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Something Feels DIFFERENT About Sporting KC (Feat. Kevincho) - Ep. 112
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We are joined by Kevincho to discuss the upcoming Seattle Sounders vs Sporting Kansas City matchup. The Club of Professional Wresting Enthusiasts have a new coach and a dangerous striker in Dejan Joveljić. We also dive into the Club World Cup, American soccer fans and River Plate.
Follow Kevincho: https://www.youtube.com/@KEVINCHO_TV
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Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.
Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
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Transcript
Introduction and Show Context
00:00:00
Speaker
Well sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be a real scorcher today. Quite the scorcher today. Well it's gonna be scorcher.
00:00:21
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? Welcome to a very special episode of Lobbing Scorchers. Today, we are going to talk some sporting Kansas City, everyone's favorite team here in Seattle, the club of professional wrestling enthusiasts.
00:00:35
Speaker
And who else would we get to talk about A club, a storied club with a storied history between not only the the Sounders and and Sporting, but just in general of being average and mediocre in recent years. So we had to go and get someone who was above average, above mediocre.
00:00:55
Speaker
The one and only Kevin Cho. How are you today? Welcome to the show. We're so glad to have you. Wow, finally. The the matchup everyone's been waiting for. The actual card that we've been waiting for.
00:01:06
Speaker
um Thank you guys for having me. I'm not going to say I'm glad we both have been kind of stinky, but I'm also going to say I'm glad you're not winning stuff. So, ah no, it it it means a lot that ah you guys are having me. I do like what you're doing, even though we are kind of sort of ops, but I will say...
00:01:28
Speaker
You're probably the best in the game when it comes to Seattle. Now, maybe not probably. I'm going to say it here. You are. So let's just be real. Jeremiah O'Shane, you've been put on watch, buddy. those audience days Who are you?
00:01:39
Speaker
Who are you? Yeah, you may pay our bills, but it doesn't matter. Yeah, no, we'll ah we'll take that. Kavicho, we're really excited to to have you on today. We're both big fans of the channel. We love to watch long content that you do for Sporting KC and for ah River Plate.
00:01:54
Speaker
And looking forward to talking about this game coming up on Saturday. ah But before we do that, at the top of the show, we do like to give our guests a chance to plug their content and their channels and where people can can find their stuff.
00:02:08
Speaker
Uh, so if you want to, the floor is yours to tell people where they can, uh, they can find all your
Kevin Cho's Sporting KC Journey
00:02:14
Speaker
stuff. And, uh, also I was wondering, on the, uh, on the back end of that, if you could give just the brief little nutshell of how you, uh, became a sporting KC fan. i've always kind of wondered what your, uh, path was to where you are today.
00:02:27
Speaker
And why you've stayed a sporting Kansas city fan. Yeah. <unk> Let's start back. Well, first, i basically everything I post now is under the name Kevyncho underscore TV. So YouTube, TikTok, Instagram.
00:02:42
Speaker
The YouTube channel is where I go live but ah and Twitch, sorry. I always forget about Twitch. But um YouTube and Twitch is where I go live. But then on YouTube, I'm usually posting... just random 10 to 15 minute videos on whatever was bothering me that week. And I am trying to go, trying to pace my videos and make it, you know, you know ah maybe longer videos so worth, you know, I don't know, a month into making a video just to kind of disconnect from something and like really dive in. But that's on YouTube. And then Instagram and TikTok is just,
00:03:15
Speaker
you know, the game just reels clips from maybe the streams or or whatever I was ah doing that week. But yeah, becoming a sporting fan, it's an interesting story. So I'm originally from Argentina, but I basically grew up my whole life in Kansas. And I was the first one in my family that really didn't go to River Plate games growing up. My brothers did my mom, you know, um,
00:03:43
Speaker
Can you hear that? The dogs went as well. the dogs The dogs are objects huge Reaver fans as well. They've gone. rever re remember like they're scream They heard Reaver. They went nuts. ah No, but i I just didn't have that experience. So my i my brother felt bad. My older brother, who's like, all right.
00:04:00
Speaker
Maybe ah we're going to send Kevin to a game, just any game, really. And I remember when I was younger, like we would go to high school games and and I would think like, all right, this is America. Like, this is cool. This is a grassroots, you know.
00:04:13
Speaker
um But ah it actually, i don't know, one, I think it was 2011 and 2012. um My brother said, hey, there's a team in Kansas City called Sporting Camps. Kansas City. They just rebranded from the Wizards. So they got their own stadium there.
00:04:28
Speaker
And it was like one of those first teams to do it. There was only a couple of teams that had their own stadium. And he's like, we're gonna go watch a game. So that's when I was like, okay, this is I didn't think this was going to be my replay, but it was like the closest thing I would get.
00:04:41
Speaker
And we went to the game and, like, genuinely had fun. And i and because you're a kid, you're not really – I'm not thinking about, hmm, how does this compare to a European ball or whatever? i just did not care at all. I was just like, this was fun.
00:04:54
Speaker
i think we played Columbus Crew, if I'm remembering correct, and it was like a 1-1 draw or something like that. And I thought that was great. And I honestly thought that was probably, like, the last time I would go. I didn't even know how much the tickets were. Like, I was like, man, they probably – they probably dropped hundreds of dollars for this. Like, that's crazy. I love this.
00:05:12
Speaker
um But, Then out of nowhere, um this is where I really became a fan in 2013. um I don't know what my family just thought it would be funny to trick me. And they said we were going to some, I don't know if we were going to a museum or something. was so confused. It was like, that it was in December and they were like, we're going to go ah dress warm. I'm like bringing hella jackets. I'm like, what are we doing?
00:05:35
Speaker
And randomly we just pull up to ah Children's Mercy, which at that time was called Livestrong. um And ah They're like, hey, we're here. MLS Cup final sporting Kansas City. We're all Salt Lake. This is we're here. you love like my goal We're at a final. Like that was crazy. And it was an unbelievable game.
00:05:56
Speaker
It was a draw. We went into penalties. It was one of the coldest games, I think, in MLS history was so bad. It was so cold. um I literally had heat warmers or hand warmers in my shoes. I was dying. Like I could not handle it. 22 degrees cels or Fahrenheit is what the official experience what it okay And with that stadium does not – Kansas is windy, okay?
00:06:19
Speaker
That stadium is just open. Okay, there is nothing blocking that win. So you're just getting hounded by wind the entire time. Of course, it went 120 minutes. It went to penalties.
00:06:30
Speaker
And then we won. And I think that's when I was like, all right, I'm hooked. I mean, come on. I've never even... i never went to a River game. I'm like, I went to a final. Like, this is this is huge. so And then I've always kind of, like, had that bug for watching sporting. And every year, and I'm sure maybe you guys are probably the same, some years it was like...
00:06:50
Speaker
i was I was tapped in, but I wasn't like watching every game. I was just kind of seeing the scores and being like, all right. Or if it was kind of an interesting time of year, maybe playoff time, then I'm really watching. um But it wasn't until like last four or five years where I started like getting really bored and wanting to like, you know, talk with other sporting fans.
00:07:09
Speaker
And I started going live. And then that's where I was like, all right. I'm watching every game. I know everything about every single player. You know, it was, it became like a true obsession. Like I've always had with Reavers. So I just kind of like doubled up, but yeah, it was just like a weird, like, here you go. You're a fan of this team now kind of vibe.
00:07:28
Speaker
That was a great season for sporting 2013. Like I was just, I pulled up their roster here. Like these are names that are are burned into my memory. It's like, this is kind of when I got into MLS it was like 2009 and going forward.
00:07:42
Speaker
Aiko Parra, Paulo Nagamura, Graham Zussi, obviously, Benny Fallever, Dom Dwyer, Seth Tobik, DCJ Sapolm Bees. Yeah.
00:07:52
Speaker
U.S. men national team guys. Yeah. Yeah. And like also someone who we share in our history, Jimmy Madronda, aka Jimmy Bangers. Jimmy Bangers, yeah. We love Jimmy Bangers.
00:08:04
Speaker
like that's like yeah 20 that that era of mls for me is very i think i feel very similarly to you where it's like i wasn't like i didn't give a shit about anything right i wasn't like oh my god your press this is why this is why major league soccer won't make it pro-rail for usa like we got it it was just like this is sick like i have soccer in my which is probably what And and real like realistically, that's how it should be. like the no one I've never heard my brothers compare the Argentinian league with any league ever.
00:08:36
Speaker
I've never heard them go, yeah, dude, well, if Real Madrid was playing down here. It never was never came up. But MLS, especially recently, is like, we have to compare. We have to be top five between this year. and We have to have these type of players. It's like, dude, it does not have to be like that. i just don't.
