Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to No Pyro, No Podcast, an Armada fancast where we talk all things Jacksonville Armada.
Speaker: I'm your host, Daniel Dad Johnson, and in today's episode we have Derek.
Speaker: Hey, what's going on, everyone?
Speaker: And the veteran, James.
Speaker: Hey, it's been a minute, lads.
Speaker: Good evening to you.
Speaker: Who's this guy again?
Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker: We're going to get a leprechaun in here.
Speaker: Top of the morning to you.
Speaker: Top of the evening to you.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: So we have another guest for this episode who might be a little bit of a surprise, would you say?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: We're going to continue with this last interview that we had.
Speaker: This is season two, so we're trying to venture outside of Jacksonville Armada, but it's still something lower league soccer related.
Speaker: So I'm kind of loving the potential of this interview and hearing from people outside of our specific club.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker: We're starting a little bit earlier than we did last season, so we do have some spots to fill.
Speaker: So we're getting creative.
Speaker: Jed, so my nickname for this fella that we're about to interview is Lawnmower Man.
Speaker: I'll let that sit with you.
Speaker: Okay, so everybody can marinate on that a little bit.
Speaker: Why not Tulsa King?
Speaker: You had Sylvester Stallone have that great series, and
Speaker: And this guy represents everything Tulsa.
Speaker: He's kind of the king of it.
Speaker: Okay, well, now you've basically given it away.
Speaker: It's on top of the world right now, or the NPSL world right now.
Speaker: We just bloody ruined it.
Speaker: Yeah, so thanks, Derek, for ruining it.
Speaker: So we will jump right to our interview with our special guest for this episode.
Speaker: You're going to hear his name in like 10 seconds.
Speaker: Bloody Derek.
Speaker: Jeez.
Speaker: Can't have nothing, I'm sorry.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Joining us now is Sonny DeLessandra from Tulsa Athletics.
Speaker: Sonny, how are you today?
Speaker: I'm good, guys.
Speaker: Thanks for having me on.
Speaker: Oh, great to have you, man.
Speaker: So I see you're originally from Wisconsin.
Speaker: How did you end up in Tulsa?
Speaker: Yeah, that's a good question.
Speaker: So I was born in Wisconsin in late October and in northern Wisconsin.
Speaker: And in about the middle of December, my mom said, get me the fuck out of northern Wisconsin.
Speaker: So, so, yeah, my my aunt actually was a stewardess and she got married to a guy in Tulsa.
Speaker: So my dad would visit her all the time and they they moved.
Speaker: They moved south.
Speaker: So, yeah.
Speaker: And that's.
Speaker: Kind of all she wrote.
Speaker: I've been here.
Speaker: I've lived in some places throughout my life, but I've called Tulsa home throughout the majority of it.
Speaker: Easiest city to get around in the United States.
Speaker: You can't get lost in Tulsa.
Speaker: It's just a square grid pretty much everywhere you go.
Speaker: It's pretty easy.
Speaker: I thought Oklahoma City was easy to live in there for a few years, but also it's like you guys really make it easy.
Speaker: Like every 10 blocks is a mile.
Speaker: Yeah, that's it.
Speaker: That's it.
Speaker: We dumbed it down as much as it could be dumbed down.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: That's a fun town, though.
Speaker: It is.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: So I have a follow-up question for you.
Speaker: How did you end up actually owning a soccer team?
Speaker: I mean, is that something you wanted when you were a young kid?
Speaker: Did you say, when I grew up, I want to own a soccer team?
Speaker: Or how did that happen?
Speaker: I mean, I think a lot of sports fans say they want to own a sports team when they're younger.
Speaker: So that's probably a small part of it.
Speaker: You know, I played professionally for about four or five years, and I never really liked the way my career ended.
Speaker: And about, gosh, geez, 14 or 15 years ago, I was like, you know what, I'm going to get fit again.
Speaker: And I'm going to try and give this a go and get the ESPN 30 for 30 sunset ending that I thought I deserved as a human being.
Speaker: And kind of got myself in good shape and had a couple of opportunities to play.
Speaker: I played indoor, so I was going to go somewhere and then
Speaker: I own a restaurant, and I think we lost a chef or a dishwasher in the kitchen.
Speaker: And I was like, hang on, I'm going to move across the country, let my business operate on autopilot for very little money just because I want my ending to be different.
Speaker: And it was like this really kind of humbling moment of, look, buddy, you don't get the storybook ending.
Speaker: But at the same time, it kind of made me recognize that that competitive piece of me is always going to exist.
Speaker: So I connected with one of my best friends growing up, who's like a local sports medicine doctor here in town, and ran the idea of launching something here.
Speaker: And his wife looked at him and said, look, if this is your midlife crisis, I guess it beats a motorcycle.
Speaker: Pretty much how it came to fruition.
Speaker: Mine was a podcast.
Speaker: Yeah, there you go.
Speaker: I understand that.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: So your team, Tulsa Athletic, you guys started about 11 years ago, and you guys have consistently been one of the better teams in the NPSL, went in about 70% of your game since the start.
Speaker: What do you think is the biggest contributor to the culture that you guys have built in Tulsa?
Speaker: That's another good question.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know, I think at this level, you have to really have everybody buy in.
Speaker: You know, you're dealing, you know, we're dealing with a lot of college kids.
Speaker: We're dealing with some guys who have played at a higher level and see this as dropping back.
Speaker: So it's imperative that everyone buys into a system.
Speaker: I think one thing that we do here that might be a little bit unique and we probably, everyone's probably tired of hearing the stories online or whatever, but
Speaker: There's no, I'm not above any task at the club.
Speaker: I, I do mow the field.
Speaker: I have clean toilets.
Speaker: Uh, my mom takes tickets.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: We really take that approach.
Speaker: And I think it's been my experience in business and in life in general.
Speaker: When you see people that could be in a position where they do see themselves above certain things, but they choose not to.
Speaker: I think one, that's infectious.
Speaker: And two, it sort of promotes this sense of accountability for players.
Speaker: You know,
Speaker: if you pull out of a tackle and you see, you look over and the owner is literally Brown from having mowed the field as grass all over me.
Speaker: Like, I'll tell you who would have got stuck in that guy over there.
Speaker: So, um, you know, I think that that contributes to the culture that we want to, um, instill in our players.
Speaker: It's a real blue collar mentality that this game, and especially at this level is not always going to be beautiful, but if you look across and you're willing to outwork the guy across from you, um,
Speaker: then, you know, not just in soccer, but in life, I think it's going to promote your chances being a little bit better of you getting somewhere.
Speaker: So, yeah, I'd say that's probably a big part of it right there.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: I'm not sure.
Speaker: I think James was – I think he might be disconnecting right now, but the –
Speaker: he was actually going to ask that same question of literally what you said about mowing the lawn, washing the kits and setting up.
Speaker: And so I found it funny that you just led right into that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So,
Speaker: Welcome to the bigs.
