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Episode 334: We're going to miss you Gonzo
73 Plays4 years ago
A lot has happened since we last spoke, most recently a 3-0 win over Tigres in Leagues Cup and the news that Gonzalo Pineda was leaving the Sounders for Atlanta United. We talk about all that and more.
This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)
Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.
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Transcript
Introduction to Full Pool Wines and '36 Bottles of Wine'
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of No Sadietes is sponsored by Full Pool Wines, a Seattle-based wine seller who recently released their first book, 36 Bottles of Wine. The ethos of the book, a highly curated look at wine categories that provide exceptional value right now, should be familiar to full pool readers. But there's loads of fresh content, and since it's not trying to sell any wine through the book, there's a bit more of a sass factor.
00:00:21
Speaker
And there's food. Lots of it. Fulpel's unique writing style is applied to recipes like leftover Thanksgiving turkey, schmaltz-a-ball soup, and pregnancy nachos. This book can be purchased through Sasquatch Books.
Seattle Sounders Highlight Game Moments
00:00:32
Speaker
Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to... There's no study at this. What? Hey, Ocean! Let's go! Jordan Morris getting in behind Florian Youngford. Jordan Morris! Scores!
00:00:50
Speaker
And how's this for a save from Steph and Fry? Here comes Roy Diaz through the middle to crowd it to Seattle. What do the Tigers dream of? They take a little Tigers in. It's the Sounders and an S-Com. I feel a lot better than Bob.
00:01:18
Speaker
The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle And the hills the greenest green in Seattle Like a beautiful child growing up
Sounders' Performance Against Tigres and Tactical Analysis
00:01:35
Speaker
Welcome back to another edition of Nos Adietas, sponsored by Full Pool Wines. This is episode 334 and we're recording on Wednesday, August 11th, 2021. I am your host, Jeremiah O'Shan. Joining me as usual is Aaron Campo and Lickit P. It's been a while since we talked to y'all. A quick recap. The Sounders have gone into a bit of a slump, going 1-3-1 in league play, falling out of the lead in both the supporters shield and Western Conference race.
00:02:01
Speaker
but are also starting to get healthy and coming off a very impressive win over Tigris UANL in League's Cup play. In between all those games, the Sounders had a pretty active transfer day, and it looks like we're going to be losing Gonzalo Pineda to Atlanta United. So a lot of going on in the world of the Sounders, a lot of it going on recently. But let's start with the on-field stuff, Aaron. The Sounders had a pretty fun game, I thought last night. I went to the stadium. I covered it.
00:02:29
Speaker
decent crowd, not, you know, not crazy good, but like 17,000. You look at part of the, like, if you, if you squinted and you only looked at the East and South side, you'd actually believe it was kind of a reasonably full game. I thought it was fun. What did you think, Aaron? Was it, was, was league's cup fun?
00:02:48
Speaker
I mean the game was, was definitely fun. If we're going to play in this thing, we might as well win and yeah you know might as well have fun doing it and it was a very fun game. You know T grace, obviously did not have their, their full compliments of, you know, all their firepower but
00:03:05
Speaker
They definitely seemed at least until the second goal, they seemed pretty up for it. And I thought the Sounders just flat out outplayed a team that looked motivated, you know, they digress is playing a much younger defense they didn't have guinea they didn't have a couple of their other key pieces, but
00:03:20
Speaker
You know, that's a very good, uh, league MX team. And I thought the sounders, you know, more than more than took it to him. Um, and the first staff, uh, Tigris adjusted pretty well. Um, but the sounders, you know, are very persistent, played, looked really comfortable defensively for, you know, the first time in a couple of games. So that was really nice to see. Yeah.
00:03:41
Speaker
I think you and I were talking about it before the show, and I think we both agreed that after the second goal, Tigris was maybe a little less up for it. But I think that that's kind of to be expected in a situation like this. Now I'd love to play for when you're down 2-0 in 65th minute or whatever. Exactly, exactly. And you know, but that's I mean, that's that's a good thing to be able to do is to demoralize a team and then just kind of waving the white flag. Not something the Sounders have been able to do for a little while. And I just think that
00:04:09
Speaker
whatever you think about the week's cup, and I don't think much of it. I think it's probably fair to say that was a good result at a good time for the Sounders. I think for their confidence, they definitely looked like they had a swagger that that's been missing. Good to have another opportunity for Nico to get some minutes and score a hell of a goal and you know, get some confidence in him. Although I don't know that Nico is ever going to be too lacking in confidence, but it's always nice to score a goal like that so quickly after coming back.
00:04:37
Speaker
Yeah, I think a lot to be positive about coming out of that game.
00:04:42
Speaker
Um, and you know, it feels, it feels like maybe the tide is turning a little bit.
Lineup Diversity and Player Adaptability
00:04:47
Speaker
Um, at that Dallas game, the result was unfair, as frustrating as it was. Uh, and it was very frustrating, you know, for that to come on the end of a bunch of results that were pretty fair, uh, and not, not super great for the sounders. Um, so I think that that was a good palate cleanser. You know, I think it was good to get that one for sure.
00:05:08
Speaker
Yeah, I thought that, you know, the, like you said, the defense was good. I thought the, maybe more encouraging was how good the offense looked. And, you know, this was a group that I don't think this exact group had started together. It was very, I mean, it was as veteran heavy as really they can put out. And I thought it was interesting, sort of a statement with the lineup that Brian Schmetzer made, you know, all along, he had been saying, no, no, no, I'm going to use my starters. I'm going to use my starters.
00:05:35
Speaker
And in our, in the sounder heart chat, you know,
Importance of League's Cup vs Fixture Congestion
00:05:38
Speaker
we were talking about before how, you know, after we saw the sporting Kansas city lineup and, you know, we were talking about how, yeah, I don't know. The sounders probably won't look that different. And I was kind of expecting like, okay, they're going to use some reserves, but those reserves will probably still look.
00:05:54
Speaker
kind of like what the centers have been using for the last few weeks, because they've had to use a lot of those players anyway. But no, Brian stuck to his guns, he played the veterans, not even a Josh Atencio or a Danny Leyva in the lineup, I was a little surprised by that. But it was, you know, it was a group that looked comfortable that looked
00:06:15
Speaker
Like, not at all, at no point in that game, did they look like they're overwhelmed by Tigress. And you're right, this was definitely not Tigress's best possible team, but still, like, that's a very, very talented team. And I went through transfer market, and this is not an exact measurement, obviously, but like that, their starters were worth something like $40 million on the, or had a $40 million valuation, according to the transfer market. The Sounders who were putting out, like I said,
00:06:45
Speaker
about as good of a lineup as they could put out. We're at 24 million. That's not exact, but it does give you a pretty good idea of how
00:06:55
Speaker
you know, how much quality Tigris has on their roster. And they had more than enough, you know, firepower in that game, you know, Leo, and I don't know if they use their best lineup, but they, they hung six on sporting Kansas city. And I, it'll be an interesting narrative point. If this turns into a little bit of a turning point between sporting Kansas city and the sounders, sporting Kansas city been kind of rolling high lately. They, they beat the sounders three, one.
