Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 233: Interview with a Twitter vampire
63 Plays9 years ago
Last time we recorded we were talking about the Seattle Sounders needing a win to secure their spot in the playoffs. Two matches later, they still need the same thing.
This isn’t an ideal position for the Sounders to find themselves in, but considering the situation a couple months ago it’s definitely progress.
To help us get a handle on what kind of opponent stands in their way, we enlisted the help of Real Salt Lake fan Jason Greenwood (@neaterguyonline). That may seem like a rather random guest, but you have probably seen Jason’s work on Twitter at some point. He’s the guy notorious for masquerading as various soccer journalists and spreading false rumors.
He’s a divisive figure, to be sure, but we also find him pretty funny. It’s not just the imitations themselves, it’s how mad “real” journalists get about it. The guy has been banned from Twitter at least three times.
Recommended
Transcript
Episode Introduction & Sponsorships
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Nos Auderes is sponsored by Constellation & Co. Constellation & Co. is a letterpress stationery company and gift shop located in the Fisherman's Terminal, next door to Chinooks. Their storefront in the Magnolia Interbay neighborhood of Seattle is home to antique printing presses, unique greeting cards and locally made goods.
00:00:21
Speaker
They also offer design and printing services for weddings and special events. Mention NosAurieras for a 20% YNYA discount. For more information, visit ConstellationCo.com
00:00:37
Speaker
Hold onto your butts. Begin butt holding onto. Establish a firm hand hold on the butticle regions. Your butts may flee in terror, so we suggest you hold onto them, or at the very least keep them at a close distance using some sort of butt leash.
00:01:11
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
Seattle Sounders Playoff Prospects
00:01:28
Speaker
Welcome back to another edition of NOS Adiatus, sponsored by Fullpool Wines, Constellation & Company, Queen Anne Acupuncture, Verity Credit Union, and the book Towards Cascadia. We'll go ahead and go into episode 233. I should have really re-written this intro. Recording on Wednesday, October 19th, I am your host, Jeremy O'Shan, and I'm joined as usual by co-host Aaron Campo,
00:01:47
Speaker
and our engineer, Lickit, later in the show will be joined by Twitter celebrity Jason Greenwood. Not exactly the position we hope to be talking about going to the final game of the season. Rather than playing simply for playoff position, the Sounders are playing for their postseason lies after a loss to FC Dallas in which they blew a 1-0 lead in the 79th minute. But all is hardly lost. A win over reeling RSL on Sunday will secure the number four seed in the playoffs, a home match, and all will effectively be forgiven.
00:02:17
Speaker
So, Aaron, going into this one, you know, the Senators' best chance of clinching obviously was last week against Houston at home. They tied that game. I don't think a lot of people expected them to clinch on the road at Dallas. But, I don't know, how are you feeling? Do you feel like this is still a team we're bullish on? Has our faith been shaken just by one loss?
00:02:41
Speaker
No, I don't think so. I mean, I think like you said that the FC Dallas game was one that I don't think anybody really expected to win. Houston was a different story and I don't think we've recorded since that game. And so that was a little more disappointing to get that result. But, you know, there wasn't anything about that game that made me
00:03:02
Speaker
feel made me panic I mean it's you know it's you really want to get that result you really want to clench a playoff berth and get that over and done with and out of the way and I haven't come down the last weekend but
00:03:14
Speaker
the Sounders didn't play poorly, you know, they just didn't get the breaks and they, you know, they had some, I would say some bad breaks in a few situations and just couldn't put, you know, couldn't put the ball on the net. But it's not like they look like they've regressed. And I think that they match up pretty poorly against Houston as well. And, you know, Dallas has definitely fallen off since Fabian Castillo went to Turkey without telling anyone.
00:03:42
Speaker
And, you know, so they're certainly not a team they were earlier in the year, but they've been one of the best teams at home all season. They're still a very talented team, probably less talented now that Mario Diaz is out for the rest of the year. But, you know, he wasn't out for most of that game. So, you know, they're a tough team to beat.
00:04:04
Speaker
The Sounders definitely had some bad luck in that game. They had a perfectly good goal called back. You could make an argument that at least one of the fouls that led to a Dallas goal probably shouldn't have been called.
00:04:21
Speaker
Um, so, you know, it's just, that's always a tough place to get, uh, to get points even for, for a really good team. Uh, so I think the Sounders are probably going to get a point and get into the playoffs. Uh, I think they're, they're actually probably going to win this weekend. I don't see any reason to think that they're not.
00:04:38
Speaker
And I think that this belief that maybe was starting to ferment and some of us, myself included there, that this team was just going to roll through the rest of the season and steamroll their way into the last cup. Maybe that's faded a little bit. The stars have kind of dropped from my eyes and I would imagine those people's eyes.
00:05:03
Speaker
I feel pretty good going into the playoffs. If they can get that result this weekend, if they can get a home game, I feel decent about their chances with anyone into the playoffs. And in a pretty weird way, given the way the season has unfolded, I feel pretty confident going into the playoffs against everybody else in the West.
00:05:22
Speaker
Yeah, you look at the West, and I think that was what I came away from the FC Dallas game. The Sounders didn't play great in that game. I think they only completed 65% of their passes. They only got seven shots. I think they only put two on frame, not counting Hercules Gomez's shot. But I think what they did is they showed that they can go toe to toe with just about anybody. The FC Dallas team that they would potentially face in the playoffs,
00:05:50
Speaker
is now gonna be even weaker than the one they just placed, they just faced. The sounders were, let's not forget, they were missing a handful of their own starters, and they were missing a bunch of starters from the Houston game. You know, you go back to Houston, they were missing Jovan Jones, they were missing Brad Evans, they were missing, of course, Clint Dempsey, and then Andres, excuse me, Andres Savonchitz goes out in the ninth minute or something like that.
Key Players & Strategies
00:06:17
Speaker
And I think that loss actually was pretty significant. And I think we saw that to a certain degree in Dallas. But moving on from that, then they went into the Dallas game and they were out without Osvaldo Alonso. And I think it was Frank McDonald who said they have something like a 16 game winless streak without Alonso right now, which is crazy. I need to probably go double check that. But they're not the same team without Osvaldo Alonso. That's not exactly speaking out of turn.
00:06:48
Speaker
And, you know, so the team that they'll take into the playoffs will, you know, you'd like to think they'll have a healthy Brad Evans, man, that's becoming a frustrating situation. No, they won't have Clint Dempsey. No, they won't have an Andres Vancic, but they should have Jovan Jones. And otherwise they should have their midfield pairing of Osvaldo Alonso and Christian Roldan together. Their midfield looks, you know, I don't love the idea of going into the playoffs with
00:07:18
Speaker
with Hercules Gomez starting, but if you put Brad Evans there and Alvaro Fernandez out wide,
00:07:25
Speaker
I like that. I think that it could actually do some damage. So I mean, I think what I came out of the Dallas game thinking is that this is a team that maybe they aren't going to roll through the West, but I think they're as good and as talented as any team in the West. And weirdly, I think that the the East has probably the more talented teams like I think New York and Toronto are probably and and New York
00:07:49
Speaker
Red Bulls and New York City FC are probably the three most talented teams in the league right now, but they're not exactly rolling over people either. NYC FC just lost three to one to DC United, who I'm not super impressed by. So who knows what happens once we get, you know, once we get into this thing. And so yeah, I think if the Sounders can just get into the playoffs, especially if they can get in as a number four seed, which gives them a home game, I think you got to like their chances.
00:08:16
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that the interesting thing about the Sounders team is that, you know, there's one superstar player on it right now in Nicholas Ledero, and then there's one player in Ozzy Alonzo who is clearly, you know, crucially important.
00:08:31
Speaker
I think it's back to being underrated, probably, which is kind of funny, the way that's gone the last few years. But they don't have that super high-end flashy talent that NYC FC has or the Red Bulls have. But they also don't feel as vulnerable as those teams do. And LA is the same way. I mean, LA has Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard, Giovanni dos Santos, who has quietly had a pretty impressive season numbers-wise.
00:08:59
Speaker
you know so it's like they don't blow you out of the water with who they have but they they're just so well balanced um they're going to be very workman like which is okay ideally you know the sounders are not a workman like uh sort of team you know they they blow you away in a perfect world but
00:09:17
Speaker
We're dealing with reality we have right now and you know, they're gonna their their work rate is gonna kill teams You know, they they can be explosive. They're not gonna make a ton of mistakes. Their defense is really great I don't think their defense gets gets enough credit
00:09:32
Speaker
No, I totally agree with you there. And I think it's worth, we've said it on this show, but it's worth repeating up until the 79th minute of that game, they had gone. So you start around the second half of the, of the Portland game and you go all the way to the 79th minute of this Dallas game. It's like the equivalent of six and a half games and they'd only given up two goals from the run of play.
