten like a discount for people to go stay because it's not fucking cheap stay in Spokane. No. um Speaking of which, if you have a home in Spokane and would like a nice podcaster to sleep on your couch ah Saturday, March, the night of March 28th or the night of April 4th, please ah DM us. Couldn't they partnered with some fucking hotel and like gotten you like a little bit like a slight discount or something like rain fans who traveling but like i guess they're just going in on hoping that spokane fans are like gonna become the biggest rain fans somehow there is a big east coast contingent or east east side of the state contingent there is i think the games i think the games are going to be ah loud it's going to be an intimate setting and i think that there's going to be a lot of people there
00:28:47
Speaker
at least for the weekend games. I don't know about a Wednesday. Yeah. The Sounders are also having to play out there for their ah Champions Cup match, which did sell out. And I think it was on a weekday. So, yeah, i don't know.
00:28:58
Speaker
I guess it's cool. to i like I like the idea of like bringing in the whole state. I just wonder what that means. like Are they going to do more in the future with that, marketing-wise? Or like events? I don't know. so i don't i don't know feel like I'm sure they'll get some photo ops of the players in Spokane places. I'm just only feeling lied to.
00:29:16
Speaker
I don't know. I mean, whatever they're marketing, that's the whole thing is kind of like bullshitting through some stuff sometimes. I'm very excited. ah The one thing that I love about Spokane is the trash goat. I have no idea what this is It's a goat statue, but you hit a button and it will suck trash up. It's like if you have a wrapper yeah and the trash, the goat will eat trash. Okay. It's very, I freaked out when I first saw it and I love it. And I have a t-shirt with a trash goat on it.
00:29:40
Speaker
It's great. Okay. Let's move on. Looking forward to that update later. uh last last kind of bit before we get into we got some community questions um the ring got a new third kit uh it's called the surge kit it's supposed to be a little bit of a throwback to when we use that highlighter color i think it's nice i like it i was looking up my mom was like why are they doing purple so i was looking up trying find a picture of the old purple kit it's not really purple I found this picture. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And i was talking to my, was showing my mom because she didn't really remember these jerseys. And I was looking at the three people in this picture. On the left, Bev Yanez, now Coach Louisville to their first ever playoff appearance. In the middle, Lou Barnes, obviously just retired this last season. And on the right is Mariah Bullock, who's now the team's psychologist. Dr. Mariah Bullock, mind you.
00:30:30
Speaker
That's fun. Yeah. Yeah. I like, I like the Jersey, especially like in the realm of the other jerseys that they did for the league. Yeah. Ours is definitely top three. It looks really good as a full uniform and it's going to look really good on the field, especially at night. Yep. Under the lights. I think that's where it's going really look nice. Some people seem confused by the pattern, but like, it's just like a modernism kind of just basic shapes to me. And I really like that kind of look. Yeah.
00:30:57
Speaker
i I don't know how much I can pull it off. And unfortunately, because of the way that Nike makes their jerseys, ah the Authentics, that texture looks fucking awesome with like any pattern. But the moment you take that texture out for just like the replicas, they don't kind of look like just like meowing on the bed ah really loudly. um Anyways, that without that texture, they kind of look cheap.
00:31:20
Speaker
Yeah. And I think this is true for everyone. i don't think it's just the right, like this is a Nike problem. It's definitely a Nike problem. ah Nike also has a size inclusivity problem. Yeah. That's been pre prevalent forever. We do get um a goalkeeper kit though. Sweet. We can buy. that's nice. They look kind of good too. Yeah. I probably won't buy any because I'm trying not to buy stuff I don't need this year. Same. You know, it'd be cool. Like maybe if the team was like, oh, we love your podcast. You want some free jerseys.
00:31:49
Speaker
I'd be like, okay. Yeah. Because otherwise they're like $195 fucking dollars for the Authentics. Like what the fuck? It's yeah, it's bad.
00:32:02
Speaker
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00:32:15
Speaker
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00:32:28
Speaker
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00:32:43
Speaker
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00:32:54
Speaker
We got some community questions. We reached out to the Discord. If you ever want to get on there, get some engagement with other Reign fans, just join Sounder at Heart. Subscribe there. If you hit the, I think it's like $75, $80 a year tier, you get access to pretty much everything on the website. And then you can also get access to the Discord.
00:33:12
Speaker
um First question we got, Steve Vogt. Who do you think is going to take a big step forward and be the breakout player of the year for the Reign? I there was so many options here. It's kind of like take your pick. But I mean, number one, Hope is obviously going to be me official. Yeah, we need her to play a big role. And we need to know that she's going to make an impact on the team. She has to. Yeah. And I think she knows that. Yeah. So I'm hoping for, you know, kind of a breakout season from her.
