Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Nos Audietis, Episode 284: Farewell Clint
61 Plays7 years ago
Eight sure is great, ain’t it? The Sounders became the first team in the post-shootout era to win eight straight games in a single season with their latest win coming over Sporting KC. Like so many of the previous seven wins, this wasn’t exactly a pretty win.
But, in the end, the Sounders did end up with a reasonably comfortable 3-1 win. The Sounders have now collected 29 points out of their last 33 available, a rather remarkable run that probably stands up as the best in MLS history. They’ve done it by beating teams that were mostly ahead of them in the standings and, more recently, going 4-0-0 against four playoff teams that had a collective points per game of 1.70.
We tried to figure out if the Sounders might actually be good, while also bidding farewell to Clint Dempsey.
This week's music: Sesame Street - "National Association of W Lovers", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Perry Como - "Seattle", RVIVR - “The Tide”, Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia"
Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you're looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.
Want to hear the music from the show in their glorious, full versions? Check out the Nos Audietis playlist on Spotify!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Sponsor Highlight
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of No Sadietes is sponsored by Fullpool Wines, a Seattle-based wine seller who recently released their first book, 36 Bottles of Wine. To eat those of the book, a highly curated look at wine categories that provide exceptional value right now should be familiar to Fullpool readers. But there's loads of fresh content, and since it's not trying to sell any wine through the book, there's a bit more of a sass factor.
00:00:20
Speaker
And there's food! Lots of it! Fullpool's unique writing styles apply to recipes like Leftover Thanksgiving, Turkey, Smaltz of All Soup, and pregnancy nachos. This book can be purchased through Sasquatch Books.
00:00:39
Speaker
What is the letter we love? What sound are we extra fond of? It's not any trouble, you know it's a W when you hear woo woo woo woo.
00:00:54
Speaker
Without this fine letter, you couldn't say wash or which wax or wiggle. My gosh. There wouldn't be wet, warm or walrus. Oh, wow. There wouldn't be wood, would there now? Without this great sound, well, wink would be ink and weak would be ink. Don't you see? Of course. A fine word like waffle would turn out just awful. Oh, double use grand as can be. All right, everybody.
00:01:25
Speaker
So what is the letter we love? The sound of your extra fondant. It's not any trouble, you know it's a W. When you hear whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop. One more time. When you hear whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop. Sit down and sound your shut down. Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go.
00:01:55
Speaker
The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle And the hills the greenest green in Seattle
Episode Overview & Sounders' Performance
00:02:07
Speaker
Welcome back to another edition of No City Is This, sponsored by Popol Wines, Queen Anne Acupuncture, and our broadcast partner, Food Stepper Studios. This is episode 284, and we're recording on Wednesday, September 5th, 2018. I am your host, Jeremiah Shand, and I'm joined, as always, by my co-host, Aaron Campo. I don't believe Lickit will be joining us today, though.
00:02:27
Speaker
Uh, eight sure is great, ain't it? The sound just became the first team in the post shootout era to win eight straight games in a single season and their latest win, with their latest win coming over sporting Kansas City. Like so many of the previous seven wins, this one wasn't exactly pretty. It was aided by an own goal, a penalty, uh, and they got a player sent off.
00:02:49
Speaker
But in the end, the centers did end up with a reasonably comfortable 3-1 win. The centers have now collected 29 points out of their last 33 available, a rather remarkable run that probably stands up as one of, if not the best in MLS history. They've done it by beating teams that were mostly ahead of them in the standings, and more recently, going 4-0-0 against four playoff teams that had a collective points per game of 1.70.
00:03:13
Speaker
Perhaps due to this relatively, the relatively unattractive nature of those wins though, some pundits are wondering if the centers are even good. Well, Alan, Aaron, are they?
00:03:24
Speaker
Yeah, I think they're good. I don't think they're as good as maybe their results would indicate over the past 11 games or so. But I don't think any teams in MLS are that good. So I don't know how much of a criticism that is. And I don't think they were quite as bad as their results indicated earlier in the year. So they've had some luck. They've had some good fortune. But I certainly think that they're a good team.
00:03:52
Speaker
As good as any other team in the Western Conference for sure. I don't think they're quite as good as the elite teams in the Eastern Conference, but you know, I think they're definitely good enough to challenge for another MLS Cup appearance.
00:04:03
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I guess if a team was really that good, that would imply that they were going to go undefeated for a whole season. And I don't think that we think the Sounders have suddenly put together a juggernaut of a team that is capable of going undefeated for a whole season. But it is starting to get to the point.
00:04:23
Speaker
where you look at the schedule, the Sounders are now through the toughest part of their schedule. These four games, when we started this run, I think I looked at this stretch of games and I said, if they can go three, if they can win three or four, they're in great position to potentially host a planned game if not get a buy in the first round. But they went 4-0 in these games, including a win at Portland. The reason I pegged these as important games was because three of them were at
00:04:51
Speaker
were at home, but those were pretty tough home games. I mean, the Galaxy came in looking like a tough team. They clearly aren't quite as tough as they looked at the time. But Sporting Kansas City was the second best team in the West. They still are. FC Dallas was the first place team in the West. I mean, this was a tough group, and the Sounders passed with flying colors. Now, that's not to say that the game on September 15th at Vancouver is an easy game, but I just don't think that the quality of opponent is as high.
00:05:21
Speaker
And the opponents, frankly, only get less challenging from there on out. Yeah, I mean, I think that that's the key thing to keep in mind is that maybe the Sounders haven't looked dominant over the stretch of games, but they've been playing the best teams in the conference. And so that's going to factor into it. It's very rare that a good MLS team blows out another good MLS team, whether at home or away.
00:05:49
Speaker
Those games are often going to be tight. And I think the crucial thing for me is that the Sounders have been able to manage games really well against difficult opposition. I think that they were outplayed probably in the first half against Sporting Kansas City. And they came out just completely on fire in the second half, got the game state into their favor, took a three-run lead pretty quickly after halftime.
00:06:14
Speaker
and frankly didn't really need to be dominant for the rest of the second half. And I think that's something that gets overlooked. Especially in a sample of games like this, and especially for a team like the Sounders who really, really have to be sure that they're getting the results that they've earned, the game state is definitely going to factor into maybe the end result of the statistics and things like that.
00:06:39
Speaker
But I think the key thing is that the Sounders have an attack now that it doesn't feel futile when they go down by a goal. And it did for the first half of the season, most of the first half of the season. And they don't have that anymore. It's not an elite attack, but it's good enough considering how good the defense has been and how good the defense will, I think, continue to be. And so it does make the rest of the schedule look
00:07:08
Speaker
I don't want to say like an easy slate because they've got some, uh, three game weeks and they've got some, some East coast travel. But I think you're right that the real test, you know, has, has come over the past month or so and that they've done a, an excellent job of, of showing that they'd belong in the playoff mix. I think you're muted.
