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BREAKING: MLS changes calendar + regular season structure!
846 Plays1 day ago
In some blockbuster news, MLS has announced a shift in its competition calendar, aligning the league’s schedule with the world’s top soccer leagues. The league is also introducing a regular season format that will see MLS move from the Eastern and Western conference setup to a single table. We'll react to these seismic announcements, then dive into some takes on the ongoing MLS Cup Playoffs, and the start of Seattle Sounders' offseason.
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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.
Contact: lobbingscorchers@justoncemedia.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Streaming Details
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Lobbing Scorchers was previously recorded and streamed live on YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers. If you want to listen or catch these episodes live, see the video, and see all the rest of our content, go to YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers or LobbingScorchers.com slash YouTube.
00:00:22
Speaker
Well sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be a real scorcher today. Why the scorcher today? Well it's gonna be scorcher.
00:00:44
Speaker
Good evening, everybody, and welcome in to another episode of Lobbing Scorchers Under the
Major MLS Announcements
00:00:50
Speaker
Lights. Folks, it's our first real show of the Seattle Sounders offseason, and if you thought that meant there was going to be a lack of news, you would be wrong. We have got a big, historic, seismic show here tonight.
00:01:06
Speaker
Uh, Major League Soccer has announced a shift in its competition calendar, aligning the league schedule with the world's top leagues. That's pretty big news. We're going to react to that.
00:01:17
Speaker
I got Noah here tapping in from the start. I sent Nico the join link. He might even tap in here at some point. And we're going to be talking about that. There's a there's a couple other news items to get to. No more MLS season pass on Apple TV. It's all going to be on Apple TV.
00:01:33
Speaker
That also was announced today. ah So, ah yeah, it's going to be a big one. Noah, thanks for tapping in ah How are you feeling? We have not really discoursed about all this calendar change stuff at all. So I don't even know what your takes are yet.
00:01:46
Speaker
ah How's it going? How are you feeling? I'm doing great, Ari. ah We're almost at the end of the week. And that's a good thing. And that's a good thing, right? Friday, work's done.
00:01:58
Speaker
ah There's no more MLS games. MLS season's done. ah No more playoff games. No more MLS Cup. It actually just, they just said, you know what? We're done. We're actually not going to play ah anymore, which is tight.
00:02:10
Speaker
I get it. Like, you know. Yeah, I mean, you know, there's, there's might be some playoffs going on. Maybe we'll talk about that at some point, but. Or whatever. Yeah, it's not really, yeah that is not the story around, uh, major league soccer today.
00:02:23
Speaker
and, Yeah, I don't know how much track you've been keeping of the discourse today, but there's been a lot of it. Some of it higher temperatures than others. Some of it extremely high temperature.
00:02:35
Speaker
So, ah yeah, let's ah let's just get into all that. But before we do so, ah please, everyone like the video, sub to the channel, follow us on Instagram and TikTok and buy the Lobbings Scorchers hot sauce.
00:02:48
Speaker
Lobbingsscorchers.com slash sauce. Yeah. Anything else to ah to show before we get into it here? a Hunch, good catch on the Minnesota United hashtag. i ah I got that right on out of there as soon as I saw you flag that.
00:03:01
Speaker
We don't need any of them in here. Yeah. We don't want you here. know, it's funny, Noah. I woke up this morning and I actually didn't, I wasn't privy to the fact that all this was dropping. I was like, you know, what am I going to talk about on the podcast?
00:03:15
Speaker
on the show tonight uh we can finish off the minnesota united discourse i guess maybe get into some roster stuff debate if moose should come back what and what they should pay paul rothrock all that stuff is what i was planning on getting to we'll probably talk about some of that stuff uh but then they just kind of lobbed lobbed this over the plate it was actually uh first reported by ah paul tenorio and tom bogues over at the well actually, it was first reported by Nico Moreno yesterday night on our live, but nobody nobody nobody heard that.
00:03:47
Speaker
it It's true. Well, when you told me that, actually, i i didn't even remember. i We were talking about
Impact of Calendar Alignment on MLS
00:03:53
Speaker
that, and I thought it was he was saying that it was something that was going to happen like at some point, which is something that I...
00:04:00
Speaker
have figured, you know, this has been talked about for years. ah But it turns out the next day is, when it happened. So it's, it's not for me, it's not ah unexpected that it happened, but the timing of it and how fast it is. And then if you know, if you read Tom and Paul's reporting, there's,
00:04:19
Speaker
reasoning behind why, ah you know usually this stuff, it's like 2034 is when it takes hold, but they kind of realized that they had to, whatever they they realized that they, uh, had to get on it.
00:04:30
Speaker
And so it's, it's funny, uh, you know, this is all, it's all straight from the, uh, the oligarch class and when they want to be efficient about something, when they, when they realize, that the process needs to be expedited. They will expedite it. And that's what they did
Puskas Award and Historical MLS Goals
00:04:44
Speaker
in this case. This is going to take place starting in summer of 2027. So that's coming right up.
00:04:50
Speaker
Azarata, thank you so much for getting the super chat train started. Oh, we got to do that online. ah Vote Pedro for Puskas. We need to talk about that. Let's talk about that real quick. I'll pull up that. ah that news release that, uh, as Azurata, uh, points out, Pedro de la Vega has actually, as we talked about, officially been nominated for the FIFA Puskas. You got to close some tabs, bro.
00:05:18
Speaker
Your computer's i know lagging out. i know you got I know you got a billion tabs open. I know that processor right now is going crazy. I don't even have as many as open as usual, but I will. Here, I'll close some.
00:05:29
Speaker
Here, while I do that, talk about ah Pedro de la Vega getting nominated for a Puskas. There we go. Pedro de la Vega nominated for the Puskas. I don't know if this is the first time an MLS player has been nominated for the Puskas. is not. i will I will. ah up I'm lagging again.
00:05:45
Speaker
You're good. You're good. um It is not the first time. They have that right here, actually, all the past nominees. We got 2023 Alvaro Barrio.
00:05:56
Speaker
I remember that goal, dude. That one was crazy. 2019 Zlatan. I think that is... in the top two to three, if not the best goals I've ever seen. That's the greatest MLS goal of all time.
00:06:09
Speaker
That's the greatest MLS goal of all time, but I think it's straight up just one of the greatest goals of all time period. True. And then you have, ah do you remember these ones? 2014 Camilo Sanveso for the Vancouver Whitecaps.
00:06:21
Speaker
And then the Whitecaps have two Puskas nominees on here. 2012 and 2014. From two seasons ago, but the Brian White one from two seasons ago that we, or maybe it was last season that we both were like, bro, this should be a Puskas goal.
00:06:34
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, but, ah I mean, have you even heard have you heard of Camilo Sanveso? I don't know who that is. Eric Hasley? I kind of vaguely... I remember Hasley. how did Eric Hasley has a Puskas nominee? I gotta look that one up, but either way, there have been four others, and...
00:06:51
Speaker
you know Out of all of those, I think De La Vega's is actually the best, except for... Zlatan won was essentially the same goal that De La Vega scored, but like from from midfield. from midfield yeah Exactly. so That probably will never be equaled ah by anybody, let alone an MLS player, but...
00:07:10
Speaker
ah There have been four others. ah But yeah, why don't ah I mean, did you think they were actually going to have the courage to ah to nominate him? I thought it was such a good goal that they wouldn't be able to look past it.
00:07:20
Speaker
But it's still nice to see that they actually did it. No, I mean, I agree. I thought they would do it i thought it. I thought they would do it, especially because it was and MLS versus Liga Mekis. It was two like giant teams ah in North American soccer.
00:07:35
Speaker
um And I just like, especially coming up with the World Cup, like I was like, there's no way that they don't acknowledge that this happened. I think if he had done that against like Minnesota United,
00:07:48
Speaker
Like, i don't I don't know. But, like, the fact that it was against, again, like, the context of the whole goal. Also, the pass. In, like, the video that they show, they kind of cut off the pass.
00:07:59
Speaker
We're not even talking about how good that pass was from Alex Roldan. Like, Alex Roldan deserves half of fucking Puska. it was It was a huge part of of that goal. was, like, the the distance. He deserves the Pus and De La Vega deserves the Ka.
00:08:14
Speaker
the The degree of difficulty, I feel like, is almost higher than the Zlatan one in that way because the Zlatan one was like a goal kick, right, that got like headed to him. yeah And he didn't have to catch it at pace like Dan La Vega did.
00:08:30
Speaker
And it was insane hit. it's a it's a The degree of difficulty on the finish is higher because of how far of distance it was. But in terms of the technical ability to make contact with ah with a cross coming in from that deep at that pace...
00:08:44
Speaker
I think De La Vega's goal might take it from that ah from that standpoint. But yeah, I mean, who knows if he's going win it. We'll see what the competition is. But just the fact that he's in there is pretty sick. And it's well-deserved. I mean, it's the best goal in Seattle Sounders history. And that was another great moment of this season that is now getting recognized ah internationally, not just nationally.
00:09:05
Speaker
Vote for Pedro. Exactly. Now he can do a campaign like that. So ah let's just hope he wins. um anything else on De La Vega getting nominated for the Puskas before we talk about the ah he'll probably get robbed but um if he does get robbed he got robbed like we can do the full like oh he was robbed you know I'm doing the he was robbed bit if he doesn't get it. Just like yeah I'm doing the he was robbed thing about Cal Raleigh right now. And that's not even. oh my God. we We can't even get into that. We can't. We're not going to get into that because it's too upsetting, but it is very. want to talk about robbed.
00:09:40
Speaker
You want to talk about robbed? Cal Raleigh got robbed. That's he freak to fucking. do We don't. I can't. I can't even get into it. are I can't even get into it. you're You're getting me. You're getting me worked up. I might crash out if we if we get into the into that discourse.
00:09:55
Speaker
All right. Noah, new calendar. i'm going to pull up that. let's Yeah. read me the Read me the article because I have not read it yet. All right. Yeah. but let's ah Let's lay down the context. I'll do it from the MLS site first, and then we can...
00:10:08
Speaker
Add in some of the reporting from ah those who are covering it today. You know, Paul and Tom are all over it, so they had a lot of more in-depth takes. But this is the basic situation from MLS today.
00:10:20
Speaker
and MLS to a align calendar with the top leagues around the world.
Season Format Changes and Team Competitiveness
00:10:24
Speaker
Major League Soccer has announced a shift in its competition calendar, aligning the league's schedule with the world's top soccer leagues. Beginning in the summer of 2027, MLS will adopt a summer-to-spring season format, marking one of the most significant developments in the league's history.
00:10:38
Speaker
and MLS is continuing to work with the MLS Players Association to finalize an agreement. ah and And MLS is also introducing a new regular season format. This is the other big one that blends elements of the global game with North American sports traditions.
00:10:52
Speaker
The league will also review potential adjustments to the playoffs for it as part of the um ongoing evaluation process. So that is the basics of it.
00:11:05
Speaker
You got summer to spring and then a new regular season format, which as, as I understand it, there will be no more East West. It's going to be a single table, but then they're also going to have divisions kind of like, you know, other sports that do that.
00:11:20
Speaker
So I don't know exactly. Play each other, right? I don't know exactly how they're going to do. Yeah. I don't know exactly how they're going to do the single table in the divisions at the same. Is that like two separate standings, your division? And then, and then they have the, I don't know.
00:11:34
Speaker
I guess that's the kind of stuff. we need They're just like, fuck it. We can't. They were like, Ari, Ari. They were like, listen, we're, we're, we are aligning our calendars with the rest of the footballing world, but we will not give up.
00:11:45
Speaker
We will not give up the baseball bit. And actually, instead of three-game series, we're going to six-game series. that That would be ah bombshell. Imagine how heated it would have gotten today.
00:11:55
Speaker
I won't count it out. I won't count it out. I wanted to start right there just with the... The reaction to this news, because I did think it was funny, you know, anytime you have a like big seismic change like this, um you're i think you're going to automatically kind of have a contingent of people that knee jerk react to the to the crash out like correct this is ridiculous. MLS is the biggest Bush League.
00:12:25
Speaker
Correct. correct and so it didn't necessarily shock me to see that but ah one thing i will say is like and my my light is falling over here talking about push league um am i wrong that um the lead the mls calendar being different then the fifa calendar the international calendar Has that not long been one of the primary criticisms of the league that people bring up when they're trying to trash on it?
00:12:56
Speaker
Yeah. Like that's, that's one of the, you know, they say retirement league, the level of the footy is trash. Uh, I don't know, you could go down the way. It's invading the USMNT and preventing us from becoming a proper footballing nation. And then you get like the calendar thing.
00:13:13
Speaker
Like, oh, the calendar doesn't even match up. What an amateur league, what a bush league. And then ah when it gets announced today that they changed it to the FIFA calendar.
00:13:24
Speaker
There was a lot of reaction of like, how could they, pop I loved the previous schedule. How could they possibly change it to this? I just thought that was a funny little dichotomy. Like I've been watching people crash out about this in the opposite way for years and then they change it and then it's still, you know, it's still the same yeah reaction, but I'll, I'll start just with my take. And then I want to hear what you, ah what you think about it, Noah, but,
00:13:50
Speaker
ah The first thing I'll say, I'm going say something controversial off the rip off rip here, which is that yeah um this this issue in particular, and I guess kind of issues like this as far as, in this case, scheduling.
00:14:03
Speaker
It's not something that ah I'm overly passionate about either way. Like, you know, the the when the game's take place the days that they take place what month they take place uh that i don't i don't really care about that that much man the way i look at it is just like tell me when the seattle sounders are playing i don't care what day it is give me the time i'll be there if there's a game to be won there's a trophy to be contended for I'll be there. i don't i don't really I don't really care that much about what day it's on.
00:14:38
Speaker
It's sort of like, ah you know, a lot of fans care about, like, kit sponsors or how kits look in general. I care about that from the standpoint of, like, you don't want to be wearing, like, an and embarrassingly ugly kit.
00:14:52
Speaker
Or an embarrassing sponsor. like i'm about I'm about that action. Providence, perhaps? i'm not I'm about that action. I don't care if it's Zulily. I don't care if it's Providence. I don't care if it if it's a Bruce Lee kit.
00:15:02
Speaker
i don't care what i mean I care what field it's on. is As long as it's a functional field, just give me that and I'll and i'll take that. you know the all all all All the rest of it is kind of just noise. you're there for the You're there for the footy.
00:15:14
Speaker
I'm there for the footy. I'm there to see who's going to win the footy game in question on any given day, whatever that day is. ah But I will say ah something I found interesting about this was ah the ah the oligarchs actually laid out their rationale for why they did this. They did like a bullet by bullet list of their reasons.
00:15:34
Speaker
So let's dive into that. But ah why don't we get your first reaction when you saw this news first and then and then we'll dive into that. I think, listen, to me, it makes sense, right? Like this was something that was always going. it had been talked about for a long time at this point.
00:15:51
Speaker
I was surprised that they didn't get it done before the World Cup, frankly. um it It just it makes sense. I get it ah Especially the way that they're doing it. They're taking a winter break.
00:16:02
Speaker
They're going and it just, if you're aligning with what everyone else is doing, it makes it easier to transfer players out to transfer players in. Why would that like, you know what MLS is about.
00:16:16
Speaker
and MLS is about sending players to other leagues. That's kind of what they are now. They're a developmental league and there's nothing wrong with that. ah And the reality to me is that one, this is going to make teams more competitive in Champions League, which I think is a good thing.
