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Episode 236: Yeah, this feels different
52 Plays9 years ago
Thanks to a rather long break in the MLS playoff schedule, it feels like quite a long time ago that the Seattle Sounders got past FC Dallas to qualify for the Western Conference finals. But here we are and the Sounders are actually looking like favorites against the Colorado Rapids.
Aaron and Jeremiah are actually feeling pretty good, too, especially as the Sounders are not playing the way we’re used to them playing in the postseason. This is feeling like it could be special.
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Transcript
Introduction to Designers Marble
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Speaker
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Speaker
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00:00:49
Speaker
Black and white, black and blue, all the sounders coming at you. Soccer finally comes of age in the USA. All the sounders playing it, making it, playing the game to win.
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Speaker
The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle And the hills the greenest green in Seattle Like a beautiful child growing up
Sounders' Journey to Western Conference Finals
00:01:44
Speaker
Welcome back to another edition of NOS Adiatus, sponsored by Fullpool Wines, Constellation & Company, Queen Anne Acupuncture, Verity Credit Union, and our newest sponsor, Designers Marble. This is episode 236, and we're recording on Wednesday, November 16, 2016. I am your host, Jeremiah O'Shan, and I'm joined as always by my
00:02:01
Speaker
co-host Aaron Campo and our engineer Lickett. Since we last talked to you, the Sounders have advanced to the Western Conference Finals for just the third time in their history and are preparing to face the Colorado Rapids, a team that is actually looking pretty banged up right now. The Sounders are favored to advance. They're actually second favorites to get to the MLS Cup.
00:02:21
Speaker
With all that said, Aaron, what were your main takeaways after the Sounders held on for a 4-2 aggregate goal win over FC Dallas, a team that won the supporters shield? My main takeaway was that I was really glad they were able to get a goal in the away leg because I was not really
00:02:39
Speaker
feeling like being a nervous wreck for the rest of that game. But I think a lot has been said since that first leg. I don't think that I've recorded since then. But that was the best performance we've ever seen from the team in the playoffs by, I would say, orders of magnitude. They really came out and went for the throat, especially in the second half.
00:03:06
Speaker
It was just a very, very accomplished performance. And I think I said right after the game, it feels a lot better to be on this side of one of these games than on the other side. And then to go down to Dallas and...
00:03:20
Speaker
and hang on and then, you know, after Dallas started looking like they might be able to make a series of it, shutting the door and just kind of grinding out the end of it without too much drama, I think was, you know, pretty much exactly what everybody needed to feel pretty calm going into the next round of the playoffs. And, you know, the playoffs are weird. Colorado is a team that does not allow many goals.
00:03:48
Speaker
So who knows, but I don't think I've ever felt better going into a series than I do going into this one. Maybe RSL in 2011, and I guess we all kind of remember how that turned out.
00:04:02
Speaker
I feel really good about the Sounders chances and I definitely feel like if they lose, there's a decent chance that they lose and no one gets to the final and I think that's okay. But I don't think they're going to fall apart the way we've seen in the past and what has given people a lot of anxiety going into the playoffs. I think that that's a really unlikely scenario this year and that's pretty nice.
00:04:27
Speaker
Yeah, I guess that's a good point. We did record since that last, since that first leg, but the show that Richard and I did was almost exclusively about the Bryan Schmetzer hire, so we didn't really have a chance to
00:04:39
Speaker
to break down that first game and to kind of revel in the joy of going into a second-laid leading 3-0 instead of trailing 3-0. And it's worth going back over this. I did a fair amount of research. I did the research, so I know I want to share it. The Sounders, there's only been three times in the, like, 60, I want to say 66,
00:05:01
Speaker
two game aggregate goal series in the history of the MLS playoffs. There's only been three instances where a team went into the second leg trailing by three goals and all three of those instances involved the Sounders and the Sounders made it a perfect three for three in terms of
00:05:19
Speaker
the team that had that three goal lead has never actually failed to advance. But like the previous two times, FC Dallas did manage to make it pretty interesting, just like the Sounders were able to make it interesting in the two times that they were down by three
Tyrone Mears' Impactful Performance
00:05:36
Speaker
goals. In this particular case, it didn't get quite as interesting as in those Sounders series. The Sounders never actually had that a lead cut to one, the way that the Galaxy and RSL both had done to them. But
00:05:49
Speaker
Dallas did get a relatively early goal in this one, they got a first half goal, and they were dominant for probably the first, for the whole first half, they were really a dominant team, the Sounders had maybe one or two decent looks, but there was no question that FC Dallas was the team on the front foot, and if not for a couple good plays by Stefan Fry, if not for, you know, a couple lucky bounces, the Sounders could have been looking at a very different situation in the second half,
00:06:14
Speaker
But I thought they came out looking very composed. They seemed a little bit more committed to challenging FC Dallas and forcing them to play a little bit more defense. And it should be said that the play that ultimately sealed the victory for the Sounders
00:06:30
Speaker
was really an amazing play, or not an amazing play, but a very good play by a player that we've been pretty harsh on on this show, and I think rightfully so. But Tyro Mirrors made a great play to not just chase down the ball that Eric Freeberg put into the corner,
00:06:46
Speaker
But then he stole it from Walker Zimmerman. And not only that, he pushed into the box and he put in a perfect cross to Nicolas Ledero. A cross that was so good, Ledero actually didn't even get that good of a shot off and he still managed to score. That was just, I thought that was great to see from Tower of Mirrors and it was really encouraging, I thought.
00:07:08
Speaker
Yeah it absolutely was and I think that it's really a sign of how the mentality of the team has changed as this hot stretch has gone along. I never questioned Tyrone Mears' effort really, I never questioned his desire
00:07:28
Speaker
But I think you can see that there's another gear there for him and not for just him, but I think he stands out more than anyone. There's another gear there that just wasn't there in June, July. And it's been really important. I mean, he's still had some lapses down the stretch, but he's made up for it in ways that he wasn't doing earlier in the season.