00:07:43
Speaker
Yep, sorry about that.
Sounders' Strategy & Key Player Contributions
00:07:45
Speaker
Yeah, I was going to say, I think this is an elite defense and an adequate offense. Nothing over the last eight or 11 games, I think suggests to us that this isn't an offense that is suddenly going to start blowing teams away.
00:07:59
Speaker
You know, the galaxy game was probably a little bit more of an outlier than the sporting Kansas City match. But I think what we're seeing is that a team that's figuring out how to score goals and it's, you know, it's, it's tempting to look at three own goals and three games and say, Oh wow, this under sure getting lucky.
00:08:15
Speaker
But I think there's a lot to be said about making your own luck, and I realize that's somewhat of a cliche. But in this case, I think it's relevant in that the Sounders are repeatedly putting defenses in positions where they're back paddling towards their goal, and good things happen when you hit balls at defenders who aren't set.
00:08:35
Speaker
You know, we saw that most recently in the, in the KC match where Harry ship gets in behind the defense and he puts in a, or, uh, yeah, Harry ship puts in a cross that deflects off Graham Zusi. And it's a goal, you know, was it a lucky bounce? Sure. It was a lucky balance. There's no really question about that. But Raul Ruy Diaz was in position to make a play if that ball gets past Zusi. Uh, and if he ends up, you know, if the, if a ball deflects off of a defender and it falls to the,
00:09:05
Speaker
to the, sorry about that, it's my daughter who apparently does not quite understand when I asked her to be quiet. But anyway, this is this week's cat, I suppose. So anyway, yeah, I mean, I think that the centers deserve credit for creating these situations where they're getting penalties, where they're getting own goals. This is the kind of thing that was not happening earlier than the year.
00:09:33
Speaker
If you go back to that Atlanta game, that was the first penalty they drew all year. It was the first penalty they deserved to draw all year. And there are a lot of these situations where they're getting handballs or whatever. And that's because they're putting teams under pressure.
00:09:52
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think if you look at the three own goals that they've benefited from, the one against LA is absolutely a goal, no matter what happens on that play. And it happened to get to the defender first, but there's no way that ball is not ending up in the back of the net somehow. And pretty much the same deal, I think, against the Timbers, that's a dangerous ball with Riedias at the far, I believe it was Riedias at the far coast, ready to finish.
00:10:20
Speaker
and came from a great piece of attacking play. Maybe the luckiest they got was the one against Sporting KC, but it was, again, the result of a great attacking move. I mean, these aren't the goals like, who was it? Mario Luna? Was that his name? That just basically headed the bubble pass. These aren't own goals like that. These are
00:10:41
Speaker
the result of good attacking play. And like you said, they're the kind of breaks that the Sounders weren't getting early in the season, partially, you know, just down to luck, but also partially because they are creating a lot more attacking pressure and actually creating good attacking moves and good chances. Yeah. And when you unsettle a defense, they're more likely to make mistakes.
00:11:01
Speaker
I think that's what we're seeing. You know, Rui Diaz has three goals and assists. Those aren't necessarily eye popping numbers, but they're solid numbers and it, and it shows that the Sounders are able to put it in a viable attack. I think he's already the team's fourth leading scorer, which is pretty amazing. But yeah, I mean, I think it's all kind of coming together and you know,
00:11:25
Speaker
Ozzie Alonzo, someone that we've talked a lot about on the show, had another strong game. Again, it's funny, it seems like he has this penchant for starting slow, getting a couple turnovers, and then by the end of the game, you look at it and you're like, oh wow, he actually had a really good game.
00:11:40
Speaker
Yeah, it was kind of funny because I actually I saw him taking a lot of heat for trying to play out of the back and almost getting caught a couple times before he was able to dribble out of it. And I really thought that was more just bad, maybe bad decision making from Stephen Fry and that he actually did really well.
00:11:59
Speaker
you know, to keep that from being a bigger problem than it was. He's not the player he was in 2014, and I don't think he's going to be. And I think maybe you can still make a reasonable argument that, you know, with a fully healthy team, everybody fully integrated, that maybe he's not part of the best 11, but he's played really, really well over the past month. And he's been... And that's such a theoretical argument. Right. Exactly. Exactly. Because when was the last time we had that?
00:12:29
Speaker
Right. When was the last time you had that? When's the last time, you know, I guess if we get to a situation where Victor Rodriguez, Harry Shipp, Alonzo, Svensson, and Roldan are all available and all fully fit, there is a tough decision that has to be made there. But man, let's get to that point where we have to make that decision before we like assume what that decision is going to be. I mean, I guess it's fun to talk about, but it's just
00:12:53
Speaker
I'm getting to the point now where I just feel like hey, if MLS Cup is tomorrow, Ozzie Alonzo is in my starting 11 and that for me is kind of the end of the debate because what we all we know is what we have right now. And it should be said he had a great line breaking pass to set up the first goal, which was a really well constructed goal, which was
00:13:14
Speaker
probably one of the kind of just the nicer plays the sounders have made this year in terms of, you know, a good attacking sequence where the end of it is a relatively easy tap-in by a good player. But that was a great pass from Alonso. It was a perfect cross from Brad Smith, and Raul Ruideas just made it look like a very simple finish. I don't necessarily think Avali from anywhere is as simple as he made that look, but he
00:13:43
Speaker
He did a great job. He made a great run all around. Really spectacular play. It also kind of got me thinking, you know, for all the talk of the winners and losers in the transfer market in MLS, I don't think I saw a lot of people pegging the sounders as having a great transfer window. I think I saw a lot more people suggesting the sounders didn't do enough during this transfer window. I think it's definitely notable that they are undefeated since I think the window may have even opened.
00:14:13
Speaker
I'd have to double check that, but I think that the Timbers game was right before the window opened. But more than that, they have gotten a lot of contributions from the two players they did pick up, Rui Diaz and Brad Smith.
00:14:28
Speaker
Meanwhile, teams like the Portland Timbers who were supposedly had this great transfer window, they haven't gotten a single minute out of Jorge Villafana yet. They've gotten some time out of Lucas Milano, but it hasn't been very good. I just kind of, I just look at it and laugh a little bit that, you know, the team that supposedly didn't do enough apparently had the best transfer window.
00:14:50
Speaker
Yeah, and I mean, not to re-litigate the Garth waterway debate yet again, but I mean, one of the, I think the reasons people were upset is that he, you know, that he had promised a designated player signing and a TAM attacking player signing and, you know, Brad Smith's a left back, but
00:15:09
Speaker
he's an attacking player and has been an attacking player, and I think has done really well in that role. And the DP signing, I think, has been tremendous so far. And so, yeah, I'm with you. I mean, the Brad Smith signing was a weird one, and so I think that kind of threw a lot of people off guard. It's a little bit, I don't want to say below the radar, but it was just, I think people were kind of confused by what the purpose of it was. It felt to me like a bonus signing
00:15:38
Speaker
And so it went from a bonus signing to no, actually, this is one of the main signings we made. And I don't know that that's something we can put on Garth as much as we can put it on our own expectations. I mean, I think if you take the expectations out of it, it was a really good transfer window. It's just that I think Rui Diaz felt like, oh, well, we're going to get a number nine. So you don't even count that in terms of assessing the window.