00:08:53
Speaker
i just I've always said this since my first very first stream. like listen There were people in my chat, which shocked me, that were like, oh, well, um you know where where would you compare this? And i was like, listen, I don't know anything about the Romanian League. I doubt that these guys are comparing their league with other leagues. Let's just no just watch our games. Who cares?
00:09:12
Speaker
Yeah, no. The rest of the leagues in the world just don't do that. the way that ah yeah that MLS does. But ah yeah, the golden age of ah sporting KC
Sporting KC's Evolution and Challenges
00:09:22
Speaker
with the the Graham Zussi, the Beazler, Failhaber days, ah those were that's a good segue into the first thing that I wanted to ah ask you about. The first thing, Kavitia, that I like to do with our guests and Sort of give my perception on the on the opposing club as a neutral outsider.
00:09:38
Speaker
And then ah you can tell me if how I perceive the state of affairs is accurate based on someone who's watching every game and yeah covering the club day in and day out. He has to watch sporting games. He doesn't even do it the love of the game. He has to do it. I know yeah the whole league pretty well, but some better than others. But I feel like Sporting KC is one of the ones where I have a pretty decent ah grasp on what's been going on because ah this season has become like a transitional year for the whole organization.
00:10:11
Speaker
It seems like ah with the departure of Peter Vermees, who was the longest tenured manager in and MLS, ah but obviously the club got off to a rough start this year. And finally, it seemed like he had a lifetime deal for a long time, but finally changed.
00:10:27
Speaker
And ah they they move on from Peter Vermees and carry what's it? Zvagnan? Zvagnan is now the interim coach. ah So my my perception of it is that ah the start of the season, Peter Vermees was always kind of preaching it as a rebuild. He was like, hey, this might take some time. It could be a little rough to start. Kind of, I think, trying to get ahead of it a little bit. You might have seen the writing on the wall.
00:10:50
Speaker
Yeah. but it just was such a poor start that finally they couldn't justify it really anymore, especially with all the rumblings in the in the fan base. So they move on from Peter Vermees. And then since then, it seems like things have gotten a little better. Like they're taking more results.
00:11:08
Speaker
They've won six games this year, which is, I think they had won zero at the time that Peter Vermees departed. So it seems like they were they were saying, hey, LA Galaxy, let's have a mid off, brother. Let's see can lose the most.
00:11:22
Speaker
So it it seems like things have gotten better, but there's still just a general vibe that this is like a bridge year between the Peter Vermees era and whatever comes next, which is, I think they're probably going to bill that as like the new sporting KC. This is, this is the wave of the future. And right now it's sort of like this kind of in between land purgatory between one era and the next. Would you say all that is roughly yeah accurate?
00:11:50
Speaker
That's pretty – it's spot on because, like, 20 – I think 2019 was, like, our really last good, strong year and maybe even 2020, even though that was a really goofy year. But, yeah, so, like, we had multiple seasons where, like – we had, like – we were about to break a record, not – and don't know if it was last year the year before, ah with with like a winless streak. We were just going there, right?
00:12:12
Speaker
And we were we were just on pace. We were not looking good. And like you said, like Peter, since Sporting rebranded, there's never been another coach. Sporting Canada City's always had Peter Vermees.
00:12:23
Speaker
And some of the players, I mean, last year and the year before, we finally kind of like moved on from players. like We had Zussi still. We were talking about 2013. We still had him. And we had like all we have all these guys, like Espinosa, all these dudes that we've had forever.
00:12:36
Speaker
um that were finally like either known. Most of them like retired. Like it was done. Like they were out. um So there was that transition. And then now it was like, all right Peter, ah last year sucked. I think we got, we held on. We beat these new kids that are next to us, St. Louis, who are just ah the most annoying family. I don't like, we don't have to go there, but they're annoying. Okay. And but beating them in the playoffs, I think made the fans go, all right, Peter,
00:13:04
Speaker
maybe one more a year would be we signed running back let's go suck barely get in beat your rival go home was kind of like the vibe that we were even cool with which is weird we loved that by the way we were calling st louis fraudulent the entire season yeah and it was literally we were like we were i literally i remember podcasting about this i was like watch Sporting Kansas City is hot right now.
00:13:28
Speaker
They fucking hate this team. They are going to beat them. They are the most fraudulent number one seed I've ever seen in my life. And it exactly happened. And it was like we did victory laps for weeks about that. I love that. i I feel like maybe because they were in the new team, a lot of clubs or just a lot of fans were feeling the same thing. Like everyone's annoyed that this new team, kind of like San Diego right now. But um just everyone was so, so happy. I was too. And even players building up to that, like I talked to a couple of players and they're like, we got to fucking Like, they're just so mad, which is awesome. i like Like, we haven't had that much hate since, like, Ralsal Lake days.
00:14:04
Speaker
Oh, those are good rivalries. you're You're right. Like, ah all of this has been transitioned. Then Peter came into the season, and it was just zero wins. And it was just like, we already dumped players. We got new players. We got LAs. One of, like...
00:14:18
Speaker
ah like a pristine player that I feel like we just stole from LA and Jovulic. So it's like, okay, what's the excuse now, dude? We have no excuses anymore. And the one thing that hasn't changed in these freaking 15 years or whatever has been the coach. So then he moves on and Kerry was an assistant. So I still, I'm sure there are fans that are like, it's still Peter Vermees in there somehow because it's his assistant or whatever. But at least things are changing. Like,
00:14:46
Speaker
Our goalkeeper, we weren't even sure what our goalkeeper was because we kept flip-flopping, which I'm sure is annoying as an athlete that you're like, am I starting today? Am I not starting? And the confidence wasn't there. Pulsekamp, you're the keeper.
00:14:59
Speaker
And he struggled at the beginning, okay? But then he's starting to look good. Like he's had like some crazy saves recently and that just like solo plays that you're like, all right, maybe this dude is actually good. And um i don't know, individual players seem like they're doing better as time goes by, but you're right.
00:15:16
Speaker
I think a lot of the fans, myself included, are kind of like, all right, it's at some point, this is going to suck. I like where we're going. You all know, like, it's July. It's where we still got a fat minute to even know where we're at. But at least right now, we're not second to last or last like we've been last few seasons. And we're like, playoffs is not happening by the time we hit July. We know, you know what I mean? So, yeah, it's it's a weird transition time for sure.
00:15:40
Speaker
Yeah, i mean, you're three points off the playoff line, and Jovulic is looking like he's figuring it out. and I smell a cup, boys. I mean, you know, very, very familiar with promoting your assistant coach to your head coach, looking like absolute dog shit in the first half of the season and then going to win a cup, yeah which is tight. But I did want to go back for a second. You mentioned the last time that Sporting Kansas City was good. You said like 2018, 2018. 2018, I remember that season.
00:16:11
Speaker
I remember that season very vividly because you won the West. You were first in the West. And can't remember if you won a Open Cup that year.
00:16:22
Speaker
No, maybe – I think you lost in the quarterfinals or something. But you would have won the year prior. Yeah. The year before, 2017, we won the Open That team was good. And I ah i remember you guys signed – uh brad evans yes oh yeah i forgot about that was like a very famous like yeah people were like i can't believe the founders would let him go even as a like blah blah so i don't know 2018 was a was quite the year but yeah man i i feel like from my perspective of the team i think i'm very similar to ari where it seems like
00:16:58
Speaker
you're building back. It seems very different. It's a, it feels like a different sporting Kansas city to like an outsider looking in. yeah And, you know, I think it's still going to be a little rough, but the fact that you're three points out of a playoff spot, I mean,
00:17:13
Speaker
Yeah, no complaint. It's so weird because like every other year, this would be just... ah Because we have so many bad seasons back to back to back, we're like, hot dude, we're we're like three points better than last season. Let's go. But um yeah, I don't know. Like 2017, if we were at this spot, people would be flipping out.
00:17:31
Speaker
And especially like the the old school blue blood clubs. Everyone's like, we've all pretty much have had like really strong seasons. And then like the bad seasons was like...
00:17:42
Speaker
this This better not happen again. But then, like, it just kept happening for us. So
Fan Expectations and Cultural Dynamics
00:17:47
Speaker
then I feel like fan base, everyone just started kind of going numb to it. So now it's so sad because, like, I've been to a game recently, and the vi even the vibes kind of is like – it really felt like – I don't know, you're like a dad going to like a U13 tournament with your kid.
00:18:07
Speaker
And you're like, all right, Brandon, this is this might be a tough game today. But remember, we're gonna have a good time kind of vibe going in. And I remember like, going to that game and going like, why is everyone smiling? We're like dead last and smiling, having a good time, you know, drinking. I know that's kind of the point is just to kind of disconnect.