Speaker: Welcome to the big leagues.
Speaker: Maybe you made James mad and he logged off.
Speaker: Damn it.
Speaker: He answered my question before I get asked.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Did anyone have questions?
Speaker: I need to steal.
Speaker: Why am I here?
Speaker: But shortly after Tulsa Athletics started, USL planted a flag in Tulsa as well.
Speaker: Did this change any of your guys' long-term goals with the team?
Speaker: Yeah, 100%.
Speaker: I mean, after our first year,
Speaker: I think we averaged like 3,400 fans our first season.
Speaker: And in 2013, that was a pretty significant number.
Speaker: You know, all things like disclosing everything.
Speaker: We met with MLS.
Speaker: We met with the Hunt Sports Group in Dallas.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Bill Peterson came to Tulsa with the NASL and, you know, we were talking with, um, with you.
Speaker: And I haven't heard that name in a while.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Bill Peterson came down here.
Speaker: So that was, I think right around the time you guys were launching.
Speaker: Cause one, we didn't really know what we had done and how it was significant and,
Speaker: What the next step looked like.
Speaker: So we was just kind of this exploratory phase.
Speaker: And then it's kind of got dropped in on our lap that there was a pro team here.
Speaker: It was really a spillover from what was going on in Oklahoma City at the time with there was an NASL team in in Oklahoma City that.
Speaker: got this stadium first and the USL group wanted the same stadium, but they gave it to the NSL group.
Speaker: And then the USL group decided they were going to go first and play in 2014.
Speaker: And, um, well, the USL group was actually part of the ownership from NASL group too.
Speaker: So it's crazy.
Speaker: That whole story with rail is crazy.
Speaker: And the, the, the turf may be one of the biggest legends in all of the United States history.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: But that unfortunately that kind of spilled over because I think they looked at, well, Oklahoma city's nasty, like let's run to Tulsa and do this land grab.
Speaker: And we just kind of got caught in the crosshairs of that.
Speaker: So, um,
Speaker: Did it change what we were going to do?
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: A year or two for us with not a pro team coming to town, we could have pretty aggressively increased our budget.
Speaker: Looked at creating hospitality suites, revitalizing this old stadium that we were just kind of maintaining at the time.
Speaker: We went from growth mode to survival mode.
Speaker: And, you know, we had to tighten our belt a little bit and we've had to weather some storms.
Speaker: And, you know, at the end of the day, when we lost that stadium, it was kind of like we had to really have a look in the mirror at what, you know, who we were, who we were as a club.
Speaker: And if that could translate to, you know, playing for in a, in an open park for two years.
Speaker: And then obviously where, where we play now as well.
Speaker: It was a really difficult time.
Speaker: I mean, if I'm being completely honest, there were some stomachache moments where it's not a great feeling when you guys are going through it.
Speaker: You know, there's a USL thing that's launched in the market.
Speaker: I don't know how that's playing out.
Speaker: Never heard of them.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker: I like you guys' position, but it's just not always a nice feeling for the most part to know that the community isn't working together to achieve something, I think.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: League aside, it's like,
Speaker: Nothing would have made my business partner and I happier than the guys who were launching the pro club, setting all of the petulant bullshit on the side and saying, we love what you guys did.
Speaker: We have some money and want to be a part of what you're doing.
Speaker: You know, I would have been happy to sell 40% of my equity in the club and just take a board seat and sort of be a steward and a Sherpa for what we, for what the vision of the club is and connecting it with the community.
Speaker: Because
Speaker: that's all I think any of us really want to do at the end of the day is have something in our community that brings people together.
Speaker: So when the other side of it comes in, you know, it shook us to the core because we didn't know if we were going to survive.
Speaker: And it's been a fun ride and we've got a bunch of cool stories along the way.
Speaker: And there have been innumerable clubs in our position that did go away.
Speaker: So, you know, it's stuff like that where I really, you know, every time I see our volunteers, like I have the utmost respect because
Speaker: And they've been through the wars and we're still here and we're still standing.
Speaker: And we had a really neat year last year.
Speaker: So it's been it's been fun.
Speaker: Well, the last five years is actually you guys have had your most successful four regional finals.
Speaker: Um, including a night here in Jacksonville in 2022 where, um, Bryson Reed, who probably had the best goalkeeping performance I've seen in the NPSL and the dude absolutely broke my heart.
Speaker: Uh, so what do you remember most about that 2022 run and how did it prepare you guys for that 2023 run?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, you know, I mean, really the 2021 set it up cause we were so close.
Speaker: It was an international championship.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: The Jacksonville trip was, you know, it was...
Speaker: I think we took like four minivans.
Speaker: 16 and a half hours, right?
Speaker: 16 and a half hours.
Speaker: We had hotels in Memphis, but we decided, we made the last minute decision, like let's bomb in all the way to Jacksonville.
Speaker: That's how you got to do it.
Speaker: You had to.
Speaker: It wasn't eight hours of travel on game day.
Speaker: I was like, you know what?
Speaker: Let's just go balls to the wall.
Speaker: Get the boys in.
Speaker: Get them fed.
Speaker: Get them sleep.
Speaker: Recovery setup session.
Speaker: My mom lives in Oklahoma City, so I make that drive from Jacksonville to Oklahoma City and back.
Speaker: It's an all-nighter.
Speaker: It sucks.
Speaker: It does.
Speaker: It's either stop in Birmingham or stop in Memphis.
Speaker: That's the two points, and it's just not worth it at that point.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: Yeah, we went in.
Speaker: I mean, you guys had such a nice team.
Speaker: I think at the time you were the number one seed in the country.
Speaker: That's correct.
Speaker: Undefeated.
Speaker: Undefeated.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, I'll share something with you guys.
Speaker: Maybe I'm saying a little bit too much.
Speaker: I didn't think that you guys were ready to win it yet.
Speaker: I had watched the games prior to it and
Speaker: you were trying to give games away and like the quality, the quality that you had was just kind of pulling you through.
Speaker: So I knew if we could kind of stick around the game, let Bryson do what he does.
Speaker: And then if I figured if we punched you guys in the mouth once you would be susceptible and we were lucky enough to kind of get a followup chance after we scored and tucked out one away too.
Speaker: And I knew from there it was going to be really, really difficult.
Speaker: Just, just mentality wise to, to get back in it.
Speaker: The boys were fantastic on the night.
Speaker: And yeah, just going on the road and playing in an atmosphere.
Speaker: The atmosphere there was great.
Speaker: You know, having drinks with you guys under the bridge over there.
Speaker: Maybe I can or can't say that.
Speaker: No, you can.
Speaker: That's fine.
Speaker: That may or may not have been a school property.
Speaker: So I don't know if legally...
Speaker: Well, I don't think it's the first time any of us have had drinks under a bridge near a school property.
Speaker: It had just been a few years for me.
Speaker: So, yeah, great, great atmosphere that you guys put on.
Speaker: It was it was a special, special result.
