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Nos Audietis Mailbag: Over/unders and breakout candidates
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Jeremiah and Aaron treat February’s mailbag episode a bit like a preview of the season. With that in mind, they pick about a dozen items to give their over/under prediction on. They, of course, answer a bunch of questions on subjects like our breakout candidates, the next candidate for sale and which position they might target for a U22 signing.
All questions for this episode were submitted through Discord. Subscribers on the “Supporter” tier or above are entitled to join. Please email us for an invite.
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Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube.
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“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorships
00:00:02
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounders supporters.
00:00:16
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
00:00:25
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. Here we go.
00:00:36
Speaker
Come on. Hey, O'Shea. Let's go. The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners.
00:00:47
Speaker
Here comes Radius through the middle to it for Seattle. And now they truly can't start the celebrations. It's the Sounders MLS Cup.
00:00:59
Speaker
Nikola.
00:01:17
Speaker
This is a tiny dog. What was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use and who you didn't?
00:01:28
Speaker
I've ever said something horrible to commentary that we didn't take over come seriously.
00:01:41
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adientes. I am Jeremiah Oshan. Joining me today is Aaron Campo. This is the mailbag episode for February.
00:01:53
Speaker
It is also sort of our preview episode for the season. So we're wrapping some things together. We're going to do some, we're going to start the show. Something we've never done before, but I've just heard a lot of podcasts doing this and I love it.
00:02:06
Speaker
over-unders we're gonna just sort of like go through a bunch of numbers run it down but Aaron I'm getting ahead of myself how are you doing we haven't done this together for a while now yeah it's been it's been a nice little break but I'm i'm excited to get back to it uh I'm excited for the season to start uh I guess today as you're listening to this or yesterday depending on what your podcast listening schedule is like but yeah it's it's it's a fun time of year for sure Yeah, the Sounders, we were recording this on Tuesday.
CONCACAF and Sounders Challenges
00:02:36
Speaker
the Sounders play their first competitive game of the season on Wednesday. there is There was a little bit of ah drama today over where you could watch this game. Or I guess it started last night because what happened was...
00:02:51
Speaker
the CONCACAF moved the Miami sporting Kansas city match because the weather was so bad in Kansas city was so cold and so inhospitable that they actually moved the game, I guess, what two days is it?
00:03:05
Speaker
It wasn't today. It's tomorrow. Yeah. I guess they moved it two days and they are, no, it was supposed to be today and they they moved it to tomorrow. And, And ah it bumped the Sounders off of FS2. So this there was like a few hours or maybe ah almost 24 hours where it was unclear where the Sounders were going to be, where we're going to be able watch this.
00:03:25
Speaker
Turns out the Sounders are going to be on Fox Soccer Channel. They're going to be on VIX Plus, which is a Spanish language channel, the part of the Univision ah family, I believe. And then most...
00:03:39
Speaker
ah conveniently it will be on the concaf youtube channel which there was some question as to whether or not that was actually visible in the united states in mexico but it will be at least that's what i've been assured i watched the colorado l lafc game on there today so i do know that that channel is working but a lot of drama going into this game in guatemala game is at five o'clock should be fun interesting yeah yeah i these games always make me nervous um the surfaces are often not great the competition can be a little chippy um we've had some really damaging injuries happen in in these games so i'm always a little nervous for them but uh also exciting you know it's
00:04:24
Speaker
I love the CONCACAF Champions League games. I love their Champions Cup, whatever the hell they call it these days. i You know, I do. I do like playing against these lower, ah lower rated teams. I think that it's always kind of fun.
00:04:37
Speaker
And yeah, um it feels like it's been way too long since we saw the Sounders play. And also like it was last week. It's it's one of those kind of situations. Yeah.
00:04:48
Speaker
Well, and and in what I guess they did play last week. I i watched play last week against, you know, I mean, yeah I do know what you mean. i do know what you mean. And the off season is shockingly short.
00:04:59
Speaker
And this is a, this, and and what's funny is that this is an opponent that we are used to not knowing a lot about CONCACAF opponents, but this one, I feel like we know even less than, ah less about because they don't, this is only their second time in CONCACAF in the CONCACAF competition.
00:05:19
Speaker
They are a historic team in that they've been around for a long time in Guatemala, but they haven't won a ton of stuff in Guatemala. They are one of the better teams right now in Guatemala.
00:05:30
Speaker
But the quality of the Guatemalan league, like anyone that tells you they know that much about the Guatemalan league, I'm very skeptical of unless they are like living and breathing Guatemalan football because even finding reliable records of their games is not easy to do. Like I spent a decent amount of time trying to figure out who was on this team and when they were playing or when they played and, and what the, you know, their results were all are not always, there's sometimes conflicting information out there. They can't always find their, their highlights. I did watch their six zero win in their most recent game against apparently one of the worst teams in Guatemala. So and don't know how much to take from that, but.
00:06:12
Speaker
Uh, should be interesting. This is definitely a game. The centers should feel like they can, they can win. but I think any result where they don't come home trailing by a bunch of goals should be seen as fine.
00:06:25
Speaker
If not yeah preferable, as long as they don't get any injuries. I think that's the biggest thing right now. Uh, And I will say that the Sounders are well-suited as any and MLS team to be playing these games. They've played a Central American team all eight times they have been in CONCACAF.
00:06:44
Speaker
They have played, this is I think the 10th or different different or 10th or 11th series they've played against a Central American opponent. They've played teams from Panama, from El Salvador, from Honduras, from where else have they played?
00:07:01
Speaker
I guess it was lotma the central Guatemala. They had previously played Comunicacionis, which is a Guatemalan team. that was And that's actually a good, that was it I don't know if you remember this, but Comunicacionis played on this enormous field I do remember. In Guatemala City. It was very funny.
00:07:18
Speaker
Yeah, and I think Ozzy Alonso had a very late goal to either pull out a tie or maybe even get a win. ah That was like in 2011, maybe? He scored in the 89th minute to to secure a point, which I think was the point that that wouldt yeah got it got them through because otherwise, that would have been i mean caseonees would have been well they would have been level on points i do remember feeling like it was a big goal it it was it was because things were still in question i think that uh community castellanos played eridiano it's really upsetting how well i remember all this honestly yeah they played in uh keys are costa rica that's another central american country they've played in yeah
00:08:06
Speaker
And they've done okay against most Central American teams. and don't know that they've actually won in. think Erdiana was the only Central American team that they really struggled with, if I remember correctly. But in any case, they did lose to Olympia 2020 in shootout. They yeah, that's right.
00:08:26
Speaker
in a shootout if you did yeah that's right Yeah, that was Olympia, right? The worst thing that happened in 2020. It was yeah the worst the absolutely the worst thing that happened. Exactly.
00:08:38
Speaker
yeah that was ah that was one of the last live sporting events I attended, suppose. Yeah, they yeah ah played like a couple other. One, maybe one other game, one, two other games, maybe. me But that was. Yeah, they played the home opener. They played it. They played the home opener against the fire and then they played the crew as well.
00:08:55
Speaker
Right. Which was surreal. Not that we don't. Why are we talking about this? I don't want it this is depressing. It is. I don't want to talk about this. All right. Well, we so let's start with something a little bit more fun.
Sounders Predictions and Player Performances
00:09:07
Speaker
I came up with a bunch of over-unders. We're not going to go through the whole team, but we have some team ones. We have some individual player ones. And these are all, for the most part, that are unless otherwise noted, these are for MLS play only.
00:09:22
Speaker
ah But the first one I said was points, and I'm setting it at 61. Is that... What do you think? Over under 61? I'm going to go... I'm going to say under just because I think 61 would be like the third best in team history. I want to say it would. Yeah. 61 would be a lot.
00:09:42
Speaker
It's a high. I think it's a high mark. It's a really good season. I would be thrilled to be wrong because I think if I'm wrong on this, I think there's a pretty good chance they win the Western Conference.
00:09:53
Speaker
um Yeah. or You know, finish, finish first in the Western Conference. um That's wasn't enough to to win, to to finish first last year. But I think it would be a lot of years that would have been in 2023, for example. So I'm going to I'm going to go under.
00:10:05
Speaker
How about you? Yeah. You know, I'm I'm I feel like now maybe I said it too high, but I'm also going to go under because i feel like they're going to be playing so many games.
00:10:17
Speaker
And they're going to be playing like the there are parts of the schedule that are absolutely brutal. I feel like they're going to be a little under. They were at 57 last year. If they can, to me, somewhere between 57 and 61 is probably right in the range that I expect them to be in.
00:10:35
Speaker
Yeah. Which would be a good season. Just maybe not top of the West. Yeah. That seems about right. um ah All right. go ahead. No, you you go ahead, please.
00:10:48
Speaker
Oh, okay. ah So the next one I said is goals. So last year they had 51 goals. I'm going to raise the bar to 58. What do you think? can they hit 58 goals? I think they can. I think there's a good chance they can, but I'm still going to go under.
00:11:03
Speaker
um i think 58 would be second most maybe that they've ever scored in in league play. um And I do think that there's a chance that this is the best attacking team they've ever had.
00:11:17
Speaker
um but I'm still going to say under. I'm going to go over. ah if for no reason if if for no other reason, then i think I need to be more aggressive with my... i Maybe I was overly aggressive with my over-unders, but I actually do like their... off I think 58 goals.
00:11:39
Speaker
yeah Like i said, they had 51 last year. i I feel like this is a good off offensive team. i I actually think goal scoring will not be a huge problem for them I'm gonna i' going to go with over 58 goals.
00:11:52
Speaker
All right, so this one is total competitive game. So this is not just MLS, obviously. Guaranteed to play 42.
