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Saved by the Bugg - Ep. 53
6 Plays6 minutes ago
Cool. Calm. Collecting goals. Sunday’s draw in Orlando secured the Reign 5th place in the NWSL table heading into playoffs. We reflect on the match and look ahead to Friday’s quarterfinal rematch against the Pride. We also discuss last week’s results, news, and controversies from around the league.
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Show produced by Coop
Theme song by Alex Juarez
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The Cooler Guild Est. 2024
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Transcript
Introduction and Voter Encouragement
00:00:22
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to episode 53 of the Cooler Guild. I am Coop Cooper, and joined with me, as always, is my co-host, Van Crisp. Hello! We are recording on Tuesday, November 4th, 2025. Hopefully everyone got out and voted who had elections.
Reign's Decision Day and Playoff Preview
00:00:36
Speaker
um On today's episode, we'll be going over the Reign's Decision Day draw, some other bits of Reign news, as well as taking a look at the rest of results from Decision Day, um Kind of where things stand for the playoffs.
00:00:48
Speaker
And we'll be wrapping things up with a preview of the Reigns first round of playoffs, which is a bit of deja vu. But yeah. But first, some
Cooler Guild and Sounder at Heart Collaboration
00:00:58
Speaker
housekeeping. The Cooler Guild is part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network.
00:01:01
Speaker
You can either listen to us on our public feed or if you're a Sounder at Heart subscriber on the private unified feed with the other podcasts on the network. If you'd like to become a subscriber, just visit our page at soundertheart.com forward slash the cooler guild.
00:01:13
Speaker
New subscribers get 10% off the normal rate and you'll help support everything we're doing. hows How was your... We
Heidi Smith's Book Event and Brewery Partnership
00:01:20
Speaker
had some time off. How was your how's your time off? Good, for the most part.
00:01:24
Speaker
Cool. What you mean for the most part? but I just got... I'm getting over being sick. Oh, yeah. That was in the last two days. Yeah. I started feeling sick on Sunday, um but I had to go do um like a book event.
00:01:37
Speaker
for This woman named Heidi Smith wrote a book called Play On...
Halloween Party Highlights
00:01:41
Speaker
something uh from adversity to advantage through 140 years of women's soccer so some history some you know it's overall ah a really good book um and i learned some new things about like historical people i didn't know about yeah like this one player who's largely considered to be like the first international player ever she's french who and um she ended up working for the french like resistance during world war ii that's neat and ended up like
00:02:10
Speaker
And she was a nurse and she would hoard like propaganda to give to people to like make them realize that like they needed to get the F out of the country. Yeah. hu But not only she'd play football, she also like threw the javelin and like was ended up being pro at a bunch of sports.
00:02:26
Speaker
Anyway, the book's really interesting. it's It's not expensive and it's written by a local woman. So I did a conversation thing with her before the game on Sunday at Three Magnets, which is a brewery. and And they're going to be an official partner brewery with the rain next year.
00:02:41
Speaker
Oh, sweet. I didn't know that was happening. Sweet. So I think Aaron's been working on that. So, yeah, I hope that comes to fruition. But it was cool. And there were a good amount of people there. and We're all watching the game. Um, sweet. It was pretty neat.
00:02:53
Speaker
Sweet. Matt, how
Reign's Recent Game Analysis
00:02:54
Speaker
about you? You getting me up to anything on your time off? I went to a Halloween party. Oh, I saw your costume. Yeah. Or your costumes. yeah well, Alex has like a banana suit, just like always. that She's like, it's like her thing is that anytime she has to wear a costume or something, she just wears this banana suit.
00:03:10
Speaker
That's very Alex. I know. and And I was a banana stand employee back when I worked at ah the sock company i worked at because we would do our costumes based on a pair of socks that we sold. So I chose the banana stand employee for like this pair of socks that we had that had bananas like skateboarding.
00:03:26
Speaker
So this is your guys' is like go-to costume? Yeah. Yeah, so worked for this time. And we actually had like a real party to go to, which was unusual for us. We don't, you know, go out all the time. But um yeah, we got to go to the place that that like cool building I told you about. And like hosted a party and they had like live music and stuff there. But the cool part was there's this guy that we've like a bunch of like local musicians and stuff.
00:03:47
Speaker
And so like a friend of mine's girlfriend's band like played like their little set and it was actually really fucking fun music and stuff. um But then this guy who I've seen him playing a few bands and he like fucking tears it up on the keyboard. He did a DJ set and throughout the party before his DJ set, he's like dressed as like a priest, right? He just has like that little collar thing.
00:04:08
Speaker
And ah his DJ set, he's like known for this at this this Halloween party. And all of sudden I'm like waiting the line for the bathroom or whatever. And then all a sudden he this like music, like kind of booming and stuff. and his he turns into pope spice that's good like he does like this long dragged out like kind of thing of him in a pope outfit with like his little staff or whatever the fuck they call it for the pope i mean his set list was so fun and so good and got everyone dancing and he's just like fucking around dancing with his like little pope staff and just like jamming out and stuff so that was pretty pretty fun and hilarious to see pope spice
00:04:45
Speaker
He like, I think he DJs for like the local radio station here sometimes too, from what I've heard, think. But yeah, it was, it was a good time. I really enjoyed it. There was also a guy dressed up as a priest at this Halloween event I went to. I was like, are you the priest from Fleabag? Yeah.
00:05:00
Speaker
That would be my default too. And he's like, no, I'm just a priest. i was like, oh, is I guess this is just the look. And he just kind of looked at me and I was like, oh, but wrong audience. Yeah, yeah. There was a there was a guy dressed up as Chit.
00:05:14
Speaker
Yes. And then there was also a guy who was dressed up like Luigi from Mario and Luigi. But then he had like a name tag that said Luigi Mangione. Yeah. and Good crowd of people, you know? Yeah, solid. Yeah. um Anyways, we got rain game to talk about.
NWSL Ironwoman Recognition
00:05:30
Speaker
Yeah. um Kind of a, I don't know. did I don't know if it played out how I had hoped, but it it happened. And i don't think the I don't think the results of how everything shook out, I don't think this was like the worst case scenario by any means. No, it definitely could have been a lot worse.
00:05:46
Speaker
Yeah. And it looked like it might be towards the beginning of the match. Yeah. But ah yeah, they came through. um One, a couple things. So right before the game, Allie Watt was scratched from the starting lineup.
00:05:59
Speaker
So that was a big blow to Orlando. ah But good thing for us, I think. Good for us. ah But a notable stat going into it ah and after the match, ah Claudia Dickey is officially and an NWSL Ironwoman.
00:06:13
Speaker
that's That's pretty cool. There were, I believe, five of them this year. i just saw a graphic for it. But, yep, so she's played every minute of the 2025 regular season. um This game was her 50th regular season match, and she tied Hope Solo for the most appearances by a goalkeeper in club history. That's neat.
00:06:30
Speaker
Yeah. And, ah you know, she had her injury woes last year, so that's got to feel really cool for her. Yeah. She missed a a solid chunk of games last year. was a time. Mm-hmm.
00:06:40
Speaker
it was a time Cool. Well, played
Reign's Lineup and Strategy Discussion
00:06:46
Speaker
Orlando. we The game ended 1-1 draw. what what What was like your kind of feelings going into it?