00:07:20
Speaker
They beat LAFC 3-1 also, maybe. They've been looking very good recently. And it would be interesting if this ends up being kind of like a turning point in both team seasons. Yeah, I mean, I think it was an interesting juxtaposition, I think, between the two teams. And I understand the decision by Peter for me is to start that lineup, because I think
00:07:50
Speaker
That was a, that was a weak lineup, but I think you'd never expect to lose sixth one at home, no matter what kind of lineup you're putting out. But I, you know, I get it. Like, I think supporting Kansas cities, you know, they're in very good position, but it's tenuous. They're not running away with the league. This is, this isn't CCL. You know, I think that you can want to win the league's cup and take it seriously while also acknowledging that it's not the CCL.
00:08:17
Speaker
Um, sporting Kansas City, you know, they've, they've got, uh, they, they just played against LAFC. Um, they do have an another week before their next game, I believe. Um, I think I, I could be wrong, but I, I thought they were on shorter rest and.
00:08:33
Speaker
Oh, you're right. Yeah. I think they play on Saturday, which is actually a day less of rest than that. So it's like, not only were they coming off a game last Saturday, but they were, they have another game this coming Saturday. So it was a much shorter week for them. The sounders actually, the way this lined up for the sounders.
00:08:49
Speaker
They had like five days of rest before this game, and then they have six days of rest before the next game. So it's barely even like stretching them, frankly. It makes it a much, much easier decision. And I also think that if you're sporting Kansas City and you've been getting the results they've been getting, they had a tough game at Colorado. They got a no-no draw after getting pretty heavily shellacked. But I think if you're Peter Vermees, you know, you can
00:09:14
Speaker
pretty easily convince yourself, well, we got shellacked at Colorado because we're playing at altitude on short rest after going to LAFC and winning for one. I understand the thought process there, but I also understand, you know, the sounders A, because they don't have the short turnaround and B, because I think the starters did need some confidence. And I think that it's easy. I think it's easy to get up, you know, for a game against a team like Tigris.
00:09:40
Speaker
So I think, you know, it worked out well, and it will be interesting to see if there's any sort of hangover effect. Sporting KC's got FC Dallas, who they just lost to at home a couple of weeks ago, coming up next. And that would be a lovely game for them to drop points in, since the Sounders, you know, just did the same thing. I'll be at home in this case, but Sporting Kansas City just lost to FC Dallas at home, so who knows. But I definitely feel like,
00:10:07
Speaker
Considering the shortages the Sounders had, the players that they were missing, even with a pretty nasty run of farm there dropping as many points as they did losing three games in a short span of time, you've got to be pretty happy with the complete body of work.
00:10:23
Speaker
And the Sounders are getting much, much closer
Recovering from Injuries and Strategic Play
00:10:26
Speaker
to full strength. You know, Niko's back. He's probably not 90 minutes fed or even ready to start yet, but he's definitely getting there. Christian Aldana's back. Alex Aldana's back. The team is getting very close. It's getting very close to full strength.
00:10:44
Speaker
And they got through a pretty rocky period that lasted for a pretty significant portion of the season so far. They're in second place in the Western Conference. They're one point behind Sporting KC level one games. Probably out of the supporter shield race at this point, seven points back in New England who don't look like slowing down really.
00:11:09
Speaker
You know, it's, that's a hard, that's a hard trophy to win, especially with the, with the absences, the sounders have had and the difficulties they've had, uh, injury wise. So I think you've got to feel pretty good about, about where things are at right now, especially under with the understanding that they're probably going to get better, you know, if anything.
00:11:25
Speaker
Yeah. And I think at this point, if you're the Sounders, you probably shift your focus to, let's see if we can win the West and be a little bit less worried about getting the supporters. Because it's frankly, the support shield is kind of out of their hands. They need New England to kind of come back. And that has nothing to do with whether or not the Sounders kind of go for it for the rest of the year. To the degree that they had a chance,
00:11:50
Speaker
They, they just got one point out of three straight home games. They're now have a very road heavy, like their first half, they, they, they're 18 games in the season. I think 11 of those were at home. So they've only got seven home games left. Like they kind are six home games left. Jeez. Uh, they kind of shot that a wad for a lack of a better term. And.
00:12:13
Speaker
they're in a good place but
Critique of League's Cup and MLS Strategy
00:12:15
Speaker
like the reality is New England's on a record-breaking pay like supporters shield rate if they keep this up they're gonna they're gonna win the the supporters shield there's nothing really the sounders can do about it yep and i think that that's fine like winning the supporters shield is not the end all be all that's not what you you know it would have been nice don't get me wrong it would have been nice yeah
00:12:34
Speaker
but like you can only do what you can do now I think like for me like someone was talking to me about this and I think this gets into maybe the league's cup discussion that I wanted to have is you know one of the the criticisms of the league's cup without getting into the the broader
00:12:52
Speaker
criticisms which we can totally get into but right now, like specifically is just that it creates some, some added fixture congestion for the sounders, you know, it's only two games but it's it's two, two midweek games that they you know like they're already having to reschedule.
00:13:07
Speaker
their September 15th game against Vancouver is getting moved into October, which is instead of having a weekend off for the international date, they're going to play through that. That kind of sucks. So right there, you're seeing some impact on the season. And then they have potentially a midweek game in the final on September 22nd, which is going to be bracketed by two weekend games. That's kind of a bummer.
00:13:35
Speaker
But I don't know, my attitude is those games are not going to be what just like that rest that they could have gotten there is going to have a lot less to do with potentially winning the supporter shield. Like if, if you're telling me you can mildly increase your chance of winning the supporter shield, or you can win the league's cup, like just from a competitive standpoint, I would rather win the league's cup, even though I realize it's a, you know, the sporting merit of the tournament is questionable, but like just based on.
00:14:03
Speaker
Can I win a trophy? Sure. Like that would be a fun thing. Especially if you have to like, and at the end of the day, if they end up having to beat three Mexican teams to get it, that's a pretty cool accomplishment.
