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Nos Audietis, Episode 314: Yes, we’re still sheltering in place
61 Plays5 years ago
The days and weeks are running into one another, but that hasn’t stopped us from recording another one of our patented “podcasts.” It’s now been about six weeks since the Seattle Sounders last played a game, and amazingly we still have things to talk about.
Among the topics of discussion this week were a call from ECS not to play any games until it was safe enough for not only players, but also fans to be in attendance. We also discussed the Seattle Times’ story that looked back on the decision-making process that resulted in the Sounders playing their final game despite a looming pandemic.
This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)
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.
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
This
Introduction to '36 Bottles of Wine'
00:00:00
Speaker
episode of No Sadietes is sponsored by Full Pool Wines, a Seattle-based wine seller who recently released their first book, 36 Bottles of Wine. The ethos of the book, a highly curated look at wine categories that provide exceptional value right now, should be familiar to full pool 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.
00:00:21
Speaker
And there's food. Lots of it. Fulpul's unique writing style is applied to recipes like leftover Thanksgiving turkey, schmaltz-a-ball soup, and pregnancy nachos. This book can be purchased through Sasquatch Books. Hey,
Appearance by Sounders' Christian Roldan and Jordan Morris
00:00:32
Speaker
this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to... There's no study at this. What? Hey, Ocean! Let's go! Jordan Morris getting in behind Florian Youngford. Jordan Morris! Scores!
00:00:50
Speaker
And how's this for a save from Steph and Fry? Here comes Roy Deers from the middle to crowd it to Seattle. What do the Tigers dream of? They take a little Tigers in. It's the Sounders and an S-Com. I feel a lot better than Bob.
00:01:18
Speaker
The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle And the hill is the greenest green in Seattle
00:01:35
Speaker
Welcome back to another edition of NOS Adietes, sponsored by Fullpool Wines. I
MLS Season Uncertainty Due to COVID-19
00:01:41
Speaker
am Jeremiah O'Shan, joined as always by my co-host, Aaron, and our engineer, Lickit. This is episode, I don't know, I don't have it in front. I'm working off note free. I don't know what episode it is, but today is April 23rd, 2020.
00:01:59
Speaker
And...
00:02:01
Speaker
We are in like week six of the coronavirus shutdown, if you might wanna say, and I don't know. I don't know exactly that we're any closer to getting MLS games, that's for certain. Today, the big news, if you can call it that, was the training moratorium on MLS teams was due to be lifted tomorrow, and it was extended today until May 15th, I believe.
Modified MLS Season and Closed-Door Games Discussion
00:02:30
Speaker
And that will be putting the theoretical start date of MLS games of June 8th very much in jeopardy. I do not think we'll be having MLS games on June 8th. I was on another podcast earlier this week and I predicted August 15th. I don't even know if August 15th is a weekend, but I just said the middle of August is the, I think, optimistic hope of there being MLS games
00:03:00
Speaker
I don't know, Aaron, let's just start there. Do you think we're going to have an MLS season? I think that we will have something that could be plausibly described as an MLS season. Do you think there will be games this year is what I'm, I guess maybe another way of putting it? Yeah, I think that they may very well end up holding some kind of round robin tournament or something like that.
00:03:25
Speaker
and not just canceling the season out, right? But I don't think that it's increasingly difficult for me to see a scenario in which they try to play like a shortened but still sort of traditional season with like standings. And I just, I think that it's gonna have to happen in a compressed period of time because it seems increasingly obvious like even once, you know, all the restrictions and social distancing are eased that we're probably gonna have to start doing it again in the fall.
00:03:54
Speaker
So I think they're going to need to to try to squeeze things into a short period of time. And so, you know, I think that that will be interesting to see if they that's an interesting point. I'm a little skeptical that the league would be forward thinking enough to like anticipate that, though. That's fair. That's a fair point.
00:04:18
Speaker
Because that would, and even, and I don't even know if I would call it forwarding, that would require a level of knowledge of the way that this is gonna play out that I don't know is knowable. But you might be right, like that might end up being, like if they could do that, like if they could squeeze in two months worth of games between the beginning of August and the end of September, call it. And like that might be their best chance, I think.
00:04:45
Speaker
Uh, that might be like the most plausible realistic, like that, like if they just came into it and said, look, we don't know what's going to happen at the end of September. We are going to just go for it. And, uh, anyway, they, yeah, I can see that being the most plausible scenario. I don't know that that's actually gonna happen, but, um,
00:05:12
Speaker
I don't know.
Debating Fan-less Games and Economic Impact
00:05:12
Speaker
One of the things that came up yesterday is ECS put out a statement that basically said that, understandably, that, you know, supporting players who are reports have suggested being asked to take pretty dramatic pay cuts, which we can get into as well.
00:05:33
Speaker
But they were supporting the players saying they shouldn't have to take play cuts. But then they also said they made, I think, the more controversial statement, which was they don't think games should be played if they can't be played with fans. And the way it read to me originally was they just don't think games should be played because of fans. And they actually said, you know, without fans or is no football, let's.
00:05:56
Speaker
You know, I agree in principle, but they basically said they don't they don't support the idea of having closed door games or neutral site games and then subsequently they like individual members made statements that this is not about playing.
00:06:15
Speaker
Uh, it's not that we're against playing. Well, I shouldn't say that they said that that was their primary concern there was that if it's not safe for fans to be in attendance That there's an inherent risk in the players being asked to play And it was kind of likened to the idea of like if you don't support your hairdresser going back to work And how can you support a player going back to work? I don't think those are the same thing. Um, my suspicion is that
00:06:43
Speaker
there is a different level of say like you can create a safe environment for the players I imagine by having you know rampant testing like there's nothing that stops theoretically players from being tested as they enter the stadium and then being cleared within
00:07:00
Speaker
know that having to being like quarantine them for a couple hours or whatever it takes to get the test cleared and then they can kind of congregate together and play and do whatever they have to do to like there's a way there's a in my mind there's a there's a plausible way to create a safe environment for the players to play games but there probably is a much higher threshold to create to allow
00:07:25
Speaker
you know, any fans, let alone 30 to 60,000 of them into the stadium, where do you fall on this, Aaron? Where do you guys fall on this thing? I think, I mean, I definitely agree that we're talking about different thresholds here because, I mean, I think the odds that big gatherings and by big, I mean, over 50 people, let alone, you know, quartering on 50,000 people are probably going to be banned for at least the next year. Yeah.
00:07:55
Speaker
I mean, pretty much everything I say related to coronavirus comes with a caveat of obviously unless they find an effective treatment or somehow deliver a vaccine earlier than that, right? Like obviously that changes things, but based on what we know now, I just don't see fans being allowed into the stadium and that is not necessarily, like I think that it's, yes, there is risk in getting the virus, right?
00:08:25
Speaker
The risk is really what we're trying to prevent for the most part with social distancing and bands on gatherings of people is everyone getting sick at once. A low risk of the 36 players, I guess, and coaching staffs and officiating crews and stuff, camera crews.