00:06:54
Speaker
and like how did i don't know. because like Our availability lineup, turns out Lynn being Dolo is pregnant. so That was something we found out during this break. right so She was not going to be available. She's not going be available for a long time. so i was hoping to have that kind of secret weapon in our, maybe at some point during the playoffs, that's not going to happen. But what I don't know. What was what was kind of like your when you saw the lineup, I guess? What what were you thinking?
00:07:17
Speaker
I don't know. I thought it was a decent lineup. I think it was it was definitely a surprise to me that Maddie Darlene wasn't starting. Yeah, yeah. but we found out in the postgame presser that she got a knock at national team camp. So that explains that. I think she would have been very helpful if she could have played a full match.
00:07:35
Speaker
Definitely. But if you also know you have the playoffs coming, don't push it. Yeah. But I mean, if we would have ended in fourth instead of fifth, we wouldn't have to play Casey in round two if we lost. So anyway, lineup notes.
00:07:49
Speaker
ah it It seemed pretty normal to me. It was pretty consistent with what we've been seeing. Yeah. It was a bit surprised that we had just Fishlock starting the match. Yeah, that kind of surprised me too. Because she's just been such like an end of game killer for us. I mean, and and going into it, I guess I felt cautiously optimistic yeah to bring back a fun term from last season. um I think this game could have gone either way.
00:08:14
Speaker
i don't think either team played their best. And I think we kind of got what we deserved out of this match. The lineup kind of, what i was like, okay, Darlene's not in it.
00:08:24
Speaker
Also, Barnes is starting. Fish luck starting. um i guess we're just going to hunker down is kind of like what i figured was going to happen. it was definitely uglier than i was hoping it would be for the first half. I think everyone can agree with that.
00:08:39
Speaker
And we also did start out kind of on the front foot very briefly. um i was kind of hoping...
Jordan Bug's Standout Performance
00:08:44
Speaker
Because Mia Fishel got the start, right? So I was kind of hoping to see a little bit more from her. But i don't i don't i just I don't know that we can get that figured out like in this short amount of time.
00:08:57
Speaker
And like it's i am like I want her to get minutes. i don't only think there's an issue with that. It's just going to be really tough in a game against ah Orlando, right? So I don't know. I feel like I did appreciate seeing her start maybe over Montessir. Mm-hmm.
00:09:11
Speaker
like because if if we can't unlock me official even for one single moment in this playoff run that'll be worth it um matter of is that actually gonna happen so yeah so we got some positives everyone who watched this game and if they weren't aware of who jordan bug is they're gonna know her now she fucking balled out she really did she was all over the place She let the team in shots.
00:09:38
Speaker
I did put that on my negatives, but like, I don't know, like, fuck it, you know, be ballsy, like, just do it. I mean, i think it was kind of funny that she said she likes to shoot because she played it as like a striker when she was like like a tiny child.
00:09:52
Speaker
And I'm like, well, that's why started out. So I still want to score goals. Well, you're still a child, though. Yeah. What was this, two years ago? Yeah. But she scored she scored the goal for us shortly after conceded a goal.
00:10:06
Speaker
um But my favorite part of that sequence building up to that goal was her megging that Orlando player. Did you see that? Yeah. So good. So cool. So calm.
00:10:17
Speaker
And just her presence is just amazing. I don't know. She's so stoic. Yeah. It's something you need back there. It's like it's very much like silent assassin kind of vibe.
00:10:29
Speaker
It's so good. And then then like the way she got on that ball for the ah for the goal. She's just fucking waving her hand waiting like hoping someone will just serve it in there and curry. I don't know. she She didn't really have her head up when she was, she just kind of like knew to get it somewhere over there. Yeah. We used to call put it in the mixer. Yeah. And just swerved it perfectly straight into a where Bug could could get a shot on it. But yeah. yeah I mean, the defender couldn't really clear it. No. Kind of just tapped it right to Bug and Bug took a touch and bam. It was also kind of like a, don't know, it's a it was a gritty goal. Like, it wasn't it wasn't pretty. um i mean, the way she finished it was great, but i want to see kind of more of that grittiness with some of our ah like our actual strikers.
00:11:09
Speaker
Like, if we've got our center back who's able to do that, why can't some of our forwards figure this out for themselves? I don't know. um Hopefully, they'll watch this back and be like, oh, okay, don't need to, I really don't need to get in the perfect place.
00:11:21
Speaker
No, they try and take that extra touch, and then they just kick it straight into somebody's shins.
Reign's Defensive Stats and Analysis
00:11:26
Speaker
Yeah. but if it's at your feet just fucking whack it yeah i mean she had to like kind of nestle it into where she could yeah whack it but like she took a good touch yeah and set herself up but she's kind of balanced too in that so yeah impressive i think the most impressive thing was the stats on her passing accuracy so good so good i mean 96.8 passing accuracy passing accuracy yeah the team in touches was 79 touches which isn't necessarily a good thing but no and how many passes that you have let me look it wasn't it wasn't like a few you know like it wasn't yeah it was like a very solid amount 61 for 63 oh
00:12:07
Speaker
oh man i think it was second in passes so yeah uh wow wow We're watching something special. I mean, and defensively, the rain balled out in all but one category. Interceptions, 11.
00:12:23
Speaker
eleven Blocks, 3. Clearances, 24. Two saves from Claudia Dickey. You look at the stats and you think that's a great defensive team. Yeah. but I mean mean, looking at the XG is hilarious too. It always is It always is.
00:12:38
Speaker
Yeah. But yeah, I mean, Jordan Bug, 19 years old. We talk about her. We've talked about her before, but even in these situations and coming back from a senior national team camp where you played two matches, right? Yeah.
00:12:50
Speaker
That's that's the future. We're watching the future. Yeah. her and germa back there world next world cup so jordan bug has three goals this season and this is from the reigns post-game stats but all with winning or all with game deciding implications including a game winning goal against north carolina and game tying goals against chicago and this game orlando clutch clutch we also if we didn't get this goal from what it sounds like we would be playing portland away yeah yeah i think so so i mean not that i don't want to go back to portland and like fucking try to get vengeance on what happened last time we were there uh-huh but it wouldn't be my first choice wouldn't be my second not something i really want to to go down road of that yep that we would have played portland at portland yeah i'd rather not yeah i'm good not yet yeah not yet what other what do you want to hit on next for the positives
Playoff Prospects and Optimism
00:13:46
Speaker
We didn't let Marta score. Well, we kind of did, but then got called. How did she cook us? I mean, now she was offside ultimately, but like, man, like she was just. she?
00:13:56
Speaker
I think she was. It was close. It was close, but she still fucking. And it was flagged, so they couldn't bar it. I mean, you but she just like flew down there like the flash. Yeah. What?
00:14:07
Speaker
I didn't know i had to worry about that still from Marta. Yeah. The last couple of weeks, she's just been going off. Like she found 10th gear. It's wild. It was wild to watch.
00:14:18
Speaker
So yeah, great job to the team for shutting her down. Because there was also like another moment in the other half where she was the first half, second half. remember where it was, but she kind of like almost have an opportunity ah to to kind of humiliate Dickie, I would say.