00:14:15
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I don't care about the League's Cup. I think it's a fair way to put it, but I don't think that that perspective is wrong. I think that my complaints with the League's Cup are really more conceptual, right? Like it's more like, what's A, what are we doing this for? B, if it's being sold as an alternative to the Europa League, why is it only MLS and League MX teams?
00:14:41
Speaker
And just in general, and this goes beyond the league's cup, you can expect MLS teams to compete for the supporter shield, compete to win their conference, compete to play in the US Open Cup when that's a thing again, hopefully soon, and compete in continental competitions.
00:15:02
Speaker
And you can have very shallow, very top heavy rosters where you're playing replacement level guys, a decent chunk of time. But you can't do both of those things. You have to make a decision. And I think that
00:15:16
Speaker
If MLS is serious about competing on a global stage or continental stage, then they have to give teams an incentive to do that. And I think that means improving the quality of depth. Yeah. And the tools. Right. Exactly.
00:15:32
Speaker
And, and I think that improving quality of depth is a huge one because an MLS team can go through the season. They can want to support her shield. They can be, you know, an MLS cup to tender plane, USL caliber guys, starting them five, six, seven games, you know, what have you rotating them in and out, but they can't.
00:15:51
Speaker
do that against league AMX teams. And so they're having to start, like they're having to make those trade-offs that just like those league AMX teams aren't having to make because they have higher quality depth. And we saw that, you know, I think we saw that last night with the, like what I said about the lineup that Tigris put out like sounders beat them, but they beat them with their A lineup pretty much. Yep. And, and Tigris was able to put out all this quality with it. Like if the sounder like,
00:16:18
Speaker
Tigger's team is worth something close to $80 million or something like that in transfer value. Sounders are worth something like half that, and that might even be high. But it's not a fair game that MLS and League MX are playing in terms of their roster depths. And
00:16:43
Speaker
I think you're right that that's a fair criticism that if MLS wants to be playing in these tournaments, they got to give their teams more tools to try to compete with. And I guess as it is now, I don't have a huge issue with League's Cup this year. Like if we're just looking laser focused on this year, there's no open cup.
00:17:06
Speaker
Like, like I said, like the fixture congestion that is being caused by potentially three extra games, especially in a year where you don't have open cup games. I'm not broken up about that, you know, but like, if you go back to last year, originally the plan was they were going to be playing a 16 team leagues cup. So that would have been an extra round. And then like the Sounders were potentially also going to be in the Campionis cup, which.
00:17:32
Speaker
was not, you know, that would have been another game that they would have had to play. I think they were going to be in League's Cup last year too. And so that would have been, you know, five extra dates. That was going to be a mess. And then they were going to potentially have Open Cup too. There's no, like that fixture, like this all ended up not mattering because they didn't
00:17:54
Speaker
play these games, but like if that was to be like next year, that would be a mess.
US vs Mexico CONCACAF Games and Atmosphere
00:18:00
Speaker
Uh, and I, and I do have concerns from that perspective on what is it that leaks cup is trying to do? Like on some level, I get that it's, it's pretty empty, like pretty straightforward, uh, play to increase the inventory. And that's a term that they use as, which basically just means give the league something else to sell to the TV stations as like, here's more stuff that you can put on during the middle of the week. And I don't like.
00:18:25
Speaker
I get it. That's like a play of like, that's how you raise your valuations. That's how you increase rosters and all this kind of stuff. But on some level, you kind of got to put that roster stuff first. And if you want to do all this stuff, you got to make it, you got to give your GMs and your coaches the tools to play this.
00:18:44
Speaker
And your criticism about it not being quite equivalent to the Europa League, I think, is fair. You're right. If you really wanted to make it the Europa League, you'd probably have to bring in at least a couple other countries' second best teams. But they're not really pitching it as Europa League. They're really just pitching it as Liga MX versus MLS.
00:19:07
Speaker
On some level, I don't blame them for that. I think there is like, I like watching MLS teams play league MX teams, but I want to see them play on something like an even playing field and gets, goes back to the idea that like, it's only fun if they're competing and they're not just like, you know, it can't be all David versus Goliath. Yeah. I think that that's the thing for me is that it's, there's that aspect of it of like,
00:19:34
Speaker
what's the incentive for me to care about these games beyond just like, oh, this is on and we're playing in it. And I'd like to win if we're playing a competitive game is the first part and be like the competition itself needs to have a little more legitimacy than like, well, they'll come play one game up here and they're always going to play in the U S like it's the nation's league, right? Like it's just like a club version of the nation's league where there's no, the Sounders aren't going down to, you know, to, to play in Mexico.
00:20:03
Speaker
um it's just so transparently the business case for it like there's no even there's no auspices even of just like no this is a serious like it's just like well you know uh sounders fans come to games and people watch them on tv and and we know league mx fans that live in the u.s want to see their team so here's here's a way to get more of those games on the calendar
00:20:26
Speaker
Yeah. You know, great, but like, can we at least pretend like that's that it's something beyond that, especially if we're going to be playing starters and
Signings of Nico Benize and Leo Chu
00:20:38
Speaker
things like that. And then I think the other thing obviously is just the, you know, there was a quote that Don Garber
00:20:46
Speaker
had when they first announced the competition. I think it was when they first announced the competition where he said, well, this is us walking before we have to run. Um, and, and Jason Davis, uh, had, I thought what was a pretty good point about this on Twitter the other day where he was like, no walking before you run is giving the teams the ability to compete, like not playing the games, putting them on the calendar. That's that's running before you can walk. Yeah.
00:21:12
Speaker
And I think that's kind of what you saw with sporting KC. And I think in a different circumstance, that's what you could have seen with the Sounders against Tigris, with a Tigris team that isn't resting players from the Olympics and Hans Gignac and a Sounders team that is struggling in a leak maybe and doesn't feel like they can put extra miles on their T players' legs. I mean, if this game was two weeks ago, I think the Sounders would have been forced to use a very different lineup. And it could have been a very different result. Yeah.
00:21:41
Speaker
And so when you think about it, as it turned out, the game was fun. And as it turns out, the sounders look like they can probably compete in this thing because the circumstances are what they are.
00:21:56
Speaker
that's kind of a lucky happenstance and so like I guess my perspective is this tournament today is fun and it's like I'm into it but like next year I don't know that I'll be into it because next year might be totally different circumstances and I don't think I can make a valid case
00:22:17
Speaker
for this being like a good thing that we should keep doing unless there are other things that are, that come into it. Right. I think, I think a birth into CCL is a good start because there's at least a carrot beyond a trophy because like there, you get trophies for crazy tournaments too. You know, so I think that's a fair point. That's a good start. I really would like to see these be, um, home and home at some point. Yeah, that was totally neutral site. Like play the whole thing in Vegas. I don't care, but.