00:33:42
Speaker
But I mean, also in contention, Ainsley McCammon, Sally Menti, Montesir. I put that in there, too, just because, you know, she's been kind of lackluster for us. And it would be great if she could kind of emerge as somebody that's important. Yeah. But also Ryan Brown. Yeah. how What's her fitness at? Is back healthy. So it should be good because, I mean, she was rostered towards the end of last season.
00:34:08
Speaker
So I'm hoping to see her and, you know, having her back there maybe could change the formation a bit. Yeah. And kind of unlock those wingers, you know, and having Darlene have to sit so far back all the time. Yeah. So that's what that's that those were my answers. What what do you think?
00:34:27
Speaker
The one name I want to throw out there um is Emily Mason um with Barnes no longer kind of rotate being in there to rotate or whatever. i was really impressed with what saw with Emily Mason in the friendly. Yeah. I think she's a she's a smart player from what I saw. She's a nice she's a nice big body back there too.
00:34:47
Speaker
yeah I didn't realize how tall she was. Okay. Is what I'm saying. Sorry. just had a Jasmine Crockett flashback. Who's that? Jasmine Crockett. What? From Texas. When she oh called Marjorie Taylor Greene. Oh God. Let's not. Um... Um... uh i don't know i just i thought she was a lot bigger than i thought she was i guess you know i just didn't realize yeah it kind of gives like if i'm going to make a male equivalent which i don't love to do but like kind of chad marshall vibes sure sure sure you know yeah Yeah, that's I guess because we all know Bugs is going to be trying to push forward a little bit more. So I think if we've got Emily Mason kind of covering a little bit more to back there and the Chad Marshall way, i think ah I don't know. I think that's one that is maybe not going to get talked about as much. But I think there's some potential there that I like what I saw. um The other one. She's good in the air. Yeah, that would be good in the air. Like we could use some corner kick magic. Yeah, maybe hide them we'll figure it out again someday.
00:35:50
Speaker
Gosh, she almost had a goal for Canada today. Yeah, and then she missed. No, she did. Well, she missed that goal, but she in the in run of play. Oh, okay. It was a fantastic save from the Argentinian goalkeeper. Okay. But yeah. Anywho. my other one, I wanted to just... I would say breakout. I don't big step forward breakout.
00:36:10
Speaker
I don't know if Laura Harvey is planning to use Darlene up top. um If if Ryan Brown is healthy, that leaves me to believe that Maddie Darlene will be playing that wing position a lot more. She won't be having to sit back. And I I hope my prediction, my hope and prediction is that she hits. We haven't had a double digit score some time. I'm going out and saying she might hit 10. Okay. And ah the frustrating thing with me, like for her is somebody just let her cook. Yeah. That's why that's play those balls over the top. Get her in, let her cook. Like, why are we holding her back? That's why if, if things all go well, I think she is the one who's going to finally break that to get, get 10 goals on this team. I think she's going to be the player that does that if things are going well. Hell yeah. So that's what I'm shouting out.
00:36:57
Speaker
Next question is from Tom Faber. Aside from roster changes, what do you think the Reigns should do differently this year to score more goals? I'm thinking tactical training whatevs, assuming the player with the players that we've got. Were you laughing at my response that I wrote underneath? No, I was just laughing because it's like, yeah, what are they going to do They got to figure something out.
00:37:21
Speaker
My initial thoughts on this were take more shots. We didn't really do that a lot last year. like Even with the lack of infiltrating in the final third, like we weren't trying a lot.
00:37:32
Speaker
And that was frustrating. Yeah, Harvey brought that up about like how when Lynn was able to play, she's a player that's going to take half chances. And we don't really have a lot of people on the team that are have been willing to try stuff. Yeah, we got to get rid of that mentality. Yeah.
00:37:47
Speaker
Along with that better possession in the final third. And I think that goes with having an attacking midfielder, or like a 10, you know, same official who can hold the ball up in that space. Yeah. um And so we can get numbers.
00:38:00
Speaker
And I really want to ditch the five back. I think it, don't think that's happening again. To me, it was like that happened because of how bad our season was the last year, like the year before. Yeah. I guess I hope it doesn't happen again. That's saying. Yeah.
00:38:14
Speaker
I think you just have to give players a little bit of agency to have that confidence that Lynn has. Like, hey, I'm going to get in here. oh I can get my foot on it i'm gonna poke at it. Yeah. Oh, it went in. Great.
00:38:25
Speaker
Yeah. There's a lot of, you know, these young players really want the best shot or that open shot looking for that kind of thing. You're not going to find that in this league where you're playing against better players, you know, be it from college, a different league in the States, whatever. You're not going to have that half second that you used to have.