00:18:25
Speaker
But I'm over here like pissed off. I'm like, these boys better score in the first 15 minutes, I swear to God, you know, or something like that, that that vibe. ah So like even that's been changing. But it comes and goes because like we said, we talked about St. Louis.
00:18:38
Speaker
Right now, before everyone was like, this is a European, this is a German team. Look at the fan base. Look at the crowd. Look at the coaching. solved MLS. They've solved MLS. Exactly. And now look at them. Like,
00:18:49
Speaker
Boring. The play style stinks. their Their atmosphere, I'm going to say it, not very good anymore, guys. It's just like you have to have a bad season to realize, oh, shit, this this feels so long in this league. My God.
00:19:01
Speaker
and And even though you're having a bad season, you don't really have to freak out until like, September, ah you know, time I've always said that, like, it doesn't matter till September. um So I don't know that think that's, I think that's a bigger picture, not just sporting where you kind of have to learn to be chill, even though you don't want to be um until a certain point, then you lose your stuff, you know.
00:19:22
Speaker
I think it's interesting too, just like maybe Ari can speak to this more too, but we we have a lot of fans who absolutely crash out whenever we're like, guys, you do understand that like it could be a lot worse. Like yeah people are like, oh my God, this is the worst run team of all time. And like nothing's going right and everything's wrong and we're not contending for trophies and all of this. And I'm just like,
00:19:48
Speaker
What are you talking... Like, we made the Western Conference final last year. Why are you crashing out? And so I think it's interesting to see, like, you're talking about a fan base that is so numb now to being, like, dead last, where you're like, oh, shit, we're in 11th.
00:20:02
Speaker
Guys, let's start showing up to games again. Like, we're back. The game's back. And, you know, we're over here, like... I can't believe that we made it. We didn't make a good run in CONCACAF Champions Cup and our $7 million dollars Argentinian winger isn't turning out to be, like, messy too. Like, what but the hell?
00:20:19
Speaker
So it's always nice to ah to relieve myself and be like, okay, I can be a sporting fan. For real. I mean, I think early on, like, I'm just going be honest. Because I...
00:20:30
Speaker
because I was so used to how sporting played. And then like I started going live literally when they just started sucking. um And I, obviously that was not planned, but like, i I was like getting mad every game. Cause I'm like, why are we, we play so bad. and And then it's like, nobody, it felt like nobody cared. And then listen to podcasts and they're like,
00:20:48
Speaker
Yeah, dude, we we're having a pretty bad year. well And then year two happened. And then year three. And then I'm i'm like – then I hit in year four. I'm like, dude, I needed to space out my sporting Kansas City lights because every Saturday, every week for four years, dude, is like – is it's so draining so freaking draining especially when you play i mean we won a game this year by not shooting us oh man can we talk about that yes let's just uh let's because that is one that was one of the most incredible dude that was the less accomplishments that any club has ever had we're in casey versus uh la galaxy right yes Yes. So a heavyweight matchup, at especially at the time. but ah
00:21:32
Speaker
But Sporting KC won the game without taking a shot. The first team in MLS history to ever do so. Breaking records. Breaking records. ah how did wait how How did that happen again? first It was a cross that and an own goal.
00:21:47
Speaker
Okay, so it was an own goal. Exactly. It wasn't even an attempt for a shot, and they said, no, they're counting it as an own goal. It was not a shot at all. um Went in, and then the rest of the game was like l L.A. trying and trying. And, you know, at that point, they still haven't won a game.
00:22:04
Speaker
so And it's L.A., the last year's champion. So it's like every game it felt like the pressure was on them, not really on us that game. We were just like, hey, we just scored, baby. Let's go. So they were just attacking, attacking. And somehow, which our defense – I think even at that point was like, it wasn't as bad as L.A., but it was up there. It was one of the worst defenses in the league. And we were like, we're goingnna we're going to eat one goal. We ate a goal every game.
00:22:28
Speaker
And somehow we did not concede. And, yeah, it ended that way. And I'm not going – I don't know. Like I saw news like ah of this game in like my Argentinian pages.
00:22:39
Speaker
Like it just straight up said mls game MLS team wins without shooting or something like that. And then the article was like history has been made. So I would, I need to find out like how often that's happened in general, especially like in well-known-ish leagues. might need a video essay on that match. For real. for real It was a beaut. I mean, and I was, I think if I'm thinking back, I was co-watching that game and I think a river game at the same time.
00:23:06
Speaker
So I'm looking over and I'm like, okay, this game is going to suck, you know, not really paying attention. And then as it was going on, like the chat started, people just started coming in. They're like, Kevin, we're about to make history, bro. This is going to happen. Like, holy shit.
00:23:19
Speaker
It was probably the most lively sporting side chat I've had probably since I've started genuinely. Like it was a crazy game. how do you How do you even ah like react to a win where you don't take a shot? Is that like a ah a wins-a-win baby situation? You laugh.
00:23:37
Speaker
You laugh. you You rub it in. i mean, LA, they just won the Cup, so I don't really feel bad for them. Plus, they won it so many more than anyone. yeah So you're just kind of like, how how can you suck so bad, LA, that you are losing to us, one, and we didn't even shoot? So, like I don't know. I got real cocky. I had some LA fans in the chat, too. They were like, dude,
00:23:56
Speaker
Like, why are you doing this? It's like, are you really wanting us to feel bad for you? Like you just won it like four months ago. like still That's what happens when your GM becomes a podcaster. Like it's not like, brother, you're on the cool agains more than you're working on your roster.
00:24:13
Speaker
I have been very vocal about my Will Kuntz frustrations and dislike because we were the premier LA Galaxy podcast last season. I mean, we were meat riding them just about as hard as any as the Sounders, basically. We were like, this club is incredible.
00:24:31
Speaker
Jupec, Paintsil, Pooj, it's the Triple P's. I mean, we were glazing... More than even LA Galaxy podcasts were. And my boy, Will Koontz, decided, you know what?
00:24:43
Speaker
I love the Yankees. He said, I love the Yankees so much. I love them so much. I need to go back to New York and be on a podcast right before we lose to the New York Red Bulls 7-0. Yeah, that was the best part of it.
00:24:57
Speaker
So good. Just like he he he makes me – the way that people feel in our fan base about Craig Weibel, our GM, I feel that about Will Koontz. I'm like, you know what? He is what a insane. He's just an odd dude. I saw that.
00:25:13
Speaker
like I love the Koolians, but when i saw that, I was like, why we... like that's I don't know. You're not like... you're not really fighting any fires with this dude like you're just gonna piss off people i feel like and they rolled him out on the press tour yeah like and he some of his answers were also like basically y'all one where he was like one where he was like i was talking to my friend who's a baseball gm and he said in in any other sport you'd be fired right now so yeah it's like okay thank you brother yeah thanks bro Don't say that. you should Don't say that, brother. i'd say that And then they go get rolled 7-0 at Red Bull.
00:25:49
Speaker
they did ah They did win a game ah last weekend. 3-0. three zero so maybe maybe the second win of the season. Maybe Wilcox has got it back on the ah on the right track. ah But ah i I think what you were getting back on the right track. Yeah. I think what you were saying earlier about like reacting to the the tough times with just like finding the comedy in it.
00:26:13
Speaker
That's kind of I think how we try to do it too when it's ah when it's not going well. I think that's what ah that's what you have to do. but ah i was so So I was talking to the We Are Austin TV guys oh yeah a couple weeks ago who they ah they capitalized really hard on the Wolf Out era and how poorly that team was doing. And their all their stuff was going crazy back then. ah do you And but we were talking about kind of being torn between how sometimes when the team is doing poorly, it's like better for the content. Have you found that like balance at all with like, ah yes, the team you root for is struggling, but ah the content you were getting was,
00:26:49
Speaker
pretty incredible in a similar way to the to we are austin tv how do you how do you sort of juggle i genuinely if i started a season where like sporting was this murdering I don't think I would have nearly got any traction that I got because genuine, I, I watch a game.
00:27:08
Speaker
Like I've, I talked to my wife about this all the time, like no cameras watching the game. I'm always yelling at the TV. I don't, I'm just like one of those cringe. It's just like, that's how I've always been.
00:27:19
Speaker
yeah, um And so like when that happened when I was going live, i it wasn't like, okay, today I'm going yell at it. But like um if you go ah very early live streams for sporting content, I genuinely was like trying to be like, okay,
00:27:36
Speaker
plenty of time left, you know, try. All right, no worry. But it was just getting so annoyed that it was just coming out. And then I don't know, I think it was a Portland game where we famously lost like seven to, and I was like, like every goal, dude, I just couldn't even scream anymore. I was just sitting there staring at the, you know, at the TV.