00:12:03
Speaker
i'm going to set the over-under at 50. So point of clarification here. Are we including... there a playoff series, is that one game? Yeah.
00:12:15
Speaker
No, that's that would be three. they get to the first round and they played three playoff games, that would be three. Okay. So if they... 42 the guarantee. So if they win if they win this series, they're already at 44 guaranteed. Yeah. If they get out of the groups, if they get out of the first part of League's Cup, they are automatically...
00:12:40
Speaker
That's, you know, one more game, obviously. They get out of the club World Cup ah group stage. That would be, you know, one more. And then playoffs. so that So if they get out of the first round of the ah this, they're at 44.
00:12:55
Speaker
And then playoffs would be 47 right off the bat if they that's if they get out of the first get out of the first round. Now, 40 might be too high. yeah Because they can still have, I mean, like,
00:13:10
Speaker
Go ahead. No, I was going to say it would be 47 unless they sweep the first round. But then I realized that that would mean they would play more than 47. So no, that would put them at 46 if they swept.
00:13:25
Speaker
But then they would play at least. Oh, then they would play 47. Yeah, you're right. Yeah. Yeah, they would be guaranteed 47 if they if they if they swept because that would be. So, yeah, we're we're talking through this.
00:13:36
Speaker
This is a good one. um i think that this one is really well pegged. I'm going to go over. i think they're going to go I think they're going to go pretty deep into the playoffs again.
00:13:47
Speaker
um
00:13:50
Speaker
i think, but I think the nature of the way they approach the playoffs means they're probably going to play a three series, a three, you know, three game series. I think they'll probably get out of the group stage in one of the two competitions that has a, has a group stage.
00:14:04
Speaker
I'm going to go over. i could I could very easily be wrong on this one. I feel this is the one I'm least confident about. This was a way of... The way I thought about it, this is a way of of roundabout asking if you think they're going to win a trophy.
00:14:17
Speaker
And if they win a trophy, they will almost be... guaranteeed They will be virtually guaranteed to play more than 50 games if they win any trophy that they... So it's like... so I feel like over... if If you think they can win a trophy, you've got to go over because they yeah like they would They could end up going over just through CONCACAF.
00:14:38
Speaker
If they win CONCACAF, they would be over. Yep. I don't know that I'm as convinced that they're going to a trophy as I am. They're going to go over 50 games. but ah Okay. Yeah, you can do both. I mean, they could yeah they could do it without winning a trophy, but I just felt like it a more creative way than...
00:14:54
Speaker
Over on the one TV. It's smart. So okay how about you? All right. So now we're getting into the player ones. You got to give you gotta give your you getti of your prediction as well. Oh, I'm You're over. No, I'm over. So just for the benefit of the listeners, we are recording our predictions here, and we're going to set a calendar reminder for the end of the year and go back and revisit these at at the end of the season.
00:15:18
Speaker
So I want to make sure everyone gets yeah everything gets recorded. Yeah, yeah. no we're going to hold ourselves accountable, which we never do. We never do this. No, yeah we never make predictions.
00:15:30
Speaker
All right. ah So this is Albert Rusnak, goal contributions. So he was at. Twenty seven in MLS last year, I believe, is that right?
00:15:42
Speaker
That sounds right. Yeah. And we are including hockey assists, I'm assuming. We're are including hockey assists, yeah. Yeah, exactly. so we're including yeah I put it at 25, which feels, again, may that might have been too aggressive, but 25.
00:15:55
Speaker
twenty five I'm going to say under. And i think I think honestly it would be almost a relief if he was under, if that makes sense, because it means that the wealth is being spread around a little bit.
00:16:08
Speaker
um Obviously, he could he could be over and have a bonkers season, but um I do think that a lot of those assist numbers last year were just by virtue of him being the only real creator on the team. So I'm going to go under, but I still expect him to have a good season.
00:16:23
Speaker
I I'm going to admit, I think I over indexed on this one. I think under, i think you'll be somewhere between 20 and 25, but yeah, like you can have, I mean, the thing is you can have a really good season to not have 25, a really good season and not have 25 gold contributions.
00:16:37
Speaker
If he has 25 gold contributions, I mean, I think the DP tag is more than justified, obviously. So, oh unquestionably yeah uh all right jordan morris this one i feel good about 14 goals because this is what he had last year yeah i feel like that's a good mark to hit for the over for the over under i'm gonna man i didn't give my answer on wrist neck i i'm sorry i'm oh no i did said i said oh sit under okay yeah yeah if this was vegas if i could actually place a bet i would push here i think 14 is perfect
00:17:12
Speaker
It's good. mean I mean, thought 14 was good. I'm going to say, do I care about being right or do I care about being optimistic?
00:17:25
Speaker
I'm going to say under, not because I think Jordan is going to regress necessarily, but just because I think he's not the only goal scorer on the team anymore.
00:17:37
Speaker
okay Okay. Hopefully. hopefully um Now, if this were all competitions, i think he's going to be way over. um And I'm not confident in this prediction at all. I'll just give that caveat.
00:17:50
Speaker
um But I will say under. under I'm going to go over and i'll here's my my thinking is i think Jesus, I think between Pereira, De La Vega and Rusnak, I think he has...
00:18:05
Speaker
maybe by a healthy margin, the most help in terms of players who are going to want to be getting him the ball and are capable of getting him the ball. Yeah. i I think this could be a big year for him. If he plays as the number nine, he stays healthy. I think he's going to go over.
00:18:23
Speaker
I think this could be a big year. I think you're right, but I'm going to stick with under. No, it's good. i don't actually i don't actually think that really. I don't think, but I'm going to stick with it. All right.
00:18:35
Speaker
Jesus Ferreira, 20 goal contributions. I think I went, I was a little aggressive on this one. I'm going to but what do you think? Yeah. um Maybe not. i don't know.
00:18:47
Speaker
oh You know what? I could, eat I don't think 10 and 10 is that crazy. no i was, i went under on Jordan, despite thinking that that was probably wrong. So I'm going to go over on Ferreira.
00:19:05
Speaker
despite thinking that's probably wrong. Yeah. I cancel each other out. Yeah. All right. Well, I'm also, I'm going to even though I do think this maybe too aggressive. I am starting to think that he might go over and it might be more like a eight, twelve like an eight 13 type of season. Yeah. Like eight goals. Like, I think he's going to have a lot of assists.
00:19:28
Speaker
Yeah. I think you're right. I think he is like he in, in preseason, he's looked like a play. Like he has scored a couple of goals and he's looked good, but he, he seems to really him and Jordan seem to be cooking a little bit with something there. Yeah. ah This is, this the next one I think is, is interesting. Pedro de la Vega. I put it 15 goals, which, you know, he's coming off a season where he had two, two goal contributions.
00:19:57
Speaker
I'm over. I'm going to go over. um I'm actually pretty confident in this one. I think he's to have a great year. ive I think he's looked fantastic in preseason. I think a lot of the pressure is going to be off.
00:20:09
Speaker
um I think if he doesn't hit this mark, a lot of the other guys are not going to be hitting their marks and maybe the season isn't going to be as good as we were hoping. um i really think I don't think that he's the make or break himself, but I think he's a bellwether, if that makes sense.
00:20:27
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I'm going to throw a ah curveball here. I'm going to go under, but this is my thinking on the under is that he's going to play so well early in the season that he ends up getting moved.
00:20:42
Speaker
I like that. And he doesn't finish the season here. And the Sounders end up selling him for, don't know, $10 million or something like that. Yeah. I love it. I love it.
00:20:52
Speaker
ah I think like that would be great. Yeah. There was an interesting anecdote I heard from a Sounders personnel person. And he said that of all the players that they get calls about, you would think, you know, Obed is the one who gets all the hype and, and, but the player that opposing scouts ask him about most often is Pedro, Pedro.
00:21:19
Speaker
And I think a lot of that is because he was a player who was um um on a lot of their radars before he joined the Sounders. And so they're just sort of like checking in on him. But I think there's a good chance that the world is sort of waiting for him to click.
00:21:35
Speaker
And man, he just looked so hungry in preseason. He looks like a new guy, a new man. Yeah, he looked to me the way he looked very early in the year last year before he got hurt.
00:21:48
Speaker
And if you remember, like it wasn't a whole lot of time before that happened, but he looked ridiculous, you know, in in his first couple appearances. So if he's back to that, I feel pretty good about it.
00:22:00
Speaker
Yeah. right. ah Obed Vargas. And this is a little different. Twenty five MLS games. So basically, do we think he's going to get transferred this Is he going to get transferred is the question, really?
00:22:14
Speaker
but I think yes, but I'm still going over because I think he's going to get sold and loaned back. I think it's going to be a Yedlin situation. yeah I'm going to go under. yeah go ahead. No, finish your thought. well i I was just going to say, i i think that teams recognize how much potential he has, and I think they recognize this kid can be really good.
00:22:33
Speaker
But I also think that they're going to say... it's probably better for him to finish the season in a situation where he's comfortable rather than coming in and being expected to contribute right away with a lot of pressure.
00:22:44
Speaker
um He is still young. He is. and And I think like if, if he's getting bought by ah European team, ah European first division team, ah which is, you know, those are the teams that are going to pay for him. Now, if he gets bought by like a championship team, which seems really unlikely to me, but if if something like that were to happen, maybe it's a different calculus. But I just don't know that he's going to step into the starting lineup in, you know, a mid-table first division top flight European team. I just, you know...