00:38:43
Speaker
And hopefully like players like Maddie Darlene, Adames are starting to realize that and going to be able to take advantage of the little time they have in in more productive ways this season. Yeah, fingers crossed. I think... Don't sound so excited about it.
00:38:59
Speaker
Well, I'm just, I'm still a little, because defense first always, right? So like when we're talking about getting rid of the five back and we've, we're just kind of relying on our two center backs back there. I don't feel super strong with our, like, and this is how I felt last year, right? Like if Lou Barnes got hurt, I just feel like we still could bring in another center back. Yeah. um But i mean, I guess I'm saying that and I also shouted out Emily Mason. So I don't know, maybe it's just a,
00:39:28
Speaker
don't know. I'm just a little... I'm hoping that i see the back line and I feel really good about it. Not just because Claudia Dickey is so fucking good at her job, but because back line is organized a lot yeah better too. And that they don't feel the need to try out the five pack ever again.
00:39:45
Speaker
It's just... I'm getting stressed. I'm optimistic. You're over here just being frustrated. Well, I'm frustrated because i know what other teams have done this offseason and signings. And it's like, man, I would have liked one of those. That sounds cool.
00:39:57
Speaker
We can't compare ourselves to everyone else. I'm comparing. I just didn't know Corey Bethune was up for grabs. All right. That's fair. all right That's all I'm saying. What the hell? ah The next question we got is from, thanks for making me say this, Wood Bushery. Which Rain player has the best chance to be an Iron Woman this year? Jordan Heinema seems to be, oh, let's just cover that one first. Well, I guess we can, I didn't just read them all off. So that's the first part of the question. who's go Who can be the Iron Woman? um Next part is Jordan Heidemann seems to be on the last year of her contract. What should her performance look like this year to win more time with the team? So first part, who can be the Iron Woman? I mean, it'll be Claudia Dickey again, hopefully. Hopefully, yeah. Unless something bad happens.
00:40:41
Speaker
It'll be Claudia Dickey. I think maybe Phoebe. I don't think it'll be Phoebe. I think there's going to be with the amount of players in the rotation that we'll have back there. Yeah. And bug, there's going to be some national team stuff that's just probably going to get in the way.
00:40:54
Speaker
Maybe not. I don't know. But my I think they're going be rotating back there. And I also don't want to burn her out. So I'm fine with that. So if it's just, I was like, I mean, you could run Meza through, but I also don't want to tire her out. Yeah. I think this team is set up to be rotated quite a bit. So yeah, I think you're right. Probably just icky.
00:41:11
Speaker
um And then what, what ah what do you got in the comments about Jordan Heidema? She's got a score. Yeah. We've been really big fans, um hopeful fans. To a fault. To a fault. Some would say a large fault. um But she's got to start scoring goals, assisting goals, being dangerous, and just put up numbers. Because you can't be hanging on to a player that's not putting up numbers. Yeah. yeah Yeah. That's really it. Yeah, if she wants to stay here, she's got to contribute on the score sheet in some way. Yeah. So...
00:41:45
Speaker
And I want to see that for her. And then if if that doesn't happen, I'd be happy to see her go somewhere where she can thrive. Yeah. But I hope that she can do that here. Yeah. because She's got other qualities and skills that are invaluable defensively when you need her back there to help out with like set pieces and stuff. But if you're taking up space on our roster in that role, you've got to be productive. Yep. So...
00:42:08
Speaker
You missed the second part of the other question. The third part of the other question from Woodbushery. What big signing should the rain make to improve the team? Kat Mercario. Yeah. I keep thinking because everyone says that she's going to go to San Diego or Bay. Why would she go somewhere that sucks? Well, I feel like I've seen been seeing signings with those two teams that just lead me to believe they don't have the room to sign her.
00:42:31
Speaker
um But I also know that Gotham have a team that's crazy. So like that's just like it'd be dumb for me to think that that's why they wouldn't sign her. like I know, but that's not what the quote the question asks is what big signing should the rain make? It it should be Kat McCario. Yeah, I agree.
00:42:47
Speaker
Is she healthy? If you could steal ah Lily Ohana's. Oh, wouldn't that be nice? Yeah. Wasn't she with the fucking Michelle King Empire now? Yeah. um Yeah. Good luck with that. The king of hers.
00:42:59
Speaker
Is Makario healthy right now, though? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I think if Makario is healthy, can pass her fitness test, no problem. Yeah. that's That's the player we need, honestly. Playmaker, dynamic player.
00:43:11
Speaker
um Yeah. every I mean, that's exactly what we we've been missing. You need somebody that can feed. Because that was part of the problem last year was that missing midfield piece that could distribute the balls to the players that can score. Yeah.