00:14:33
Speaker
i mean, i think we don't know if Dickie would have been able to say whatever shot Marta would have taken from that distance. But um but she and she didn't get everything on it. Yeah, but Barnes got in the way of it too, that other one. But yeah, ah good job on the defense for shutting her down.
00:14:47
Speaker
Yeah, there were a couple of times where there was really promising attack from Orlando, but the defense was able to come through and clean it up before they got to that next stage where it was about to be really dangerous. Just enough. Yeah, just got that touch in or just, you know, just kind of was able to throw them off balance enough to not get that final pass. Which is kind of as frustrating as is to watch and as much as I wish we didn't get to that point, that kind of is the Reigns thing.
00:15:19
Speaker
Yeah. you can You can play around us, our defenders, but we'll take care of it before it gets to be really fucking bad. Mm-hmm. So. Normally. Normally. Yeah.
00:15:30
Speaker
Um, i i had a note the ah ah regarding the second half adjustment because visually the game did look more promising for the rain in the second half. Yeah, absolutely. So I went to look at the possession possession stats and the first half, the rain had 40% possession in the second half. They had 55%.
00:15:48
Speaker
Yeah. think we also led the... i was Because I was looking at the same stuff on FopMob. um We led accurate passes in the second half. ah Shots inside the box we led in the second half.
00:15:59
Speaker
What was it? passes um and the Passes in our own half. yeah And touches in the opposition box we led in the second half. Which I think that one's kind of big. We led that from with 12 to 8.
00:16:13
Speaker
I just wish we could get these second half teams all game. To be fair, Orlando is a very stingy team. They'd pointed on the broadcast in the last 15 minutes. So the fact that we were able to break through is, is I would say, impressive. Yeah.
00:16:27
Speaker
Granted, I don't know if that would have happened if we wouldn't have conceded and needed to fire up something to get back in it but Yeah, that's the other positive in responding after conceding.
00:16:38
Speaker
It was, what, three minutes difference? it Yeah, it was. Yeah. So it's pretty quick. Yeah, super quick, especially since like that build up to that goal was like kind of all rain for like a while. It wasn't just like a transition moment. No, they really were holding him in there in their final third.
00:16:55
Speaker
So that it was nice. Yeah, it was nice to see for a brief moment. And I think like as far as thinking about, OK, well, now we have to stay the team has to stay in Orlando and play Orlando again. i think for I don't know about the team, but from a fan thought like you saw the team play a really good second half, a promising second half.
00:17:14
Speaker
And so that gives you a little bit of confidence going into watching Friday's match. Like, OK, they can do it. Yeah, they can control the tempo. They can take advantage of some possession.
00:17:27
Speaker
How do they do that to their advantage on Friday? i mean, I don't want a cautious, cautious optimism for going back to that. I think that having our players that left with some rest and all that, I mean, guess I should save this for the match preview, but like that will be ah game changer for both teams. Mm hmm.
00:17:46
Speaker
Because it's not just us that players that got sent off to international duty. Orlando had also a lot of people get sent out. So, you know, as much as I'm like, oh, well well, all of our players will be arrested. I'm like, well, fuck.
00:17:58
Speaker
So Orlando. I think this is going to be like a coaching ah a coaching battle. Yeah, for sure.
Game Highlights and Challenges
00:18:05
Speaker
Cool. Well, you got any other positives? Oh, I guess this is a big one. We got a point against the defending champions. mean, everyone knows that they don't have their best player right now.
00:18:14
Speaker
Yeah. Which is huge. um But you still have to do it. Yeah. they've been They've been against momentum and kind of trying to establish themselves again after a rough start. Sat pretty low mid tier for a while and then have in the last couple of months really been dialing it in and climbing further and further up the up the table. So it was going to be a tough fought match. And I think that it's an appropriate result.
00:18:39
Speaker
But any other positives? Positive that we get to play again next week, I guess. Yeah, we also have the Friday match. Interesting. We also have the prime match. So happy about that. All right, let's go roll into the negatives. I kind of touched on this, but there was a but the po the play that I was talking about where Barnes kind of got in the way to block it It was kind it was a result of Dickie whiffing her like pass and it went straight to Marta and that could have been fucking bad.
00:19:08
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know what happened there. i mean, she went to clear it. And I don't know if it was just her being indecisive or if like she kind of slipped a little bit. I couldn't quite tell. Yeah. But she just didn't get under the ball.
00:19:21
Speaker
Yeah. And it kind of just went a weird direction right at Marta. Yeah, I don't know that you get away with that in the playoffs against certain teams, especially when it's Marta who's doing that.
00:19:36
Speaker
Hopefully this is the learning lesson that she needed to be a little bit more locked in on a moment like that. that's the thing. I don't think it's a learning. I think something happened. yeah i think i think she slipped or i think she maybe was in two minds about it and just wasn't sure quite locked in yeah um but it wasn't like she didn't see marta there and was trying to kick the ball there
Laura Harvey's AI Coaching Insights
00:19:58
Speaker
listen i was very nervous well yeah that's the most terrifying thing you can do as a goalkeeper is kick the fucking ball to marta when she's not on your team
00:20:07
Speaker
yeah think i mean thank thank goodness fucking lauren barnes is right there because she shut that down quick or else i would have been disastrous there was a couple times in the match um where people made mistakes and lou kind of bailed them out a couple times yeah but yeah and you talked about this as well jordan bug led the rain in shots with three that's not good no it's not that's your like center center back
00:20:34
Speaker
Come let's try something. Someone. like i There were moments where like when Haidemus subbed in, she was she was holding up play and she was also running. i don't know, she was finding space in those lines with the ball over the top and everything like that.
00:20:49
Speaker
But like no shots were coming off of it. She wasn't able to kind of get the ball how she needed to get it. yeah the The defending from Orlando is pretty pretty good in those moments, but they've got to adjust something um and by the by the next game.
00:21:03
Speaker
yeah Yeah, they got find a way to break through. Yeah, someone's got to get more shots. Someone's got to get shot. Like we cannot have our center back. I mean, I guess we can. This is Harvey Ball. can't, I guess, have our center back with most shots, but certainly not.
00:21:17
Speaker
I don't know. i We can do better. Yeah, absolutely. My last negative is I love that the bar that I was at played the audio for the game. i did not love that I had to hear mother fucking my. You're good. You're good. Bud, Mike. what a Not great. He I don't know if I should give him credit for it but his little comment on the ai conversation they're trying to have mid mid game was kind of funny.
00:21:47
Speaker
It went on for like five fucking minutes, though. It did go on for too long. But the part that was funny was when Jordan bugs on the screen. and He's just like, bug off about the AI. I was like, OK, Mike, so see this could be your fresh start.
00:22:00
Speaker
Yeah. How many bug references can you make in a broadcast, Mike? Yeah, let's see. you Let's see you do some real research instead of just fucking song titles and bullshit lyrics from. Come Watts, get it together. Yeah.
00:22:11
Speaker
ah Yeah, I think we got to move on. We got to move on. Playoffs are coming quickly and there's no point in just picking on this game because everything's different in the playoffs. Got a point out of it. Finished fourth or finished fifth.