00:16:32
Speaker
and MLS teams are going to be more competitive in CONCACAF Champions Cup because it won't be their literal first game of the season. They will be deep into their season. I hadn't thought about that that much, but how much how much has it sucked over the years to go into CONCACAF Champions Cup playing teams that are already in form in their season? It's essentially your preseason.
00:16:53
Speaker
And, you know, no one ever talks about that when it comes to why MLS teams don't fare that well in that tournament. It's always... yeah Oh, MLS, it's so far it's so far behind the level so far off Mexico still.
00:17:05
Speaker
and And it's like, okay, yeah, that is partially why the teams don't do well. Also, every single time they play in it, they're in preseason when the teams they're playing are in form and have been playing actual competitive teams.
00:17:19
Speaker
games together that's that skews it way more towards the league and mechies teams than people like to admit or talk about this won't be that won't be an issue anymore and another thing that won't be an issue anymore is these situations where uh you have players where you have teams who have a good a player who's getting a lot of transfer buzz and they're getting big time offers and then they have to sell them in the window during the season crashes their team Yeah, so like this season, ah you know, just Minnesota United as one example, they had they had to sell Tawny in the middle of their season because they got like an $8 million, $10 million dollars bag from Villarreal or whatever it was.
00:17:58
Speaker
So they had to take that. He wanted to go there and they it was a player they they were trying to sell on and they had a great offer. but it damaged their team's like quality in the 2025 season that they were in the middle of.
00:18:13
Speaker
And honestly, I'm not trying to ah get into Ramsey ball or anything, but that's part of the reason he went went to that to those extremes is' because he lost his best player it's like all right we don't have like the horses now to uh play maybe how i would want to play so now i got to play like this that this theoretically like and if if they were on this calendar they would have been able to keep tawny and then move them on in the next window when it was the off season so those are yeah those are two examples of why it would make sense
00:18:45
Speaker
i I also think for me personally, ah the summer in Seattle is the greatest place in the world. And I would like to sit to the beach. I don't I don't mind having the summers off, actually.
00:18:58
Speaker
i think it would be nice to be outside more. I love ah I love a summer night at Lumen. ah It's great. um But, you know, ah June in June. May, June time off.
00:19:10
Speaker
What's what's wrong with that? we We should talk about, though, the reality that there is going to be a shortened season in 2027. So, yeah, that is very weird. Crazy condensed season. And so, you know,
Speculations on Transition Season and Critique of Will Kuntz
00:19:22
Speaker
it's going to happen. a right You know, it's going to happen.
00:19:26
Speaker
What? Portland Timbers are going to win. i Yeah, I was thinking that today. They're going to hang the transition cup banner. Yeah, the transition cup, MLS transition cup banner. port eight they hang the transition cup banner next to the MLS's back, then they should do MLS's back too.
00:19:44
Speaker
They should do a bubble again. That whole transition season is going to have MLS's back vibes. so It's going to be so sick. that is ah and And this is another thing that I'm pro about the transition.
00:19:55
Speaker
I love MLS chaos. I love being a tin pot league. I love being, I like being the Bush league. I don't care. Listen, if there was a Bush league, I'm competing in it. Okay. I'm going for it.
00:20:06
Speaker
And, ah and I don't think, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think it's going to be funny. i think it's going to be fun. It's going to be like, It's going to be super unserious and like, why not? Why not win it?
00:20:17
Speaker
You know? And then whoever, if whoever wins it, like if we don't like them, we can just say it's, say it doesn't count. Yeah. It doesn't count. Yeah. And if Seattle wins it, it's the most important, significant trophy. Cause you're not, you're only going to get one. There's only one of them. Yeah. So yeah. I was thinking about this.
00:20:33
Speaker
i was thinking about this The Sounders did say that they've filled their trophy case, that there's no more trophies to win. But I will say we didn't win MLS's back. True. So, like, technically, that's not true. If they win the transition cup, though, I think that counts.
00:20:46
Speaker
Okay, yeah. That's okay. it's the eyes Eyes on 2027, folks. Eyes on 2027. To bridge the gap they're doing is they're literally calling it a transition season. 14 games from, like, what, like...
00:21:00
Speaker
February to April or May or something. And then they're going to take time off after that and then launch into the next. Cause that they would otherwise the league would have been on hiatus for like seven months or something. Yeah. Something crazy like that.
00:21:14
Speaker
So there, that's how you deal with that, which that's, you know, that's a, that's kind of, that's kind of creative low key. I would not have ah thought of it in it like a condensed season.
00:21:25
Speaker
to bridge that gap. I would not really know how they were going to do that. So we'll see how that actually pans out if anyone cares about the transition cut. But that's really, it's just, that's just trying to get you over to the new format.
00:21:38
Speaker
There was always going to be some weird stuff. Also, can I ask you, because you know, you work for MajorLeagueSoccerSoccer.com. Yeah. ah Why the hell is Will Kuntz quoted in this article? I knew you were going to like that. what the What is he like? This is the dumbest. He's going to find a way to somehow ah bungle his roster spend on the transition season. be like Oh, we got to fucking get rid of everyone because we won transition is back cup.
00:22:03
Speaker
If i worked in baseball, I'd get hired for bungling the transition cup. He's not even going to be there for then. Let's be so real. He's going to get his ass fired before then because they're not going to do anything next season.
00:22:14
Speaker
Hot take. um A lot of the discourse around this today, Noah, was how ah around how it affects the cold weather markets.
00:22:25
Speaker
ah There's going to be some more games in places that are very, very cold and where it's unpleasant to play soccer in that type of of weather.
Challenges for Cold Weather Markets
00:22:35
Speaker
Which, ah you know, if anyone understands the issue that that can be, I'm i'm i'm someone who understands that issue. i ah i went to Toronto. I've talked about this. I went to Toronto twice when the when the Seattle Sounders made it to MLS Cup and had to ah travel there and play there in December. And ah That type of cold that I felt on ah on those trips, it fundamentally changed me as a person.
00:23:01
Speaker
I never felt anything like that. You still can't feel your fingers. I grew up ah somewhere where it can get cold in the in the winters. I grew up in New Mexico, which contrary to popular belief, the winters are pretty harsh there. It snows a lot. It's pretty damn cold.
00:23:15
Speaker
i've never I've never felt anything like Toronto in December. that That weather is bullshit. The fact that it's possible for it to get that cold is... ah I mean, I just remember walking around and being like, dude, there i there's no way.
00:23:30
Speaker
Who lives here? This is just absolutely intolerable. And then to play a soccer game in that, you know, it was funny when people were trying to pull the, you know...
00:23:41
Speaker
Well, so Seattle won MLS Cup without a shot on goal. So you're really making fun of Minnesota United. I've turned i've turned the yeah incessantly negative brigade into Texans. love that yeah I don't know why. but this Seattle Sounders once won without a shot on goal. But like, dude, that game was played in negative 10 degrees. It's not the same thing.
00:24:02
Speaker
It's not the same thing as like, that's how your team plays every game, even your home games. That is but totally different situation because of it, the road trip and the injury situation that the team was in already. But then it was also so cold that like you could not functionally play.
00:24:17
Speaker
They were doing, or are sorry, they were doing the MLS ice bucket challenge out there. They were not playing a soccer game. It was, it was disgusting. That weather is disgusting. ah Soccer shouldn't be played in that weather. However, ah two things on that as it relates to this.
00:24:33
Speaker
calendar change. ah Number one, i don't know if you've seen this, but what i what I saw is like, it's actually, it's not going to change that much. Like it's actually, the number I saw was 91% same days.
00:24:46
Speaker
of the same days Yeah. Are going to be... So, I think the question you got to ask yourself is, like, how many more games in this type of and this type of weather and these type of elements are you going to have to play under this new schedule?
00:24:59
Speaker
And the answer is not that many. You're but you're probably going have to play, like, a couple more, a few more. definitely get less... certified better days. But again, we're pretending that the hot weather doesn't exist with the whole thing. Also, and also true.
00:25:14
Speaker
Like and it's there's no difference between what I was describing in Toronto. And when you have to fucking go to spc or FC Dallas or Houston in the middle of July, that's worse.
00:25:24
Speaker
the The, the heat, I mean, I'm the type of person. I hate the heat more than I hate the cold way more, but like it's, it's the exact same idea. And you're dealing with that in reverse. That's kind of the other thing is like, uh,
00:25:36
Speaker
if if if this was the way the schedule already was and they were changing it to how it is now, people would be like, you cannot, you can't do this. This is, and now it's just, it's because of the fact that I think it's change in general is why it's getting, it would be getting the exact same reaction in reverse if if that was the situation is what I'm saying.
00:25:56
Speaker
i Yeah, like I don't, I don't, there's there's always going to be shitty weather. Like it's just a dumb argument. The argument, the argument on the side of business, the argument on the side of competition, the argument on the side of like making MLS be a better product, the argument on the side of like...
00:26:15
Speaker
It's going to be more interesting now. Like it's it's different. I don't know. I'm excited for it in a lot of different ways. I get my birthday off. We won't be playing soccer on my birthday I mean, they never play soccer on my birthday anyway, so it doesn't matter. But ah and, you know, something that I saw was that MLS had basically guaranteed that like the two matches before and the two matches after the winter break for all of those like cold weather teams will be away.
00:26:40
Speaker
Exactly. So they're they're doing stuff, supposedly, to try and offset that, which is those cold weather teams, a lot of their road games will be played in that time in theoretically more forgiving climates.
00:26:55
Speaker
and then But also, it's like, dude, that's kind of... Some of that is just what you get for being a cold city. True. that's I don't know. A lot of sports are played the cold. Are you for real living in Montreal?
00:27:09
Speaker
that's that's like That's not a place, brother. That's like, what are you doing? it's it It could be a good place. I've never been there. It's too cold be in. But the thing is, they have make you speak French out there. they have thought It's insane. They have an option for a stadium that you can play inside, which would be my other point.
00:27:27
Speaker
That's true. like i I was on this soapbox during the Toronto MLS Cups because I was like, this is stupid. This team should have an indoor stadium. If you want to get real tricky with it, do what the Mariners did and get a retractable...
00:27:41
Speaker
roof maybe uh but like you i i agree that you can't play in cold like that but it's also it's toronto that's how it that's how it gets and you're already you already have games during the season where you play in those elements and if teams like that make in the playoffs they're for sure playing in those elements so uh again i think it's just when i when i look at it i'm like if it's 91% going over the the same days and then they do the thing where they have the the teams in the cold markets playing at that time of year, you have their road, some of their road games go at that time of year. There's stuff you can do with the scheduling like that to make that less of an issue.
00:28:22
Speaker
And then the extent to which that's an issue, i don't see how it's that much more of an issue than it already was. Uh, If it was a situation where like those teams were playing half their games in those type of elements, then yeah, that would be ah be a non-starter.
00:28:38
Speaker
But ah ah failing that, i don't see i just I don't see how it's all that different in general. so Can you explain to me what people are crashing out about? Or maybe people in chat? Because I saw someone in here who was saying, like the get the and MLS is over, RIP MLS.
00:28:53
Speaker
What's the argument against this? Like, what are people so upset about? I genuinely get it. The climate was the biggest crash out I saw. Was the what? Was the climate stuff. Like, a lot of the Canadians and the Minnesotans are... Okay, I'm sorry.
00:29:07
Speaker
I'm sorry. First of all, Canadians, Canadians... Brother, just listen. You get health care. You don't get to complain. You have health care. You don't get to complain about the climate.
00:29:21
Speaker
All right? like that's You chose to live there. All right? like you you You're in the tundra, brother. like i I can't help you with that. it's It's cold there even in the ah in the warm months, isn't it?
00:29:34
Speaker
In Toronto? I don't know. i i can't picture. Okay, they have the worst accent in Toronto. Okay.
00:29:42
Speaker
Like, have you seen those videos of like the teenagers at the malls and they're like talking like in the most insane accent? but Okay. That makes me sound insane. Like I'm looking at videos of teenagers at the mall. It's not like that. It's if people know what I'm talking about, we're going have to cut this part of the stream. I just, uh, I mean, I just, I don't remember noticing any different accent from them one way or the other. the see first. oh saw it Yes, exactly.
00:30:09
Speaker
oh oh sa Oh, that's right. He's got like a Toronto accent. Yeah. Toronto crody. He is. he is from out there. and Yeah, no, I didn't pick up on that when I was there.
00:30:21
Speaker
i also wasn't ah talking to all that many Canadians. I was kind of in and out. I didn't want to stay there any longer than had to. Ari's a patriotic American, famously. Yeah, exactly. I was trying to get back to God's country. Even though he's a Canadian men's national team fan.
00:30:36
Speaker
It's multifaceted. Yeah. But yeah, so it was the... The weather thing was a big thing. And then snow was going to fuck with a lot of games. Someone's saying one says this is going to be a massive disruption to the current MLS fan base.
00:30:54
Speaker
What like it's i like, I don't really understand how that would change. It just means that like there's games going on at different times. But again, like you said, it's 91% of the same games and games I guess it would make sense if it's like, um okay, we go and spend most of our time going to the games in the summer and we only use the summer as our time to go to games.
00:31:21
Speaker
That makes sense. Like I could totally see that like families, it's a little bit less accessible to like a, to like a family who's just going there for fun in the summer. Totally. That's, that's fine. I, I like, I can actually see that argument, but like it's ah yeah, it's, it's just, I don't i don't know.
00:31:38
Speaker
It's also it's another another thing I was thinking about is like, for me, things like this, when you first see the news, you're like, oh, wow, this is this is such a big change. It's going so different. This is going to be so crazy. I'm pretty sure wants the games start,
00:31:54
Speaker
our we'll just adapt and we'll be like, this is how it works now. And that'll pretty much, even if there, even if there are drawbacks, which, you know, not necessarily trying to minimize the, the drawbacks. I just, I saw some real, some blazing rhetoric on Twitter. Do you remember when MLS changed their logo?
00:32:14
Speaker
Yeah, that was a good crash out. That was like, that one was like the world was coming to a fucking end. to The old logo was better, but it's also like the logo. I don't, I don't mind their new branding. It's fine.
00:32:28
Speaker
But it's like, the old one with like the cleat. like that will yeah as is pretty sick Yeah, you're right. pretty But I mean, sometimes sometimes logos change the sounders change their logo.
00:32:41
Speaker
That's true. Famously. And remember when this my favorite crash out New York City FC, like changed their logo, but it was really just they like moved a couple of lines around and changed the font.
00:32:52
Speaker
And then there was this dude who got and like the old logo, like fucking massively tattooed on his back. And he he wrote like 2K words on X the Everything app, crashing out and saying that it was like an affront to God and the fans. The MLS logo he tattooed?
00:33:09
Speaker
No, no, no, no, no. Like the New York City FC logo. Oh, NYC. I can't believe you would change this. and but I'm like, brother, it's this like you're going to be okay. like It was like the funniest thing ever. They should change the rev logos but Rev's logo back though, I will say.
00:33:26
Speaker
a lot of A lot of what I was watching today with this discourse, was sitting there and I was like, you would have crashed out. like no You were just looking for something to crash out on i'm I'm interested to hear what ah that one fucking guy had to say about this. He was he was pro.