00:16:03
Speaker
Right, which is, I mean, I guess I kind of get that. But at the same time, I don't know the people. And I don't think this is just sound understands by any stretch. I don't think a lot of people fully appreciated how big of a signing Ruby Diaz was.
00:16:19
Speaker
And yeah, there was that fact that it was kind of a given, so what else are we in the beginning? And I can see how that affects people's perceptions and how that affects people's levels of excitement. But I think if you're being honest and judging how much better the sounders got during the transfer window, you have to acknowledge that that's a pretty tremendous improvement. And I think what you're kind of getting at is that there's not a lot of that
00:16:45
Speaker
Actual analysis happening, you know, it's it's more just like well the expectations were XYZ Right. So they're they're being graded down, you know for meeting they're being graded on a curve I think is the right way and and the yeah and the expectations were extremely high, you know, and so yeah, so it's you know, it's
00:17:05
Speaker
Ultimately, it doesn't really matter, I guess, but it is kind of frustrating that I feel like there's a lot of people that are just like, well, this team was so terrible in the first half, so they obviously can't be as good as they've looked over the stretch. And it's like, well, they did kind of improve a lot. Right.
Controversies & Team Depth
00:17:23
Speaker
Yeah, of course this game was not without controversy. In the 80th minute or so, around the 80th minute, Chad Marshall went into a tackle with Johnny Russell at the top of the box. He ends up blocking a shot.
00:17:38
Speaker
Play goes on, no one really thinks much of it. But there's an injury delay because Russell's laying around on the floor acting like he's been wounded. And this gives VAR time to take another look at the play. And somewhat shockingly, they tell Boldomero Toledo to look at the play again. Even more shockingly, Toledo comes out
00:18:07
Speaker
gives a red card to Chad Marshall. The replays, admittedly, that they showed in the stadium were not the best angle. They made it look like literally nothing happened. But I've seen at least five or six different angles of this play. I would like to think that I've seen what is the definitive angle, because I feel like I've seen plays that could plausibly be called foul at least. But man, I just don't...
00:18:35
Speaker
We're going to probably find out in the next day or two whether or not this is going to get overturned, but this was one of the more shocking VAR decisions that I think I've seen personally. I think that it's a foul, and I think that it probably should have been called a foul in the first place.
00:18:59
Speaker
I have a really hard time seeing it, even as a yellow card. And I think I would love to have gotten an actual substantive answer to the questions that the referees supposedly answered. But instead of what kind of sounded to me just like blame avoidance, kind of a CYA sort of situation. Yeah, it should.
00:19:22
Speaker
I guess what you're referring to here is Jeff Baker was the assigned pool reporter for the game. He went down and he actually was the one that asked Toledo to clarify what the decision was. To Toledo's credit, he invited him into their locker room and he showed them the play that they saw.
00:19:46
Speaker
you know, basically said, look, he made a studs up challenge into the guy's shin. And I don't know, like, I guess you could interpret it that way. He does make contact with Russell shin with the bottom of his boot, but it's so brief.
00:20:05
Speaker
It like the stills make it look like he's making a straight legged challenge into, you know, into his, into his leg. And it looks like, Oh man, that could be a leg breaking challenge. But you see it at full speed, he barely touches him. I don't, and, and, and so it's like, I guess you can interpret that as a studs up challenge into the, into the shin. But I think the fact that he pulls out of it so quickly speaks to how it wasn't reckless.
00:20:32
Speaker
Yeah. And I think, I mean, I don't know if I'm, I'm assuming you've watched instant replay. If, if, if you're listening and you haven't watched it this week and you, and you care to, um, I, I actually liked Matt Doyle's, you know, explanation of, Hey, you know, if he's coming in from the front and makes that challenge and goes through the ball to get the player, then yeah, I'm fine with that being a red card, but considering the circumstances that he's clearly going to clear the ball.
00:20:57
Speaker
Right. Coming in from the side. He blocks this shot, by the way. Right. He does. And I mean, sure, it's you can't. Saying I got the ball isn't an excuse. Absolutely. 100 percent. But the fact that he's obviously trying to make a play on the ball successfully makes a play on the ball. And there's incidental, very brief contact that he pulled out of his feet. He doesn't like nothing about that is reckless as far as I'm concerned.
00:21:24
Speaker
It's not, it's not. And I think that the bar for serious foul play, I think that you can accidentally commit a red card infraction. Absolutely. I think it's very hard to accidentally commit a red card infraction given the scenario that we saw.
00:21:40
Speaker
Um, just because of the circumstances of it, because they were both sort of going towards the ball at the same time. Um, I think Matt Doyle said, you know, this isn't a foul. It's a coming together. Um, which I think it is probably a foul and I'm okay with it being called a foul. Um, but it's, it's certainly not intentional in any way. And because there's no, I don't think there's any real risk of serious injury from that. And I think that that's the key thing for me. Um,
00:22:09
Speaker
You know, a long, long, long time ago, when Steve Zachwani got injured, we had a debate about that specifically. And, you know, just because you don't mean to hurt somebody doesn't mean you didn't. But in this case, I just I don't see how there's any way that that challenge results in a serious injury. And I agree. And yeah, I'm still skeptical that it will be overturned. I know that they have overturned red cards that were issued because of our
00:22:36
Speaker
Um, so there is a precedent of that happening. I'd be surprised to see it happen this time. Um, just because there is plausible deniability, right? You know, that there is the fact that he did make contact with him pretty high up on his leg with his studs. And, you know, if the referee judges that to be serious foul play,
00:22:57
Speaker
Um, that's a judgment call. It's an interpretation. So, but I'm also just really skeptical of the disciplinary committee in general. So, you know, it's, it's interesting about the disciplinary committee. On one hand, I feel like they've created a scenario where it's a high bar that they have to clear and that they need to prove that there was essentially a.
00:23:16
Speaker
a mistake an obvious mistake made but on another hand these are the people that are making these judgments are humans and i think a lot of times what they do is they look at the play and they say look
00:23:31
Speaker
was it a red card, was it not a red card? I don't know. The reality is that he already has been, he's already missed some time and it doesn't feel like this rises to the level of justifying him missing another game. And I realize that's not at all like a red card is a red card, right? But I kind of feel like sometimes they are willing to kind of clean up mistakes like that. And it'll be interesting if this is one of those instances. But before we get, and I guess I'll also add this is that
00:24:02
Speaker
The Sounders are in a wonderful position where even if Marshall is suspended, they have Roman Torres to fill in for him. I think the Sounders would probably prefer to play Marshall at Vancouver and then maybe sit him for the home game or sit him for one of the next two games. But if they have to sit him an extra week, I suppose that's not the end of the world.