00:08:48
Speaker
there's already a low risk of any of those people getting sick, especially if you're being, you know, really fast, dangerous with testing and making sure that people are getting tested while they're coming into the stadium and then hearing the quarantines and things like that. Um, and then, okay, you know, if a couple of people do somehow get sick in one of those gatherings, it's very limited, right? But if you've got 50,000 people in the stadium, I mean, that's how, that's most likely what caused the serious outbreak in Italy was having, you know, that many people in a small,
00:09:17
Speaker
area and it's spread like wildfire. So I think that that's one part of it. The other part of it though is I don't, I do theoretically agree. I think we're probably on the same page on this that yes, there is no football without the fans. They're the reasons that the game is played. But I think in these circumstances, you know, I would much rather watch soccer than
00:09:43
Speaker
watch the ass end of Netflix for the 3000th time at this point enough, right? So I'm okay not being at the stadium for sure. And I think it's a little weird watching a game without fans in attendance. It's a little eerie at first, but it's still soccer. I still really like soccer. So I'm 1,000% fine with it if they can do it in a safe way.
Future of Fan Attendance in MLS During Pandemic
00:10:11
Speaker
And also probably most importantly, if the union is, is, you know, agreeable to it, that's the critical thing. I mean, if the players, there's obviously not everyone is going to be on board with doing it. Um, and so as long as players that don't feel like it's safe have some means of opting out without, you know, putting their careers at risk. Um, and as long as, you know, the majority of the players in the union agree to it.
00:10:38
Speaker
Yeah, dude, I'm, I would kill to have something to think about. That's not this, uh, coronavirus, like, give me anything now at this point. So yeah, I, I understand the opposition to it, but ultimately, um, I just think as long as the players are on board, then, then it's, it's really not gonna be something I'm too concerned about.
00:11:01
Speaker
Yeah, and I think that's probably where I am is that the players, assuming the players are on board, and my suspicion is that the players want to get out on the field. They want to train. I know for sure they want to train and they want to play games. Now they think they also don't want to feel like they're putting their lives at risk to do it. And I don't think we should be asking them to put their lives at risk to do it. It feels like there's got to be a way, like all this is,
00:11:27
Speaker
assuming it can be safe, right? Assuming that we can have reasonable safeguards that allow the players to feel like they're safe, that they're not going to get sick, that they're not going to spread it to each other. And, you know, assuming all these things, and right now I don't know that right today that we have those, actually we can give them those assurances,
00:11:49
Speaker
You know, we're gonna potentially have games in Germany on May 9th is the is the goal I guess the Bundesliga has has essentially greenlit that barring there I guess awaiting government approval and so the government needs to Essentially allow them to play these games, but it's starting to look like that might happen They have been a little bit more effective. They've been more effective at kind of chatting about
00:12:20
Speaker
controlling the environment there and it not getting as far out of control. So it's certainly a different situation and they're on a different timeline. But I gotta think that if we get to the point where all or most of the European leagues are coming back that there's no, and we will have like, at that point we should have a pretty good roadmap. Like my suspicion is that, you know, if we get games in the next, let's just say the next month, anywhere in Europe,
00:12:50
Speaker
and that MLS will be potentially a month or two behind those teams. They'll have potentially a lot of, they'll have a roadmap for how to hold these games. And I would think that they would not, like, I hope MLS doesn't rush back. Like that's really what my hope is. It's like, in my mind, if we have games in,
00:13:15
Speaker
in a month from now in Europe, MLS needs to give itself at least, at least a month before they try to play games, because I think that's what you need to really understand what's going on there. And they probably should give themselves two months. And then you're into that August timeframe that I, you're getting close to that August timeline that I suggested.
00:13:44
Speaker
know, I just think that if you can do it, you gotta try to salvage the season to the degree that you can. And I think if you're concerned about the players getting paid, I think you gotta be rooting for there to be games because I don't think that, like, it would be one thing if we were talking about, oh, they could play a couple games or a handful of games or
00:14:09
Speaker
maybe even a dozen games without fans and then in September, October, we'll bring the fans in and we'll have a regular season. I don't think that's a realistic scenario. I'm with you. I don't foresee a world where we have 30,000 fans at a Sounders game this year. Maybe there's a way to do some percentage of that.
00:14:33
Speaker
But until there's a vaccine and until there's like genuine herd immunity, which are not things that I foresee happening in the short term, I just think large gatherings are a thing that we aren't going to have here. And that's an unfortunate truth, but it's hard for me to see a way around that, especially when you're talking about like we would need to be able to do it at scale, right? Like across the country.
00:15:00
Speaker
Even if we were assured that in Seattle we could do that, which again, I don't know that that's plausible. I don't think MLS is going to greenlight a world where like, you know, Kansas City can have fans and Columbus can have fans and
00:15:22
Speaker
you know, a few other cities can have fans, but everyone else can't, like exactly. Yeah, that's not equitable for the teams. And I don't see a point that is, you know, I guess you might save a little bit of money in those markets, but yeah, I mean, I think the reality is that MLS is going to have to come up with some sort of, you know, plan to do a lot of refunds. Yeah, it is one of those things where it's very fortunate that we are in an era where MLS ownership groups are
00:15:52
Speaker
real, like real rich and not, you know, because this 10 years ago could have XFL the league. I mean, undoubtedly. So I think the league will be okay. I mean, I think some teams are probably going to be in kind of iffy shape, but the fact that, I mean, this is another, I will never say anything nice about the single entity structure again, but this is a situation in which it's, it's kind of beneficial because you know, it's
00:16:22
Speaker
the really wealthy ownership groups subsidizing the less wealthy ones at this point in time is probably a good thing, I would say. Yeah,
MLS Financial Health Compared to European Clubs
00:16:30
Speaker
I think that this is one of those things. Again, I kind of talked about this with Adrian was on another podcast that I do. And he kind of seemed to buy into the idea that MLS may actually come out of this
00:16:48
Speaker
pretty close to whole and maybe even better in terms of where it sits in the hierarchy of world football. In part because you aren't gonna be in a situation where MLS is having to sell off all their most valuable assets. I'm sure MLS is gonna suffer pain. I'm sure that there are gonna be
00:17:11
Speaker
people who lose their jobs and there are gonna be like, I don't think MLS comes out of this like perfect, but I think it's entirely possible that MLS ends up like spending, like bringing in some players that they couldn't have otherwise brought, afford to bring in. Yeah. I mean, I think when you look at the financial health of MLS and I mean, this is all assuming that what they tell us is true. And I think most of it probably is.