00:23:16
Speaker
Yeah, you actually I think you've made a very compelling argument. I'm going to stick with under just because i feel very confident that he's going to get transferred. And I'm going to stick with it i'm going to stick with under because that was I said first, and I don't want to be swayed by what you your argument because it's a very good argument and I actually buy it.
00:23:35
Speaker
I would not be at all surprised if a team like Atletico Madrid bought him. him and loaned him back like that would make a lot like ah an Atletico Madrid is the type of team that you're imagining I'm assuming saying like yeah we love this kid but we just don't we don't need him and we don't need him right now like we want to get him and we know that you want to get the money but he's not going to walk into our team and we'd rather he come in fresh you know at the start of a new season right Yeah. ah
00:24:05
Speaker
Yeah. So, yeah, I'm all right. I like those. All right. ah Christian rolled on 2,500 minutes. So basically the question is, do we think he's going to stay healthy all year?
00:24:17
Speaker
Oh, man. um For the sake of my sanity, I'm going to go over. Let look at something. Let me the mark you little Last year, he 2,800 minutes, probably what have in mind. But in...
00:24:32
Speaker
so last year he played twenty eight hundred minutes which is you know probably what you have in mind but in Four of the previous five seasons, he failed to hit 2,500.
00:24:51
Speaker
twenty He went 1,900, 2,300, 2,100, 1,200. That was obviously the big outlier. And a lot of that is because he was getting called into national team, which is not really a concern anymore. 2,800 might be more reflective. But 2,800, like to get over 20, the last time was 2,500, 37, the last time hit right around 2,500 minutes,
00:25:09
Speaker
thirty seven the last time he hit right around twenty five hundred minutes was in 2019 and that was 29 games that he played so to get over 2500 minutes you're basically talking about missing you know a couple games but staying healthy you know all year I'm going to say under, because I think even if he's, we're talking just about MLS and I think that there's going to be a lot of rotation, especially if the Sounders make a run and get in the champions cup, I think they're going to be just more willing to rotate.
00:25:43
Speaker
Although, i mean, if there's a guy that doesn't feel like he's somebody you can rotate out, uh, it might, it might be Christian just because there's not as much depth and in the defensive midfield, but, uh,
00:25:56
Speaker
I am going to go with under, but I I'm optimistic. He'll be able to stay healthy. I think that him having a position that is his own is actually going to be pretty good for his durability. Yeah. Yeah.
00:26:08
Speaker
yeah And I think it's a position of the position itself is one that I think lends itself. Like if you look at around the league, I feel like there are more defensive midfielders who are able to kind of play every game.
00:26:27
Speaker
You're not sprinting as much. You can conserve your energy a little bit more. It's a little more cerebral. um You're typically the one dealing out the and the challenges and rather than taking them as much as maybe attacking players. so Yeah, I will say so.
00:26:43
Speaker
Last year, if you had to guess, how many minutes do you think he played in all comps last year? If you just had to... take a guess well i know he played 2800 in mls would say like 3500 in all e 37 almost 3700 minutes so many minutes is that including the playoffs
00:27:00
Speaker
and all comes ah
00:27:06
Speaker
thirty seven almost three seven hundred so many minutes is is that including the playoffs Yeah, so you had 390 minutes in the playoffs, 242 minutes in the Open Cup, and then 420 in League's Cup.
00:27:23
Speaker
but So about how many minutes. That's a lot of minutes. um I mean, I think you could probably... No, go ahead. Well, I was just going to say it could be predictive either way, right? like Maybe it means he's durable or maybe it means he's got a lot of miles on the um the tires, you know?
00:27:41
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, he was kind of he made up for lost time. You could say. Absolutely. you're like Like he. he so
00:27:49
Speaker
Good. Okay. I haven't made my call yet. I'm going to I'm going to say under also. I just feel like he's going to be rotated out more often. i feel like it's. Yeah.
00:28:01
Speaker
I guess I was wrong. 2,500 minutes is not whether or not he's going to stay healthy. It's really whether or not he's going to get rotated potentially. And I, I kind of hope he plays less than 2,500 minutes in MLS play because I really do hope the Sounders are aggressive about rotating.
00:28:16
Speaker
All right. This is an interesting one.
00:28:21
Speaker
It's Andrew Thomas starts and I put at 10, feels high. Yeah. hi
00:28:29
Speaker
but I'm to let you. yeah and this is this is just an MLS, obviously. I think I think all of these aside from total competitive games is.
00:28:40
Speaker
Is. Just an L.S. Man, it's tough because. i can easily see a world in which he starts in games. He started five last year.
00:28:55
Speaker
um
00:28:57
Speaker
and I think the Sounders weren't really interested in rotating Fry last year. And I think maybe. i mean, they they i were they were not rotating him out of it. They, you know, they gave him a lot of games off in leagues cup and open cup play. Yeah. But they, yeah they did not. I don't think they set them once for rotation reasons in MLS play.
00:29:18
Speaker
Like they only sat him for leagues cup and open cup. For. Yeah. And the, There was definitely, I think, an acknowledgement from the team, and I think even from Stephen Bry himself, that having that huge break for League's Cup was really good for him and and why he was able to be sort of at his best down the stretch and in the playoffs.
00:29:40
Speaker
And they're not going to have that this year, right? They're going to have Club World Cup, but the break is not going to be the same. However, I'm still going to go under. I think they may be more willing to to rotate him for those midweek MLS games this year, maybe.
00:29:54
Speaker
um But I still think 10, I mean, 10 starts is. reds Okay. there If I did seven, if let's just say it was like, I'm not going to renege on it, but let's just say I did seven. yeah Would you, would that have felt changed your mind?
00:30:09
Speaker
i would I would probably go with the over, yeah. Because I think you've got to expect a goalkeeper to miss a couple of games. I think seven is another I would probably push if there was actually money on this situation. and Okay.
00:30:22
Speaker
Well, I'm going to go over. And I i am i think this is what's i think the Sounders sort of see the writing on the wall a little bit. And I think what they're...
00:30:33
Speaker
going to maybe do is treat champions league. Like it's fries tournament. And then if they make a run in Champions League, I think there could be some league rotation where Thomas is getting a bunch of starts in league play. And then I think similarly in late in the season, when they're in leagues cup, they may do the same thing where they flip flop it and they give Fry leagues cup and they give Thomas league play. i don't know. We'll see. yeah But I do think that that because I hope they I kind of hope he goes over because.
00:31:13
Speaker
i don't I mean, I just don't know if Fry is back. Like, we had this question, the same question two years ago, right? Whether or not Fry was going to be back. And they're going to be asking that question again.
00:31:25
Speaker
yeah and i and and i And if they think Fry isn't, if Thomas is your starter next year, I feel like this is, you need to start giving him more MLS minutes. Yeah, I totally agree.
00:31:37
Speaker
and And I think no player wants that, but... I think Fry probably has to understand that to some degree, right? As long as he's still getting the biggest games.
00:31:49
Speaker
Right. Yeah. I mean, I think you, you, you want him for your biggest games, but your biggest games might not be regular season games right now. Yeah. All right.
00:31:59
Speaker
ah Paul Areola, 10 goal contributions. So this would actually be lower than what he had last year, but he's also going to be playing more of a defensive role.
00:32:12
Speaker
True. um I'm going to go over. i think, I think he's a, I think he's a good bet to get six or seven assists probably. he'll probably pick up a goal or here, here, there. So, um, yeah, if we were just doing primary assists, I would definitely go under, but I think, I think 10 is reasonable.
00:32:34
Speaker
Um, yeah, I'm going to go, I'm going to go over too. I think he's going to be reasonably productive. all right. Uh, This is Paul Rosrock 12 goal contributions. This would be an increase over last year, but he really only played like half the season last year.
00:32:53
Speaker
He did, but he was a starter for that half a season. He was. That's true. So maybe so maybe I should say pull maybe we should maybe this should be all goal all competitions. All competitions.
00:33:04
Speaker
OK. Yeah. Let's go over all competitions. I think it makes it more interesting. Yeah. I'll go over. Yeah. Okay. So last year, just to be clear, he had he only had seven ah goal contributions in MLS play last year.
00:33:21
Speaker
But he had 13 starts. I don't think he's going to get 13 starts in MLS play this year. i But in all competitions, 12. twelve I would say, I hope he goes over.
00:33:33
Speaker
Yeah. hope I think if they have any kind of open cup run he's probably going to pick up a few there. well you won't They're not going to be in the open cup, but if they have a league, he'll probably get leagues cut minutes. He'll probably get like, and I think he, I think what's going to be interesting is where he ends up playing. Cause I think he could play.
00:33:51
Speaker
either as a wingback or sort of in one of those dual 10 spots. And I think that will likely ah influence his goal contributions. Right.
00:34:05
Speaker
For sure. Well, and I think too, he's probably, if the Sounders are trailing late, he's a guy you want off the bench, right. Or if you chase in a goal. So I think he's, I mean, if I had a guess, that's where he's going to pick up at least like half of his goal contributions in the league. Right. Situations like that, rather than spot starts.
00:34:21
Speaker
ah You're going over as well, I believe, right? Yeah, i'm I'm going over. All right. this is i don't Honestly, I don't even know. but I just like threw out a number here. I don't even know what the the like the ah realistic benchmark for this should be.
00:34:37
Speaker
But I said Georgie Minungu, successful dribbles, And I set it 70, which I think is a lot. I should have checked to see. Yeah.
00:34:50
Speaker
well Like, OK, so i am i am looking at his stat page right now. And he had. Let's see. um
00:35:03
Speaker
God damn it.
00:35:07
Speaker
He had.
00:35:10
Speaker
30, okay, he had 18 successful dribbles last year, but he only played 200 minutes. Yeah.
