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Season 2- Episode 29- Eagle's Belly Exposed
27 Plays6 years ago
First off, apologies if the sound is A+ with this one. This was our first attempt at a remote podcast, trying to do our duty by keeping our distance. In any case, there might not be much rugby on to watch, but there's plenty we found to talk about. In this episode we talk about the good stuff we are seeing from the rugby community as a whole amongst this situation we are in. As Americans, of course we have to talk about the financial crisis going on with the sport in the USA. We also talk about, ways to help the sport while we have the proverbial reset button on hand. This and the usual banter you'd expect with us, including a new competition we'd like to launch for those of you that are fantasy nuts like us. Kick back, grab a beverage and tune in!
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Transcript
Recording Remotely: Pandemic Adjustments
00:00:12
Speaker
We are being socially distant. If it sounds like one of our sounds is off, it's because Ben's at his place and I'm at mine, and we're doing this over the now very popular Zoom.
Post-Pandemic Social Life: Hopes and Predictions
00:00:24
Speaker
I miss you, buddy. Yeah.
00:00:27
Speaker
I'm gonna hate everybody again. Why can't we go back to being alone? I've been telling people when this whole thing's over, there's gonna be a huge party with all the hugs and all the social interaction that we could all handle.
00:00:47
Speaker
Yes.
Pandemic's Long-term Effects: Lessons from History
00:00:49
Speaker
Until then. That part is going to be a while, I think. I think we're going to see, like, it, well, it's also going to be like aftershocks mutations. Like there's going to, this is.
00:01:01
Speaker
one time we may have to, you know, be prepared to come back to it. Yeah, just because that's the way these things go. I mean, you think of the the Spanish flu that everybody's been talking about that went on for two
Returning to Normal: A Gradual Approach
00:01:12
Speaker
years. Right. Well, three, I guess 1918 to 1920. So like over across three years, like this is something that's not going to just
00:01:20
Speaker
It's not going to be a couple of weeks and then we are all looking past it and, you know, it's going to be like, all right, go slowly. Yeah. Go low, go slow, go slow. And yeah, we can't just take care of yourself. Yeah, we can't just, you know, turn it on and off or anything like that. Right. Oh,
Beer and Banter: Light-hearted Moments
00:01:41
Speaker
yeah. So it's, it is how it is. Um, I got my beer. You got a beer. I got a beer. I'm gonna open mine now.
00:01:51
Speaker
Well, then I'm going to open mine now. Oh, I thought you already opened yours. No, I thought I almost did. And then I stopped myself. Yeah. So, uh, we'll do this as often as we can. Ooh, wow. That's nice and dark. Um, we'll do this as often as we can. So if you want to make sure that you catch it, make sure you subscribe to us and all your favorite podcast apps. Hold there.
Fantasy Rugby: Dreaming Beyond the Pandemic
00:02:11
Speaker
Hold there. You son of a.
00:02:14
Speaker
That a boy. Good. Saved it. Um, good work. Yeah. Right. Um, so there's an idea that I came up with and assuming that we eventually get back to some sort of normalcy here. Um, and it was, uh, it was, it was to have a champions league of fantasy rugby for us. And I think we can, I think, I don't know if anybody else does this right now. So I think we need to institute this with,
00:02:44
Speaker
TRM and FRD and, you know, we have, obviously we have our friends at TR. Let's just assume that all stays the same. Cause we're going to talk about a lot of different situations that are not the same, but. Exactly.
Community and Support: Listener Appreciation
00:02:57
Speaker
If it goes back to exactly what the way things are right now, this is how we would plan on, on doing it. Yeah. So we'll do three, we'll do the three TRM competitions that we generally have access to. One of them being Six Nations, obviously PrEP.
00:03:11
Speaker
And then we'll assume that super rugby makes a comeback as well. Hopefully things are okay and we can rally the troops a little bit better this time if need be. And then FRD. Now, would we also include the Champions Cup? Is that other? That's FRD, yeah. So it would be prem. Is that FR? Oh, okay. I thought that was also... No, not that one. I wouldn't do that one.
00:03:34
Speaker
Yeah. No, I wasn't overly, I wasn't overly impressed with, with that one. Um, no, not really. Yeah. It'd be, yeah, go ahead. Yeah. Um, it'd be like, I like, I had Colby at nine. That was fun. Yeah. That's, that was kind of fun. Um, yeah. It'd be prem and then, um, champions cup and super rugby and FRD all standard scoring. We're not going to fuck around with that in terms of that. So standard teams, standard scoring, um,
00:04:02
Speaker
We could have fun with that, but we can have fun with that in other leagues that aren't this. So George is going to get an invite. Maybe we'll do like an application process, depending on how many people are interested. Yeah. But George, our buddy, fancy getting an invite because he's obviously been super supportive of us and we'll definitely ride that out.
00:04:20
Speaker
But yeah, we gotta, and speaking to him and the Rugby Mag, we gotta make sure that we thank them because we don't know when our season of podcast is end. So we're just gonna make sure we put our thanks out there to both Ed at the Rugby Magazine and all the help that he's given us and all the support he's given us and he's constantly putting us up there and trying to put us up front. So we appreciate that a lot from the guys over there, especially Ed.
00:04:50
Speaker
And then obviously everybody, the fancy rugby geek, we got us on another podcast for God's sake, which was a lot of fun. So yeah, George is a man, sent Ben a nice birthday wish on top of that last podcast if you didn't listen. I was seriously touched and I'm not a sentimental, I'm a terribly sentimental person, but... So you were a fucking puddle, shut up.
Rugby Players in the Pandemic: Stories of Help
00:05:14
Speaker
but it really was very meaningful for me. So thanks again. Yeah. So, uh, that was, like I said, we like these people. So we're, and they apparently like us. So what the fuck's wrong with them? I have no idea, but you know, we appreciate it. Just ride it out. Just, just don't, just don't let them on. Do it. Don't let them on. Um, so there is a, there is some player movement or not.
00:05:45
Speaker
We got confirmation more or less verbally that Billy even Apollo is not going anywhere. Richard Barrington is not gonna go anywhere for the Saracens. Those are Jamie George. Yeah, Jamie George is has verbally committed as well. So we'll see what happens with that.
00:06:02
Speaker
And George Cruz is quitting rugby to go row in the Olympics or not. Yeah, he got me with that one. Didn't we didn't somebody declare April Fool's Day off? I thought we just couldn't side against that. So there's that I mean, and it looks like there's
USA Rugby's Financial Struggles: Analysis
00:06:23
Speaker
you know, I mean, the good of this whole thing is players have been very generous especially, you know, the guys that are big stars, they've been very generous with their resources and their homes and whatever they can possibly do to, you know, at the very least make things raise awareness if not, you know, help out, you know, Jamie Roberts dedicated his flat and Cardiff to NHS workers. So that was pretty, pretty nice of him.
00:06:50
Speaker
I saw some ruggers. I thought, was it a Bristol player? Possibly. I can't recall, but ruggers were in, in, in, in England were doing shopping for, for their elderly neighbors and they kind of leaving things out for them, which is fantastic. Like that, that's what I do love about the rugby community is that they like care.
00:07:10
Speaker
Yeah, look after each other. About people. It's, you know, not very common in the world. No, it seems to be less and less these days. No, I mean, yes, but it's just, yeah, we need more of it, so. Yep, still need more. It's good to see rugby players representing the sport well. Hopefully that gets more attention. Agreed. Than the people who don't deserve attention right now who seem to be the ones that generally get it. Yeah.
00:07:38
Speaker
Oh, shit. All right. But have you seen some of the videos that the players are putting out? Like the... Like just boredom videos, basically. They had the Dupree brothers at their house passing the ball over the house to each other. So one was in the front yard, the other's in the backyard, and they're like nailing, putting it like right on the money to each other. Of course they are.
