Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 346: Final preparations for the biggest game in Sounders history
69 Plays3 years ago
It is not hyperbole to observe that Wednesday's game is quite possibly the biggest in Sounders history. In order to mark the occasion, we're joined by longtime friend of the show Richard Farley.
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.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:00
Speaker
This 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.
Podcast Hosts and Guests
00:00:32
Speaker
Hey, 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 hills the greenest green in Seattle. Like a beautiful child growing up... I didn't know what it was. Is that what you young people call twerking?
00:01:42
Speaker
I have no idea. I don't know. Welcome back to another episode of NOS Adietes, sponsored by Vocal Wines and our newest sponsor, Watson's Counter. This is episode 346, and we're recording on Monday, May 2nd, 2022. I'm your host, Jeremiah Shan, joining me as usual is Aaron Campo and Lickapee. We're also welcoming back a longtime friend of the show, Richard Farley, who is returning to us from the cold.
00:02:10
Speaker
Welcome back, Richard. It's been a long time. I appreciate the metaphor, but I do feel super nostalgic right now because I don't know how many times I've been on the show, but it's always been a good time. And now we can actually see each other, which I don't know, it's like a good thing or not, but it is relatively new for me.
00:02:28
Speaker
I know, it's like the last time we did this, I don't think, yeah, it was definitely Zoom. I guess Zoom has only become sort of the standard of this podcast during COVID. So yeah, like once I went North, we all started doing Zoom and now that I'm back from the wall, I can partake in the technology.
00:02:50
Speaker
Great. That's a good
Historical Significance of Upcoming Game
00:02:51
Speaker
analogy. So we are marking this special occasion on, you know, match day minus two, as they say, of one of the biggest games in probably the, in a sense, the biggest game in sounders history.
00:03:07
Speaker
Uh, in a way it, it could be one of the biggest games in MLS history. I think that sounds a hyperbolic saying it out loud, but if you put it in the context of like, what is MLS been trying to do for the last 15 years and like potentially. And I, unlike this is the biggest game in sounders history, potentially regardless of what happens. I think for it to be the biggest game in MLS, it would have to be a positive outcome for the sounders. But.
00:03:37
Speaker
Let's just start there. How big does this feel? Aaron, does this feel like we're looking over at the edge of history and one way is glory and the other is ridicule? Yeah.
00:03:56
Speaker
If you'd asked me this question last week before or even, you know, immediately after the first leg, I might have said that I still thought that the 2019 MLS Cup was a bigger game, but I think the buy-in from the Sanders fan base and the reaction locally has convinced me, you know, I think I said last week that like,
00:04:16
Speaker
CCL is more for I feel like the more hardcore fan base. You know, like the whole city really got behind the team when MLS Cup came around, but CCL kind of felt like it was
00:04:27
Speaker
going to be a little bit more insular, I guess you could say. And I definitely don't think it has the mass buzz that MLS Cup did, but I think the city has really bought into it. You know, the ticket sales has been incredible. The team has done, I think, a really good job of marketing. In the past, they've been a little too tryhard with their CCL marketing, I think.
00:04:51
Speaker
I don't think anybody has forgotten that there are times for a friendly ad campaign from like 2011 or whatever. Thankfully, I had kind of forgotten about it, but super bad. They seem to have like hit the right note and people like that I work with that aren't necessarily
00:05:08
Speaker
huge Sounders fans have been, you know, talking about it, which is which is always pretty cool to see. So, yeah, I mean, I think that and when you look at just sort of how the the narrative of like American soccer conversation right now, at least the MLS centric American soccer conversation is about CCL. I think it's hard to deny that, especially if it is a win, that it's going to be the biggest moment in the Sounders history.
Media Coverage and Storytelling in MLS
00:05:36
Speaker
What do you think, Richard? You're able to have clear vision of this, I think. How big do you think this is? Do you guys feel like the annual everybody get behind one team?
00:05:52
Speaker
dynamic that exists in MLS when it comes to CCL. Do you feel like it's as strong this year as it is in other years? No, no. Yeah. I don't feel like it's anywhere close. And I think, and I think maybe that's a good sign because I think you have a lot of, like I was on another podcast and we were sort of talking about this cause I, I was wondering the same thing and the
00:06:18
Speaker
The theory put forward was that there's now a lot of teams that feel like they should be first or they could be first, or they like that. Like a lot of fan bases, at least that think that like, if the sound, like I don't want the sounders and went, well.
00:06:34
Speaker
for whatever reason, they don't want the sounders to win. Like whether it be because they want it for themselves or because they just don't want to see the sounders have another thing to lord over. I don't think any fan base wants other fan bases validated for successes. Like that's just the nature of competition. Like the Lakers don't want Celtics to win titles just based on the fact that that means you're not winning titles. In addition to the fact that then your overall franchises, CV looks weaker compared to the other ones. So like, yeah, if I were an Atlanta United fan,
00:07:04
Speaker
Yeah. That's why I was in United. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Same thing. But I feel like, I feel like the timbers breaking through in champions league is would be just like, it's a little bit more unexpected because the sounders seem to have like built this roster so consciously to, to this moment. And whereas the timbers, um,
00:07:31
Speaker
You know, the timbers had a good showing in Champions League last year. They were very competitive against Club America. But if they hadn't, they were never at a point where you could say, Hey, are the timbers the favorite in this matchup? And I think that's the debate we've been having around the Sounders. Like, look, this feels weird. Is an MLS team the favorite in one of these matchups and Pumas isn't Club America. But I think we should recognize that this core of the Sounders.