Speaker: I remember that the trophy accidentally got fired.
Speaker: was forgotten.
Speaker: So my captain said, well, what do you want me to lift?
Speaker: I said, I don't know.
Speaker: Go take the lid off that water jug or something.
Speaker: So he hoisted it.
Speaker: And then like a complete idiot, like they were dancing around as you do.
Speaker: And he like kind of chucked it.
Speaker: And of course it felt like,
Speaker: right in the middle of all the Jacksonville players.
Speaker: So I'm like, God damn it.
Speaker: Like now there's a little like vitriol and a little bit of like beef between.
Speaker: I'm like, let's just guys, let's just get out of here.
Speaker: Side note.
Speaker: We did have the lid taken to the trophy shop and made into, maybe I'll send you a picture if you want to do like a picture.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's bad enough that I have that night as my screensaver for my computer and my phone just because at the end, four of my favorite players, we gave them some smoke bombs.
Speaker: They lit them off, and it was just a good moment even though it wasn't a good moment.
Speaker: It's good memories that whole season.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker: Yeah, it sucks though that that's my screensaver and you guys just completely ripped my hearts out that night.
Speaker: I do the same thing.
Speaker: I take those moments, those chips on our shoulder and I use them to motivate us to keep moving forward and to keep pushing on.
Speaker: So I'm with you there.
Speaker: I have put similar moments as my screensavers in the past as well.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: you guys will get there's too much quality down there you guys will get over the line at some point for sure hey sunny uh so speaking of that that that exact night um i've heard that there's a documentary in the works can you uh add any uh progress to the actual documentary itself and is any of the the events that you spoke about going to be called in the uh documentary
Speaker: Yeah, it's kind of where it starts.
Speaker: Like, you know, we wanted so that like there we've got some phone footage that'll probably go in there and then we lose to Motown in the next game.
Speaker: That's kind of like
Speaker: a little bit of the first episode.
Speaker: So we've, we've written out nine episodes or we've mapped out nine episodes and we're just kind of filming, getting ready to start filming some of the, um, interviews.
Speaker: Cause you know, I mean, I've never had to do this before.
Speaker: So sometimes the, the, the story arc can be contingent on how, um,
Speaker: interview questions are answered and that you can almost develop a plot within a plot.
Speaker: So, um, you know, we're going to do some ride alongs with some of the guys going to their, their, their day jobs, their nine to fives.
Speaker: Cause we want real, I think the, the coolest part about what we do is the human side of it.
Speaker: You know, so oftentimes you see sport on TV and
Speaker: And it's like, I don't live on the same planet as the guy that makes a fucking hundred million dollars.
Speaker: But if my left back changed my tires on Thursday and is playing on Saturday, like I'm into that.
Speaker: Like there's something beautiful and tangible about that.
Speaker: So we want to be able to tell that story.
Speaker: You know, it's.
Speaker: I think last year was really magical for us to capture.
Speaker: It's really special.
Speaker: So there's kind of this added pressure of doing it right.
Speaker: So, yeah, we're not trying to rush ourselves.
Speaker: But at the same time, you don't want to release something in 2027 that happened in 2023 either.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: That's one thing that, you know, you hit the nail on the head is the human side.
Speaker: I think that's what a lot of people miss.
Speaker: I think the Welcome to Rex and People did that very well in their first season.
Speaker: They were, you know, going around and showing some of the stuff that the players were doing because they had a... Or even Sunderland till I die.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Soccer's all about community.
Speaker: It is.
Speaker: And so, yeah, that was a, you know, that's a good thing to call out.
Speaker: I was just going to say, going back to your time in Jacksonville,
Speaker: That was the first time we actually met.
Speaker: You know, all of us were, I think all of us were there at the tailgate or most of us were there at the tailgate.
Speaker: And, you know, here's this guy walking up.
Speaker: We're like, who's this Tulsa guy?
Speaker: I guess we'll, we'll share if you have a few beers with him.
Speaker: And we come to find out you're the owner.
Speaker: That's just really cool.
Speaker: So good stuff.
Speaker: Well, I appreciate that.
Speaker: You know, anytime I go like I had the opportunity one time to watch Arsenal from the luxury suite, like Carling Beer was courting my former brother-in-law to put their beer on the handles.
Speaker: I watched like
Speaker: 10 minutes of it from the suite.
Speaker: And I was like, get me in with the supporters.
Speaker: I mean, I'm definitely more of a supporter at heart.
Speaker: So going in and seeing how other cultures are with their club and how they get together and, and what they do is always really cool.
Speaker: You guys were really welcoming.
Speaker: Had you not been, there would have been zero hard feelings, but everyone was, everyone was, was really, really cool.
Speaker: Um, I did feel a little pressure to do more jello shots than I typically do, but, um,
Speaker: I was at a time in my life where that was fine, and I can still get down with gelatinous booze.
Speaker: God, it's so hard to hate you, man.
Speaker: You are such a good guy.
Speaker: I guarantee you there's people listening to the podcast like, why can't this be our owner?
Speaker: I mean, I do – I rescue dogs and do kids' cooking camps too if you want me to really rub it into you guys' faces.
Speaker: We have this saved for later because we usually have this in every one of our episodes.
Speaker: What are your feelings on pineapple on pizza?
Speaker: Um, as a restaurant, you're in the restaurant business, but it is, but personally pineapple and pizza.
Speaker: Yes or no?
Speaker: Well, I don't, I don't do it.
Speaker: Uh, personally, uh, my, my, my thoughts on it are, um, you know, if you personally want to make your food, however you want to make it,
Speaker: because taste is subjective, then that's on you.
Speaker: Are you running for office?
Speaker: No, shit, no.
Speaker: I've got a little more on the plate.
Speaker: But no, you know, I've had like, here, let me say this.
Speaker: I've had like a Canadian bacon jalapeno pineapple pizza before, like I've had a slice before.
Speaker: And I was like, I mean, I get why people like it.
Speaker: It's just not anything I would do if I were ordering a pizza.
Speaker: I'm like old school, New York style.
Speaker: If you can't get the cheese, the cheese and the sauce and the crust right, then what are we doing?
Speaker: Well, did you like James will tell you in England, they put sweet corn on pizza.
Speaker: Oh, and they put eggs on their fucking hamburgers too.
Speaker: They're, they're a mess.
Speaker: You passed the pineapple test.
Speaker: That was an acceptable answer.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Let's get back into the fun stuff for you, though.
Speaker: So 2023 was a crazy year for you guys.
Speaker: Started out, you guys were in the Open Cup.
Speaker: You guys were the last fourth division club standing in the Open Cup, which you guys were able to get prize money, which I think was about $25,000.
Speaker: And you guys were planning on doing some upgrades to Hicks Field.
Speaker: But you guys had a little tiff with the NPSL about the home ground being not suitable as they deemed it.
Speaker: What happened with that?
Speaker: Well, you know, I can only say a little bit about it because I feel that it's kind of still ongoing and I don't even really deal with it too much.