00:43:23
Speaker
It needs to be someone proven to. Yeah. I'm not going to be excited about somebody that's... I don't need more experiments. Don't bring in someone. You give me somebody who's proven on the national team stage...
00:43:36
Speaker
All right. So actually now, now it's time for Alex M's question. Uh, Alex M asked, are we going to be a fun attacking team this year? I'm desperate for more goals. Rain goal goals specifically exclamation mark. Uh,
00:43:49
Speaker
I put TBD, but because Harvey is a defense first coach, but I think any team that wants to win a championship has to be a defense first team. Look at what happened to Kansas City. Yep.
00:44:02
Speaker
The Reign did score, as we said, six goals on Utah from the sounds of in a preseason match. Utah sucks, probably still. A good assumption to make, I think. either Are they going to be a fun attacking team? Yeah.
00:44:16
Speaker
The answer is probably not, but I hope that they change my mind. Yeah. I think it'll be better than last year. Yeah, me too. Yeah. Which isn't saying much. think the soccer this this season will be more fun than last season.
00:44:29
Speaker
Yeah. These young players got more experience. lot of people were kind of in their first real full season um last year, and they've got that under their belt. Kind of got the feel of the league and the speed that it goes a lot more. i don't think there's any reason to think this won't be more fun. yeah I just don't think it's going to be the team that ends up scoring the most goals at the end of the year. No, I don't think so. But I would look for the team to be more creative. Like we do have 22 returning players from last season on the roster. They're getting a full preseason.
00:45:00
Speaker
They're doing all the things that they need to do to mesh as a team. Right. We saw that beginning of last year with Lynn, like it seemed disconnected when she came on just because, you know, she did play a bit and then she got injured.
00:45:13
Speaker
And I think that there's going to be a little bit more cohesion to start this season compared to last season um so i hope that that gives them some confidence to be more creative in the attack yeah um but we'll again we'll see we'll see you all right um i didn't really know what segment our sponsor wants to the predictions right okay so uh the predictions uh for the 2026 season are brought to you by the doctor's office a great little 12 seat bar on capitol hill the owner is a big fan of the rain is proud to be your first sponsor he also gives tickets to the torrent game for free yeah thanks matt thanks matt what what is like your hot predictions hot predictions hot takes what do you got
00:45:56
Speaker
Okay, hot take. I think that we will sit in the top five. Okay. For up to up till the World Cup break. Okay. Don't ask me how.
00:46:07
Speaker
I'm just starting off this season with cautious optimism again. Does it let me down? Every year. Okay. um i think the I think that we're going to see a lot more movement in the table for the traditionally top level clubs.
00:46:25
Speaker
There's just been a lot going on with expansion teams and things like that. that I think that KC's got a new coach. There's a whole stuff going on there. So I think that there's going to be possibly some teams that potentially weren't great the last couple of years start to show a little bit more development and be up in contention.
00:46:49
Speaker
That's fair. Especially since Spirit lost Corey Bethune. Yep. Crazy. I know. um Other prediction... I don't know. I think they're going to get a home playoff match. Ooh, I'm going to go for that. i don't know if they're going to do the whole thing, but I feel i feel like they're going to eke out results better this year. i think it's just going to, just slight improvements will do a lot for this team. yeah And that'd be so, it's a difficult league, but just staying focused, which Harvey is really good at doing that with our players. um I think they'll grind out games. It's not going to always be fun to watch, but I think they're going grind out games. And I think they're going to get a home playoff match this year.
00:47:27
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's that's where I'm at. i don't i think the one thing I want to predict, and I really hope is true, but I just don't see it to be true, is having a ah golden boot contender, maybe even like a third place contender. But I just, I don't think that's going to happen. That would be nice, though. Well, if Maddie Darlene gets into the 10 goal range. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I think there's a very good chance that with Darlene and if the front whole front line kind of gets cooking in the way that I think we all see that they have the capabilities to do so, that means it's going be split goals between Darlene and hopefully Adames getting more time.
00:47:58
Speaker
um I just think that Darlene's got a little bit more of a solid, you know, like her starting position is a little bit more solidified. Yeah, she just has a nose for goal. Yeah. Not that Adames can't get that going. I'm not. I'm pretty. i feel pretty good that she could figure it out. Oh, yeah. It's just for whatever reason, Harvey has been a little skeptical of of starting her in the past regularly. um i think it's a defense thing, but she did pretty good last year. So I think I think she's earned her her her right to more minutes. So, yeah.