00:24:22
Speaker
But they do have three games coming up, I think, in eight days. And Marshall probably is going to sit one of those regardless. So it wouldn't be the end of the world if he has to sit this one out. But there is a principle at stake here. And I hope that this gets overturned. Yeah, I would also imagine, too, there's some kind of fine or something involved. And if you miss a game, you miss a game check or something like that.
00:24:46
Speaker
I wouldn't be shocked if they're just doing it to try to look out for him as well.
Clint Dempsey's Retirement: Timing and Impact
00:24:49
Speaker
That very well could be. So finally, the last bit I wanted to talk about during the segment was Clint Dempsey's retirement ceremony. We didn't really get to talk about Dempsey's retirement at all in the last show. It happened, I think, within two days of us recording. So we didn't know that that was coming down the pike when we were last recorded.
00:25:10
Speaker
I'll just start with this. Were you surprised that he that he retired when he did? Or how surprised were you? I was surprised, but I guess I wasn't shocked. I think that everybody could kind of see the writing on the wall.
00:25:25
Speaker
And if he had retired and it came out that that was it for the paychecks he received and everything like that, I probably would have been a little more surprised. But I think the general consensus is that he's probably getting the full value of his contract.
00:25:41
Speaker
And, you know, if I'm him, like, he's probably not going to play again, most likely. I wouldn't be shocked if he just can't shake whatever nagging injury he has and he just doesn't want to anymore. And it would be hard for me to blame him. You know, it's somebody brought up in the center of her comments like, hey, you know, school's starting soon. It's a much better time for him to try to move.
00:26:07
Speaker
you know? Yeah. And get that stuff figured out now, then moving his kids halfway through the school year. So the more I thought about it, you know, the more I was like, eh, yeah, it kind of makes sense. It's a bummer, but I don't think there was any other way. I just I don't think he was going to play again. And I think that that probably has a lot to do with his health and just his ability to
00:26:34
Speaker
try to power through it. I mean, the guy has been through a lot the last couple of years, coming back from what could have been a life-threatening condition. And he's had some nagging injuries. He's old for soccer, and he's got a lot of miles on his legs. Soccer age is so relative to how you play and how many games you've played. And he's played a lot of games, and he's always played very, very hard and very, very physically. So I'm sure he's
00:27:03
Speaker
It's taking a toll on his body. And if you can't shake an injury like that, and you're probably not going to be in the team's plans anyway, it's hard for me to blame him for doing it when he did and just ripping the band-aid off and saying goodbye.
00:27:18
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of us were holding out hope that he was going to be able to come back, but I think it may have been more for narrative purposes than it was for soccer reasons. And, you know, I wrote a couple things about Dempsey's, you know, time with the Sounders. And I think that one of the things that
00:27:35
Speaker
almost certainly had to have contributed to this decision was the reality that he'd just fallen out of Schmetzer's rotation. That whatever minutes he was going to get from here on out were going to be, you know, spotty. He probably wasn't, you know, his path to starting was not very clear at all. I think it was entirely possible that even if he had gotten healthy and he'd been able to be available for the rest of the year, that he might not have started another game.
00:28:01
Speaker
And that he wasn't even going to reliably come off the bench every game. He had had at least two coaches' decision did not play in the last four appearances, I think he had. And that was more than he'd had in his entire sounders career. It may have been more than he had in his entire professional career, I don't know. But I got to believe that that contributed a big part of it, that he just wasn't that interested in being not just a supporting part, but a bit part.
00:28:29
Speaker
Yeah, and I think that Clint Dempsey is a hyper competitive person. And I think that if he felt like he could play again, and he could be a big factor in the team, if he felt like there was a decent chance of that, I don't think he would have retired. But it's hard for me to blame him for, you know, for seeing the writing on the wall and saying, it's not really for me. I don't think that's a selfish decision. I don't think it's, I think it's a totally reasonable one. And
00:28:57
Speaker
It doesn't sound like there are any hard feelings at all on the sounder side of things, which makes me think that they understand his reasoning as well. He's not putting them in a bad position, and he can get on with his life and go catch some fish. I wanted his career to end differently, but it's also kind of fitting, just because of the kind of dude that he is, that this is the way he's going out. Yeah.
00:29:26
Speaker
You know, he had a great career. I think that it's fair for Sounders fans to feel a little bit differently about his time here than I think soccer fans in general, certainly American fans. But, you know, because he didn't have
00:29:42
Speaker
And he never was here for literally a full season. The closest he actually came to, I think, playing a full season here was last year, weirdly enough, when he was coming back from his heart ailment. But even then, he missed a bunch of games for international duty. And the Selengers were kind of limiting his minutes. But he only played in like two-thirds of the available minutes that he was here.
00:30:05
Speaker
I think that's fair to factor into how big of a part was he really in terms of the team's success. It was great having him. It was great watching him. But I also think that you can't help but feel like, man, it sure would have been great to really get all of them at some point. And the Senators never really did get all.
00:30:25
Speaker
Yeah, it's true. And it's kind of how I feel. I certainly don't think I ever felt the same kind of connection to him that I have for some of the other Sounders star players. But I don't blame him for that. Oh, no, I don't blame him at all for that. Yeah. But it is definitely fair to be sort of wistful about it. And I think 2014 was as close as we got to seeing him sort of at the height of his abilities.
00:30:54
Speaker
and around for a majority of the season. He had 23 games and starts in 2014. And then he played all four playoff games. Right, right. So yeah, I mean, and last year as well. He was great, but he was a different kind of great last year. 2014 I think is definitely
00:31:15
Speaker
the season that Sounders fans are going to remember. And I think that you could still argue that that was the best season in Sounders history. In fact, I think you'd have to argue pretty convincingly otherwise that that wasn't the best season in Sounders history. And he was a huge part of that.
00:31:32
Speaker
Um, I definitely wish we could have gotten another couple of years like that, but you know, through, through really no fault of a zone, except for maybe arguably 2015, although I wouldn't trade that memory for, for anything really. It is funny. It just didn't work out.
00:31:47
Speaker
No, it is, it is very funny to think about his, the way 2015 was impacted by the red card wedding and kind of everything around that. I had forgotten that he missed 11 of 12 matches at one point that season, uh, as a combination of, he missed three because of the suspension from the red card winning. And then he missed four because of the gold cup. He played one game against Vancouver and then he missed, I think four more because of.
00:32:13
Speaker
because of a hamstring injury and like that window of time basically you know kind of in some ways erases whatever you thought of his 2015 it felt like he wasn't really there but what was funny is to go back and look at that
00:32:28
Speaker
He had a very productive year that was actually one of his most productive goalscoring. For club and country, I think it was his most productive goalscoring year ever. Yeah, I think on a permanent basis, he was definitely more productive for the Sounders that season than he was even in 2014.