00:07:49
Speaker
And, you know, to be that aggressive, to press that high when you've got, you know, still have a two-goal lead is, you know, is definitely a very positive thing. And then to have it pay off with a goal that pretty much puts it out of reach is obviously pretty tremendous.
Upcoming Match Against Colorado Rapids
00:08:08
Speaker
Yeah, and I'll be the first to say, I have questioned Mir's effort, and I have questioned his desire at times. I think that that was actually one of the things that was starting to frustrate me was that I don't feel like I'm someone who tends to go down that road. And there were times this year where I really was wondering if Tyrone Mirs wanted to be out there or not. And maybe it was really just the one game against Kansas City, and it probably wasn't just him.
00:08:34
Speaker
but it was really good to see him perform as well as he did. It should be said that he also was at least partially responsible on both of FC Dallas' goals, but in a game like that where one goal was essentially worth two goals,
00:08:50
Speaker
you know you can forgive you can forgive a little bit more easily and and especially on the second goal when it came relatively soon after the the Sounders scored the Sounders lead was never really in threat at that point you know it was we're into the 60th minute and FC Dallas was gonna have to score three goals and uh... and they did not they did not come particularly close to scoring a third let alone uh... a fourth and a fifth
00:09:17
Speaker
The one time that they did come relatively close was a kind of funny series where Stefan Fry ventured outside of his box and he wasn't able to totally corral a loose ball.
00:09:32
Speaker
And then the sounders had to, O'Neill Fisher cleared one ball off the line, then the sounders made another block of a shot, and it was kind of a mad scramble, and it ended with Osio Lazo doing like this crotch chop move, which I thought was really kind of a nice moment of relief for that game. I didn't notice it live, admittedly, but when I saw the replays of it, it was pretty funny. I guess it wasn't that funny.
00:10:08
Speaker
There we go. We got some new toys with our recording equipment here. But anyway, I think that that whole performance against FC Dallas, even though FC Dallas was admittedly a very limited version of the team that won the supporter shield, they didn't have Maro Diaz, they didn't have Fabian Castillo obviously.
00:10:33
Speaker
but they were they were still supporters shield winners and it wasn't like they were a garbage team by any stretch the the sounders made relatively easy work of them I think leads me to have a ton of confidence going to this rapid series to the point where you know the betting odds seem to have installed the sounders as as slight favorites and I'm inclined to believe that the sounders are favorites in this game especially with with the rapids missing
00:10:59
Speaker
not just Tim Howard, but it also looks like they're going to be missing Gashi, who is by far their best offensive player. Yeah, I mean, I think that that's as hampered as FC Dallas were. You know, they had some time to adjust to losing Castillo and they weren't as good, but they were still a very good team, you know, down the stretch without him. And Diaz obviously was
00:11:24
Speaker
I think an even bigger loss from Castille, but you know, you look at the players that they still had available and they still had a lot of weapons and Colorado doesn't. I mean, they, you know, this, this is a team that has gotten by on their defense all year long. They, you know, and they have a, they have a tremendous goals against record. I think they gave up like 32 all season long.
00:11:46
Speaker
But they only scored 39. And they're a team that doesn't have a lot of offensive weapons. And when you take away their most effective offensive weapon, their most dangerous set piece player, that's going to hurt them a lot. And I think McMath is a pretty great backup goalkeeper to have. I don't think he's quite as good as Tim Howard.
00:12:10
Speaker
You know, it's not like they're going to be going from Tim Howard to, I don't know, like Charlie Lyon or something like that. Like, it's not that. I'm not trying to throw shade at Charlie Lyon.
00:12:26
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, he's a much better backup goalkeeper than most teams have. I think that's a fair thing to say. But at the same time, he hasn't played since August. And maybe for a goalkeeper, that's not as big of a deal. But I think as we saw with Stephen Fry, having a lot of time off as a goalkeeper is still going to affect you. So I think that they're pretty hamstrung.
00:12:52
Speaker
And hopefully the Sounders can put it out of reach or, you know, at least remove a lot of the doubt before the second leg. Because if, you know, it goes into the second leg and we go into Colorado and it's a tight game and they have Gashi back, then it becomes a little trickier. But that's going to be really tough to do against the Colorado team that has just kind of locked it down all season long. And you know, that I think looked pretty good against LA as well.
00:13:20
Speaker
Yeah, they definitely held their own against LA. The only goal that they got was a 40-yard bomb from Gashi that was a very, very impressive shot that weirdly Bruce Arena was acting like
00:13:37
Speaker
maybe Brian Rowe could have done better on even though it hit the inside of the post. I'm not quite sure what more you want your goalkeeper to do when that's the kind of shot that Gashi hit. But it also underscores what a strong performance
00:13:52
Speaker
they put in and Tim Howard made a couple saves in the penalty shootout. It was very impressive and it was impressive enough that I would feel pretty nervous about going into Denver with a one goal lead. I think a 2-0 lead I feel like would be maybe not insurmountable but it would be a pretty big lead for
00:14:15
Speaker
for the rapid staff to ever overcome given everything that they're dealing with. It looks like right now, based on what I could figure out, it looks like Marlon Hairston would probably be the guy that they bring in for
00:14:27
Speaker
For Goshian, it should be said that Marlon Harrison is not a shabby player. He's got, I want to say, three goals and six assists in just about 1,200 minutes. So Harrison has not been a bad player by any stretch, and they have gotten a little bit better since they brought in Sebastian Latou, who Sounders fans should obviously know quite well. Kevin Doyle is someone who I'm not super impressed with, but he did score against the Sounders, even though the goal was way offside.