00:22:47
Speaker
Yeah. Anyway, yeah, I think... In a different year, I would have loved to have gone to that. If this was a normal year, and the Sounders got to play in a final in Vegas, I have to admit that I would be very tempted to go. I will not be going this year, even if they make it, but... That was a very clever strategy,
MLS Growth and International Competitiveness
00:23:09
Speaker
I think. Yeah, no, I think it does, in itself, it does add some appeal to the game.
00:23:14
Speaker
And it's a trial balloon for expansion, too, I think. Yes, it seems to be the case. There was actually a story in Sportico, which apparently Sportico is now like the hot
00:23:25
Speaker
hotness in the sports business. Yeah. That's like, that's like the big, they, they're getting all the scoops for, uh, not all of them, but it's like, it's big, big in the trades. Uh, but anyway, uh, yeah, uh, Las Vegas is now supposedly the favorite did land to 30, what was going to be Sacramento's team, but it looks like, uh, and they might actually play at Allegiant stadium, which man, I'll tell you another one that I am a big fan of.
00:23:52
Speaker
Uh, this is a little off topic, but I don't know if you watched the gold cup final, but man, I am all about like, put whenever he Mexico in the United States play, put it inside. Yeah. Like it's like, give it the whole Thunderdome treatment.
00:24:10
Speaker
Find you know, there's a bunch of grass stadiums that are indoors whether they're in Phoenix or Vegas or Dallas or wherever like put them in these like put them play them all in the southwest like Stop playing like Azteca. We don't need to go back to Azteca. We're not gonna we don't need to go to Columbus Let's just have these at semi neutral sites every single time. I'm here for it I think I don't think I genuinely think it's a pretty good idea. I think that I think that like
00:24:40
Speaker
CONCACAF leaning even more into US Mexico than it already is, is a good idea. Because on the one hand that just credits and is a bit disrespectful to the rest of CONCACAF, which is much, much better than people want to give credit for. But on the other hand, it's not theater in the same way that it's a different kind of theater. It's like alternative theater.
00:25:04
Speaker
I don't know I just I thought that was it just creates such an atmosphere like I just think that it's it's such a great it's like a really it's kind of like a college football atmosphere where you have you really have like two fans like it's like almost like a split stadium where uh which and I thought was interesting because people were saying they really thought that Vegas would be extremely pro Mexico but I thought in reality it ended up being like a
00:25:31
Speaker
a pretty even like when the US did well, it was loud when the when Mexico did well, it was loud like it was I thought it worked. I loved it. I think that's like I don't think I would ever get tired of seeing games between those two in in like semi neutral sites like that. No, I digress.
00:25:50
Speaker
Well, I mean, it was enough for me to like become invested in the US again in the US. Yeah, exactly. It's been a while since that's been the case. Also, convenient timing on my part, but we'll just ignore that. Right. It is funny because like a year ago, I was like pretty much checked out of the US national team and just being like, I don't really care what happens.
00:26:09
Speaker
After the Nations League and after the Gold Cup, I'm like, no, I'm into this. This is a fun young group. But anyway, I guess I'll use this transition.
Gonzalo Pineda's Move to Atlanta United
00:26:21
Speaker
The Mexican-American tie to the Sounders is Gonzalo Pineda. By the time people listen to this, I suspect he may have been announced as the head coach of Atlanta United. That came out of the blue in that
00:26:39
Speaker
It doesn't happen that often where an MLS team hires another team's assistant at mid-season. Do you have any thoughts on this one? We have at least one question that is asking for specifically how we think that's going to go. So I'll save that question for the Q&A.
00:27:02
Speaker
It's interesting for sure, because it's much, much different than Atlanta, their strategy in the past. They've gone for very big, very splashy hires.
00:27:15
Speaker
Like a 180. If I'm an Atlanta fan, I feel like that's a good sign because I think that they hit the jackpot with Tata, who was somebody who is obviously everything they're looking for in a big splashy hire with a great resume that brings, you know, maybe a higher level of tactical sophistication. But the key thing with him is that he is
00:27:39
Speaker
a professional that was willing to adapt the way he does things to the league and the idiosyncrasies of the league. He was very involved in the way the roster was put together, etc, and so forth. That has not been the case with the other bozos that they've hired since then. And so I think that that
00:27:58
Speaker
That shows some growth, I guess, on the part of Atlanta's front office. We'll see. But it's very sad, but I think that everybody recognized that it was inevitable. And in terms of how I think it affects the sounders,
00:28:16
Speaker
I think that there's that's a loss in the long term, but I suspect without any evidence to back this up is just me completely talking out of my ass. The things that he really brought to the table are things that they're going to be able to carry on through the rest of the year. Tactical preparation, you know, whatever he was doing in line or warm ups and things like that.
00:28:37
Speaker
the things, there are probably things he's seen in practices and film sessions that they're going to miss. But I think in general, it's going to be more of a long-term issue. It's going to hurt in the future. But I also trust Ryan Schmetzer to fill that void effectively. I mean, I think that there are probably other guys that can step up into that role and do a great job. And
00:29:03
Speaker
You know, we'll, we'll see how that goes, but it's, it's definitely bittersweet because like I said, I think everybody knew it was going to happen. Um, and very happy for gonzo. He obviously deserves it. I think he's going to be very successful coach in MLS, uh, eventually. Um, and it's, it's impossible, I think to turn down that opportunity, but it would have been nice if it wasn't happening mid season, just all sorts of reasons.
00:29:28
Speaker
Yeah, that's, that's definitely a bummer that it's happening mid season. I suspect the Sounders will get some compensation. I don't have a lot of hope for it being a lot, but I think the last coach to have moved mid season was Robin Frazier. And I think TFC got 75,000 Gamm or something like that. So it's not, it's not nothing, but it's definitely not.
Maximizing Veteran Players for Squad Depth
00:29:49
Speaker
It's not, you know, franchise altering amounts of money or anything, but yeah, it's a blow. We can talk about this more later, but it's an interesting development. I got to say, credits to Nico Moreno was all over this one. He had some good sourcing on what was going on there. So it was kind of cool that Sounder at Heart was in the middle of a lot of this coverage, but,
00:30:18
Speaker
Yeah, the other, the other big thing that happened this, I know we'll probably touch on this during the questions too, but the sounders did make a couple of signings. Uh, Nico Benize from the rapids. Uh, he had been playing in league on as recently as a basically two years ago. And he was a starter for like lower table Lee gun teams. He has, I actually think that this might have more.