00:08:04
Speaker
And then the Carlos Spencer video of the cast behind the back. That was good. Fucking excellent. Yeah. He still got it. They're putting out some, putting out some entertainment. So it's a good hashtag content for while we're all kind of bored. Bored out of our skulls. I've played, I've revived. You never play.
00:08:28
Speaker
You haven't played Halo in like a year. I know, I've been playing that more. I'm getting you on. Yeah, and I revived my interest in the rugby game that I have. Yeah. I have that. I've been playing that, although the unfortunate thing is it's a fine balance between having it be impossible
Critique of USA Rugby's Past Decisions
00:08:49
Speaker
to do well on it and being a shit show where I'm just running up the score.
00:08:56
Speaker
Yeah. It seems like a lot of sports games are like that. Sometimes, yeah. Although Madden, Madden, you tend to get like, you know, it's like you put it on all pro and you're throwing your controller around the fucking room because it sucks. And then like a whole week later, you're like, oh, I'm killing this. I'm like, yeah, I should move up to all Madden. And then you move to all Madden and you're like, oh, this is even more bullshit. And then you figure it out. You're like, oh, OK, now it's a shit show again.
00:09:20
Speaker
that seems to work some of these other games it's not it's not like that it's like there's not much like this there's very little freedom in that rugby team game you can't really you don't have to yeah you can't really like i mean i remember the some of the old rugby games like for playstation 2 that were like you can you can call a play in you know
00:09:41
Speaker
Yeah. Give me a blocker. It's going to be something, you know, give me a crossing, something like that I can do. And then actually have, have a structure out of it. This is like, yeah, I want to pass right or I want to pass left. That's all right. You're basically creating your own in that one. Yeah. Right. So it's too, like, it's a little bit too formulaic that there's only so good you can get at it. Yeah. That there definitely is.
00:10:02
Speaker
Yeah, FIFA was good at too. I have the... I guess the current FIFA is bullshit. People hate it.
00:10:12
Speaker
Um, but I have one from, I think two years ago and that, that was, that's pretty good. I could easily settle into that and train my life into that if I wanted to. Yeah. I remember that being a big, big part of your, your gaming. Yeah. I mean, it was, it was good for the time, but then when certain stars are either garbage on it or they're, they're not even existent on it because they're too young.
00:10:35
Speaker
And he was like, we don't remember this guy. So they don't have him on there. That's when he's like, all right, time to upgrade. Right. Like that was the, that was the, they call, you should call Madden the new Madden. It was like the roster update because it really wasn't more than any changes. There might be some changes to like some of the other features, but the gameplay and all that was exactly the same. Just, oh, this guy got drafted. Okay. And he's good. I want to play with him. Right. Exactly. Yeah.
00:11:00
Speaker
I remember back when NCAA football had a game, you could transfer one class to Madden as you draft that class in Madden. I was like, wow, that's kind of cool. I like this. This is fun.
00:11:19
Speaker
enjoyed like there were some players like college players who I like followed their careers when they went pro precisely because I had drafted them in. Oh yeah I played with them and I didn't even play with them but they were they were you know obviously in the game. Yeah that's funny.
00:11:36
Speaker
That's this guy, all right. Yeah. Well, let's move on to some more somber. People are saying it's the virus claiming its first union victim. The USA Rugby has been in shambles for a long time, but it's pushed the inevitable forward a little bit, this virus has with USA declaring bankruptcy. And everybody's kind of left with
00:12:05
Speaker
What do we do from here? Yeah, what next? Um, we actually had a, uh, we're having some, you know, informal training sessions with the club. Right. We got together last night to, to watch a match, um, just together, having a beer separately. Yeah, virtually. And, uh, we, um, you know, afterwards we, some of the guys were asking about it and it's like, how will it affect us? And I'm like, you know what?
00:12:30
Speaker
It really won't, because USA Rugby doesn't, and this is part of the problem, we'll get to later in the show. But they really only deal with the international team, some development camps, and then playoffs. Other than that, everything's handed out to local geographical unions. So we have a nursery, and they organize our schedule.
00:12:58
Speaker
do all the stuff they organize the referees, things like that. So as far as club rugby is concerned, it doesn't really affect us. No, but it's just what's going to go on. What's happening with the national teams and all that club championships will go on. We don't. Yeah.
00:13:17
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, no, we don't. Trust me. I'm sure some of us could do better than they do. Oh yeah. Because they don't care. I mean, they're focused on the national teams. No, they don't. Really, for me, the downturn came years ago and that was with the whole, was it RIM, Rugby, International Marketing? And with how much money they sank into that, which was a complete bomb. And, you know, you and I were talking about what formerly known as the Rugby Channel now for Rugby and just
00:13:47
Speaker
what a mess that is and how much money they invested into it. And it's still a complete fucking mess. And I just, I don't, so for them, I think they need to take their, take their fingers out of stuff like that and focus more on the development of the sport in
Athleticism vs. Skill in US Rugby
00:14:04
Speaker
general. That was,
00:14:06
Speaker
That's there like there's other there's other people that are picking up the the slack on that stuff ESPN Plus NBC Sports you can yeah, CBS Sports has now obviously jumped into that as well Things can be picked up in that aspect without having something stupid like that suck You know millions of dollars up that could be spent on you know other things like sending our women's team to the World Cup this year Right working on
00:14:35
Speaker
development. We will get back to what we think could happen later, after all this.
00:14:44
Speaker
It's just like they spent their money, the money that they did spend, they spent foolishly. And that's the problem when you have people in charge that, I mean, yeah, there was that, that RIM, but that was a stupid decision by stupid people to trust it because it was basically the offshoot of something that had ruined, was it USA soccer or something? Like some soccer, it was offshoot of like, I think it was like,
00:15:09
Speaker
Soccer international marketing or football international marketing something like that. Where was exactly the same thing except not rugby and it was the same people and it's like You just see what they did like did you not like and I'm working so, you know supply chain management So I'm like you have to have a trusted supplier for things like if you're giving yourself to a vendor who has a shady history What do you think they're gonna think fucked over those guys? Just what do you think they're gonna do with you?
00:15:36
Speaker
Like it's like going to a dealer with bad weed and you think the results gonna change just because he fucking changes towns or something like that. Right. Oh, fuck. It's oregano. Like I had no idea.
00:15:48
Speaker
Come on, man. He sold oregano to five other people. They just told you he was doing it. Yeah, no shit, right? But yeah, like, just, but there's also the question of whether or not USA, the CEO and CFO and, you know, some other F, you know, O's, whatever, in USA rugby, you got kickbacks on it. So it's like, what if they sold us out? You know, like, so that that's,
00:16:13
Speaker
chance of that. That's a very good chance of that. Especially those people. Like if you're going to make that kind of decision, why wouldn't you do it and benefit yourself? Like what other reason would you have to do it? Um, and then it's not like it got much better. Like even the, just the, the, the general decisions and the way that they, uh, they operate the national teams and the development camps. I mean, they have development like the, was it the ARPTC?
00:16:40
Speaker
Um, yeah, it's a professional training center. They go to sevens camp. They go to sevens tournaments and get wrecked by like division one teams, not, not even like the, the, the ODA teams or the, you know, the, the, the Olympic development training camp, like the scions and the, the, they, they get wrecked by them. And it's like, those are supposed to be, they're in training to be professional rugby players.
00:17:03
Speaker
But you're not, they're not training to play rugby. They're training them. They're, they're, they're working on their like strength and agility. And it's like, you know, what really helps.
00:17:11
Speaker
better than strength and agility, being able to throw a fucking pass. Yeah, I want to teach them how to throw a pass in the same process. And they don't. And it's like, so why are you running the curriculum? Right? Like, what are they doing with these camps? Like, who is actually coaching these camps? Who's running the camps? Like, I don't know, I have serious issues with all of that, because and just based on the output, like it would be one thing if they were outputting, like, successful programs, but they're not. No.