00:35:21
Speaker
So, like, if he, like, so 70 doesn't actually, if he were to, like, he he was averaging, i think, four successful dribbles per 90 last year.
00:35:33
Speaker
Right, which is just off the top in the league, higher than Messi. Yeah. ah You know what's interesting? Pedro de la Vega was fourth in the league in successful jumbles per 90 last year.
00:35:47
Speaker
Oh, that is interesting. I did not know that. um I'm going under still, I think. What is it, four per 90? So if he plays... He'd have to play a lot.
00:35:59
Speaker
He'd have to play a lot. yeah I'm going to go under. let's ah Okay. It would be really funny if he if you did the hit the over. So where there were, like, good just to give it some context, if he had 70 successful dribbles, he would have you would ah ranked fifth in MLS last year.
00:36:17
Speaker
But there were I mean, there were players who but and but but all the guys who are above him are would be are like stars. It's like Denny Buonga, Lucci Acosta, Bernadeschi, Santi Rodriguez, and then Ricky Pooj had 69.
00:36:33
Speaker
sixty nine ah Yeah, it's like a who's who of of attacking talent. Yeah, it's probably under, but I just thought it was fun.
00:36:46
Speaker
If anybody can do it in like 1200 minutes, it's exactly.
00:36:57
Speaker
Yeah, it would be. ah ah I guess. Are you going under? I'm going under. Yeah. I'll go over. I'm assuming you are You'll go over. Why not?
00:37:08
Speaker
Yeah, why not? Why not? There's nothing actually on the line. No, exactly. Why not? That would be a great one to get the hit. Yeah. All right. This is where the last one we're going to Stu Hawkins.
00:37:23
Speaker
10 MLS appearances. Now he has never played. And now he's eight. He's an 18 year old center back. You're going to probably find out a lot more about If you don't know who he is yet, you are surely going to know who he is by this time next year.
00:37:35
Speaker
But he has not yet made his MLS day. This is going to be his third MLS season, technically, because he was signed in 2023. He
00:37:47
Speaker
he balled out with Tacoma Defiance last year. And so basically this question is, do you think he's going to go on loan? Essentially, it's like, do you think he's going to go on loan or is he going to stay here?
00:37:58
Speaker
um I mean, 10 appearances in MLS.
00:38:05
Speaker
I could see him playing a decent number of minutes and not hitting that number. um Yeah. I mean, there aren't very many teenage center backs who have 10 MLS appearances in a season. Yeah. It's a small, a very small. It's like one hand and you could count them on probably. Yeah.
00:38:20
Speaker
I'm going to go. going to go under, but I do think he'll get some time with the first team this year. I definitely think he'll get some time with the first team this year.
00:38:29
Speaker
I here's what I think might happen is I think he might go on loan for part of the first part of the year and then come back. And 10 was too, 10 was too high, I think, but I do think he's going to play a lot.
00:38:44
Speaker
I'm going to go under, but I think he's going to get, i think he's going to get significant first team time this year is what I'll say. 10 was probably too aggressive on my over under. I didn't think that through enough, but i I do really think that part of what the thinking was in terms of trading Josh Potensio was that they see Stu already ahead of him on the depth chart. He's 18 years old.
00:39:11
Speaker
he he He was one of the best panistss passing center backs in MLS Next Pro last year. And then the other player who I think made it easier was Snyder Burnell.
00:39:23
Speaker
He's a 17-year-old midfielder. i don't I think he'll get signed to a first-team contract this year. He's not currently signed to a first-team contract. But I think those are the two players that really factored into the decision to trade Potensio.
00:39:37
Speaker
But um anyway, i'll go I'll go under on that one. And we just bagged 40 minutes of our mailbag show without addressing a single question from our mailbag.
00:39:53
Speaker
I should add that all these mailbag questions are submitted through Discord. And if you want to be get in on that Discord action, support us by becoming a supporter on Sounder at Heart.
00:40:06
Speaker
Those plans start at $75 a year. And really, the Discord is... Like i i say in the ad that it's where the smartest, funniest, and most engaged comment... I mean, it's true. I mean, I don't know about the funniest and smartest. That's probably...
00:40:23
Speaker
That's probably hyperbole. I don't know. But for sure, the most engaged. Like i was i was out today for most of the I was visiting friends. I you spent like two hours catching up on Discord messages.
00:40:38
Speaker
Yeah, so it was been a busy couple days in there. For sure. think people are getting antsy. Right. Exactly. ah it it it's I mean, if you like to read people talking about the sounders.
00:40:53
Speaker
There's not a lot of places that you can get more of that action than on our discord. Sometimes it's, I'll admit it. There are times where it feels like it might be too much, but um it's like real sicko stuff. If you're a sicko, if you're a sounder sicko, this is you will find, you will find your people.
00:41:14
Speaker
I can tell you that. Yep. Absolutely. But all right, well, let's jump into the questions. Let's do it. what You want to you want to start? Yeah, I'll kick us off. The first one's from Matt P. Whitney.
00:41:27
Speaker
My question pertains to the war of the Nosadietas intro. It would be fun to hear you give brief context to each of the clips. For example, is Will Bruin feeling as sarcastic as he sounds doing the read for Sounder at Heart?
00:41:38
Speaker
I think if identified all the announcer calls on the intro and the last cup Champions League new who goal. I know Dempsey's voice, but I can't identify the others. Yeah, so i don't have it in front of me. And I will let if Lickett wants to jump in and cut in some audio of him answering this question, I think that would be fun diversion.
00:41:58
Speaker
But I will say there's the one that throws people off the most is. Brian Schmetzer talking about. us and he he mentioned Sounder at Heart.
00:42:11
Speaker
saying that they didn't take the open cup seriously. And that is, so that's that reference. And, and yeah, we'll, we'll took direction. You know, we, ah we went back and forth on, on the right way to read that ad.
00:42:24
Speaker
And, you know, it took a couple of takes, but that was, i think he's being genuinely sarcastic. we We wrote it for him I don't know He did it. He he did it justice.
00:42:37
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. You know ah Will much better than I do, but I definitely think he's being intentionally sarcastic.
00:42:47
Speaker
i mean, we I thought it thought it worked. I loved it. It does. hope people know it's great. I hope people like it. um All right. This is from Bard. Speaking of very ah prolific discord members.
00:43:00
Speaker
ah Now that the senior roster is pretty much locked in place, which supplemental roster young kid do you think is the highest chance of breaking out this year? He doesn't want to to, he's not talking about Georgie who who's already had his breakout. He's talking about, he says his choice would be Snyder Brunel, who I just mentioned, but he wants to know more about like these other guys that, uh,
00:43:19
Speaker
You know, like they signed Leo Bernie this year. They signed Travion Sousa. There's this bear kid who is a draft pick. i don't know. You can go wherever direction you want on this. But who's your pick for breakout player?
00:43:35
Speaker
um I mean, I'll go with the, I guess, the easy route and say Hawkins. Hawkins. okay um I think you know he's he's the one that seems most likely to be in line to get the most minutes. And I think there's there's a chance, considering that they're going to be playing with three center backs a lot, that if he looks really good and takes advantage of the minutes he gets, that that they're going to work him into a rotation, just like they did with Obed and Atensio before him to some degree and and Baker Whiting. I think that when the younger guys show something, the Sounders make minutes for them.
00:44:11
Speaker
you know, they find minutes for them. So um yeah, that's kind of a cop out, I guess. But that's going to be my pick. Yeah, I think I think that's a I think there's a boldness to it.
00:44:22
Speaker
ah So i'm I'm sure what what Bard wanted us to mention is is Kalani Kosarianzu, who is not signed currently. Yeah, but first team contract. I think he has Both him and Brunel have been training with the first. we're We're training with the first team as recently as Monday.
00:44:43
Speaker
And I think he's got a chance to, you know, I i actually wrote a story on Sounder at Heart.
00:44:52
Speaker
About like, I think it's seven young players to be paying attention to. Kalani was on there. He's 22. He is a former draft pick.
00:45:02
Speaker
But he has the athleticism, I think, to potentially overtake Alex. Maybe not permanently, but he i think he could really do a good job of playing the role that Alex is playing with the first team.
00:45:17
Speaker
And i think he probably has the most potential to sort of break out. as ah if you're if we're it's like Georgie's off the table, I think he's got... you know and I would imagine if Georgie's off the table, then Reid Baker Whiting is probably off the table too.
00:45:30
Speaker
So yeah, I think Kalani is probably a good Kalani Kosarianzi, who I think people will like. he he if you or curious If you don't know who I'm talking about, he's the guy who scored the goal against Phoenix Rising and then did the very impressive full layout after a yeah scoring that.
00:45:51
Speaker
I do think that right wing back is where when I look at the squad, I say that's the spot that there's There should be some real competition for. So next one's from Eric.
00:46:02
Speaker
What is the thinking around bringing in a CB to the defiance on loan? Isn't that spot better used to develop one of our existing players? Are there other factors here beyond player development? So right now, the only center backs on the defiance roster are Tino Lopez.
00:46:19
Speaker
And I think Kato Yamada, who is the player that you're talking about. and Yamada is an intriguing prospect. i i My understanding is the Sounders were, this is not so much a favor.
00:46:36
Speaker
It's not like this is a favor to Kobe bring him in. I think the Sounders really wanted to get a look at him. He's six foot three. He has played for the, I think the U20 team in Japan's U20 team.