00:30:45
Speaker
potential to be a impactful signing than even Leo Chu, who is the other player they signed, but who is a young, he's a 22 year old. He hadn't been starting at Gremio in Brazil, but Sanders really like his upside, but they don't, they're not really pitching him as someone who's going to jump into the starting lineup or anything. Benizei may not be a starter, but he has some like of that Victor Rodriguez vibes to him, I think.
00:31:13
Speaker
Yeah, I think that he is exactly the kind of player the Sounders have had a great deal of success. I hate this term, but I think people know what it means in picking him up off the scrap heap. He's exactly the profile of a player that the Sounders have found in the league identified that have something left in the tank that can contribute that are probably not going to be
00:31:38
Speaker
key players but can help make marginal improvements, help take some of the pressure off some of the younger guys. Colin Rowe, Jimmy Madranda, Shane O'Neill, even Will Bruin and Harry Shipp were players that were kind of like on the seeming downside and they got a lot out of all these guys. Yeah, I mean I think even somebody like Miguel Abara who
00:32:00
Speaker
maybe did not live up to some of the hopes for what he could accomplish, but was a contributor who ate some minutes and who had some good moments with the team for what the Sounders gave up, which is probably less than they're going to get for allowing Gonzo Pineda to go to Atlanta.
00:32:22
Speaker
you know they're they're bringing in a player who is a veteran who can you know play a few different positions who i think brings a little something different to the table than you know what they currently have and i think crucially does take some of that pressure off the younger kids because i think we're kind of getting to that point with some of the with some of the kids that
00:32:42
Speaker
You're gonna do some damage to their confidence if you keep throwing them out there to sort of struggle a little bit when they're clearly not up for it. And so I think, you know, it's, it's a good strategy of like let's see what we've got.
00:32:55
Speaker
with the youngsters for the first half of the season and then try to patch things up if we need to on the back half of the season. And so I think it's a good signing, almost zero risk. Definitely the kind of move that the Sounders have been really good at, especially since Garth came on the scene of like
00:33:17
Speaker
decent upside and maybe we can, you know, maybe we can revive somebody's career. Yeah. Ben is a, is an inch. The other thing that's interesting about Ben is is, you know, he, the big knock against him is he he's on a pretty big number. I think his salary, according to the players union is something like 650,000. And then on top of that,
00:33:36
Speaker
the rapids had to pay his transfer fee when they acquired him from TFC. Basically, all of that is not the sounder's problem. Basically, what Garth said is they have him for $150,000 this year because that's what they're responsible for. If they pick him up next year, they'd have to give another $50,000 to
00:33:59
Speaker
to the rapid, I think it was another 50,000, something like that, to the rapids if they re-sign him. But if Benizae is worth re-signing at any number, you pay that, you don't really worry about that, right? Absolutely. I wouldn't be totally shocked if he comes here and if he does well and he falls in love with the, it wouldn't be the first time that someone fell in love with Seattle and decided they wanted to stick around. At first,
00:34:29
Speaker
poo poo'd the move when I first saw it, but once I saw the details and kind of like looked a little bit more into it, I kind of was into it, like much more than I anticipated. And I don't have a lot to say about Leo Chiu other than...
00:34:46
Speaker
I thought it was funny that, first of all, Lagerweil was very excited about just the idea of signing a young player who was kind of expensive. He just loves this idea of getting into the international market that way. But he also compared him to an offensive new who, which I thought was an interesting comparison. I'm not entirely sure what that looks like. I don't either.
00:35:14
Speaker
I'm excited to see what it looks like. Yeah, I think, you know, the thing about Ben is a, not to distract too much though, is he's a big time weeb, which I think it's kind of fun. He's a big time dweeb. Weeb. What does that mean? He's really into like anime and stuff. Oh, yes, I saw that. That'll fit in well, you know. I'm sure he'll find like, yeah, we'll probably see him at Emerald City Comic Con or whatever that ever comes back.
00:35:42
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, I think that the thing with Chu is that I'm excited about him because the Sounders are excited about him and I trust the scouting.
00:35:51
Speaker
I think anybody that says that they know a whole lot about him is probably full of shit in terms of laymen, but he certainly has an exciting profile. And if the Sounders were willing to spend that much money on him, I think that it's reasonable to have pretty high expectations. Yeah. And it is funny that it wasn't that long ago that
00:36:15
Speaker
what was the fee, like two and a half to three million? Somewhere in that. For two? Yeah. Yeah. Something like that. Like they said two and a half million is what they said. Yeah. I mean, that it wasn't that long ago that that was like, that was, I think about what the sounders paid for Obermann. It was in the neighborhood of that for sure. Um, and now that seems like a, like, Oh yeah, two, you know, two and a half million. Um, but that's like not a insignificant transfer fee for a player that young with a, you know, with a history is as sparse as. Yeah. I mean, only,
00:36:45
Speaker
Up until very recently, MLS essentially wasn't selling players for that. It was very rare that MLS would even sell a player for that much. And really until the last five years, MLS wasn't even buying players that cost that much other than the random Ova Martins or Clint Dempsey signing up. MLS was not in the habit of paying transfer fees really up until pretty recently.
00:37:10
Speaker
And that 2.5 million now is seen as kind of like a lower end buys. Kind of significant.
00:37:17
Speaker
Yeah. And I think even in the, what did Garth call it? The great game. I think even in that context, that's a decent fee to pay for somebody without a lot of history. And more interestingly, I thought he was talking about how at one point they were contemplating trying to spend, they're willing to spend even more money and bring in a fourth
00:37:42
Speaker
dp type you know like a 22 year old who you know they maybe spend nine ten million dollars on a transfer fee and they can bring in on a relatively low salary and you know essentially do a fourth dp kind of like i guess atlanta may have done that a couple like santiago sosa is maybe a player like that and uh
00:38:03
Speaker
And it's exciting that the sounders are even talking about that. I think it was probably smart not to do that in the market right now since they can't scout in person. They can't really use all the tools they have normally to make sure they don't blow those signings.
00:38:19
Speaker
It's an interesting time for sure. I find myself very excited about the direction that MLS is going right now. And I think it'll be, and not the least of which is they're producing, like the Sounders are just one of many teams that are producing a lot of good players. The fact that Josh Atencio, Danny Leyva to a lesser degree, Reed Baker Whiting and Ethan Dobler can get on the field and not look out of place.