00:33:42
Speaker
He was pro. Oh, okay. Okay. There you go. Yeah. Which I was i was ah surprised to see, but then I was like, okay. Like, i guess I guess there's some semblance of consistency there because he he had been saying he's been one of the forefronts of – this It's a Brigader point.
00:34:00
Speaker
it's Yeah, it is it is. Sometimes the Brigade cooks. the brigade Listen, okay, listen, okay. I'm going to be so honest with you. and The Brigade is right about this. The Euro snobs are right about this. like If you want to be a competitive league with these other leagues in Europe, which again, I've said this before, I really do think that Major League Soccer is competitive with the championship and that most really good players in the championship could come here and be competitive and most good players from here can be go go and be competitive in the championship.
Apple TV and MLS Broadcast Changes
00:34:28
Speaker
changing to that schedule. Like i'd so I just, i don't know. I think it's, I think it's good. And also maybe we should move on to this. I mean, we could keep cooking on this, but I don't really know what else there is to say. Like it's going to be a wait and see thing. QSMNT cooked on this take. They made it happen. Yeah, QSM&T, they were right about it.
00:34:48
Speaker
ah This was their storming the Capitol moment. And their second point that they've also been talking about, they've also said that the Apple TV deal is terrible and bad for the sport, and it's not growing the game, and we need to grow the game, and to grow the game, we need to be on TV. Well, they didn't do that exactly, but Ari...
00:35:09
Speaker
If you have Apple TV+, plus you're now going to get to watch all and MLS games. Not for free, but like included with your subscription cost. yeah Which, funny enough, yeah someone did the math. It's actually more expensive than just MLS Season Pass. Because if you pay for just MLS Season Pass at the beginning of the season, it's like $80 or $90. So if you get Apple TV+, plus new... it If you pay monthly or yearly, it's more expensive. don't know how many people are going to be getting...
00:35:37
Speaker
like a lot of people just already have Apple TV plus for shows and stuff. So I think that's one, one reason why it's more eyes for sure. Yeah, it'll get, it'll get more eyes. And ah I actually, I think that move is really good because i think we, most of us agree that, and we're all MLS sickos,
00:35:56
Speaker
the The product and the usability of MLS Season Pass, I think, is actually pretty good. And more just like the function of having every game available in one place and not having blackouts, which honestly, nothing me nothing triggers me more than trying to watch a game and having it be blacked out.
00:36:16
Speaker
So having that not be an issue has been great. But I think the reality they kind of ran into was... that it's it's such a niche thing that when you pay wallet like that yeah the the sickos like it and ah it makes it way more user friendly and convenient for people who are already fans but people who aren't fans are probably not going to pay for that but people who aren't fans who could become fans might already have apple tv plus and then now that they just have it included and they may be like oh it'll watch mls
00:36:50
Speaker
Yeah. And maybe you get some new new fans or at least new eyes that way. And I just think in general, it's good to not have it all paywalled. No, I agree. And Sierra Sierra, sorry, I don't know what the pronunciation is, but says Apple TV is getting Formula One rights too, and that will be included in the overall subscription. So they're going to have Formula One fans, MLS fans. I think that's a pretty good crossover if I'm being honest with you, Ari. I feel like there's a lot of... ah i can I'm going to be honest. I can't get into Formula One. I've never been able to do it.
00:37:20
Speaker
I watched the ah the Netflix doc a little bit. The doc was good. The doc doc was good. Like I can agree with that, but it's just like, it's not my sport. I don't, I don't have the bandwidth to add anything else to my sports knowledge repertoire.
00:37:33
Speaker
I already need to know what the MLS calendar change is going to look like for a a random Toronto resident. Like I don't have space to know about like verse stop max verse stop in and what horsepower his car has. Like, I just don't have that.
00:37:45
Speaker
But like, I think that's honestly like kind of a good audience crossover. Like if I was going to do like a poll on potential fans who would cross over. i feel like that makes a lot of sense, but maybe, maybe I'm out of my mind.
00:37:59
Speaker
Um, Kiara, sorry. Here, here's, uh, here's something from Paul summarizing, some of the issues with the calendar change. Uh, this is kind of what we were talking about, but it just sort of confirms it.
00:38:13
Speaker
He says the debate over is Paul Tenorio of the athletic go follow him, subscribe to the athletic new yorktimes.com. Yeah, exactly. The debate over the calendar flip has found its harshest critics in the northern markets where fans have voiced concern about losing summer games while adding games in colder months.
00:38:27
Speaker
Because of the winter break spanning from mid-December to early February, the league believes it is only adding a handful of games outside of the windows that currently exist in today's MLS schedule. Fans in warmer markets, meanwhile, expressed relief at fewer games being played on some of the hottest days of the summer. i agree with that.
00:38:43
Speaker
Some colder market owners sought mitigation for expenses and loss of revenue that would come with the calendar flip, including renovations to stadiums and training facilities. Other owners in warmer markets pushed to back on those requests, according to sources.
00:38:55
Speaker
No mitigation was tied to this vote, according to ah Nelson Rodriguez. who What is he doing these days? Is he still the ah Chicago... Oh, okay. is just a He used to be the Chicago Fire GM. Now he's described as just an MLS executive.
00:39:09
Speaker
But, ah yeah, so it seems like... doesn't even anyone a title nowadays. It seems like that is the biggest point of contention, which... I saw, yeah. i i yeah so It's a real issue, but if that's if that's the only... Or if that's the biggest primary big issue...
00:39:26
Speaker
I think you kind of got to just, you got to figure it out like they're, like they're trying to do. SSB 28 is crashing out in chat. So like, I would love to I'd love to hear more from SSB.
00:39:37
Speaker
ah He said that like so many people are canceling their season tickets and you know, ah you're out of your mind. What else did we get cooking here? ah People will go to playoff and opener games in the cold, not random regular season games.
00:39:51
Speaker
Well, can I tell you something? Yeah. People don't go to regular season games anyway, because the regular season doesn't really matter in Major League Soccer, which is why they're doing a competition change and making the table and all of that change as well.
00:40:02
Speaker
So I disagree with your point. And I think that, frankly, ah it won't be that bad. i also I'm not I'm not quite sure about that as just like a statement of blanket fact like. if every single game If every single home game was in negative 10-degree weather, then yeah, your attendance would probably suffer.
00:40:19
Speaker
A few times a year, i mean you can look at ah you can look at and MLS, but you can look at ah at other sports. you know They play NFL playoff games in Green Bay in January, and it's cold as hell. and it's that's like just That's kind of like part of the...
00:40:35
Speaker
It's part of the deal. So it's a little it's a little different because you're probably going to have more of those games. But i I don't know if you can say for sure that like no one's going to go to that. People people bundle up.
00:40:45
Speaker
People go out go to games in the cold. No, I agree. i don't Listen, so someone else said, like oh, summer is... so I think Juan said this. Shout out, Juan. Juan said that um this summer is soccer what like summer is soccer weather.
00:41:01
Speaker
Brother, ah to me, to me personally... Where I grew up, soccer weather is the pouring rain. Is that nice Seattle drizzle? I enjoy watching games with the light rain coming down. Can they get it done?
00:41:15
Speaker
Listen, maybe maybe that's the like maybe that's the the like Anglo-Saxon in me. you know the the The English and the Irish and all of that inside of me saying, we need depressing weather to play football in.
00:41:29
Speaker
And that is that is just like beautiful to me. So I don't mind it. Is that logical? I don't think it's any more logical than saying summer is the best time to play soccer. But then again, I guess there's an argument the World Cup's played in the summer, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like, I get it. I get it.
00:41:43
Speaker
I just think that there's a counter argument to every argument to the point of where you have to kind of take the feeling out of it, which everyone has a feeling about it. I don't like change either. Changing my whole ass calendar around, like, you know, whatever.
00:41:57
Speaker
Frankly, we're always talking about the Sounders, so it kind of never feels like the season ends for us. Exactly. That's what I was saying earlier. Like, it's not going to end being that. Maybe we're disconnected. Maybe we're disconnected. Well, but if if the 91% figure is is accurate, which I don't know if it is, that's what I saw.
Effects on Fan Attendance and Viewing Experience
00:42:15
Speaker
The figure I saw is that 91% of the games are going to be played over, like, roughly the same... the same like times a year or days that they always were.
00:42:25
Speaker
So if that's the case, and we're talking about like a change in 9% of the games, even if there are drawbacks that come with it, which there are... Hunch asked, when is the last time you paid to go to games getting in as a job and asking others to pay for it or not the same conditions? Well, I season tickets...
00:42:45
Speaker
Yeah, you can speak on that more than and i've paid for many games throughout my entire life and i would continue to pay for tickets in fact if i made enough money i would have season tickets still jeremiah has season tickets all of that like i yes we are very lucky and and fortunate to not have to pay and that's what i'm trying to say here is like maybe we don't understand but Again, like like I just said, we're talking about this team the whole year. I'm open to that, yeah. like yeah
00:43:16
Speaker
Because it's true, I don't have to pay to go to the games. so yeah But ah trying to think of it from the perspective of ah of someone who would have to take that into consideration. Like if I was paying, would this make me want to not pay? I really i don't see why I would. like I feel like...
00:43:34
Speaker
if we're If we're going to a place of I'm not going to go anymore or watch anymore because of this, that seems that seems reactionary to me, but yeah I could wrong. then again, I'm reactionary all the time, so I can't really blame you.
00:43:50
Speaker
Someone said here on the... Well, let's keep cooking on this because there were some action. we We have a good banter going on with chat. This is this is a good Thursday night show. Man, thank you for...
00:44:01
Speaker
for a dude, hunch punch really hunch wants to call and hunch wants to cook so bad. um Let's see what else ah you're just a bunch of sickos. That's true.
00:44:13
Speaker
um it will probably mean better home field advantage for northern teams who will be more used to the colder months. Maybe, but the so you know the Southern teams have had advantage in the past and none of them have won MLS Cup.
00:44:29
Speaker
Seattle has a home field advantage with how much it rains. That's a huge part of Lumen's home field advantage. And the turf, yeah. a lot of Well, yeah, the turf, but a lot of the teams that come here don't train in the rain. Seattle does train and play in the rain. And when it does start raining at lumen when it whenever it starts raining at lumin i'm never like oh this is gonna be an equalizer i'm like okay advantage seattle like depending on what team it is some teams might be more equipped for it than others but like if fc dallas is coming in here and it's raining like
00:45:01
Speaker
that just i'm dead excuse it i think quite significantly No, Seattle. So it's, i agree, but I also don't think that like, I don't think that advantage is as present as people are trying to make it seem is like what I'm saying. It's like, when's the last time the Houston dynamo were able to put together a fucking and MLS cup run based on their, their standing position that they got from forcing people to play in the heat.
00:45:26
Speaker
Like, it's just, it's not a thing. Like, it's not The individual games there in July, are i see like if we get rid of those, but if part of moving off, having the games in the summer, is you don't the what some of my least favorite games that the Sounders have to play miami are these mid-June, mid-July games where they're going down to Kansas City, Houston, and Dallas, and it's 110 degrees.
00:45:53
Speaker
A lot of times at that point in the season, they've been they've been like racked. by injuries and they go out there and they look tired and they look flat because it's 110 degrees fc dallas is used to playing in that 15 people in the stands because you know it's soccer weather and then they and then they lose and everyone's like this is an indictment of craig weibel and the entire Then we have the fucking discourse and it's like, they're like fire Brian. That wasn't even a real game. No, that was, that was, uh, four of the boys and half of Tacoma defiance in 110 degree heat against a team that like knows how to play in that. There's never any chance you're going to compete in a situation like that. Like that, those, those extreme heat games are skewed so hard towards the, uh, towards those home teams.
00:46:42
Speaker
And, uh, No one talks about that as like an issue with the current calendar, right right? No one talks about how it's impossible to go and win in in Salt Lake City. Why can't the Sounders go win in Salt Lake City?
00:46:53
Speaker
What's up with that? add that toential we change the account like Should we not change or change the calendar? but I think just inherently there are road trips that are harder than others, and that comes with... having to travel for fucking games. Like ah to a team who comes from the East and comes and plays on the West is inherently going to have a disadvantage because of the flight, the travel, the time difference, everything. Like you're never going to have, like, I just, I think the argument around like,
00:47:21
Speaker
the on the competition side, at least. i'm I'm here for the fan, the fan frustration, especially if, you know, this has been a part of your life for a long time. And, you know, listen, I know, listen, I'm Ari's unk for sure.
00:47:35
Speaker
I'm getting there. I'm becoming chopped and unk. And, like, I don't like changing my routines. That shit sucks. That shit's annoying, you know? But, like, sometimes it's got to happen. Sometimes it's got to happen. So, don't know. Well, again, like I was saying at the top, like, what...
00:47:50
Speaker
um'm I'm seriously asking. i had spent years watching people trash on MLS for being on a different calendar. No one was out there defending the current calendar and saying how much they loved the current calendar and they didn't want it to switch.
00:48:04
Speaker
It was the opposite. It was literally, literally the talking point was and MLS is a trash ass Bush league because it's on a different calendar than the rest of the world. It's not going to be ah real league until they switch that.
00:48:17
Speaker
And then they switch it. And then it's like, this is a disaster. How could they ever change the count? i'm I'm just saying like that, is that is something that I observed today. And, you know, to be fair, like I said, QSM and T, they were actually, they were cook they were on point. They were consistent. They stuck with their, with their guns, but I just couldn't help but feel like a lot of the same discourse, like was coming from people about how trash and MLS is for being on a different calendar. Yeah.
00:48:46
Speaker
Now that it got changed, it became, oh, it's a trash-ass league for switching to the universal calendar. i thought I frankly thought that switching to the universal calendar, the FIFA calendar, whatever you want to call it, I thought that was what everyone wanted and was in favor of. i Clearly, I was wrong.
00:49:03
Speaker
lot Dude, it's again, i think that we're going forget about this. After it happens, like people are going to be, be upset and be mad and it's a change and all of this. But I think in the long run, again, i am not the average consumer by any means. I think that my opinion as an average consumer would be,
00:49:25
Speaker
like I love the Apple TV deal simply because... and someone else but i i do want to circle back to the Apple TV deal because someone said something really good about that that I favored in and I want to hit on that. But like I love that deal because i want to watch Chicago Fire versus Atlanta United and I don't want to have to like hunt it down. i want to just be able to open the app.
00:49:46
Speaker
i like I don't know. like i I think that there are things that MLS is doing, generally speaking, That yes, it's frustrating all of the change that's happening.
00:49:57
Speaker
And maybe it's not executed in the best possible way. But I do think that they're generally doing a good job of it, man. Like for the sickos. I mean, like, i don't know. I'm happy. I'm a soccer sicko, dude.
00:50:10
Speaker
If it's in line with the rest of the soccer world, it's just it just makes sense to me. It just makes sense to me. Well, and I i mean, i would say the biggest benefit is the the transfer stuff.
00:50:22
Speaker
Having to like wrangle your transfer windows. Imagine. Like trying to get players. Yes. Cook on this. and i' Dude, i'm I'm sorry. I'm just like. Well, just trying to get players off of other teams to to your club in MLS when they're right in the middle of their season or vice versa, it makes it inherently harder.
00:50:43
Speaker
if you If your calendar is aligned with theirs, then... ah the trend when when they're When their players are open for transfer is the same time that you are trying to get players, and they're going to be more willing to move them, theoretically.