00:09:53
Speaker
Yeah, and they're doing that, you know, playing what I think has been a little bit more aggressive of a style. I think they're pressing a little bit more. They're playing a little bit higher of a line than they had been previously.
Sounders' Recent Performance Improvements
00:10:07
Speaker
It's impressive. I mean, they have two defenders that I think any team in the league could probably find a use for. I mean, I can't think of a team that, you know, would not be able to slot one of those two guys into their center back pairing.
00:10:21
Speaker
And, you know, Tyrone Mears, I think, over the last month has been pretty solid. I mean, I think we've been as hard as anyone on Tyrone Mears. But he's, I think he's really up to his game. I think Jovan Jones has been really, really good, really for the past two or three months. And it's, I find it bizarre. There's just like this cult of Jovan Jones haters that I don't really get. But I think Jovan, I'll just interject really quickly. The Jovan Jones thing, I think, kind of hit its apex probably at the
00:10:51
Speaker
you know, beginning of the Schmetzer era, maybe all the way up to the first Galaxy game, and it just seemed like he was lost. And ever since then, I think he's been as good as anyone, frankly, as a left-back. Yeah, and I think that some of that has now did tactical adjustments. I think Christian rolled on going into the midfield, and the central midfield kind of played more of a double-pivot role, and him getting a little bit of cover has been huge. I mean, I think that
00:11:18
Speaker
You know, we had this discussion about Deandre Ednaan a lot. How much of this stuff is Joven Jones' fault and how much of it is him being in a situation where it's vital that he provides a whip, that he gets involved in the attack, and he just doesn't have any help. And I think a big thing that's changed recently is that he's had a lot more help. And I don't want to say that he wasn't struggling during the middle of the season, because he totally was.
00:11:47
Speaker
It's just I think he's he's kind of switched back to being underappreciated by a lot of sound understands and that's unfortunate because he's not a guy that's making a ton of money. He didn't really cost too much to get fits the system really well. You know, that's that's the kind of I mean in a league like this where
00:12:05
Speaker
you have to find value. I think he's been a great value for the vast majority of this year. I feel pretty confident about the Sounders defense going into the playoffs and I feel like
00:12:19
Speaker
In years past, I always felt like, well, in the last few years, I'll admit that because there were a couple of years where I didn't feel this way, but I felt like the defense was going to be pretty solid and it was scoring goals that I was worried about because, I mean, you know, I think we can be honest and say that Siki Schmidt
00:12:36
Speaker
was pretty conservative in the playoffs, just as a general rule since, you know, 2011 or 2010, 2011, you know. And you can kind of understand that scene, you know, the way things went in the playoffs those years. But I think that, you know, I don't really expect Brian Schmetzer to be that way. I expect him to kind of do what the Sounders have been doing since he took over. And I feel more optimistic about that. I mean, I think that
00:13:06
Speaker
We kind of, in the CG discussions as time went on, we got stuck in this rut of, you know, and I was just as guilty of anybody as anybody else of talking about like, well, the playoffs are a crap shoot. And, you know, the fact that he hasn't won an MLS Cup is not necessarily an indictment against him. But I think it's reasonable to say that, you know, especially the past few years, he set up his team in a way that didn't give them
00:13:32
Speaker
really the best chance of winning. I think you can be totally critical of that. And in some ways, I think that's why I'm really optimistic going in this year is I think the Sounders are just going to play the way they've played. And I feel pretty good about their chances of winning, especially over two legs if they're doing that.
00:13:50
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that I'm there with you. I think that one of the things that's really different about this team and one of the things that maybe differentiates them from a lot of the other teams that are competing is that Nicolas Ledero is maybe the only
00:14:08
Speaker
were, you know, the only engine, the only real engine DP player. Like, this is a guy who is all over the field, and I do think that there's something to be said for that being contagious, and that he leads in that way. That, you know, when your DP, your highest paid player, is all over the field busting his ass to track down loose balls and to open up space and do all these little things, that you, you know, if you're Ozzie Alonzo, if you're Christian Roldan, if you're Alvaro Fernandez,
00:14:38
Speaker
you know you gotta keep up with them. And I do think that a lot of the sounders' improvement isn't necessarily just about the way that Ledero is, that what he brings in a literal playing sense, but in how he plays, I do think has kind of washed off on a lot of the sounders. The sounders have not always been a team that you would describe as, like you said, as kind of workmen-like.
00:15:05
Speaker
You know, I do think that they've kind of taken on that tone and they have that ability to be explosive. You know, we saw the LA game, but I don't think that the Sounders are necessarily going to be a team that are winning 3-1 on a regular basis.
00:15:19
Speaker
But yeah, I think I'm feeling pretty good about this. And I guess either way, and I hope it doesn't go this way, but my hope is that I feel like Brian Schmetter has shown enough that he deserves to be back next year. I guess to some degree I'll understand if the Sounders ultimately decide that not making the playoffs is enough to
00:15:42
Speaker
You know not give him the job, but it does feel rather silly to base whether or not you're gonna bring him back on one game But I guess maybe if that's I don't know I guess if that's that's what they do That's what they do, but it would be it would be a real shame that said I still I really do expect the Sounders to win this game I feel pretty confident about their chances especially if Brad Evans can get healthy for this one and man it is it's crazy like I I know that there's been this the sense that
00:16:12
Speaker
that Brad is never healthy and that he's got injury issues and that...
00:16:19
Speaker
you know he's just not reliable and i always fought that but man these last few weeks have have forced me to somewhat reconsider that uh... you know he's now he's he's only played and i'm now looking at it only played once in the sounders last seven games which is crazy and the one game that he played he scored a goal in uh... he generate he he
00:16:43
Speaker
created a penalty and he got a red card in, which is just crazy that this is how it's gone at the end of the year. But I do feel like that his presence could end up being a huge part of ultimately what goes on with the sounders.
00:16:59
Speaker
The thing that's interesting about Brad is it seems like when he gets a sustained run of games, he's fine. And then something happens and he misses a week and he just breaks in practice. And I don't, I don't know what it is. I mean, and it's, it's probably totally coincidental, but it does seem that way. It does seem like a pattern and it's a really, really frustrating one. Yeah. Also, I guess Valdez was hurt last week too. Uh, just to throw in another random injury.
00:17:26
Speaker
That's a game he could have helped in a lot, I think. It is. I totally agree. That is definitely a game that he could have helped in.
00:17:35
Speaker
You know, I don't know, I didn't love the O'Neill Fisher sub. That was one that I didn't quite understand. I guess the idea was that Fisher was supposed to be playing as a mid, but it didn't look like he was very comfortable. It seems a little predictable that where they broke down on the game winning goal was kind of a little bit of a miscommunication. Although it was very frustrating to see Zach Scott and Tyrone Mears kind of both dropping deep
00:18:04
Speaker
the line and keeping Carlos Ruiz on when if they had basically just gone up with with Marshall and and I guess it was Jones he would have been offside I don't know if it would have been called the way that it was going
Interview with Jason Greenwood
00:18:16
Speaker
but it was a very it was a very frustrating game in a lot of ways but like I said I think that we ultimately can come out of it feeling like the Sounders can can go toe-to-toe with that team
00:18:28
Speaker
But yeah, we'll see where it goes. I'm cautiously optimistic though.
00:18:35
Speaker
And I gotta admit that this interview that we did with Jason Greenwood, which is coming up, who you may or may not know is a rather infamous character on Twitter, we'll kind of explain that, but we also brought him on because he's an RSL fan, he's a knowledgeable RSL fan, and he predicted a 4-1 loss. I don't wanna let the cat out of the bag too much, but I think that's the first time that an opposing blogger has predicted a blowout loss for their own team.
00:19:03
Speaker
which maybe speaks to the struggles that RSL has had right now. But anyway, we'll send it off to that interview. Hopefully you enjoy it. We talk a little bit about the world of Twitter impersonations and get a little preview of RSL. We'll come back, we'll take your questions. You're listening to Nos Adiates.
00:19:26
Speaker
The Queen Anne acupuncture has over a decade of experience healing the injuries of athletes. Marathon runners, snowboarders, yoga instructors and weekend warriors have all found relief from pain and have enhanced performance with the use of acupuncture and Chinese medicine.
00:19:44
Speaker
Queen Anne Acupuncture has treated players from many of the Seattle area's soccer leagues for a wide range of injuries. Acupuncture also happens to be one of the best treatments for stress. Credit cards are welcome, but Queen Anne Acupuncture is also in network with insurance plans including Primera, Aetna, Lifewise, Cigna and Group Health Cooperative.