00:27:54
Speaker
And, that That whole video went so crazy. They had me on ESPN. like They just showed like this dude lost his shit over an MLS game, which was funny because they were also... I think at the time they were showing MLS games, so i don't know It was like a self-dig. But yeah, like I think that absolutely exploded. But what I will say...
00:28:13
Speaker
is the the transition was like, if we're going, if we're playing better, um it does seem like we're, like, I'll watch the view count, right? I usually try not to, but I'll see like, all right, there's some people in here where it's nil-nil.
00:28:26
Speaker
You know, people are trying to figure out what's going happen. We concede immediately it flies up. Like 50 more people will jump in. yeah And you're like, all right. Okay. you You start to see. So I usually hide it because I'm like, I'm going to see that and I'm going to get even more ticked off. I'm like, what are you losers doing here? Like, get out.
00:28:41
Speaker
um But the other thing happens. We concede or we score and we we start winning the game. It starts dropping off and it's people start leaving. It's like, I understand the game now. Like, I get it.
00:28:53
Speaker
genuinely could care. I just want the team to play good and just win games. um But yeah, you're absolutely right. Like you're doing bad. People like to see the emotion, especially in MLS where I think the, I don't know, the generic view is that people don't care about teams here or whatever. So um if you are showing emotion any other way, they're like, okay, maybe, maybe people do care about these leagues or this, this, these teams. I mean, so yeah, i don't know It's like a weird balance, but I've i've definitely clocked it for sure.
00:29:22
Speaker
It is interesting how people get really like, people do care about MLS teams. Like it's, it's quite funny. You actually, there are actually quite a few people who their day gets ruined if their silly little ah team loses. And, you know, people get so upset about that. It's, it's actually so funny.
00:29:41
Speaker
And I kind of wanted to ask you that, you know, you, you've kind of become a, um, You're a River fan, obviously, but it seems like you've really been adopted by the Argentinian community. They're like, oh, look at our American over here. over here so like yeah you know From that perspective, how do people kind of like react? They're like, wait, no, brother, you you don't really care about sporting, right? like You don't really care about sporting. Yeah. Well, I think, I don't know. can So here's the thing. I've always uploaded Reaver content.
00:30:12
Speaker
like Always. yeah If it was a Boca Reaver, I was always streaming it. it's like That's my Super Bowl. Always. So twice a year, doing a Boca Reaver stream. And nothing ever caught on.
00:30:23
Speaker
It never caught on. just and i it never I never changed. I was crying when we lost and screaming when we won. you know Either way, I'm screaming. but um And then... Very recently, I think just one video made it to Argentina. i'm That's what I'm assuming.
00:30:37
Speaker
And then, like, I guess I was all over Argentinian Twitter or River Plate Twitter or something. And, yeah, so, like, obviously I'm speaking English. So they're like, this Yankee, bro, this Yankee, bro. Let's go. they're They're losing it. They're like, ah, dude, finally, Americans I can stand with. i don't know, like shit like that. and And, yeah, I did get some. Okay, I'll be honest. Like, I got it.
00:31:00
Speaker
I got like absolutely blasted on sporting Reddit where people were just like, this guy has never cared about sporting Kansas City. let me Let me just clear the air for you, okay?
00:31:13
Speaker
How many games we played this week? 34 games a game a year for four years plus playoffs when we had a couple games. Like not that many playoff games. Let's just be real. Open Cup games, whatever goofy leagues cup or whatever happening.
00:31:26
Speaker
I streamed those games two and a half hours watching this team going live. And especially when I wasn't live, I was still watching the games and tweeting, live tweeting if I couldn't watch live or whatever. i I do not drop my teams ever, okay, ever.
00:31:40
Speaker
What I will say is finally having ah some time to like step back a little bit and just like breathe and reset while watching, you know, re-replayed has been great.
00:31:52
Speaker
I will admit that. And it's been like so funny to see Argentinians going – because I'm also like just teaching lessons, I guess. People are like – how did this guy become a River Plate fan? And I'm just responding in the comments like, guys, immigration is real. It's kind of shocking.
00:32:08
Speaker
A country that was built on Italian immigrants are not realizing that people move, okay? um But there's that. And and and I feel like That started kicking off. I started realizing I'm kind of having fun here. Like, I'll be real, like the lives I'm i'm not getting a ton of people live ah coming in. They want especially because I'm speaking English.
00:32:29
Speaker
And my whole goal was like, I want MLS fans to realize like that we could do this, too. Like we can have some crazy people. We can have some chill people. We can have like people who are like you guys who are covering the team because like.
00:32:41
Speaker
I swear to you, like nine years ago, there was only like real, I guess, quote unquote, journalists were talking about MLS and individual clubs. But there wasn't like a content creator community and like just guys chopping shit, talking about Seattle. There was nobody doing that.
00:32:58
Speaker
So or if there was, it was very small. So like I just wanted that. That was the whole goal. I'm like, listen, and every time people would ask Kevin, if sporting played, we were played, who are you going for? Are you kidding me?
00:33:10
Speaker
Okay, one team, I was, i came out the womb and they they stamped River Plate on me. The other team is my adopted team. I'm going to root for River Plate, but I'm always going support, you know, supporting forever. um That's a match you hope that ends in a draw.
00:33:27
Speaker
Exactly. If it ends in a draw, i'm it's going to be real funny on the internet if that goes – that's going to be the greatest day ever. um But yeah, like that that's that's just where I'm at. like i've i've had like I've had moments where I'm like, I've got to stop this spawning content stuff because – it It became so repetitive.
00:33:44
Speaker
I guess you I'm sure you guys have talked about it plenty of times. The the way the season format is lined up, it it just feels like it's dragging. Like I'm trying to find something fun out of this specific game.
00:33:56
Speaker
And although I'm not like maybe posting as much as I did about sporting, it it basically it just comes down to like, OK, we're playing Portland and we're in July. game does literally does not matter uh nobody is engaging but some sporting fans and if we get 105 degrees outside yeah exactly it it's like all these things that are like it just feels like it's dragon dragon at least in south america or other you know leagues it it does feel like every game matters and in south america like we have so many goofy rules in Argentina, just like MLS. you should Everyone should go watch your recent um ah video that you did explaining the Argentinian league.
00:34:37
Speaker
I watched that and I'm like, this is this is cinema. This is incredible. this is This is like, wow, okay, MLS really isn't that fucking insane. It's not. it's It's genuinely not that different. And that was another thing. Like, my first couple streams, I was trying to tell MLS fans, like, this is the same.
00:34:54
Speaker
This is the same like we have down there. And everyone has, like, this aura glaze over any other league, but MLS is just like, bro. The Argentinian League, there's only one good, strong league at the moment, like especially the last five years. That's the Brazilian League.
00:35:09
Speaker
Every other league, dude, it is a shit show. and Mexico has no relegation, so go cry about that. Argentina currently doesn't have relegation. We're, like, adding teams every year. ah there's all types of goofy, like the payouts. MLS have some better payouts than other leagues.
00:35:22
Speaker
There are players that are not getting paid, dude. Literally, they will not get paid for months. There are owners taking bribes every month. There's like a brand new owner coming out on video, you know, receiving money from like a mom saying, hey, I want you to you know and want you to sign my son.
00:35:38
Speaker
Literal pay to play. It's the same shit that we have here. It's unreal, but everyone, it's the only thing that's different. And We're only like a 32-year-old league or whatever we are, ah is genuinely just a community. It's just like, yeah, okay, we might not fill out 80,000 people that are going to be jumping for like three hours straight on a Wednesday night. We're not there yet. Okay, fine.
00:36:02
Speaker
But does that mean... In general, we're not this we are nowhere near. It's totally not that, especially when you're seeing players coming to the U.S. s from South America that are using it as a stepstool to you know move on or straight up like Tiago Amada is playing on our national team.
00:36:17
Speaker
He beat Colombia single-handedly or he beat Uruguay single-handedly. The dude played it Atlanta. okay Then he went to Brazil. like it does not You don't need to be like this top player.
00:36:28
Speaker
five European player or whatever to to be on the national team. And it's just so frustrating. That's where I'm at. So like every week I'm like, fighting I'm going to talk about sporting today. And it's funny because River fans, I'm not going to lie.