00:17:42
Speaker
MLS clubs are not over tablet, they're not compromised financially to the degree that a lot of big European clubs are. You know, Manchester United, Arsenal, Juventus, Real Madrid, Barcelona, they'll all be fine. But a lot of those clubs that are sort of two or three tiers below those clubs that have to spend
00:18:06
Speaker
huge percentages over their turnover to remain competitive, to remain in the first division. Um, they don't have any money coming in and they don't have cash reserves. Uh, they're going to be in really, really tough shape, I think. So now I would think every, almost every club in not a top division in Europe is probably in some degree of trouble, right? Even teams that are in the low, you know, like some of the teams that are like yo-yo teams in the premier league, I would think are in some financial trouble. I mean, yeah, I think,
00:18:36
Speaker
I think that those teams are probably in worse shape than, than a lot of the more middle of the back lower division teams. Um, because, uh, you know, those, if you're a middle of the pack championship team or, you know, a middle of the pack league one team, you're probably spending close to within your means. Um, if your, uh, leads or your, um, you know, Darby County or your Aston Villa.
00:19:03
Speaker
For example, this is probably a much more difficult time because you're probably overstretched trying to achieve your goals, your short-term goals. And that's, I mean, that's a valid business strategy, right? To say, we're gonna overspend this year, next year, whatever, because the long-term payoff is worth it. I mean, that's investment. That's how business investment works and football is no different. But really bad timing if you're one of those teams that hasn't taken that next step yet.
00:19:32
Speaker
So yeah, it's going to be an interesting and not especially great recovery period from this, I think. For sports in general, what I think soccer globally is unique, at least in terms of the sporting landscape that Americans are aware of, professional sports. Because the NFL is going to be fine. The NBA is going to be fine. Major League Baseball is going to be fine. MLS is probably going to be fine. The Boston Celtics are not going to cease existing, right? Right.
00:20:01
Speaker
It's possible that some very famous European clubs good and that's, that's scary. Um, and I don't think that's good for soccer in general, but it could, you know, there could be some benefits to MLS down the line. Sure. Yeah.
00:20:16
Speaker
Well, it's probably a good place for us to take a little bit of a break. We're going to come back and do questions. So hang out with us and we'll be right back. Local wines
Sounders Fans' Favorite Games to Rewatch
00:20:27
Speaker
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00:20:46
Speaker
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00:21:07
Speaker
Welcome back to NOS Adiates. We have a bunch of questions and we may as well let you start asking those, Likit. Sure thing. Okay, Jerome 637 asks, what is the best sounders match to rewatch?
00:21:27
Speaker
And I think the best one, and we haven't had this one yet, was that 4-4 game in Portland that was just re-aired on the MLS YouTube channel. That's pretty good. I think this week they're doing the 4-3 comeback against, or the 3-0 comeback against DC United. That's another good one, although I don't feel like, I think I only really watched the second half of that game.
00:21:55
Speaker
Was that the one, was that the game we were at together? Or was that the New England game? That was the New England game. Yeah, okay. The DC game, I was actually in DC. Oh, that's right, that's right. I was watching it on a stream and I was about to turn it off and then I was like, oh, I think I missed the first half. And then I turned on the second half and DC, I wanna say DC scored early in the second half, right?
00:22:22
Speaker
Yeah, I think so. And I was like, I might just turn this off. And then the Sonners came back. That's a good one. Trying to think what other, I mean, I think there's probably a bunch of open cup, like I would love to have them replay the 09 open cup game against Houston, because I've never seen that game. I don't think I have either. Yeah.
00:22:46
Speaker
And that's like, I feel like when I would love that they have like, I don't know if there's video of it, of the whole game, but I would love it if they had the battle of keys are because I've definitely never seen that. I don't know if anyone has really, if you weren't there, you didn't see it.
00:23:01
Speaker
Yeah, because they had the stream issue remember. Yeah, I remember. And, um, and that was I would love I would love it if there's footage of that game that they could be here. Um, there's a bunch of games enough on the in the 14 open cup run that I think would be really fun.
00:23:22
Speaker
Like, hell, the 6-0 win over the fire, that would be a good one. Trying to think of regular season games. What are some good regular season games? Man, I don't remember a single regular season. Unless we were playing Portland, pretty much. The 4-4 against Portland, I would love to see again.
00:23:44
Speaker
Have you guys been watching these, re-watching any of these games? Yeah. You haven't looked at second screen kind of stuff, but yeah, I've been watching it. It's good stuff. Yeah. I watched the, I'm actually, I tend to find the Zoom that Brad is doing with other players and whatnot more interesting than the game itself. There's very few games that I'm dying to watch.
00:24:14
Speaker
Yeah. We usually rewatch them at least once already. The MLS broadcast they did with the 4-4, where they had Cooper and, uh, uh, what's it called? Yeah. Um, that was more interesting cause they were just talking back and forth. It was interesting. Yeah. Yeah. I think I would prefer them to come up with some way to do that where it's like integrated. Right. Um, for me, it's, um, it's hard for me to,
00:24:45
Speaker
pay attention to sporting events that I know how they turn out. It's just really, I totally agree. But I think what would be kind of novel would be watching like a 2012 open cup game where they played like Kitsap. I think that would be kind of cool or PSA elite. Yeah. Just like some, you know, like eighth division team or whatever. Um, how the players that like,
00:25:09
Speaker
We're on the team for three years that you don't remember what they look like. Um, King. Yeah. Michael Seaman, Michael. Um, like Fusito. Yeah. Like I would totally, that would be fun. I would watch a game like that. I would be more likely to watch a game like that than a game that I remember really well, you know, or like the champions league gaming is Monterey where they won. Yeah. The champions champions league games, I think would be fun to watch.
00:25:36
Speaker
There's a lot of those games. There was a game, I want to say. The T Grace game with the Edlund and Traore's goals would be fun to watch. Another one I remember that, I remember watching live and I want to say it was against Communicaciones where Ozzy had like a late, late goal to tie it 2-2. And I feel like it was, it allowed them to maybe move into the,
00:26:07
Speaker
quarterfinals, but it was like one of these games where it was like, it looked like they were going to lose this really winnable game. Was that the one where Nagel got a red card? Maybe. I think, I think it might've been. Yeah. Because they were just destroying them and then Nagel got a red card like before halftime, I think. Yeah, that could be.
00:26:26
Speaker
But yeah, there's a lot of those. I think there's a lot of Champions League games that actually would be really interesting to rewatch. You know, it was funny I, you know, I put together this, or I, the Sounder at Heart team and I put together this list of the 10 most important goals in Sounder's history.
00:26:43
Speaker
And I really wanted to include that Alvaro Fernandez goal against Metapon in 2011. And I think I watched that game with you and Kristen at some random bar in Fremont. And I remember not being able to really even see what happened because the video was so bad and it was such horrible conditions. I think it was, uh, I think it was, um, San Andrews is that what it's called?
00:27:13
Speaker
by the PCC out there. I don't, I do remember what that, you know what game we watched there? I think we watched the Blaze Kufo Hat Trick game there. We did, we did, yeah. This was at the place that's by like, it's like right down in the middle of Fremont, if I remember correctly. And it's kind of over by Brower's. Anyway, this is great.