00:20:06
Speaker
Located in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, you can conveniently book an appointment online today at QueenAnneAcupuncture.com.
00:20:20
Speaker
Full Pool Wines are based in Seattle, owned and operated by Sanders fans, and have been sponsoring Nos Adiara since 2011. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest. Their model is simple. One, they email compelling offers.
00:20:39
Speaker
Two, you request bottles that sound appealing and three, your wine arrives at their soda warehouse and is ready for pickup or shipping. Their soda tasting room is also open to the public. If you're interested in joining their mailing list or learning more about them, visit fullpaulwines.com.
00:21:02
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Arietes, where we are joined by the one and only Jason Greenwood, who you probably have no idea who that person is. But you may know him by some of his Twitter handles, gangbang unicorn, phaser to pun, neat guy online, neater guy online. Of course, we won't want to forget about Taylor Twelman, Grant Wall,
00:21:31
Speaker
And any other celebrity soccer journalists out there, I'm sure I missed some of your actual handles, though. Did I miss one or two? There was not Phaser Stephon after Phaser Stephon got suspended. Oh, of course. Of course, of course. Yeah. So anyway, we...
00:21:51
Speaker
Joking aside, I did want to talk to you about RSL. You're an RSL fan. Why don't we go ahead and get that out of the way early on in this interview, and then we can have fun, because that's what we're all about. But RSL, coming into this game, they're winless in their last six. They have one goal in their last five. Are they just playing possum, or are they going to come up and come up with a big win? Or is there legitimate issues at RSL?
00:22:16
Speaker
uh... i will i think there are issues a lot of people think they're issues like the lack of goals is really concerning for a team that all of their dp slots are taken by forwards uh... not producing up top is kind of frustrating the the back line has been good they played really well against kansas city chris schuler came back and started and look like the chris schuler that might get a national team call-up before he destroyed his lake not scoring has been a huge problem
00:22:43
Speaker
Yeah, so for all that, for the winless in six, and I guess the one before that, you came back from two down to tie LA 3-3, but the defense, you're right, as you said, the two losses, I guess the three losses have all been 1-0, right? Yeah, the defense has been really solid. They just can't score goals for some reason. Right, and so what is, has there been a change in the offense? Because it does seem like the offensive pieces are there.
00:23:13
Speaker
Uh, part of it has been injuries is what is according to the team. Uh, you're a mopsysian is dealing with a heel problem that he's had going for a couple of weeks. And so he hasn't, he hasn't been playing well. He hasn't been playing a lot of minutes either. And there's a pretty like substantial step down from mopsysian to Ole Miss Garcia is your bad. And that's not like a slight against Ole Miss, but facts are facts.
00:23:36
Speaker
Yeah, so Mosesian came over. He was obviously at RSL for a while, or for a year. How long was he here in his first couple years? I think he was here for two or three years. Okay, and then he went to Europe. Right, he went to Denmark and then to Russia. And then he came back to a fair amount of attention. People were pretty excited about that. And he started off the season okay, right?
00:24:00
Speaker
Yeah, he's played really well. He's got like nine goals and three or four assists. And he was really hot. We kind of hit a summer slump and then came out of it for like a month. And he was really hot during that month. And now we're back in like a different slump. But yeah, people were excited when he came back. There was always talk that he wanted to come back. And the general manager, Craig Weibel, said they tried to make the deal happen last year, but they couldn't get it to work.
00:24:26
Speaker
And when he came back, people here were really excited because it's Salt Lake and you don't expect like a guy who's playing for a big team in Europe to come to play in Salt Lake. Right. And so they have.
00:24:39
Speaker
are potentially going to... I guess they could still make the playoffs if they lose this game, but there's a distinct possibility that both Kansas City and the Timbers would pass them if they win their games, they would pass RSL if RSL loses. How big of a problem is that for RSL to miss the playoffs two years in a row, or is this kind of seen as the second year of a long-term rebuilding process?
Real Salt Lake's Playoff Challenges
00:25:06
Speaker
I think it's a pretty big problem because a lot of people feel like the windows closing with with Romando and Morales and Beckerman all being into their like mid 30s or upper 30s So people are kind of worried Where are we gonna be at when we have to replace them two years down the road? And how many how many more good chances are we gonna have with them? There we go. That's the baby that we were waiting for. Yeah, I
00:25:32
Speaker
It's okay, we're big fans of babies and kids interrupting the show here, so as long as you're okay to keep recording, we'll keep recording, because that's just music to my ears. Oh yeah, I'm fine. Okay. So if they do miss the playoffs, are there potential big changes that could be in the offing? It sounded like at one point I'm blanking on the coach's name, but you'll set me straight. He was digging in on his players.
00:26:03
Speaker
all yet just bizarre which was really just as a very good because a lot of people they kinda make fun of it because is post-match press conferences are like the epitome of coach talk right we will lose like three nil and he'll give a post-match press conference talk about how he thought there were some things that we did really well that's a pretty regular occurrence but yet he he really tore into the players after the i think two matches ago
00:26:27
Speaker
the slump like everyone thought it was oh it was when we lost to Houston at home because Houston are terrible and we hadn't lost at home all year and he kind of let the players have it but I think that if we don't make the playoffs there's like some talk that his job might be at stake because his contract is up at the end of this year and there was an article about two weeks ago that they were in talks to extend his deal but now that is like totally died there's nothing coming out about that
00:26:54
Speaker
Interesting and so what would you say if you had to guess going into this game? How confident are you that they'll be able to I guess if you get at least get a point that that guarantees a playoff spot, right? Yeah, if we get a point we get in most likely in one of the like playing game spots, right? But I don't think we're gonna get a point. I think we're gonna get murdered Well, I would I hope you're right
00:27:17
Speaker
i've got yet if i was coming we would ever every time i go to seattle you guys smokers so i talk myself out of not going this time for the good of the team
00:27:26
Speaker
Well, that was big of you. We would have liked to have shown you around town a little bit. But I guess you've been welcomed by Seattle fans, haven't you? Yeah, Seattle's great. That's my favorite place to go in MLS. Oh, good. We'd like to hear that. Well, and I'll be honest, the main reason we had you on the show was a nice dovetailing of reasons. But the main reason we had you on is that I really wanted to pick your brain about your Twitter persona.
00:27:52
Speaker
for lack of a better term. And as luck would have it, and I honestly, I did not even plan this, but as luck would have it, I went to direct message you yesterday or the day, whatever it was, I guess it was yesterday, and it said, this person doesn't exist. I was like, what? That's weird. And then I was able to find you again very quickly, thought I wrote it up as a,
00:28:15
Speaker
as like some kind of weird thing that happens on Twitter. And now I come to discover that you have been banned. You had been banned from Twitter for at least a third or fourth time. What got you banned this time, Jason?
00:28:28
Speaker
Well, Grant Wall got me banned. As he does, as he does. But he was mad about FC Dallas did this thing where you could directly tweet at journalists to tell them, hey, support FC Dallas players for player of the year, code of the year, yada yada yada. And obviously, that's really annoying to make it super easy to mass tweet someone. But he was on Twitter, and he was very mad online about it.
00:28:58
Speaker
So FC Dallas kind of made a little snarky comment back to him after he tweeted about it. And he said, this is very immature of you or something. So Grant was upset that FC Dallas was essentially soliciting fans to tweet at Grant and fill up his timeline because God knows his timeline isn't full enough. Yeah.
00:29:20
Speaker
Yeah, so he was upset about it. So I like haven't really done the like impersonating people thing for a while because number one, it doesn't really work anymore because people finally caught on. And number two, I got really sick of having to start new Twitter accounts all the time. So I changed my profile to look like Graham Wall and I said something like,
00:29:40
Speaker
I hate when people on Twitter use Twitter how they want to use it. Twitter is a profession of journalism only with like 10 exclamation marks. And just like throwing up a hissy fit. And it was literally up for like five minutes. And I switched back to my profile. It was just for a laugh. And then like four hours later, I was on at home and somebody was like retweeting some vines I had posted or something. And I tried to retweet something and says, you're not allowed to do this action. And then I found out I was suspended.
00:30:09
Speaker
That's quite the sad tale. If we can, this is small time on your part. Such a Grant tweet. Right, exactly. No small time allowed.
00:30:28
Speaker
If you could walk, I am actually fascinated by this though. So what was the first time that you tried impersonating a soccer journalist on Twitter? The first time was the best time. It was the Jordan Morris one. Okay, I thought this was a recent phenomenon, but go ahead. I'm sorry. It's getting off.