00:32:44
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, and it's kind of too bad that we, you know, that it was, in a lot of ways, I think we think of Oba and Deuce being kind of this one season wonder where everything clicked and we got to watch this majesty. But it was two seasons. It's just that that second season had so many extenuating circumstances that ended in such a disappointing fashion. You know, going out in penalties to FC Dallas was obviously not the way you want to go out.
00:33:12
Speaker
But, you know, I guess that's that's kind of the way things go. I think we will look back on Dempsey's time with the sounders overall positively but like you said, I think, also wistfully. I did think it was interesting that, you know, for the ceremony that the sounders through forum, it was I thought a really well assembled.
00:33:31
Speaker
uh ceremony in that they they got all these big named people from all walks of you know whether it be movie stars or rappers or i don't know if it was actually movie stars but lots of famous people with ties to seattle uh you know wishing him farewell i there wasn't a recorded message from Dempsey he didn't even get on the mic and say thank you i guess it was in some ways perfectly fitting of Clint Dempsey's time here that he was there he was present
00:33:59
Speaker
But he wasn't going to do more than he had to, essentially. Yeah. And I mean, I find that endearing about him because I can kind of identify with just not wanting to do that kind of stuff. I like it. I guess I can see how maybe that aspect of his personality rubs people the wrong way. But I think by all accounts, he's not.
00:34:21
Speaker
he's not he doesn't feel like he's too good for it he just doesn't like it he's not comfortable doing that oh i agree and um and so in that way i i like that he didn't say anything you know i do too i don't i didn't mind it i just thought it was interesting it's definitely fitting it's absolutely how many players would you in like in history can you imagine and i think that's kind of what amazing is amazing about it it's not even that he didn't say anything it's that i don't think that many people even remarked on that like it was just like oh yeah of course he's not going to say anything it's going to have to
00:34:51
Speaker
Yeah, which is, I think, part of the reason that I love him as much as he does his idea. Yeah, I mean, there is something endearing about it. I think it's really frustrating to try to cover him sometimes. But I also get it. He doesn't owe us anything. I'm sure part of it is that it's the price that he pays for keeping his family life feeling more like a family life. We don't really know much about his wife. We don't know that much about his kids, aside from what he shows us.
00:35:20
Speaker
But, you know, he's not doing documentaries where people come check out his house. He's not, you know, he's not doing, you know, he's not parading his kids out in front of sponsors or anything like that. And I think that's all really admirable. It just it does change the way that we view him. I think it's he's he's much different, I think, than I think that most people that have the kind of personality that it takes to be
00:35:42
Speaker
successful at the level he's been successful at have a much different kind of personality. And so it is remarkable in that sense that, and I mean, remarkable in the, I guess, very literal use of the term, you know, that that he is just so atypical, you know, from, from, I think what you would expect out of most hyper competitive hyper hyper productive elite athletes that
00:36:05
Speaker
I don't, you know, I think that if he could get paid plain in front of zero crowds, you know, he'd probably do it. And I can definitely respect that. Yep. Yep. Well, that's probably a good place to call this segment. We're going to come back, take your questions. You're listening to no audio.
00:36:26
Speaker
Full Pool Wines are based in Seattle, owned and operated by Sanders fans, and have been sponsoring Nota Adieira 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. Two,
00:36:47
Speaker
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. Queen Anne acupuncture has over a decade of experience healing the injuries of athletes.
00:37:15
Speaker
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. Queen Anne acupuncture has treated players from many of the Seattle area soccer leagues for a wide range of injuries.
00:37:33
Speaker
Acupuncture also happens to be one of the best treatments for stress. Located in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, you can conveniently book an appointment online today at QueenAnneAcupuncture.com. Welcome back to Nos Arigatas. So, Lickit is not with us today, so Aaron and I are going to be asking the questions and I'll go ahead and let you start, Aaron.
Player Anecdotes & Ruidias' Influence
00:38:01
Speaker
Alright, so the first one is from Jeff Williams. What players not currently starting would you like to see on the field more during the final stretch of the season?
00:38:12
Speaker
That's a tough one. I actually think that, well, Victor Rodriguez is the obvious answer there, right? He's, but he's not, not playing because of coach's decisions. Uh, funny story. If you missed it, I was coming into the press box after the Clint Dempsey ceremony and I hear the, the, uh, security guards hassling someone and people are saying it's a player. It's a player. It's a player. And I'm like, what's going on here?
00:38:39
Speaker
And I look and someone says, he's on the cover of the program. And people are just kind of laughing and they're going on and the security guards are insisting, no, no, no, come back, come back. And it turns out it's Victor Rodriguez. He doesn't have a credential on. Players almost never wear credentials, it should be said. But anyway, I just thought it was amazing that here's this guy on the cover of the program getting hassled about not being a player.
00:39:04
Speaker
Yeah, it's, I feel like soccer players are really obvious too. When you see them because they are, you know, always dressed ridiculously and are like five feet tall but in incredibly good shape like it's not hard to know.
00:39:18
Speaker
It didn't seem, especially with a bunch of press and Chris Henderson all vouching for him. You would like to think that the security- Oh, I didn't know Chris Henderson. Yeah, Chris Henderson was there too, which was, yeah. I mean, I'm sure that 90% of the people that work at CenturyLinker don't know. And I feel like they've recently stepped up security in weird ways, but- Yeah, they've been just really unpleasant going through the gates and stuff the last few times that I've been.
00:39:45
Speaker
They've made a just genuinely unpleasant, awful experience that everyone hates even worse, which is... Yeah, you know. So other than Victor Rodriguez, I mean, I wouldn't mind seeing New Who a little bit more. I wouldn't mind seeing Roman Torres. I mean, I think that the starting group right now is the group that I want to see starting, but I wouldn't mind seeing like Henry Wingo maybe down the stretch if we can figure it out, how to get him in. I wouldn't mind that.
00:40:13
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like I don't really have any problems with the sub patterns Schmetzer has had. They've made sense for the most part. There have been some weird ones for sure that were kind of head scratchers, but he's trying to get Roman Torres on the field, I think, at least once a game for a few minutes. I think he's trying to get new Hoos some minutes here and there, but in a game where
00:40:37
Speaker
we have a two goal lead. I feel like that's a good time to see Henry Wingo, you know? So yeah, games like that, for sure. In general, all the players I'd like to see more of, I want to see the people they'd be displacing more, you know? Like, I think that Kim Ki-hee and Chad Marshall are the two best center backs on the team. I think Brad Smith's a better player than New Who right now. Controversial to call that.