00:46:52
Speaker
And he needs, I mean, he needs minutes. he He hasn't broken into Kobe yet, but I think he's a player. The Sounders really like, I think he, i so I don't think he is just here to sort of like a goodwill gesture. I think the Sounders could give him or not the Sounders right now, the defiance might really give him minutes, but I think the Sounders want to get a serious look at this player.
00:47:14
Speaker
So I think that makes sense. I think this is what, the Defiant should should be doing. They should be bringing in players like this on loan and getting closer looks at players who they might be able to bring in to the first team at a younger age from outside the organization. Like you can't just be using it on Academy players. You you have to be supplementing it. I think.
00:47:38
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, if you look at the the players, the Sounders have had success bringing in from outside of the Academy that have made it to the first team through that pipeline. yeahho um Great.
00:47:49
Speaker
Perfect example. Georgie, you know, plenty of, plenty of guys. um So yeah, I think, I think it makes all the sense in the world. Yeah.
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00:47:59
Speaker
I, yeah, I, I totally agree.
00:48:01
Speaker
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00:48:14
Speaker
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00:48:27
Speaker
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00:48:43
Speaker
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00:48:52
Speaker
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00:49:05
Speaker
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00:49:22
Speaker
Just to make things extra easy, we'll put a link in the show notes too. Thanks.
00:49:29
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00:50:30
Speaker
All right. Oh, I don't, I am not sure I know how to say this name. Death or Amida? I put it there on purpose, by the way. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. Am i right to think that the academy has produced mid to backfield players better than it has outright offensive weapons?
00:50:45
Speaker
Do first team signings reflect that? Does roster composition take it into consideration? Grow defensive midfielders and defensive players sign frontline players? I think you have largely got it. Yeah, I think that yeah um it's really hard to develop exceptionally good attacking players.
00:51:05
Speaker
Um, it's not something the U S has historically been good at. i think we're getting better at it, but, um, and I think also a lot of the players that end up playing in defensive midfield are not playing there with the defiance or and in the Academy, right? They're attacking players.
00:51:20
Speaker
But if you're investing a ton, yeah, if you're investing a ton of money, um, you know, and you're, attacking talent at the MLS ah level, then those players are going tend to move back. It's sort of like the, the what's the the defensive spectrum in baseball, right? Where everybody's a shortstop in high school and then, right.
00:51:39
Speaker
Yeah. ever You know, it's the same kind of picture in high school. Yeah. Same, same kind of concept here. um And I think also if you are an exceptional attacking player and you are getting, you know, national team call-ups as U 17 player,
00:51:56
Speaker
ah the odds are much better that you're going to get snapped up before you make it to the first team, because those are the, those are the players that, you know, European clubs are going after before they make it to, to the, to the pros for lack of a better term. So yeah, I think it's like a combination of all of those things.
00:52:15
Speaker
It is. And at the same time, it's worth remembering that maybe the Sounders most successful Academy player ever is Jordan Morris. Yeah. And yes I think you can argue he wasn't necessarily developed by the Sounders in the Academy. Like he went to college and did all that, that stuff, but you you know, it it does happen. It's just that it's, it's, it's a little, you know, like a it's more, it's going to be more rare.
00:52:41
Speaker
It's going to be more rare. All right. Or you're up, I guess. ah Yeah. This one's from Neftalin. Which Sounders homered homegrown, homegrown,
00:52:53
Speaker
other than Obed and Atencio as well, to just a timestamp when this question was asked, do you think will be the next player to be sold for 1 million plus in Gam, Tam or Ram? How long do you think it will be before something like that happens?
00:53:06
Speaker
Well, yeah, i I have to say that selling Josh Atencio for potentially $1.6 million dollars in general allocation money is quite a haul. It's,
00:53:18
Speaker
The most money the sounder No, I guess they made more on Deandre but it's this it's like the second most money they've ever made on a on a homegrown player. It's a it's a huge sum of money. It's like the sick potentially the sixth most valuable allocation money move in MLS history.
00:53:36
Speaker
ah So that's, that's a ah legitimate feather in the cap of the Academy, I think, to be able to produce player who could draw that kind. of And they, and the sounders really did produce ah tensio. I mean, he signed, you he started playing for the Academy at 14 and was here until he was 23.
00:53:53
Speaker
and the centers, you know, it's it sucks to see him go and I would have liked to seen him. I mean, he's a player who could have probably played here until he was in his mid 30s, you know, ah but I think he this does give him an opportunity to become his full closer to his full potential because I think he was maybe stuck a little bit in the depth chart.
00:54:14
Speaker
And i'm I'm a big believer in his talent. And, you know, so I'm glad to see him go. But who the next or i'm um' I hope I hope in the best wish for him the best. ah Who's next, though?
00:54:27
Speaker
i mean, the easy answer is to say Reed Baker Whiting, I guess. Maybe it's not easy right now. I mean, he's hurt and there's a chance that, you know, maybe he's just never going fulfill.
00:54:40
Speaker
ah Other than him, i mean, Stu Hawkins, I would say is probably a good shout. I could see him being a big sale at some point. Yeah.
00:54:51
Speaker
Like he he has really high potential for that. You know, you look at American. ahead. ah American center backs are like and goalkeeper is like the one position that is not, I think, undervalued on the global market.
00:55:09
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, I'd say the next the next most valuable player after Obed might be Hawkins in terms of what he's able to fetch.
00:55:20
Speaker
That's yeah not quite the question you asked, but. maybe Yeah, I think there's still still a chance for Reed. But I think at this point, the more likely
Sounders Roster and Management Strategies
00:55:30
Speaker
scenario is that he goes from being sort of the Obed caliber player of this is a guy we can sell for a lot of money to maybe the Atencio caliber of player of this is a guy who can be a really good MLS player for long time.
00:55:42
Speaker
um Yeah, which is which is not nothing. No, this from two left feet. I had a little back and forth at Aaron in December when he expressed that there was a very small universe, paraphrasing, ah where he would consider bringing JP back, understanding that it is early days. The commentary I've been hearing suggests that narrow universe might have been negotiated.
00:56:02
Speaker
What are your current thoughts on JP's role in 2025? I mean, if I were the GM, I probably wouldn't have wanted to bring him back. um I think. But are you, let's say like Zoe, but are you, how do you, now that he's back, how do you feel before we get into the actual question? How do you feel about being back? It's not ah it's not a problem, right? I think that it's, there, there's like this hierarchy of moves that I would make versus not make, right? And I think this is one that I would not have made. i don't think it makes a ton of sense, but I don't think it's actively a problem. I think he's a good player who if his minutes are being managed can contribute.
00:56:36
Speaker
um He is, by all accounts, a ah great teammate and potentially mentor for some of the younger guys ah that can do a really effective job at at times. It's just, um I would much rather Josh Atencio have been prioritized, but I also think he probably got brought back because Brian doesn't seem to trust Josh Atencio, right? And so that they were willing to bring back JP and move Atencio to center back and then move him to Colorado suggests that It just wasn't going to happen for him.
00:57:06
Speaker
I think if there was a pathway for Josh getting the kind of minutes I would have liked to see him get in defensive midfield, they probably wouldn't resign JP. So um I think that it's a spot they needed to fill. I think especially if they're going to target a U22 defensive midfielder, I think it's nice to have a guy that can provide cover in the short term that you feel pretty comfortable is not going to block that player in the long term. So still not a move I would have made.
00:57:31
Speaker
Don't think it's actively a problem with the with the roster. Yeah, I mean, i I think the reasoning for bringing him back was this. They wanted a reliable... veteran to be able to eat up some minutes.
00:57:46
Speaker
I don't think he's going to start a lot. Like I wouldn't be at all. So i won't be shocked if he starts the season opener, to be honest with you. I think that you're going to go with their a lineup against Antigua and then they could maybe bring in some like that's a position where I think they might rotate a little bit early on. So I think he's going to get some important minutes. he looks really fit though.
00:58:07
Speaker
I wrote about how he looks fit. He's looked sharp. So um I mean, I think he's if if they can limit him to, you know, twelve hundred to fifteen hundred minutes. I think that's a nice sweet spot for him to be because I think he can be really useful in that kind of time.
00:58:24
Speaker
And if they, you know, we'll see. We'll see. Yeah.
00:58:31
Speaker
yeah Next one is from Sean Wheeler. What are the top positions of interest for U22 summer signing? What player performances are moving in the first half of the season? We'll narrow that down. So it is interesting. The Sounders technically have three open U22 spots, which is a lot. I don't think they're going to go out and sign three U22s.
00:58:51
Speaker
I think at least one of those is earmarked for someone already on the roster. Maybe two of them might be earmarked for someone on the roster. Like they Danny Leyva, for instance, they could throw U-22 tag on and save like $70,000, $80,000 against the salary cap, which is not a lot, but you know it's something.
00:59:13
Speaker
and But it's also similar to what they were doing with Atencio, frankly. So it's it wouldn't be that different. But I think they're going to... My gut tells me they're going to go with a forward, but I wouldn't be surprised if they go with a defensive midfielder.
00:59:30
Speaker
But they could go honestly, they could. I don't I'm going to say forward for the sake of this question, but I don't I don't I really don't know where they're going. I think they they want to. Look around and yeah see what it The especially ones you spend the transfer fees on do not seem like a me like we're going to find a player we need. It seems like a best player available sort of situation.
00:59:55
Speaker
um where you're going to identify the player that you feel like is the best use of that spot and the best use of of your the transfer for your pain and the best potential for a future return. um and And yeah, like to me, I'd love to see them sign a forward.
01:00:10
Speaker
I think there's there would be ah some some benefit to signing a defensive midfielder that you feel like can fill that role for ah long time that you're comfortable bringing along slowly.