00:22:23
Speaker
And don't have to travel. That's huge. I think that, yeah, after playing a Sunday game and being able to stay in Orlando, because that's like the longest travel day ever. I don't know that they joked about going to Disney World.
00:22:36
Speaker
ah I don't know that they will get to do that unless they No, if you look at their, if you look on the media site with their practice schedule, they won't be going. And if they win? Oh, yeah. Hell, go for it. I guess if they lose...
00:22:49
Speaker
I don't know. Sad day Disney World doesn't sound very fun to me, though. Yeah. win, and you're going to Disney World. Anyways, we got a press match post-match presser. um Kind of want to hit on a few things from it.
00:23:00
Speaker
Bug and McLaurin. Did you watch these? I did. Okay. and Do we want to just, like... but Should we bring up this up later or now? We can talk about it now. Okay. The the viral Laura Harvey moment we all didn't know would ever come because she hates technology. She hates technology. She hates stats. She hates computers.
00:23:20
Speaker
but She hates the shit. So one day in the offseason, Laura Harvey decides, oh, which i'm going to check out ChatGPT because I'm bored, right?
00:23:31
Speaker
Offseason, just as a coach who doesn't really fuck around with kind of stuff like that all the time. She was like basically wanted to see what the internet thought of the rain. Yeah, like a computer, right? Yeah. And so she she plugs in all the shit. Everyone, I think, knows the story. But there is an uproar all over the Internet about this. And I will admit, I was pretty disappointed when I read about this and saw the video and stuff.
00:23:55
Speaker
Well, they clipped the video for that Oh, absolutely. Exact point. And she's so I think the part that bothered me that still bothers me after kind of thinking about it is the nonchalantness about using AI because of how bad it is for the environment.
00:24:11
Speaker
Yeah. The other sides of it, I don't really give a shit about after thinking about it of like trying to use a computer to just work out ideas. Yeah. Because, yeah, I don't know what because i texted you about this and you were just like, yeah, everybody does it.
00:24:25
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't think everybody would admit it. And I think that that's the fault here. Sure. Yeah. um But you can't tell me that some of these other NWSL coaches have not done that.
00:24:36
Speaker
Yeah. The thing that I was just kept thinking about was imagine a male coach came out and was like, yeah, I use chat GPT to try to figure out what tactic might work. And then we would run through run it through with our coaches and like staff and stuff.
00:24:51
Speaker
They would call him a genius. Uh huh. yeah They would say, wow, you're using everything at at like any tool you have ready. You're using it and trying to gain. You are so resourceful. Wow. You are just an like AI wizard. Because think of the, the, the, how smart of a question you had to like come together with to like get an answer that actually produced something that you could make into like yeah, it's there's definitely a double standard. um And think, yeah,
00:25:18
Speaker
i think It's, I personally, i don't use AI. yeah and Yeah. And I avoid everything that has to do with AI as much as possible.
00:25:29
Speaker
ah And... i don't I don't think this is crazy, though. Do I think people should be using JGBT? No, I think it's the dumbest thing. she's like She also wasn't... She hasn't used it in the season.
00:25:43
Speaker
She just fucked around on a computer one day and just spoke about it, right? Not great. I think I i get where people are upset at the same time. i think it's insane to think that...
00:25:56
Speaker
laura harvey can just pull chat gpt results and be like all right team this is what i found do it well i think it's really funny too because we complained all last season or at least i did that like she doesn't try and fuck it up she doesn't try and like change things she's like very adverse to change a lot of the time and that was frustrating So the fact that she like got this idea about a five back and was like, oh, I didn't even think of that. Or like, i've I've never really considered that. Maybe I should consider that.
00:26:28
Speaker
And like literally stepped away from the computer and went and did research with her team and found a way to make it work with the tools that she had. Yeah. And see if it would even work.
00:26:39
Speaker
Yeah, I guess my question to you since you've played and kind of have a little bit more knowledge on the coaching side of stuff, because she said she had never considered a five back. From what I was reading about and trying to figure out why she never considered it, it doesn't sound like it's a very common formation for coaches to kind of fuck around with.
00:26:56
Speaker
No, not in this day and age. So I guess that was because some people were like, how, how she never thought of doing this before. But like, she it just didn't sound like she had ever coached it before. And like, I guess my question you is like, is that normal? Like, is this kind of just like an unusual thing for people to coach?
00:27:14
Speaker
Five back necessarily unusual. I think the way that she's using it, most of the time you wouldn't call it a five back. yeah it's like a three yeah three back kind of situation it's like a it's almost like a three five two one right three three five yeah she kind of changes the front a little bit sometimes three five one one well she'll do two on top yeah yeah I mean, three, five, two, that's pretty normal.
00:27:38
Speaker
But I think that just calling it a five back is unusual in this day and age. um But i think once you get, I mean, this is one of the best coaches, women's coaches that the league's ever seen, if not the best. I mean, she's, yeah, she is statistically the winningest coach.
00:27:56
Speaker
And honestly, after last season, like I would have done anything to find a new idea to figure how to win games. Yeah. Because last season was terrible. it was awful. um i i think the the ultimate, my ultimate feelings about this are, would I have done this? No.
00:28:13
Speaker
ah Even if I had, would I have said I did it? No. No. Would I have admitted it? No. um And i think it would have been helpful for had there been context released before I had people that don't watch soccer sending me articles about it and reading the comments underneath these articles.
00:28:37
Speaker
And I think that like responsible journalism like did not exist surrounding this subject. It's almost like some of the articles coming out are made by ai And that to actually understand it, you need real people behind it to ah actually kind of gleam if the materials are worth, um you know, using.
00:28:57
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, there's even a big uproar in MLS right now regarding AI. Yeah. Because the league contracted with like some AI company to do highlights, I think. It's everywhere. I mean, unfortunately, it is everywhere.
00:29:09
Speaker
ah think but like people are up in arms about that, too, which they rightly should
Controversial Op-Ed on Gender Issues
00:29:12
Speaker
be. But um it just kind of exists in the ether. And I don't don't blame her for doing it. Maybe just like realize that like that's a touchy subject.
00:29:21
Speaker
Makes you seem out of touch. Definitely. But that's not surprising, too. Like, we're the ones who are losers on the Internet. They have real jobs and they're like actual coaches. you know We're the fucking losers. You can get mad about everything because we have time for that.
00:29:35
Speaker
but Like, I hope Laura Harvey is not on her fucking blue sky account, just like, you know, really in touch with things as I am and like in a way that's probably detrimental to my mental health. Yeah.
00:29:48
Speaker
I don't know. It's not great. I don't want to like give her a pass for it. It's not great. But I also don't think it's as... It blew up more than needed to. And I also think, which this is kind of what led to it, the comment from McLernan in the presser when Jada asked about this whole thing, ah Phoebe said, people love to create a viral moment when given the opportunity and it hasn't affected their locker room at all.
00:30:10
Speaker
And they would... She even said, like, the coaches would be remiss to not try everything in their arsenal as a coach. it was It's just another tool to her. and that is unfortunately the mindset of many people and i also just with the way things are going now this is this is going to be normal and like i don't know sooner than we think yeah and i don't like it but it's if you don't like it and you fucking hate it maybe you shouldn't be watching sports because sports are also just consumerism at a fundamental level that like it's kind of terrible so i don't know
00:30:43
Speaker
I don't know. I think I think we can kind of wrap it up there. But anyways. Yeah. ah Moving on for the Jordan bug in the press conference um for talking about next week. ah This is kind of what they did the second half that made them more, more productive and more successful was that she said they need to keep the ball more and slow the game down. They did um and limit the transition moments from Orlando, a.k.a. don't kick the ball to Marta.