00:50:57
Speaker
right like so No, exactly. how Dude, do you remember how fucking difficult it was for for all for us to get transfers? like Noah Ohio doesn't want to come for whatever reason. Because he's still fighting for minutes at whatever Utrecht situation.
00:51:12
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. And do you have like, people were disappointed that they signed Jesus Ferrer and didn't go out and get another player. Well, guess what? Jesus Ferrer is not fucking playing minutes right now. He's sitting his ass on at home because FC Dallas didn't even got bounced out of the playoffs. you know what i mean? Like,
00:51:28
Speaker
inner Inner league internerlea transfers are so much easier. They're they're easier to bank on. You know how a player's coming in. you don't know You know that they're going to be a little bit healthier, not as banged up. All of this stuff, it is genuinely, genuinely, genuinely a game changer to make this league better and more competitive in the transfer market, which is what every single fan has been like crashing out about.
00:51:53
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. last where Where did that five where did this where did that go I thought... and Because every time the transfer window, that's part of what causes this discourse is how much trouble teams have. Like, if you want to know why the Sounders have been so unambitious, it's partially because they're broke.
00:52:09
Speaker
okay Famously. They are broke. they're broke But there have been, i could name a few off the top of my head of players that I know i know for a fact that, that they were interested in that are high pedigree players where stuff like this, the timing of it, actually, it was ah it was a big issue. A lot of times, like when players are in the middle of something, they don't want to just like drop it and switch clubs.
00:52:32
Speaker
I think like the no Ohio thing is honestly probably, i don't we don't know exactly what happened there, but that's probably a pretty good example. Like he was he was in the middle of a situation where he was like, I feel like I can still break through for Utrecht and I want to try my hand at ah at playing or like earning minutes for this team.
00:52:50
Speaker
And that's part of the reason that he rejected Seattle in all likelihood. If I had to, if I had to guess if, uh, okay, I'm going to look up at a time that was aligned with when Seattle was, uh, that was aligned with Seattle. Maybe, maybe that would have changed the calculation. Maybe would have been different.
00:53:06
Speaker
I'm trying to see how many minutes he's got right now this season. I don't think it's a lot. I think someone saying bullet dodged. i've I've been saying that for a while. He has four goals in 332 minutes, four starts, five matches.
00:53:20
Speaker
So he's just not really, yeah that's actually not a terrible, he's growing, but I think the season just started in September. Four in 322 minutes, you extrapolate that over like 2K? This guy's like a 25 plus bonus. Dude, he's putting up Moose numbers. he could' ah He could have been putting up Moose and Jordan numbers combined.
00:53:39
Speaker
Yeah. No, I mean, their season just started like late September, or at least he started playing late September. Yeah. and The point is, like if the calendar was aligned, I think the likelihood that he that that transfer happens is it's at least higher because it did sound like from everything that we heard, he he was considering it and not against it, but he just didn't want to leave current club. I was looking on Fartmob, but...
00:54:07
Speaker
The Utrecht U23s or the Netherlands? they Maybe it was the Utrecht U23s. I didn't really look. Or their reserve side. I don't know. i thought he would it's their It's their real one, I think.
00:54:19
Speaker
and Okay, okay. Maybe not, actually. i don't know. It's not a real league. what what it like dode Do we even know what the... the
00:54:30
Speaker
Ursta Divisae? Divisae? That's not the Eredivisae. it is the Eredivisae.
00:54:38
Speaker
E-R-E-R-S-T-E? I mean, i don't know what you're... The Utrecht is is there air to be said. I'm pretty sure. and Unless... They got relegated. Unless we've been drastically... No, no, no. They got relegated, bro.
00:54:51
Speaker
Young Utrecht is what I was... ah is what Does it not? This is stupid. No Ohio bullet dodged. someone do Someone do the fucking research. I'm not... I don't...
00:55:02
Speaker
I don't know. maybe Maybe the next Noah, Ohio. Maybe the next Noah, Ohio will be more inclined to come to Major League Soccer or the Seattle Sounders if the timing is actually... He's four goals in the second division. Thank you. I'm not insane.
00:55:21
Speaker
So he has four in the in the Dutch Reserve League. Bullet dodged. Yeah. Yeah, they should have they should have recruited Duncan Idaho.
00:55:32
Speaker
That would have cooked. We need to make dun Duncan Idaho is a guy that we could create in a lab to be the sickest defensive midfielder of all time. um do we want to ah Do we want to look at what they are billing the strategic benefits as? I feel like we've kind of talked about it, but if this is what they are. Cook on that. And then I've favorited some comments for us to jump back into because people are people are cooking tonight. I'm loving this. We're having good interaction. It's good to debate. It's good discourse.
00:56:02
Speaker
um this is This is what the oligarchs... like this this is their This is their statement. so that I just think it's interesting that the ah that the oligarchs are offering up this like stated rationale at all.
Strategic Benefits of Calendar Alignment
00:56:16
Speaker
Usually when they make it... They just drop it. Yeah, an executive unilateral decision like this, and you ask why, they say, because we said so. Because we have a lot of money, and this is what want. Because closed-door meeting.
00:56:29
Speaker
yeah yeah The players are getting less money. this is what and This is what we're deciding. No one's getting paid. ah But in this case, they actually put out their that rationale. They have optimized global transfer market activity. We talked about that. Aligning with global schedules allows MLS clubs to participate more effectively in the world's major transfer windows, improving opportunities to acquire and sell top talent. Is there is there is there anything there anything wrong there? Are we getting gaslit at all on that? like we I feel like we were we were talking about that, but I think that is...
00:57:02
Speaker
That is actually a key reason behind why this would seem to be like a logical thing. Is it not? I agree. Maximize player signings with the majority of global player transfers occurring in the summer. Participation in the most active transfer window will now enhance rather than disrupt a team's ambitions for the season. I think that's a key point, man.
00:57:24
Speaker
The Tani thing is ah is a good example. Like if you're if you're against it because of the weather, you gotta to you have to acknowledge that reality in the and the other direction. There shouldn't be situations. And this is why people rightfully crashed out about this at the time.
00:57:37
Speaker
There shouldn't be situations where you have a team like Minnesota was this year that was firing on all his cylinders with this really great player that looked like he was going to help win them trophies. And they get offered a bag in the middle of the season that they can't refuse and they have to take it. But it weakens their team in in the short term while they're trying to be a team that makes a push for – a and MLS Cup like that sucks and that was that was a ah that's not a good situation for any club to be put in and I'm going to perpetuate the narrative that that's that's why they descended so deep into the depths of Ramsey ball
00:58:16
Speaker
Hell, I think i I actually think that them losing Tani when they did had something to do with why why their style and their tactics became as extreme as ah as they were because they lost their best player and they got a bag, but they haven't replaced him yet.
00:58:30
Speaker
So this should theoretically prevent that. Also, yeah, i got one thing on that. This is also a perfect opportunity to push my new agenda that I just came up with that I think you're going to be on board with.
00:58:41
Speaker
globalize Tam and Gam. I want cash first. I want Tam and Gam internationally. You should be able to spend your Tam on a player in the air to Vise.
00:58:52
Speaker
And that's, and that's all I'm saying. ah I think you're cooking. Like, I think, I think we need to go. We need to internationalize Tam, Gam, Bam and Slam.
00:59:05
Speaker
And that's that slam. We need more slam. We need more slam with marquee players joining in the summer window. New calendar allows MLS teams to fully integrate summer signings before the MLS regular season and cup competitions begin. Okay.
00:59:19
Speaker
Align with the FIFA calendar, mindful of FIFA international match windows. The new calendar will significantly reduce conflicts between MLS league matches and national team calls for players. I think that's a key thing. to How much do we complain about that too?
00:59:31
Speaker
Dude, oh my God. Losing Obed and Christian. It's triggering. it's It's for the same thing I was talking about. You can't tell me we would not have been in a better playoff position and finished in a better place in the table if we had Obed and Christian.
00:59:48
Speaker
Yeah, and and it's how many how many times have we gone into games against teams that, you know, theoretically Seattle should beat, but it turns into one of those brutal slogs of a zero zero type and MLS games. And part of the reason is because you have 27 guys gone for national team duty. If this gets rid of that, that, oh my God, that would be so much better. Like, come on.
01:00:15
Speaker
Everyone complains about that. Everyone complains about that. If you have ever once complained about that, which I know we all have,
01:00:25
Speaker
then it would seem to me that this would be a good way to solve that. I don't know. Elevate playoffs. The Audi MLS Cup playoffs and MLS Cup presenting by Audi will be played in May, delivering ideal timing and weather for the pinnacle of the MLS season uninterrupted by FIFA international match windows.
01:00:42
Speaker
This change would also provide premier placement on the sports calendar, ensuring maximum attention and visibility for the league's most important matches. Then they've got, they have a, yeah, yeah, they laid out a a numbered list of the strategic benefits the oligarchs. Yeah, GPT wrote that.
01:00:57
Speaker
And then they have ah behind the decision two-year process. Then they go into like all the research and data and focus groups and all that. Dude, they probably paid McKinsey like $7 million dollars for this article. They could have paid us $20 and we would have done it.
01:01:12
Speaker
Why do you think the oligarchs were so intent on having like this justified of a... they They must feel very confident that this is actually... It's marketing.
01:01:23
Speaker
Yeah, well, it's marketing, but... It's a good thing. Like, it's a good thing for their league to market and say, listen, we are aligning to be more competitive and be in line with our actual competition, which is Europe.
01:01:37
Speaker
And I know people don't want to hear it, but MLS went from competing with Mexico and and Liga Mekis... To now, they're competing with Europe.
01:01:49
Speaker
That's what they want. And so putting out this whole address and making this whole statement and making it a big thing, it's announcing to the world that we're coming for you. I like it's marketing and yeah whether that's going to actually happen or not, that's obviously yet to be seen, but I don't know. Also, we have to hit this because SSB again, our, our, our brigader anti anti change brigader said January transfers happen in Europe.
01:02:16
Speaker
I don't listen. i just, whatever. These are names. Virgil van Dyke. I do know went to Liverpool during the season. It's not an excuse. If you talk to any,
01:02:28
Speaker
and MLS executive GM who is working on transfers. They will tell you that they have an incredibly challenging time with negotiating players away in the middle of the season from their clubs because at the end of the day, players don't want have to pick up and move in the middle of the season without knowing that they're getting a guaranteed spot guaranteed playing time when they're already comfortable. They're already settled again. We already said this like no Ohio. This is especially true for young players.
01:02:59
Speaker
We are not PSG. We are not Liverpool. Those type of big money deals are not happening in major league soccer. When general managers are going out and looking for a U22 or a young player in Europe or a player who's maybe middle value to lower value in Europe, but could be really highly in MLS, be a player.
01:03:19
Speaker
They're having to pitch themselves. They're having to pitch the league. They're having to pitch all of this stuff. And any friction causes problems. Secondly, teams price gouge because it's in the middle of their season.
01:03:30
Speaker
They don't want to let them go. Why would they? It's a harder time to negotiate transfer fees. That is the truth. That is the God honest truth. You can talk to any GM. They will tell you that. And they have no incentive to lie about that.
01:03:43
Speaker
That that that's real. Like I have we have personally heard from Craig Weibel. I mean, not personally, but like he has talked about this publicly about the challenges that bringing a player in ah at that time causes. And that's why they were trying to bring in Noah, Ohio in the middle of the season, which again, when you're bringing a young player in in the middle of the season, it's a harder sell to them.
01:04:05
Speaker
So like not being aligned is causing problems for MLS clubs, bringing in and retaining talent. And so you can tell me that this happens all the time. But that's not necessarily true. You're talking about two transfers that happened that were, again, big number transfers between big clubs who don't have a problem replacing stuff and not a league who consistently has to pitch itself to a bunch of different players. This is this is a good thing for getting better players in this league.
01:04:35
Speaker
That's the God honest truth. You know, ah the more we talk it through, i the way the where I came down is what I said at the beginning, which is that like um I'm not that passionate either way. I can see, like, um we've been talking about all the reasons why they did it, but if they kept the calendar the same, I ah wouldn't really think much of it.
01:04:56
Speaker
But if they change it and there's drawbacks or whatever, i would adapt to it no matter what. But the more we talk it through, the more I'm like, this is yeah this is could be a game changer.
01:05:08
Speaker
This could be a game changer. I think the transfer stuff is huge. I think the international break stuff is huge. That's going to be a big quality of life boost. I think when the reality hits of like having those international breaks, not, not having games conflict with those anymore. I think when the reality of hits of that hits, I think we're going to be like, wow, why didn't they, why didn't they change this shit? Like five years ago, 10 years ago.
01:05:36
Speaker
Like, yeah, that, that's sort of where I'm at after. it also It also, and people are saying this in chat about how like roster rules are going to change, all of this stuff. It gives a target date for a change. MLS this and mls doesn't make big changes all at once.
01:05:57
Speaker
It's just the truth about the way that it is, unless they have a reason to do it. Beckham. Dempsey, Messi, right? Like all of these things, they made big changes.
01:06:09
Speaker
they arere changing They are changing the schedule, and it's it's it's going to be interesting. And then again, like people are saying, there's the CBA, the new CBA in 2027.
01:06:20
Speaker
There's time. There's things that are going to be moving. this is a This is good. This is good. All of this is good. Loosening roster spend and all of that, we'll see what happens.
01:06:32
Speaker
but you don't Some people were saying that there was already... You're setting yourself up for success before you get there. Someone was saying there was already a release out about about roster rule updates. I haven't seen that myself, but you would you would think that this is, that's another thing people have been asking about or asking for for years. You would think something like this would hopefully, we'll see, would hopefully be a step in the in the direction of loosening those restrictions and regulations. Yeah.
01:07:04
Speaker
To whatever extent they're willing to do that. I don't know. I think we're both pro some restrictions, though. What? I think we're both pro some roster spend restrictions.
01:07:15
Speaker
Yeah, i mean, I don't know about pro, but at least I can understand, like, why they're... i am I am of the minor opinion, and I understand that I'm in the minority about this.
01:07:27
Speaker
I don't mind the tight roster rules because I am not someone who gives a shit about the rest of the world as much as, but you know, like a team being held up to the... The Sounders are never going to be Liverpool. The Sounders are never going to be PSG.
01:07:42
Speaker
The Sounders are never going to be Atletico Madrid. i don't I don't care. But like... I enjoy an equal, even level of competition and parity where anyone can win any year. That is what makes MLS enjoyable to me, personally. I do like i do like a salary-capped league more than I like a league, or like how they do it in Europe where there just is no cap at all, and you can just spend whatever you want on whoever, however much you want, whenever.
01:08:08
Speaker
that The way they do it is... insanely stupid because it's it's created a situation where we all know this like the way those leagues work is whoever spends the most money wins the league what's the intrigue with that like you want you literally you're like i don't understand how people get passionately into the prim yeah or or like not it's not for me i mean i watch the prem but i'm not like he like watching it foot it's great footy it's great footy beautiful It's the best footy. It is the best footy. Only two or three clubs have a chance to win it in any given year.
01:08:43
Speaker
It's a pre-determined outcome. You literally... You go into every season already, literally already knowing what's going to happen. like Why do you think the year that Jamie Vardy put his team on his back and won was this such this magical run and like everyone was tuned into it?