00:17:41
Speaker
No, they're, what are they doing? Yeah. I mean, and I mean, there's enough athleticism in rugby now that there's no reason why we couldn't field a competent national team on any of the competitions. No, I think there's, uh, the, the, there should, and I feel like we, I feel like there was a bit of, um,
00:18:06
Speaker
as far, especially as far as the men, men go in 15. There was a bit of maybe like one and a half steps forward and one step back type of thing that that's not the type of progress you want. You want something a little bit more tangible and better. And yeah, you know, we were able to, we dominated like our region for three years, which was great. We should have been doing that a long time ago.
00:18:29
Speaker
But then obviously we went to the World Cup and we put in, you know, a couple of really good performances, you know, a team that's very, that's full of talent, but I still think we should have beat with Tonga. We didn't put a great performance in against them. We put one good performance in against France. The game against Argentina was disappointing.
00:18:46
Speaker
And then obviously England just fucking throttled us because they're England. Yeah. So, you know, really the two, the one match that I took away from, we still fucking bottled the decisions and that. So yeah, just, yeah, it felt like a bit of a, maybe a half step forward at best, which is not really good progress in, you know, we're, there's a lot of resources here that we should be able to tap and we don't.
Professional Women's Rugby League: A Possibility?
00:19:13
Speaker
And I will say one thing that they've done a good job. The thing is that the women's program, let's go in that direction. I think the only reason that the US is even on the world stage in that point is because of their athleticism. 100%.
00:19:29
Speaker
much better trained players than the other teams. And they're getting better with the ball movement with the actual play. That is impressive to see, and I'm really happy about that. But what really set them on the national stage was that, oh, we're just stronger and faster than you, and we will... They have athletes on that team, for sure.
00:19:50
Speaker
Um, but it just goes to show, like if I'm, if I'm looking athletically at lineups, I look at the U S lineup and I look at England lineup. I'm picking without even seeing them play. I'm like, you know what? I'm going with the, the, the, the Eagles. Cause man, they look fit. They look strong. And then some of the, the England players might look a little sloppier, but
00:20:11
Speaker
Tell you what, they play a hell of a match. They do. They're fully professional now too. So that helps them by far. That does help them. So we do need a little bit of that here too. I agree. It would be nice to see when the MLR comes back. I'm hoping it wouldn't be more than a season or two away from having an attempt at least at a women's professional league here.
00:20:33
Speaker
I think that would be super beneficial to the sport as a whole. And we've talked about the MLR has kind of had their head on straight for the majority of their existence with a few blips that you and I have pinpointed for sure. For the most part, they've had their head on straight and certainly if somebody were to lead this
00:20:56
Speaker
lead the U.S. forward as an entity. I think MLR is definitely the way to go. You know, if, what's the, the commissioner, Kilrose, his name? I see.
Mark Cuban and USA Rugby: A Leadership Proposition?
00:21:12
Speaker
So anyway, if he were to, you know, maybe
00:21:19
Speaker
recommend somebody to take over USA Rugby, I would certainly listen to him. Oh, absolutely. You know, there's been obviously even like, even MMLR ownership because they all seem like the owners have their heads on straight too. They're not making too many stupid decisions. They've got some really good ideas. I like what they're at. The one
00:21:43
Speaker
the one team that I kind of have poo pooed a little bit, just, you know, word of mouth and about, about town is DC only because they're playing at a football stadium, but you can't help that around here. That's just where we, that's just where we're at. You know, such those football lines on a rugby pitch, you know, it's where you see rugby lines only or majority rugby lines on a, on a, on a pitch when you're trying to be a professional, but you can only help yourself so much. And there's obviously a really,
00:22:13
Speaker
really big name that's being thrown around for USA Rugby and that would be Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. And I don't know, I mean, it's a pipe dream for sure, no doubt. But man, me personally, as a person, I admire so much what Mark Cuban does as a business owner and as a person. So if he were to take it, shut the fuck up and take my money.
00:22:42
Speaker
So let's say, you know, like, cause he would do it right. I, yeah, I, I think he would be an excellent choice. Um, and I don't think it would honestly, I'm not certain how much time out of his schedule that would take, you know, I think that would be the ultimate determining factor really.
00:23:00
Speaker
Right. Money's not the issue with him. No, money's not the issue. And obviously enthusiasm for the sport isn't the issue. He's at everything. He loves running. That dude loves running. He played at Indiana. Yes. So he's
00:23:16
Speaker
He's one of us. He's absolutely he's a lifer. He's one of us. I think that's, um, I think that's one of USA Roby's current big feelings is to the
Engaging Influential Figures in Rugby Promotion
00:23:25
Speaker
failure to grab a hold of the big names in this country that love the sport. Life Mark Cuban that, you know, would definitely benefit and just, you know, use their resources at the very least to the best of their ability. And I'm not sure that we've capitalized on that fully.
00:23:42
Speaker
I don't know, obviously I don't know all the behind the scenes. I have no inside track on this place at all. But I can say gut feeling is that we did not use the resources we had at our disposal with big names like his the way we could have. Yeah, because that could not, the problem is you'd only see him when you turn on
00:24:07
Speaker
ESPN eight when they were showing the college rugby championships. Yeah. Right. Um, and it's like, you'd see him and he'd be like, yeah, look, it's Mark Cuban here. And that's a great thing. It's, it's good. I'm not, not knocking it, but that's as far as it goes. Right. So it's not like they show it on sports center. Like, Oh, look, Mark Cuban at a rugby, nobody gives, they don't give a fuck. Right. Well, instead they should have like, you know, it'd be good to have him out.
00:24:30
Speaker
as an ambassador to the sport. I mean, people know his face. Like it wouldn't even be interesting. Oh, that's Mark Cuban. Like people don't even need to bat an eye at who it is. So that would be such a benefit to it. I think he wanted to put in for the Dallas team. I could be wrong. And I'm totally, I'm totally bullshitting that. I have no idea, but maybe he wanted to put in for the Dallas team. Cause I think that's, I think they did.
00:24:54
Speaker
I say they move one of the Texas teams to Dallas anyway But that's a different story for a different day But even you know talking about taking advantage of the resources and and and the names you can use to your advantage And not necessarily doing it. Well, look at New England Who who's part of the ownership now? People love Well need after
00:25:20
Speaker
Patrick Chung, like two Patriots, like longtime Patriots and Nate Ebner. They're both really good fans on the team. And Nate Ebner is actually like, that's kind of the thing. Like you talk about rugby here and people are like, oh, isn't that what Nate Ebner does? Like they know Nate Ebner. He's not a great household name pretty much anywhere else but New England. But they were smart to get him involved.
00:25:47
Speaker
Right. And that's, yes, absolutely intelligent. These guys, I have full trust in them. Same. And this is more to the point of, you know, take a page out of this for USA Rugby in general. You know, what, what names can you get involved that people know that love the sport? So, so, you know,
00:26:11
Speaker
you know, hopefully, hopefully some good can come of this. Right. Look, there's nowhere to go but up. No shit. Exactly. Like, well, yeah, like, you're fucked up. You're in bankruptcy. There's not a whole lot of room to go. Right. And USA Rugby has been pretty inept since I started playing. Geez. Some years ago. Yeah. I'll say that was friggin, I was 16.
00:26:36
Speaker
Yeah, I was just out of college. 17 years ago. Yeah, I was just out of college. It was about the same. My 23rd birthday was my first rugby practice. And I was in. I feel you. I feel you. I'm right there. I was exhausted and they're like, all right, let's go to the bar. And I'm like, wait a minute. We just did all that. I was 16, so that's not what got me. That's all right.