01:00:22
Speaker
But I do think it's just going to be whatever young guy they see that that makes their ears perk up the most, most likely. yeah Yeah. ah I think it also depends on how much of a budget they end up getting. Like if they have a $5 million dollar budget, which is not, I think a reasonable, given the way that they've spent money over the last yeah three years,
01:00:45
Speaker
They should have a $5 million dollars budget as far as I'm concerned. like that should be They should be able to negotiate that. ah And if they have that kind of money, I think you want to spend it in the attack. but Yeah, that's totally a fair point.
01:00:59
Speaker
We'll see. All right, this is from Better Than. He says, which players are you most worried? Dave Clark, which players are you most worried about regressing not due to injury? Yeah.
01:01:12
Speaker
I'm going to answer this two different ways. would say the player I expect to regress the most without it being injury related is is Albert, just because I think that for reasons we talked about in the over under segment, right?
01:01:25
Speaker
I think it's, it's unlikely he puts up the same kind of counting numbers. He does. um The player that I am the most, I don't think that he is likely to regress, but the player who, if he regresses, it's a big, big problem is, is Jordan.
01:01:41
Speaker
I think. Hmm. um and i'm I'm not expecting it. I think he's going to have a great year. um i'm I'm excited about him finally getting the chance to... Yeah, that's a good... Yeah, but but if he regresses, it could be a real issue for sure.
01:01:57
Speaker
I'll say Albert is the player who I think can maybe afford regress and it not be quite as debilitating. I also think...
01:02:09
Speaker
he's the player most likely to regress. I mean, that was a career. He had a career year last year. And, you know, we'll see how he's able to maintain that.
01:02:21
Speaker
But yeah, I guess worried the player I'm probably most worried about is, is Jordan just because it would suck. But I also think Ferreira is good cover. Like they've never had that good a cover for. That's true. That's true.
01:02:38
Speaker
ahll throw I'll throw out Yamar too. Yeah, I think Yamar is the... Yeah. Yamar is probably actually the right answer to the quotes of the question, I guess, in the spirit of which it was asked.
01:02:51
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Like if he if he suddenly starts to look old, it's that is a problem. Yep.
01:03:01
Speaker
This one's from Dondo. Yep. ah how do you expect the team to use the cap and roster space created with the attention trade? Well, unfortunately, I think it's the unsexy answer of, i think I think they're going to end up using it sort of to bolster the roster more than like dramatically improve the roster.
01:03:24
Speaker
I think what it does really is it allows them to go out and spend whatever they need to spend to bring in a u twenty two and then not worry about anything else. ah Because all you got to do, frankly, is look at what's going on with the LA galaxy right now.
01:03:39
Speaker
Yeah. They traded, they traded Gaston Brugman to Nashville for Sean Davis, basically. And with who made a little less money, not a lot less money. And because they, I don't know, i don't understand this, but they're going to end up buying out Sean Davis or maybe they bought him out already.
01:04:01
Speaker
They did. Yeah. And he here's a player who's a perfectly good player. like I mean, the Sounders would be very smart, I think, to see if they could pick up Sean Davis on a free, but it,
01:04:13
Speaker
they must've mismanaged their cap so badly to trade for a player and then have to cut him. They could have traded presumably Brugman to other teams and gotten less in return and not had to worry about buying him out. I mean, it's just a weird situation. And I think the Sounders are just honestly, deathly afraid of being in that scene. Like they are much more worried about having to unbuild their roster than they are about,
01:04:40
Speaker
maximizing it. And i think that that's, um, you can criticize them for that. I think it's a fair thing to criticize them for, but I also think it's what keeps them competitive every single year is they, they don't have to unbuild their roster the way that other teams sometimes have had to do.
01:04:58
Speaker
That is the thing that always gets lost in the discussion about why can't we build a team like LA, like the galaxies? And the answer is that it's not sustainable. They were a trash fire for half a decade and they had one fantastic year.
01:05:14
Speaker
And you can argue it was worth it. Absolutely. Absolutely. But
01:05:20
Speaker
I don't think it would feel worth it when you were in year four of that trash fire, you know? Right. It didn't feel worth it in 2023. That's for sure. Right. Right. Yeah.
01:05:31
Speaker
And if they hadn't won, know, the Sounders, I mean, it would be, can you imagine if, if the Sounders had won, won that Western conference final, the galaxy would basically be in the same same situation. Like I know will Coons has been willing to tell everyone who would listen that the main reason they're having to unbuild their rosters because of all these bonuses that hit.
01:05:49
Speaker
I I'm sure that's making things worse, but I don't think for a second that this is a situation born out of bonuses. This is a situation where they went and signed Marco Royce for max Tam when they clearly did not have that in the budget for this year.
01:06:07
Speaker
Yeah, and didn't didn't need it. he He didn't. He didn't even add anything to the team. No, he didn't. You know, it's it's crazy, man. I mean, kudos to them for putting together a really good team last year.
01:06:20
Speaker
And maybe maybe they won't be as hurt by all this as as it seems like they will be. But um i do think that. it it is the nuance that gets lost a lot of time when we talk about teams like the Galaxy.
01:06:34
Speaker
Yeah. uh all right this one is from
01:06:43
Speaker
sounder monkey how do you see new who and alex fitting into the new formation good question yeah i think new who is a little more straightforward i i don't think he is left wing back in any planet on any planet in any system anywhere
01:07:00
Speaker
But Alex is is interesting because I think he i think there's a chance he might be more well suited to right wing back. I think that when he had a more purely not purely attacking role, but a role where he was much more central to the attack and he wasn't being asked to defend quite as much.
01:07:18
Speaker
He was much more effective in the attack. And I think last year where he was asked to do a lot of defending and also contribute in the attack, it it was um ah big problem. So I'm excited to see what he can do at right when may bring wing back with, with a little bit less defensive responsibility, what he's going to have to produce because if he doesn't have that defensive responsibility, needs to be contributing much more in the attack than he did last year. So I'm, it's going to be really interesting. And there are guys that I feel like if they're not knocking on the door, they're guys that at least provide another option. Reed Baker, Whiting,
01:07:56
Speaker
um being the most obvious example. And that's also a position that if they do have some additional cap space after they make a U22 signing, that they could, um, you know, potentially improve within the league with a trade or or something like that. If they do have a little bit of cap space that that they got from the attention to trade. So, um, I, I think their roles are pretty clear.
01:08:18
Speaker
i feel really good about new who's ability to hold down that left center back spot. Um, and be really effective there. I think it's his best position. I think he's, i think he is an elite MLS left center back and I think he is ah below average MLS left back.
01:08:33
Speaker
And so I'm pretty happy to see him in that spot. Alex is, I'm actually pretty optimistic, but I think his, his position's a lot less secure. i I would agree with that assessment. I think new who's going thrive.
01:08:48
Speaker
Frank, like I think this is a, he might be the player who this suits best in terms of clarifying his role and just being like, no, you're a left center. You're a left center back. You're not a, you're not a left back.
01:09:02
Speaker
You're left center back. ah And Alex is, I think Alex has the potential to be very good in this role, but I think he, it does put more pressure on him. I think it puts more, they they need production out of that spot. They got no production from their fullbacks last year. I mean, almost, almost none.
01:09:16
Speaker
Like literally ah they, they need some production out of their wingbacks and they can't afford to have Alex have it ah one goal to assist season, you know, he needs to put up counting stats. And I think they're going to, he's going to get pressure. I think that it's going to be Kalani is probably going to be pressuring him. I think Roth rock may end up pressuring him a little bit.
01:09:39
Speaker
Yeah. Reed could end up pressuring him. ah I don't necessarily think Cody Baker is going to push him too hard, but there are other players on this team who could, take those minutes and I think, you know, ah I think the formation suits him but it also that gets put up or shut up time.
01:10:00
Speaker
Yep, absolutely. ah This one is from JLo. When we play pick up pretty much anywhere south of downtown or even some parks on the east side, the fields are loaded with a lot of young people of color and particularly Latinx and East African participants.
01:10:14
Speaker
But anecdotally, I don't really see these people at Sounders games. Shouldn't an organization with one of its primary concerns being a recently more stagnant fan base and game experience be prioritizing giving these soccer loving communities inroads to Sounders fandom? Or is it something they are doing but unsuccessfully?
01:10:29
Speaker
Well, I do think they're doing something. I think that if you look at where they are putting the the urban pitches, it's almost all in communities of color.
01:10:45
Speaker
ah They are doing a very good job, I think, a very effective job of getting their branding into these communities and doing what feels like organic outreach and and speaking to these communities. what they But you're right. I don't see these...
01:11:04
Speaker
efforts showing up in crowds at Sounders games. But I do think that's part of what makes champions league so valuable. I think it has, it's part of what makes leagues cup potentially valuable is, you know, bringing more of these communities of color to see,
01:11:21
Speaker
their teams or their people that teams that are representing their countries playing in these, in these games. And so I think that those are valuable. I don't have a good answer for how they can be better at it because I don't have a good handle on what they're doing beyond, you know, like the urban pitches and, and have like, I know they have people on staff whose job is to do some of this outreach. Yeah.
01:11:45
Speaker
but I'm sure they could be better. And I think that they have to be, i think one of the things that's happened over the last few years is the Sounders sort of have over indexed their existing fans whoever those fans are, it's like, we want to maximize these fans more than we are worried about bringing in new fans. And I think that's a backwards approach.
01:12:12
Speaker
And I hope that this year we start to see that change because I think that this is sort of a indicator of that, like how they have not, like, I do think the centers are more relevant in the market than probably any other MLS team.