00:41:03
Speaker
Yeah, I know. But I just, it's hard for me to think that, you know, yeah, I really want Roman Torres to get more minutes because I like him. And I think he's a good player, but not as exposed as Kim Ki-hee. Right. Exactly. We're Chad Marshall, frankly. I think that you can make a case that Kim Ki-hee is the best center back on the team. So yeah, I mean, it's,
00:41:28
Speaker
I don't know. I mean, I, I would like to see players get longer sub appearances. I would maybe like to see a little bit more rotation, especially at center back. Um, but it's hard for me to say this guy deserves to be starting right now. Um, and I think Victor Rodriguez is the only guy that you can really make a case for. Um, and, and I suppose you got to make that a case that you wouldn't mind seeing the four four two.
00:41:53
Speaker
Uh, you can I certainly want to make that case, but I think yeah I mean I think you could make that case. I just, who do you take like, do you start brewing over Harry ship when Harry ship has been as good as he's been lately or it's, I don't know, it's, it's a.
00:42:09
Speaker
I think you're right that this is the group that, you know, most people would want to see starting. And, um, I think it's just like all of more about rotation and managing minutes and getting guys decent runouts as subs when the opportunity is there. So this is from chops fired. Uh, it's hard to nail down exactly what Raul brings to the team, but since we got, since we got here, I mean, the W's are stacking up. Is it mental?
00:42:36
Speaker
I definitely think that it has an effect on the defense, whether that's they're aware of them or whether he's just occupying them by making really good and dangerous runs. You know, I think that it's harder to defend a team that's playing Raul Ruidias because he's a really good striker. And so, you know, I think that
00:43:01
Speaker
The biggest thing is just having more than one or two credible attacking threats on a team. And the Sounders have not had that all year long. Will Bruin is, I'm very happy to have him on the team. I think he's a great rotational option at striker. I don't think he's a guy that strikes a ton of fear in the hearts of defenses. I think Brad Smith has also helped a lot too.
00:43:25
Speaker
in that, you know, new who I love new who is a player. I think he's got a super bright future. I think he's a better defender than Brad Smith. He is not as good going forward. And no, it's a big gap. It's a very, very big gap. And so, you know, having that that threat from wide is from from both sides is huge. And generally, I just think the team has been playing better lately. I mean, I think that that's a big part of it.
00:43:53
Speaker
whether it's getting healthy, whether it's having some consistency in the lineup, whether it is purely mental, I just I genuinely think that they've been playing better soccer than they were before you got here. Yeah, I would I would agree with all that. So yeah. Alright, so a semi related question from van Percival. What's the best way to get roles goal production up? You know, I think that that's probably an issue where
00:44:20
Speaker
you either bring in Will Bruin or you bring in Victor Rodriguez. I think adding one of those two players is going to increase Rudy Diaz's goal production. That said, he should probably have at least two more goals. He had two breakaways this week and against the Galaxy that my suspicion is that he's gonna start finishing those sooner than later.
00:44:49
Speaker
And if he's on five goals, are we worried about his goal production right now? I think the Sounders are actually doing an okay job of actually getting him into goal scoring positions. Yeah, I mean, he's on a pace basically over a 34 game season for 13 goals. That's certainly not bad. I mean, I think everybody's hoping that he's going to be a 20 goal scorer, and I think he certainly has the potential to be.
00:45:12
Speaker
I don't think the goal of production that he's bringing right now is really a problem. And I think you're right that in a small sample like we've had 630 minutes and he's got three or four chances probably that you would expect him to finish that he didn't. I think they're doing a pretty decent job of getting in the ball. I think he's doing a good job of getting into scoring positions. I think also too that
00:45:39
Speaker
you know, he's still getting familiar with his teammates. He's still kind of figuring things out and integrating into the team. And so if he can, you know, put up three goals in eight games with all that going on, that makes me pretty confident going forward. Yeah.
Roldan's Potential & Kovar's Future
00:45:57
Speaker
This one's from Bill Jones Trumpet. Is Christian Will Don a likely career MLS player or does he have the potential to be lured to bigger money and better leagues?
00:46:07
Speaker
I think Christian Roldan could easily play in better leagues. I think that he's a player that could do really, really well for a good championship team or a lower table Premier League team, maybe not as a guaranteed every game starter, but as a heavy rotational player. And I think that he could certainly do well in leagues where he can make a lot more money, especially because MLS
00:46:34
Speaker
seems bound and determined from preventing good American players from getting paid what they're worth. So yeah, I mean, I think that he certainly could, but I think as with MLS players in general, it's really going to be more about what he does with the national team than in MLS. I wouldn't be shocked if, you know, there would be Mexican clubs maybe that would be interested in him, but
00:46:57
Speaker
Outside of that, I just think European clubs are starting to scout MLS a little bit more heavily, but I feel like it's the leagues that are maybe a tier below MLS or sort of on par with MLS.
00:47:13
Speaker
And I just don't see the point of leaving to go to a league like that unless he wants to go live in Europe for a few years and make a ton of money, which that's certainly a reasonable thing to want to do. But I think that he could easily spend his career in MLS just because the mechanics of how moves to Europe work are not necessarily in his favor. Yeah, I think that my suspicion is that he's probably going to sign
00:47:42
Speaker
or he's going to get offered a TAM level contract with the Sounders. If that ends up happening, I have a feeling he'd probably accept it. I thought it was interesting. You know, he was on the hurt Gomez, uh, Mac, uh, the Max Bredes. It does the show with him.
00:47:59
Speaker
Um, but anyway, the hurt Gomez podcast and he was kind of going out of his way to say, no, man, I'm keeping my options open. I'm keeping my options open. Uh, basically saying like not wanting to give too much away in terms of his negotiating, but yet I still got the sense that he really wanted to stay in Seattle. And I don't know if that's my personal bias and because I've talked to him many times and I, I know that he really likes being in Seattle. Um,
00:48:27
Speaker
But I think it would take two things. I think like if the Sounders were to offer him a TAM level contract and it were to get rejected. And for, and so, so he would have to get a less than what he felt was market level offer from the Sounders. And then on top of that, he'd have to get a really impressive, like, I don't think he's just going to go to Europe for the sake of going to Europe. I think he's going to have to go, you know, like to a Bundesliga team or something like that. Um,
00:48:54
Speaker
for him to be convinced. And I just, I don't see that happening. All right. So the next one is from Druun637. I feel there is an argument that without the quality of play from ship that we would not be in the position we are now. What do you think?
00:49:10
Speaker
I mean, yeah, I would say that that's highly, highly accurate. Um, I don't, I don't know if there's a, I don't know if how many people at this point are really wondering if Harry ship is a positive influence on this team, but I would think, especially after this.
00:49:27
Speaker
current run the centers are on that, you know, Harry ship's been a huge part of it. He doesn't have the goal and assist numbers that some of the other guys have, but he's clearly making good runs. He's putting himself into good positions. He's doing things that are throwing off defenses. He's, he's a very important player on this team. And even without the goal and assist numbers, I think it's going to be hard to get him off the field.