00:27:04
Speaker
Yeah. So you go to the bar and I'm having like a shitload of beers and I'm like right down the street from where I live. And I'm like, yeah, this is, this is for me. This is what I'm doing, man. I'm doing this now. I'm not sure that would have gone so well at a high school practice. But, but even, you know, but even then like USA rugby was just a hot, hot steaming pile. So, you know, when you're coming on 20 years now, not close enough. Yeah. There's nowhere to go
Global Investment in US Rugby: A Necessity?
00:27:30
Speaker
but up. Like you can't do any worse than you're doing right now. Yeah.
00:27:35
Speaker
Can we talk about something positive before we move on to the next thing? I don't know if you saw it, but Michael Fatilofa is now walking.
00:27:51
Speaker
Yeah, on his own, I saw an update where he still said he's having trouble with his left hand, but things are coming back and it's looking real promising. That's really good, man. That was such a scary, sad incident.
00:28:06
Speaker
It really was. I was actually like, that was on my list of that when I was looking through, um, games to watch with it. And I was like, yeah, I was like, well that, that was a fucking ass kicking and a half as far as like technical perfection of, of rugby. And I'm like, uh, wait, there's something I might not want to bring in. I'm not going to bring this. We're not going to show this.
00:28:30
Speaker
I could do that. I mean, it was second half, so you could work that out if you really want to, but shit. Yeah, no, let's not show that. That's the scariest hell. That's an example. Yeesh. Yeah, I know. Yeesh. Because those just make people poop their pants a little bit. That's all.
00:28:43
Speaker
Yeah, that was not cool. No, that was really scary stuff. But hey, I'm glad big fats is out and about and moving. That's the important thing. Yeah, he can hopefully live a mostly normal life at this point. Even if he has a little tingle here and there.
00:29:01
Speaker
Yeah, hopefully that's hopefully that's that he gets that far and hopefully he's uh, yeah He's able to continue on with rugby too. I mean not playing that playing but but anyway, he's still involved in the sport I'm sure I'm sure if he has the the tribe that we all know he does get into it somehow
00:29:20
Speaker
Let's so yeah, let's we talked about going into the other thing probably because it's not so pretty either So the and you and I both saw the video James Haskell just kind of going off on his his podcast house of rugby just and he's not wrong and There's a lot
00:29:48
Speaker
and talk about the sport in general. And there's a lot, this is an opportunity for rugby to fix what's wrong with it. That's where it is. Yeah. This is a rare occurrence where it's acceptable right now to just make a huge 90 degrees. Yeah. Whatever you want to call it. Um, and, and adjust the sport as you see fit. And I think you can do it, but you have to do it right. And I don't know who the person to do it would be me, you know,
00:30:20
Speaker
Let's see what we got here. Let's have a shot at it, shall we? You all couldn't see Jared's face that he just made at me, so. Maybe I'm posting comments on my Twitter and stuff just for a laugh. Right. Who should be in charge of rugby and then me? Nobody. I think I'd rather have nobody right now. Yeah, no shit. I mean, I'd definitely not prefer
00:30:48
Speaker
What's his face? Why am I even speaking? I was the guy I kept taking a bite out of. Not point, not the point. Anyway, yeah, this is an opportunity for us to kind of think about.
00:31:07
Speaker
How can the sport improve where it's not a house of cards, basically? And because yes, it probably is. And we even saw it like this is kind of a, I think it's a wake up call a little bit with this. We saw that because the Six Nations wants to move
00:31:28
Speaker
in the UK behind closed doors, behind a paywall, if you will, on TV. And it appealed to try and say it's an A-list sport, saying you can't do that. And it lost that appeal, which I think should have been an eye-opener because, yes, it probably is an A-list sport, but people don't see it that way.
00:31:51
Speaker
It's not an A-list competition. The World Cup is, but they're not seeing the Six Nations as that. And on a different level of the space here, the Champions League in soccer, that's an A-list sport. I'm pretty sure. The Euros for soccer is an A-list sport. You have to show that on public television.
00:32:17
Speaker
So and that's the European championships that happen every four years to usually usually two years apart from the World Cup. Obviously, this year is going to be different with it being pushed to next year. So I think again, that's kind of that is.
00:32:34
Speaker
in a way a wake up call for the rest of the sport. And the fact that even in England, they can't get it, they can't get it ruled as an A-list sport to where you can't legally can't move it behind a paywall. So I think that is a bit of a wake up call in that aspect.
00:32:50
Speaker
Yeah. And I think, yeah, there's a lot that I think should be happening there. And honestly, they have to, I think, and it's going to
00:33:06
Speaker
It sucks, but it is what it is.
TV Deals and Marketing: Boosting Rugby's Popularity
00:33:09
Speaker
Because I don't like it. I really don't want to say it. And I really don't think that it's the best for the soul of the sport. But I think it's what you have to do if you want to really grow it. And that's make a concerted investment in the United States. Because honestly, you get on ESPN. You see the football.
00:33:29
Speaker
the salary cap that they have for their players, it's unreal. And the same thing for all American sports. NBA's salary cap is pretty damn high too. And that's all paid for because these leagues get billion dollar TV deals. And when you're talking about something where there's revenue just in being able to air the sports,
00:33:58
Speaker
Um, that's different from the public airwaves in, in, in England. And I assume other, other were in other words in Europe too. But like, just cause it has to be, you know, it has to be free here. It's free, but they make money on all the advertising, all that stuff, but they make that money. Like they, there's a billion dollar TV deals. Like, so ESPN is giving, uh, the NFL, like,
00:34:22
Speaker
some ungodly number over so many years. Some stupid number just to show one fucking playoff game. And one match, I'm sorry, one game a week, the Monday of football. So they get Monday of football and then a playoff game. Yeah, extrapolate that over like CBS and Fox's deals where they're showing six a week. Yeah, right.
00:34:40
Speaker
And that makes that's what makes them money. That's what makes the owners money. That's what makes the players money and they have to make it the if they can make the The the they make a rugby even a halfway viable sport in the in the united states and get that money and really they need to you we need to like have a kind of a World union that kind of acts more like I would say the nfl where everything is shared and everything is distributed equally
00:35:08
Speaker
And I'd be okay with that. And I know what people wouldn't be, but yes, I agree. I agree. If you're garbage, then you don't get much. But if you're at least either one, showing effort into the sport or two, your country and union are obviously a key figurehead into the sport, then yeah, okay, you get a little bit more. But yeah, I'm sorry, I'm gonna use the example only because I know where the ranking usually is.
00:35:38
Speaker
Mexico, who are like 80th in the world, you know, right? Yeah, they're not going to get a lot, you know, because and what are the steps that they're taking? Right. There'd have to be some sort of development plan, right? To say you have a plan. I'm down with this. Right. We'll support that plan. Right. But if you don't, if you're just like, you know what, we just want to play, then okay, then then you'll do that. But we're not going to give you fuck. You know, right? Your your contribution from us will be very minimal.
00:36:04
Speaker
But for like to split the money out between the major clubs. And that would actually might make, that would really help the island nations. That would really better understand it as it is. It would really help some of these developing nations, developing rugby nations. That want to be good at rugby and are taking their steps.
00:36:22
Speaker
Or was it Uruguay? Like these teams that like could really benefit from it. And if you, if you work it, honestly, if they worked it correctly and got things done and got that kind of TV money with the U S that would, that could make that much, they could actually have more money just from that than they do. Right. So even the maybe the top tier countries,
00:36:48
Speaker
still could be making more from a quality TV possibly. So these are things that could.