00:30:48
Speaker
I was at work with a buddy and I checked Twitter and I said, oh cool, Jordan Morris is gonna, you know, play for the Sounders, yada, yada. And he's not really on Twitter, my buddy. And then a couple minutes later, he's like, man, that would be crazy if Jordan Morris changed his mind. Like, could you imagine if he did that? And so that wheels turning, I was like, if he did change his mind, who would report that?
00:31:10
Speaker
So, I changed my profile, looked like Grant Wall, and I tweeted it out, and I've said this on, like, other shows, other podcasts, but I- Wait a minute, you've been on other podcasts before? Only, like, one. Okay, I was gonna say, I was about to just cut this interview off right now.
Twitter Impersonation Anecdotes
00:31:23
Speaker
Yeah. I thought we had an exclusive, but anyway, go ahead.
00:31:27
Speaker
so I tweeted that out and just kind of laughed about it and locked my phone and I finished work for like another 30 minutes didn't look at my phone and then when I left work I look at my phone and it said I had like 984
00:31:42
Speaker
And so I'm like, what the hell happened? And I start scrolling through Twitter and Bleacher Report had like sent out a push notification that Grandpa was reporting that Porta Morris wasn't going to the sounders. And it just escalated super quick. My phone like died because I could not keep up with the constant Twitter notifications.
00:32:06
Speaker
So do you know who patient zero was that actually started the wildfire that led to 984 notifications? I think it was probably Maxie. Oh, Maxie. Maxie always started in trouble. That time he may not have done it on purpose because after that, when I would do it, he always thought it was funny. So he would intentionally do it because he told me people follow him that don't check.
00:32:33
Speaker
Right. Yeah, I think it was either him or just some probably some random person and it just went like wildfire. That's it is kind of amazing. It was an amazing thing because I remember I do. I guess I kind of remember that and people freaking out and and having to explain to people. Well, no, that's that's not what happened. And I know Alexi Lawless was one of the people that got got for lack of a better term.
00:32:58
Speaker
Kurt Larson was my favorite for sure Kurt Larson always always my favorite when Kurt falls for something He falls everything he falls really like who's the who is the journalist who most often falls for your for your impersonations Probably Kurt Larson. I'd like to hear that for a while that guy in Philadelphia fell for him all the time too, but Yeah, I forgot his name. That's the least surprising thing I've ever
00:33:30
Speaker
Yeah, he bit on it a lot and then he got super mad and I probably shouldn't say this but he wrote like a very serious post on his Facebook about how bad it was for people And I like got screenshots from people of the Facebook post and it was it made it worth it like times 1000 and
00:33:54
Speaker
so obviously so this thing started off clearly as as a joke and as something that was just amusement but at some but at some point it was no longer a joke like you've probably done this i don't know what eight ten times i am i'm guessing yeah like eight or ten that there have been a bunch that like didn't take off that i just deleted but there were like eight or ten that really blew up fast and so you caught me once on the uh i think it was that the sounders were signing another ep striker and you you were matt pence
00:34:24
Speaker
Oh yeah, the Matt Pence one was, see the only clue off, well, I won't get into that, but that was, I do remember that, that one, that one I felt like had legs too, because Matt is a semi obscure reference to a lot of people in MLS. And so that one definitely caught it. I remember that one very distinctly because it was, I think you said that they were, the sounders were going to renegotiate Nelson Valdez's contract and sign another DP or something like that. Yeah.
00:34:53
Speaker
The best one was Samir Nasri because it was like the most unbelievable thing and everyone believed it. That was, yes, I remember that one too. Sorry for all the sleepless nights that caused you guys. No, I mean, luckily I think after the, you know, it's one of those things where it's not the hardest thing to figure out. The reality is that your Twitter handle doesn't actually change, right? It's just your name and your photo. Yeah, I don't change my handle. That feels like cheating.
00:35:21
Speaker
right exactly like you're being like to me what it's it's that's what makes it funny is that it's it's not that hard to see through if it was this really like intense hack it wouldn't be that funny like when Brian Strauss actually got hacked and
00:35:37
Speaker
He was sending out all this stuff that was not, he wasn't, you know, fake reporting news, but it was all this, like, silly hacker stuff. That, you kind of felt bad for the guy, because he legitimately got hacked. But this is, you're not hacking anyone. You're just, you're, you know, it's a joke. That said, you're a father. You're, presumably, you're a reasonably responsible adult.
00:36:02
Speaker
What drives you to actually do this? Is it purely for the laughs or is there some aspect of shining a mirror on online media and giving us some insight into the mindset that we all are just dying to retweet information?
00:36:20
Speaker
It's really just for laughs. I'm not going to name drop anyone, but someone who writes and covers soccer in the US called me for an interview about this and to find the deeper meaning behind why I impersonate people on Twitter. I think they were very disappointing because I was like, it's really just for fun when I'm bored. There's not really any sort of deeper meaning to it.
00:36:44
Speaker
And the thing that made it a hundred times better wasn't like shining a light on anything. It was like the dirty diapers that came from the people who like their living is literally making up transfer rumors. And then someone makes one up as them and they're like, you're destroying my credibility. So what's the so I guess I'm going to go ahead and guess that you have been personally contacted by some of these mad journalists. Is that accurate?
00:37:14
Speaker
Yes. And have you been called on the phone? Have you been contacted over Twitter? Email? Twitter. No one would have called me on the phone. That would be super creepy. Well.
00:37:24
Speaker
but also probably not out of the realm of possibility. Not remotely out of the realm of possibility. I will tell you that right now. I'm actually a little surprised that you haven't been called on the phone. That said, so what's the approach usually? Are they just like, what are you doing? This is totally, are they inquiring? What's that process like when someone who's really mad about this contacts you?
00:37:47
Speaker
Um, a lot of it is just like the, why do you keep doing this? And I'm just like, well, like one time Grant publicly tweeted at me, why do you keep doing this? And I said, my wife left me. And then he got super pissed. That's why you're Aaron's hero. Yeah, he got super pissed because I didn't like give him the in and out of what, there was really no reason. It was just fun. And if he had just like ignored it and not gotten so riled up about it, it probably wouldn't have turned into a huge deal.
00:38:17
Speaker
And so now that you're, you know, you're almost what, nine months removed from this thing. So has the, I guess that's actually an interesting little side note. Does the, how old is your child? Is it a boy or a girl? It's a boy and he's, he just turned six months yesterday. So how much does the, does your kind of
00:38:41
Speaker
I'm guessing your interest in this has nothing to do at all with turning into a father. It's not like six months ago you gave this up.
00:38:51
Speaker
Everyone like a couple times I did people like what would your baby think? He's like three months old. He is pooping in his pants. He doesn't care at all about what I'm doing Like they like I was supposed to feel guilty uh Yeah, but you don't of course no why would you proud of me exactly? Your baby would your son would surely is surely gonna be proud of you someday when he's like eight years
00:39:15
Speaker
So in eight years, when Twitter no longer exists, most likely, you'll tell him, I once got a thousand interactions on this old app called Twitter, and it was because I was impersoning someone. Can you believe that, son? What I'm really hoping for, I'm kind of banking on it, is he's half South American, so he's probably really good at soccer. I know he's only six months old, but that seems like a safe assumption.
00:39:38
Speaker
So I'm hoping that he's going to be like a prodigy and play for the national team and then this wall is going to have to interview him for something. And it's going to like come full circle. That would be that would be spectacular. So is this just like a Jaguars fan thing? Well, I would remiss if I didn't ask that.
00:40:00
Speaker
That's who I got the idea from besides the guy saying oh, yeah, you know What would happen if he changed his mind the whole like impersonating someone to say it I got from chaps who is like notorious on Twitter for impersonating people and That and he's from Jaguars Twitter. I've known him from now He's like working for Barstool and doing all sorts of awesome stuff But he used to be like just a random dude with like 400 followers on Twitter until and he just started impersonating like NFL Journalists and what's funny is like NFL journalists who you would assume
00:40:31
Speaker
ticket way more serious because their job gets like way more attention they like laugh it off and think it's funny well because they have they have a cushion of hundred they're they're legit big time whereas grant wall is only big time among
00:40:44
Speaker
soccer people like us but that's i mean that's i know i know that jason says that there's not a deeper meaning to this but it does kind of belie the like you know the just sort of inferiority complex of american soccer where it's like well i think he doesn't see a deeper meaning to it but there is a deeper meaning to it there is exactly exactly
00:41:03
Speaker
I mean it does, whether or not you're doing it to shine a light on journalism or on soccer media or on anything, the reality is that it kind of speaks to how insecure a lot of soccer fans in general, but a lot of soccer media are in terms of their place in the marketplace.