00:27:37
Speaker
great radio but not the george right not the george it was it's like between the george and brows man this is gonna drive me insane now but it's a really bad radio so i'm gonna i'm just gonna look it up and pretend that i'm not doing that yeah all right it's riveting audio riveting we got on track there what do we what else you got like it
00:28:01
Speaker
uh the next question is uh Brandon Bleak asks what did you guys think about today's Seattle Times article this is a couple days ago obviously oh um so I probably recap with the articles you want to you want to recap the article or sure I'll recap the article it basically it was uh sort of uh backwards looking at the decision to um hold the game against Columbus after the outbreak it sort of um
00:28:31
Speaker
after
Seattle Times Critique on Sounders Game Amid COVID-19
00:28:31
Speaker
it was obvious that the outbreak was underway. And it included a lot of quotes from Alex Caulfield, from public health officials, from Alex Caulfield's contemporaries and other organizations, sports organizations throughout the city. And it did not look great. I think it's fair to say for the sounders, I think the optics of it were pretty bad. And I think part of that is because
00:29:00
Speaker
hindsight being 2020, I don't think it was a good decision to go ahead and play the game. It doesn't seem like it made a major difference in the course of the outbreak. It was a very nice day. People did a pretty good job of staying pretty far apart, so there wasn't any crowding in the concourses. It was a smaller than usual crowd, and there just wasn't a huge spike two weeks later, which is, I think, a good sign that
00:29:30
Speaker
it probably didn't make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things, but I think knowing what we know now, it shouldn't have been played. And I think that there were definitely, it's not like it was a fringe opinion at the time that it shouldn't have been played. I mean, there were definitely quite a few people that felt like it shouldn't have been played. And I think even as it was happening, there were public health officials saying, man, we really should not have allowed this to happen. That said, and I mean, to be clear, like I think it's worth criticizing the Sounders
00:30:01
Speaker
um, organization and, and elected officials and public health officials for allowing it to go ahead. Um, but I also think the nature of communications, public relations, crisis management, anytime you see, um,
00:30:20
Speaker
exchanges like that, that are coming from people in those professions, it's probably going to look bad. Yeah. That's just kind of the nature of the beast because nobody ever looks back on this stuff when things turn out okay. Um, and, and I think like, these are people that were trying to do the best that they could with the information they had at the time. Um, I think they made the wrong decision. I think that they would, most people involved would probably tell you that they made the wrong decision.
00:30:48
Speaker
Um, but it's not like, it's not like, you know, I read an article, um, uh, last week about, um, I think it was carnival cruise ships, uh, and how they were sending out cruise ships, you know, even after this, after the game, the sounder's game was played, which is, I mean, that's like worth shutting the company down and putting people in jail for as far as I'm concerned. But that, it just wasn't as obvious at the time, I think.
00:31:17
Speaker
where things were in the epidemic, how bad it was going to get. So I don't know, I think it's worth being critical of the team for, um, but I don't think that, I don't think it looks as bad as maybe, um, other people do. And I don't think that, I think that this is more of a, and they probably should have made a different decision than it is a, you know, this fundamentally changes the way I feel about the organization and the people involved in making that decision.
00:31:48
Speaker
But that's, I mean, that's me. I'm not saying that if this did move that needle for you, that you're wrong. I think it's easy to forget how little we knew at the time and how little the public knew at the time about the risks and everything involved.
00:32:04
Speaker
And I think that that's my honestly, there was two kind of stages of reading I had of this is I read it in the morning when I like when the first thing I, one of the first things I read that morning, it popped up, it was seemingly everywhere. And I think my first reading, like a lot of people, you see the headline, and then that kind of influences the way that you read the rest of the story. And like the headline had this thing about how
00:32:31
Speaker
public health officials were recommending events of 10 to 50 people be canceled and then the sounders hosted 33,000 and you're like, God, that's pretty bad. And then there's this quote in there about how, from the main public health official in King County saying like, we need to cancel all the events.
00:32:50
Speaker
And then there was another quote in there from someone saying something along the lines of, you know, I saw on the front page that there was this outbreak and then I saw on this sports page that the sounders were having this game. I thought I was in two different worlds. And you, you take all that together and it, and it feels like a lot, like it feels like there's a, almost a smoking gun, maybe like there was some real missteps here.
00:33:11
Speaker
Then you go back and you read it again and you go, oh, the 10 to 50 thing was not any sort of official statement. And I don't even know. It's not even clear where that number came from at the time because it was essentially an administrator on the Facebook page responding to someone like that was not what they were throwing out in the world. The quote from the
00:33:36
Speaker
from Duchin that looks so bad was a comment he made to a colleague and not something that he told other public health officials or to the Sounders. And so it's a little hard to...
00:33:47
Speaker
understand what he was trying to convey with that. And then the other quote about the two different worlds is some seemingly, best I can tell, a completely random person who just was giving their opinion of something. And I don't know how to particularly valuable place in the story, frankly, other than it was an interesting quote.
00:34:12
Speaker
And so you take all that together and I don't, and I definitely don't see a smoking gun that says the sounders were acting in bad faith and that this was all about, you know, bringing in a few,
00:34:24
Speaker
on the upside hundreds of thousands of dollars to get one more game. I think it's, in hindsight, if you were to tell the Sounders, this is gonna be the last game that gets played in months and maybe all year, is it worth the risk of, even if you think it's a low risk, is it worth any risk to play it? Probably not. In hindsight, I think it looks like a bad decision to play it because
00:34:50
Speaker
it was pointless like there was no nothing accomplished by playing it like whatever money they made from it is a drop in the bucket to what they're gonna lose over these next few months and whatever like they certainly didn't gain anything from a sporting perspective uh you know like the fans that came probably enjoyed themselves to the degree that they could enjoy themselves and i think they like i think they did get a little lucky if not a lot lucky that this wasn't
00:35:18
Speaker
like the biological bomb that went off in Adelanta and Valencia for that Champions League game. But I also think it's important to remember that, you know, that game happened on something like February 22nd or somewhere around then. And then they played the return leg on March 10th. Like they still played the return. And it was like, we didn't really know the impact of that event until like late March, early April. Like all the stories that were written about that game came out in early April. Yeah. I mean, I think if you were to,
00:35:46
Speaker
shift the timing like where the U.S. like that would be like if they had played the game where the U.S. is now. Right. In terms of the outbreak. Right. Like in and played it in New York City like it's yeah that that was absolutely flabbergasting as a decision to be made yeah. Right and yeah I mean and I guess so it's like it's it
00:36:12
Speaker
I don't think it's the, by any stretch of the imagination, it doesn't put the centers in a good light.
Reflecting on Early COVID-19 Decisions and Public Perception
00:36:19
Speaker
Like, I don't think anyone can, like, I think a lot of the comments that were made immediately after the game by people like Peter Tamazawa and Garth Legraway and Maya Mendoza-X-Jum, where they were almost
00:36:34
Speaker
almost celebratory of like, hey, look, we just pulled off this event and people didn't think we could do it. And it was like, even at the time, I know I was thinking, what is that? You really want this stuff on the record. Right, it's like, this is gonna either look really bad in a few weeks or no one's gonna remember it. And like, what is the upside? And I don't think they set out, when they scheduled the press conference, I don't think they set out to like shower themselves in glory. I just think it was kind of like the nature of
00:37:03
Speaker
Like, well, what did you think? And it was like, well, I thought we did it really well. That's like, I don't know. Like, I think the more prudent answer would have been, I guess we'll know in three weeks. Yeah. Yeah. I, uh, I think that I'm, I think that where I've come down on it, cause I was, I felt much more strongly that they had kind of screwed the pooch when it came out. And I think where I've come down on it is it's very easy to forget what we thought at the time.