Speaker: But what I can say is I think what we would really like is just a little bit of direction because we asked on numerous occasions where we were deficient.
Speaker: And on several occasions, we were told that we were we can't play in an open park.
Speaker: And for me, I was like, there's an eight foot tall fence around the thing.
Speaker: And my mom takes tickets through a metal gate that you have to walk through, um, like iron bar metal gate that you have to walk through.
Speaker: So, um, yeah, it's, you know, it's kind of weird.
Speaker: We're just in a holding pattern because we would, what we want to do most is invest money and time and continue to make that like one of the coolest little modular venues in the United States.
Speaker: But at the same time,
Speaker: it doesn't make a lot of sense to invest time, money and effort into something, knowing that it may not be approved.
Speaker: So I think there's just like a little bit of a communication breakdown there and I've kind of stepped aside from it.
Speaker: So I'm letting, letting my business partner, Dr. Kern handle that.
Speaker: And once, once I'm given the green light, I mean,
Speaker: You guys know me from just this call, but we saw down an old baseball backstop and repurposed it as a top rail that goes around the field like an English 5th or 6th division stadium.
Speaker: I saw that in the 2022 playoffs when you guys were playing the team from Lone Star when you guys beat them on penalty kicks.
Speaker: Oh, Laredo.
Speaker: Yeah, we still had a little yellow rope around the field then, which I understand.
Speaker: I was like, I get it.
Speaker: That's not acceptable.
Speaker: So when we tore that backstop down, we made a more,
Speaker: permanent.
Speaker: Well, it is, it's like, I mean, it's an iron rail that goes around the whole field.
Speaker: So we, you know, we're all soccer nerds.
Speaker: Like it's just little stuff like that.
Speaker: That's cool that we want to, we want to get to, I mean, we've got, we have some more shipping containers that we're going to build into suites that look over the field.
Speaker: I just, yeah, we have plans for a pub with three 40 foot shipping containers with patios on either side of it.
Speaker: And yeah, I mean, there's so much cool stuff you, that,
Speaker: that you can do these days.
Speaker: And when we kind of gave up on the dream that the MLS or NASL, that was going to, that was not going to be us.
Speaker: When we redefined ourselves, it was like, well, you know what I would like to be?
Speaker: I would like to be a club who can serve as a template to other, other small clubs around the country.
Speaker: You know, I'm, I'm easy to get ahold of and I love talking about this stuff and I love sharing it, but yeah,
Speaker: You know, you don't need five million.
Speaker: It's like, hey, here's a blueprint for a small amount of money where you can make your ground feel cozy and like a home home for your for your club and, you know, nasty for the away team to come into it.
Speaker: If that's the way I can contribute to start to seed some of the culture in, you know, Salina, Kansas or wherever else like that, that would be, I think, ideal when I look back for, it's like, Hey man, you were impactful.
Speaker: You helped bring this game.
Speaker: to some of those small communities where it didn't exist already and in a sustainable way where they can move forward and, and, and have something exciting that, that didn't exist there prior to that.
Speaker: So I think that that's, um, what we really like to be known as.
Speaker: Uh, so yeah, hopefully there's a, hopefully things get worked out and there's a little bit of communication that goes on between the league and the, and the club and,
Speaker: They can give me the green light because, man, I haven't worked a 106-hour week with concrete in, you know, God, months.
Speaker: So I'm ready to get back to it.
Speaker: You guys actually had to do the unfortunate thing of relocating to Roger State University last year.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Obviously not an ideal situation for you guys to be in before the start of the season.
Speaker: How did that affect attendance for your local fan base?
Speaker: I mean –
Speaker: Again, I can't say too much, but it was devastating.
Speaker: You know, the national final looks great.
Speaker: It's not hard to sell out a national final game.
Speaker: And we had one full side of the stadium was completely packed and a good portion of the other side.
Speaker: But where we had to play for 35 or 40 miles from where we're at, so...
Speaker: you know, you guys are supporters and you guys love your clubs.
Speaker: So, you know, it's like the one thing that you don't want to do is like tax the people that love your club.
Speaker: Like you don't want to make it difficult for them to find you.
Speaker: You want to make it easy.
Speaker: You want to make it simple for them to take ownership of the club.
Speaker: And,
Speaker: You know, we went from our first two games averaging about 1,600 fans a game at this little fenced-in park that we were developing to, I think, our opener against Reign FK.
Speaker: I think we had like 60 people there.
Speaker: It's just like, God.
Speaker: You know, and it's hard for me.
Speaker: It just feels like magic.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And those are some, unfortunately, like the look in the mirror moments where it's like, hey, if we're out here,
Speaker: I don't know if our business can last.
Speaker: We had a good year and we won a little bit of prize money and we made a little bit of money from our Open Cup games, but we were growing and taking steps forward, developing that venue.
Speaker: You know, the league asked us to play somewhere else.
Speaker: And, you know, if I'm being completely honest, I see it from the league side a little bit, too.
Speaker: Like they don't want a national championship game there or whatever.
Speaker: And that's fine.
Speaker: Like it's probably not ready for one if I'm being completely honest.
Speaker: Are we looking to get it so that it is?
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: you know, if, if for the national semis and final, they like for us to play somewhere else and we're open to those conversations.
Speaker: Um, but you know, our, our conference knows that it's a, a great atmosphere and a great environment, which is for players looking to and aspiring to play at the next level, getting a taste of a difficult environments is important in maturing as a, as a footballer.
Speaker: So, um,
Speaker: Yeah, it's where we'd like to be.
Speaker: It's where we're financially sustainable.
Speaker: It's where we would like to develop and, like I said, really kind of set the precedent for what can be done in similar scenarios.
Speaker: Okay, so on the field, you guys were the number one seed in the Heartland Conference, and you guys got the chance to beat your rivals from Oklahoma City in the Heartland Conference Final.
Speaker: And your team goes to Des Moines for the Midwest Regional Final, which were for some reason played on Friday, and then the winners played on Saturday the next day.
Speaker: What did you think of the change in the playoff format?
Speaker: Because in previous years, the NPSL did Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, three straight weeks.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: You know, I don't sit on the board anymore.
Speaker: I remember what my board conversations were like.
Speaker: And, you know, obviously the safety of the players is important.
Speaker: And at the same time, there's a lot of teams in this country.
Speaker: And America is a very expansive place, too.
Speaker: So I see both sides of it.
Speaker: You know, for me, like you get a scenario because we were the number four.
Speaker: I think 12 overall.
Speaker: I think, I think, yeah, but I think going in there, I think we were the three and Des Moines was the two.
Speaker: So you end up with a, the host team not being in the final.
Speaker: And that, you know, that means basically that one team was, it came at the expense of one team getting a gate.
Speaker: So, um, yeah, we might've even been the, I think, yeah, we were the three.
Speaker: So, um,
Speaker: Yeah, you know, there's all different ways to look at it.