00:36:39
Speaker
River fans, because they're like, hey, this random Yankee. I like this guy. What was is he into? I talk about sporting and they're like, yeah, bro, sporting till I fucking die, Let's go. Like blue hell, baby. Blue hell. Blue hell, bro. i It's shocking. It's like, I'm like, oh shit, this is kind of fun. Like I'm going both ways. They're coming in and they're like learning. And then sporting fans, um especially in my chat, they're they're like rolling their eyes. I'm like, okay guys, there's this game that's coming up. And they're like we don't care, bro. Just talk about sporting, you know?
00:37:08
Speaker
But it's been like a fun mix of like – cultural change, you know? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I went to the the Club World Cup match here in Seattle, River and Inter.
00:37:19
Speaker
And i was I was rocking with River because of you, bro. I had watched the history video that you did. yeah okay. I had the tickets. I was in all red. Everyone was waving the Reaver flag, bro. It was incredible. Like, the atmosphere was, like, insane. like i They took over. they took Dude, it was thats awesome. There was people fighting. like because There was, like, Reaver fans fighting wine moms because the wine moms were like, actually, this is my seat. It says the seats that I bought. and they went They all went to their seats.
00:37:51
Speaker
Dude, I was like, a brother, this is not how this works. this I'm telling you. You've got to fucking... I got video sent multiple like there was one that was going viral and there were people you know people from Argentina going like even like Boca fans they were just kind of like listen it comes down to FIFA and like how they organize this but like the club the environments are so different that like you get a ticket dude you get a spot that's your spot bro you're gonna be there if you're in the supporters I guess section we would call, ah you better not just be like a casual. You got to be wearing our colors, at least just like pretend or something.
00:38:28
Speaker
And if you're not like, people are not going to give a fuck. They're going to just be like, hey, get out of here. I'm going to take your spot, dude. You shouldn't be here. So i I didn't even think of that going into this. I thought, I silly me. I thought FIFA would have figured that out, but ah no. And you sent the videos that was we were watching it ah live and it was shocking to us because the first game, Seattle is so hard to get to from Argentina. Like it's so many flights and people are like, I'm not going to take five flights to get to this one city and then fly to l LA. So most of the fans went to that l LA game first and then traveled up to Seattle.
00:39:04
Speaker
Um, and, and So I'm so happy that it a bunch of people there. But what I always... I'm just... Okay, I'm just going to on a tangent. But like what is always nuts to me is like, let's just be real.
00:39:15
Speaker
European fans, especially compared to South America... have money, okay? They can travel, all right? And there's a lot of direct flights from ah Europe over to New York. You can get to l LA. You can get some crazy flights, right?
00:39:28
Speaker
And it just always, and there's fans in the US that heavy Inter fans or Real Madrid fans or whatever.
MLS Structure and Sustainability Challenges
00:39:35
Speaker
The two dudes behind me were huge Inter fans and I just kept chirping them the whole time. Let's go. It awesome.
00:39:40
Speaker
And what shocked me is like, it just does not seem like they showed up. It just felt like Real Madrid, Real Madrid is, won't sorry, Walmart of Futsu ball. They like anyone can be a Real Madrid fan from anywhere. Okay, I'm sorry. But so they you're going to see ro people wearing white. Okay, fine.
00:39:56
Speaker
But like all these other teams, like you had these Japanese teams that came here with a great fan. Oh, god that energy was in. i mean There's so many teams that that came up. And my older brother who went to the game in l L.A. versus Monterey, which somehow we outnumbered Monterey fans.
00:40:10
Speaker
That's crazy. What the – I literally was like, hey, man, it might get dicey. you know He's like, I'm taking my family. I'm like, I don't know if you want to do that. You probably should not do that. There's going to be way more Monterey fans. And he's like, it was the opposite somehow.
00:40:26
Speaker
um That's always been my frustration is like – Look, um I'm no Euro snob. I'm not even a South America snob. Okay? um I like to be in the middle here. But there's something that we do better, and I think we show up.
00:40:40
Speaker
Okay? i Now, I know the U.S. men national team. Maybe and fans are not showing up right now. Who cares? Okay, it's not World Cup yet. I'm not going cry about that right now. um But when it comes to clubs and everything, I wish these games were in – MLS stadiums or, you know, the equivalent or whatever, just because it would be full.
00:40:57
Speaker
It would be the environments would have been so nice. Okay, I get so the semis or whatever and like MetLife or whatever. Terrible stadium, by the way, if anyone's ever been there. Oh, dude, it's, oh God, it's awful. I can't believe that's the World Cup final stadium. But um yeah, I don't know. Like a lot of this, especially the Club World Cup, now that we brought it up, I've learned a lot going into it, especially how like Europeans see other leagues.
00:41:23
Speaker
and And now I think the world sees how everyone thinks about the European leagues, I guess, in general, especially just like the elitism that comes from them. um But, yeah, I don't know. um i love I love that ah ah you know fans traveled up there. And and um ah another thing, just so you guys know, people were DMing me, and they were like, dude, Seattle is – like from Argentina.
00:41:44
Speaker
Seattle is kind of nice. I like Seattle. I was like, hell yeah. Move here. We welcome you. Come down. they known We want you here. They rolled up at the at the right time of year for sure. They did. All right. summer Beautiful weather. Bring them back in the wintertime. how they like you. And they're like dimming out time.
00:42:00
Speaker
They're like, I gotta go, bro. what What is this place? This is fucking hell. yeah someone It was funny. ah you You were talking about like how other clubs in ah in south South America or in Europe can be a total shit show in certain ways and like not paying players.
00:42:16
Speaker
My favorite example of that was the ah the Portuguese club that Reggie Cannon played for. Where it came it came out, they they ah didn't pay Reggie Cannon. and or the transfer and Or the transfer fee. And then subsequently that they just weren't paying like anybody.
00:42:32
Speaker
i was like, I didn't know you could do that. Just not pay the transfer fee? You can, bro. Just do it. Because like they were yeah they were still rolling teams out there. And they were ah operating ostensibly like a real club. And then just not paying anybody.
00:42:47
Speaker
so that's ah But like yeah, you see that. in an unexpected amount like all over and not yeah i've never heard of that happening to an mls club no and and that's always the complaint like everyone's like this are not everyone it's like you know the four twitter accounts or whatever like this leak is not going to survive if we don't do blah blah blah or whatever it's like you have no idea what it means to not survive okay okay there are leagues out here where it literally feels like when the season starts oh People kind of exhale for a second because it's like, okay, we started. Nothing weird happened so far. Like, let's be cool. Like, it's always like that.
00:43:22
Speaker
And MLS, I'm not worried about that. I know we're different when it comes to, like, ownership or whatever. But um it's just I feel like the whole message should just be like, we are 30 years old, man. Like, let's fucking let's – I like that we're, like, asking for more every year and better. That's great. I totally agree.
00:43:40
Speaker
But, like, the panicking every day about something is – It's cringe and you're just grifting. Sorry. Just saying it. you youre saying You know, I think, and this is my final broad view and we can jump back into some sporting stuff. I know I totally rammed us off the rails. as i good of doing it um This is the like, people will really complain about major league soccer, its structure and everything.
00:44:04
Speaker
And I understand, like, I get it. You know, you want it to be the way that you want it to be. And you really truly believe that promotion relegation is the only thing that can exist in the entire world.
00:44:15
Speaker
You know what? It may be awesome. It may be great. It may work. It may not. But I don't think people quite understand that Major League Soccer, the way that it's formulated, is formulated so because soccer has failed so many times. There was so many leagues before this. Like, trying to get a competitive league to be...
00:44:37
Speaker
sustainable cash flush uh competitive all across the board to where like it wasn't just one team winning every single year and like really truly turning off the casual fan they had to do something they had to make it a different model and i think often people are really like dismissive of how kind of, i don't want to like glaze up MLS, but it's, it's truly, it was innovative and it has been innovative for the specific market that it's in.
00:45:09
Speaker
Americans are not known for their soccer support. Like I, I don't know what to tell you guys. Like, We're not getting a college football atmosphere in the next 50 years. That's just not happening. And that's okay.
00:45:21
Speaker
But like, you have to cater a league around that. There's things that you can do better or worse, but like when people just freak out and they're like, I can't believe all of this. I'm like, brother, Robert Kraft bought a team for his son because he was bored. He doesn't even know he owns a team. Like, how do you keep those type of teams in line with teams like Atlanta United, who will spend $20 million dollars on a player who's going to score less goals than a free agent?
00:45:47
Speaker
Like, you you know, like you have to like keep some sort of parody um and – ah Keep the the casuals engaged. So I'm an apologist. I've always been an apologist.
00:45:59
Speaker
I'm a league shill. Thank you, Don Garber. I met you in Dallas in 2017 and you gave me and billion dollars and that is why I'm always throwing this.