00:38:48
Speaker
It's pretty exciting. Yeah, it's remarkable. And I think that this was always the next logical step in MLS's evolution as a league. And it should be seen as exciting because it's how you get to see really exciting players in their early years, in their developmental years. And it's how you get to the point where you can attract
00:39:14
Speaker
There's like, oh, Rudy has who are, you know, probably never going to be huge stars in Europe, but are at the very top of their game and their prime and, you know, can still compete on an international level.
00:39:24
Speaker
Yeah. And just to kind of tie it back, I will say that one of the other things I think that is valuable about league's cup is I think players like Louis Diaz and Ledero and guys like that, they want, they want to play in those types of tournaments. Like they want to face off against Tigris and the big Mexican teams because that's kind of what they are into. Like they, they want to like.
00:39:46
Speaker
clearly they're buying into MLS. They are pumped, you know, like they, they get it. It's about winning MLS cup, but I think they really do enjoy testing themselves against some of these bigger teams, uh, and against, you know, quality opponents like that. So that's maybe not a reason that you have league's cup, but I think it adds some value and it makes the games more interesting. But
00:40:09
Speaker
That's probably a good place to call this segment. We're going to come back, take some questions, and you're listening to no salut.
00:40:21
Speaker
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00:40:40
Speaker
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00:40:59
Speaker
Welcome back to NOS Adiatus. Even though we were really lacking in foresight and we waited until the last minute to ask questions, we got enough to do like a real segment. Thanks, guys. Good job. Thanks. Good job, everyone.
00:41:17
Speaker
All right, so I'll start here. This is from Dustpan13, which I don't think is a person that we've taken a question from before. It's very exciting. With three road games then finishing the month at home versus Portland, what do we need from the rest of August to stay in the Shield Hunt? Well, we kind of touched on this at the end of last segment, but I think what we need more than anything is for New England to
00:41:43
Speaker
fall down the stairs, metaphorically, or perhaps literally speaking. They're playing at, I think, what would be a record pace. I think they're on pace for 72 points, right? Yeah, something like that.
00:41:59
Speaker
Nothing about how they're doing this seems super fluky. Annoying. Very annoying. Yeah. I mean, very Bruce Arena way to go about things. But, you know, obviously a very good team. Carlos Hill, former, former Aston Villa player. If he's hurt for an extended period of time, that might be some. Yeah, that could be a huge problem for sure. But they otherwise, I mean, they're going to have to
00:42:26
Speaker
Regardless of what the Sounders do, they're going to have to trip up with time because there are seven points clear game in hand. It's going to be tough to make those points up without them really falling off. That said, if the Sounders are going to have a chance, I think you, I mean, they got to get something like nine points from these
00:42:50
Speaker
Yeah, next four game. There's not a lot of room for error. Who do they got? They got at Portland, at Columbus, at Dallas, and then home versus Portland. They have to win at least two of those, and they probably need... I put the minimum bar at seven. Although it should be said, those are tough but winnable games,
00:43:16
Speaker
They won in Portland this year, so that's possible. I don't necessarily think it's likely. I think Columbus is playing bad enough that they should feel like they could theoretically get three points from that one. Dallas is a tough one, but they're not a great team, although they've been very good at home. And then you have to win that home game against Portland. You just have to. Yeah, I mean, I think they
00:43:44
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not going to feel great about their chances, unless they get through these four without dropping any points, and when at least. Yeah, they came out of the three points. If they get out of these with eight somebody between six and eight points, I think you can feel good.
00:44:04
Speaker
Good. In terms of whether or not you feel like they've done enough to keep them reliably in the shield race without the New England totally shooting the bed. Yeah. I think they've got to have like 10 points from these next four. Might be. Yeah, that's probably fair. Go ahead. Next one is from Trivialx.
00:44:23
Speaker
And this is the start of the Gonzalo Pineda section of the program. So first one got a few in a row about Gonzo. Who's in the running for Gonzo's replacement? How bad are we going to miss this guy? And why is it a ton? All the best to him regardless.
00:44:40
Speaker
Yeah, it's, I think the sounder, I'll start with the first one, which is, I do think that the sounders are going to miss him. I don't, I don't know if it's going to be immediately apparent. Like I don't, I don't, I know he does a lot of the prep, like the pregame prep.
00:44:57
Speaker
or pre, yeah, like the he preps the he does a lot of the film work. He does the job Brian Schmetzer used to do under Siggy. And he's done a great job. And my understanding is he's responsible for a lot of the technical aspects of the sounders.
00:45:11
Speaker
his absence will be felt. I suspect Jimmy Traore is gonna probably, his responsibility will increase some. I think Preckie may, like, I think they're gonna backfill this, frankly, with people that are already on staff. My understanding is that Gary Lewis, who is the head of the academy and has some coaching experience, may move into the first team staff and sort of help out there. I know Henry Browner has already been working with the first team staff.
00:45:40
Speaker
I think there's a lot of people that will move up the ladder, so to speak. Eventually, you got to think that they might bring in someone new from outside the organization, but for now, I think they'll just probably stick with people that are around.
00:45:55
Speaker
Yeah. And I think, I think it's, uh, that it's not like Gonzo moved into his position immediately, like, and started doing, like, I think that that his role evolved and grew over time. And I think it's going to be the same kind of thing where you see, you know, those responsibilities drop off. Other people have to pick them up. You see who's good at what. Um, and, and he kind of, it just evolves naturally from there.
00:46:19
Speaker
Yeah. All right. This one is from Tom Dos Remedios. It says, will the Sounders hire to replace Panetta or split the responsibilities across the other coaches? I covered that one, I guess. But yeah, I mean, I think eventually they're probably going to hire somebody else or promote somebody from, you know, they've got a whole bunch of ex-players just kind of hanging around the organization these days who might be interested in coaching. So, you know, we'll see. But but I do think that, yeah, it's going to be more of the
00:46:49
Speaker
more sharing, doing some job sharing for the rest of this year to see how things pan out going into the next year. So an interesting name that someone on Sounder at Heart brought up, someone who I didn't realize was from here, but a guy named Ian Russell, who is from Seattle. He went to UW. He actually played with some of the current sounder people in the organization on the sounders back in
00:47:11
Speaker
the late nineties on the usl team and he he actually had a stint i guess as the head coach at san jose he was an assistant in toronto he was with reno 1868 up until their folding he was very successful there so that's that's maybe a name to keep an eye on something that's not in the organization now
00:47:34
Speaker
Interesting. And also, I mean, they went out and hired Precky a couple of years ago, so they don't know what they're capable of. The last one, and this is, I think, the really interesting one, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this because I certainly have some. It's from M.G. Meany. Thoughts on Pineda's odds of success in Atlanta?