Speaker: My preference, I think, would probably do that Wednesday, Saturday thing, but then have the teams communicate.
Speaker: So maybe there's like a little bit of a gate share or something that can offset some of the travel expenses for the traveling team.
Speaker: So that between the league subsidy and a little bit of a taste off the gate or something like that, that there's...
Speaker: something like how the England does the FA cup a little bit.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: I think they do like an FA cup.
Speaker: They do like a quarter, like the away team gets a quarter.
Speaker: That's why they want those big man, you away draws and stuff like that.
Speaker: But yeah.
Speaker: And you know, you get the questions from the college coaches that, you know, they're like, Hey, did you, cause we, I think we played, we went to overtime in the final.
Speaker: So they're like, Hey, did you put, did you just put 210 minutes on one of my starter's legs in, in, in, you know,
Speaker: 26 hours and you're like, yeah, sorry.
Speaker: So, um, you know, that's a consideration.
Speaker: I think that's probably why I lean a little bit over to, to that side of it.
Speaker: But again, like,
Speaker: I've seen Little Rock have to travel six hours to Wichita, then down to Laredo, and then to Miami all in the span of 10 days.
Speaker: And you're like, man, gosh, a Final Four might have helped in a scenario like that, too.
Speaker: Whatever happens, it seems that the worst scenario always is what pops up.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So after five wins, you guys had the chance to host the NPSL final.
Speaker: Game finishes 1-1, and it goes to PKs.
Speaker: You guys win 8-7.
Speaker: What's going through your mind during those PKs and then after winning?
Speaker: Well, I talked to Bryson Reed before the penalties.
Speaker: I jogged over because we had –
Speaker: we, uh, we tempted karmic fate and had some championship t-shirts made like with the star over the car.
Speaker: You did not believe baby, you got to believe.
Speaker: So when I, when I walked him back over and gave him to the general manager, I walked past Bryce and read and I, he walked over and I just said, I just said like, you know, do what you do, but have a little fun with this one.
Speaker: This is a special one.
Speaker: And, um,
Speaker: I went and was arm and arm with the subs over there.
Speaker: And it was a really good penalty shootout.
Speaker: Like usually, usually Bryson will save one early.
Speaker: And, um, you know, we kind of settle in a little bit and takes a little bit of pressure off the guys.
Speaker: Cause we were working with a little bit of a little bit of a cushion, but, uh, you know, I think their goalkeeper got his tips on, um,
Speaker: And not a lot of tips, but he got tips on two of them that would have ended it, where they would have won it.
Speaker: And then Bryson, he did come up with a save, and we had a chance to win it.
Speaker: Oh, the kid that missed it's such an important part of the documentary, too.
Speaker: But he had a chance to win it and wasn't able to do it.
Speaker: And then...
Speaker: in the most like apropos thing ever, a guy that had pretty much quit the team a month ago who we said, Hey, if you can make training on Thursday, we need a guy.
Speaker: Um, no pressure, no pressure, no pressure.
Speaker: That is lower league.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: He got beat and, and the guy ripped a shot on goal right at the end of double of the second overtime.
Speaker: And he was the guy that got, got, got beat.
Speaker: But, um,
Speaker: Yeah, he walks up and just a little bit of a fake sends a goalkeeper the wrong way.
Speaker: Yeah, as far as the feeling, I've been around sports a long time.
Speaker: I've won a lot of games.
Speaker: I've been fortunate enough to win a lot of trophies.
Speaker: That feeling is when people say it's indescribable.
Speaker: I mean, I like just talking about the feeling right now.
Speaker: I have goosebumps.
Speaker: It is why people get addicted to winning at any level, because I don't care what level you're at.
Speaker: Like that feeling is just it's so special.
Speaker: And it was really, really special for me to see all of the people who had been around for 11 years who thought maybe we could be an MLS team, but didn't sell us up the river when we weren't or when a USL pro or USL championship team came to town, you know, they stood by us through everything.
Speaker: And them having that moment was really special.
Speaker: And a buddy of mine, who's an assistant coach the day after, so, you know, what was the coolest thing for me to watch?
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: I said, what's that?
Speaker: He goes, the second that the boys gave you the trophy, you just ran it over to the crowd and just threw it into the crowd, which I don't know.
Speaker: I mean, again, I was just a little bit out.
Speaker: It was like everything was a blur.
Speaker: It was.
Speaker: It was.
Speaker: But I knew that like I knew that I wanted.
Speaker: I knew I wanted hands on that trophy from everyone who had been around for so long because none of us can do what we do if people don't love the club and buy into your philosophy and the identity of what the club is.
Speaker: And you guys had the shortest parade ever, right?
Speaker: We did.
Speaker: It was just like this white trash extraordinaire parade.
Speaker: It was like 82 feet or whatever it was.
Speaker: I think I read something.
Speaker: There was a little riding lawnmower as part of the parade.
Speaker: So our ZTR mower that we mow the field with, because it's the most... We should probably change our crest and incorporate the ZTR mower in there.
Speaker: You shouldn't have a star.
Speaker: That should be the star, is the mower.
Speaker: It should.
Speaker: So I had a little...
Speaker: Yeah, we've got this 60-inch deck zero-turn mower that was in front of a minivan pulling a trailer of fucking players.
Speaker: And it's funny, on Christmas Eve, the Tulsa World put out the photos of the year from 2023.
Speaker: And the first picture was this picture of me and these idiots on a trailer.
Speaker: As it should be.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: The news was out there.
Speaker: People were in the streets.
Speaker: I had no fucking permits or anything.
Speaker: It was a really, really, it was a great day.
Speaker: It was one of those days that I actually found myself getting a little bit sad in the middle of it.
Speaker: I was like, this day at some point is going to end and I just don't want it to.
Speaker: It was a lot of fun.
Speaker: The magic of Lua League.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So after winning your team's first championship, you guys decided to start a local-only UPSL squad and play at Hicks Field, which was the original home plan.
Speaker: What was the thoughts on adding this team under the Tulsa Athletic umbrella?
Speaker: Well, we've done it before with some U-20s.
Speaker: And then during COVID in the winter, we did it as well.
Speaker: Our conference in COVID was like a bunch of... It was us and like seven Dallas teams.
Speaker: So we had about eight Dallas guys that would meet us down there.
Speaker: But I mean, all things...
Speaker: On the table, we lost a bunch of money, even with the prize money.
Speaker: It's like, hey, let's sell some beer.
Speaker: Let's try and not let this just be a culture forgotten, and let's play some games out there.
Speaker: The boys love it out there.
Speaker: It is our home, regardless of where we're playing.
Speaker: Hicks is our home.
Speaker: Yeah, the thinking was, let's keep the guys together.
Speaker: We've got a good core group of some older players, so let's keep them sharp and playing.
Speaker: And, you know, we're in the 2024 Open Cup, so hopefully that can serve as a few less months of beer drinking and a few more months of getting some touches and keeping that chemistry going.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, it's, you know, UPSL is a good league.