01:08:57
Speaker
like it's like It rarely happens where you have... a, you know, an an interesting team, not interesting, that's the wrong word, but like a ah Minnesota United win or ah or a, like what's what's a good, like 2016 Sounders doesn't happen in the Premier League.
01:09:18
Speaker
No, I mean, it's it's like, you know, you you have the Leicester example, which people sometimes point to, but that is so far drastically. What I can point to is the up and down of all the bottom tier teams. 99% of the time when a team gets promoted, they just go right back down. So it's like, and that's a whole other conversation. But like, do you know what i mean? Like the level of competition is so stiff.
01:09:37
Speaker
that the bottom, it falls out. Well, and I think what what's kind of cool about a salary cap is that it rewards it rewards the teams who are good at maneuvering it and strategizing it, which that is in art form that some are better at than others. And it also, as we've seen with Seattle, it rewards the teams that actually are about it with youth development.
01:10:01
Speaker
Correct. like how what this league should be about anyway yeah at this point in its existence yes like that is it should be a big thing that it's about and in a salary cap league if you get ahead of the curve on that like the like the sounders have it gives you a massive advantage over these teams that don't prioritize it so there's just a lot more strategy to it and it allows for uh Clubs that, you know, don't want to don't want to... Can't or don't want to spend as much as Atlanta United say.
01:10:34
Speaker
it know It gives them agency to be competitive that, like, teams in the Prem or the Bundesliga of recent years... Let's talk about France. You want to talk about a shitty-ass league with one team? Oh, PSG won again? No way. That's crazy. I didn't see that coming. Yeah, exactly.
01:10:50
Speaker
What's the... What's the enjoyment out of that other than other than getting to watch like watching Man City and PSG and those teams play
European Leagues Comparison and Financial Challenges
01:10:58
Speaker
is fun. They're really fun to watch because they have their starting 11. are all two of the top five. Bundesliga has gotten weird now too. Yeah. A lot people are saying Bundesliga.
01:11:08
Speaker
buntis I used to watch a lot of Bundesliga actually as a kid. It's been one of the worst. It it was Bayern for like 14 years straight. Yeah. Like, there were there was there was some years, like, 2013, 14, 15, like, 16-ish kind of era. Like, yes, the same teams were winning, but, like, at least it was interesting footy, and there was a lot of great players, and now it's just, like, it's just... Yeah, it's just...
01:11:32
Speaker
It's still just Bayern, Huber, Hammer. and and and Jeremy brings up a good point. France's real burger league. It's literally Ligue 1 McDonald's. That's like literally the sponsor. It's way worse than MLS.
01:11:43
Speaker
Yeah. PSG is the only only squad there. they just have they Again, they don't have like they have financial fair play, which is a salary cap. It's just a fake one.
01:11:54
Speaker
yeah They're just able to like scam. that's They're like, Herbalife gave us $10 billion dollars in sponsorship money over the next 1,800 years. So technically, we're allowed to spend as much as we want.
01:12:05
Speaker
And it's like, wow, thank you. I feel like I've heard... You'd maybe know better than me. I feel like I've heard more rumblings than you usually do about ah leagues in Europe.
01:12:17
Speaker
Maybe not instituting like a full on salary cap, but doing something like that, that like they finally are Oh no. Oh no. are we from the Same team when our league literally every.
01:12:30
Speaker
You froze run that back one more time. Yeah. Yeah, you're there. Can hear Yeah, yeah. I was saying, like I feel like I've heard more rumblings in recent years than usual, that leagues in Europe are at least considering moving towards like more so like a salary cap system or some sort of financial regulations because they might have actually come to the realization that having the same club win their league every single year is actually not good.
01:12:58
Speaker
It's not interesting, man. like ah It's great for the individual brands that are big. like you know but we can't Man City, Liverpool, Bayern, PSG, Iox, whatever. like That's great and all, but like yeah what what's the point of being... it's not entertaining It's not as entertaining to me as, again, Chicago Fire...
01:13:28
Speaker
could win MLS cup next year. Genuinely. Like if they make a couple of signings, they could win and MLS cup next year. They were a joke. Like they've they've been a joke and they're going to go build a state. Like, do you know what I'm saying? It's like, there's, I, I, I, I'm really, really, really, I'm not anti loosening the restrictions, but I want them to still be strong restrictions.
01:13:53
Speaker
i I don't mind roster rules that are strong. I think they should keep up with the inflation of global football, but the problem is the inflation of global football is ridiculous. It's ridiculous. It really is.
01:14:05
Speaker
And it continues to to to snowball and
Evaluating MLS Leadership and Ownership Dynamics
01:14:08
Speaker
snowball. I think eventually there's going to be a crash. think there's eventually going to be like a popping of a bubble because there is just so much like...
01:14:17
Speaker
fraud investment that's happening like genuinely and i just i don't think mls should get wrapped up and into that and someone asked and i want to pose this question to kind of like maybe round out something about this um as says ssb asks do you guys think dawn man is a good commissioner um and do you want to answer it first or do you want me to answer it I mean, what is a good commissioner? A commissioner is basically liaison for the oligarchs.
01:14:51
Speaker
So in that sense, like yeah, he is good at that. And then I guess the other way I would judge him is you know, what's the health of the league at, at any given time?
01:15:02
Speaker
Do, do I feel like the league is on a positive trajectory where, uh, you know, the fan bases are expanding and the teams are getting bigger and better and better players are coming to the leagues.
01:15:14
Speaker
Uh, and when I, when I look at that, if I'm trying to judge it fairly and objectively, ah i think the I think the league is in ah is in a pretty good place, and you know he's facilitated the the oligarchs to getting to that point in about as about as well, I guess, as you could hope that a liaison would. I mean, I'm sure there' there's a lot of critiques you could you could make of them, but if we're talking about just the general standing of the league and the trajectory it's on and its future, I feel like it's in a decent enough place.
01:15:47
Speaker
I don't know. Do you disagree? No, I agree. i i I have said this many times. um Obviously, it's fun to make fun of Don Garber, and he has objectively, quote-unquote, made bad decisions. But like you're saying, he's he's essentially a figurehead for all of the He's a figurehead. That's the word for. They decide what this league is isn't.
01:16:08
Speaker
They have more voting power than he does or anyone in the league. And the reality is he has been very good at pushing very stingy owners towards spending more in finding owners that want to align with his vision of the league and with the growth vision of the league.
01:16:26
Speaker
Because when it started out, it was the Robert crafts. It was the people who were like, I'm going to give this team to my fail son to go run as a birthday present. You know what I'm saying? And now it's like, okay, we have the Atlanta United owner who will literally put $10 bajillion into his team if he could.
01:16:45
Speaker
And I think that i think that he, he as as the in the context of his job, has done a very good job. I think this league has grown in really impressive ways in the last like five years, not even, not even discounting the last 10 years, the last five years, like that's correct. It continues to every year. The competition gets better. There's more impressive players coming in. The players who are here are impressed by the level of competition and all of that. Well, again, maintaining this parody,
01:17:20
Speaker
maintain there's been bad deals along the way absolutely but I think when you zoom out as a whole I think that he's been pretty good being the uh being the commission would be such a hard job like if you think about what you uh he did you know I am pissed at him though because there was one time I was editing photos in the Dallas press box and he decided to sit down right next pull a chair flip it around right next to me I was like facing a wall ah because there was like one plug and have a fucking press conference. And so I'm just in the background of all of it, like hunched over, like with the worst posture, just doing editing my photos. And he's like, well, you know, um statistically speaking, our viewership is up this year. run our own boss So...
01:18:06
Speaker
there's Obviously, there's criticisms I have for him, and it includes doing that. Don, I'll never forget that. I mean, just just think about like the job description, though. It's like it's not just like one oligarch that you're beholden to. It's literally thirty plus 30 plus oligarchs and each oligarch has a different kind of agenda, right? Like the Colorado Rapids oligarchs, their whole thing is like, this is you know, we own like the avalanche and Arsenal or whatever, partially own Arsenal too.
01:18:37
Speaker
And this is kind of, this is like the, the son of the the main oligarch. It's like his little pet project. saying it's over thing But then you have like Arthur blank. Who's like the type of oligarch that's like, like, yeah, like you were saying,
01:18:50
Speaker
like throws all all that money like that he wants in a completely different way than a Stan Kroenke type oligarch. And then you got every other type of oligarch in between and you have to kind of like mix and match, figure out how one oligarchs needs meet and clash with you.
01:19:11
Speaker
That's not easy. It's not easy. like I think there's a lot of people who can who would do this job way worse. I don't think people understand... 99% of CEOs or commissioners or whatever are just fucking stupid.
01:19:27
Speaker
They're just people who have like literally networked themselves into the right position or failed upwards or whatever. Or they're the son of Stan Kroenke. Exactly. Like it's, I don't think people quite understand how like, and this isn't to say that again, I have my criticism. I have to couch this because people are going to be like you're a shill. You're a shill. And you want fuck it. I don't care. I'm a shill.
01:19:47
Speaker
Like, He has done a good job. He has done a good job. like ah there are Again, there are times moving a moving moving the crew to Austin, not a great not a great look, Don. That was objectively not good. And then he has to get out there and be like, Anthony Precourt is a great guy. Yeah, exactly. awesome. yeah And everyone's like, Don...
01:20:10
Speaker
But like, dude, I'm sorry. Okay, this is and this is just going to be I'm just going to put this out here like my former CEO and my former company that I worked for that famously owns the athletic you can fill in the gaps there.
01:20:25
Speaker
Probably one of the dumbest people I've ever met in my life. just Just like prop potentially like in and not in not in the way of like not an intelligent person, but just like has no clue about the thing that they're running.
01:20:39
Speaker
Like just just no clue and is just doing what looks good on paper and what pleases the people around them ah and makes their job the easiest so they can collect their fat check and keep it pushing.
01:20:51
Speaker
Don Garber could be doing that very easily. He could be not trying to move the league forward in any kind of, it's very clear that he's invested in this. That's all I'm going to say.
USSF Influence and Leadership Issues
01:21:01
Speaker
That's all I'm going to say. well he wasn't a soccer guy at all when he took the job, and he took the job kind of because someone needed to do it, and he was like, all right, whatever, I'll do it. Yeah, because they were... And then i think he... almost was, like, going bankrupt.
01:21:12
Speaker
Yeah, and then I think he he he discovered, he was like, oh, I genuinely, I kind of like this sport. I'm going to actually devote my... career to this. So, you know, whatever.
01:21:23
Speaker
i think any, any commish, there's going to be, when whenever you're dealing with that many oligarchs, there's hashtag commish glazer in the chat. Hashtag commish glazer in the chat. Try to be fair, man. I try to be fair.
01:21:36
Speaker
Like, It doesn't mean I'm not going to talk shit on him at some other point in my life. It's just like... Yeah, we'll clown on him when it's when it's merited. i don't know where... Like like if the people are ah people are saying like that the calendar change is an indictment of his commissionership. I mean, you know you're entitled to think that. It's all it's something that... this The calendar change is something that's been talked about for years and years and was probably always going to happen at some point and that a lot of people pine for. That's what I still don't get.
01:22:06
Speaker
but Yeah. Yeah. yeah like we Yeah, remember we crashed out about the Suarez suspension from MLS. Oh, yeah, his statement? that Okay, let's we can critique. Yeah, we crashed out about that. we can Yeah, we crashed out about that. Let's critique him on that. His statement about the Inter-Miami Brawl crash-out Crybaby suspensions was not optimum.
01:22:32
Speaker
Case in point for Don Garber not being competent. U.S. Soccer Federation. What are you talking about? Don Garber doesn't run... What? He doesn't run the U.S. Soccer Federation? Yeah, USSF.
01:22:44
Speaker
That's a different org. Who's even running that these days? You want to talk about incompetence? You want to talk about fucking incompetence, buddy. let's talk about let's talk about Let's talk about this. Let's talk about this for a second.
01:22:56
Speaker
USSF, who famously hired a consulting firm for millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars just to tell them that they should rehire the same coach that they already had.
01:23:07
Speaker
That an all-time bit. And then fired him. and then And then had to fire him pretty much immediately. It's good fed. He's on the board.
01:23:17
Speaker
Yeah, but like again, how many people are on the book Of course he's on the board. He's the fucking commissioner of the big... like what You think he's actually like moving and shaking inside of USSF?
01:23:28
Speaker
like I don't know. i don't think I don't think he has as much pull as you guys think.
01:23:35
Speaker
um But that is that is the QSMNT take is that everyone's MLS pilled inside of you as U.S. soccer. And like Don Garber is actually pulling the puppet strings and he's the puppet master. And that's why U.S. soccer is bad is because MLS controls it, which, you know what, man?
01:23:54
Speaker
That's a very, I just, I feel, i feel like that conspiracy gets a little bit too close to what they believe for their politics. And, you know, I don't think I need to go into more about that bit.
01:24:06
Speaker
um Did you give your take on the no paywall
Impact of Apple TV on Local Coverage
01:24:10
Speaker
thing? I was talking about it a little bit. Oh, yeah, no, I didn't. But ah i had i had ah I had a thing saved here that I wanted you to cook on with us.
01:24:17
Speaker
And then maybe we'll get a Nico guest spot. Maybe. wellll He's cowardly. He won't show up He won't do it. We'll see. We'll see. He said nine. Okay. Eric says, season pass ruined broadcast experience for Sounders fans. There used to be Seattle pregame shows, local talent commentary, sideline interviews, and entire local ecosystem around the Sounders.
01:24:33
Speaker
What I will say is there's still an entire local ecosystem around the Sounders, and you can listen to KJR. KJR has really good pregame programming, ah halftime programming, post gameme postgame programming,
01:24:45
Speaker
And if you don't like the broadcasters who, like you said, are no names, which I don't agree with. I'm a big Max Bretthos fan, but that's just me. They are calling games from a closet. That's accurate. they do They do do that. And I, and I do agree that that is frustrating. You can turn on the local radio broadcast.
01:25:02
Speaker
Maybe this was for me was more of a pitch to say, listen to KJR. Yeah, just mute Apple TV and play KJR. um you can Well, you can, on the Apple TV app, you can switch your audio over from the that to the local broadcast, too. so I know what they're saying, though, like when ah when you had ah the whole... That was the original RGTV era, you know, with the yeah Jackie Montgomery and Marcus Hanson. The actual Rave Green TV that they own the trademark for, by the way. That was a real that was a real thing. that And that that show was fire, and you don't really have... Maybe maybe one day when ah when it gets big enough, they can expand it to have... ah
01:25:42
Speaker
what if they What if they had a MLS season pass type setup or like, you know, the Apple TV setup? Listen, Apple TV. They had individualized broadcast teams for the teams. Yeah.
01:25:53
Speaker
We will be on air talent. They would probably not want to devote the money to that, but that would be, that would make the product way better. The, ah the broadcasting from the closet thing, that's got to, that's got to change that. and That makes me feel like they're going to try and do it with chat GPT next. They're like first. Oh yeah. Like they're doing it for your website.
01:26:13
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. We're going to make you do it from the closet first, and then the logical extension of that is we're going to eventually broadcast the games with AI.
01:26:26
Speaker
Don't they already do that? They do that for NextPro. They do it with the camera, not the commentators. Okay. and but that Who needs cameramen? Oh my God. Have you you you watched the next... Did you watch any of the next pro games with the AI cameras?