00:37:33
Speaker
Uh, and, and I was just thinking back to like, I remember like thinking the night of the game, like I really want to go play pinball. Maybe I should do that. I'm really glad that I did not do that, but like, yeah, it's easy to forget that we just didn't really know. Yeah. Well, I mean,
00:37:51
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I had a conversation with Mark Castner, one of the other editors on Sundered Heart, and he was expressing some concern about going to the game. I just told him, like, don't go. If you don't want to, if you don't feel safe, you shouldn't go. But I had no, like, I had no, I was going, and I felt like I could be safe, and I felt like, in hindsight,
00:38:11
Speaker
I probably wouldn't have gone. I don't want to underplay it. There was a sense of this is coming for us and it's already here, but it just still didn't feel real.
00:38:29
Speaker
There was no outbreak in the United States that you could really wrap your mind around that made it feel really impactful. And I should say, Texas Monthly, which I think is a great publication in Texas, and they had another ProPublica story that was very similar. And they were looking at the decision to have the Austin Rodeo, I think it is, or the Dallas Rodeo, which is like a multi-day event.
00:38:56
Speaker
And honestly, I, and they kind of tried to, and it was a similar story where it was like, oh, look at this thing that they did. But then honestly, like they canceled that pretty early. Like they canceled it a few days. Like, I think they held it up until like March, maybe 10th or so, March 9th. And it was kind of the same thing where like there was a lot, like it's mostly outdoors. There hadn't really been an outbreak in Texas yet. And it was like, and they called it off when it was kind of, I think,
00:39:27
Speaker
given what we know now appropriate to call off, or not given what we know now, given what we knew then. And I think the other thing is that there is, I think, a really relevant quote in that story where Duchin is talking about how as public health officials, you were really trying to thread this needle of, I want to call it off as early as possible to limit the public health crisis.
00:39:53
Speaker
But I also don't want to call it off so early that everyone thinks I'm an idiot and we, and no one listens to me. And I think it's entirely like, I'm sure the sounders could have called off that game and no, and we would still be maybe exactly where we are right now. But I can see how when you're making decisions about when you want to call off events,
00:40:21
Speaker
And this was the last big event in Seattle. It was the last big event in Washington, I think. And I can see how there is a concern of like, well, if we call this off and then we find out in two weeks that this wasn't that big of a deal, will we ever be able, like, can we call, like, are we gonna, is that gonna hinder our ability to call off events in the future? Even if it, like, even if this,
00:40:49
Speaker
And so I think that's a tough, it's tough. And I just think that that's, I think what we can do is we can look back on so far the arc of this thing, which like things can obviously change and who knows in a month we may be seeing a very different tune. But as we sit right now and certainly as it pertains to decisions we made on March 7th,
00:41:13
Speaker
I think we can say that the state has handled it pretty well, like about as well as we could have from, you know, like, could we have acted earlier? Yes. I think that's, there's no doubt about it. We could have shut down, but like the disaster scenario has not come. And if it's going to come, it's going to be because of decisions that we make from here going forward. Right. Yeah. I would definitely say that the, the area, like the,
00:41:43
Speaker
was probably out of the hands of anybody below the federal level. Right. And that should, you know, that should be sealed. Yeah. But I think, I mean, I think that you're right, the fact that there are people protesting these honestly fairly minor
00:42:08
Speaker
minor compared to how it's been in other places, restrictions already makes it. Can you imagine what would have happened if the outbreak had been completely squashed? Right, right. So yeah, you're right. I mean, it is like threading that needle is very difficult and I don't envy the people whose job it is to make those decisions and I don't envy the people it is, the jobs who it is to
00:42:33
Speaker
control the message of private entities whose comments become unknowingly subject to public record. I do feel very bad for the public relations folks that were quoted in that story because they don't look good
00:42:50
Speaker
And I think it's unfair to hold them to that because- I mean, they're speaking to a very different, their job is to manage the message, right? That's their whole job. And so when you're managing the message, like managing the message never looks good. It never, like, it never looks good when you see how the sausage is made when it comes to like public messaging for like anything. And especially when it's like a potential crisis, right? But
00:43:22
Speaker
Yeah, we talked about it. Keeping in a vein, Emmett O'Connell asks,
00:43:36
Speaker
Why is my ticket rep calling me? What can the sounders even do to make me feel better about losing a good portion of the season? It's not their fault. Whether they get my money is based on bigger things than whether it's okay to watch soccer in person. Follow up question, when will you go back?
00:43:52
Speaker
Um That this follow-up question is interesting But i'll answer the first one and i'll leave the second one maybe to erin. Uh Because I think it's easier. It's an easier call for me. Uh As far as the first question goes I mean, I think there's value in Like being human and I think that's what the organization is the organization trades on its relationship with us, right like they
00:44:21
Speaker
That's a big part of what they at least see themselves as is they see themselves as kind of like a public entity quasi public entity that is looking out for the good of the community. Right. And so I think They see themselves as doing that by reaching out to people
00:44:40
Speaker
And I don't like, I think they would be getting a lot. I mean, I don't blame them for it. I think it is a little bit of a no win situation, but I think it's like, I've actually been pretty impressed with how present the sounders organization has felt during this absence, despite without it feeling like it's too much. Like I think they've actually done a pretty good job of balancing it and it not feeling forced. Yeah, I think so. I mean,
00:45:07
Speaker
I think that I understand why people are edgy about wanting to know what's happening. I certainly would be too, you know, if my season tickets weren't paid for by this podcast. So, you know, if that was like real money that came out of my pocket, I would probably feel a little differently.
00:45:30
Speaker
So yeah, I totally understand why that's a concern people have, but I just think it's like everything else, man. Everybody is figuring this out as they go along. I was talking to my dad about that tonight. This is the first time in my life where a scenario has happened that no one alive on earth has ever had to deal with before. There's definitely stuff where the people in charge weren't dealing with it. 9-11, totally unprecedented, but people had dealt with major terrorist attacks before in history.
00:46:00
Speaker
Uh, people have dealt with surprise attacks, acts of war and things like that. This is different though. I mean, this is like uncharted territory truly. And so it's hard for me to be super critical of anybody, but like RSL who has just decided to, you know, do an experiment and how transparently awful you can be, um, in the handling of all this, you know, so, but, um, in terms of when I will, I will go back. Um, you know, I'm.