00:48:25
Speaker
um What do you think the like end results are going to be? Do you think do you think we're going to stick in top five by any end of the season? Yeah. OK, I think so, too. think we're going to be shield contenders? I don't. Why not? um I don't know. i just feel like Gotham's just so fucking stacked. And i I feel like the way that they won last year and the way that they kind of kept the momentum going and with the break that we're going to have for the World Cup and stuff, I think it it might time out well for them to to do it again, but with the shield. But we'll see. They just scared the shit out of me. So that's mostly what the problem is. But it's a stereo on maternity leave too because her wife had a baby or something. Yeah. so she's going to be out for a little bit. and We'll see if Roosevelt can stay healthy.
00:49:04
Speaker
They got a lot of things that like couple pieces fall apart and the whole thing is is iffy. Thanks again to our sponsor, The Doctor's Office. The Doctor's Office is the best place to grab a drink before or or after a rain match. Stop in a day and get one of their limited edition cocktails. Like the Lopsana. I could be butchering that. There's a very good chance I'm butchering that. Lopsana.
00:49:24
Speaker
Lopsana? Lopsana. Lopsana. It's sweet baked banana with spiced chocolate smoky Lopsang Souchong tea. I'm sure i'm also not doing great with that.
00:49:34
Speaker
ah Topped off with our salted Benedictine cream to soften your first sip. I love banana, baked banana, fried banana. Give it to me. Sounds so good. ah Anyways, go stop in today. Check out their Instagram at TDO Seattle. Or better yet, go drink there in person. Cheers. Cheers. I'll say about Matt.
00:49:54
Speaker
Oh, he has our trophy still. There's a trophy at Matt's bar, ah the doctor's office. And there's a little cooler if you somehow didn't catch this last year. But he has a trophy for our cooler player of the season. And he got the nameplate for who we have for last year, which is Claudia Dickey. So wo if you want to go check that out, I believe he's got it up there. um So we've got two names now on there. We've got Phoebe McLaren and Claudia Dickey.
00:50:20
Speaker
Yeah. So that's pretty fun. Pretty cool. Thanks, Matt, for doing that. Let's move on to do you have any other final thoughts on the rain? I'm looking forward to it. yeah i i don't feel bad about what's coming.
00:50:33
Speaker
I want everybody, every pundit that has been like, oh, the rain haven't done anything. They're going to be trash this year. i want them to all eat their words.
00:50:43
Speaker
I want everybody wondering what the, why we signed Mia Fischel and she's toast and it's a waste of money. i want all of them to eat their words. Yeah. I'm out for revenge this season. You don't talk about my team like that. To be fair, when Mia Fischel signed last year, it was a lot of, we're going to try to get her healthy and back to like full fitness.
00:51:04
Speaker
And then it was a long contract. The idea I think was if we can get something from her last season, awesome. But like the idea was a longer term situation. I know, people don't have attention spans anymore. now they're just talking shit and I hate it. Yeah. It wasn't like Mia Fishel was fully ready the whole season. Yeah. and In her peak fitness. So fingers crossed that that works out better for this season. i feel good about it. When she's on her game, she's fucking phenomenal. And that will feel like the big signing that we have all been hoping for. um Yeah. I think I'm excited for this season. is as as cynical as I may sound at times,
00:51:43
Speaker
at uh maybe um i'm just ready to win a championship and i have been for a long time and so that's where my frustration grows yeah i just want it to happen please i'm i'm not begging but i just i want to see like i want to i want to be able to look at this team and see the path Yeah. that they They have laid out to for how they they could do it, which could have happened last. Like, I saw what they were kind of doing last year. i understood what the the idea was. We just didn't have that little bit of quality at the end. um All right. ah Let's move on. We got some brief stuff we're to cover with the NWC and some other WOSO stuff. But NWC, there were some big moves in case you haven't heard. case you haven't heard, Corey Bethune.
00:52:33
Speaker
She's playing for KC? Is she really? Fuck me. I'm just kidding. I thought for some reason I thought she was somewhere else. Now I'm even more bad I mean, I just tried to put it out of my mind as quickly as I possibly fucking could. Did you just try to forget about it? Yeah, I mean, I knew she left, but I just like in my head, I was like refusing to believe it could be Casey. But now I remember the pictures. I totally remember. God, this sucks ass.
00:52:59
Speaker
she was up for grabs and casey why couldn't we get her they don't need her there it's stupid anyways cray bethune playing for casey now got bought from the spirit million dollar transfer fee worth every penny if you ask me i would have been fucking thrilled if the ring would have done that god that's so annoying apparently she wanted out though from uh from from the spirit yeah what's up with that I don't know. Not everything's peachy in Kingland. Unless you're ah Trini Rodman, I guess. Yeah. um I also wanted to point out a signing that Orlando made um for a forward. Her name's Seven Castane.