00:36:56
Speaker
I mean, that could work out in the long run. Let's let's use another, you know, fifth, you know, second tier sport in this country that is popular elsewhere, very worldwide. And that's the Premier League. Their TV deal was probably about seven, eight years ago. And then they then NBC Sports jumped on. And they signed a pretty big one. And they made they did it one they did a very good job. I will say this, they did a very good job with, you know, making it
00:37:26
Speaker
a bigger deal. They really did. And then they just resigned it for even more money. So and and I can guarantee you they're like, for I mean, for just looking at the TV deals that are over here, look, it's look at Fox, they're still struggling. They have
00:37:43
Speaker
football they have the NFL and really that's it they don't have they have a little they have some baseball baseball is dying so that's the thing baseball is having a problem having having its own issue um yeah in terms of losing fans looking right so you know shot it at hockey and fucked it up so yep they did they did they definitely did um you know i think they could have done really well with that and they fucking you know they lost they lost ufc
00:38:09
Speaker
And that was a big one for them. They had the Premier League contract. They lost that a long time ago. They've lost a lot of things that could have been theirs for a long time. They have one golf tournament, which they shouldn't have. It's really terrible.
00:38:30
Speaker
Look, they couldn't screw up rugby any worse than it is right now in the US. If they wanted to seize it, then they could have it.
00:38:41
Speaker
If you do a good job with it and you can get a company to buy into it, then it's yours. And again, I'm gonna look at NBC and I know I shit on their gold subscription because we have our own issues with them, but that's...
00:39:14
Speaker
with them. If you look at the Premier League and what they've done, they've done a really good job. It's their thing. Like people, you know, they're really doing a good job of promoting it and pushing it on everything they do. And I'm a soccer fan. I love it. I don't want I didn't watch as much this year because my team is
00:39:21
Speaker
a different story for a different day.
00:39:32
Speaker
division down. So that's my own damn problem. But yeah, they do a really good job of coverage and that, you know, I have turned into it because it popped up like on I was like, Oh, there's nothing live and
00:39:47
Speaker
when I went to log in to NBC Sports. NBC, yeah. Gold. And I was like all of a sudden it's like, hey, yeah, okay, there's really no rugby for you to watch right now. You want to watch this? And I'm like, oh, okay. Like, sure. Right. So again, if you can find it, if they can find a network over here that's willing to take the chance on rugby hard,
00:40:12
Speaker
and make it their own thing, then yeah, it doesn't have to be a particular league in general. I'd love it if it was the premiership, but if you want it to be the top 14, fine. I don't give a fuck. Do it. You know, do it. Whatever it's going to grow the sports over here is going to benefit the game in general. So that's what I, so that would get me into my point about NBC Sports Gold, but it also ties into our talk about USA Rugby before, which is,
00:40:42
Speaker
what would work really well. So as you said, there's a paywall here for soccer, but it gets popular and then that expands and then now you can watch it.
00:40:57
Speaker
And then there's TV deals, like now there's that money flowing to soccer. Well, what USA Rugby should do, and this pissed me off so much that they haven't, I don't, something like they've even considered it before, is they should be in talks with fucking NBC Sports. Yes, I know that they had their deal with Flow, which is stupid, but this doesn't affect that. This should solve that deal right now. And. You go to NBC Sports and you say, hey,
00:41:25
Speaker
I've got like X many rugby players and this many teams. And you say, I want to see if we can work a deal where if you have a sip with, if you're registered for USA Rugby, you get a discount on NBC Sports Gold. Like can we work something out that way? And then that way players get it. Like they get, you know, instead of it being whatever, like $60 a year, it's 30. You know, NBC Sports Gold is going to make so much more money than they're already making.
00:41:54
Speaker
and so many more Americans are going to be watching Rugby. Right. It's a win-win. Right. It's a win-win for both, and they should be doing that with ESPN too, and pretty much anyone that's showing Rugby. And that way you have these, and also maybe offer it to clubs too, so you can get a club account. And that way, if you want to show it to your team as a coaching thing, you know, example, like some people like to do,
00:42:22
Speaker
Here's, here's, here's your account to do that. You can, the club can buy it and that way it can be, you know, just for the club, but that's how they get together and watch. And then, you know, make that even cheaper because it's generic. Not everybody's going to do it, but that's still extra money that NBC sports would be making. That would also benefit rugby in America. So like that's something that we need to, to, to start looking into. And then that, again, if we can grow it from there,
Rugby Commentary: The Need for Charismatic Voices
00:42:51
Speaker
becomes more mainstream. Okay. Now they show it more on, on regular TV, not like, you know, they do just with the World Cup, but they'd show it weekly. You get a weekly match. Like they'd say, this is what we think the best match is going to be this week. Yeah.
00:43:06
Speaker
Yeah, I have no problem with that. Yeah, yeah. And more too, so let's talk about something that Hask kind of hit on is like fan engagement and fan interest because it's something that I think you and I both agree that there are people that are definitely killing people away from rugby. And they're just like, who the fuck is this helmet that's talking right now? Can we get rid of him right now? And I know you and I have hard feelings about certain people in the industry in general, but
00:43:37
Speaker
Yes, let's do away with certain people that are that are out there and both I on this side of the pond and across. Right. So I I don't I like if you listen to football broadcast and unfortunately, it's been it's been made terrible over the past couple of years because they've made become they become clowns. But, you know, you know, the video game Madden
00:44:02
Speaker
comes from a guy who used to be a coach and then was an actual broadcaster. Not many kids these days understand this. Who's this guy? I grew up listening to John Madden and Pat Summerall call like great, great games, all these things.
00:44:19
Speaker
Even Madden himself became a clown in his later years. Right. But he straddled the line between giving really good analysis and also like really talking up the game and players.
00:44:35
Speaker
And that's what they need. So like, you hear there are certain guys like the announcer from the game that we were watching with as a club was a guy who we all, you know, shut up, boss. So that should be a clue enough. Oh, man. Yeah. I had to give a warning to the team. I'm like, this guy, like, don't listen to him. He's a complete fucking boob. Like, he doesn't know. He never really learned the laws when he was playing.
00:45:09
Speaker
And like so he there was a was it um, oh fuck Courtney laws grabs the ball in mall and like defensively seals off the ball in a mall and and wins them the ball and and is like
00:45:27
Speaker
saying, oh, he came around, he changed his mind. And it's like, no, the commentator is like, well, if you see here, he walks straight through the mall and just reaches over and and seals it off. And it's like, because he's Courtney laws. Right. But you fucking knob. Don't don't. Your first reaction should not be back. Shut up.
00:45:46
Speaker
right and your first reaction shouldn't be to say oh that was illegal that was bad that's like because that doesn't grow the game it's the what are you presenting to the to the audience there you're presenting the fact that you're ignorant you're presenting the fact that you think somebody did something wrong when they didn't and you're presenting like kind of a controversy where there is none you're just an idiot
00:46:04
Speaker
You're just like that's not that's ultimately bad for the game because it just it makes things look that you have to think of the way it You're presenting two fans and in that matter Haskell is exactly right.
Equality in Rugby: Women's Development Focus
00:46:14
Speaker
You need somebody like a James Haskell who's going to have cogent analysis, but he's also a bit of a He is what he is Silly and fun. Yeah, and and a showman let's put it that way as a showman. Yeah, he definitely is and
00:46:30
Speaker
Yeah, and he can, and the likes of him are worth it for sure. And he said you need somebody that's poignant and punchy. And I was like, yes, we definitely need that. We need to get rid of the fucking, we all know. So I'll use one from the side of the pond that we all know. And most of us hate Brian Hightower. He was a captain of USA Rugby Sevens in the 80s.
00:46:58
Speaker
Maybe. And maybe in the late early 90s. Anyway, he's a sevens guy. He doesn't he definitely is another guy that doesn't didn't follow the law as well. And he's kind of the other side where he just explains too much shit. And it's like, listen, it's all basic stuff. I don't he's talking about it the whole time. Yes. And I'm like, Listen, I don't need any talks over the referees, Mike, which makes me want to fucking kick him more.