Speaker: And also, I think the other reason we did it, too, is almost sort of like as a business metric, just to see how the company performed in those fall months.
Speaker: You know, the NPSLs talked about doing a longer season and...
Speaker: You know, sometimes it can be a little scary to jump into a venture like that if you don't have any data on how your business performs, if anyone wants to go out there.
Speaker: So that was my next question.
Speaker: Like, what's your attendance numbers like for the UPSL side versus the NPSL side?
Speaker: Um, well, I only really know at Hicks.
Speaker: Um, you know, I think during the NPSL games in the summer of 2022, we were getting, I think we started getting about 500.
Speaker: And I think by the end time the playoffs rolled around, we were getting about a thousand.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: And then UPSL, we were getting, I don't know, 350 to like maybe 600 people.
Speaker: Honestly, that ain't bad for UPSL side.
Speaker: I've been to a few that is – it's a couple dozen, and then Dan and I went to one in Little Haiti where there was 2,000 people.
Speaker: Oh, that's a cool club.
Speaker: I love that club.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You should schedule a friendly away to Little Haiti.
Speaker: I'll be that serious.
Speaker: It is such a cool atmosphere of everyone just walking up.
Speaker: There's a whole bunch of potholes on the field, though, so you might not want to start your first first team.
Speaker: There's a lady in the houses right behind there on the other side of the fence that was selling food.
Speaker: She would pass it through the chain link fence.
Speaker: You pass your
Speaker: I love that.
Speaker: When we played FC Tulsa at Hicks, my dad was selling Italian sausage sandwiches.
Speaker: He
Speaker: He made like a thousand.
Speaker: He was like looking at cars after the game.
Speaker: I was like, you made more money than I fucking did.
Speaker: Your dad's a vendor.
Speaker: Your mom's collecting tickets.
Speaker: Like, Jesus, man.
Speaker: This is like, this is what it's about, man.
Speaker: This is what soccer is.
Speaker: I mean, I agree.
Speaker: I agree.
Speaker: When I have a hard day, I just look at stuff like that, and it makes it a little bit easier to get on with it and to get it done.
Speaker: Good stuff.
Speaker: Hey, so, Sonny, we've spoken about a lot of your success on and off the pitch.
Speaker: But, um, when you're faced with adversity or when you're hitting a low point, who do you look to for some motivation or do you have a ritual to lift you back up?
Speaker: Oh, thanks.
Speaker: No, thanks for that question.
Speaker: That's, that's a really interesting, I don't share this with a lot of people.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: I'm a little bit of a creature of habit.
Speaker: And so I guess when I'm frustrated, I, um, you know, I definitely, I'll do a little, I do a little bit of yoga every morning.
Speaker: I try and, I try and eat pretty well.
Speaker: I, what I do takes a considerable amount of energy.
Speaker: So I try and keep myself in pretty good shape.
Speaker: So, um,
Speaker: Yeah, I think there's some times in my life when there's when the yoga is as much meditation as it is stretching, you know, just kind of like breathing in the good and breathing out the bad.
Speaker: A little secret that people might not know is that I am an extremely competitive disc golfer.
Speaker: I play a bunch of tournaments.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So, um,
Speaker: I think last year in my division across the world, there was like 15,000 people and I finished, I think 29th.
Speaker: I think I was in the top 30 and was number one for one week.
Speaker: So, um, yeah, that's, uh, I can just kind of get out with my, with my Frisbees in the woods and, um, you know, have some time to walk.
Speaker: I spent a lot of time on the mowers with my headphones on.
Speaker: And I think that that's where I cultivate a lot of ideas and,
Speaker: strategize about where the club should go next and kind of have a feel on it.
Speaker: I spend a lot of time out at Hicks Park.
Speaker: When the parks department said we have an area that is in need of some help, there's a bit of crime here and we think a presence here can...
Speaker: can help the situation.
Speaker: And we went in there and it absolutely did.
Speaker: And it activated that.
Speaker: Now people are out there playing volleyball at night on the tennis court.
Speaker: You know, like that to me is what really, really drives me.
Speaker: And it's what makes it really, really hard and painful to be away from there too.
Speaker: So I spend a whole lot of time, like when they first gave it to us, there was, it had been a middle school football field for like 30 years.
Speaker: The grass was terrible.
Speaker: I know we took a bunch of stick for it online.
Speaker: Um, but our first stadium had sat dormant for five years and we had the worst pitch in the country.
Speaker: That was a natural service.
Speaker: And the following year, 2014, we had, you know, arguably one of the best natural service.
Speaker: So we have, I have some experience there and,
Speaker: You know, it's, it is, there is definitely a childlike element to it of being around and looking like, oh, wouldn't that be cool if you did two 40 foot shipping containers and you stacked a 40 footer and it flipped up and you put it behind a goal.
Speaker: Now you got two patios on the outside and you call it the trophy club and the players can celebrate up there and,
Speaker: You know, or even little things like my grandma has sewn the badge on captain's armbands before and my mom makes the corner flags.
Speaker: So, you know, I bring them, bless their hearts, I bring them these like ideas that I rob and steal or come up with on my own.
Speaker: And, you know, they're like, well...
Speaker: we love you and we love the, we love what, what you do out there.
Speaker: And, you know, they do that.
Speaker: So, um, yeah, I think at its core, I, for me, I think the game of football has a huge component of expression, uh, for me and like any artists, you know, or even, you don't even have to be an artist, but there's something about human beings that they need to express themselves in, in one way or one way or another.
Speaker: And this is, uh,
Speaker: hicks is a really healthy outlet for me um just going out there and you know i mean you know little nerdy things we put we we bought some of those uh benches with the with the the covers over them we found some on sale from an old private school and like those are on the sidelines like every every little piece every little piece makes it look a little bit better and better so um
Speaker: Yeah, thanks for that question.
Speaker: That's really cool.
Speaker: That was fun to share.
Speaker: But yeah, some breathing exercises and find out what in life you can do to express yourself and go at that with all your heart.
Speaker: And that's pretty much my mantra.
Speaker: That's beautiful.
Speaker: And thank you for sharing that with us too.
Speaker: You bet.
Speaker: On to another serious question.
Speaker: As a restaurateur, what is your favorite beer?
Speaker: Are you an IPA man?
Speaker: A stout?
Speaker: What's your preference here?
Speaker: Well, I'm sort of like a lowbrow beer drinker.
Speaker: Like I'm pretty much a Coors original and a shot of Jameson when I'm when I'm getting after it.
Speaker: So like at the restaurant, we have we only have one beer on tap and it's like the most it's basically Italian Budweiser.
Speaker: We have Peroni on tap.
Speaker: We got Peroni on tap.
Speaker: You know, I'll share this with you guys.
Speaker: I'm trying for a dry 24.
Speaker: I'm going to lose immediate street credit.
Speaker: But go get that.
Speaker: Go get that, man.