00:14:57
Speaker
as you may remember in Denver, but they they have some and they they obviously have Marco Papa who has been
00:15:04
Speaker
basically dealing with injuries all year long. I know we've talked about him a lot on this show, but he's someone that, for a long time, Sounders fans were bemoaning the lack of having him, and as much as I liked Marco Papa, I have to think that Sounders fans would not be, are maybe remembering his time here with slightly rose-colored glasses, or more specifically, they're looking at his time in Colorado with rose-colored glasses. I think he only scored two goals,
00:15:32
Speaker
He's got a few assists, but he's dealt with a ton of injuries this year. He's not been particularly effective. He's had some moments, but this is a player that could be maybe motivated. I don't know. What do you think of this team going forward aside from Gashi?
00:15:53
Speaker
They're not good. I mean, you know, that's why I think you and I have both been pretty skeptical of Colorado all year. They're definitely not as bad as I thought they were early in the season. I mean, they're a decent team for sure. Are they a team that I think, you know, is going to be towards the top in the supporter shield conversation? You know, most seasons I really don't think so.
00:16:18
Speaker
And, you know, Marco Papa, like you said, he's been hurt all year. I think he's still at least a little bit hurt that I know he's been kind of held out of practice recently. I'm not sure if they're back in training yet, but I would doubt it.
00:16:33
Speaker
Yeah, so, I mean, they just... He was definitely... I know as recently as today when Pablo Mastrani was talking about their attacking options, he mentioned that Papa's still dealing with injury and he wasn't able to guarantee that he would be able to play against the Sounders in the first leg at least. Yeah, I mean, so, you know, they're a team that doesn't have a ton of weapons even when they're at full strength, are most likely going to be missing their most dangerous player.
00:17:00
Speaker
You know, I mean, it's who can say over a two leg series, you know, we've seen many, many crazy things happen. And, you know, we saw the sounder struggle to score against Sporting KC, who is a team that kind of makes things difficult in a similar way to Colorado.
00:17:19
Speaker
So, you know, I'm not saying that I'm guaranteeing victory, but I definitely think the Sounders are a better team than Colorado, and I definitely think that it's going to be a real struggle for Colorado to try to score enough goals to get past the Sounders.
Sounders' Attendance Challenges
00:17:33
Speaker
One of the things I think is kind of funny about the the rapid season has been the kind of the narrative that's built up around Pablo Mastroini because at the beginning of this year and based on his performance last year the question wasn't is Pablo Mastroini someone capable of winning an MLS Cup it was is Pablo Mastroini someone capable of of even
00:17:56
Speaker
Like is he shown enough to even justify any faith that he can be a coach in this league? There was some serious serious doubts about his ability to succeed as a as a coach in MLS and I think at the very least he silenced those Those critics in that he's you know, he's put together a very capable team this year But is there anything that I will admit that I have not watched enough of the rapids to have like a real
00:18:24
Speaker
a real strong sense of how he's changed. But have you seen enough of them? Have you seen enough of what Master Eni's done to get a sense of some of the things that he's maybe improved on? I think that, I mean, I haven't watched, you know, more than a handful of other games. I've watched games other than the ones they played against the Sounders this season. But it's not like I've, you know, watched a ton of them. But I mean, I think the biggest thing is, you know, last year they were
00:18:53
Speaker
a equal, well, not equally bad. They were worse offensively. And they got a little better this season just because they got players that can actually score goals. But they were a pretty decent sort of middle of the pack defensive team last season. You know, they finished last in the league and, you know, we're just well last in the West at least. And we're just, you know, pretty bad. But I think the biggest thing is they've had some luck this season. They upgraded their attack.
00:19:21
Speaker
And I think that, you know, if there's anything you can point to and say, yeah, this is improved, and you can say that Master Rainey is probably responsible for that to some extent, I think they're probably a little bit more well organized than they were. I think that he's probably gotten a better sense of, you know, the kind of tactics that he wants to use, and his players have kind of bought into that and grown into that.
00:19:43
Speaker
But, I mean, I don't know. I think it's pretty obvious at this point that I'm skeptical that what the Rapids did this season is sustainable. I think that they probably weren't quite as bad as they looked last season. I don't think they're as good as their, you know, standing wouldn't indicate this season. I think that there are actually better teams in the league that didn't make the playoffs than the Rapids. But, you know, I mean, watch now, they're gonna win like,
00:20:10
Speaker
two-nail hair and win the final and win the MLS Cup. I mean, so who knows. But yeah, I mean, I don't think that he just his all of a sudden figured out how to coach.
Impact of Politics on Sports Engagement
00:20:23
Speaker
I guess I'll put it that way. I don't think he's a bad coach. I certainly think he's proven that he's better than I probably gave him credit for last season. But I don't think that he's turned into Bruce Arena. Yeah, it's funny.
00:20:39
Speaker
their goals against and their goals for last year and neither one of them are horrible or so far I should say they're not so far up from this year they they scored 33 so they still were not a very good offensive team last year 33 was actually the the lowest
00:20:55
Speaker
scoring total in the league last year so I guess that was pretty bad but they allowed 43 goals which is not great but it also wasn't it wasn't horrible that was you know fewer goals than two teams that made the playoffs scored so you know they weren't
00:21:10
Speaker
They weren't a total training wreck last year, and they actually played okay on the road, weirdly enough. They were only 5'7 and 5' at home, which is kind of crazy for a team. You think of teams in Colorado as being, you know, having that altitude advantage, but I digress. It has been interesting, I think, just to see him
00:21:29
Speaker
You know, it just became such a punchline, and I wonder if maybe it was overstated how bad he was last year, but certainly Rapids fans were convinced that he didn't understand player substitution. I guess he was using players in all kinds of different roles. Dylan Powers was someone who kind of got lost in the shuffle last year, and he was someone that a lot of people had a lot of hope for.