01:26:42
Speaker
It was honestly like I was crying laughing at how bad it was on a couple... of the games because it would just kind of it would just kind of go rogue. Like you'd see where the action is and the camera would just forget what it was doing, I guess, and be like, and then it's just like focused on the goalie who's on the other side of the field and it's not pointed. You're like, you need someone in that booth guys.
01:27:03
Speaker
You need someone in that booth. The bot camera is not, it's not doing it. Maybe one day we'll get the broadcast rights for Sounders games and we can stream them on Lobbing Scorcher's YouTube channel.
01:27:16
Speaker
that would that would be the ah That would be the dream, but it it would be it would be cool to have more like individualized team coverage on on MLS season pass. but um'm also I will say Sounders fans are very blessed, though.
01:27:31
Speaker
like We do have a lot of options for commentary. Before, after, during the games. you know um We don't do a lot of watch-alongs because we're in the PB, but like you know maybe we'll hire some people to do watch-alongs.
01:27:46
Speaker
we yeah We did a couple of watch-alongs. We did a watch-along for the charity match, which was yep which was pretty fire. And then the decision day one, I thought, was was pretty good. and think I was thinking about cooking one up for the Whitecaps LAFC game.
01:28:00
Speaker
Oh, that could be fun. once that Is that this weekend? Next weekend. Next weekend. Yeah, i could i could i could good I could get down on that potentially. I was kicking around the, ah the idea, but yeah, it's not like we, we would never really do one for a Sounders game unless it was like the decision day type situation.
01:28:18
Speaker
But yeah. Or they're like playing in some big, like we maybe, maybe we could try it out for like CCC or something, but like away games.
01:28:28
Speaker
Apple getting rid of local coverage opened the door for lobbing scorchers to fill the void with content. That's true. In a way. Listen, market opportunity, market economics, so supply and demand. Me and Ari are famously capitalists on this show.
01:28:44
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Staunch.
01:28:48
Speaker
Also, congratulations to Katie Wilson on becoming the mayor of Seattle. Bruce officially conceded today. And that means that the two The two Seattle soccer czars are in.
01:29:00
Speaker
Yeah, and also the narrative that I'm perpetuating with that is that we we accounted for the amount of votes that she needed to avoid. Not have the recount.
01:29:12
Speaker
we We changed the course of the city forever. And that's what lot of Scorchers is about, frankly. you know Yeah.
Local Media Influence and Future MLS Formats
01:29:20
Speaker
i you know I didn't think that would be the way in which we changed the city forever.
01:29:24
Speaker
but I thought I would be getting the Nico statue, but you know this works too. The Nico Moreno statue? Yeah, Nico Moreno statue. Yeah, definitely. It was really funny. I was watching back the interview with we did with her and my bit about the soccer czar being like, ah you know if you need a soccer czar. That bit kind of caught on. yeah People people like saw the interview and were like texting me that.
01:29:49
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I did text her congratulations and was like, you know, congrats on the win and whatever. And and didn't didn't get a reply yet. But I'm like, I don't I don't.
01:30:01
Speaker
She's nationally. She's nationally famous. Yeah. It's great. It's been crazy watching the ah the national the national political pundits start to talk about Seattle because. Oh, yeah. I think they thought she was going to lose when the first.
01:30:14
Speaker
like ballot drop came in and he was way ahead. So they started talking about everyone else. And then like, you know, it's our elections. So it's like a week later. Yeah. Like, oh shit, she won. And now they're all talking about it. Yeah, it was pretty. it was pretty funny.
01:30:28
Speaker
i do need a sash. Someone says I need a New York Times to tax her this evening. Exactly. That's how you that's how you know. yeah yeah dude That piece was whack. I as a former New York Times employee, I can openly say that the badge of honor that's a badge of honor to get attacked by them.
01:30:43
Speaker
Yeah, dude. That's like famously the coolest people get attacked by the New York Times. Yeah. like You've got some swag, I'm just saying. I mean, we always knew she had swag, but also, like dude, we're we're getting bike racks they installed at Lumen Field. like That's going to happen because of us now.
01:30:59
Speaker
That's sick. Because of us. Because of us. You're welcome. Joey says voted for after watching on LS. There was at least one other person who commented on that, too.
01:31:10
Speaker
I know for a fact that... Who knows how many... people have that story. Who knows? People were passing around that interview. It's funny. I got texts from like people who I hadn't talked to in years who sent me the link to our first interview and were like, oh, um you know, are you...
01:31:31
Speaker
like They were just like, oh, i didn't I didn't realize you did a podcast. And I was like, yeah. they were like, that's crazy. When I was like doing research for who to vote for, your show with her came up. And I was like, oh, yeah, no, she's she's she's great. You should make sure to vote for her and get your ballot in.
01:31:47
Speaker
So, like, it was proliferating around the community. We were on NPR talking about it. I mean, the Herald campaign famously didn't want to be on it and then lost by ah very slim margin. I'm just i'm just saying. Like, i'm i don't I don't want to say it was all of our hard work. You can get the Herald campaign headquarters after they lost there. Like, ah, damn, guys. like um anything Is there anything that we could have done differently to avoid this result?
01:32:14
Speaker
What if we had gone on the soccer show that she went on? I responded to the initial email that they sent. Uh, cause I had never responded after they replied. They were like, we're not interested. And I was like, thanks for the response.
01:32:27
Speaker
Uh, appreciate, appreciate you reaching out. And then got an automated response that said this email is no longer, uh, Oh, that's fire. Like they could, they, they like cut it off. Like they already knew they were cooked. Like day of, yeah. yeah Um,
01:32:45
Speaker
Do we want the... ah Yeah, the divisions. what do you think of divisions in MLS? I don't know how it's going to work. Like, I don't really know how it's going to work at all. um So... am i am i like Am I missing something with, like...
01:33:01
Speaker
they're doing They're doing a single table, but then also divisions. Yeah. How is that supposed to work? There's an explanation for it somewhere. I think The Athletic has it. Let me see if I can i can find that.
01:33:14
Speaker
ah while i'm a While I'm looking for that, I did have a ah ah free agency question for you. Yeah, let's cook on it. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. There's two big ones. Christian Espinosa and Walker Zimmerman.
01:33:28
Speaker
Yeah. should Seattle sign one of them, both or neither. I would love Espinosa on this team. Wouldn't that be kind of, that'd be kind of gas. I'm a, i listen, I like Espinosa a lot.
01:33:40
Speaker
um I think Walker Zimmerman could be cool too, but like, I'd take them both. I'd take them. but If you can fit them both, absolutely on the right number, on the right number. I think Walker Zimmerman is going to be way too expensive. i don't think I don't think for being a CB. Wouldn't Espinosa be pretty expensive too?
01:33:55
Speaker
but Yeah, but like I feel like he's he he he would command a little bit more of a feat. His value is there, I think, a little bit more than like Zimmerman, who who is like a very lethal defensive um player and also an attack. He's an a awesome CB. A freaking three center back setup with Yaimar, Reagan, and Walker Zimmerman.
01:34:18
Speaker
That'd be pretty tight. Who you get rid of? You got to get Areola or you've got to like, I mean, you worry about that. Worry about that. ah Ship moose.
01:34:30
Speaker
But no, ah I was thinking about this today too. Like Areola, Areola stays. He comes back. He plays for the Seattle Sounders next year. I want to see that. it It was, it was unfortunate how early in the season he got hurt this year, but it was so long ago that I think we forget how good he looked.
01:34:49
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I agree. He has a lot of utility as far as he can play as a wingback or if you need him to. no I want to keep Areola. Yeah, especially if he can play healthy. That is a defensive game made coming off the injury, and I want him on the team next year.
01:35:04
Speaker
Me too. I think that's going to be a game changer, dude, like genuinely. Like that's going to be, especially if he can play kind of like a wingback.
01:35:14
Speaker
Maybe just get rid of Nuhu? my My answer, if I had to pick between the two of those, would be Espinoza. But the only thing i don't really I would have to look into a little more is ah you know we were kind of talking about how guys like Joseph or Chicho wouldn't fit because to play Schmetzer ball, you have to be you have to have work rate. You have to be ah pressing player.
01:35:35
Speaker
Joseph and Chicho don't really do that that much. and I'm not so sure that Espinoza has like the Schmetz skill set. in that way. Sure. God, is he talented? That's what I'm saying. I think it's one of those where it's like you, you kind of, you just live with it.
01:35:52
Speaker
You just live with it. Cause like Ryan Kent was not like that. mean, he didn't play because of it, but like, you know, It's true. yeah Like, I don't know. Maybe that's, maybe that's a challenge with Spencer. Honestly, you know, I'm seeing some, some comments in chat and I'm kind of out on Zimmerman because frankly, he's old and I would rather have like, I shouldn't say that he's like my age, but yeah.
01:36:15
Speaker
he's old for MLS, right? And he's had a lot of injuries and whatever, but like, I would rather see Stu Hawk step in there and get minutes or like sign a young center back, develop another young center back. Like, I think that's really where it is. Cause Yama Yama's old too. Like he's, he's only got a few more seasons in him. I think, um, and he's like, I mean, he's like kind of a decline in this season a little bit.
01:36:36
Speaker
It's at my throat right now. If I said that, he' supposed he's supposed to tap in here. Any, uh, any seconds. He won't do it. Uh, Yeah, i don't know I agree that if it if it's the choice between um signing Walker Zimmerman in free agency or letting Stu Hawks cook on those minutes and develop, Stu Hawks. That's what I'm
Sounders' Roster and Young Player Potential
01:37:00
Speaker
saying. There's way more upside to be gained from that hitting than there is from bringing Walker Zimmerman in, however good he might still be, which, I mean, the upshot of Walker Zimmerman is it's like,
01:37:15
Speaker
You literally know exactly what. good for like eight goals too. He's good for a bunch of goals for as a CB. And you also like, he defends at a very, like a borderline defender of the year type level every every year. yeah And you know that that's what you're going to get. Like there's literally no risk to signing Walker There's nothing Timbo's saying there's more upside than way more upside to Stu Hawks. Yeah, like I agree. Like it's like you were saying to like it's you you you have to think about the future. i think this roster is at a place where
01:37:47
Speaker
it's very content. Like I'm very content with this roster. I was, yeah, I feel happy with this roster. Like I feel like that too. Cause usually you get to the end of the season and it's anxiety. Usually you get to the end of the season and it's like anxiety inducing. You're like, Oh man, like this guy's probably not going to be back. Oh, this guy is probably not going to be back. How are you going to replace this guy? There is a little bit of that with this roster. You know, ah we're going to talk a lot this off season about,
01:38:14
Speaker
Moose, Paul Rothrock, Ryan Kent, all those those decisions have to be made. But when I look at the roster on the whole, and we'll have to see what happens to Obed, too. I think that's a big thing. like If there's no Obed on this team next year, even if they get a huge bag for him, it's hard to see how that doesn't make you a little bit worse. But then, like if that happens, I'm like...
01:38:37
Speaker
hell yeah, I'm excited to see what Snyder B can do. like Everything I saw from him last year made me excited to watch him play more. And I have like, I don't know. Everyone was cooking your ass on KJR. Yeah, I guess I'm i'm more of a i'm more of a Snyder B head than most. i think I think a lot of people are still wary of the sample size, which I get. Like he barely played at all. But I watched him very closely during all his MLS minutes because you know I was very interested. Like,
01:39:04
Speaker
where, like, what level does he really look at? Like, compared to Obed, but also just for any homegrown midfielder getting thrown into that spot. Like, what I always look for, like, do you you blend in versus do you stand out?
01:39:19
Speaker
I would say um as much, if not more than any homegrown I've seen play for the first team, he was standing out more than blending in. He scored yeah two MLS goals, which that's not even, like, a really important part of his game and his position.
01:39:34
Speaker
But the fact that he scored two goals in his first two MLS games... They were good goals. And they were good... Yeah. They were, like... They were movement goals. Yeah. Like, it wasn't, like, random low-percentage shots that he took out of nowhere. It was, like, intelligent movement.
01:39:49
Speaker
ah You could tell, like... the fact that he's trained so much with the first team really paid off in those situations. He already knew how to play with everybody. And he also just like looked fearless.
01:40:00
Speaker
Like, yeah, he didn't look unconfident. He looked very confident. Yeah. It just looked like he should be out there. And that's kind of, that's sort of those, those are where where i want my starting players to be like, uh, like not someone that I'm like, okay, he's going to not screw it up. Someone that's going to like go do stuff that wins the game.
01:40:18
Speaker
I see that with Snyder. Like I, he still has to make good on that. It's all still like projection and potential, but he, I think he really does have that potential. And if there was a, ah a bigger role that got carved out for him through Obed getting transferred for a massive bag, I would be excited about that. And then kind of just back to what you were saying, like, I think the roster in general,
01:40:41
Speaker
I was thinking about how confident am I going to feel that the level ne going into next year can stay relatively at what it was this year. I feel pretty confident in that with the guys that they have locked down and and coming back combined with a couple of the young guys coming up. So, yeah, no I'm i'm like kind of excited for next season already. I feel like the team's set up pretty well.
01:41:05
Speaker
No, i completely agree. And back to your point of Snyder quickly, I see the same things in him that I think we both saw in Paul Rothrock when we were advocating so heavily for him where people were like, why are you guys fucking talking about this guy? Like, like it started as a bit it started being like, cause Snyder B is just such a fire Snide B, like Snide B. It just like it rolls off the tongue so well.
01:41:28
Speaker
But then we were like, okay, let's actually watch the tape. We saw him at the Defiance. We saw him play. And we were like, this kid is good, man. Then we saw him slot in with the first team. And what we took from it both was just like, man, this kid this kid is ready to step into this role. That's crazy. Like...
01:41:45
Speaker
Get in minutes. Get in minutes. Like, I am a Snyder He needs to get a lot of minutes as you. He needs to get, even if Obed is back, he needs to get a lot of minutes next year. And Stu Hawks needs to get a lot of minutes next year.
01:41:56
Speaker
i don't want to hear excuses from the from the coaches next year. right? Like, he actually got out. He actually, yeah or loan him out. Or loan him out. But he actually, they actually finally gave him a chance this year.
01:42:09
Speaker
And he he looked really good, I thought. he he got yeah He got scored on the one time in the LAFC game, but i would I would really argue that that actually was not his fault. I think he got put in a bad situation, and it turned out to be an isolated incident compared to the rest of the minutes he got.
01:42:29
Speaker
And again, like I don't understand why there's so... If you don't have minutes in MLS as a center back, which famously is attack heavy because people spend all of their money on their attack and no money on their defense.
01:42:41
Speaker
Yeah, you're going to get you might get scored on a few times. You might make a few silly mistakes. You have to. And there's just – there's so much to be gained if you can bring a homegrown center back up and he's actually good. we've been on this, yeah. And you can actually rely on that week in, week out, or to start games in tournaments whatever. There is such – big upside to bringing like someone up at a premium position like that.
01:43:08
Speaker
So I don't, I mean, they, maybe they felt they've, they're so covered at the position that like, they don't need to rush it or something. But I think next year is the year for that. He showed enough this year on the field, I think. And he also, their whole thing is like how skinny he is. That's why they never played him.
01:43:24
Speaker
The dude is like, jacked now. So get him out there. get Get Snyder B out there. i think Snyder B is my new Rothrock pick.