00:46:10
Speaker
But yeah, ah maybe we can jump back into some sporting stuff here. Where did you land on the Vermes out debate? Um, hmm.
00:46:22
Speaker
I think it this, it it started like three years ago. we had a really bad season and then people were like, chill out. Like it's going to be fine. And then they signed them for four more years.
00:46:33
Speaker
you know And then that's where I was like, okay, what the hell dude? it Like that's really messed up. Just let this dude finish his contract, maybe do another year. Like let's, I don't know, just like pretend you're trying to make some changes right now, but I think – and I've talked to so many people, like Jimmy Conrad, who he used to play with Peter, who was on the Wizards, and he knows – just like – he is the guy to talk about sporting.
00:46:57
Speaker
um He even talked to me about it. He's like, listen, he's too – he's so – he's the he's a sporting director. He's the coach. He is the image of the club. Some of the players – okay, yeah.
00:47:07
Speaker
Maybe some players come and go. um Some just stay forever. But he is like the image of the club. And they're like, Sporting's not going to do that. they're not going to get rid of this guy. Like, sorry, Kev. And, you know, every year I'd be like, what do you think Jimmy, this year or whatever. But I didn't want to publicly do it because you know what?
00:47:23
Speaker
As you guys, I'm sure, It's like every time you're like, hey, dude, this coach is not cutting it, man. this We got to move on. And then they win one game. Kevin's an idiot. Okay? Since day one, I knew this guy doesn't know ball. It's like, come on. Like, okay, fine.
00:47:37
Speaker
But it's it's hard to tell, like, what's the big picture. But I literally last year, i was like, this is it. We got players gone. If we don't have a good year this year, ah this guy's got to go. I was shocked when they let him go. i was I mean, when they let him go, because sporting is not the type of club to cut contracts, dude.
00:47:58
Speaker
They let these guys ride. i mean, Alan Pulido... was the biggest signing in our history. Most expensive player played like, I swear to God, two full seasons, maybe if that.
00:48:10
Speaker
And they also signed an extension. It's like, what are we doing, man? it's Again, it's like it felt like we're just signing players for names like because he brings like a good Mexican fan base or Chivas fan base or whatever.
00:48:23
Speaker
But it was useless. So like I don't know. that That's when I was... i didn't want It's almost like you don't want to celebrate because I did have a conversation with Peter. and I think like mid conversation, he kind of like locked up. He like realized who I was. I think at the very beginning, it was like a media day and people were going up to him and yeah asking a bunch of questions moving on. And I went up to him and we just had a quick little back and forth. And then like midway through, I feel like his demeanor kind of changed. And I was like oh shit, like trying to say something funny, dude, lighten up the mood. I feel like he, cause I don't know what he felt. I just, that's why I got out of that.
00:48:57
Speaker
Like, I'm not a journalist, dude. I'm not gonna pretend that I am, even though like, Twitter bros are definitely – everyone's a journalist on Twitter. Everyone's a journalist now, Kevin. Come on. All right, fuck it. I'm an MLS journalist. fan g check You can buy a blue check for $5.99. It's really not a challenge anymore. I wanted to like try to be – I tried to like give that image like, I'm just a man. I don't even know why they invited me. So I was like asking him goofy questions.
00:49:20
Speaker
I think I want him back. But I will be honest. He was super chill. Like as a person, super nice guy. And then if you talk to players, pretty much everyone will say the same thing. Even players – who way back in the day maybe had kind of got stiff arm from him a little bit. Like, they were just like, hey, he kind of screwed me over, but he's still a good dude. I always had it on the back of my mind.
00:49:41
Speaker
And, yeah, we did our only trophies except for one. He was the guy. and And, like, ah again, everything that everyone knows about us is him. So, like, I felt bad a little bit, but then – I don't know. Like, I'm like, holy shit. It's so refreshing. I feel like you guys or other teams, like we never had someone else as a coach. It just feels what team can say. That's so weird. But yeah, I don't know. That last year I was like, we got it. We got to move on for
Coaching Changes at Sporting KC
00:50:08
Speaker
sure.
00:50:08
Speaker
You know, Don't last as long as its as a coach as he did without, uh, knowing what you're doing and then also garnering loyalty yeah from your players like that. So he clearly was, ah very good. I like beer for me is to me is one of the better and MLS coaches that's been in the league.
00:50:26
Speaker
Uh, as far as just like the sustained success that he had for a long time until the last few years, uh, But I guess that, ah like talking about this new era, yeah you got carries Vagnon in there.
00:50:42
Speaker
i I have kind of what, what Seattle ended up doing with Brian Schmetzer, which him taking over as the interim and then never letting go of the job and winning a bunch of trophies. And then watching what's happened to clubs like and Atlanta, where they've just been cycling through these coaches and their bit for a long time was like, we're going to hire a big name coach or a hotshot up and coming coach like Gonzo Pineda. It's not going to go well. We're going to fire them and we're going to plug in Rob Valentino to hold down. They did that like three or four times. and yeah always It was always Rob Valentino.
00:51:11
Speaker
And by the last time that they did it, I'm like, you guys should just give this to Rob Valentino. Like literally like just give it to the inter interim guy. He clearly, like Was he the coach that beat Inter Miami? Yes. Yes. do like yeah What are we doing? And he has like ah he had buy in from the players. They all clearly liked him. And I think more importantly, like he he was like diehard Atlanta United. He like bled for the club because he spent so many years grinding as an assistant there. And you could tell like he really cared about it and was invested in it.
00:51:41
Speaker
They have him as the interim coach last year. He leads them to a playoff win over Messi. And instead of giving it to Rob Valentino, which I was saying at the time, I was like, dude, I think you guys don't overthink this.
00:51:53
Speaker
Don't like go shopping around for the like Gabriel Hansa type guys who are going to come in, not give the players water and get fired. Like, just give it to Rob Valentino.
00:52:03
Speaker
Literally, that it's that simple. And at least try it. And if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. And you can at least sell it. Like, look, this guy put it in. He earned it. He beat Messi in the playoffs. We had to give him a ah run and it didn't work out.
00:52:14
Speaker
But they could have just done that and they did it. And now they're in a situation with Ronnie Dyla who's coming in from the outside. And he doesn't seem to have that, like, investment or care in the club that Rob Valentino did. Yeah.
00:52:25
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. And that's like that cultural stuff, I think, is what they're struggling with right now because they they just don't have that like foundation and identity that a guy like that can can give you.
00:52:37
Speaker
but ah So my question is... like Do you think that carries Vagnon has like a chance to ah carve out a path to getting the job? Or is he like fully a placeholder and they're going they're going move him on next year and then go out and do a global search and find somebody from the outside? Because I, the way I see it right now, especially with how they've been playing under carry, I'm like, this could be a Valentino situation guys. You might just want to give it to this guy. Like, what do you think? Yeah.
00:53:06
Speaker
i I remember talking to a player that said, it's like when a coach leaves and you have an assistant, it feels like, you know, like dad is, he's outside the house. So now you can kind of like, you know, be crazy with your brothers or something. It was so like a weird, it was in Spanish. So it kind of doesn't make that much sense, but it felt like, you know, the parent left. So like Peter Ramiz was like,
00:53:27
Speaker
dad, everyone knew him and everyone respected him or whatever. And it was his rules or not. But now you have this guy that you also knew the whole time, like Kerry's been there. um Now he's in charge. So it feels like, I don't know, like the vibes just, it's the same player, same crew, but like, you're right. Like they trust him. He knows what sporting's about. He's been there for so long, but also he's going to switch things up and maybe you're going to get your opportunity to do this now, instead of, you know, what you had to do, ah you know, for the last couple of years or whatever.
00:53:54
Speaker
So I totally agree. And sporting, it kind of i don't know i felt like it was a little embarrassing to say but they're just being honest so like kudos uh they were like we've never done this so we're just hiring this company to like look at coaches for us uh we're not in a rush uh that's what they said and it's literally in their conference where they're like we're not in a rush um so we're gonna look around and then one of the reporters was like is this like global or just look yep we're looking at every country uh i'm like what ah Welcome, Shavi. Welcome to MLS. Yeah, Shavi, let's go. Welcome, brother. Zinedine Zidane is coming to Kansas City, chatters. Gareth Southgate, you are the new head coach in Kansas City. He screams Sporting Kansas City, actually. but There we go.
00:54:37
Speaker
Look, they could have just hired me. I could have just run down the street. Exactly. Well, so them saying that, I'm like, okay, if they're not really in a rush, which I kind of get, um just like, let's just keep this guy. Let's just see what he does.