00:47:20
Speaker
And I'm just like, dude, shut the fuck up. And he's an idiot. And they put him on the really good games too, which sucks. So I'm just like, God, he has not progressed and evolved since he was playing. So commentators like that, you need to kick out of the game. And who was it?
00:47:42
Speaker
was it was a champions cup that was that was bringing in the female come tears or it was super rugby anyway. Oh, no, it was welcome. It was the work that was doing it. Yes. Yeah, the World Cup was doing it and that that that I loved bring that into because super rugby has it. Yeah. Okay. So that's right. Yeah. Yeah. Great job. What's her God, what's your face? I can't remember her name. I'm doing her such a I never hear the names because I'm always watching the replays and they don't name them right. I know her name and I'm doing her such a fucking disservice and I
00:48:12
Speaker
I apologize for it and I'll fucking send her a message later if I have to, I don't care. Anyway, that is a market that needs to be tapped into that has not been well tapped into by any means whatsoever. And that can really benefit because if you look at, I mean,
00:48:29
Speaker
Ricky Swannell, that's who it is. Yes, she is a lovely person and she is a great commentator and God, I hope she gets more games. Anyway. She certainly is both of those. Yes. Stop looking at her picture. All right, I'm back, I'm back, I'm back. But yeah, so you need that and you just, you look at the markets and the reason that soccer is so good over here is because
00:48:58
Speaker
females and they want to watch it. And you know, that's the, that's a sport that's very popular over here because we're also very good at it. U.S.A beat the world. So that's another thing. We're very good at that and basketball. So those are the two sports that are very popular over here and getting more popularity.
00:49:21
Speaker
because they have a huge female draw. NFL has its own female draw for another reason, but that is what it is. Although, you know, the quote unquote powder puff football is becoming more popular as it goes. There's definitely more women playing on, and young girls playing on boys teams, like high school teams, than there were. I have a couple that played on my rugby team and they were
00:49:47
Speaker
tenacious little women that I would never follow. That's for sure. And you never really saw that in football. Like it happened every so often. You'd be like, Oh, look at that. And so this is something that really, Hey, girls can play this. If you want to, you know, football's a stupid sport anyway. When you come, you know, play, play some rugby. Yeah. Um, so it's something that there's,
00:50:12
Speaker
Right. And that's actually something else we need to play up here is there has to be, when this comes back, there has to be some sort of equality, some sort of semblance of equality. Yeah, please try to have equality with the women's team. It's so bad. Right. Yeah. Like even if you started a women's professional rugby league,
00:50:35
Speaker
It wouldn't like, look, the quality of play, just because you'd have to have a certain number of teams, the quality of play probably wouldn't be great. It wouldn't be bad. But I mean, you'd have to, you'd have to have enough teams that the talent would be diluted, unfortunately. True. Although we'll get the first year of MLR. Right.
00:50:55
Speaker
Yeah. I just don't know what the, like, I don't know the circumstances. So we don't know, you know, who would be, you know, if people would come overseas for that or whatnot, like that, that MLR was fortunate to have that right from the start. Um, it might happen in the women's game actually probably would. Um, yeah. And then, um, cause you could get some players like from England who don't get paid over there. Yeah. Or get paid like there's a lot. Right.
00:51:22
Speaker
right, who'd be like, Oh, well, this would be a little bit more and I, you know, could play and be one of the better players in the league. Like, this would be a good showcase for me for, for our person moving up. And so like, that's something that could happen and it would draw, it would like draw so hard here. And that's something that would also help
00:51:40
Speaker
you know, if we, and show the world, just like soccer, you see them, the mess that USA soccer is in because of the inequality there. If we started by saying, look, we're going to, we're going to do it. We can't like, we're going to, I don't know what we can go right up right to straight to equal pay, but in the, over the course of this is how, this is the plan. This is how we're going to get there. Cause we need, we need to get the income first. And once we get that draw,
Fantasy Sports as a Marketing Tool
00:52:03
Speaker
we can do
00:52:03
Speaker
through the next step, but actually have a plan in place and say, this is how it's happening. No, there's no, we'll get there eventually. Cause that's, we saw what's happening in soccer. There has to be a progression. Yeah. Have a mapped out plan of how you're going to get to that equality. Because I think, I think that's definitely where US soccer got in trouble. Like they had no actual idea of how they were going to get to equality.
00:52:31
Speaker
Zero, I mean the president of the US soccer team even was a fucking idiot the last two have been very Last two have actually been very terrible. They're basically clones of each other In terms of the way they thought and all that shit But yeah, they had no plan Laid out actually how they were gonna get this equality and you know when honestly the better of the two teams Was getting paid the least
00:52:55
Speaker
Duh, it's gonna bite you in the ass. And let's be real, how many semi-finals have the women's eagles made? At least two or three? Okay, in the World Cup, and we've never made a knockoff stage as the men's team. So before this bites you in the ass, get ahead of it, and it'll actually do you better than you think.
00:53:23
Speaker
And the women's sevens program is good. Like it's all sustainable right now. Like they're actually getting on their feet with a sustainable base of players, both sides. So it's like, cause it used to be the same. Like, you know, we still have, we still have Carl and Iles who's developed somewhat, but I mean, he's not really that good a rugby player. He's just fast. Um, we'll not go into contact and that actually, unfortunately, and
00:53:46
Speaker
And I know I'm not, I'm not one of these hardos that saying, Oh, you got to be able to know this is like, you still need to be able to tackle. And that's a problem of it. Whereas he'll, he'll run next to somebody and hope they trip themselves up rather than actually wrap them and take them to deck. And he'll like trip all over himself and knock the ball on in contact when he's carrying the ball. Like if you hit him, that ball's going and you can't be scared. Like that, that, that's just, he does some good things. Yes. Um, but.
00:54:12
Speaker
Like, as a rugby player, I'm not terribly impressed. It's just, hey, he's really fucking fast. That is. We're moving away from that in Sevens. He's still on the team. He's kind of the old guard now, but I think he's still where he has his role. Right. He's a role player now, which is really all he ever was.
00:54:32
Speaker
But that's the, but that's what USA rugby was looking for. They were looking for somebody. They can be like, look, this guy's, we have the fastest player pro athlete. It's like, okay, the fastest. Nice. Now let's produce a play.
00:54:45
Speaker
Right. And let's produce some wins, some W's boys. All about the W's boys. And they started getting more players and it worked, the gambit worked. So I'll give them credit for that. And now they're sustainable as far as able to produce talent consistently. Yeah, they have loads of talent now.
00:55:04
Speaker
And the women's program's the same way. They used to be at the stage where they had that same thing, Naya Tapper, same kind of deal as Carla Niles, but she developed. She is now fucking ferocious. And she's good all around. And used to be like, no, she'd do the same thing. She'd knock it on. And she had an emba.
00:55:28
Speaker
Cheddar Amber, who I coached very, very briefly. Says you.
00:55:36
Speaker
She, uh, no, she, she passed through our ranks real quick. Um, can't imagine why. And, uh, no, she's fucking great. The same thing happened to her. Like there was a, there's a little bit of a development where she had to actually learn how to play. She uses the transfer, um, from soccer to rugby. Um, basically one season before she came to bean town, she was at Harvard, uh, women's rugby, women's soccer there. And I guess played that for a year or something, played rugby for one year.
00:56:04
Speaker
at Harvard, came to Beantown and then moved on to some development camp.
00:56:13
Speaker
But yeah, she, she took a while for her to develop that. Oh, this is what rugby is. Like she had to actually learn and experience it. And, but now that's the state, like that, that they have the people in place who can do that. So it tells me that the sevens program is under players who are under coaches who can develop it more than the men's. Yeah. But at least they're developing like sustainability. Like I do, I mean, I do like Mike Friday, but it's not just my Friday running that show over there. So,
00:56:40
Speaker
Right. But they're developing equally there too. So it's like the men's program and the women's program are fucking solid. They're both amazing programs right now.