01:43:35
Speaker
Like honorary Paul Rothrock lobbying scorchers heat check. I'm going with it. I, yeah, I love that pick. And I was, I was trying to defend you on the, cause like I like Danny Leyva. I think he's a great player. I think he did take a step forward this season, but like, I'm sorry. I want, I want Snyder Brunel.
01:43:53
Speaker
I think Snyder's quite a bit more dynamic. I do think that, uh, dan Danny showed like very notable improvement this year. We didn't, we didn't even talk about it at the time, but I think it was, it was one of the goals and it was the second Obed goal in the Minnesota.
01:44:10
Speaker
oh that path he plays to Roth rock. Yeah. I didn't catch that. Like when I first watched the highlight, but that's the kind of stuff that Danny Leyva has in his bag now that he's probably, he was always had in his bag to an extent, but I feel like it didn't always translate to the games consistently. Yeah.
01:44:26
Speaker
And this year it, ah it finally was, but yeah, Nico seemed to think that if, ob if they do move off Obed, Danny Laiva is the one who's going to soak up the majority of those minutes. But ah I don't think he's as good defensively.
01:44:40
Speaker
Like I, I don't, I don't really see the same vision. I don't see Obed in Danny at all. I don't see the compliments of what Obed compliments Christian as, which I'm sorry.
01:44:53
Speaker
The truth of it is, is you should be finding the player that compliments Christian the best because Christian Roldan is the engine of this club at this point. And he's going to be there.
01:45:04
Speaker
Obed might not
Injuries and Playoff Challenges
01:45:05
Speaker
be. You should be finding that complimentary player and like do i think it's danny leva i just i don't know i don't know i don't know but i if i'm gonna pick between the two i'm betting on on snyder that's what i see at least how did cody baker do with sacramento i didn't follow that that much did you were you keeping tabs on that they got bammed out of the playoffs but i think he did well he has they they have these sick retro jerseys though that were like the coolest fucking thing ever. And he posted a photo of him in it on his IG and he looked so sick.
01:45:39
Speaker
and we're um This is a Cody. This is a Cody Baker podcast. We're pro Cody Baker on here. All right. We got, we got a bunch of questions in chat. Let's just work through these. Let's let's get through them. Yeah. Will Pedro be healthy, play 1,900 minutes in a year by the end of his contract?
01:45:54
Speaker
No. Why do you just think that he's prone? i just i Listen, at this point, I don't doubt his talent. i did I definitely was on the fence before, but like i I don't anymore.
01:46:06
Speaker
I know that he's a talented player. And I hate to keep doubting the kid because it's like super unfair. You know, like, especially this last injury, this last injury wasn't his fault at all. None of the injuries truly are his fault.
01:46:18
Speaker
You can't fault your body for getting injured. There's a difference between ah someone who gets a lot of soft tissue injuries, pulled hamstring, pulled groins, and that like stuff like that.
01:46:30
Speaker
That is stuff that he had to deal with. And he was dealing with it the whole season. the yeah Well, the knee tendonitis. Yeah, there's that. i like i But to me, like... wait He simply did a single minute with the Sounders where he didn't he wasn't carrying some sort of injury. But like a dislocated kneecap, like that is just a freak. That could literally happen to anyone. There's no propensity. What to do? Yeah, like there's no Jordan arm thing all over again. So I'm I'm I'm not gonna especially this last injury. I'm not going to hold over him as like, oh, he's for sure going to be injury prone for for the rest of his career. My hope for that situation is that he takes as much time as he needs this offseason and at the beginning of next season to get healthy.
01:47:16
Speaker
The roster is loaded. They don't need to rush him. They have enough cover there to get by. He's a DP, though. Until he's fully healthy and ready to go. He's DP, so that's even more reason not to rush him.
01:47:27
Speaker
like I just, listen. I don't know. I don't know. I have feelings. I understand the skepticism, but I'm not ready It's not even, like, his fault. like i And that's what it's I think it's so hard to talk about on my end is, like,
01:47:42
Speaker
i i He is so good and so talented, and also he's occupying a roster spot that he has not played enough fucking minutes to occupy. like it just You need your DPs to play. You need your DPs to be healthy, and we are very, very lucky that we basically have five DPs on this team.
01:48:01
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. That's why like but it applies to this team less than other teams. Exactly. But that doesn't mean it's always going to be like that. And Pedro's a future, like he's he he was always going to be like a franchise player. That was always the vision for him.
01:48:14
Speaker
And so I think that the problem is like, long term it's just it's it's it's a very hard decision and i feel like it's a very emotional decision because again you see what he is he is a star he is a stud he is so good at that but also it's one of those things where it's like the bruised banana still tastes good but like that shit loki got run over by a car bro like are you gonna still keep eating i don't know if you're really hungry I don't know. if that That analogy didn't make any sense. But, like, was trying to cook something, man. No, no. i see where you were going with it.
01:48:50
Speaker
I was thinking about, like... Sometimes need to leave the banana on the ground, okay? Like, did you see ah the Bushwick pickle dumpster? No. There's this like dumpster filled with pickles in New York City, and there's people crawling in it and eating dumpster pickles.
01:49:06
Speaker
Why are we eating the dumpster pickles, brother? like Go to the store and buy a jar. like what we got we but Okay, yeah. it's You know what I mean? I don't know. um i was the I was thinking about... um you know like would they have ah would they have won the ah the series against Minnesota if De La Vega was healthy? And my first thought was like, hell yeah, hell yeah, they would have.
01:49:29
Speaker
And then I was like, well, I mean, they they what he would have helped with is scoring goals. And that wasn't the problem in the Minnesota series. They scored seven goals in that series. So maybe it wouldn't have been any different.
01:49:43
Speaker
But then I was like, well, the first match was 0-0 where you had some good chances and lost in PKs because you couldn't score a goal. and So maybe if he's healthy, then they just win that game. I mean, it's definitely a factor.
01:49:57
Speaker
hundred percent. You got lucky Minnesota United. We got lucky that you didn't have to deal with the Puskas. Andrew Thomas twice and no Pedro De Vega. You got lucky you didn't have to deal with that Puskas nominee.
01:50:08
Speaker
You wish, you wish any of your guys could score a goal like Let him win the Puskas. In your dreams. In your dreams. All right, let's bring him to the stage right now. It's Nico Moreno, my co-host of Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff. Oh, also my co-host, because there was one time when you didn't show up, and so I co-hosted.
01:50:27
Speaker
I don't remember that. I don't think that happened. We need to do more of those. Noah, what's going on, boss? know. Our show is electric. but Yeah. It sounds like you guys need to need a show. Nico, there we go thanks for tapping in. We've been discourse in here for the last couple hours on this calendar. Yeah.
01:50:45
Speaker
Seattle Sounders stuff. ah Let's get your your takes on ah on the calendar change. We gave our takes, but what was your reaction to that seismic shift in the history of Major League Soccer?
01:50:56
Speaker
Yeah, hour 51. I'm glad because I don't got a lot of time, but I did want to do a quick hit with you guys. ah Look, I think it was necessary. i believe that it is the step necessary to put MLS in.
01:51:12
Speaker
In a different level. I've been saying that I do believe what ah the OPTA rankings showed and that MLS is a top 10 league in the world.
01:51:23
Speaker
And this puts you on track to be better than that. It's not just about being aligned with the best leagues in the world and the majority of the international transfer window in order to one sell more players and more of that domestic talent that you have been so effectively getting out abroad, but also giving teams a better opportunity to cash in on the players that you can afford.
01:51:55
Speaker
There's no longer going to be the excuse of, oh, you know, it's difficult because the summer window falls in a time where it's hard to get players. that That's out the door. that's how There's no getting away from that.
01:52:08
Speaker
I've spoken to several sporting directors, GMs and coaches today, and they have all been just glad ah excited about this change and happy about it. And they kind of felt like it was, it took too long to get here, but it's finally here. And it's not just about buying and selling players.
01:52:31
Speaker
It also diminishes, it minimizes the amount of times that teams have to play without those players that go ah play internationally with their national teams.
01:52:43
Speaker
How many times do we see the Sounders have to go without Christian Roldan, Obed, you know, at one point, Nico, Raul, you know, we have the call- ups a bunch of fucking random defiance players.
01:52:56
Speaker
There was one time where they were missing. It was like nine or 10 guys. Yeah. That's a thing of the past now, right? Because there might be some times where ah maybe it, because I've seen it happen in in other leagues where there are times where you do get some slight overlap, but you're going to diminish it so much more.
01:53:16
Speaker
I also think that playing the vast majority of your early games in the winter where climate tends to,
01:53:29
Speaker
um be more difficult to to move along because of rain or, you know, storm of lightning, stuff like that.
01:53:40
Speaker
It'd be easier to move than playoff games. Playoff games, you can't move around, right? there's There's no postponing. It's just more difficult. I think that even with the NFL schedule, that was my biggest concern.
01:53:54
Speaker
having it early on might give the Sounders or will give the Sounders and we'll give every, you know, the Sounders, Charlotte, Atlanta, a better way to move around it, right? They'd be able to really,
01:54:08
Speaker
try to figure out how to get it moved because you do have that ability to postpone or move early games rather than playoff games. ah and And that's a big deal.
01:54:20
Speaker
And finally, i even think that the playoff format is gonna be better. Right now, if I'm New York City FC, I'm pissed. i I mean, rhythm.
01:54:31
Speaker
I just beat Charlotte. I want the game to come now. Martinez is flying. Nico Fernandez is killing it. i don't want it to go away. I don't want him to cool down. I got to wait a week and a half for them to get back out there.
01:54:45
Speaker
So all of those things will be, I think, of the past, man. And I'm just excited for it. What do you think about the ah added bonus of no longer having your first games of the season be CONCACAF Champions Cup?
01:55:01
Speaker
Like you actually get to be more competitive, more fluid in all of that. Obviously, the Sounders, they didn't need to worry about that. They won that shit. No big deal.
01:55:12
Speaker
But, ah you know, that's always been ah That's always been a big thing is like Major League Soccer is not competitive in the early stages of the tournament because frankly, these are their first games. The stack is stacked stacked against
Benefits of Calendar Change for MLS and Fans
01:55:26
Speaker
them.
01:55:26
Speaker
like Yeah, I mean, ah ah Ari and I talked about ah the Sounders being bounced off by Olympia in CONCACAF Champions League. I don't think that happens if the team is in rhythm and they're farther into the season. And so, yeah, I think that that's huge.
01:55:45
Speaker
We're always going to be compared and competing with Liga MX, this allows you to be at an even ground. That's another conversation of the past is the narrative that, oh, you know, certain tournaments ah really depend. If MLS is winning is because and MX teams are not in rhythm. And if Liga MX teams are winning the tournaments, then it's because ah vice versa, right? So all of those things are now going to be not...
01:56:13
Speaker
not a real narrative and it will allow the product to speak for itself. I'm also excited about the Apple wall for MLS season pass coming down. think that's going to be a huge deal for MLS right before the world cup right you look my dad is not the best guy when it comes to apps even on a smartphone uh and you know the fact that he had to pay twice right was he really hated it right yeah okay so i don't get it so i gotta pay for apple tv and i gotta pay for the mls season pass like i don't get it ah dad you know what i got you you know it's fine i'll get it for you
01:56:54
Speaker
But now, you know, you don't have that. So I think that you will get a different spectrum of viewers. It'd be easier to do it. So I like that. The fact that the Canadian teams are going to be able to be treated per FIFA as domestic teams, and they're going to be able to enjoy the same lucrative experience Benefits of just having the aligned calendar is great. So overall, I just think these are all the changes that we've been waiting for. i don't love the division thing.
01:57:27
Speaker
Six teams, five divisions. I don't know how that's going to work out. Why have a single table and divisions? Yeah, i don't know how it works. I really don't. I like the single table, and it makes sense, so but then you bring up the divisions. i don't get it.
01:57:43
Speaker
Someone said in chat that you play that you would essentially play every team on the table once and then people in your division twice. But did the do do the standings of the division actually affect anything other than you finish No, think it's literally just like a regionalization of your stuff. Oh, I got it.
01:58:01
Speaker
Yeah, I like that. You're getting two Vancouver-Portland games. You're getting two Sounders-Vancouver games. You're getting two Portland. like I think it's keep trying to keep the regional rivalry where you get a home and away series for it.
01:58:13
Speaker
um well that actually That actually sounds like it could be kind of fun. like the that works the division The divisional games effectively become like other derbies, even if it's not like your typical rival, like a divisional rivalry can kind of take on its own thing. I think that could be kind sick.
01:58:31
Speaker
Yeah. And I think the biggest and the biggest point of emphasis of what you just said is teams play in every team. You know, there's there's so many teams that don't play each other that it just seems odd that that it doesn't happen. It doesn't happen anywhere else in the world.
01:58:48
Speaker
Or the top leagues Everybody plays everybody at least once And it's odd The fact that Miami's never traveled to Seattle Oh well they did once They did famously Oh yeah they did Didn't they play Their inaugural game here no yeah when did it they didn't they play their inaugural game here I don't know if it now, Grobo. One game, I remember... I thought their first ever game was played against us. I'm pretty sure. It could be. That was over ki But no, there was a year where it was like we we got... sit we FC Cincinnati's first match was against us.
01:59:23
Speaker
LAFC's first match was against us. And I'm pretty sure that um we also played against Miami. Yeah, Yedlin scored against us here. Yeah. yeah i just I remember Kurt Smith was still part of the and can figure this out the the front office of Inter-Miami. And so, yeah, they were here for sure.
01:59:40
Speaker
um But, yeah, so there's just a lot of teams that just don't play each other all the time. And I think that's going to be beneficial ah to to really feel like your team is going against everyone. And it's going to the parity, is it going to continue? Is it not? you know All of it is going to be part of of this change of calendars. Yeah.
02:00:01
Speaker
I just think that's not against us. Yeah, the the product is going to be so much better with with the change of calendars. And I've yet to hear negatives about it, ah except for season ticket holders.
02:00:15
Speaker
I've had a couple of people message me directly ah about how they don't feel like they're going to renew their season tickets. because it' feel and And what I would tell anyone who feels that way is...
02:00:27
Speaker
Just give it time. Change is difficult. But I promise you that when it's all said and done, the changes will not feel as severe as they might right now ah because you're you're clearly playing in the exact same situation.
02:00:43
Speaker
times of the year, right? You're going to have a winter break. You're not going to play mid-December, all of January, where it's the heaviest. Same thing you used to before. You're starting mid-February, where at certain times you were playing CONCACAF Champions League.
02:00:57
Speaker
I mean, you know, the the the the the timelines are almost the same. All you're doing is flipping where it starts and where it ends. And I would love a May and MLS Cup. I mean, that just sounds great.
02:01:10
Speaker
Yeah. Hell yeah. You have to tell me if it was Will Kuntz you talked to because I have a message for him and what he did to my beautiful LA galaxy. just No, ah no. Kuntz is not one of the guys that I've talked to.
02:01:23
Speaker
We don't have sources here. Have you, ah have you seen a lot? There's, there has been a lot of blowback on just the, uh, I think the weather thing is what most people are hung up on. There seems to be a perception that there's going to lot more games in the colder markets in like the dead of winter. which You were at those Toronto MLS Cups, weren't you?
02:01:47
Speaker
like No, I did not get to go, but I did hear the horror stories. Okay. wow I was not good. And that makes sense. And I can see where they're... Individual teams are going to be concerned about attendance for certain games, right? That Toronto game was sold out because it was a final.