00:46:28
Speaker
Fat guy with mild hypertension that has been, uh, in remission from cancer for five months now. So I'm not going back until they put a dead virus in my arm. But, um, if none of that were the case, I would probably go back, you know, as soon as this public health officials deemed it to be safe. Um, you know, I'm two things might be the same. Right. Well, that's yeah, that's true. That's definitely true. I mean, once, you know, once it seems like, um,
00:46:58
Speaker
there's either a vaccine or herd immunity or maybe again, they find a treatment for it that makes it less serious. Um, then yeah, you know, I'll, I'll feel fine going back, but until then I'm going to not be around a lot of people. I'm very curious if they have, I've been, I haven't given a lot of thought to whether I would go or not. I assume that means I probably will, but, um,
00:47:25
Speaker
I don't know if they'll have media at games if they have closed, like in a normal closed-door situation, they usually allow media because it's not the same thing, right? But in this case, I could see them not allowing media at all. So I don't know if I'll have the option of going to game, but if I do have the option, I guess I'll go.
00:47:55
Speaker
I'm not like I feel like far so as you're working as yeah working I and if I was in the stands And I don't know that's a good I don't know when I would like I Good, I guess I'm I'm putting too much faith in public health officials I suppose but I kind of I I do I think at least in Washington
00:48:23
Speaker
I have a lot of faith in the idea that they're only gonna allow people like myself, like they're only gonna allow fans into the game when there's a reasonable belief that it's gonna be safe. That might be completely naive and it might be like where I'm sitting right now and I don't actually have to make a decision, that's how I feel. Maybe I'll feel different when I actually imposed with that potential.
00:48:50
Speaker
But at the same time, I can't imagine going to a movie theater anytime soon. I was watching this video of how they're handling it in Sweden, which I'm sure you may or may not know is very different than what we're doing here. And they basically have, not even extreme, they just have kind of social distancing measures everywhere. And if you go to a restaurant, there's like,
00:49:17
Speaker
uh, you know, every other seat is left open and things like that. I don't know if I would, I don't know if I would feel like safe in that environment. Yeah. Yeah. I think, I mean, I think to like, not to get all political, but I do, I do think that if like, you know, we had a little more faith in public institutions, officials and our social safety net, I think people would
00:49:47
Speaker
probably feel more inclined to A, trust public officials from what they're telling you, and B, take more risks. Like if we had comprehensive healthcare in the US, I think that you can make decisions like that a little more easily.
00:50:06
Speaker
When you're asking people to work their shitty jobs that don't give them health care, but you're calling them heroes on the news, it's a slightly different equation than what we're dealing with here. That's going to be another interesting thing about where we get out of all this.
00:50:30
Speaker
is how our public perception of different jobs changes. I think there's a lot of jobs right now that we would have considered recession-proof and unskilled labor, or skilled labor that was really important that had been virtually eliminated, and vice versa jobs that we don't consider very
00:50:56
Speaker
important or skilled are suddenly like the most like all of a sudden grocery store workers and farm workers and anything that's related to the food chain really the food supply chain is said like why shouldn't those be important like they are important jobs we should be you know all those people should have health care all those people should have you know very forgiving sick leave everyone that works in those industries should be encouraged to
00:51:25
Speaker
And we've had lots of warnings of things that should have told us this before now, but I don't know. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see. I am hopeful, but not optimistic is kind of the way I feel about all of this stuff. Yeah. There's a question about what would happen in the season tickets if they don't play. I don't know if you want to even attempt to answer that or speculate. I mean.
00:51:55
Speaker
I don't know, I am reluctant to speculate only because I have asked this question of people that would presumably know the answer and they haven't wanted to speculate with me. And so, my suspicion is that the team is not going to just, let's just say hypothetically they have to play, they don't play any more games the rest of the year in front of fans.
00:52:25
Speaker
worst case scenario, either they don't get played or they have to play behind closed doors. I don't know how they can avoid giving some sort of refund, but I would imagine that they will do everything, like they will probably give credits for next year, I assume. I don't know that they are in a position to just like,
00:52:53
Speaker
Like if they are like, I can't imagine they want to return, you know, I don't know how the, like, I don't know how much bailout money they received. Maybe that makes it feasible. I don't know.
00:53:05
Speaker
Maybe I'm underestimating things, maybe they will do that, but I wouldn't expect to get a check for the full amount that you paid for your season tickets. Maybe if you complain enough, they might, but I would imagine they will do something to urge you to roll it into your next season. I don't know, I don't know. I can't imagine, I don't think they can legally just keep the money.
00:53:34
Speaker
No, I'm sure they couldn't. But I think that they are probably going to make it. I think they're going to try to do a combination of
00:53:45
Speaker
appealing to people, people's better angels and hoping that they'll, you know, do them a solid and roll it forward. And also just maybe making it kind of pain in the ass to do something. Right. Yeah. Five page form. Right. I mean, I will say that I feel a lot, I mean, I think I, I did ask them about how they're continuing to charge people.
00:54:06
Speaker
Because they are. And I guess it's a very small percentage of people who are in that boat. Like a single digit percentage who had that chose to spread it out over 12 months, I guess. I didn't even know that was an option. A single digit, really? That's what I was told. That kind of surprises me. It does surprise me too. I didn't even know it was an option. So I don't know. Maybe a lot of people didn't realize it was an option.
00:54:31
Speaker
That's the first thing I saw. I don't think I didn't look close enough, but maybe I just forgot. But that's what they told me. I don't have any proof of that, but that was what I was told is single digit percent. Less than 10% of people were in a 12 month plan.
00:54:52
Speaker
That doesn't diminish the amount it sucks to continue to get charged for, whether it's one person or 10,000 people, it still sucks to be charged for something that you know you're almost certainly not going to be able to use. I mean, we've all experienced this in one way or another, I would imagine, over the last two months.
00:55:17
Speaker
Yeah, like there's stuff that I subscribe to that I'm not using that I'm continuing to pay for because it's a small amount of money and I want those businesses to survive.
00:55:28
Speaker
portions of the season ticket plan, I would probably feel quite a bit differently. Yeah, I mean, I definitely don't blame anyone for being annoyed by it. I would put it in similar like, people I wanted one thing I really do wonder about is like gyms. Like, I don't, I don't know that gyms are gonna come back. Um, yeah, it's, it's a weird one, man. Cuz like,
00:55:53
Speaker
people have got to exercise obviously, but that's going to be the place that people are the most scared to go to, I think. Right. I mean, I'm like, yeah, people got to exercise, but they also like, there's a lot of ways to, I mean, I think the only thing is like the one thing, like people can buy a treadmill or whatever, but it's harder to do like hardcore strength training in a home gym. Sure.
00:56:19
Speaker
Um, but like my gym is like the cheapest, shittiest possible gym and they, they said they're not going to charge people anymore. So I don't know. Oh, well that's encouraging. Um, it's nice, but like, I mean, I would imagine like CrossFit gyms feel like you can have, there's a little more space at like a CrossFit gym than at like your average LA fitness or whatever. Yeah. But like, I don't know, it'll be interesting. Like there's a lot of things I don't know what the future holds for, um,
00:56:49
Speaker
I was reading a story today, it was like talking about coffee shops and how, you know, the third wave of like, they talk about coffee in three waves, I guess, and we're in the third wave, which is like, the coffee shop is a social entity more than- The third place or whatever. Right, the third, right, exactly. And how, you know, we may never have coffee shops like we did where they're so, especially in places like Seattle, where they're like ubiquitous, like on every corner.