00:54:51
Speaker
And what's going to happen? what are we going to miss playoffs again? Oh, wow Big deal. Like, fine. And then really, I mean, by next year, we got to have... Either we're sticking with with guy this guy or you've got to have a coach. dude I don't want to hear like, we're still searching. Like, let's not do that. we went how many years with Peter because we just wanted to. We're not going to go like five years with interim. Like, that's our coach. Like, let's, you know, let's come in. But I think you're right.
00:55:14
Speaker
Right. Especially right now. We're saying it right now because we're only a couple of points away from playoffs and we won some games or whatever. And like players seem like they're doing well. um But genuinely, and another thing, he's like bringing in like Academy players to play um like super young, 17, 18 year olds. And you're like, okay, maybe Peter, it just felt like Peter would not do that.
00:55:35
Speaker
It's just like, you gotta, you gotta to be like the most elite you will ever be to play on sporting for some reason. So like our Academy wasn't doing anything. They just would try to be on the first team and then they would move on to somewhere else. So yeah, I think going into this Seattle game, like,
00:55:50
Speaker
I'm not, you know, Seattle's not, um, you, guys you guys, you guys are always going to be contenders in my book. You guys are going be in the playoffs and then you're gonna be annoying as hell and you're going to make some stupid run.
00:56:02
Speaker
Or if you don't make a good run, you're at least in the playoffs. You're just, that's Seattle. Um, Unless we win king Champions Cup and then... Right. That tournament, I guess, is just yours. But ah I think if we get a win out of that game, I feel like the vibes, dude, are going to be really changing for sure.
00:56:21
Speaker
um Even though it's not like first place team or whatever, it's just like one of those teams you want to beat. how are you feeling about the chances of that, of that happening? You got the game at home. Yeah. And a Seattle team. That's 1.5 points per game this year, which is below their usual pace, but also they're, they're not Seattle's not playing. I think when I look at it, they it's usually a team that travels very well. They usually win.
00:56:46
Speaker
Yeah. yeah seven, eight road games a year. They've only won twice on the road this year. And Children's Mercy ah is historically a tough place to play. But I guess that's one question I have. Is the environment like anywhere close to what it used to be as far as being intimidating for opposing teams?
00:57:03
Speaker
And then on top of that, just ah based on where SKC is right now, what do how do you size up their there chances against this Seattle team? I think that was like, I had to like watch what I was, because I wanted to like,
00:57:17
Speaker
continue like going to games but um our supporters group was it just felt really odd because they were i know i'm just explaining it something you guys already know but like supporter groups have to be like genuinely aligned usually with the club like or like clubs won't give them access to things it's not like in other leagues where Some of those ultras or whatever are like, they kind of own the, they're like, we're going to do what we want. Okay. You guys handle like the money stuff, but we're going do what we want.
00:57:45
Speaker
Well, in MLS is not that way really. And especially in Kansas city, like they, they were scared to say anything. And when it was really bad, they were really scared to talk about Peter. And then they were like, going after people and kicking people out for saying certain things and being upset or whatever.
00:58:02
Speaker
And I remember thinking like, then what what are you like doing there, honestly? um And, and then they, I believe they switched like their president or whatever they call it.
00:58:13
Speaker
And I think things have gotten a little bit better where they're like, okay, we need to like make statements. And then we did. So like we hired a, a schlob as our um gm and then quickly finally we got a reaction out of the supporter group i think basically because everyone on twitter was getting pissed so they finally like was like okay let's say something the first twitter twitter cancellation that actually worked Yeah, exactly. It's like the first one. and Genuinely, people were like, i don't know. i can't believe sporting did that. Like, that's crazy. The supporter group did that. But then after that, I think they realized, oh, shit, we kind of do have power. I mean, I mean, there's no fans and no one cares about the team.
00:58:49
Speaker
um And so the the actual experience in the stadium, I think, amazing. not good it feels like i kind of joked about before it feels like it kind of feels like a triple a baseball game this is that like clocking like it feels like hey man this is our pastime we love the our we love this we love this we're We're a little quirky out here in Kansas City. We kind of like soccer.
00:59:13
Speaker
And it just feels like kind of chill. And then they score, and it's like, yeah, we scored. and But if we lose, it's not that big of a deal. You know what i mean? um And that that kind of was like jarring because it did feel like – like I said, that 2013 season, 2016, 17, 18, it was like – it was loud. People were like rowdy. The away – people were – yelling at the away section. It was great. Like I loved it and it's just kind of died off. I think that just comes with not playing good for so many years um that I think right now, i don't think we have a great record at home.
00:59:45
Speaker
ah Last couple years, we have not been great at home. I think even last year, I might be wrong, but it felt like we were losing more games at home. i was It just felt like every damn home game. Like, why are we losing here? But we'll go to Atlanta and beat them or something goofy.
01:00:00
Speaker
So I don't think that's really playing to our advantage. And, like, you guys are good at that. you guys It doesn't seem like to phase you guys wherever you guys play. And I'm only scared... Because i I felt there's some something similar happened when River was playing a pretty bad season.
01:00:15
Speaker
They were playing a team who had a player that had a health issue. And like the next week, it was like those players were going to play their balls off for that player. And then they continued like they just wanted to play well for that guy that's out for the rest or whatever the situation was.
01:00:30
Speaker
And you guys came are coming off of, like, this emotional game. And you your fan base is probably kind a little shooken up. And, like, the players, I'm sure, like, God, that was ah scary. And we're we're we're concerned or whatever. So now, like, the emotions come into this game where we're in July. It shouldn't matter for both of us. But, like, I feel like it's mattering a lot more for you guys. And that's what makes me nervous. we we're We're on an upward trend, but we also we still have issues at the in our defense where like any second it feels like someone's just going to give up the ball.
01:01:01
Speaker
And then Seattle's going to be that team to to actually do something with that that mistake for the most part. So i am I am just praying to kind of keep the momentum going. If we're not going to lose, like i just I'm hoping for a draw, which is kind of embarrassing. But like I feel like we could score like – Jovo Lech can score.
01:01:22
Speaker
okay Yes. I also feel like we're going to... This game is for that. Yeah. yeah So I think it's going to be like a 1-1 or 2-2 kind of vibe, especially because you guys are just going to be like emotional, I would assume, like going into this game for sure.
01:01:35
Speaker
That's the one thing, ah like, when I look at this sporting KC team, I'm like, all right, you know, eleventh place, 1.1 points per game, minus 5 GD. It's a result attainable even on the road.
01:01:46
Speaker
But then I see the ghost of Deion Jovulich scoring in the Western Conference final last year to knock Seattle out of the playoffs. um And, like, he he always bammed on Seattle. That's just, like, what he did. yeah We were at that game, and I remember just looking at you, Ari, and we just shook our head and were like, oh. yeah that was uh he's really good so uh like i mean i think he has 12 goals this year so which is crazy yeah and for us especially because like it even people were like it feels like we're feeding to nobody and then out of nowhere this guy just lands in our play because la can't keep him and we're like oh shit
01:02:21
Speaker
like it genuinely all their little group chats everyone's like holy crap we stole this dude like yeah it's not you going i'm sure and like with peace and love i don't think even kansas cityans would be upset with me saying this la to kansas city is such a drastic life change you know i i immediately was like this guy's gonna be like alan polito he's not gonna be comfortable he's gonna hate it here he's not gonna try it's just gonna be bad and he completely shocks me like he's well i don't know what is he like third or fourth in like goal scoring yeah he's contending for the golden days hell yeah tripling your salary has a way of adjusting you to your surroundings Absolutely. what end And like 10xing the affordability. Yes. mike
01:03:07
Speaker
Yes. I i know yeah that's a complaint, I'm sure. All the Twitter bros and everyone. I think even we all agree, like, it would be nice to, like, kind of loosen those things up, making things. Because it's, so I mean, it's it's got to...
01:03:19
Speaker
It's got to say something when like last year's champions like can't keep players because they became champions and they got, you know, their contracts are got too expensive or whatever that like immediately they would be there like the worst team in the league. And it's just like it's too whiplash. I think that's what I was saying I meant to say 2013 season, like the next season.
01:03:40
Speaker
when we were playing so well it's like immediately felt like we fell off so fast but that's one of my biggest complaints the only other complaint i have about the league is genuinely like i'm just not a fan of the playoff format and i'm gonna say something crazy i think you guys even i don't know if you guys said this maybe i'm i'm and remembering incorrectly but i swear to you here i go here's the yankee in me here we go Let's play like baseball.