00:49:47
Speaker
Yeah. I think that Harry ship is the kind of player that it's never going to be the best player on a good team. And on a bad team is maybe going to stick out as, I don't want to say maybe a problem necessarily, but is maybe going to be, you know, if a team is struggling to store roles, they're going to look at Harry ship and say, maybe we can get more, you know, because of that position, bottom line production. Right.
00:50:13
Speaker
But I think on a team where he has a lot of good players around him, that the things he does really, really well are extremely valuable. You know, we've talked before I think about how
00:50:27
Speaker
he sees things that a lot of his teammates don't. And so he'll try to make plays that, you know, some of his teammates just aren't on the same page as him. They're not seeing the same openings or what have you. I think lately they've been seeing those openings. And I think a big part of that is that there's just better caliber players around them than there were earlier in the season. So I think that's, that's really been a huge part of it for sure.
00:50:51
Speaker
So this one is from Garrett. He says, will Kovar return to the Sounders at the end of his loan? Do we even want him? Uh, it's weird, man, because I really like Aaron Kovar's game, but.
00:51:07
Speaker
It's hard for me to think that there's not something up with him that maybe people just aren't privy to. He's barely playing in LA or at least he wasn't last time I checked. I don't think that they were planning on him being a key piece necessarily, but I think they were certainly planning on him playing more than he has played.
00:51:25
Speaker
He's still young enough that I don't want to say that his career is a bust or that his career is over by any stretch. He could certainly turn it around. I mean, he's only 25, but he's not a prospect anymore. I mean, he's at the age now where you would expect him to be established and he's had a really hard time doing that.
00:51:47
Speaker
So I don't know. I mean, I certainly wouldn't say no to having him back in Seattle, but if he's not back, I don't know that anybody's going to be super broken up about it.
00:51:57
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it's, you know, you look, I'm looking at his stats right now. He's got eight appearances, four starts, 305 minutes to assist 11 shots. Uh, you know, those are all like his second bet. He's basically having a second best professional season, but that's kind of telling also, uh, you know, his, his best season was 2016. Then he, you know, and even then he only played 811 minutes. Uh, most of those minutes came early in the season as well. Right. Most of those minutes came early in the season before the sounders started playing well.
00:52:28
Speaker
And, you know, it's tough. It's a tough situation for him. You know, he clearly has talent, but you're right. I mean, he's kind of getting it to the point. I mean, like, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see, you know, if he doesn't get, he doesn't, this lone ends, LAFC doesn't pick him up. I don't know that the sounders are gonna exactly be falling over themselves to bring him back.
00:52:55
Speaker
I wouldn't be at all shocked to see him spend next year at the USL for an independent team and be dominant. But I don't know. I just don't know that he, I could see him making a professional career out of soccer. I don't know that it's going to be at the MLS level. And I just can't imagine that he's going to get a lot more minutes now that LAFC is so stacked offensively.
00:53:25
Speaker
You know, that's probably not a great sign for him, but you know, um, I mean, I'm not gonna go ahead. I was gonna say that I don't think the sounders, like, would the sounders take him on the team right now? I mean, they might. Is he gonna bust into the rotation? I don't know where.
00:53:44
Speaker
I mean, would you rather Henry Wingo get those questions minutes? Yeah, I would much rather Henry. Yeah. And that's something for me. And I think that it's kind of illustrative that Harry Shipps is about a year older than him. And people were kind of asking like, wow, has this guy flamed out after a season in which he played 1600 minutes with Montreal at roughly the same stage in their careers? And Aaron Kovar has gotten
00:54:12
Speaker
a quarter of that this year. And yeah, I don't know what it is because I think that he certainly has the talent to be a productive MLS player. So I don't know what it is that's prevented him from reaching that potential. But yeah, I don't know that it's going to happen for him in Seattle. Yep. Yeah, I mean, go ahead.
00:54:36
Speaker
Well, were you going to say something else on that? No, we've beat that to death. We've talked enough shit about Aaron Kover, I guess.
Adrian's NHL Role & Inter Miami's Branding
00:54:44
Speaker
So next one from Sounders253. How will Adrian's partial ownership of Seattle NHL impact his work with the Sounders? I have no idea. I suspect that it won't... Well, I shouldn't say I have no idea, but I've been trying to get Adrian
00:55:04
Speaker
to get a sense of how involved he's going to be in this. But I can't imagine it's a very active position. It's probably more of a silent partner kind of thing, where he puts money into it, and he might get money out of it. And maybe there's some strategic partnership type stuff that they'll be able to make happen. But I don't think this is going to be an active thing, where it takes his time and energy away from the sounders.
00:55:30
Speaker
I mean, but I think it's good, I guess. Yeah, I mean, if anything, it's gonna make him richer, probably, which I guess is nice.
00:55:44
Speaker
I think there have been a lot of questions about how much money he actually has. It's hard for me to think that if you didn't have a pretty significant amount of money that he wouldn't be part of this ownership group. Guys that own sports teams tend to like to own sports teams and make money owning sports teams. I think that it probably has much more to do with that as a business investment than it does something that he's super passionate about. He's been involved with the Sounders for
00:56:11
Speaker
a very long time. It's his passion project. I don't think that there's any indication that he would be doing this if it were going to take away from his involvement with the Sounders. Yeah. I mean, it's always worth reminding people. He got involved with the Sounders back in 2002 and has basically been controlling the team since then. That's a long time. Yeah. This is from
00:56:36
Speaker
Jerry with a cider. He says, what are your thoughts on the now official Miami logo complete with Beckham career flames?
00:56:46
Speaker
I like it a lot. I really like it. It's sharp. It's very sharp. I like that it looks like a club crest without taking itself too seriously, which I am a big fan of. I don't love the name, but I find it less annoying than most of the faux euro names.
00:57:10
Speaker
So yeah, I really like the crest. I'm excited to see what their kits look like. I'm guessing they're going to have like a Palermo vibe going on, which I'm a big fan of. But yeah, I'm a big fan of the crest. I think it's one of the better crests in MLS for sure. It's also kind of an interesting twist. So it's an international club, a football, I guess the full name, but it's like a Italian naming kind of Italian name. Like there aren't, as far as I know,
00:57:38
Speaker
Spanish language teams that use international as their name, but it's written in Spanish, which is kind of an interesting way of bringing in multiple different cultures. And, you know, it's, I don't know, it's, it doesn't, I don't hate the name. I don't, I can't say I love the name, but I love the colors. I think that crest is super sharp. If I was in Miami, I'm sure I'd be super enthusiastic about rocking that stuff.
00:58:07
Speaker
And yeah, I mean, but I don't beyond that, you know, let's I guess they also announced that they're going to start playing in 2020. I am. That's kind of bold to me if they still don't have a stadium location, but.