00:41:25
Speaker
And I think it also speaks to the silliness of transfer rumors and just how quickly something like this can catch fire. I mean, like you said, you know, you started it off literally as a joke, not thinking probably that anyone was really going to, like, if you could have fooled five people, you would have been probably thrilled. And then to find out that you probably, that there was probably people days later talking about how Jordan Morris just snubbed the sounders and doesn't that suck for the sounders.
00:41:50
Speaker
And that was a very real thing, I'm sure. So it is kind of funny that it takes off that way and it speaks to the reliability of journalism in the
00:42:02
Speaker
in the internet age and how reluctant so many journalists are to do basic fact checking and to just do something as simple as find out who this person is that's tweeting this information out. You don't have a blue check mark next to your name, you don't have, and yet it would seem to be pretty easy for people to figure out that you're not actually Grant Wall.
00:42:28
Speaker
Yeah, but like Twitter, everyone just wants to be the first. That's why they're like other journalists fall for it. And then they get they they get mad. They're like, oh, I can't believe you did that. Well, really, I can't believe you fell for that because like your job is to make sure that what you're talking about is legit, not just to be like, oh, and just hit the retweet button. Right. Right. Exactly. Like huge if true. That's my favorite. That's my favorite retweet, which which I'm sure we've all seen.
00:42:57
Speaker
But anyway, well, Jason, it's been really fun having you on. I hope that people enjoyed this and that they found you interesting. And I hope that you're right, that RSL gets totally destroyed on Sunday. I think we're gonna lose like 4-1. That's my prediction. I don't like predictions, but I'm throwing it out there.
00:43:17
Speaker
All right, well, we'll take that one. We're gonna hold you to that. But anyway, you're listening to Nosarietes. This is Jason Greenwood. You can follow him, and then you can be in on the fun. What's your Twitter handle right now? Today. N-E-A-T-E-R guy online. There you go. And now you'll be in on all the fun, if you ever actually do this again. So.
00:43:43
Speaker
Thanks for coming on. And yeah, you're listening to No Saudi At This.
00:43:52
Speaker
Verity is a local credit union and has been headquartered in Seattle since 1933. They have branches throughout the Puget Sound area and know what is important to you because they live here too. Verity is not for profit and puts any money they make into good rates, products and services for you, the members.
Sponsorships & Listener Questions
00:44:11
Speaker
They have credit cards with competitive rates, checking and savings accounts and loans for all sorts of things, even bicycles.
00:44:18
Speaker
Verity is federally insured by the NCUA and an equal housing opportunity lender. Anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Washington state can become a member and we would love to have you. Learn more and apply at veritycu.com.
00:44:41
Speaker
Towards Cascadia provides an analysis of a wide range of topics including regional identity, bioregionalism, the philosophy of freedom, and the foundations of our most pressing civic issues. The goal of the book is to provide readers a new and legitimate perspective on how to understand the Pacific Northwest. Towards Cascadia is now available as an ebook in all major formats. To learn more and purchase your copy today, go to towardscascadia.com.
00:45:15
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Adietes. Hopefully you enjoyed the interview with Jason Greenwood and hopefully I wasn't, hopefully people got the gist of who he was, even if they had no idea who he was going into it. But we have a bunch of questions or we have some questions. So look it, I'll let you take it from here. Yep, here we go. Eric underscore Teets asks, would you rather play RSL Portland or KC in a knockout game? Does it change you for home versus away?
00:45:44
Speaker
I think unquestionably, I would probably like to play RSL at home, given all the choices. Although I don't know how likely that actually is now. But if we can't play RSL, I guess I want to play KC. And I guess the road game I'd least want to do is I don't think I want to go to Portland.
00:46:11
Speaker
Yeah, I mean I don't I don't want to play Portland at all ever in any context in any situation, but Going to RSL sucks. It sucks less than it used to but it still sucks Going to to KC sucks although it sucks a lot less in the in the late fall and then in the summer, but
00:46:36
Speaker
None of those places are fun to go play at no, I think weirdly poor I mean, I think weirdly Portland might actually be the least Daunting. Yeah, I guess they certainly have a great home field advantage, but I think that I'm just You don't have to deal with the altitude or the heat or whatever. Yeah I I guess I think you're probably with me on this is that the the narrative starts to become so
00:47:03
Speaker
So eye rolling, potentially. But then I guess there's also the potential for a great narrative changing win. Yeah, that would be nice, right? Yeah. Okay, related playoff question. PDX and Casey, or not underscore Rossi asks, PDX and Casey are both playing teams with no incentive to win. Should we be more concerned?
00:47:32
Speaker
No, I think there's always an incentive to win in terms of guys are going to be playing for their jobs. And professional athletes just don't like to lose. And in a weird way, I think that that competitiveness without anything really at stake might make up for
00:47:54
Speaker
you know, the nerves that maybe go along with feeling like you have to win a game, you know, with no pressure. The one caveat is as the game gets closer to the end, if the team with nothing to play for is trailing, it feels more like a fait accompli.
00:48:16
Speaker
That's definitely true. But, you know, in the first 60 minutes, if it's competitive, if, you know, I don't see any, like, it wouldn't shock me at the Whitecaps beat the Timbers. I mean, I think they have a lot to play for, pride-wise. I think they, you know, they still have a outside, very distant, but a chance of winning the Cascadia Cup. They, or I think that's right, right? Or if they win, do they win the Cascadia? No, they need to win by three goals or something like that, I think. But whatever it is.
00:48:46
Speaker
Patron Morales might want to get back at David. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, I don't know. I'm not super worried about that. But I mean, ultimately, if the centers can't take care of their own business, you know, they that's ultimately what it comes down to. Right. You know, the center's got a center's fate is their own hand. They can clinch the number four spot in the playoffs by beating RSL. And I think that that's by far the preferred path.
00:49:17
Speaker
Okay, XZag asks, I think we had this question last time around, but when I'm not saying if the sounders make the playoffs, what should our expectations be? Is an MLS Cup win reasonable?
00:49:32
Speaker
You know, I think it's as reasonable as it ever is with maybe the exception of 2013 and maybe 2009 when I think probably the expectations were probably outside the realm. But, I mean, I don't think you should ever expect to win MLS Cup, but I don't think it would require some, you know, hand of God kind of situation. I think the Saunders stack up.
00:49:59
Speaker
Yeah I mean in 2014 they had the best team in the league. I think it's pretty fair to say and they didn't get any farther than they usually do. So it's the playoffs are
00:50:13
Speaker
I mean, there's a ton of luck involved. There's skill, you know, you have to, you have to play well. You have to have a good team, obviously. But, you know, you never know. You seriously never know going into the playoffs. And that's why, that's why when Brian Schmetzer says stuff like, if we don't win the MLS Cup, I know people love it. And I don't blame them for loving it. And I don't blame them for saying it, but it just kind of drives me crazy because it's like,
00:50:39
Speaker
Come on, like you got to set realistic expectations, but I'm a weirdo when it comes to this. I mean, I guess from the perspective of this season started out where nothing short of MLS Cup was going to satisfy the organization. And I think what he's trying to articulate is that that belief hasn't changed. Like just making the playoffs doesn't suddenly turn what was a nightmare of a season into a raging success of a season.
00:51:08
Speaker
even if you can in the context appreciate just making the playoffs more this year than maybe you could have in other years. But yeah, I mean, I get it. I totally get what he's saying, but you're right. I don't think- Yeah, I totally get it too. And I mean, this is like a me thing where it's like, I should be able to better parse statements like that, but they still- Yeah, they are kind of as well. But it's not, you know, it's a me problem. It's totally a me problem.
00:51:41
Speaker
Going back to not underscore Rossi, he asks, if we rate Garth by who he let go, Malar, Barrett, Papa, et cetera, instead of who he brought in, does it change how we view him? I mean, I guess I don't think we ever grade him based on just one or the other. I mean, I think you always grade him on the net gain or the net loss.
00:52:08
Speaker
And I still look at this roster, and if you're telling me we could add Lamar Nail to this roster, would I take it? Sure, if you're telling me I could just wave a magic wand and put Marco Papa on the roster now, sure. But that's only after, like I still think Andres Avonchitz in a lot of ways is a more effective player than Marco Papa. I still think that the sounders,
00:52:34
Speaker
when they traded Lamar Nagel, I can understand why they thought they had better options at the time. You know, oddly Michael Azira is the player that seems to have played the best since leaving. And that's partly because he's been given a very specific role. And if he had been allowed to kind of serve as the Christian Roldan in a 4-2-3-1, maybe he would have been really good. Although I tend to think Roldan is much better than him now. And so we wouldn't have seen Roldan.