00:53:36
Speaker
ah This is just for me might be the rookie player to watch in the league this year. Um, she scored a goal against my team in playoffs last season. Um, when she was playing for Utah United in the USLW, um, they ended up went on to win the USLW championship. Um, she was crowned the USLW player of the year last year, went to TCU and was a part of that women's, uh, us women's national team development squad that they had training alongside, um the senior team at the last, um, call-ups. So that'll be interesting one to watch in Orlando.
00:54:10
Speaker
Boston and Denver, they're going to be playing this season for their joining the league. Finally, it doesn't seem like Boston's ah marketing strategy changed from boston nation. If you go go and look at what they've been doing, yeah they have like glory hole tattoos. It was basically, yeah they were temporary tattoos, but it was very Boston nation coded, know?
00:54:34
Speaker
That was fucking weird. um Should we just call them Boss Nation? I'm calling them Boss Nation until they don't seem douchey to me. But like that glory hole tattoo thing, that's Boss Nation.
00:54:46
Speaker
All right. Yeah. There's no like that's what it was. So it they had an event and they had temporary tattoos, but basically they had this like wall put up like cardboard wall put up with like holes in it. And you put your arm through and they would give you a mystery temporary tattoo on the other side. You couldn't see it. it's so fucking weird. Yeah, it was quite odd.
00:55:09
Speaker
Oh, God. And then Denver. don't know. We'll see. you Heaps is heaps is there. lean that i don't think they'll be bad. i don't think they'll be bad either. i don't know. I don't think Boston's going to be anything to write home about, but we'll see. I do like that. We have more teams. The competition's getting getting. It'll be more interesting. Yeah. because Sometimes it doesn't feel like there's enough teams. Most of the time it doesn't feel like there's enough teams. So the more parody.
00:55:31
Speaker
I'm ready for it. USM's national team. Fun fact, because we got that grass coming in for the World Cup, that means that we are able to host a USM's national team game now. So that was part of the really bad communication with the rain and the season ticket holders. The game's getting moved around. They offered tickets to go to this game. It'll be the first time Seattle has hosted the USM's national team since 2017. And that's going to be, it's also against Japan. It's April, April 14th against Japan. That's pretty fucking sick.
00:56:00
Speaker
I'm excited for this. Yeah. We're getting to the point where friendlies now, especially against teams like Japan, going to have to be taken a lot more seriously because our, you know, the Women's World Cup is next year. Yeah. Yeah. I'm i'm pretty stoked about this.
00:56:11
Speaker
I'm hoping that we get to see Claudia Dickey play in Seattle. That'd be sick. Yeah. i don't know what the going rates are for the tickets. U.S. soccer sucks at that and making it accessible for people.
00:56:22
Speaker
in my experience, though, they usually drop really cheap the same day. How excited are you for that? I'm super excited. I want to get press passes. They haven't opened them up. I know, but, like, I'm excited to experience that side of things. If yeah and when we can apply for those. So um She Believes Cup is also just wrapped up today. Bug, Dickie, and Darlene got called up, although Bug had some sort of injury that kept her from going. I think it was like a hamstring strain. Okay. I mean, with the season coming up, there's no reason to risk anything little. No. But Dickey got some time. Darlene got a little bit of time building up a few minutes there. It doesn't seem like doesn't seem like they're set on the goalkeeper situation still. So they're switching back and and forth between Dickey and Fallon Toast Joyce still. So got to make your moments count when you got him. There was a Rodman injury in the first game. It was fine. It ended up being fine. But it did look really scary for a second. Yeah, it was like she landed really hard on her back. And we know because of her back issues that that's a whole thing. So but she was able to come back and keep playing the next two games. So yeah, hopefully she's all right long term.
00:57:23
Speaker
And they and the USA won the She Believes Cup today. Yeah. By beating Columbia 1-0. Shocking. i don't i don't know. I just kind of hate the She Believes Cup. i'm go to be honest. It always seemed to me it to be a tournament that we made up to win.
00:57:38
Speaker
Which, like, I know we're going to win a lot of tournaments. That's no, you know, it's that's pretty, that's that's just the way it is being the U.S. women's soccer team. But yeah, i I don't understand their choices. I also fucking hate the name. That's probably my real problem is I hate the name.
00:57:52
Speaker
And I wish they would rebrand it it, but they're not going to. We're still going with it. um i what can't they like do they i just feel like they could bring in some other teams from europe but yeah i guess they're in season i don't know i don't know what the deal is but they're it's really not that exciting of a tournament uh there were some other rain call-ups um during the offseason mezza did he get a call-up mentee was also called on the senior national team was kind of I was kind of shocked Menti got in there, but hopeful. Maybe that's a good, I feel like that is a good sign. Yeah.