00:31:09
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I'm glad in the Harvey presser that like the question's been asked and answered regarding gate. here And so
Post-Game Press and Strategic Adjustments
00:31:18
Speaker
we got, we heard from the players.
00:31:20
Speaker
Players don't care. Heard from Laura. she was like, Oh yeah, you know, what whatever. Yeah. Some people are trying to be a little snarky about it and like it's fair, but like you're trying to bait one of the coaches that is just not going to be baited.
00:31:33
Speaker
Of anyone. Yeah, she's just think she also doesn't care because she doesn't feel like there like nothing really happened. That was probably the last time she was on the internet, honestly. Okay. ah yeah uh but yeah we learned some stuff in laura in laura harvey's presser um like just talking about ainsley and doline uh doline picking up a little knock at u.s camp and then um ainsley looked a little tired she came back from camp too so that's why she subbed out at half i know i was also surprised by halftime subs
00:32:05
Speaker
There's only one explanation.
00:32:09
Speaker
They look tired. That's the explanation. look tired. Exactly. They look tired. and um i She did say, you know, they tired bodies from players who had to travel. lot of players that were at national team camps went straight to Orlando.
00:32:23
Speaker
And they didn't have a bunch of time to like reconnect. And that's tough. I mean, you're playing for your country, you're playing in a different system, you're playing with different players and you come back and then, you know, two days later, you've got to readjust and play in a consequential match. Hugely like consequential.
00:32:39
Speaker
And every team has to do that. So I think, you know, you don't see maybe everyone's best performance or or team-wide performance in in that quick of a turnaround. And I also think the league sucks for not scheduling this properly because that is injury-like.
00:32:54
Speaker
Like that scares me with injuries. Yeah, absolutely.
Team Growth and Pressure Management
00:32:58
Speaker
I did. um So Carson Pickett scored against us. And um i think Bella asked because Laura Harvey drafted her to the reign.
00:33:07
Speaker
And ah she had just talked about Carson Pickett's journey and her kind of rise. And she's been a kind of a staple player in the NWSL for years now. yeah she love that hair Yeah, she's great. I really like watching her play.
00:33:20
Speaker
always surprises me that she kind of bops around everywhere, too. But she's kind of a utility player. Did you see her Halloween costume? I did. and We also love the gays, so. Yeah.
00:33:31
Speaker
What else did you get from this presser?
00:33:35
Speaker
she The thing that I thought was kind of cool that she touched on is that the team handled ah game where they definitely had pressure on them a lot better than they had earlier in the season. And maybe that's something that they couldn't have handled at all maybe last year. i And that's just my own thought on that when she said that.
00:33:52
Speaker
She specifically pointed out the Portland rivalry match in Portland and how they were given this challenge, right? It's a rivalry match, blah, blah, blah, blah. blah they couldn't They couldn't get to that level that they needed to be at.
00:34:05
Speaker
And with this game... Players' feet were also melting. That's true. they are They literally were burning their feet. So, i yeah... but fortland also But there could have been more composure to not let in four goals. Yes. Yeah. It's the score line for me.
00:34:19
Speaker
um But this game you have, I mean, win would have obviously been nice because then you would have gotten your home field advantage or whatever like that. But you're playing the previously previous champions.
00:34:30
Speaker
You're playing away. You're playing with players who have come in after traveling. Didn't some of them go to Europe? So, and including Jess. Yeah, the Canadian team was in Europe. Yeah. Yes. Jess is over there. ah So they all this is kind of a mixture of just tough circumstances on top of a very, very meaningful game.
00:34:51
Speaker
And they did well in that moment. They didn't crumble. They didn't have major issues. Wasn't perfect, but they did the job. yeah So I think that's a good takeaway and something that gives me at least a little bit of good feeling for the playoffs.
00:35:06
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. um Anything else you want to add on to wrap up this this game before we get into the cooler player of the match? Nope. Cool.
Cooler Player of the Match: Jordan Bug
00:35:14
Speaker
ah The cooler player of the match is brought to you by the doctor's office, a great little 12 seat bar on Capitol Hill.
00:35:20
Speaker
The owner is a big fan of the rain and is proud to be our very first sponsor. yeah this was a little i mean what i mean there was only one choice there was one standout performance yeah there were several decent supporting performances sure but you can't not give cooler player of the match to jordan bug it has to be her And I'm sorry that we're repeating what player of the match is for the reign, but people need to start stepping up.
00:35:53
Speaker
Yeah, that's the thing. I was close to I was close to wanting to give it to Curry because she had a very ah she was very without her. That goal doesn't happen. But the overall performance of Jordan bug was just sensational.
00:36:08
Speaker
That is it. You just can't ignore it. Needs the credit of this highly prestigious award. I think, is this her first one? I think she's got another one. Okay. I could be wrong. Every time I say this, I'm always wrong.
00:36:20
Speaker
But i feel like I feel like we've given it to her before. but This is ah this is ah not normally, but a lot of the time it's the last thing that we do before we hit record is we figure this out. um So we don't look it up.
00:36:34
Speaker
Don't look at past performances. We don't. And I should type it in so that when I go and put it in the Hall of Fame document, it's easier for me to figure out because sometimes I have to go listen to the episodes to find it.
00:36:45
Speaker
Cool. Well, congrats, Jordan Bug.
Support for Podcast Network
00:36:47
Speaker
Insane performance. Incredible player. We appreciate you. We do. Thank you for being on our team. Yep. Thanks again to our sponsor, the doctor's office. The doctor's office is the best place to grab a drink before or after a rain match or really any time.
00:37:01
Speaker
Cozy up with their limited edition cocktail, Tipperary Riff. The Tipperary, which is Irish whiskey, sweet vermouth, green chartreuse, and Angostura bitters, is one of those classic cocktails that doesn't get the love it deserves. Here, they've infused the whiskey with cocoa butter to bring out the light chocolate flavor.
00:37:17
Speaker
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00:37:25
Speaker
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00:37:38
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:38:07
Speaker
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00:38:18
Speaker
We have already hit on the rain-related news that I had put in here, which was Lynn Viandolo being pregnant. Congrats to her and Marley. I'm sure they'll be great parents. um I hope you have a desire to come back and kick everyone's asses as mother. Revenge sure Yay! and then we touched on the Harvey of two. But we have some NWCLE news that is you fucking
Elizabeth Eddy's Op-Ed Controversy
00:38:41
Speaker
terrible. I do feel like we need to at least...
00:38:43
Speaker
Mention it. i don't know that we need to dive into it because we're not experts on this. and don't know. What do you think? So there was an op-ed written by a current NWSL player for Angel City named Elizabeth Eddy who...
00:38:59
Speaker
surprised maybe people that don't know her um with writing this op-ed about how there's a gender problem in the nwsl how there's not protections for cis born cis women fuck off go fuck yourself it's not a problem get over yourself stop creating issues stop launching your fucking conservative media career train harder Like it's that simple to some extent. Like you're not doing enough.