01:12:27
Speaker
but you're not seeing that relevance showing up at the stadium all the time. And I think that that's something that they can absolutely do better is attracting these fans to the games. Cause I think it's important to grow, to grow the fan base.
01:12:42
Speaker
You know, it's not about just doing it's not, there's no like the main reason to do it is cause it's a smart business decision, I guess is what I'm saying. Yeah. And I think, I mean, this is something we've been talking about on the show well before attendance started being a concern, right?
01:12:58
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. It did seem like the the fan base does not necessarily reflect the the community at large. And especially the soccer-loving community, right? yeah exactly. um and And I think that, I mean, I do think like affordability and accessibility has got to be part of that consideration as well.
01:13:17
Speaker
um It's when you're trying to sell the team to people, um The fact that it costs so much more than it used to has got to be very barrier to entry for some people. For sure.
01:13:30
Speaker
And so i think I think things like working with ECS to to get ticket prices lower in the Brom end is ah is a great start. But that's not going to be the experience everybody wants, and I think that's totally fair.
01:13:41
Speaker
And I think working to do that in other parts of the stadium would be a really good start. and doing outreach in those communities specifically and saying, Hey, like we want you to come try this and we're going to make it really accessible and affordable to you.
01:13:54
Speaker
ah and let's just see if, you know, if it's something that sticks. And and I think that that kind of outreach would be great. um and And welcome. I don't know how likely they are to do it, but. And to to kind of follow up on the, on the something you just said, I believe this year,
01:14:12
Speaker
and this is a good step, I think, MLM or the Sounders started doing, lowering tickets for supporter. Like ECS is now able to sell tickets for, I think $19, as low as $19.74 for some games.
01:14:26
Speaker
And that's, I'm sure that's the lowest that they've ever been able to sell tickets for. I know the Sounders have previously had, like student deals where they could sell them for that low, but they weren't in ECS.
01:14:38
Speaker
And that's probably where they want those fans to be. And so I think it's smart to start letting them into ECS. So, and and I think they they like they have...
01:14:50
Speaker
I don't know if if those are restricted or whatever, but there are ECS tickets that you can get on a single game basis for that price. And i think that's a good move. I think it's a good first step because I think yeah that's one thing that Sounders games have almost undeniably gotten less...
01:15:07
Speaker
accessible for a lot of fans and yeah that's that's you know we can bemoan that all we want but that's the reality and anyway yeah this is from boomstick 315 if when do we folks at do the folks at fifa hit the panic button on club world cup sales uh and the and i'll know that there was just a story about them reducing prices for some of the knockout games and in some of the markets, although it doesn't appear to be the case in Seattle, especially for the non UEFA games.
01:15:40
Speaker
What prompt and change? And if it doesn't, how badly will empty stadiums damage this already controversial competition?
01:15:48
Speaker
Yeah, I don't. I think that the club world cup being this way is going to be, this is going to be it. i I'm still a big time club World Cup skeptic. I'm going to go to the games and have fun. my nephew is is super excited to be able to go and see PSG.
01:16:09
Speaker
um It's going to be a cool event, but it is not what FIFA seems to want it to be. It's never going to be what FIFA seems to want it to be unless there are major structural changes in world soccer where um there's not a clear best top of the heap federation and a pretty good amount of distance and a second federation and a pretty good amount of distance and everybody else.
01:16:36
Speaker
um It's just it's ah that's just the way it is. And it doesn't have the cache of the UEFA Champions League and it and it never will.
01:16:48
Speaker
It's a glorified friendly tournament, I think, to most of the biggest teams in it. And I don't know what they were expecting. um Because, yeah, like people are going to turn out to see PSG.
01:17:01
Speaker
People are going to turn out to see Atletico Madrid and and all the big clubs, right? um They're not going to turn out to see the clubs that, frankly, and like sickos like me are excited to see, right? Like the Japanese clubs were the or you know the the clubs from the Middle East or just the kind of clubs you don't get to see that often.
Club World Cup Ticketing Issues
01:17:19
Speaker
Even like a less popular South American club like Botafogo. Right.
01:17:24
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. um people aren't going to turn out to see those teams really, especially the prices are being asked to pay. um I'm paying. I mean, I paid more for nosebleeds to that PSG game than think I've ever paid for a Sounders game, including the the MLS Cup final in 2019, where i had we I had our quite good seats.
01:17:45
Speaker
yeah um Yeah, those were like 75 bucks. It was like half the price. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, it's I don't know what they were expecting. um I think and I think for them ultimately it's the meteorites they care about and that's been a disaster as well so I think this is going to be a bigger disaster frankly yeah yeah so yeah I think this is going to be the last hurrah of this format and I think it if it doesn't go away entirely it goes back to being what it used to be which is everybody's continental you know Federation champion goes to some sports washing hotbed and
01:18:24
Speaker
plays some friendlies and, and nobody really pays too much attention. I think that's what we're headed towards. Yeah. I don't know. I, I have to admit I was pretty excited about this when,
01:18:36
Speaker
it first got announced even like I was even over the skepticism. I was like, no, I think this will be fun. And then the prices came. And it's not honestly, it's not even the prices that are annoying me. It's the tickets that are available.
01:18:49
Speaker
Like you can't get, they haven't, best I can tell, they haven't opened most of the lower bowl for sale yet. And if you're going to ask me to pay exorbitant prices, i at least want to know,
01:19:04
Speaker
what my options are. And that's, what's so frustrating about the club world cup tickets is that, okay, it's 150 bucks to sit at midfield in the third deck that feels high.
01:19:15
Speaker
But I can't even gauge the value of that against what it would cost to get in the lower bowl because those tickets aren't available. And that's like, I don't, I don't even know how they expect the average fan to make that value decision.
01:19:31
Speaker
Like, okay, those are for $400. Okay. That's good to know. Now I can make ah do i Would I rather spend $400 for really good seats or rather spend $150 for not so good seats?
USMNT Players and Sounders Compatibility
01:19:42
Speaker
ah And they're not even giving people that option. I think the Club World Cup has been so poorly handled. If it was me, and again, this is it's easy to say this from distance, but I would have thought that they would have prioritized packing the stadiums to sort of like do a proof of concept thing and then slowly raise the ticket prices so that In the future, people go, oh, no, this is ah this is a good event. Look how fun and and people are having, buth blah, blah, blah.
01:20:08
Speaker
And instead, they're going to be playing in front of half-empty stadiums, I think, for the most part. yeah It just feels very poorly managed. And it and it feels like FIFA has gotten – did not really understand the market for what they were trying to sell.
01:20:25
Speaker
Yeah. Yep. Agreed. ah This one's from Skycat. If you could add one non-polistic United States men's national team player to the Sounders, who would it be?
01:20:40
Speaker
Weston McKinney? ah guess that would be a good That would be a good one. um I think Tim Weah maybe would be good.
01:20:52
Speaker
Ricardo Pepe I think is going to be really good eventually. I do think Pepe's going to be really good. I like Pepe a lot. Jean-Luc Abusio would be ah nice fit. I think in terms of current needs, maybe.
01:21:05
Speaker
um Or even I get Tanner Tessman is another player. Yeah. Yeah. In that same vein. It's probably Gio Reyna, right?
01:21:15
Speaker
But I don't know. he He's I mean, he can't catch on at Dortmund. So maybe he's not that good. i don't know. I will say that if you're looking for just a pure hype kind of like if you sign Gio Reyna,
01:21:29
Speaker
Even if he's not good, that would get a lot of positive attention. That's true. from a like it get excited like does That's the kind of signing that Sounders fans would get really excited about. And then if he doesn't you know if he doesn't land, then whatever, you've sold a bunch of tickets.
01:21:48
Speaker
Yeah, so is that true that's true. That's the one who's in that vein, I think, of the question, maybe. Joe Scali would be a very Sounders fan.
01:21:58
Speaker
He's very good. mean, he's a great player. He'd be Yeah, know. Right. But yeah it would be a very Sounders way of of making that signing. Yeah. ah All right. This is from Good Looking. How seriously is the league looking at a winter schedule and have they seen the temperatures in the Midwest?
U.S. Soccer League Schedule Feasibility
01:22:14
Speaker
Have you? Have you seen the temperatures? One degree, I think, is what the kickoff for the Rapids was. wasn't even the Midwest. and It's like. Yeah. Yeah. Have you seen the temperatures in, in Houston in August?
01:22:27
Speaker
And which which of those do you think is going to get worse over the next few years? Right. I guess would be my question. I mean, I think the U S is a huge country with a lot of varying climates.
01:22:41
Speaker
And um i think that the, the negatives of playing in the heat, just because we're used to them kind of get overlooked. And i think if you do a break like they do in, in you know, Northern Europe and most of those leagues.
01:22:57
Speaker
um Yeah. You're going to have some cold temperatures, but I don't really think it's going to be that much worse. And I think the benefits just far, far outweigh the and negatives. I mean, look, we're on this schedule now and we're dealing with this kind of temperature stuff. Right. Right.
01:23:14
Speaker
And this is around the time when the break would be ending. if we went, if we did go to it, to a winter schedule. So, cause I think winter schedule is really kind of a misnomer. It's a, it's a fall and, you know, early spring more or less um type of schedule. yeah Yeah.
01:23:33
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I do. Sorry. Just to the last thing i I do think if they go that way, they're going to have to, there's going to have to be some capital investment facilities with like under soil heating and and all that kind of good stuff.
01:23:46
Speaker
Yeah, big time. ah Yeah, I don't think that we are ready for a winter schedule today, but I think there is ah more realistic path to winterizing stadiums than there is summer proofing a lot of them.