00:58:22
Speaker
And then we had our young players getting called into the U20. Was it just the U20? Didn't we have a U? It was too. Okay. But Adamas, Cedeno, Cedeno, Cedeno. I should look this up. Cedeno, Cedeno. I don't think it's in the... They do have a pronunciation guide in the media center.
00:58:39
Speaker
Okay. I'll get on this for everyone so we all know, um but that's not right now. And then McCammon also got a call in. I'm really excited for McCammon. And then our non-US Women's National Team players, James Turner. Haidama also played in the She Believes Cup.
00:58:53
Speaker
but Do you have any comments on her performance? She, the whole, the whole entire Canada team looked terrible. She was their most dangerous player in this last game that they played ah against Argentina.
00:59:04
Speaker
And she looked good, but again, did not score. Yeah. And missed a, but well, you said she had her penalty blocked, saved. Yeah. So I guess she's not taking penalty. Yeah. No, she is definitely not taking penalties. ah Coco got called up too for Haiti, but she didn't go. um i don't know. i There's a lot of shit going on with the U.S. and getting back into the country. I don't know if that has something to do with it. I don't know. Speculation. um But yeah, she just stayed with the the rain instead.
00:59:35
Speaker
um Yeah. Anything else? Sedenia is not in the pronunciation guide yet. okay We'll get it. We'll figure it out. I tried to listen to it a few times when I was watching that interview with her, but it was a few days ago they had watched that. If any of you are ever curious, you can go into the media center on the Reigns site and you can listen to the players say their name. Montessir is the best one.
00:59:54
Speaker
Her French accent is nice. It's nice. Yeah. Cool. Well, that's kind of the last bits of random shit I wanted to go over. We have our opening match happening next Sunday against three games in a row I wonder how many times does this has happened.
01:00:10
Speaker
It's against the Orlando Pride, which last season, that was our last game was against Orlando Pride. And then our playoff game was against Orlando Pride. And now playing Orlando Pride to open the season. I wonder how many times that's ever happened. I know. We love playing Orlando at the very beginning and the very end. Yeah. um So that's going to be an away game Sunday, March 15th, 1 p.m. It's on Victory Plus. This is a new thing, right? Yeah. New streaming site. Is it free? Yeah. OK. Yeah. It's a free it's a free thing. They're trying to hold thing over at Victory Plus. They're bringing in like tech talk people to do short media stuff for the league. They're trying something new. I appreciate that.
01:00:45
Speaker
Sure. I know we as people in our mid-30s are not as maybe keen on those types of... Are you in your late Shut up. I had to say it. I'm closer to 35 than I am 40. Sure, but you're... Okay. It's getting close though. Fuck.
01:01:04
Speaker
I'm Such a dick. Hey, I got one year, you know, one year to Yeah. So I give you shit whenever can. Yeah, we're not the people to, we're not the target audience for these things.
01:01:15
Speaker
No, we are definitely not. ah The game will also be on ah Fox 13 Plus if you are a local viewer. I'm not. Okay. ah what are you What are you most looking forward to for the game?
01:01:28
Speaker
ah I'm looking forward to just seeing, number one, the formation. What's kind of just feeling out what Laura Harvey's thinking, where this might go, um and seeing how players are utilized differently than maybe they were last season. Yeah.
01:01:44
Speaker
Because it seemed like they were a bit underutilized, but that was kind of the point with stacking the defense to play Harvey ball and maybe being able to unlock parts of players' games that were kind of, they weren't really able to show last season.
01:01:58
Speaker
Yeah, they sat back a lot. That can't happen again if they want to score goals. They want to score goals and they want people to keep watching. Yeah, it's tough out there right now to be a Green fan to to defend what is happening sometimes. Yeah. I mean, I'm fine with it if it gets results. Like, I don't give a fuck. It's like how the Seahawks won the Super Bowl. i was like, I'm fine with all this kicking. That's great by me. they win, I don't care. Just get the job done.
01:02:24
Speaker
Defense first. I think there's nothing wrong with doing that either. No, there's not. but I think just for, like, reception, like, general public reception and, like, growing the club in the community, they need to be more exciting to watch. Absolutely. So, let's do that. Yeah.
01:02:42
Speaker
Please. Oh! I'm begging. Yeah, we'll see what what happens. I'm curious about what's going to happen with like marketing strategies and all that stuff um and kind of where they step up on that. um I think they hired a new person in social media or like the media side. For video, yeah. Yeah, they were looking for a videographer for a while. And now they're putting out like preseason stuff that's like a lot more quality than what we've seen in the past.
New Season and Media Highlights
01:03:10
Speaker
And um if you guys haven't gone to the Rain YouTube channel yet, um the new season of Cloak and Crown is first episode dropped the other day. So go watch that.