00:56:50
Speaker
And you can't say that about a lot of, like you look at Ireland and their men's, obviously the men's team is ridiculous. The women's team is traditionally pretty dog shit. And it's like, it's why, where is the, you know, we need some equality on the world stage too. It's got to be, it's got to be a push to, you know,
00:57:13
Speaker
as much as we should on the US, they actually did this pretty well, but that's not the people at the top, that's the people running those particular programs. But we need that more equality around the world with how their women's programs are supported. And it's only going to help us. It's only going to help us. There's zero downside to that.
00:57:34
Speaker
wouldn't it be great to be the first completely equal sport in the world? Uh, I'd celebrate it. That's for sure. Like that would be something that, that would hope would could be a major draw to, to think so too. I think, I think it'd be popularity. Yeah. I think if we had a real interest in something like that, this would be the place to do it. That's for sure. Um, so it's all, it's all interplayed. I think there's all this stuff could, could, could mesh together and, and,
00:58:04
Speaker
and make the sport better in a lot of ways. Yeah. Let's go into one more little aspect and then we'll call it a day.
00:58:16
Speaker
And you and I hit on this for a hot minute and God, I wish we could have expounded the whole podcast on it with our friend Sam on FRD and what an impact fantasy sports could make on this. And you and I both know,
00:58:36
Speaker
Shit, you and I are in a fancy football league together. You're in like three others. I wish I was in a couple more because I have fun with it. Um, basically, honestly, at this point, so I reason I watch football because I have my issues, the NFL, but that's different story for a different day. Um, one that I've been in for 25 years. Exactly. So exactly, you know, and we'll, it's, it's, um,
00:58:58
Speaker
It's it's an aspect that I think has been ignored and is just thought as like a gimmick and it's not it can it involves it can get so many fucking people involved in the sport. If you if
00:59:11
Speaker
If the premier, and we'll use the premier shipping exam as an example, because you and I watch
Fantasy Rugby's Potential: Following Football's Success
00:59:15
Speaker
it a shit ton. Um, if the permission got off his ass and I'll actually give the pro 14th grad, they have their own game. That's why I've already had to change the name of their, their fancy game on that. Cause they got, they got pinged for copyright infringement or whatever. Um,
00:59:29
Speaker
Yeah. Anyway, or something like that. Anyway, so if the the prem were to get off its ass and, you know, think forwardly, and I think this is something they need to include in that plan of
00:59:44
Speaker
developing a good fantasy game and you know, I love TRM and you and I do, you and I both do, it's not as popular. FRD is a little more popular, but the website's got a few issues with it and you and I both know that as well. So, you know, a good meld of the two where you have a good system that works very well like TRM does with the popularity of FRD, combine the two of them and voila, you have a marketing tool that you didn't even know was a fucking marketing tool.
01:00:11
Speaker
So, you know, and I think to lean into that heavily would do this work good. And think about it this way, like you see a lot of...
01:00:22
Speaker
Oh, like every so often you'll see, um, one of the, the competitions tweet out something that's like, Oh, here's a stat and here are the leaders in it. And you're kind of like, okay, what is that? What does that tell me? Like, especially in a time such as this, when, uh, you know, a lot of the world cup players didn't play like half the games or more. And it's like, okay. So so-and-so leads and tackle busts, but it's somebody who's like,
01:00:51
Speaker
not that great a player anyway or something. And I'm sure whoever leads in tackle bust is good. I'm not, I'm not saying that, but it's just like, okay, that's, that's cool stuff. Oh, how can I relate to that? Whereas in football you have like shit, or I remember when like 4,000 passing yards in a season was amazing. And you know why it was amazing? Because it's fucking people in fantasy football won their lead because 4,000 yards.
01:01:16
Speaker
And then people won their leagues when Drew Brees threw for 5,000 yards. The stats are driven by the fantasy aspect of the game. I got to the final of the year, Peyton threw 55 touchdowns or whatever it was. Because he was my quarterback. Who has the most meters run in premiership this season?
01:01:46
Speaker
Right but it's but that's like have that like have a where's the the the weekly leaders like show that like who's who's got the you know who had the most yards this week who had the or most meters this week who had the most tries this week or you know tackle busts like things like that make the fantasy much more um like make like you could reach out to fans that way and be like oh so and so you want to see it like now ESPN
01:02:02
Speaker
Right. And that's, that's the, I mean, I happen to know it's Charles Pietel, but that's, but we know
01:02:11
Speaker
You watch an NFL game and they show fantasy stats on the screen. Like that's on the bottom line. It's ridiculous. You know, right? And so it's like, Oh, I don't even, you know, I can check my, my, my scores if I want, but I can just see what I'm, you know, my star, how my stars are doing up there. Like they're, they're really in court.
01:02:28
Speaker
It's so popular. The fantasy aspect is so popular that it's actually, it's, it affected the game and now affects the popularity of it. It's a cyclical, it's all this cycle of, of attention. Yeah. Attention gets money. So it does. It does. It absolutely does. Yeah. And we, and we talked about as far as fantasy sports.
01:02:51
Speaker
Right. And we talked about, you know, getting the other the other part of the population involved in that be females and women. And you can't tell you. I'll tell you a story. There's, I have a good friend, and his his now wife is a football ish fan. But she got involved in her first fantasy football league this year.
01:03:17
Speaker
And you cannot tell me this woman did not watch more fantasy football. I helped her draft her team, she actually ended up winning the league. Wish I could have video do that with mine. But you cannot tell me that this woman all of a sudden didn't just become a little bit more interested in the sport because she had a fancy football team that she had picked and was rooting for. Now, I know with this, I'm gonna give it a caveat.
01:03:43
Speaker
If you have a player on your team, and they're doing garbage, it's your own fucking fault. Not theirs. Don't fucking tweet at them. Don't add them on anything. That's your fault. Do not fucking add them. Their lives revolve zero around your fucking wellness on fantasy sports. So don't do that. All right. People did that a couple years ago with football and the players got really pissed.
01:04:05
Speaker
Did I delete my tweet about Mapimpi giving up that try? I remember that. Yeah, well, no, you had Mapimpi give one away to Bosch. You had Damien Mack give one away, too. Oh, that's what it was. That's what it was. It was all Amalo gave one away. Oh, fuck. That's what it was. Yeah, that's what it was. Fuck. But no, I mean.
01:04:26
Speaker
You were being a good sport. You weren't like, come on, what the fuck? Because some way too seriously. Like, oh, well, you're a degenerate gambler. You know whose problem that is? Yours. Yeah, it's not the players. But you know.
01:04:45
Speaker
but they already, the thing is they already do that. The people who were going to do that still do that. Like they're, you know, they'll, they'll email them about, you know, Oh, I, I lost money in a bet. Cause it, cause you did X, Y or Z and all your team sucks and it's making me sad.
01:05:02
Speaker
Right. And so, you know, I've actually seen that like pro, some pro football players say that they're like, it's no, it's the same shit I get everywhere else. It's just, I get a little bit more of it, but whatever. It's all this. He's like, I get it from everyone. So what the fuck doesn't matter why they're just the people that do it or the people that are going to do it.
01:05:22
Speaker
Which sucks, but that's fucking life. Yeah, it is. But yeah, still, they're passionate about it because they are passionate about the sport, too, in their own weird way. Right. In this oddball way that we've not created. You need passionate people, and unfortunately, those kind of people are passionate people.
01:05:46
Speaker
It sucks, but that comes with the territory of being a popular sport. But that would be a good thing to work on as far as, yeah, add that thing. Fuck.