01:04:07
Speaker
Split it up. East-West. World Series is the final. You're the best of the East. You're the best of the West. There's the champion of the entire league. And if you guys are to cry about it, you guys are not true ball knowledge knowers because that's all you have to do. That will fix everything. I don't care. um but Oh, but Seattle didn't play um ah Miami. I don't i don't give fuck. Then beat everyone over there, Seattle.
01:04:29
Speaker
Don't be cowards. um Oh, oh, this. Oh, Sporting Kansas City. Wait, where would we be? Maybe would be in the – I think we're – no, we're west. Yeah, I don't know how they would divide it up
MLS Playoff Format and Goalkeeper Antics
01:04:39
Speaker
really. But um I think just for that, let's split it up.
01:04:44
Speaker
if we If we want to get real crazy – Freaking. Let's get real crazy. Do it like in South America. like a lot of Like in Argentina, we split the season in two. Mexico does it too. I'm telling you, I know people are like, this is wo nonsense splitting the the league in or the season in two.
01:04:58
Speaker
But one half, like half of the year, you can have a champion. Another half, you have another champion. You can a super champion between those two or whatever. Copa. Yes, it's it it brings like the excitement. it doesn't It doesn't feel like July is the worst month ever. August sucks. it like it keep It just keeps sucking until we get into September, and then we're like, all right, let's play.
01:05:19
Speaker
i know like I know baseball has like 1,000 games or whatever, but but I guess it's not like the best breakdown. But i I promise you, like for me, that's the only way we can adjust this, especially if they're going continue adding teams.
01:05:34
Speaker
Like that was my complaint about the Argentinian league. Like we keep adding teams. They're, they're shitty teams coming up and it's the games. It just feels like the season never ends. So I'm glad they are doing the split season.
01:05:44
Speaker
But right now I just hate the format in my, I also hate the nine teams going in. I hate the best of three BS. It's just that I hate it. Okay. So sorry. I'm putting my Twitter brain, but that's the only thing that I, I hate.
01:05:58
Speaker
That's it. i was fine said No, that was a, that was a good soapbox. We got into that. We got into format debate. It's been an all encompassing interview with a Kavin show here on a lot of scorchers talking about sporting KC versus Seattle Sounders. ah I do have to run in a couple minutes here, but Noah, did you have one, one last topic or anything you wanted to hit to bring us home?
01:06:21
Speaker
Let's close it out with our own soapbox here. um We've got to talk about the the wrestler in the room, and that is Tim Melia. He won't be there.
01:06:32
Speaker
But who will be at this matchup is someone who I would expect would be a wrestler in another life, and that is Andy Thomas, the Sounders backup goalkeeper.
01:06:43
Speaker
oh what is the ah What are the over-under odds that Andy Thomas – I want to send this to Ari first – decides to suplex someone? In this matchup.
01:06:55
Speaker
And, and then I want to I want to hear a little bit from Kevin about that whole situation. And, you know, I think Seattle fans are very touchy about it. So maybe you should just be honest about it. And we can then you could get the Seattle hate brigades your way and off of our back.
01:07:11
Speaker
Well, i'm not I'm not sure about ah Andy T's professional wrestling credentials. I was wondering about Pools Camp, though. I don't know if the legacy has been imparted on him by Melia, who, as we know, retired earlier. Was it earlier this year to pursue his true passion of ah wwe WWE? Right.
01:07:32
Speaker
So we we'll see what happens but the between the goalkeeper wrestling matchup. ah Andy T. historically has not demonstrated a propensity for that, but you know it is Sporting KC week, so perhaps he will.
01:07:47
Speaker
And ah I don't know what to expect from Pools Camp. He did study and learn under the ah the greatest pro wrestler in MLS history. So it's like I've been saying, anything anything can happen. You don't know if it's going to be the suplex, the full Nelson, or the Stone Cold Steve Austin stunner.
01:08:02
Speaker
it's It's everything. It's all on the table. I think Pulse Camp has, I remember in person, told me that, or like I got the vibe that he's he he is a hothead. So I think the gene is there. And he loves, it is different because we're, because that game was in Seattle, right? It was, yeah. Okay, so I think that's a little different because My opinion, i think I think Timmy was hearing it.
01:08:28
Speaker
from at First, the whole game situation, how it broke down was the intensity was happening. They were getting pissed off between the players. He was probably hearing it from the fans. Pulse Camp on record said he loves hearing that. He loves people screaming at him. He's not going to get that at this game.
01:08:44
Speaker
So I just don't think he's going to flip out yet. But I feel like, i don't know, if it's if I'm your keeper, okay, again, like I said, going off all the emotions, blah, blah, blah. You would kind of become iconic if you did that. And when that happened, I will say i was – I loved it, just to be honest.
01:09:02
Speaker
Now, yeah
Intense Rivalries and Wrestling Enthusiasts
01:09:03
Speaker
on a on a safety level, before I get those nerds typing – Irm, actually – Actually, he could have died. ah You're right. but Dangerous. Maybe should have got a red card and another one maybe. Let's let's just be real, okay?
01:09:17
Speaker
But – but, um guys – This is what makes our league kind of iconic if we start doing goofy stuff like this. I mean, if you start seeing that clip in Europe, South America, like, damn, they're brawling on the team.
01:09:31
Speaker
We're just – we're going to elevate, baby. All those little snobs are going to be real quiet. Oh, they like to fight out there? Yeah, we like to fight. We don't like Seattle. Okay? Seattle doesn't like us. Why?
01:09:42
Speaker
I don't fucking know. Well, for some reason, we don't like each other. But i think, and my in my opinion, I loved it. I know people got upset. I still get those comments. Even to this day, every time we play each other, it's crazy. I didn't see a Wesleyan match.
01:09:56
Speaker
That's crazy. What a Wesleyan match. Every comment. So, We still, we call Sporting KC the club of professional wrestling enthusiasts. And sometimes it's funny. We get Sporting KC fans who come like in our chat and comments and stuff. they're like, I was three years ago. Are you ever going to let that go? It's time to move on. It's time to move on. Like, are you ever going to let it go? And I'm like, no.
01:10:16
Speaker
umm well We don't have anything i'm not go don't have that much between us anyways. Just find something and stick with it. Just like with us at Real Salt Lake. We hate them. We had like two seasons where we went back and forth and had like one MLS Cup final game where it was heated because it was a final.
01:10:31
Speaker
And now we're like, yeah, we don't. Not a fan of the Mormon church. okay That's like our normal thing for ah for them. But like, yeah, let's just hold on to it. Sporting fans, chill out. Okay, like relax.
01:10:41
Speaker
And Salt Lake, or Salt Lake, Seattle fans, He didn't die. Okay. He didn't die. All right. He's fine. fact, he rises back stronger and is now should be getting called up into the U.S. Men's National League. For real. Exactly. So you're welcome.
01:10:53
Speaker
mark so it It motivated him. we I can go with that narrative. There you go. Hell yeah. Yeah. That's all I had, Ari. All right. Well, let's, ah let's call it a wrap right there.
01:11:05
Speaker
Convicio, thank you so much for the time. I mean, we went over an hour talking about ah Seattle sporting Kansas city, but also a myriad of, ah of topics and soap boxes that we didn't even plan on. So clips are going to do, we got to hit Argentina.
01:11:17
Speaker
We're going to hit Argentina. Oh yeah. going to make it. Oh, look at these Yankees, dude.
01:11:23
Speaker
and But uh, yeah, really fun like we could go several more hours I could keep chopping it up no easily we're gonna we're gonna get you ah back on soon. We'll we'll keep
Conclusion and Guest Farewell
01:11:33
Speaker
collabing cuz yeah, you're definitely one of if not our top favorite MLS youtuber again, you're your watch long content and you happy footstep but we don't know like all you LA Oh, no Well like TV shows right?
01:11:50
Speaker
Oh, I got Emmys Oh, cringe. Oh Emmys. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Well, if you ever won a Fabian Renkel X ah award, I don't think so. Quiet. Did we win it?
01:12:02
Speaker
No, we didn't win, but I think... Oh, okay, whatever. think you won one, right? but I mean... Yeah. But, uh... You gotta be happy with it, but that's a good plug here, is go on FogRank's X account and vote for Lobbying Sporters. I don't even know you can vote yet. I don't even know, but we're just... We're putting that out there. Yes, for sure. I agree. Stamp of approval.
01:12:22
Speaker
Good plug, but, uh... Thank you, Kavicho. Appreciate you, man. Anyone listening, get go subscribe and on to his YouTube. Follow his IG and TikTok. There's always great stuff covering Sporting KC and River Plate on there. And, yeah, we're go we'll get you back on again at some point here soon. Looking forward to this game.
01:12:41
Speaker
And we'll call it right there. Until next time, we out.