00:39:27
Speaker
Yeah. Also, where is this problem? Also, who is she? Exactly. What trans woman is taking her place? No one. She's not even good enough against the women on her team.
00:39:39
Speaker
It's wild. And the shitty thing is that Angel City, as a team, put out, like, the dumbest PR response to it. And then you had to have Sarah Gordon, captain of Angel City, a woman of color. Yeah.
00:39:53
Speaker
Which... always ends up having the brunt of the fucking emotional work to do on these things, um, come out and have a really fucking classy response and, um, you know, disavowed everything she said.
00:40:06
Speaker
Yeah, they I mean, so part of the targeting of this fucking shit from Eddie was alluding to that Barbara Banda and maybe some other African players.
00:40:18
Speaker
Yeah, they specifically chose photo and photos of players of color, especially African players in the article. It's just fucking racist.
00:40:30
Speaker
It's racist. It's transphobic. It's a personal attack on these absolutely incredible athletes. i did It's stupid. I hate it. The league statement was also shitty because they didn't say anything about racism or transphobia.
00:40:43
Speaker
um Everyone in this league is women and we support them. And they were also like, and that was that at the NWCLA put that statement That was fucking a weird statement too. But the one from the league was just like, Barbara Banda is so good and we support her. And I'm like, what?
00:40:57
Speaker
What? What do with what happened? but Yeah, it really mystified me. It really mystified me that the Players Association didn't specifically call out the blatant transphobia, blatant racism, and blatant targeting.
00:41:16
Speaker
it's Yeah, it's fucked up. and So, Player Association needs to get their shit together. Yeah, and everyone knew that if the the league didn't make a statement out on this immediately and try to get ahead of it it, was just going to fucking turn into a whole fucking moment for conservatives to just be pieces of shit.
00:41:33
Speaker
which is not new and they love any moment to do that. But the league has done themselves no favor, no favors in what that they've, the statement that they've made and how long they took to make it Um, and then I saw it Tim Foss called out, you know, the rest of the league and other teams, like the league statement wasn't very good. So like maybe other teams need to make their own statements because this could affect everybody else.
00:41:55
Speaker
And as a team who has had a trans player, um You know, I do think that the rain could use this as a moment to just be like, you know, we support players in this league of various gender identities.
NWSL Playoff Results and Analysis
00:42:09
Speaker
And it's not this isn't a fucking problem. Yeah. Because again, where is this fucking problem in the league? It doesn't exist. It's fucked up. um Yeah, she has played... Receipts. 29 minutes in three matches with a 6.32 player rating. She's also, like, bitching about how she's, like, gonna get iced out or whatever the fuck.
00:42:33
Speaker
I'm like, well, that's what you get. if you don't stand with your fucking teammates and like the community that your teammates support and are actively kind of bringing on hate to people, why would your teammates like trust you?
00:42:47
Speaker
It just doesn't. That's that's sorry, but that's just how it is. Yeah. And Sarah Gordon saying like the locker room is not like this. blah. It makes me wonder, like, is she even in the locker room ever? Because she doesn't play.
00:42:59
Speaker
Also, she apologizes for her. I know. i' Like, what? God, she doesn't. That's so fucked up to make her the one who has to fucking address all this shit in a way that's like actually commendable. yeah but good on her i mean i've always known she was a true baddie she's awesome yeah always loved her was she i'm pretty sure i've mentioned i wish she would play for this team yeah and i love her i think she they've missed out on her in the u.s women's national team yeah eddie's gonna be probably on fox news soon so joy to everybody but someone's conservatives love a grifter we do or that we do they do
00:43:35
Speaker
I mean, I do love. Whoa. I do love that they just are grifters, though. Yeah. You know what i mean? Okay. Here's my hot take that I know will get me in a national publication. We've got some NWC results to go over.
00:43:48
Speaker
Admittedly, we didn't really watch a lot of this stuff because it was all happening at the same time besides one game. I watched the KC San Diego game because it was on before rain game. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wasn't really paying that much attention to it because it was on the TV and I facilitating this thing. Doing your shit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, chewing is still out.
00:44:05
Speaker
yeah i don't know if trink is gonna be back that's a big problem although they have a million players know that are elite athletes in this league like elite and to be so yeah like not a big deal they've got fucking dabinia they got cooper they got fucking heli sentinor i think they're gonna be okay yeah they'll be fine uh they just won't be as scary yeah they won't have the golden boot for them yeah uh but they did end beating san diego two to one t-digit was up on that and then they yeah they went up 1-0 people thought but no nope we got chicago got the championship yeah hang the banner hang the banner hang the fucking banner i'm so happy for this uh they beat angel city two to one hell yeah how many minutes did ah elizabeth eddie play i'm gonna guess zero you would be correct ah
00:44:58
Speaker
Uh, you, you watched the highlights of the next game, the North Carolina Gotham game. Didn't you? I did North Carolina was just putting on a fucking clinic. They were really fucking good. And I think next year, i mean, they've been good at this last part of the season and they had to win this game to have a chance to get into the playoffs.
00:45:13
Speaker
um So they were just fucking racking up the goals. I mean, they were. And like they made Gotham look silly, which is concerning for Gotham. But at the same time, they they had a lot of players that were gone and yeah probably we have tired legs. So and it was also in North Carolina and it was fucking pissing rain. It was awful. They also the people in the crowd, they gave them.
00:45:32
Speaker
I'm going to go ahead and say it. I don't know that they should be giving out white ponchos. It doesn't doesn doesn't look right. OK, yeah, especially in North Carolina. one i'm Just going to go ahead and say it. um Anyways, but it was dumping. So I would also take the free poncho, I suppose. um Although I would bring my own because I have a really cool poncho.
00:45:50
Speaker
ah But yeah, i North Carolina is going to a threat next year for sure. They didn't get into playoffs this year, but I would definitely, this is kind of a blip in their usual success that they have. um And then the two goals that Gotham got in this game, because it ended three to two, it was in the 87th minute it was their first goal after they were already down through zero.
00:46:09
Speaker
And they got like a penalty, uh they like it's pure porch you did we decide that's how it's pronounced portia you for she yeah she like fell down on the box but because it was so damn wet like there was there was like no fucking contact really she like definitely just slipped and there was like maybe a brush on her back but i was like dude you just fucking slipped because of the the the wetness and then roosevelt scored and then they got like another goal and
Preview of Upcoming Playoff Matchups
00:46:34
Speaker
like stoppage time but it wasn't enough does gotham's got a tough matchup too enough so that's kind of Yeah, because Gotham ended up finishing eighth. Well, we'll talk about this a little bit.
00:46:43
Speaker
Yeah, so I don't know. It was exciting game, but mostly for the fact that and North Carolina fans are probably excited for next year because Minaka, very good. Yeah, ah she people are finally starting to see what we've all been kind of seeing. Yeah. I watched the first goal for the Portland-Houston game. Must be nice to play a team that's already eliminated at home. Must be.
00:47:02
Speaker
um But Castellanos, not to take anything away from her goal, it was a very, very good goal. um If you haven't seen it, please go watch it. it's It's pretty. It is. Louisville did did the thing.