02:02:06
Speaker
If that game is week four of MLS play, i don't know how many people show up. But I do feel like... there is enough infrastructure within MLS to understand that those colder regions are going to be playing away lot at certain parts of the year, right?
02:02:27
Speaker
Minnesota and Chicago and Toronto, those teams are going to play away. And that's the way you handle That's the way you move it. You modify it. There's just, there are enough stadiums and there's enough that goes into setting up the calendar that I don't think is going to be as big as you may think.
02:02:47
Speaker
And I think that the amount of games that you might miss out on are the same that you would have to essentially miss out for thunderstorms or hurricanes or whatever it is that that we have around weather these days. you know, yeah it it really doesn't change as much. It's just, again,
02:03:09
Speaker
People hate change. And look, believe me, I have a hard time even posting stuff on Blue Sky sometimes because I go directly to the same one that I've been using this whole time. Right. So it's just going to be a learning curve.
02:03:22
Speaker
But I promise you that five, eight, 10 years from now, people are going to be like, wow, I'm glad that we made the change. some Some might not even know how important it was to make that change.
02:03:34
Speaker
Did it surprise you how fast they did it? I was kind of... No, no, me and Jeremiah had been talking about it. You know, it was kind of funny because when Paul Tenorio, obviously they had a lot more information, but, you know, Jeremiah and I had been mentioning that the change was coming 2027.
02:03:48
Speaker
ah in twenty twenty seven I had been talking to players... I missed the 2027 aspect of it I remember we were you're talking we were talking about it on KJR and stuff but for some reason my head I was like I think i thought you were talking about 2037 oh no no no yeah 27 the transitional ah mini tournament or condensed tournament you know from February to May up and Melissa's back Melissa's back 2.0 yeah maybe that's what we should call it I don't know banner
02:04:21
Speaker
That's good. I like that. So, you know, that that's gonna that that we all knew he was coming. Obviously, the the whole divisions and a lot of the other things. There was a point where Jeremiah and i thought that there was going to be an apertura, clausura type of situation. Obviously, that's not part of it.
02:04:38
Speaker
I like the single table better one year. I'm with you. I don't love it, ah although it's a very Latin American thing, but I just don't like it. um So, yeah, no, I really do believe that Every single decision that has been made to me, not just makes sense, but it's very cohesive for what we've seen out of MLS, for what the teams are hoping to do, for you know the academy product that's coming out from the U.S. Soccer Federation. i just, I'm stoked. I could not be any happier about it. I had one coach tell me that
02:05:19
Speaker
No, you know what? No, but he was going to bring somebody big. He was going to bring someone one big, and and he was unable to do it specifically, one, because of the summer window, and two, because of the possibility of not making the playoffs and being...
02:05:37
Speaker
essentially put in the freezer for three or four months. Cause if you don't make the playoffs in MLS, the off season's pretty, pretty hard. Listen, if chat gives a super chat, maybe Nico will leak some more information on, on what this is. No, I will give you some things on the Sounders before I go.
02:05:54
Speaker
um I've been following closely the open bargain situation. And unfortunately there's nothing new. And that concerns me a bit. Um,
02:06:06
Speaker
They're ongoing, which is, that's the positive. Negotiations are on ongoing. They have not stopped, but they are convoluted. and And between compensation and ah the terms, when certain things hit, it's a difficult situation. so Negotiating on a U22 or? On on a U22. That's right.
02:06:29
Speaker
On a U22 contract and beyond. What is complicated about that? you just You have to give them the max. What's the difference? Well, that's the complicated part that sometimes the max might not be enough, you know, and the Sounders, but yeah and the Sounders might not be able to do beyond that. Or, you know, there's a lot of things. I'm not saying that's the problem.
02:06:52
Speaker
I'm saying that there is a lot of situations that have emerged, but the Sounders continue to feel confident that something will get done. ah But it is getting convoluted and,
02:07:03
Speaker
I told you guys that there's a time clock on it. If the Sounders want to do themselves a favor and make sure that they get something of this you know product of the academy, it might have to be done in January. going to walk on a free. It's going to happen.
02:07:21
Speaker
That's that's what the that the one thing that can't happen. It's going to happen. That can't happen. That can't happen. they've They've taken a lot of criticism for not just ah ah getting the U22 thing done with him like during this season or earlier this season.
02:07:36
Speaker
but like ah i mean was Is there reason why him and his camp would have been resistant to that? He changed ah no like representation, right? He did change representation. They're cooking. They're cooking. Exactly.
02:07:51
Speaker
Exactly. You know exactly that's part of it, right? You change representation. Obviously, he's a guy that understands the the market a lot differently. So that that complicates things.
02:08:03
Speaker
And so, yeah, it's all part of the the the difficult components of negotiations. But before I go, obviously – the one that I think is, in my opinion, done and over with might be Paul Rothrocks.
02:08:19
Speaker
so i just I just don't see a... Oh, like done like they're not going to agree on anything. Like you might not agree. that They might... If I had to bet on it... thought you meant done like they were done. they ah No, i really I really don't see it.
02:08:35
Speaker
You know, again, negotiations are still ongoing, but I feel like Paul... might get to test the free agent market before anything happens.
02:08:47
Speaker
um So, yeah, that's the one I wanted to leave leave you guys with before I i went out. I'm sorry for the bad news. Things could still get done.
02:08:58
Speaker
Honestly, but it's unfortunate. and But the probability level is pretty high that Paul Rothrock, it might be a situation where it's like, all right, Paul,
02:09:09
Speaker
right that This is what you believe you're worth Go see if you can get it Out there and if you can then you know More power to you if you can't This is what we have here for you Oh no I feel bad for for no Because I know and look I love Paul Rothrock And I don't know The writing's kind of been on the wall with this i've I've heard nothing to the effect that they've ever been Close on anything Everything I've heard is like they've there's never been a point Where they've been aligned No, I got the right idea. Yep. and So it it is really something that would be unfortunate because it's been such a great story.
02:09:47
Speaker
Paul Rothrock is a guy that I think all three of us love to see on the field. ah he He has empowered this team. He's been such a ah key piece, right, of this fluid attack and a guy coming off the bench and the attitude and and and everything that comes Paul Rothrock.
02:10:05
Speaker
But at the end of the Yeah, but at the end of the day, there's always a number, and in that number is not going to move. And and if Paul feels like he can get, i don't know, 830,000, I believe, is the max he could get, and he feels like he could get that out there. is he really Is someone really going to give him that?
02:10:25
Speaker
That's my only question. Is his value... They should. His value... He can get that, I feel like. But, like, if you dc if you're DC United or something, does 830K for Paul Rothrock?
02:10:38
Speaker
Like, I'm not... and like I think... i In my biased opinion, that's a good investment, but, like... If I'm a team in the championship, ooh, brother, I'm putting a bid on that. i was thinking like ah what he' I was thinking MLS free agency, but yeah.
02:10:53
Speaker
but You know what? I don't want it to happen, though. I don't i don't want him to be a guy that goes out there, gets paid, and then his career just has this huge decline, and he yeah doesn't get on the field, and he becomes a bench player. Exactly. That could happen. if you like there's You would think there's a lot of mutual benefit to be had from finding a middle ground where...
02:11:16
Speaker
It is like, you know, we're all Paul Rothrock fans. We want him to stay here. But i like, i understand from the club's perspective, when you have a situation where he's making 100k, and the leap that is being asked for is to 830.
02:11:33
Speaker
thirty I don't even know if that's possible. I got the number from from Jeremiah, who obviously he's a monster when it comes to this sort of situation. And apparently that's the max he can get. So if if he's hoping to get that ah elsewhere and somebody pays it, then I guess it's his prerogative as well.
02:11:51
Speaker
ah But again, nothing nothing can guarantee you play time. Same thing goes for Ovid. you know I wish the best for Ovid. But to me... the best possible scenario is that you take the million.
02:12:05
Speaker
That's the max amount for a U22. You guarantee yourself a year because his main objective this season has been getting on Mexico's national team.
02:12:18
Speaker
He's getting called up right now. He's going to perform, but if he wants to stay on that position, Plane ride? Well, I guess not because it's the USA, but if he wants to stay part of Javier Aguilera's team, you got to be playing.
02:12:32
Speaker
And if all of a sudden you move to, I don't know, PSV, and there's a learning curve and you're not getting minutes, you're not getting called up. Plain and simple.
02:12:43
Speaker
So for me, it it felt like a better idea to just take that max money, continue to play, guarantee yourself that if there's an injury, if there's a...
02:12:55
Speaker
I don't know anything that happens in in the world these days and you're insured, you have a contract that you can kind of back up on and then your talent will speak for itself. And ah eventually you're going to end up in Europe, but this way, ah man, it's just very complicated. You're forcing it already.
02:13:15
Speaker
It might just be difficult. and and and again, Obed's such a great kid, such a talent that I just want to see him make all the right choices. Wow. All right. Yeah, definitely a couple of ah very interesting offseason storylines that we'll be keeping tabs on. We know you'll be ah you'll be on those beats. So, yeah, appreciate that.
02:13:35
Speaker
into certain on a pro appreciate you guys as always. You know, I'm going to be on the move. I'm going to have my... crap pots out there trying to catch as much as I can. long Boger doesn't beat me to half, if not all of them, I'll be making sure. You beat the athletic. We just didn't make an infographic about it. So it didn't pop off, which is that on me. I failed at my job in promoting your scoops.
02:14:03
Speaker
No, man, it's going to, it's going to be good. I'm excited for the off season. i don't think that there's going to be, enormous right changes. The DP spots are taken.
02:14:14
Speaker
There's a core group. and i And I've said it before. I think that that's a positive, that you know that you have this core group that's going to go into 2026 and you're going to be able to perform and you're going to ah have a good team and you know who your goalkeeper is, your center back, your midfield for the most part.
02:14:31
Speaker
So, yeah, it's a good thing. And you're going add talent. And I feel like it's going to be another good 2026 season for the Sounders. But I appreciate you guys. one One more for you real quick, real quick before you head out.
02:14:44
Speaker
and MLS free agency, Christian Espinosa, Walker Zimmerman. Should the Seattle Sounders sign one, both, or neither? Oof. I don't want c Simberman at all. He's too pricey. He's lost a step or two.
02:14:59
Speaker
i know Yammer hasn't had his best season. he he he you know he he would tell you that himself, right? Usually he is like, man, I should have been a finalist for MLS Defender of the Year. He didn't say anything. Now, he's not going to throw himself in a bus because he's you know he's a guy that works hard all the time.
02:15:19
Speaker
But I think that you know that there is a collaborative unit thing where I feel like defensively the team has schematically had some issues, but, you know, there's just individual moments where I can absolutely be honest about it and say, yeah, Jemar should not be in there.
02:15:37
Speaker
Even in the, in the last game, I'm not going to like crucify him for it, but it's a clumsy foul that he gives up for that Pereira thing. Right. It's yeah. I don't think he meant to do it. I don't think that it was, uh, uh,
02:15:50
Speaker
necessary It was just clumsy on that side. But when he has these sort of things, nobody takes it as hard as he does. I can absolutely see him just having a crazy offseason and coming back just ah as a lean, mean defending machine.
02:16:06
Speaker
so ah So for me, he's going to have a big 2026 for sure. He's on a contract here. He's got a club option that's been picked up, as I reported. ah He wants to remain in Seattle. He wants to...
02:16:17
Speaker
You know, get another three years here and he needs to get out there and and and and prove it. And I think he will because he is a guy like that. He's not going to be a guy that's going to be, you know, grumpy and just now he got a whole bunch of dog in him. I mean, he's got dog in him.
02:16:35
Speaker
and And I think he's going to have a great season to make sure that he has a good guarantee contract. What about Espinosa? I'm taking Espinosa. I love Espinosa. I think Espinosa is a baller.
02:16:48
Speaker
Obviously, you know with Pedro's injury, it just fits right in. ah He still gives Georgie and all these guys time. Paula Riola, I could see him being a great left back.
02:17:00
Speaker
ah And look, Espinosa played... wait you for your third Three or four times. Nuhu's a guy who I believe might be gone. i think there might be a market for him. Obviously, they're going to pick up his option, but I think that he's a guy that might be in the market and you might be looking for a transitional moment there.
02:17:19
Speaker
um He could probably benefit too out of a new horizon. So yeah, I think he's a player that might be on the trade block at some point.
02:17:29
Speaker
I would be so lit if they got Christian Espinosa. Oh, I love Christian Mander. He's so good. Oh, yeah. He's great. du Do you think he presses enough for Schmetz?
02:17:42
Speaker
ah I mean, he he did play wingback for a little bit, so i think he's defensive. it I'm not really sure if he's like a work-rate player. i Yeah, pressing. I don't know about that, but he services his creativity. His wide-surfing, groove balls.
02:17:57
Speaker
yeah not i love him like like Offensively he's like a perfect Fit for the system and he's a good locker room Guy oh and him and game Go back so yeah it's a got yeah got to Make this happen they gotta go get that guy I'm just saying come on now Craig let's go Craig I dig it you know we know you watch the pod Get on that phone. all right nico we'll ah We'll let you go on that.
02:18:17
Speaker
Appreciate you, fellas. Have a good one. Appreciate you. Nico, thank you. Catch you next time. That was Nico Moreno. He's just coming in here and dropping fucking crazy news. We got the Rothrock update. We got the Obed update. That's like six infographics going to have to make, bro.
02:18:35
Speaker
Yeah, well get cooking. what's ah I'm down to call it there as well. Yeah, that's fine. We've been ripping for 220 so I think that's a ah that's a pretty good shift great show banger show good discourse on the calendar change we had to get that in there regular season structure change a historic day for Major League Soccer so you already know we had to we had to lay down some heartily in-depth coverage appreciate you all tuning we didn't even talk about Phil Neville continuing as a Timbers coach but you know did they announce that he's coming back ah that's what Pat said
02:19:12
Speaker
Oh, Pat, member for six months. Thank you, man. Appreciate Keeping Phil. We're missing the big, wait, put it back up. Missing the biggest news. Timbers are apparently keeping Phil. Unless we sign Holland. I'm already favorite offseason move.
02:19:24
Speaker
Dude, if they brought him back, let's go. yeah. We're so back. Give him 10-year contract. yeah Lifetime appointment. yelled Great coach. Brilliant. so I think would with when I think of Phil Neville, what stands out is the tactical acumen.
02:19:38
Speaker
and the big game chops to get it done when it counts. So really, it's a coup for the Portland Timbs to have him locked down for at least another season, if that is in fact the case.
02:19:49
Speaker
Yeah, vote for Pedro. Start the campaign. Let's get him a Puskas. I'll have to look at the other nominees, but there's no way any goal that's on there is as good as his goal against Cruz's goal. So...
02:20:01
Speaker
Get him a pooskos. Yeah, the offseason coverage rolls on. we'll be doing We'll be covering the rest of the MLS playoffs as much as we feel like it.
02:20:12
Speaker
don't think... I'm going to be going super in-depth on those. But we'll be covering the playoffs. and then We'll have a wrap-up show, too, like an in-person pod coming soon.
02:20:24
Speaker
well We'll lay that down as well. So keep an eye out for all that. also be back at it on Monday with with Nico for kickoff. So, yeah, stay tuned. Appreciate you all for tuning in. And we'll catch you later.
02:20:38
Speaker
Love you all. Peace.