00:57:18
Speaker
And I don't know. I mean, I would certainly, as someone who works at coffee shops a lot, I would really miss it, but totally off the top of the song. Totally. All right. Dolce LMP asks, which current player would you like to interview most and why? Current? Yeah. Current roster.
00:57:45
Speaker
You got one, Aaron? You got one ready? No, I don't want to interview anybody. I feel a little awkward and nervous when I'm on a Zoom call with Brad Evans. I don't need to talk to anybody for real. Yeah, I don't know. Maybe the people that have not interviewed, I would love to be able to, if I could do it in Spanish, I would think like Ledero or Rui Diaz,
00:58:12
Speaker
Lajero, I'm sure would be fine in English, but, um, I feel like they would both be probably better in, in, in Spanish. Yeah. It's the whole each a row thing, right? Where everybody was like, but he speaks such perfect English and it, but it was always like, yeah, but he doesn't want, you know, he wants to speak in his, his prefers first language.
00:58:34
Speaker
Right, exactly. Whether or not he can speak, like he can't, he doesn't feel like he can express himself fully, you know, it's the same kind of thing, right? Yeah, and I can't, I can't blame anyone for it. Maybe, maybe Jel Paolo would be, like those are the players that, those are certainly the big ones that I haven't talked to. I've never had anything like an exclusive interview with that I think I would be most interested in. Kelvin, I would say the players that are, the player who I most would actually would like to have on the show is probably Kelvin Lear.
00:59:04
Speaker
Yeah, he seems fun. Yeah. So if Kelvin Lirdham is listening, if he's on Twitch, if he's, he's ready to drop a few bits. Okay. Uh, interpiercing last, what are your thoughts on the rumored MLS Liga MX, uh, super league? I hate it. I hate it so much.
00:59:32
Speaker
I have been, this is one area where I think Erin and I may have a, one of the rare things that we may genuinely disagree on, but man, I have been itching for this for like 10 years. I see so many upsides to a Liga MX, MLS merger. And I think one of the things I like about it in my mind
00:59:57
Speaker
is that you have this top, it's like you can create a pro, like I don't think we're ever gonna have promotion and relegation. Oh boy, here we go. But I think you can create a system where you have, because I don't think you're ever gonna want to demote an MLS team to a lower, like teams didn't buy into that, right? But if you create a league that's higher to be promoted into, and I think that you maybe can pull off something like that where you have
01:00:25
Speaker
Um, at least in the first year, you have like 10 MLS teams and 10 league of MCE teams. And then you kind of, uh, figure it out from there. And then those Lee, and then the leagues below essentially play a domestic league separately. Um, I mean, I don't know. I think it could be a lot of fun, but Seattle would never play Portland. Good point. I think that that's part of them.
01:00:54
Speaker
problem though right is that like you've got like even the most wealthy american clubs can't compete with the wealthiest mexican clubs well but that would be you'd have to you'd have to create a new you'd have new rule books clearly sure but i still like i'm very skeptical that the sounders could keep up with america or chivas i don't know i think if you if you were in a world where
01:01:21
Speaker
The Sounders had access to a TV contract that like, let's just say there's this theoretical, like I just think there's going to be so much more money in the pool. If you have, if the Sounders are in like a league Amex MLS super league, all of a sudden you are marketing yourself on a whole different scale. Like all of a sudden you're talking about, this is probably the best league in the Western hemisphere. And all of a sudden it might be a top
01:01:49
Speaker
10 league in the world. And I think you're going to suddenly get a lot of money, like, I think you can compete for TV contracts, certainly with like the NHL, maybe even with, you know, I don't think you're going to be competing with the NBA or Major League Baseball or NFL for TV contracts anytime soon. But, um,
01:02:13
Speaker
I mean, I just think you can have a lot more if this, cause I, I just think that if the sounders have that, the access to that kind of money, I just think that it would be, um, but anyway, I mean, I think I guess a better way to put it is that an idealized version of an MLS Liga S merger is great. The version that we will end up with would be awful. It would be a nightmare. I mean, the one where both LA teams are in there all the time.
01:02:42
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it's gonna, it would be. Yeah. I mean, if it's not, I mean, cause if it, and I will agree that if it's not like a promotion, relegation type of situation where like it's the best of the best, it's like you have to play into this league. I agree that I think there's a lot of potential for it sucking because I don't think it would. Like if it was like the New York teams, the LA teams, Houston, Dallas, you know, Chicago.
01:03:12
Speaker
I think you end up with all of the worst parts of both leagues. I have an idealized vision of what this could be. Your idealized vision of it would be dope. I would love it. I just am extremely skeptical that that's what we would get. That's fair.
01:03:35
Speaker
Okay, last question here, Joe Slaby asks, imagine a game where you can't score goals, the team that retains possession the longest wins, which sounders lineup would be best at that game? These are the strangest things I think about without MLS games to watch. You know, what's funny is that it would be probably very similar to the lineup the sounders had, like that they've used, frankly, a lot, right? Like where they have like,
01:04:05
Speaker
You know, I guess right now you would have, you, Rudy Diaz would still be your forward, right? Yeah. Well, so let's set some terms, right? Like, does it have to be players at the positions that they play in the other soccer? Like the normal? Maybe not. I guess, no. Don't be a team. I guess the idea is that you don't need to score goals. So why couldn't you play Lajero at forward, right? Right. Like that's the thing is I think it's just your 11 best passing midfielders, right?
01:04:35
Speaker
Or, or Chad Marshall, right? Like, just like Chad Marshall 11 times. Yeah. You know, because if all you want to do is keep possession, you just want the person that's capable of playing the simple passes, the.
01:04:46
Speaker
the most effectively. Let's use the parameter of it being a team that you could plausibly roll out. Yeah, I think that's more fun. I think that's more fun. And maybe it doesn't have to be a forward, you don't have to have the forward, like you don't need a forward, you don't need a center back necessarily, but you need a team that could theoretically, like maybe you could play, you know, Kelvin Lierdom, maybe you can play center back and
01:05:16
Speaker
I don't know that you would do that, but, so who's our forward? Ledero probably then? I mean, I think if we're going to go this way, we need to stick to players that play the position. Okay. Because otherwise, yeah, I mean, I think it's just like, you know, right backs and central midfielders the whole way up probably. So I would say probably in terms of the forwards we have, Montero is
01:05:43
Speaker
probably the one that's best to keep in possession. Oh, you're saying we're going all time, we're not going off the current roster? Current roster, then yeah, I mean, I think it's definitely Ruby Dios, yeah. We could do, let's do, I guess it might be more fun to do. We could do whatever we want, I think. Yeah, so, okay, Montero, you think is the best possession forward we've ever had? Oh, I would say so, yeah. Okay, that's fair. And then who's our best possession right mid? Evans, probably.