Speaker: So I've had the I've had the N.A.
Speaker: Guinness and it's actually it's not bad.
Speaker: It's fine.
Speaker: Yeah, it's not too bad.
Speaker: It's more like an oral fixation thing, I think.
Speaker: But yeah, prior to that, you know, not much of an IPA guy.
Speaker: I have this philosophy with beer that if I'm in a hurry and I need to chug the whole thing immediately, I need to be able to do that, which is a stupid philosophy as a 46-year-old man.
Speaker: But yeah.
Speaker: With an IPA, sometimes some of them are drinking a blueberry bag of chalk, and they're just like, I can't smash this if I need to.
Speaker: I feel judged right now.
Speaker: Well, the disclaimer was I'm not an appreciator, so I would say I'm more of like a pilsner or an ale or like a colch maybe if you want to get a real fancy day.
Speaker: So, Sonny, have you tried these – speaking of the non-alcoholic, have you tried the Just Haze by Samuel Adams?
Speaker: Because I highly recommend that when I was doing the dry thing for like a year.
Speaker: James, he's trying to give up alcohol this year, man.
Speaker: That's a non-alcoholic one.
Speaker: It's an N.A., yeah.
Speaker: So I have not.
Speaker: I've heard about it.
Speaker: There's one I try called Athletic.
Speaker: It's an IPA that tastes just like an IPA, so I'm kind of like, all right.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: I can nurse this, that's for sure.
Speaker: But I actually have heard good things about that.
Speaker: Yeah, I highly recommend it.
Speaker: It changed the game for me.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: I also do this weird thing where I'll do a shot of Lee and Perrin's.
Speaker: My dad and I used to drink it out of the bottle.
Speaker: My younger sister's sitting right next to me laughing at me because it's so ridiculous.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So I'll go into the bar and I'll do like a shot of Liam Perrins with a non-alcoholic Guinness and like this fucking guy.
Speaker: Jesus.
Speaker: I've actually done that.
Speaker: It's so good.
Speaker: It must be a restaurant thing.
Speaker: It was back in my restaurant days.
Speaker: It is, definitely.
Speaker: We used to do that on dares, see how much somebody could chug.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: My miss is she gets pissed at me all the time because there will be like half of the bottle gone.
Speaker: She's like, I know you're just like taking these random swigs of Worcestershire sauce.
Speaker: Like leave some for marinade and steaks.
Speaker: Another reason to like you right there.
Speaker: The next time I see you, Worcestershire is on me, okay?
Speaker: Yeah, let's do it.
Speaker: Let's do it.
Speaker: Let's get a friendly.
Speaker: Higgs field.
Speaker: We'll go away trip.
Speaker: Nathan, if you're listening, let's schedule this.
Speaker: Let's get it done.
Speaker: Let's get it done.
Speaker: So my sources tell me that you were spotted at the WPSL.
Speaker: I guess it was the AGM last week.
Speaker: If your sources are me tweeting it from the AGM, then your sources are accurate.
Speaker: That's one of my more reliable sources.
Speaker: I was also told I've seen photographic evidence.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker: Yeah, so I met a friend there who is with, he has a women's team in the league and
Speaker: The owners of the league are Oklahoma City guys.
Speaker: So they are fantastic to Sean Jones, Bradlon.
Speaker: They're they're great.
Speaker: And they I said, hey, I may meet a friend up here.
Speaker: Am I OK to kind of crash the meeting?
Speaker: You know, if there's financials or anything where I need to leave the room, just let me know.
Speaker: And they're like, no, no, no.
Speaker: Come on in.
Speaker: Like it's open book.
Speaker: So.
Speaker: Um, I went there and saw some friends from around the country who have, you know, NPSL teams or USL two or UPSL teams or, um, just people I hadn't seen in a while.
Speaker: So that was really cool.
Speaker: Uh, yeah, you know, we're, we're looking at it.
Speaker: I think that it was not going to be 24.
Speaker: Uh, hopefully it'll be 25.
Speaker: I don't, I don't have anything official to announce.
Speaker: I wish I could give you guys, give you guys some of the details on that, but, um,
Speaker: Yeah, I think it makes sense for us to do.
Speaker: The league came out to Hicks and vetted it and thought it was great and said it met all of the minimum standards for their league and for the NPSL.
Speaker: So...
Speaker: We're definitely open to it.
Speaker: Like I said, we're just a little bit in a spot right now where our financial sustainability is sort of priority number one.
Speaker: And then once that gets sorted out, then it's really a no-brainer.
Speaker: you know, I think once, once you win it all, the goal becomes win it all with all local players.
Speaker: And I think we would really love, love to do that on the men's and the women's side of things.
Speaker: So, um, there's some fantastic, uh, women's soccer players in Tulsa.
Speaker: Uh, there's gosh, I think there's four, four D ones in Oklahoma.
Speaker: Um, you know, and I know all of these coaches, I grew up with all these coaches and they have players and,
Speaker: I think it's all about creating opportunity.
Speaker: If those platforms are a mechanism for creating opportunity for players in your community, then you'd be dumb to not look at it.
Speaker: I don't want to go bankrupt doing it, but I think there's a way for us to figure it out and to get it done.
Speaker: We're looking at it real seriously and trying to make it work for 25.
Speaker: Good stuff.
Speaker: So in there, though, you mentioned NPSL approved Hick Stadium.
Speaker: Does that mean 2024 you guys will be back there?
Speaker: No, I mean, I think we had some outside entities come in like the USASA, Oklahoma Soccer Association, USSF.
Speaker: The WPSL and the UPSL all filled out.
Speaker: I basically said, hey, will you come look at our stadium?
Speaker: Because we're having some issues with it.
Speaker: And when they did, I gave them what the NPSL's minimum standards were.
Speaker: So when they vetted it, it wasn't vetting it to their standard.
Speaker: It was vetting it to the NPSL.
Speaker: And so it passed all of those.
Speaker: So again, hopefully that line of communication can kind of we can we can come to a.
Speaker: we can land somewhere or figure out what waiver we need to fill out or, or whatever.
Speaker: I mean, I think,
Speaker: The one thing when I sat on the board is I probably signed more goddamn waivers for teams than any other board member ever.
Speaker: Because, you know, if someone said to me, hey, we're getting some traction on our community, but we're deficient in an area, I would say, well, show me a plan for, you know, getting over this deficiency.
Speaker: And are the other conference mates good with that?
Speaker: And if those two answers, if you have something to show and everyone's good playing there and giving you the time, I mean, who am I to stand in the way of this game?
Speaker: you know, creating something in somebody else's community.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: I really appreciated this interview, Sonny.
Speaker: Oh, I've had a blast, guys.
Speaker: I've had a blast.
Speaker: You are a great, great person in lower league soccer in general, and you're great for your community.
Speaker: Man, that means a lot.
Speaker: I really appreciate that.
Speaker: I do my best.