00:21:51
Speaker
and Dylan Power seems to have kind of played his way back into it. So, I don't know, it'll be interesting. I think this is going to be a tough match. It seems, if I'm, correct me if I'm wrong though, they don't really play as much of a high pressing style as Boarding Kansas City, who really, you know, kind of forced the sounders into some
00:22:09
Speaker
uncomfortable areas in that first leg. And I kind of got, at least in the games that the Sounders played against the Rapids this year, I got the sense that they were a little bit more just a compact defense and a defense that was more about playing sound defensively and marking spaces as opposed to really forcing opponents into lots of mistakes.
00:22:33
Speaker
But I don't know. I'll also be interested to see what kind of crowd the sounders can draw. It looks like ticket sales have not gone.
00:22:42
Speaker
extraordinarily well. I'll be interested to see if Montreal ends up out drawing the sounders. But I guess there's something to be said for, even though the feeling around the club I feel like is as positive as it's been for a long time, that in some ways there's still this, you know, outside of the core fans, there's still this kind of lingering sense of malaise
00:23:28
Speaker
For one, I think the newness has just finally fully worn off. And, you know, I think that you're going to get casual fans to come out if the Sounders are a really good team, but they weren't a really good team for most of the season. And I think a lot of casual fans probably just kind of stop paying attention. And, you know, maybe they know that they got into the playoffs, but they're also probably aware that a ton of teams get into the playoffs. And I just, you know, I don't know if the
00:23:29
Speaker
Do you get
00:23:56
Speaker
news of the full turnaround really made its way all the way through to the super casual fans that might otherwise be attending a playoff game. I think that's part of it. I don't know if animosity is the wrong word, but I feel like there's
00:24:19
Speaker
Maybe just some dissatisfaction with the sounders off the pitch as well for any number of reasons. And I think maybe there are some people that were pretty true believer type fans early on that are a little bit disillusioned with things and maybe aren't going to games.
00:24:39
Speaker
I think that there's just kind of a general malaise generally Everywhere and there and there has been this this was a really tough election season like I don't want to get political but this Like I don't think that the Sounders are the only You know the only entity dealing with this kind of thing of people just like yeah, that's an interesting Yeah, that's an interesting perspective on it. I've wondered about that. It does seem like in general the whole
00:25:08
Speaker
like we're seeing this without getting too deep into the weeds here we're seeing a lot of signals that sports viewership was down this year you know whether it was the NFL ratings or it seems like MLS ratings in general have not there's been like I guess they're gonna be up overall but it just seems like there's been
00:25:48
Speaker
Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think that sports are something that people pay a lot of attention to and they put a lot of energy into and politics are something that, you know, a lot of people don't really until an election comes around. And, you know, I think that's totally understandable. Not everybody has time to obsessively follow, you know, more than one thing. You know, I totally get that. So, you know, I think it's a combination of reasons. I don't think it's anything to be worried about in the long term, really. I think that it's something that
00:26:01
Speaker
underwhelming ratings a lot.
00:26:16
Speaker
If the Sounders win an MLS Cup this year, people are going to come back. If the Sounders play to the level I think which a lot of people are expecting next season with an opportunity to make some big acquisitions, people are going to come back.
00:26:32
Speaker
Um, so, you know, I don't, I don't think it's anything to be concerned about, but if they, you know, don't draw an eye popping crowd this year, I don't, you know, for the, for the Colorado game, I don't think it would be a huge shock.
Q&A Session
00:26:44
Speaker
But you know, if they end up hosting against Montreal for the MLS cup final, I think they would sell the place out. Yeah, that seems I, yeah, I don't, I don't think it's, it's fallen off that much. I actually thought that it felt to me like just around, it felt like people were getting more into the.
00:27:00
Speaker
like getting more into this run like I was shocked like the other day I was wearing a sounders sweater and I had like three or four people comment on it and I wear sounder stuff out and about quite a bit and no one virtually no one comments on it partly because
00:27:15
Speaker
It's kind of ubiquitous, you see a lot of sounder stuff a lot, but for whatever reason, I had a bunch of people comment on my sounder's shirt the other day, which tells me that the average fan is maybe a little bit more plugged in than they would be otherwise. But anyway, that's something we can get into. At another time, we should probably go to our first break, or only break, and we'll come back and we'll answer your questions. You're listening to Nos Adietes.
00:27:44
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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00:29:20
Speaker
Welcome back to NOS Adiatus. We now are going to ask questions from Likit. So, Likit, go ahead and take it away. Can I get a room shot? Oh, nice. Good. All right, first question. Nick Paden asks, what score do we need to put up at home to feel confident going to Colorado? 2-0 seems like I would feel very good with 2-0.
00:29:46
Speaker
Yeah, I think 2-0 is in. If you end up losing the series, you really blew a territory against Colorado. Yeah. Next question, Jeremy Bear Kim asks, when will the sounders implement Bionic Hamstrings? It does seem like it's been an ongoing issue with the sounders, although I guess this is kind of a everything I read suggests that this is common with soccer, that
00:30:16
Speaker
Hamstring injuries are very common. But it looks like the sounders are getting healthy at the right time at the same time. Like, Roman Torres looks like he'll be fine. If I had to guess, I would think Andres Avantiets would be available at least off the bench. My suspicion is Jordan Morris is going to be healthy. So I feel pretty good about the health of the sounders going into this leg. Yeah, Nelson Valdez did 70 minutes at 12,000 feet the other day. So that's... Oh, that's right. There you go.