01:24:05
Speaker
yeah like We're not going to be playing in air-conditioned stadiums. It's a lot easier to put in under... you know, to put in heating on the under soil heating and it's easier to, you know, build heaters for fans, frankly, and do all kinds of stuff like that than it is to build air conditioned stadiums, which there currently zero in, in, in MLS.
01:24:30
Speaker
Yeah. Yep. So, yeah, I, I mean, I, I understand like there are markets where it feels impossible to play Winter games so like I get it, but there's also markets where it's like shouldn't we shouldn't be playing summer games either. Yeah.
01:24:50
Speaker
Yeah. There's there's not really a a great answer. It's it's tough. Yeah.
01:25:00
Speaker
Is this me or you? I'll ask it. It is me. i was on the wrong tab, sir. I don't asking. Last question. i I was looking. i was doing research. Oh, on this question?
01:25:12
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And it's from Twemberley23. Is this the best combination of kits in Sounders history?
Sounders Kit Designs and Evolution
01:25:18
Speaker
Well, if we just go, if we're only going home or primary, secondary, we're not using, the we don't know what the third kit's going to be. So,
01:25:28
Speaker
which I only think is probably going to raise the bar for this, but I do really like the current combo. I, I like the primary a lot. I think it's my favorite primary since 2014.
01:25:40
Speaker
I want to say, wow like I have not loved the primaries for the most part. I really liked this one. ah I think the, i and I really liked the secondary too. I think they were able to tell a great story.
01:25:54
Speaker
i think it looks, it's going to look really nice on the field. i'm I'm excited to see this in action. i do wonder. It's kind of funny. hadn't really thought about this. They now have two jersey two uniforms of blue shorts.
01:26:09
Speaker
Different shades of blue. But yeah ah it's kind of an interesting issue. ah
01:26:20
Speaker
so Yeah, I would say it's up there. Like to me, the the one that it's always measured against, I think, is 2014 when they had the.
01:26:33
Speaker
Space needle silhouette as the greens. They had nuclear orca as the. Third, and then what was the second that year? The gradient, the gradient kit, the the cascade shale with the blue and green. Oh, that's right.
01:26:51
Speaker
yeah and which i loved at the time and has not aged well i'm looking at it now and it's it i don't like it as much as i used to i loved it when it came out but i you don't think it aged well it looks very dated to me looking at it oh interesting i yeah i mean i i guess i can't i haven't spent a lot of time reassessing my opinion of it but at the time i loved it i was with you yeah I do think there was the fair criticism of that was we have a cascade shale and a black Jersey. What what are we doing here?
01:27:23
Speaker
And that was a fair criticism. and was, but it's still, they look, they, they're individually, the whole three of them were good. I think, and I guess maybe in that context, especially this combo, once the add, the third Jersey has the potential to sort of like really reset the, like, this is a, it could be like more of uh,
01:27:46
Speaker
like an ideal pairing. Yeah. I think for me right now, 2019 is my favorite ever. um Nightfall is my favorite kit oh period ever.
01:27:59
Speaker
I loved Nightfall. I think it's I think it was perfect. i Beautiful. And I really like so that was the the primary that year was the sort of like pastel. That was a very not, you know, the not pastel, but the watercolor. Yeah, yeah.
01:28:13
Speaker
type And I know that was a pretty controversial and a lot of people hated it. I really liked that one, ah probably in like my top three primaries ever. um I love the one in that they had in 2016 with the City of Seattle logo on it.
01:28:28
Speaker
um and And I also really like the the primary currently. um
01:28:34
Speaker
Yeah, so I think, you know, if if the current primary is one of your is your favorite. The last two secondaries have been quite good. um There was the Bruce Lee kit and the and and the the Salish Weave one, which I think is gorgeous.
01:28:51
Speaker
um So I think it's really a sort of tiers thing, right? And I would say that the current combo is an S tier. combo for sure ah i would say that 2019 definitely us tier for me yeah yeah it's a i mean it's it is funny because i feel like it wasn't that long ago when people were really getting frustrated about the state of sounders jerseys and how they didn't seem to be like press pressing adidas hard enough to get more unique kind of looks and it seems to be paying off now watercolor kit i think was a lot of people hated it specifically for that reason because it was like this is just a template right boring the other one's white yeah um and then they came back with with uh nightfall and then shortly after that with the hendrix kit and uh
01:29:48
Speaker
They've been just killing it with the secondaries for a while now. They haven't had a bad secondary since 2018. And that one was really only bad because it was cursed, right? I thought the design was good. That was the throwback, um you know, with the the white blue with collar. I really liked it. Yeah, that that was not the cursed whites, but they weren't very good in those whites either.
01:30:13
Speaker
that's right. The record in those was not much better. Yeah, but the Ecrus Whites were the ones from the year before, right? Yeah, that were just like white shirts. Yeah, yeah.
01:30:24
Speaker
We've come a long way since the bra straps, that's for sure. That's for sure. That is for sure. Well, that's a good place to to sort of call it.
Podcast Growth and Future Events
01:30:33
Speaker
ah Wanted to say thank you to our sponsors, Full Pull Wines. We also have a new sponsor, Hacks and Ferments.
01:30:40
Speaker
They make hot sauce. I have not had them myself, but apparently people like them. They seem to be... I've had them. they're yeah They're quite good. I'm a big spicy guy, so I can vouch for them. They're good.
01:30:53
Speaker
Well, I'll have to get my hands on those and be able to give some firsthand accounts. But I also want to give a plug to our Sound at Heart podcast network partners over at Lobbing Scorchers. They are doing...
01:31:08
Speaker
Yeoman's work on the live YouTube broadcast, like really killing it. Like they, I went on there, they did an emergency live show to talk about the Josh Atencio trade.
01:31:21
Speaker
They did a good job with that. They're doing live shows twice a week. ah We are also trying to get our YouTube operation up and running. I don't think we're going to, I don't suspect that we're going to do the the live thing to that degree even like I don't really imagine that but i love that they are doing it it's really good to see and I think people are enjoying it and if you haven't listened I would urge you to go listen and it's a good reason to get on the private RSS feed for the podcast because although they don't put their live shows in their main feed, they do put them in the private ah RSS feed.
01:31:58
Speaker
So it's a good reason to go and get on that private RSS feed, ah which every paying subscriber to Sounder Heart can get into. So yeah, also just wanted to say we are getting ready to start the season.
01:32:14
Speaker
We have a lot of fun stuff planned. We're going to be doing regular shows. Matt Doyle, like probably like once a month where we talk about like the broader Western conference. We're going to keep bringing on guests that represent other podcasts for the opponents that we're playing. And of course, we're going to be doing doing our podcast.
01:32:31
Speaker
weekly show with Aaron and and we're going to do the mailbag episodes once a month and trying to keep things fresh. But oh we seem to be growing again, which is very exciting. Very exciting to see those download numbers going up. So I'm glad people seem to be digging the show lately. So,
01:32:48
Speaker
um good to have you back aaron i've been missing you good to be back yeah been missing you as well it'll be it'll be good to see you this friday fast fashion oh thank you thank you for reminding me that's a good good good job uh yeah we're doing a beer release party and we're also delivering a lot of the merch that people ordered we if you missed out we We did an order of merch, of custom merch from we worked with a local printer on.
01:33:18
Speaker
And we will have some pieces available. If you didn't get in on the pre-order, we won't have every size, but we'll have ah few sizes and we'll have a few pieces. So if you get in there early, we're going there from like four to 10 at Fast Fashion and Soto.
01:33:34
Speaker
that they They have two locations, one's in Soto and one's in Queen Anne. Go to the Soto one. Don't go to a Queen Anne. And we'll be there from like four. I'll be there from four to 10. I don't know. Aaron might not be there that long.
01:33:47
Speaker
ive No, no, no, of course but I will be there. Yeah. Well, I, I, you know, I've got a lot longer way to go. Yeah, no, for sure. For sure. I wasn't trying to kind of light you up. No, I know. we we're I'm also going to see the spits.
01:34:00
Speaker
So, okay. and Is it at show box? No, it's at the clock out. That's what the clock. Okay. Yeah. ah But yeah, they're they're across the street. The reason I laughed is because they're across street from Showbox Soto. But ah yeah, we're going to be doing a beer release. Stoop and Fast Fashion made Craft Casual, which was, a I guess, is a hazy. I was thinking in my head that it was a it was a like a pale ale, but it was a hazy IPA, apparently.
01:34:31
Speaker
first i feel like first time around it was a pale, but that's what I thought, too. But yeah um'm pretty sure it's a hazy this time. I'm not complaining. i love them both. Yeah, exactly. I could be wrong. But anyway, they brewed it and it's going be released on Friday. And we're to have some posters to mark the event. If you're interested in getting a poster, they're going to be, guess they're going to be 20 bucks. That's what it's going to cost for us. A small run of these posters are going to be like hand numbered.
01:35:02
Speaker
So, you know, that's cool, I guess. ah And yeah, hopefully everyone comes, come out on Friday. We'll also probably Dave's going to be there on Saturday. If you, if you didn't get anything, we're going to try to do a lot of pre-gaming at fast. I won't, but Dave wants to do some pre-gaming at, at fast fashion. So if you want to see Dave at fast fashion, ah he'll be there. I'll probably be there on a, I'll probably be there on Saturday too.
01:35:26
Speaker
Oh, there you go. There you go. Well there, I think that's our longest outro ever. So I should probably call it. But ah with all that said, I'm Jeremiah Chan signing off for Aaron Campo. This is No Sariotis.
01:35:39
Speaker
And remember, you'll never get alone.
01:36:17
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!