00:47:13
Speaker
they They did it. They got the win that they needed to get. Got a single goal to get them into the play their first ever playoffs. I know. It took a coach who played for the rain. Yep. So congrats to Bev. She's the first coach to ever play in the NWSL playoffs and then head coach a team into the NWSL playoffs. Someone who played under Laura Harvey. So congrats to her. That's kind of a big deal. I think they might be a sneaky dark horse. Yeah, I'd be worried about them. I think they've got this this grit that I don't think a lot of teams have.
00:47:43
Speaker
I won't be surprised if they you know crash out. But yeah, I won't be shocked, too, if they can kind of get an upset or two. Well, they have to play the team that Utah just beat, who is Washington in Spirit. Yeah, who are also having some issues.
00:47:55
Speaker
I didn't see this game. i didn't either. But yeah, Utah 1-0 against Washington. Yikes. Yikes is right. Spirit, yeah, this is interesting for the Spirit. They still don't have Trinity, right? She's got that injury.
00:48:09
Speaker
ah They do have good players still, so i don't know. This international thing, is it's really hard for me to kind of assess if these results... mean anything yeah but i also know that the momentum that any of these teams had before because of the break and everything else it's it's like the momentum's gone so it's really just a free-for-all right now for the playoffs hmm. And yeah, I don't know. it seems to me there it's it's always a free for for free for all in the playoffs. But there are some trends that are kind of popping up, I think.
00:48:43
Speaker
I don't know. I think people are really i i saw a couple of predictions today. hmm. And there was only like two out of like its two or three out of like nine different ones that people in the media had put out for the what do you call brackets? Mm hmm. Had us advancing.
00:49:00
Speaker
Yeah. I don't think people expect us to beat anyone. No. Well, and then, yeah, i mean, if we want to get into who's playing who next weekend, right? Yeah. So in the NWSL, if you're not aware, first place plays eighth place, second place, second seventh, third place, sixth, and then fourth place, fifth.
00:49:19
Speaker
So um Gotham ended up finishing eighth. So they play KC. Yeah. Is that the last team you'd want to play if you were KC? Probably. Yeah, I think you're right. um Yeah, so that would be interesting.
00:49:34
Speaker
Yeah. We get the first game. So we're playing Orlando. Racine's playing Spirit, like you said. And then the the last matchup that we haven't touched on is ah San Diego's playing the Thorns, Portland.
00:49:47
Speaker
Now, it was brought up. It's beneficial to San Diego to not have to play in San Diego because their field sucks ass. Yeah. and so like i don't know and i san diego's they can really fucking get going they're so hot and cold yeah and they'll go from like scoring three goals to like not scoring for like two games yeah yeah so it's also wildly inconsistent yeah i think this is kind of just a to me this playoffs feels like is casey you gonna do it all yeah and if they don't someone come take it so why not us why why can't we do it i think we can yeah ah do you who do you i mean like other than louisville we might be the biggest dark horse yeah
00:50:34
Speaker
Which is not a bad thing. Or San Diego. Yeah, but you see who they have on their team and no one will be surprised if they win it. Yeah. I don't think i don't think anyone expects us to do well. Like, really well. Like, win it.
00:50:44
Speaker
No, absolutely not. um Yeah, I guess it would be us and Louisville. but do you want to do any predictions? Ooh. Let me pull up the... Hold on.
00:50:57
Speaker
First bracket, you got casey and Gotham. And then we're in that bracket with the Orlando. So who do you think is going for KC and Gotham?
00:51:07
Speaker
I just got the picture. Okay. o This is tough. I'm hoping Gotham pulls out the upset. and Okay. But I really think KC is going to win this.
00:51:19
Speaker
I'm going to pick Gotham. I think Berger might show up. Yeah, I mean, that's the other thing. AKB. It also depends on who KC has. But I would also love for KC to just get completely knocked out after the season that they've had.
00:51:32
Speaker
who I think a lot of people would like to that. Yeah. I would. Okay, Gotham. Yep. Okay. Gotham and then us. Okay. On our side. This is a very biased bracket, just be clear.
00:51:43
Speaker
Louisville Spirit.
00:51:46
Speaker
Do we want to go underdog brackets? or yeah I might take Spirit for this, and I don't know that they're getting out of the next round, though. Yeah, I think Spirit are going to beat Louisville.
00:51:56
Speaker
because And I think Portland's probably going to beat San Diego. i Yes, I mean, Louisville's got to go to Spirit, and that's not an easy place to play. No. And who did you pick for Portland? Portland's going to beat San Diego. Okay.
00:52:07
Speaker
I might take San Diego in that, too. Yeah. Yeah. So you're saying Washington Spirit are going to the championship? Yeah. Well, yeah. Yeah. I here's the thing about the San Diego will actually you know I'm picking San Diego to go yeah I think they're just so fucking chaotic that I don't know i don't care i don't know I don't know this is they're so inconsistent but if they can fucking figure it out if they can have two good games they're that's kind of that's what i was gonna say it's like that's why this is so insane the playoffs are not the playoffs no the best team doesn't win the nwzl championship no i can't i didn't expand the playoffs like immensely immensely yeah um because we're already the quarterfinals come on
00:52:53
Speaker
Yeah, we have a good game against Orlando. We're in the semis. Yeah, two games to get to the final. That's not a very exciting thing. And then we play Casey or Gotham. Yeah. We can beat either one of those teams. Yeah. On a good day.
00:53:03
Speaker
On a good day, for sure. So then you're in the championship and you're playing San Diego. Yeah, I'm taking that. In Bay, West Coast teams. Let's do it. Let's do it. Why not? I left my mark in that stadium when I was there.
00:53:15
Speaker
Did you pee in there? It will feel my presence.
00:53:19
Speaker
Okay. No, I just existed there once two years ago. so All right. So let's let's do a quick preview for our before we get too ahead of ourselves just for that was
Reign's Playoff Strategy Against Orlando
00:53:30
Speaker
for fun. But let's let's preview the next game, which is ah people.
00:53:34
Speaker
It's been a while. We're playing Orlando ah Friday, November 7th, 5 p.m. It's on Prime. I'm hoping we get those good cameras up for it. um Things that's going to be in Orlando in case everyone wasn't already aware.
00:53:47
Speaker
Things we want to see and things to look out for. What do you got? I it said, we like, basically what Jordan Bug said, just keep better possession, limit attacking players from constantly having to drop off defensively. Like, when they can spread out, it's not so chaotic, and they're able to keep that possession.
00:54:08
Speaker
But we'll see. it's interesting yeah It's interesting because this is kind of like a second half, right? Yeah. Just like a week later. The things i want to see, i need someone to step up and be the playoff hero. Agreed. I need a Latsko moment for somebody.
00:54:21
Speaker
um i would also like to get some magical healing fairy or resting fairy so that we can get Haidemundalene more minutes.
00:54:33
Speaker
ah Specifically... I don't know, eat both of them, to be honest, because when Heidema came in, she fucking changed the game too. Yep. um if I'm hoping Darlene's thing isn't too much of a problem. I'm hoping it's one of those things where they were like, let's just save her as much as we can so that we have her for as much as we can for the playoffs.