00:47:52
Speaker
Well, I'll say that I think it's very good that he's getting at least a three year guaranteed contract. And I have to assume that he's only reason he's agreeing to go mid season is he's been given assurances that whatever happens this year, it's not going to be held against him. And, you know, so if assuming that's the case,
00:48:15
Speaker
You know, you can get all the assurances you want, though. So things can always blow up. And Atlanta has been very quick to pull the plug on coaches that aren't working out. I mean, I think it's a tricky situation. I think he has a lot of the tools he needs to be successful. There's clearly talent in Atlanta. It's not like they have a bunch of really expensive players, which I think is funny that they're acting like they ran out of money, but
00:48:43
Speaker
They have like five or six players who they paid at least $4 million in transfer fees on. They have a lot of expensive players. They have a lot of talented players. Like I don't think talent is their problem. Like they just haven't been very good and they haven't done a very good job of identifying, like making good use of all that money. Uh, so maybe talent identification is the problem, but I, I think he's got the potential to be successful. Um, I don't think they're going to be.
00:49:13
Speaker
you know, running teams over, I think that I hope Atlanta fans are OK with a bit more pragmatism. You know, I don't think he is someone who comes in with really defined systems. He's not going to be Caleb Porter. No, I don't think he's going to even be Tata Martino, but I think he's going to probably be a little bit more technical than than Brian. Like they might be a little bit less, you know, running on feelings, which I think
00:49:42
Speaker
Brian probably coaches a little bit more on that side, but he's a really smart tactician. He's really sharp. I think he has a high potential for success, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's out of a job in a year because that seems to be the way things go in Atlanta.
00:50:03
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that that's kind of where I land with it, where I think Gonzalo Pineda is going to be a great coach in MLS or elsewhere at some point in the future. But I think that Atlanta is a really tough place for him to make that work. I think that the fan base is
00:50:21
Speaker
demanding and I think that they're probably a little bit unreasonable about what is realistic to expect at this phase of the game. You know, they they set the bar very high out of the gate and they have tripped over it consistently since they won the loss Cup and I don't have any faith in that front office at all. No, I think that they the fact that they managed to chase Tata Martino out of there is
00:50:50
Speaker
And I, I just, I'm glad he's going to get paid no matter what, because I do think you know and I've seen.
00:51:00
Speaker
A fair number of Atlanta fans whine about how boring the Sounders play. Well, yeah, they win too. Like, you guys don't do that anymore. You're averaging one point a game this season. So maybe, you know, let's dial it back a little bit in terms of the expectations of going out and playing, you know, beautiful soccer and blowing everybody away every week.
00:51:22
Speaker
Um, but also I just, uh, there's a lot of talent on that roster for sure. And I think that he's capable of getting, you know, a lot out of it, but it's, it's a very piecemeal weird.
00:51:35
Speaker
Galactico sort of roster without the backbone that needs to make it work. So we'll see. I think the rest of this year is probably going to be kind of rough, but if he actually has input, he actually has a leash. He actually does get an opportunity to make things work and gets the kind of players he needs to make it work. I think that he has a pretty good chance of success there.
00:51:56
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's an interesting, it'll be an interesting thing. And I do wonder though, it seemed, if I was him, I would be a little worried about the process that resulted in my hiring. Yeah, for real. Because they fired a coach, they made a big splash. They had a bunch of high profile coaches that they went after and they didn't get. And then all of a sudden they offered you the job. Right.
00:52:25
Speaker
at mid-season, even though the guy that's doing the interim job seems to be doing okay, although there's fair questions as to like just how good of a job is he's doing. He's gone one, two, and two.
00:52:40
Speaker
the team's playing better, but are they really playing well? That's, you know, but still like you would, you would think that they would give this, like, why are they rushing to make this higher? And that would be my question. If I'm Gonzo Banana, why are, why are you so like, you're so in love with me that you need me right now. Right.
00:53:01
Speaker
You guys had an opening six months ago. Why didn't you call me then? Right. And I also think the point you made about them chasing other high profile hires, that's me suggests that they haven't.
00:53:13
Speaker
learned anything and that they're just panicking and saying, well, shit, we can't get the guys we really want. So I guess, I guess we'll give this a try. And I think that if you're Atlanta, you have to have some humility when you're making a hire like this of saying like, you know what? We can't just go out and hire the highest profile guy that we can get. Like we need somebody that's going to be a good fit. And I don't, I don't buy the idea that
00:53:35
Speaker
coaches from outside of MLS can never succeed. I think that the first coach Atlanta ever had did a great job of illustrating that that's not true, but it does have to be the right kind of candidate from outside of MLS. And it just doesn't feel like they get that and that they're like, well, we're going to have to settle for this guy.
00:53:56
Speaker
We'll see. I think that you can't be successful without believing in yourself. It's not shocking that Gonzo took the job in Atlanta because I'm sure he thinks he's going to be successful because it's very hard. That's how you get to be where they are. Yeah, winners win, man. That's the way it goes.
00:54:18
Speaker
I hope it goes well and I hope he's treated well there. And I think if he wins, he will be. I mean, like for all that you can say about Atlanta fans, um, if you win, they, they, they will love you. So I hope that's, I hope that's how it goes. It's a high upside gamble for sure.
00:54:38
Speaker
All right, so this is from Isaac, aka Quick Number Crunch. What is Liu Chu's expected impact this year? Immediately compete for a starting spot, come off the bench, cameo appearance display develops? I mean, I think without ever having really seen him play or knowing a whole lot about him,
00:55:00
Speaker
Um, I think it's reasonable to expect he's going to be more towards the cameo appearance as well. He develops side of things. Um, I think that, you know, the Brazilian league is, um, it's a tough one to like really sort of quantify in terms of how it compares to MLS, but the competition he has a lot of experience in there is like the regional leagues. And that is much worse than MLS. Um, he was having trouble, um,
00:55:26
Speaker
you know, getting any game time and league play in Brazil. So that to me suggests that he's more of a long-term project, but he also played for one of the bigger clubs in Brazil that, you know, had a kind of a log jam, as I understand the roster at that position that, you know, in sort of the attacking positions. So who knows, he might be ready to break out, but I think that,
00:55:53
Speaker
This year, it's probably good to set your expectations fairly low. Beyond just this talent level, I think it's even harder for younger guys to adjust to leaving their home country, coming to an unfamiliar place. We're still in the middle of the pandemic. He's having to quarantine before he can come into the country, and then he's got to get his visa sorted out.