00:30:44
Speaker
And I think today Smetcher said Vonschitz and Evans were both full. So that's good. Oh, good. Got to hear that for sure. Back to back to Colorado. Shots fired asks Howard and that DP forward out. Jones and Azira exhausted. We got this, right? Is Azira did Azira play a bunch of minutes in World Cup qualifying or something?
00:31:13
Speaker
Why is it zero? Why is it zero? I don't know. I don't know. I assume maybe he played a bunch for Uganda, which is his national team. They're in World Cup qualifying. So I suppose that's possible. I mean, it does seem like the Sounders are in good position.
00:31:30
Speaker
Yeah, I think they're in good shape. I think they have to be considered the favorites. I am expecting them to advance, but with the caveat that it's the MLS Cup playoffs. So, you know, expectations are pretty much meaningless. But I mean, I think that, you know, if you play this two leg thing a hundred times, the Sounders probably advance like 65 of them, which is, I feel pretty good about that.
00:32:00
Speaker
I couldn't find any information that short about a time, but it looks like he got into a game at least, a zero that is. Twimberly23 asks, with a healthy Brad, does he start against Colorado at home? That's, I think, I think Brad Evans is gonna start if he's healthy, I think. Like, I feel like he's a better option than
00:32:28
Speaker
than Freeburg or Avonchitz at least. Right? I don't know. I might, because it's the wide midfield position that we're talking about, I might rather have Avonchitz. I think Evans is a better player, but I think for the kind of game, Avonchitz might be a better fit. I don't know.
00:32:57
Speaker
It's tricky because I think that Schmetzer has shown that he'll stick with what he thinks is working, if he can do it. But he's also shown that he can mix it up if he is forced to, which he definitely did against Dallas.
00:33:15
Speaker
I don't know. I wouldn't be shocked to see Evans kind of just be the Swiss Army knife and come in where he's needed because you know he can go, you know, 20-30 minutes if he has to and be pretty all out. So I don't know. I don't know. It's a tricky one. I guess I wouldn't be shocked either way. I think my thinking with Avonchitz is not so much
00:33:38
Speaker
all things being equal is he a better option it's just that he hasn't played for like six weeks yeah that's definitely true that's definitely true and so my inclination is to think that he's just not gonna start his first game back but are you gonna take the chance of him you know subbing him in or something and then him having to get hurt again I mean I would I would be okay with playing Avantiets I mean I don't think
00:34:07
Speaker
I think I would rather him come off the bench though than start if I'm at all worried about that. Yeah, I would guess it's less a concern about re-injury and more a concern about, you know, his fitness and, and that sort of thing. So I can't imagine he'd be on the bench if they had like huge re-injury concerns, I guess. Fair enough. Bill Jones, STRPT asks, can Schmetz take any listens from that early season Colorado game we had at home?
00:34:35
Speaker
I was, you know, it's funny, I was thinking about that game a while back and I guess I remembered that goal that the tall guy scored, what's his name? Soyberg? Schoberg. Schoberg. And it was like this awkward, like somehow he totally lost his mark on the corner and I guess the Sounders had some, it was a very like nondescript game and I remember coming away thinking,
00:35:04
Speaker
There's no way this team is good. And I can't believe the Sounders lost to him. And it was way back in May. There's such so much that's changed since then. I don't think there's a lot that we can... That's the thing is that both times the Sounders played the Rapids, it was like early in the season. And I don't know that there is a lot we can take away from it.
00:35:25
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think the lesson would be, you know, make sure Axel Schoberg is marked on set pizzas, which is, you know, a pretty good lesson to learn, I guess. But I feel like all the lessons they were going to learn from the early season struggles, they've already learned. That and Doyle will somehow score one of his only goals of the season against us again.
00:35:47
Speaker
Uh, at Peter of the O-T-A-S, Peter of the Otis, um, will Zack McMath prove his worth or will he have a front row seat to a rapid horror show, rapid in parentheses?
00:36:02
Speaker
It is funny, Zach McMath has had quite the journey. He started off in Philadelphia where he was one of the, I don't know if he was the top pick in the draft, but he was one of the earliest picked goalkeepers ever in an MLS draft and he started off pretty bad. He was young and then they just basically cast him aside for Andre Blake and he goes to Colorado and
00:36:30
Speaker
He goes to Colorado where they didn't really need a goalkeeper at the time and he
00:36:37
Speaker
And I guess he didn't play much last year, right? He was sitting behind, I guess he played some because Clinton and everyone got hurt. But then he opens this year as the starter, he plays great, and then he gets benched again by when they bring in Tim Howard. The guy doesn't seem to be able to catch a break. That said, and so I think he's probably very motivated, but I don't know that that's, like I just don't know how that plays out for a goalkeeper as much.
00:37:04
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that he can't really take over a game, you know, so it's I don't know. I mean, maybe he's motivated to jump higher or something. I mean, I don't know. I think that the biggest thing with him is going to be rust if it doesn't really affect him. You know, he's a he's an above average keeper. If it if it does, I think it's good to test him early if they can. He was the fifth overall pick in the 2011 draft.
00:37:35
Speaker
At BnVon asks if the Sounders had a double header day where the first team Plus the rain slash has to slash Academy played it clink. Would you go? I guess pick one of the two one of the three as the double header I mean if the rain were playing before I would be very interested in that I think that would be a lot of fun. I think it would be a
00:37:59
Speaker
cool to see the rain in an environment like that. You know, they obviously, I think rain games are a ton of fun. I don't necessarily know how I feel about double headers where the, it just feels very like WUSA era, but they drew really well. So maybe that's, you know, it's a good way to bring some attention to them. I wouldn't be nearly as excited about seeing S2 on our academy team before the Sounders play.