00:58:19
Speaker
I guess we'll see. Who knows? They could play the Orange Bowl for you or something. Is that even still there? I don't think it is. No, I don't think the Orange Bowl is still there. I guess the rumor is that they probably play at FIU, which is in Miami and it has a decent pitch. But I think that's also where FC Miami plays or Miami FC, which I'm not sure which one it is. But it's the team that's kind of doing
00:58:44
Speaker
That's that was doing okay in the ASL, but I guess maybe they're dead. I don't, I don't really have anything up with that. I have no idea. I think it's really, really hard for a non MLS club to compete once there's an MLS club in the same market. Yes. Especially if you're in the ASL and you're struggling to have a league to play in. Right.
Sounders Statue Criteria Discussion
00:59:04
Speaker
All right, so the last question, and it's a two parter, is from Tom Glans. What would it take for a sounder to get a statue built outside of the clink? What had ever happened before a Seahawk? And the follow up is, is Brian Schmetzer holding a coffee cup, a current leading contender?
00:59:20
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I don't think it's like Clint Dempsey is the kind of stature of a player who I think you try to build that for. I don't think I'd feel great if Dempsey was that player. I could maybe see a Nico Ledero getting to that point. Like let's just say he plays here for four or five more years. He wins another MLS Cup or two.
00:59:46
Speaker
I could maybe see that. I could see, you know, if Rui Diaz plays here until his, you know, mid thirties and he has a couple of 20 goal seasons or something. But it's like, I think what's tough is that, you know, Griffey, how many years did Griffey end up playing in Seattle? 10? I think maybe even more than that. I mean, it's just like in soccer, it's so hard to have that sort of longevity with one club because there's so many outside forces. Like if you're that good,
01:00:14
Speaker
you're probably gonna leave. And so it's like, I don't think, like Zach Scott was here forever, but he was also only a starter for, you know, a few of those years, at least as far as MLS goes. And so it would be kind of weird to make him a statue, similarly Clint Dempsey was, you know, probably the best American player ever, but I don't know that he was like iconically Seattle. And so it's gonna be tough. I mean, I could cheese Schmetzer eventually becoming that player.
01:00:42
Speaker
Or that kind of like if you again if he wins a couple more almost cups that would be in kind of an obvious Candidate, it's hard for me to imagine it happening before the Seahawks though
01:00:52
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I guess Aussie Alonzo too would be the other obvious candidate. That's a good call. He's been his whole career here so far. But I'm with you. I don't think that it's gonna happen before a Seahawk happens. And I don't know, you kind of touched on this, but I think that a lot of
01:01:17
Speaker
And I'm not trying to tell people how to feel, but I think a lot of Sounders fans are sort of conflating their feelings about Clint Dempsey, the American soccer icon, with their impression of how important he's been to the Sounders. I don't know. I mean, he's not the club leader in gold score at Freddie Montero. He signed with Freddie Montero there. And nobody, I don't think would ever consider talking about, you know, building Montero a statue or retiring his number or whatever.
01:01:46
Speaker
Um, I just, he's an obvious, he's, he's a soccer icon. He's a soccer legend and he spent, you know, the last five years of his career here. Um, but I mean, he's a Fulham player, I think in the minds of most people. So I don't know. I think he's a, I think you could argue he's a US national team player. Yeah. That's probably the same way that like Brandon Donovan was kind of, but Donovan also played like 15 years with the galaxy. Um,
01:02:14
Speaker
Yeah I would have a hard time like the idea of even retiring Dempsey's number feels a little forced. I guess I could see him being in the in the ring of honor maybe like it feels like it might be a little bit more appropriate. Maybe. But you know for the Sounders to have never retired a number and then to retire Clint Dempsey's number
01:02:34
Speaker
That would feel a little forced. Like I don't even know, like what's the iconic Clint Dempsey moment with the Sounders? It's probably the red card wedding. Like what's even second? Like, what's the most, like, what's the, like, does he have an icon? Like he had the game winning goal in the U S open cup, I think. Right. In the, in the 2014 U S open cup. But like.
01:02:57
Speaker
I think that's true, and I remember it, but I don't think of that as an iconic moment. He had a huge game-tying goal in the penultimate game in 2014 leading into the at LA. That was a huge goal. I think he had the equalizer, right? I thought that was Oba, but I could be wrong. Well, he and Lamar both scored in that game, and I can't remember which one. I'm pretty sure Dempsey had the
01:03:24
Speaker
had the equalizer but maybe he had maybe it was lamar who had the equalizer but either way like i don't know that there is a moment that to me says clint Dempsey's sounder's time like he had that with Fulham that chip that he had against Juventus um you know he you might even argue he had some kind of iconic goals with Tottenham uh he had a bunch of kind of iconic goals with the United States national team and that's not to say that he didn't have great goals with the sounders it's just that
01:03:52
Speaker
There's not that one, I don't think we're there as much. Right. And if he, and if he had that track record with the sounders over the course of 10 years, maybe that doesn't matter as much, but yeah, I think I'm with you. And in general, I just.
01:04:10
Speaker
It sounds weird to say because maybe we'll get 30, 40 years down the line and Ozzie Alonza will still be the most important figure in sounder's history or whatever. But it feels weird to go to the casting and bronze phase of things for- Well, guys are still playing.
01:04:27
Speaker
Yeah, well, and just like for a club that at this level at the highest level in American soccer has only been around since 2009. And I know that there's a continuation, you know, and a lineage from 1974. But I think that we can probably acknowledge the difference there. And so yeah, I don't know, I just
01:04:49
Speaker
I mean, like I can only think of one or two Seahawks and I think you could make a statue case for it. You know what I mean? I mean, Steve Largent, I would think has to be in that conversation, right? Uh, he's a shithead, but yeah, I think so. I mean, Walter Jones, I think is the obvious one. You know, he's, he's the only Seahawks that I think is unquestionably the best at his position to ever play, you know? Um, or at least in that conversation, um, Largent, um,
01:05:15
Speaker
maybe Richard Sherman in five or 10 years. But yeah, there aren't, I mean, the Seahawks have been around a lot longer. And they don't even have, I think, a ton of guys that you want to cast in bronze. So the statue is a big deal. I don't know. But if they were going to build one tomorrow, I would like the Schmetzer holding a coffee cup. That would be good. Yeah, I like the ideas. Certainly, if we have to make a decision right now. And I'm OK with there not being one, frankly.
01:05:44
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, I also think that you kind of have to wait till the guy's been gone for a while before you can really have these conversations and you really get a sense of where they were in the context of, because like, it's just so, it's a hard decision to have, conversation to have right now. But anyway, that's that, that's all the questions, right? That's all the questions.
01:06:05
Speaker
All right, well, thanks to everyone for listening. Thanks to our sponsors, Fullpool Wines, Queen Anne Acupuncture, and our broadcast partner, Bootstrapper Studios. I am Jeremiah O'Shan, signing off on behalf of Aaron Campo, and let's give credit to Lickit. He's going to be the one that's putting this together, so on behalf of him, too. This is no study at this. Remember, you'll never get older.
01:06:33
Speaker
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
01:07:10
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!