01:03:23
Speaker
Yeah, it's a fun little thing that they're doing. I think it's a good ah tradition to keep happening to. I like it. I think it's good team building exercise. And I don't know, traders is very popular. So it's smart of them to do something like that. And it gets, you know, one of my gripes last year was not having a player that was really your star, you know, with the personality. Somebody players want to latch or fans want to latch on to. And you get a little bit of that more in these kinds of things that they put out.
01:03:53
Speaker
Just looking at how many views they have on it. They could be doing more. It's so hard to say. I wouldn't look through like other NWSL teams and how they're like ah social media performs and stuff like that. And I wouldn't say we're like abysmal, we're kind of kind of in the middle slash upper part of it, especially with our attendance. If you can do like a comparison of attendance and all that stuff, it's not so bad.
01:04:12
Speaker
But yeah, don't know. They got some good ah some good ideas. And I think the videos that they did for the new kit was really nice too. um Didn't they do an interview too with ah Me Official recently?
01:04:25
Speaker
She was out at the like one of the media things for the league. Yeah. Oh my God. Did you see that video? They were asking questions of, I got to pull this up. Yeah, they did do a little video with Fish. It was like partnership with MultiCare. Oh, I saw that.
01:04:39
Speaker
Did you watch this Instagram video? Yeah. see So they ask Emery Adames
01:04:48
Speaker
which club won the first NWSL championship. And of course the answer is Portland. Yeah. But listen to listen to her response. Well, I can't say that anyway, so I was never going to answer that.
01:05:00
Speaker
Let's go Western. I was never going to answer that. I can't say that anyway. Yeah, but then someone else did not guess the Thorns afterwards, so it's like Thorns Erasure, yes, correct. Like a one game fucking playoff series. was stupid. oh all right.
AI in Sports and Special Recognitions
01:05:16
Speaker
guess we didn't really get into the M.A.S. AI stuff, but you know.
01:05:20
Speaker
We have plenty of games to come. Yeah, it's doing it. Got bad news for you all. If you don't want AI stuff, you probably shouldn't be following sports. It's the future. It's not even the future. It's current. um All right. I think do you got, do what do you think is anything we're going win this first game?
01:05:35
Speaker
Yes. Wow. I'm not strong. I think it'll be a one, one draw. Okay. Any shout outs before we wrap everything up? Shout out to all of the female winter Olympians. Hell yeah. um Special shout out to the U S women's hockey team. Hillary Knight. Hillary Knight. Damn. That goal was nice. Yeah. Felt so good.
01:05:53
Speaker
Yeah. any You? Any a shout
Community Engagement and Sponsorship
01:05:55
Speaker
out? Was it Ron? Ron bought me a drink? Yeah. Shout out Ron. Shout out Ron. I finally went and got that drink. I had to put a reminder. I always forget. So Ron, our buddy Ron, he left he came in through where I live at and and ah stopped by one of the breweries that, it's like a local's brewery, but he has had the audacity go there. It's just like, It's just like off the beaten path enough for tourists that it usually ends up just being locals. um But yeah, he bought me a beer or I guess the Cooler Guild a beer. And ah he said, whoever gets to redeem it first, it's their beer. And since I live in the town where he dropped it, I finally and picked it up. So thanks, Ron. It was nice. It was also funny because it was like a little gift card that they had like in the register. and I saw like the piece of like painter's tape or whatever. And it's like Cooler Guild on it. And she's like, it's been in here a while. And I was just like, I always forget. Like, I just don't, I don't know. I also wasn't drinking for a little bit. So, I mean, I was drinking, but I wasn't going because it was just Fort George Stout Month. That's pretty much where I was going.
01:06:55
Speaker
But yeah, shout out Ron. Thanks. Appreciate that. It was really nice. Love Obelisk. Great, great brewery. um Yeah, I think that's all I got. Thanks again to our sponsor, The Doctor's Office. You can go follow us on Blue Sky and Instagram at CoolerGuildPod.
01:07:10
Speaker
ah You can email us. Again, if you have a place to stay in Spokane, ah send us an email. Thecoolerguild at gmail.com. You can also go to our main page and ah subscribe to Sounder at Heart and get on the Discord at sounderatheart.com forward slash thecoolerguild.
01:07:25
Speaker
We're on YouTube, youtube.com forward slash at thecoolerguild. Wherever you're listening, please go rate five stars. Until next time, I'm Coop. I'm Van. Stay cool, y'all. Stay cool.
01:08:00
Speaker
That's an interesting name. It's from the Bible. and yeah don't Yeah. That book? ah Not a part of that book club. No, definitely not. um