00:38:28
Speaker
But I guess it wouldn't hurt. But the rain would be far more interesting. Yeah. I think if S2 or an Academy team played before a Sounders game, I might go, or I might just hang out at the bar and just treat it like a regular game. If the rain played, I would absolutely go. Yeah. And I think a lot of people will. And I think a lot of people that maybe have
00:38:54
Speaker
have been curious about the rain and maybe watched some games, but haven't like, aren't quite sure about taking the next step and like actually going to buy tickets. You know, I think a lot of those people would show up if they already had a ticket, but I mean, I just, I don't know if it's ever going to happen because while it's huge for the rain, I don't know what the benefit really to the Sounders is because there's not like a, you know,
00:39:21
Speaker
a true business relationship between the two teams. So I don't know, but I would love it if it did. I think it would be a super cool thing. I'd like to think that's something that the Sounders would be willing to do. Like the Sounders seem like they've been willing to help out the rain in ways that they don't have to. And it would be like, I think that would be a pretty cool one to
00:39:42
Speaker
You know, to see, but we'll see. Well, considering the source of the question, it sounds like it's been bantered around almost. Yes, I agree. I agree. I'm guessing it didn't come out of thin air. Yeah. I would say if they had a game like that, a double header, and had happy hour prices on everything in the stadium, they would probably get a lot of people to go. There you go. That one's for standards. Yeah, that one's for. Of course, they didn't even offer happy hour pricing at the
00:40:13
Speaker
business, the alliance council meeting, or the alliance business meeting, but whatever. Whatever. Whatever. Here's a good one. Peter of the Otis asks again, has mirrors resurgence granted him a roster spot next season? I kind of hope not. Yeah, I would be bummed. If he if he were 29, or something, maybe, but
00:40:35
Speaker
Um, you know, I think he's played his way out of the dog house for sure. Um, to a point where I'm probably going to have pretty fond memories of him, but I feel like you can, you can do better. It's going to be over 34 next year. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I don't really like the prospects of going into 2017 with a 34 year old starting right back.
00:40:57
Speaker
who, let's, like, if he was playing at an all-star level right now, I think maybe I would feel like it would be worth a risk to go into the off season with a 34-year-old right back as your starter, but, and he has been, I will, like, the one thing about Tyrone Moon is he's been really durable. He's been really healthy. You can't fault him for his fitness, that's for sure, but I'm just not feeling, like, I just, I really think the sounder's gonna do better.
00:41:24
Speaker
I mean if it's a situation where he's willing to take a pretty hefty pay cut and be a rotational type player and they don't end up cutting loose a younger player to make that work, I would totally be into that.
00:41:43
Speaker
a pretty cool arrangement, especially if he was interested in staying in Seattle after his career. But I get the impression that he intends to go back to England, in which case that makes it a little trickier to make that work.
00:41:57
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, at this point, I think I would be inclined, like, I don't think O'Neill Fisher has been great by any stretch of the imagination, but I would be far more inclined to, like, I would hate to lose O'Neill Fisher in order to keep Tyromirs. Yeah, that's totally reasonable. At, Turner Esquire asked, Joel Campbell to the sounders, good idea or great idea?
00:42:25
Speaker
I think it's a great idea if they can pull it off. Where is he playing now? Is he still in Greece? He's no so he's I mean he's still owned by arsenal or his rights are owned by arsenal but he's playing for Portuguese sporty SCP. Oh, I think he's playing for Porto, right? No sporting you're right. Yeah
00:42:48
Speaker
So he's playing for sporting. So, I mean, I think that's a great DP signing if they can pull it off. I don't know if I think that's a plausible thing for them to pull off, but... He's a nine though, isn't he? No, he's a winger. Oh, is he? Oh, okay. Nevermind then. I mean, I think sometimes he plays as a striker for Costa Rica, but I think he's at his best as a wide player.
00:43:17
Speaker
Wow, and he's not played a ton for Sporting CP this year. I'm a little surprised he's played well in his he's got three goals in 288 minutes Yeah, I mean and that's the thing is that He plays really well for Costa Rica, but I mean he's been all over the place and the only place he's been like a really important player has been in Greece and
00:43:38
Speaker
And I don't think the Greek League is really all that much better than MLS, but MLS can probably pay more to a player like Joel Campbell. But you're probably going to end up overpaying in a way that you wouldn't necessarily end up overpaying for an equivalent Joel Campbell player, because he kind of has a name recognition thing going on. But I think that's the kind of winger the Sounders could really, really use for sure.
00:44:14
Speaker
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00:44:40
Speaker
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00:45:03
Speaker
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00:45:41
Speaker
at drone 637 asked could the sounders beat the US men's national team that showed up on Tuesday that was I so I didn't watch the first half of that game at all and I tuned in like around the 50th minute right and I don't even know when when did when did they scored their first goal in the first half right Costa Rica
00:46:05
Speaker
Uh, anyway, so I think they scored, anyway, I watched the three goals, the last three goals that they scored. And I don't know that I've ever seen the US look more helpless on, in a game than they did in that one. It was, it was so, so bad. It was so, it was all, it was just like pitiful. It was really pitiful. Like there was no, they didn't, I didn't think Costa Rica did anything special. Just, I don't know. It was horrible.
00:46:34
Speaker
It was eerily similar to the sporting Kansas City game that got Ziggy fired. It really was. It definitely had that feel about it. Yeah. Okay. Another US men's national team question. It's three part question. I'm going to answer. I'm going to ask them all at once. Ken Oplinger asks, is cleanseman passes sell by date? Correct answer. Yes. Should Ziggy be considered as a possible replacement? If you could have any coach in the world for US men's national team, it would be?