Speaker: You know, I'm not a perfect person by any means, but man, I sure, I sure have owe a lot to the game of soccer for keeping young Sonny on the rails and keeping old Sonny probably also on the rails.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Well, next time we play each other, I hope I will make some non-alcoholic jello shots for you.
Speaker: It'll just be jello.
Speaker: I'll bring the Liam Perrins.
Speaker: We can do Liam Perrins jello shots.
Speaker: We're going to find a way to get crazy.
Speaker: Well, next time we play the playoffs, it might be real deep in the playoffs.
Speaker: So it could be a time to maybe.
Speaker: break my fast.
Speaker: So we'll see.
Speaker: We'll see.
Speaker: We need NPSL to allow games at a conference before the season.
Speaker: It's kind of like college football.
Speaker: That's one thing I wish they did.
Speaker: I had this lame brain idea that at every owner's meeting, the league should subsidize one
Speaker: random draw of two teams so you just reach and it's like okay this team from new york is gonna go play this team from texas or whatever but like just merely to have the team's experience going on the road seeing what other teams do firsthand i mean it made zero sense and i was more than happy to almost vote my own idea down but
Speaker: But think about the showcase they can do for the league.
Speaker: Say Lubbock and Annapolis were the two big attended teams last year.
Speaker: What if you can do both of those teams together, broadcast it, get some small TV deal or whatever, or just something to promote the league?
Speaker: Yeah, no, it's I love the idea.
Speaker: I love exposing myself and the supporters to other fan cultures and other just ideas that that people have, like what you guys were doing under the bridge was super legit.
Speaker: I definitely fuck with that.
Speaker: Like that was awesome.
Speaker: So like.
Speaker: You know, but like I said, it's just cool.
Speaker: It's like, hey, where's your little area where you do your thing?
Speaker: And within the thing that you do, is there anything I can borrow or steal there and bring back?
Speaker: And I'm sure supporters groups have done the same with us.
Speaker: And that's what it's all about is those little tweaks that you do.
Speaker: Honestly, our tailgate kind of died when the team went from professional down to the NPSL.
Speaker: We were at that stage of like 50, 60 people at a game.
Speaker: And even when we moved back to that school at Episcopal, that first year that we were there, we really didn't tailgate.
Speaker: We'd like go to a bar.
Speaker: And then that season we restarted.
Speaker: All of a sudden it was 10 people.
Speaker: And by the time you got there, it was probably what up?
Speaker: Those are the biggest 75, 100 people, maybe.
Speaker: Oh, I bet you there was 100 people there.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So it's a great vibe when things are going well.
Speaker: It is.
Speaker: It is.
Speaker: Well, and it was done so organically, and that's the whole thing.
Speaker: So many times you see clubs interfere, and I try and stay away from it, but like...
Speaker: it can just be a little bit sterile and when i was there i was like yeah no these like this is this is legit i love i love this so we found we found at some other venues we've been at the last couple years where the club has said oh yeah sure you could do that sure you could do that and then the uh the venue may may see it differently like oh well okay we tried so uh that was one place we were able to get away with that for sure so
Speaker: at our, at our old stadium, cause we started in like this 11,000 seat stadium and we had these huge crowds, but the supporters came to me like, Hey, we want to do like some flares and some other stuff.
Speaker: And I was like, well, I don't care.
Speaker: Just like, don't catch anything on fire.
Speaker: And they go, no, don't worry about it.
Speaker: Lucas knows a firefighter.
Speaker: I was like, no, they fire fire.
Speaker: Like,
Speaker: What?
Speaker: Yeah, he lives in Oklahoma.
Speaker: I can call him up.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: I was like, yeah, I know one too.
Speaker: You dial 911.
Speaker: But I look over there in the 40th minute and a flare had fallen onto the grass.
Speaker: The grass is like on fucking fire.
Speaker: They're putting a bucket over it.
Speaker: I'm like, oh my God.
Speaker: That's why we no longer play at Jacksonville University.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker: And that...
Speaker: for lower league owners is the sole reason why controlling your venue is paramount in creating club culture.
Speaker: This has been a blast.
Speaker: Thanks for having me on, guys.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: Seriously, it's been a blast.
Speaker: Anything else you need from me, boys?
Speaker: That's it.
Speaker: We're good, man.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: Take care.
Speaker: I'll catch you in the finals.
Speaker: Yes, sir.
Speaker: Yes, sir.
Speaker: You got it.
Speaker: And that was the legend, Sonny D'Alessandro, Tulsa King, and pretty much guy that epitomes everything you want your owner to be in lower league soccer.
Speaker: Like, what did you guys think?
Speaker: I'd agree.
Speaker: I'd agree with that assessment.
Speaker: Interesting character, inspirational, and I love the fact that he serves as a model for lower league teams to look at and kind of...
Speaker: have a blueprint to grow from, you know?
Speaker: So yeah, good bloke.
Speaker: I just kind of have to say a little bit suspect on his, he's got a wishy-washy on his pineapple on pizza stance.
Speaker: Politician.
Speaker: It's kind of, yeah, very, very political.
Speaker: Yeah, I would agree with that.
Speaker: I think he's running for office in Oklahoma or something.
Speaker: I think he's going to go up against Tiger King.
Speaker: Good boy.
Speaker: I don't know if you've seen a picture of him recently and stuff, but I saw an interview of him, and he looks like another famous owner over there in Wales in a small team of Wrexham.
Speaker: He looks like Rob McElhaney.
Speaker: I don't know if you guys have seen him.
Speaker: No, not Ryan Reynolds.
Speaker: No, he doesn't look like Deadpool.
Speaker: No, he looks like Ryan Reynolds.
Speaker: Okay, I can see that a little bit.
Speaker: I can see that.
Speaker: We should have asked him if he's ever been compared to him.
Speaker: When I see him, I think Tulsa King.
Speaker: Just because I saw an image of him wearing a crown once, and that's the only show.
Speaker: I love the show of you guys, our Sylvester Stallone guys.
Speaker: Welcome to Wrexham.
Speaker: Oh, I love that show too.
Speaker: Is that on Paramount?
Speaker: Tulsa King?
Speaker: Yeah, that one's on Paramount.
Speaker: And then Welcome to Wrexham's what?
Speaker: That's FX.
Speaker: I'll have to borrow your Paramount password.
Speaker: We'll talk about that later.
Speaker: So I can check that out.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: I think that is going to do it for this episode.
Speaker: So we want to thank everyone for joining in.
Speaker: And just a little bit of news.
Speaker: We are now available on Amazon Music.
Speaker: You can find our podcast there as well.
Speaker: There you go.
Speaker: So expanding, growing every day.
Speaker: When are we going to be on?
Speaker: Oh, wait, never mind.
Speaker: I shouldn't make that joke.
Speaker: Yeah, I think I know where you're going with that.
Speaker: So we'll take that out.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: So that's going to do it for this episode.
Speaker: So we'll end it like we always do with a go Armada.
Speaker: Beat Tulsa.