00:53:04
Speaker
But I mean, I think you look at the whole thing. Yeah, I mean, I think the only one of those moves that I really kind of think was bad even in context was Nagel. And which was just funny because at the time I was like, yeah, that makes sense. Like, you know, that totally makes sense. But like even looking back on it now at the situation, he wasn't making a lot of money. He was effective. That almost felt like a
00:53:32
Speaker
ripping the band-aid off kind of move, which, you know, those moves can have a purpose, but it would definitely be nice to have Lamar and ankle now. But there's no other move that I can look at and say, yeah, that was stupid. You know, like we just definitely shouldn't have done that. Like it all made sense at the time and in the system. And, you know, there are other factors that go into the moves that teams make that
00:53:57
Speaker
You know, aren't just like, are we better or worse? I mean, there's, there's salary cap. There's, you know, you know, how happy the player is, um, what you can get in return, things like that. So it's, you know, never in a vacuum. Um, but I really kind of wish we hadn't traded LaMarn angle. I'll, I'll say that for sure. That wandering sounder asks, what do you guys think of Alexey Lawson's interview with Siggy?
00:54:25
Speaker
Well, I'll be totally honest, I didn't listen to the entire interview, but I did read a lot on it and I did listen to part of it. And, you know, I think the thing that I came away and that same thing I came away with after listening, after reading his interview with Matt Pence.
00:54:41
Speaker
is that I feel for the guy in that he seems to have talked himself into this idea that because he's not employed and someone like Caleb Porter is employed, that that inherently means that the world considers Caleb Porter to be a more successful coach. And I think that's a little myopic. I don't think most people look at
00:55:06
Speaker
you know, whether or not a guy got fired as being, whether or not he had more success. The reality is that Sigi had seven years of a lot of success. He had one year where they were really unsuccessful, but he also didn't have the most success he possibly could in those seven years. Whereas, you know, Porter had an up and down year, and I guarantee if the, if the Timbers missed the playoffs this year,
00:55:29
Speaker
if the Timbers miss the playoffs next year, there's gonna be a lot of talk about Caleb Porter getting fired from the Timbers. And it doesn't suddenly, just because he won an MLS Cup doesn't exonerate him for all eternity from ever getting fired. And I think that that's, I don't know, it seems like that Siggy got into his head that he deserved to go out on his terms whenever he wanted to go out. And that's just not how coaching works most of the time.
00:55:57
Speaker
No, no, and that's I think that's like a perfect summation of it, you know in that and for one I think it's Ziggy is selling himself short by comparing himself to Caleb Porter and not Bruce Arena or whatever I mean like That's the standard that he's gonna be judged by right like who gives a shit about Caleb Porter, right? Who cares like he coaches Portland. He won the MLS Cup. Great. That's not
00:56:22
Speaker
What the sounders are going for and that's not the standard he's gonna be held to and and it's just it's such a I feel like it's almost kind of a straw man to be like we'll kill a porter. Yes job It makes him look really petty and I don't I just I'm really just yeah exactly kind of doing that And I get it. I mean like I you know, I
00:56:46
Speaker
I understand what he would feel as though he's been hard done by, and I understand that maybe it wasn't fair, that he didn't get to reap the benefits of Roman Torres coming back and Nicolas Ledero coming in and Jordan Morris getting better.
00:57:03
Speaker
and all this sorts of things but you know it wasn't fair that we had to watch this team be total ass garbage for months of this season and for months of last season when he didn't have his guys you know. Sigi has accomplished a ton of things and I love Sigi and I will always love him but his team was total trash for
00:57:25
Speaker
the vast majority of a calendar year when he didn't have all of of the weapons that you know he expected to have at his disposal and he has to own that you know the team was in the basement of the league and and getting worse and you know is it totally fair the the situation that he found himself in no it's not but when you are the coach of a team that has
00:57:50
Speaker
standards and resources the way the sounders do, you gotta suck it up and find a way through it. And the fact that he was apparently just being
00:58:00
Speaker
kind of petty behind the scenes is, you know, kind of leads me to believe that it was just... Yeah, there's... It sucks. It does suck. And there's nothing that he said in this interview that makes me more sympathetic to him, unfortunately. And I'm someone who really wants him to land on his feet. I really want to see him have success. I would hate it if he won an MLS Cup with someone else before he won it with the Sounders.
00:58:27
Speaker
There's part of me that will be happy for him because I like Siggy, but I just think that he's not doing himself any favors. I think if anything he's making it a little harder for him to find his next job because he seems intent on, you know, blowtorching his relationship with... I mean basically what he's created is a situation where unless he has the final say on personnel
00:58:51
Speaker
that he's not gonna be happy. And I don't know that someone's gonna give him a job to be the head coach and to effectively be Bruce Arena. I mean, that's what he's asking for. He's asking to be Bruce Arena. And the difference with Bruce Arena was that he's had more success, frankly. And he can afford to kind of make those demands. And I don't know that Siggy is in a position that he can make those kind of demands.
00:59:19
Speaker
Siggy wants to be Bill Belichick, but he's Bill Parcells, you know, and that's okay. Like Bill Parcells is a great coach, but, you know, Bill Parcells realized that he wasn't a great GM, and Bill Belichick is a great coach. And same team to Patriots, right? There you go. Yeah, it's a good analogy. Kudos. Kudos. Kudos to you. Thanks. Thank you. On a side note, look for the total Ask Garbage t-shirts to show up in the North side of your merch store.
00:59:49
Speaker
We do, we have to start making sure it's of awesome lines that Aaron has. One is just going to say sigh on it. Okay. Next question at Freeman, Freeman Mester. Considering Dempsey has appeared in less than 50% of games refund in order. Yeah, I don't, I don't think that's going to happen. I don't, I don't think it works that way. I wish it did. That would be nice. Has, have we actually determined that he's played in less than 50% of games? I, I feel like we should.
01:00:20
Speaker
I know someone you're you're the one that came I you're the one that's really I think I said that he had played in less than 60% of games but that was before this before we counted all these upcoming games so it's probably is probably below 50% now yeah
01:00:36
Speaker
And is that like all competitions? No, that's just, I mean, certainly in all competitions, I guarantee he's below 50% for all competitions. That's bad. But if you, in just MLS play, he's, he'll play it in, he played in fit, you know, he'll play it in half the games this year. And then he played, then he missed 14 games last year. He missed eight games the year before that. And he missed a couple games
01:01:04
Speaker
So he's probably still over 50% for regular season, but once you add in other competitions, I'm sure he's below 50%.
01:01:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's I don't know. It's not I mean It's unfortunate. I don't blame him for it. You know, it's not his fault. He's an integral national team player It's not his fault that you know, he's having health problems It was his fault that he ripped up the referee's notebook, but I mean he was gonna miss those games anyway, right? You know really so it sucks. I mean
01:01:35
Speaker
I'm tempted to say that it's worked out because the Sounders won the supporter shield, they got over that big hurdle, they won the US Open Cup that year, that was a really special year. And I think anybody that says, well, he's just been a huge bust, I would point to 2014 and say, it kind of worked out okay.
01:01:53
Speaker
This has not gone the way I think people thought it would. I would definitely hesitate to call it a bust, but I would definitely say that it has fallen far short of... It has not been the transformative success that I think that it felt like it could be.
01:02:15
Speaker
Okay, Todd King asks, sounder team without Zach Scott is hard to picture. What will his new role be moving forward? Hashtag run through walls consultant.
01:02:27
Speaker
From the sound of it, I don't know that he's gonna be involved with the organization, at least immediately. He's apparently got a job with Slalom Consulting. He was like a math major in college, and he seems like he's intending to use that. Of course, that was the same thing. Roger Levesque, when he left the Sounders, he went back to school, and he was saying that he wasn't planning on working for the Sounders, and then, sure enough, a year later, he was working for the Sounders. So I suspect at some point, he'll be
01:02:55
Speaker
He'll do something with the organization, but I don't get the sense that he's dying to become a coach. Yeah, I think that a lot of the time, you know, guys go get like some brush-up skills because they've been playing soccer for a bunch of years. And, you know, going and being a consultant and picking up those skills and getting yourself up to, you know, the modern business level is a great way to get a job with the Sounders.
01:03:26
Speaker
really can't say enough about consulting as a gateway to a job with the team. But yeah, I mean, I expect him to get a job with the Sounders in a few years. I swear we've seen this question a couple of times, but at AS Ben Bednar asks, what are your roster turnover expectations? Who's gone? Who might get signed?