00:47:04
Speaker
I don't know who I would if I can have anyone I don't know I honestly don't know who I would pick But I don't think Ziggy would be the does that I think Ziggy actually could be a decent national team coach I think Ziggy is the perfect mid-cycle replacement guy I think you know, he's he's definitely a very good man manager, you know, he's a
00:47:28
Speaker
He's good enough tactically to get by and conquer cap for sure. I don't think tactics are really all that important, honestly, in the international game. I think the stuff that Ziggy stands out at is the stuff that you kind of want for a national team coach. And he's not going to be somebody that is going to do the job for six years. I think he's somebody that would be totally comfortable with
00:47:56
Speaker
you know, an arrangement, it's like, we just want you to get us to the World Cup, and if you do that, you can manage in the World Cup, and then we're going to be able to look elsewhere. I think you might be more amenable to that than a lot of people would. So, you know, if you can't find the guy that you really want right now, if they actually have the sacked fire room, which I don't think they do, so there's also that. But I think Ziggy would be a great stopgap for the national team.
00:48:20
Speaker
at Emily R. Cummings asks, where is the adorable video of Jorston Morden doing a joint interview referring to themselves as Jorston Morden? Yeah, I don't know where that I have heard rumors of this, of this thing. And I have been looking for it. I, I am guessing that it's some kind of promotion that the sounders are doing, but I'm very excited to see it. That's for sure. Do you have a drum roll sound effect?
00:48:50
Speaker
Oh yeah. No, not drum roll. No, don't have drum roll. You have to upload that. B underscore mantle. Bread. There's a good one. She asks, Jordan Morris. Also, Christian Roldan. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, definitely agree. Those are some quality names to say. Very good questions. Very good questions, bread.
00:49:17
Speaker
Okay, a little more serious. Mark Castner and Emmett O'Connell ask, does soccer even matter anymore? And in the context of last week, how much should this matter? It seems like it used to matter a lot.
00:49:33
Speaker
just a little bit more serious there. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I'm inclined to think that in times like these, we need distractions. And maybe that makes me part of the machine, but I'm a fan of distractions. I think it's very hard to live your life like 100% woke. Yeah, and the people that do,
00:50:03
Speaker
I don't believe them. I'll be completely honest with that. I know people that are super engaged politically, that lead lives where they're affecting a ton of change, doing amazing things, and they can still care about soccer. I get it. If you are a Trump supporter, this is probably not the segment of the show for you, but I totally get it.
00:50:30
Speaker
I get it, I understand that feeling of God, this does not matter at all. This is the important thing.
00:50:38
Speaker
I mean, I don't know, man. During World War I, during the Christmas, the impromptu Christmas armist, they played football matches in no man's land. It's okay to still care about soccer. It's fine. I definitely don't think anyone should feel guilty about caring about the soccer. Whether or not you choose to be,
00:51:06
Speaker
not want to focus on soccer, that's certainly up to your, I'm not gonna get on anyone for deciding that they're not ready to enjoy soccer or whatever. But for me, I think it's crazy to try to make anyone feel guilty about it.
00:51:24
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, the reality is that life goes on and, you know, you can until it doesn't, I guess. And, you know, you can't spend all of your time obsessing about it because it's not healthy. And, you know, like you said, like, if you're not ready to care about it or if you never care about it again, that's fine.
00:51:47
Speaker
Um, but you shouldn't do it out of some like sense of obligation to be like, no, I can only care about this one thing. Like you can walk and chew gum at the same time. I promise you. This is still yours. They haven't taken it from you. Uh, chestrockwell14 asks, who would win in a fight? Pablo Mascheroni in a suit or Pablo Mascheroni in a rapids training gear. That was a transition.
00:52:14
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like if he's carrying a suit, he would have a gun in there somewhere, like a gunfighter. The man in black. Yeah, but if not, I feel like the track suit thing would probably give him some extra maneuverability. More physical violence. Yeah, yeah.
00:52:41
Speaker
Seems like the suit with the tie can be used as a, what was it called, a garrote? Yeah, yeah, I guess so. He probably would, like, he doesn't seem like a guy that would wear a suit that didn't have a little bit of stretch in it, you know? Right. It would probably be very form-fitting, so. Exactly. So that's, that's another thing to consider. And, I mean, I would imagine he'd be wearing shoes that were rather pointy as well.
00:53:03
Speaker
These are great, great points. Yeah. I think you've put a lot of thought in this for some reason. I saw it earlier, and I've been thinking about it for a while, actually. That's good. That's good. Good stuff. Twimberly23 asks, when S2 goes through relocation and rebrand, can they beat the name of New Orleans Baby Cakes? And apparently, there is a team that just rebranded as the New Orleans Baby Cakes. I love it so much. It's so good. It's exactly what a minor league team should be.
00:53:32
Speaker
That's a baseball team, I assume? Yeah, they're a minor league baseball team. I don't mind. I was a little surprised at how much like disdain the name Baby Cakes got. And not that like I'm certainly no, I've never been in New Orleans, but I know enough about New Orleans that that's like a thing there. Yeah, there's the baby in the king cake. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, I don't know. I was a little surprised at how much people were like having fun with that. But maybe I shouldn't be. It is the internet.
00:54:00
Speaker
Well, I love, I mean, like, I think, I love it. I think it's great, but there are people that are like, God, this is so embarrassing. This is minor league sports, of course it is.
00:54:09
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that's the other part of it is that like the worst thing you can do in minor league sports is have a boring name like the High Desert Mavericks. That's terrible. That's a terrible name. That's a terrible name. I covered them for a few years. And I you know, it's another funny thing. So they had a song that was go Mavs go go Mavs go. It was the Cubs song, right? But it was only this like and I knew I knew like I knew that it was the Cubs song, but I don't think I'd ever really heard the Cubs song until this year.