01:05:55
Speaker
You think rugby players can be like, yo, you didn't score that try. I'm going to, I'm really mad at you. Okay. Well, yeah, I'm really mad at me too. Yeah. Guess what? I'm going to go out there next week and try to score one anyway. Like that's what I do. I like scoring tries. I they're fun. Yeah. No shit. Listen, dude. I didn't win. We didn't win the game. I don't give a shit if I didn't score that fucking try. We didn't win the game. You know, we still didn't win.
01:06:22
Speaker
Right. And if we won the game and I fumbled that try, then we won the game and I get to be an ass for a day. Like, yeah, we'll be the goat for the day. It's all right. Yeah. So who gives a fuck? Yeah, no. So it's, it's, it's, it's an aspect that I, that I hope, um, run we can learn from and I'll make a bid to be the official fancy, fancy premiership podcast. If anybody's listening, but yeah, I mean, you look at the, God,
01:06:50
Speaker
I said on the FRD podcast, like every
01:06:55
Speaker
Every network has their own, has their own podcast. CBS has one. ESPN has one. Fox has one. NBC has one. They all have their own fantasy football at the very least podcast, sometimes baseball or basketball, you know, and they get paid money to do that shit too. Like that's part of their contract. Like the guy that hosts the ESPN one, he resigned partly because they wanted him to stay host of theirs and it's, and they paid him a little extra money to do said. So I was like, damn, like,
01:07:25
Speaker
That's the life right there. Being paid to do a fantasy football podcast. Yes, please. Not too bad. No. I mean, and he goes on the show. Some of them have gone on from like some of the writers, some NFL writers went from being like, oh, this guy's our fantasy football expert. And now he's like their football expert or their football columnist or whatever.
01:07:49
Speaker
Or yeah. So it's like, yeah, like these are people that they develop within the organization too. They actually help the brand. Yeah. Yeah. So like, even if like BBC or BT Sport wanted to pick up like an official game, it would do their sport good.
01:08:10
Speaker
Yeah. It's something more to talk about related to the sport and the good things about the sport. You want to keep the young kids engaged? That is the exact route you need to take.
01:08:25
Speaker
You know, get rid of the boring ass commentators and pundits and get a good fantasy rugby game involved because I guarantee you those kids all play fantasy sports and other aspects, whether it be fantasy Premier League or a fantasy NFL, whatever it is, they all play it too. So you want to get them started young. That's a way to keep them involved right there.
01:08:47
Speaker
Yeah, young and gay and they're engaged there. Like I said, that one fantasy league, and I was, I'm in for 25 years. I was 15. I was, I might've been even older than, younger than that. Cause I was, I think it was a sophomore in high school. Yeah. And like one of my friends, older brothers was like, Hey, we're doing this. You went in and I'm like, did like, we needed somebody. I'm like, Oh yeah, sure. I'm in. Yeah.
01:09:10
Speaker
fuck years later it actually had to split like all this stuff we were all we're all still doing it and it's like that got but that got us engaged i mean you know reading the newspaper on monday morning doing the score with the pencil yeah they didn't they didn't
01:09:26
Speaker
And there was no real fantasy. There was barely an internet. The internet was kind of dicey at that point. But that's the level people went to because they were interested in it at the time. And then it blew up when the internet blew up. And everybody, all these posers that have been around for 20 years. I'm way ahead of you. No, but it's this.
01:09:48
Speaker
It's something that you, you know, there's, there's definitely a niche for it. There's a market for it. Like that's gotta be something to, to start, you know? Yeah. It's a market. It's a, it's marketing. It's marketing that you don't look at. It's marketing that people don't realize it's marketing until you fucking like put somebody with a brain in front of it and say, Oh shit, we can totally fucking push this and use this to our advantage. So yeah. And, and I hope
01:10:14
Speaker
All the financials aside, there's obviously a lot of financial issues that need to be solved in all the leagues. They're talking about clubs that potentially go belly up, and that's really sad to see. But it's an issue worldwide that can be solved with leadership from World Rugby. I'm not, Gosper, that was the fucking guy I was just thinking of before it got done. Oh, yeah. Yeah, there it is. It hit me like a fucking ton of bricks.
01:10:41
Speaker
This is an issue that needs to lead from the front. I don't have a ton of confidence in the organization, unfortunately, because you and I both know the kind of helmets sometimes. So, we'll see what happens. There's a lot of ways to skin this thing. And I just hope that we can
01:11:05
Speaker
find the way that gets it to something that is marketable, sustainable, but can still keep the values because we talked, Haskell talked about this as well, like, you know, rugby players going around the pitch after games and signing autographs and taking pictures and shaking hands and all that stuff. It's not something that a lot of the, and you use football, soccer as the, as the example where a lot of them just don't, aren't,
01:11:33
Speaker
as involved with the fans and art as quote unquote accessible and sometimes with good reason, there's some fucking crazy people out there. But there's still a line where you can be safe, but keep the fans engaged and be involved with the fans. Shake a hand, kiss a baby as it were, and sign some monographs, take some pictures and put smiles on some kids' faces and they'll make their fucking life and that'll keep you, y'all have a fan for the rest of, you know,
01:12:01
Speaker
the existence of the club in your career.
Rugby's Growth Potential: Final Thoughts
01:12:04
Speaker
So it's a line to get to, we talked about the NFL glowingly in a lot of ways, but also you and I both have our high, high, high value issues that are going on with the sport. I'm not sure how much I'm gonna watch this here, to tell you the truth. Packers games and about it.
01:12:24
Speaker
And maybe, and you know what, last year I even had some points where I was like, I got work to do. And I don't, I don't, I don't give a fuck. I didn't, the Packers weren't on, so I didn't give a shit. Yeah. There were times when I was like, I'll watch a rugby match instead. Like I haven't seen this one. I'll just watch that. I don't really care. Yeah. That's, that's, that's a level of.
01:12:46
Speaker
that, that, that's where that line of greed starts to overcome and hopefully we don't get too close to that anytime soon. So, but it doesn't, it doesn't need a little influx in cash and some, uh, some fandom. So we got to figure out how to get that. All right, man, we burned, we burned some time here.
01:13:06
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Look at that. We are well into over an hour. So you thought we couldn't talk about anything, everybody. And look at that. Look at that. Yeah. Underestimated our ability to waggle our tongues. Oh, dude, please. I can talk with the best. Give me another. Give me another
Virtual Interactions: New Norms and Job Challenges
01:13:24
Speaker
beer. It'll go for all night, man. Yeah. Well, while we've barely interacted with anyone other than our wives. I know. I know. I've done the virtual training session.
01:13:36
Speaker
Yeah, and that's been good and then I've had other virtual calls, but yeah, that's it like Yeah, I haven't like I technically started a new job this week. So I've been on a couple like meetings and that's been cool, but it's the only That's the most you've been on for a while probably
01:13:53
Speaker
It has that too. Yeah. Oh man.
Future Challenges: Biweekly Problem Solving
01:13:55
Speaker
All right. Well, um, I'm sure there'll be more problems that come up in a couple of weeks. So we'll try and do this like biweekly at this point since we don't have something. Yeah. A lot of, um, games to talk about, unfortunately. Um, and I don't think we will for a while, which really sucks.
Episode Reflection: Looking Ahead
01:14:11
Speaker
but there's so much more we could've encompassed in this, and I'm sure there'll be a lot more we can talk about, so we'll probably try this again in a couple weeks, but thanks a lot for hanging out with us, you guys. This was a lot of fun for me, and I'm sure it was for Ben. And we will...
01:14:28
Speaker
We really appreciate you guys.
Listener Engagement: Encouragement and Gratitude
01:14:30
Speaker
And, you know, you know, email us basically where we podcast at gbl.com tweet at us. That's spare time for view. Yeah. Yeah. We got plenty of time to respond to that shit now. But until next time, thanks a lot for listening to us. And we really appreciate you guys coming along. Thanks a lot everybody.