01:03:50
Speaker
Hmm. I don't know who's gonna be all right. Let's see I guess we could look at the roster if we want right now and and just kind of make a Guess I think a lot, you know, the big domino is probably Clint Dempsey if Clint Dempsey has to retire I think that that probably precipitates some other changes but I am almost certain that Clint Dempsey is
01:04:16
Speaker
Well, I don't know. I actually have no idea what Clint Dempsey will do. But I'm sure Nelson Valdez won't be back as a DP. I wouldn't be totally shocked if he's back on the roster. So the Sounders potentially have two designated player spots, which by itself changes the makeup of this team a lot. And I think it probably affects what they try to go out and do. Because if you don't have Clint Dempsey back next year, you probably try to pick up someone like him. You know, someone like, I don't know, like a Freddie Monteiro, maybe.
01:04:49
Speaker
But a player like that, because I would love, you know, and that's what's really a bummer, is that I thought Nicolas Ledero looked so good when he was able to be out on the wing, and he's been good still playing in the middle, but he looks so much better out on the wing when he's got another creative player inside him.
01:05:08
Speaker
But I think most of the starting, the starters are back other than Gomez won't be back. Fernandez, I think will be back just because he's, I'm pretty sure he's signed through next year. You know, Roaldon will be back. Alonzo, that'll be interesting. Actually, what do you think? Is Alonzo back assuming he's on a big number next year?
01:05:33
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that was the question I was going to ask is, you know, we, I think it's fair to say at this point that
01:05:40
Speaker
Ozzy leaving was not just the Sounders wanting to move Ozzy that there was some, you know, desire on his part to move as well. And, you know, he accepted the fact that there wasn't really a market and he, you know, responded with possibly the best season of his career. So is that desire still there? I mean, I have no idea, you know, maybe he's maybe he's
01:06:05
Speaker
kind of gotten comfortable again and he's happy hearing once he wants to stay and maybe the sounders you know feel likewise that they they don't really want to move him that he's kind of reinvented himself and they think that you know he can have a repeat performance but i i mean i have no idea i think we still have to consider the possibility that that he's gone but i think it it's unlikely
01:06:28
Speaker
Yeah, I tend to think that he's probably back. Torres is back. Marshall's back. Mears, I don't think Mears will be back, but I don't know. I don't know anymore. Jovan Jones, I'm sure, is back. I don't think Dylan Remick's back. O'Neill Fisher is probably back. Who else we got here?
01:06:51
Speaker
Victor Mansire will be back. Nate Sturgis, I doubt, is back. Andres Avantiis, and Andres Avantiis, there's another one. Do you think Andres Avantiis is back next year?
01:07:02
Speaker
I hope so. I think that he has really, over the past couple months, kind of found a place. He's kind of like how Moro Rosales was, but good in the air, which is nice to have. Yeah, I mean, assuming he's not asking for a huge raise. I mean, I would think that you could get him back a little bit of a discount, don't you think? Yeah, I would hope so. I mean, his family seems to like it here.
01:07:28
Speaker
You know, that would be nice. I mean, he's, he's really been pretty valuable. Like for the time that he's been here since he signed, I would say he's been a good player for, for most of it. So. Morris will be back. Evans is another one that there's some question about. I tend to think, especially with the way the team is built right now, I feel like Evans almost has to be back, but who knows? Yeah. Uh, Stefan Fry, obviously back. Eric Freiburg, I guess maybe it's from a question about Freiburg.
01:07:58
Speaker
What do you think? Yeah, it depends on when his contract was. I mean, there's no reason not to bring him back at the number he's on. It's kind of like with Flack everywhere. Especially if he's your third center mid, I think that's great. Yeah, he's really good for that role. I think so. And he can play wide.
01:08:19
Speaker
Um, but yeah, I mean, if he, if his contract's up, maybe look elsewhere. How far we'll be back. Oleks Anderson, I guess is back. Just, he's so young and I'm sure he's so cheap. Uh, although you wonder if he's going to throw a fit or something. Tyler Miller will be back. Can't imagine Michael Farfan being back. Uh, Charlie Lyon. I, I would imagine the Sounders will bring in at least some competition for the third goalkeeper.
01:08:47
Speaker
And that's, I think that's the whole roster we went through. So there's some questions there. There's definitely, we could have some, we could have 10 players leave without, you know, pretty easily. Go ahead. Right.
01:09:06
Speaker
Move his office down to the basement. Yeah, he's man, there's a player, Nate Sturgis and Michael Farfan, two signings who seem to make a lot of sense when they got made, who have had so little impact on this team, it's hard to even quantify it. Okay, SP the Ghost asks, given where the Sounders were in the summer, would you consider the second half successful if we don't make the playoffs?
01:09:36
Speaker
If you're readjusting your expectations, yeah, I think so. I mean, I think that we've seen young players really, really come into their own. Jordan Morris, you know, has been good all year, but I think over the past two or three months, he's really turned it up a notch. Same with Rollbond. I mean, Rollbond's been getting better and better and better pretty much since he got here, but he's emerged as like a guy that, you know, people want to see on the national team over the past few months.
01:10:05
Speaker
Um, Nicholas Ledero has obviously been, you know, a huge, uh, huge addition. So I think it's, you have to feel good going into next year, no matter what happens. Um, that doesn't mean you have to feel good about the season, but about where the sounders are. I think you have to feel pretty.
01:10:23
Speaker
I think that's a great way of putting it. If you tell me in the summer that the Sounders would be looking the way that they look right now, I feel much better. After that loss to KC, I think there was a lot of questions, not just about is this season lost, but how lost are the Sounders as an organization?
01:10:43
Speaker
They are a total mess right now. They have no direction. They have no players to build around. Clint Dempsey's old, blah, blah, blah. You know, you just go down the, Jordan Morris isn't been everything we hoped you'd be. You know, essentially it was, we got to dump this team and start over again. And in that context, this is a huge move forward because I think, you know, the starting lineup is, you know, you give me two DPs to throw into the starting lineup and all of a sudden I think it's the best starting lineup in the league.
01:11:12
Speaker
with a bunch of young guys that have promise still. Okay, Tropic Sounders asks a two part question. Part one, explain why Brian Spencer is the coach of the year. Part two, explain how much better at life he is than you.
01:11:32
Speaker
I think I don't think he's gonna win coach of the year. Although if he makes this takes the centers to the playoffs I think he deserves a lot of consideration for it. I guess my coach of the year is probably Maybe it's Patrick Viera
01:11:46
Speaker
because he took what was deemed a completely broken roster and he turned it into something that was pretty good. But Pablo Mastrooni, I think the Pablo Mastrooni story is the funniest one because he was so bad last year that even Rapids fans, it was not even about whether or not Pablo Mastrooni was a good coach, it was how off, is he the worst coach in the league?
01:12:13
Speaker
And I think there was this general consensus that he was clearly the worst coach in the league. That was obviously wrong. But Brian Schmetzer has had to engineer a very impressive turnaround. Even if they lose this game to RSL, you're talking about a coach who took a team that was 6-12 and 3, I think, or 6-12 and 2, and turned him into a team that went 7-3 and 2.
01:12:42
Speaker
All right, seven, three and three, that's an amazing turnaround. No matter what you, you know, no matter how you cut it. As far as him being better at life, he seems to really understand his place in the world. And I think that's probably one of the keys to happiness is kind of accepting, not accepting your place, but understanding how you fit into the grand picture.
01:13:10
Speaker
Yeah, he seems like a lot of the time people are like, oh, that guy seems really humble, but it's like all this kind of a back-handed compliment. But like, he seems like genuinely like, it's like, well, yeah, I'm the coach of the Sounders and I'm pretty good at it. And by golly, that's great. And it's really infectious. God, I hope he gets the job full-time. I'm such a, I'm a huge fan.
01:13:37
Speaker
Huge. At Graham Con, it asks, does Geiger have something against Roman? If there is a measurement for referee suckage, could it be named Geiger meter?
01:13:47
Speaker
The Geiger meter is good. I don't think he has something against Roman, because I don't like to believe that kind of thing. But it is funny that he had that huge call against Panama, and I guess Roman was the guy who got called for the penalty. And then he had this goal waved off where Roman got called for a foul that wasn't really there. So I understand the narrative, but I don't tend to believe in those kinds of things. I also think the Geiger counter is a much better
01:14:17
Speaker
I mean, because that's already a thing, so. It's very catchy too. Very catchy. At T Stedge, why can't MLS figure out how to run a proper fantasy league? Must they fail at all online content?
01:14:36
Speaker
Their fantasy league is the same as the EPL one. I mean, there's really, there's not a lot of ways to do a soccer fantasy league. Although I guess that they do have like weird things with the double game leagues and stuff like that. So maybe that's what it's in reference to, but I don't know. I think, you know, their fantasy league is fine. I stopped playing before the season even started though. I think I still have Nelson Valdez in my starting lineup. So maybe I'm not the person to ask about this.