01:06:13
Speaker
And then you, you think Evans? Yeah, I think I would say Evans. Okay. That's probably fair. And then your bet. And then Lidero is still your number 10. Yeah. Yeah, I would say so. And then left Rodriguez is probably your left mid. Yeah. I think the only person that would challenge him is a kind of weird one, but it's Martino Martinez. He was really good in possession, but I think Victor. Yeah. Okay.
01:06:40
Speaker
And then your defensive mids are probably Alonzo. Spenson, Alonzo and Spenson. Yeah, OK. Yeah. Spenson is definitely, I think, the safest passer, maybe, that we've ever had. OK. And then is Lirdum our right back? Yeah, I think so. I think so. I can't really.
01:07:09
Speaker
It's not a position that necessarily rewards being super conservative in possession, I guess. But yeah, I would say it's probably the best. And then Marshall, I think, obviously. Well, I guess, would you want Roll Dawn? Would Roll Dawn be a better possession right back? He would, yeah. And I think we can stretch that out. He's playing there. He started, I think he even started games there. Yeah. You got Marshall, and who would be his partner?
01:07:37
Speaker
Park was a really good person. Oh, Park. Oh, you know who it probably is. He's on the team right now. Oh, Ariaga. Yeah, Ariaga. It's a shame. We never said to see Ariaga and Marshall play together, did we? It is. It is. Ariaga is a... Just play all centerbacks. Just play all centerbacks in the back. That's not a bad idea. You could. So who would we rather have than Roldan, you think?
01:08:09
Speaker
I think I would probably still want to hold on. But honestly, if the only thing you care about is keeping possession, you're probably playing a 3-6-1. Fair enough. So who are our three center backs? Marche, Marshall, and Park? Or Ariaga, Marshall. Oh yeah, that's what I meant, not Andrade. I think so, yeah. And then who's like our wing, our left wing back?
01:08:40
Speaker
I think you can make a decent case for Jovan or Nuju, actually. Jovan likes to pass backwards a lot. Yeah, more than Gonzo. Yeah, Gonzo. Gonzo, yeah. I think if that's all you care about is keeping possession and displacing because you do want guys that can tackle. Sure. Yeah. You got to win the ball back. You got to be able to get possession. So yeah, I would say Leo. Yeah.
01:09:09
Speaker
And then who's our goalkeeper? Is it Fry? I think Schperning is the best with all the, yeah, I would say. Fry is the best at literally everything else. And he's not bad with the ball at his feet, but Schperning was very good with ball and speed, I think. Yeah, you know, random thing I realized today. Brian Meredith was the goalkeeper in that 2011 Monterey game. It's crazy. That lineup was so shitty. I remember explicitly being at your house
01:09:39
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. About three beers deep outside before the game. Being the lineup and tweeting punt. And coming back inside in a really bad mood. And then we won. So, you know. That was a... Pat Noonan, Alvaro Fernandez. I think that Mike Seaman might have started that game. Maybe. Who was the forward? Do you think it was Lebec, maybe? I was looking for the line. I couldn't find the line. I think it was Jaqua. Maybe Jaqua.
01:10:09
Speaker
It was 2011, right? Yeah. He was heard a lot that year, but he was on the team. Yeah. Um, I feel like it was Shaco. It was, uh, see lineups, Terry boss, James Riley, Zach Scott, Jeff Park, Tyson law, Roger Leveque, Brad Evans, Seronda Corral, scary boss, the goalkeeper in the game. That's what it says. Assuming this is the same one. Was that right?
01:10:37
Speaker
Yeah, August 23rd, 2011. Second MLS side to win in Mexican soil in a week. Yep. So it was a boss Riley Scott, Park wall, Leveque Evans, Carrasco, Guaco, Jacob, Jacob, and shrinker parent. Jesus. That's grim.
01:11:02
Speaker
Yeah, I was totally wrong. Um, Meredith wasn't on that team was Josh Ford, Terry boss. I know Brad was on the team, but he was definitely not. You're right. It was, it was definitely Terry boss though. Cause I thought Meredith was 28, but he was 35. Cause we had like five goalkeepers that year. We did five goalkeepers that year. Cause there was, there was a Keller, obviously boss Meredith Ford and, uh, somebody else. Doesn't matter.
01:11:31
Speaker
No, but Ford was on the bench and that came. And Amadou Sanyang played in that game. Really? He came in in the 84th minute for Roger Levesque. What a team to get the first, I guess at that point it was the second CCL one in Mexico. Because the other one happened like a week before. No, it was the night before, I think. I think it was the night before. Dallas beat Pumas, I think. Yeah. Crazy.
01:12:03
Speaker
Oh no, you're right, because it was the Wednesday before I read this thread. Anyway, thrilling stuff. Man, that was fun when I wasn't jaded about CCL. Yeah. And then they also had, was it that next year that they had the game where they were up 2-0 in Monterey and then Swazzo basically brought them back?
01:12:31
Speaker
I believe so. Yeah. Cause 2014, I think, let's see, 2013 was the year they beat Tigris, but then just got absolutely waxed by Santos. No, they didn't get absolutely waxed. They actually almost won that series. They, they were in a way, go away from winning that series. So it was 2011 when they got whack. It was, uh, Oh, right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Because they.
01:13:00
Speaker
because the Monterey game was the quote unquote 2012 CCL, even though it happened in 2011, right? Cause that was a group stage. So the- It happened in 20, I think it happened in 2012 where they won the first leg, I think two to one, and then they got five to one in the second leg.
01:13:27
Speaker
Yeah. And they were, they were hanging in there until like the 60th minute. Yeah. Like around half, I think they scored right before halftime, I think, to actually tie the score. And then they got out, scored like four zero in the second half. Yep. Fun stuff. Fun, fun stuff. That's right. Because they VT grace and then almost beats Hansel Sabrina that same year. Yeah. Okay. That's right.
01:13:55
Speaker
This was only like eight years ago. It's amazing that how little with this I can piece together. It's not really that much time. Yeah. Well, anyway, that's our show, right? Yep. Thanks for hanging out with us, everyone, for the couple of people that hung out with us on Twitch and
01:14:15
Speaker
to everyone else that's listening, which is most of you. So, thanks again. Our sponsor of full pool wines. I couldn't believe it. They actually continuing to sponsor us through all this craziness. So if you are at all in a position to do it, I would urge you to buy some wine from full pool because they're still, they're still rocking it. I know.
01:14:46
Speaker
Yeah, probably. Uh, so check out full pool wines. Um, and, uh, yeah, uh, I'm Jeremiah Chan signing off for Aaron Campo and Lick It. This is no sardietes. Remember, you will never yell at me.
01:15:04
Speaker
Green Douglas spur where the water's cut through. Down to wild mountains and tangents you flew. Canadian northwest to the ocean so blue. It's Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn. Roll On, Columbia Roll On.
01:15:41
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!