00:56:18
Speaker
You know, it's entirely possible he comes in and sets the world on fire, but I think he's really one for the future. And that's kind of where the expectation should be set. And that doesn't mean we shouldn't be excited. It just means we might have to temper that, you know, for six months or so. Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if he only starts if he, I mean, I don't know. I don't know if I'd be surprised if he doesn't start at all this year, but I think you'll play.
00:56:42
Speaker
I just, my expectations of like the sounders did not sign him to push them over the top this year. Yep. You know, they gave him a three and a half year contract. He's someone that I think they, they see as a project. And if he comes in and he lights it up, great. And if he doesn't, that's fine too. Uh, it'll be, I think it's a very interesting project.
00:57:05
Speaker
If nothing else, he has attributes that the sounders are missing right now. And, you know, sort of the backend of the roster, which is nice to add to that. Yeah. I think it's a nice change of pace player, potentially. Yeah. And sometimes you just need somebody to go out and run it. People.
00:57:22
Speaker
Yeah. And how comfortable they are and how ready they are to play is kind of irrelevant. So, all right. Next one is from third string star. What is the first choice lineup when healthy minus Morris and dilemma? All right. This is a good one. I think I suspect that they're going to be playing in some sort of like
00:57:45
Speaker
three, five, or was it three, four, three, three, four, two, one sort of hybrid-y thing. And if I have to, if I have one game, I need to win. I think you go Rui Diaz, obviously. And then behind him, you probably have Ledero and Roldan. And then behind them, you have Xiao Paolo.
00:58:11
Speaker
And I would be inclined to go with Josh Atencio, but I think Kellen Rowe might be right now be the choice there. And then I like Madranda as the left wing back. Alex Roldon, obviously on the right wing back. And then, you know, if you, again, if you got full health, Nuhu, Ariaga, Jaymar Fry.
00:58:37
Speaker
Yeah, I don't I don't think I can really disagree with that. I do think that that other that central midfield spot is the interesting one. Yeah, it's tough because man, Kellen Roe has done everything I think anybody could have possibly expected and then some.
00:58:59
Speaker
But I and I think that if it is like, OK, this is one game that we have to win. That's who I'm going with. That's fair. But I think but I think that if it's just like, who would you like to see playing on a Wednesday night in Columbus or whatever? It's probably a ten to for me just because I think those minutes are super valuable.
00:59:18
Speaker
But it's definitely a good problem to have to say, is this guy that we picked up for absolutely nothing who has come in and been a critical player, the guy we want to play in this game? Or is it like the 12-year-old who looks like he's going to be a national team player in no time? It's definitely a good problem to have. But yeah, I think it depends on the context. But otherwise, I think the lineup kind of picks itself.
00:59:47
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I love the idea of bringing, being able to bring like Montero and Bruin off the bench. I think, um, you got Leyva, you got, you got some good bench options there. You know, Brad Smith, I think Brad Smith coming off the bench actually, like I kind of liked the platoon situation they seem to be creating with Madranda and Smith where, you know, one plays 60 and the other plays 30. And cause I think they offer enough different that it actually works really well.
01:00:17
Speaker
The Sounders have an ability to tailor their lineup to the opponent to a degree that is really kind of shocking considering, oh, you know, just the circumstances, but they really can mix things up in so many different ways. And it's it's it's nice. It's nice position to be in, for sure. Yeah. And I do think that this, you know, if you if you are looking for a reason to be encouraged about the. Sounder supporter shield chances is that if they are healthy,
01:00:46
Speaker
I think this potentially, like if they get new who and fry back from, you know, September, like if they can, if they're both back by, let's just say August 29th, I think the Sounders have a very good chance to make, you know, go on a serious run. And so, you know, if they're healthy, if this team gets healthy for the last two months of the season,
01:01:12
Speaker
I, less two and a half months of the season. There's no reason they, they can't go on a crazy good run. No, absolutely not. I mean, it's, it's almost, you never want to say you're expecting that kind of thing, but I mean, I mean, I think they get it. I think the kind of run they began the season on is not out of the question to end the season on. I agree. Totally agree. Um, all right. So this is from our good friend, Dave Clark.
01:01:37
Speaker
Aaron, what's your favorite Tacoma neighborhood that you've discovered since moving? Well, I did. I knew Tacoma pretty well before we moved, so I don't know that I've really discovered any neighborhoods that I'm super in love with. Most of the neighborhoods I've discovered are perfectly nice, but they're residential neighborhoods. But it definitely has reinforced that I'm more of a central Tacoma guy.
01:02:06
Speaker
that's where most of the cool stuff is. I do spend a fair amount of time in Proctor, but that's just because that's where the good grocery store is, you know. So I love going to the grocery store. It's one of my favorite things to do. So that's, you know, a lot of my life revolves around that. International District is also great. Lincoln is great. Yeah, I mean, it's all the usual suspects.
01:02:31
Speaker
And I haven't because it's like still just kind of peeking our head out of plague times. I haven't done a ton of exploring. I've been out to eat like twice and only been out to the bar a handful of times. So there's still a lot to explore. I'm looking forward to next summer. Like I think I feel like that's going to be things are going to be as normal as they're ever going to get.
01:02:52
Speaker
And, you know, I'll be ready to really explore a lot. But, you know, I'm loving just kind of walking around my neighborhood, the sort of like, Cheney Stadium area, I guess, for lack of a better term. It's pretty cool over here. And I think the thing that's crazy about Tacoma that I kind of knew, but don't really think, as I appreciate it, is just how much green space there is here.
01:03:17
Speaker
There's obviously a ton of green space in Seattle, but I just feel like the parks and recreation strategies are different in ways that are pretty interesting. There's lots of stuff to do outside, which is very cool. I've said this, I think, on here before, but I like Tacoma a lot.
01:03:36
Speaker
Hopefully, I'll get to come down there and visit you. Yeah. Okay, nice. One of these days. One of these days. Yeah. All right. Well, that's the show. Thanks everyone for sending in those questions, especially last minute as they were. Thanks to our sponsor, Full Pool Wines.
01:03:55
Speaker
And yeah, we'll hopefully be back sooner than we were this time. Yes. But I'm Jeremiah O'Shan signing off for Aaron Campo and Likert P. This is No Study, Yet This. Remember, you'll never yodelone.
01:04:13
Speaker
Green Douglas spur where the water's cut through. Down to wild mountains and tangents you flew. Canadian northwest to the ocean so blue. It's Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn. Roll On, Columbia Roll On.
01:04:50
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!