01:15:06
Speaker
Okay, moving on. At Timerfias, who do you think the Sounders lose in the expansion draft? I guess, like, I would imagine Andres Avanti's gonna be exposed. I could see Brad Evans being exposed, especially if, you know, he doesn't signal a automatic willingness to kind of come to, like, kind of fit wherever the Sounders need him. Although I'd like to think that they're gonna give him the right back position.
01:15:37
Speaker
but I don't know. I'm still not convinced they're gonna lose anyone because I don't think there's any super interesting, cheap, young players that they're gonna have to expose. And that's the players that I tend to think are the most likely to lose. They're not looking to pick up an Andres Avonchitz or a Brad Evans, guys who are gonna be making six figures, probably with a two in front of it.
01:16:04
Speaker
And those aren't just the kind of guys that picked in, especially older guys in their 30s. Those don't tend to be the guys that get picked in the expansion draft. So I don't think the Sounders are gonna lose anyone.
01:16:15
Speaker
Yeah, if you're picking multiple key players in the expansion draft, you're in trouble. I think Dylan Remick might be. Yeah, I could see Dylan Remick. Sure. But it's going to be guys like that. I mean, the last time it was, what, Jaleel and Ababa, right? I don't even know who the version of Jaleel and Ababa is on this team, but I think we can probably stand to lose them. I think he's playing the Cosmos or something.
01:16:42
Speaker
Uh, no, he's playing for uh, he's playing for houston because didn't he play in the houston game? No, I think I think he was making it. Oh, oh, good point. There you go. Yeah, they could lose jimmy awkward. There's a guy they might lose. That's a good call or damien low Good next question at sunny jim 509 asked did breaking the curse on the whites also take the mojo out of the gears of war four shirts or make them more powerful well, I think the the
01:17:11
Speaker
The jury is very much out, but it should be said that the Blues have not exactly been juggernauts themselves. There wasn't much mojo to lose. I think they only had one league win in the Blues either, so we probably shouldn't get too pumped up about wearing Blues. Moral of the story is, Sounders should be wearing green on the road whenever they can.
01:17:34
Speaker
They also never should have gotten rid of the Cascade Shale, the Dark Cascade Shale with the vertical strength. That was gorgeous. That's when all the trouble started. They hardly wore it. That was the other thing that was so awful about it. I know. This is the last year there's been karmic revenge for that. So they better get the next third karmic. Yeah, I'm kidding.
01:17:56
Speaker
Unforgiven Tater asks, have the Whitecaps lost watchability since Perez? I used to enjoy watching them play as they used to be a fun attacking team. They have definitely lost something. There's no question about it. They are not fun to watch. They, I think, you know, last year around this time, everyone was talking about what a great coach Carl Robinson was. And I don't know that there's a lot of people talking about that right now. And
01:18:25
Speaker
And, you know, I'm sure Siggy, in Siggy's head, he's like, well, Karl Robinson has a job, I'm better a coach than him. Not to go in too hard on Siggy, but I don't think Karl Robinson's gonna be back as coach. I'll be a little surprised if he is. And yeah, they definitely do not seem, it's just funny how quickly a team can go from young, attacking, fun to watch, to I have no idea what this team is.
01:18:56
Speaker
Aaron has nothing on the subject. Nick Payton asks, which sounder should be featured on the next bobblehead? Which former sounder? So two different questions.
01:19:07
Speaker
The current sounder I think that I mean Jordan Morris seems like a good bet, right? Like it's it's it's always either like Team Legends or you know the next big thing so he seems like a good fit Roger Leveque would be a good bobblehead too, I think That ship is probably sailed but or maybe Ziggy like two years from now. Maybe that could be the ex sounder. I
01:19:34
Speaker
Yeah, Roger seems like a safe bet for former sounder. Maybe a Brad Evans bobblehead? Yeah, that would be good. I would. Or Chad Marshall? I would rather have Brad Evans. Nothing against Chad Marshall. I just like, I don't know. I feel like I'm a bobblehead purist. I feel like they have to have a very serious, deep connection to the team to marry a bobblehead.
01:20:02
Speaker
Can we get a stuff-n-fry doing a snap-hutter, bobblehead? Yeah, that'd be tight. I would like that. At Freeman Mester asks, how long will the nightmares persist after seeing Ramon in the Gears of War armor last? He looks right in place in that thing. That was pretty impressive, I gotta say.
01:20:24
Speaker
Although this this promo has not been nearly as fun as the Halo promo where they actually got in the was just the funniest thing last year seeing all the players jump into the was it called the the Jeep thing.
01:20:38
Speaker
I don't know. The cheap things. It's good enough. There you go. Like they actually wheeled that out to to the sounders training and everyone was jumping on it and they were all freaking out like, no, you can't do that. Nelson Valdez does it. And they say they don't really say anything. But when the O'Neill Fisher does it, they're like, get off there now. Let's see. At better than asks, which sounders are most likely to borrow their dad's car?
01:21:06
Speaker
Yeah, that's so obvious. Jordan Morris can afford his own damn
Light-hearted Discussions & Farewell
01:21:11
Speaker
car. Yeah, definitely Aaron Kovar. Especially since he lives and still has his parents. I hope he has a nice car. You gotta imagine, though, Jordan living at home, he's probably like, someone's blocking me in. Just take your dad's car. Yeah, but do we not think Aaron lives at home, too? He probably does. Yeah, I guess he probably does. Maybe he doesn't. I don't know. But it's probably like Clint Dempsey or something.
01:21:37
Speaker
Hopefully. Well, he probably brought his dad a nice ass car. It's like I'm taking the car, dad. Sorry. Yeah. Adam C. Smith asks, typical sports voodoo slash rituals to enact for this weekend? Hmm. Don't wear your white jersey. Burn your white jersey. If you were going to wear that. Do people wear white jerseys to home games? I don't feel like I see them very often. I see them occasionally. And I'm always confused.
01:22:05
Speaker
Yeah, don't do that. Don't be the guy wearing white. It's past Labor Day. Is that the thing? Are you only supposed to wear white before Labor Day? Kids don't know these things. Kathleen Turner murdered people for it. There you go. And finally, Timothy asks, what's the best soup?
01:22:37
Speaker
That's such a good question. That is a really good question. That's a great question. I'm a... I mean, I love pho, but I feel like that's not really the spirit of the question. Yeah, I guess I would have... That made me think ramen, but I don't feel like... Yeah, I agree. I feel like that's a noodle dish more than a soup.
01:22:54
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. I am a huge fan of chicken tortilla. I make a really good chicken tortilla soup, and I would say from a pure classic soup perspective, the chicken tortilla, I think, hits all of it. That's a good-ass soup. Is gumbo a soup? Yeah, I think so. Sure. Yeah, I would go with gumbo, I think. Gumbo's really good. Yeah. Yeah. Is that it?
01:23:18
Speaker
That's it. That's your answer. So go out and get some gumbo or chicken tortilla soup. How about you, Lickit? What's your favorite soup? Uh, some good chowder. Chowder. What kind of chowder though? Yeah. Like, New England. Like, okay. So do you like, uh, are you a fan of eyebars? Yes. Yeah. I am. I have to get it every time I go there.
01:23:46
Speaker
Ivers is really good, but I like the downtown when kids you can get the red chowder there. I do. I like red chowder. It's pretty good. It's like gold. Yeah, there's a chance every time I eat shellfish that it's going to kill me. It's a small chance, but a chance. And that the red chowder divers is like the one thing that I'll. That's the way you go out. He died loving the thing he loved the most.
01:24:14
Speaker
Just like a seagull staring into my eyes, asking why I won't give it crackers. I can't wait to speak at his funeral, saying that. He told us on Nocietes that he would go out a happy man if this is what killed him. Anywho, thanks to Jason Greenwood for coming on the show and answering questions about what drives a man to be a fake Twitter account.
01:24:41
Speaker
Thanks to our sponsors, Verity Credit Union, Towards Cascadia, Queen Anne Acupuncture, Constellation & Company, Full Pull Wines. This was all recorded with the help of Bootstrapper Studios, so we gotta thank them as well. I am Jeremiah O'Shan, signing off on behalf of Aaron Campo & Lickett. This is No Saadietes. Remember, you will never yawn alone.
01:25:08
Speaker
Green Douglas, where were the waters cut through? Down to wild mountains and tangents you flew. Canadian northwest to the ocean so blue. It's Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn. Roll On, Columbia Roll On.
01:25:44
Speaker
Welcome back to a, oh, no, hold on. Let's try again.