00:54:39
Speaker
Yeah, they didn't have a lot of reason to sing. No. So anyway, I thought that was a funny story. Anyway, the one I think the one exception to a boring minor league team name is the Tacoma Rangers. Yeah, that's not that boring. I mean, it's I guess it's boring, but it work. It's a good name. Right. I mean, it's like the Tacoma Tigers is what they used to be in those. That's a bad name. That's terrible. There's like a million Tigers.
00:55:02
Speaker
Yeah, Tacoma Tigers is a terrible name. Yeah. I think it has to either be fun, like Albuquerque Isotopes is a great name. Right. Or it has to have some kind of connection to the area or whatever. What was the original team at Albuquerque Dukes? Oh, I don't remember. It was bad. It was a bad name. It was another bad one. It was in that weird 80s, 90s period where everybody took minor league baseball super seriously. Yeah. You can't have that. No.
00:55:32
Speaker
Okay. A question about Colorado Rapids. Bill Jones, STRPTS. Now that other states have legalized marijuana, is this matchup still called the cannabis Darby? It was the first one, so I think so. I mean, I think it, you know, but I don't think anybody ever actually referred to it that way seriously. So I don't know. Yeah. I think to the degree that anyone can lay claim to it, we probably can lay claim to it, but
00:56:02
Speaker
I don't really get the sense that anyone is fighting over that one. The fact that the first time we played after both states legalized weed was on 420. That was kind of cool. That was great. And you can't convince me that wasn't on purpose. But yeah, maybe that was just the first one. Anytime it's on 420, it should be called the Canada's Derby. Yeah, that's reasonable.
00:56:30
Speaker
Let's see Steve Locker asks what current sounder would look most epic with a full thick bushy playoff beard? Ramon Torres will look pretty good Yeah, but he like I don't know either he is like obsessive about shaving or he's like not a like huge facial hair guy Which I can identify with that I just I can't grow a huge beard somebody can't either. I don't know I
00:56:57
Speaker
I guess Frye would be disqualified since he's had a playoff beard for like six months. Right. Yeah, Stefan Frye, I must say I am very impressed by his beard game. Yeah, it's good. It's good.
00:57:09
Speaker
He's probably got the best beard, but I also, yeah, I'm a little skeptical of calling it. Like, cause it's, we've already seen it. We've seen what an epic playoff beard looks like with him. I think Fry, he got his like official, like he said, I'm from Seattle. So it just like sprouted on his face. Right. Probably. It's quite true. Okay. Uh, at better than asks, monk or ranger? Oh my God.
00:57:34
Speaker
I have an answer. I have an answer. Dave, stay with the monk until level five, then dip into a couple levels into ranger. Whoa, man. So far over my head. J underscore Scott M asks, which Tacoma stars mascot is the best?
00:57:54
Speaker
Is there like a wizard now? Did I see that? What was that about? I think he's a character, a role-player, kind of like Epic Sax Gorilla was. Oh, well, that was kind of awesome. Whatever, I had not seen that before. That was pretty cool. But it looks like they added a shy egg, which is just great. That's pretty, that's pretty cute.
00:58:18
Speaker
but there's only one answer, it's parry the peanut, come on. Yeah, it's parry until proven otherwise. Exactly. Without question. Okay, last question. Peter of the Otis asks, what's the appropriate amount of stress drinking to do prior to kickoff? I don't get super stressed on a first leg. Like it's weird. Like a odd calm comes over me at the beginning of it. Like I'm not super nervous going into this one and that tends to be how it is.
00:58:47
Speaker
Going into the game, although once the game gets going that's when it starts kicking in for me But my god I could barely breathe for the first half of the second leg even up 3-0 or they weren't up 3-0 at that point, but The whole first half of the second leg I could not breathe Yeah Yeah, I don't know. I try not to do stress drinking. I actually got some beer for the second leg and
00:59:11
Speaker
and did not open a single one until the sounder scored. Because then at that point it was like, ah, okay. Yeah, I guess I have a hard time enjoying that.
00:59:24
Speaker
I, on last Tuesday, for instance, I was a wreck of emotion, like just like nerves. And I did feel better after I had some whiskey, but that was really quite late in the night. And that kind of took an edge. So I don't, I guess I don't really do a ton of stress drinking. It's more like drowning in that case, but.
00:59:51
Speaker
Well, let's just answer his question. It's, uh, it's, it's at least three bears and two shots. There you go. Oh, there you go. I got drinking before. Yeah, it is. Well, if you're stressed out, come on. That's true. Well, I guess that you said that's it. That's it. All right. Well, awesome. Uh, thank you for, uh, for doing, for we're, we're trying out some new stuff on the show here. So hopefully this comes off. Okay. We're, uh,
01:00:22
Speaker
We're playing with some good stuff. I wanted to say that we should be doing this more often, but I wanted to thank you to James Woolard, who's the Sounders public address announcer, and he's been doing our sponsor reads. You should follow him on Twitter at BritVoxUS. If you're looking for a British voice to advertise for your business or non-profit, you should reach out to him.
01:00:44
Speaker
So I wanted to say that. I also wanted to of course say thank you to our newest sponsor, who is Designers Marble. It was kind of an awesome thing, the way that that came about. They apparently heard our ad of Queen Anne acupuncture, then went into Queen Anne acupuncture, got some acupuncture, and then all of a sudden they wanted to sponsor us. So that was cool. Queen Anne acupuncture. Thank you to them. Thank you to Constellation and Company, Full Pull Wines.
01:01:12
Speaker
and of course, Verity Credit Union. I am Jeremiah O'Shan, signing off on behalf of Aaron Campo and Lickett. This is No Sadietes. Remember, you'll never get along.
01:01:38
Speaker
Roll on, Columbia Roll on. Roll on, Columbia Roll on. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn. Roll on, Columbia Roll on.