00:54:51
Speaker
um but Yeah, I think that's those are the two things I'm... The good news is they're not leaving the area. Yep. And they'll be in some sunshine. so And Maddie Darlene did come in in the 80th minute last game. So she's not completely broken as far as we know. No, I saw the thing on her leg, though, and I was like, oh, that's why she didn't start.
00:55:08
Speaker
Yeah. but Got it. um I think it's just going to be, it will be like a second half, but it'll be like a different second half because you'll have rested players. um You'll have players that are literally rested because they haven't had to fly across the country.
00:55:22
Speaker
Mm hmm. They've been in the same place, same environment. And honestly, it might be beneficial because you're staying in a hotel with your team all week. You're constantly bonding. You're building that kind of positive locker room in the hotel.
00:55:36
Speaker
yeah. I think the mindset could work to your advantage of, all right, like you're talking about it constantly, right? You're not at home and then going to training. You're literally at training, in the hotel, in recovery, at your meals with everybody. It's like being in a national team camp for a week. Yeah, I like this. i like this point. So maybe that will just really connect everyone in the mission, in the game plan, because when they follow the game plan, they win games.
00:56:05
Speaker
who So that will be clear to them. They will know what they need to do. There will be no confusion. And I think it might be a positive. I like it. This is not something I really, I knew that staying there. I liked the idea of that, but I wasn't really thinking about all the back ends and stuff that comes with that.
00:56:22
Speaker
Yeah. Cool. Well, good luck to the rain.
Reflection on Reign's Season
00:56:26
Speaker
Please win. My mental health is riding on this. will I will put no matter what happens next week, not that next week in a couple days, no matter no matter what happens on Friday.
00:56:38
Speaker
I am so immensely impressed with this season. Yes. Fifth place. After what happened last year and how bad everything looked last year.
00:56:49
Speaker
ah yeah i feel good yeah yeah i am pleasantly pleasantly surprised at where they finished in the table and they're in the playoffs and they were fun to watch yeah they were fun to watch like i feel excited about the future which i did not feel last year no at all i mean i was down in the dumps i was like oh i don't know man i don't know how we're gonna keep doing a fucking podcast if this keeps going this way yeah It it was fucking bummer.
00:57:16
Speaker
Yeah, it was definitely like a slog last year. yeah It's been a slog at the end of this season, but it's because they've been grinding things out. Yeah. In like a positive way.
00:57:26
Speaker
Harvey Ball's not for the weak. No, it's not. And we've seen that there are a lot of weak people that watch this league. And well, she hasn't played really, I guess we're talking about. Yeah. Yeah. That was, that was my closing thought.
00:57:40
Speaker
No, I think you're right to, to end on a positive and kind of just, yeah. Shout out to the players and the coaching staff and everybody for turning, turning this team around this season and, and getting, getting to them, getting them to where they are now um and giving them a fighting chance.
00:57:55
Speaker
Go win three games. Yeah. But if you don't, we're so proud of you. Yeah. And there's always next year too. And next year you'll be better. So, but Hey, why not win it now? Yeah. Just do it now. Just do it now.
00:58:06
Speaker
do it do it lady yeah cool uh you got any shout outs for uh for the the past week and a half two weeks or so i do there was another game that i watched before um before the ring game on sunday it in the fifa u seventeen women's world cup oh sweet uh it was on fs2 i randomly just turned the tv on and it was in like the 80th minute and i was like oh great a morning soccer game to watch nice so um France was up 1-0 in the first half.
U17 Women's World Cup Highlights
00:58:36
Speaker
Goes into extra time. And these games go straight to penalties. They don't do added or they don't do, I guess, extra time. They were in added time. um In added time, France scored their second goal at 90 plus 2. Okay.
00:58:47
Speaker
So they think they're rolling in, right? They're good. Yeah. This was the quarterfinal also. They're playing the Netherlands. Netherlands comes back, scores 90 plus 3. Okay.
00:58:59
Speaker
okay There's eight minutes of added at a time. They again score 90 8. Okay. They tie the match, goes to penalties, back and forth, back and forth. It goes to sudden death.
00:59:12
Speaker
netherland Netherlands wins in penalties. Nice. So from being down 2-0 and 90 plus 2 to winning the game in penalties. This isn't, that's great for Netherlands.
00:59:23
Speaker
However, I can't help but think even for the French on, you know, U17 is cursed. Yeah. Because this is kind of shit that their senior team would do too.
00:59:33
Speaker
Honestly, the penalty kicks were pretty quality, too. that's good. We haven't seen that in a while. But it was really to watch. And yeah, it was just a cool game. And the kids were exciting. That's cool. You got any shout outs?
00:59:45
Speaker
Oh, I had one written down. But I also wanted to shout out the PWHL Seattle team.
Anticipation for PWHL Seattle Team
00:59:50
Speaker
They're announcing a team soon. I'm very excited about that team. Their new uniforms that don't have the branding on them. The crazy new branding with their logo, their name isn't out yet. But the other ones look fucking nice. Well, they're going to only wear those for the first season. I know. They look awesome. They're going to be a cool collector jersey, in my opinion. But they're announcing their name this week. But also I saw that they're doing like special theme nights stuff and they have like a carabiner night.
01:00:18
Speaker
They know their audience. I was like, damn, we should go. that We should. i was like, if they got me thinking about driving to Seattle to go get a carabiner. That's that's what i would I would like to know what kind of carabiner I will say. Like, is it a locking carabiner? Is it just like a cheap one? Yeah, I don't want a cheap one. But if it was like a quality carabiner, I might come up for the carabiner. So if anyone has any intel on the carabiners, please DM me. ah So for the carabiner giveaway, ah that is Wednesday, said December 17th, Wednesday, December 17th versus Ottawa carabiner giveaway for the first thick six, 6,000 fans. Wow. Supplies last. It does no info on the carabiner.
01:00:55
Speaker
No info. um Probably not a good one. Then if they have 6,000 of them, there's no way those are quality carabiners. No, i mean, I do love a free carabiner, but like, and even if it's not high quality, but I also don't feel that that's, there are some other good nights though.
01:01:09
Speaker
ah Barbie night. Barbie's Barbie X PWHL Seattle belt bag. Oh, yeah. oh okay. Okay. I hope they're i hope they got a good branding. and I hope it's the same colors and everything. It's gotta be.
01:01:22
Speaker
I'm excited. excited for the more mor women's professional sports in Seattle. Yeah. Cool. I think that's going to pretty much do a first show. It's a long one, but it's been a while and there's a lot to talk about. um Thanks again to our sponsor, the doctor's office. You can always go follow us on social media. We're on blue sky and Instagram at cooler good pod.
01:01:39
Speaker
ah You can send us an email. We do love emails at thecoolerguild at gmail.com. You can visit our main page and subscribe at soundatheart.com forward slash thecoolerguild.
01:01:49
Speaker
Or also on YouTube, youtube.com forward slash at thecoolerguild. Please go rate five stars wherever you're listening. Till next time, I'm Coop. I'm Van. Stay cool, y'all. Stay cool. Go rain.
01:02:00
Speaker
Go rain.
01:02:19
Speaker
Not related, but this is a gay podcast. Gayish podcast. Pretty gay podcast. ah Padma ah Lakshmi.