00:07:53
Speaker
between like the Jordan Christian Steff level and the Nico Raul level, like there's something special about it that embodies a moment that no other MLS team has had.
00:08:06
Speaker
Yeah, go ahead, Aaron. Well, I was going to say that I think that the MLS media, like people whose job it is to cover the league and talk about the league seem in some ways more excited than they have been in the past. But I think in general, there's a lot of antipathy or even just outright hostility towards the idea of the Sounders winning. I think you're very much right, Richard, which I find refreshing, right?
00:08:31
Speaker
want people. I've never been one of the MLS guys or whatever. I don't want other teams to win stuff. I don't watch the MLS Cup most years if the Sounders aren't in it. I don't care.
00:08:48
Speaker
And for like, people hate the sounders and I don't blame them. Um, I get it for, for reasons that are, I think petty, but also pretty understandable from, from an outside perspective. I get why people don't want the sounders to be successful. And so I also, I also don't want those people like writing coattails and feel like I don't want them to enjoy the sounders wanting something.
Impact of Sounders' Potential Victory
00:09:12
Speaker
I want them to feel better. But at the same time, if, if I were still like an editor of like a major website,
00:09:18
Speaker
you
00:09:19
Speaker
I would want to have my site have some kind of footprint around this moment. So I would be like, somebody needs to go do a profile on Garth having a chance to redeem almost getting somebody needs to really go do a profile and why this would mean Schmetzer gets into the inner ring of coaches in MLS. If he, if he wins this, somebody needs to go and talk about how Raul and Lodero, as much as they are revered around MLS circles, they haven't gotten the kind of,
00:09:49
Speaker
trans league and marketing appreciation that players of their stature maybe should go talk about how Morris and Roldan's journeys are so unique, but go kind of been in parallel to including into the national team. Like there are a lot of different angles here for stories I need to write now, but go ahead.
00:10:07
Speaker
Like, there are a lot of different angles here that in very traditional, almost like very boring journalistic angles, right? These are just like things that you should just like reflexively do. I don't consume that much sports media anymore, guys. Are people covering the sounders like this? Are they doing these kind of just checkbox profile pieces ahead of these games?
00:10:27
Speaker
It'll be interesting to see how many of those come out in the next two days. Well, I mean, if they're not out by now, they're not. I agree. You're right. I haven't seen. I mean, I haven't seen as much of that. And I wonder why that is. And I like.
00:10:42
Speaker
That's a good question because it feels like we saw a lot of this stuff around Toronto FC when they were sort of going for their treble or after in the aftermath of it. Maybe, maybe there's going to be a flood of this stuff and maybe it's like a lot of national media not wanting to like.
00:11:00
Speaker
But that's not how national media works. They would, of course, shoot their shots if they had if they were all loaded, they would be they're not sitting there waiting like, oh, we don't want to drink the cylinders and I'll just eat this story that I've been working on for two months because they might not win it. Like, that's not how they think.
00:11:17
Speaker
They don't usually talk like that, but some of them do. Not in that voice at least. Most of them don't. Right. I also think that, I mean, I also think this is such a boring thing to talk about, but the level of East Coast bias in MLS media is just really like,
00:11:33
Speaker
I mean, it's just a thing. Going beyond this conversation, you think of the kind of scrutiny that DC United had through the Ben Olsen years of futility and how organizations like the Earthquakes and the Whitecaps have been able to kind of like surf under that scrutiny.
00:11:48
Speaker
Yeah. Even though they have just, I mean, with last year's white cap surge aside, they've just been just as futile, futile as DC United. Like it's just a thing. The fact that, you know, there's a natural East coast bias to begin with. And the fact that the leading entity that covers MLS is MLS itself. And it's in New York and it's pretty unreasonable to expect those guys to watch every single game, but they still oftentimes get caught up in trying to cover the stories that
00:12:17
Speaker
Maybe everyone else isn't writing which is a kind of like weird place because on one hand they're clearly the leading voice. But on the other hand, they're seeding ground to like sound at heart. Oftentimes like I feel like there's story like it's like oh well.
00:12:35
Speaker
The sounders are getting covered because Sounder and Hard's out there and Seattle Times and like we don't have a lot of new angles to explore with the sounders because it's sort of being covered. Whereas like we can write about anything with, I don't know, the Columbus crew because there's not as many outlets out there that are like
00:12:57
Speaker
on the daily beat or whatever. That might be the case, but I think that, I mean, maybe this is a little bit too navel-gazing of me, but when those situations arise, you have to just go, okay, Sounder to Heart's going to do this. But we should be able to do it better. Right. Yeah. How do we go to Alex Caulfield with the Seattle Sounders who's their head of communications? How do we go to them and basically say like, give us this access because we're going to do this better than the SB Nation blog for the club, the crappy SB Nation blog?
00:13:25
Speaker
Or just, or sometimes it's not even about that. It's just like taking the five people on your editorial staff in the Slack room and be like, Hey, let's take 15 minutes and think of a better idea. Period. It's sports. It doesn't take that long to think of a better idea. But a lot of times it's just like we were talking about before sports is so checkbox that you end up in situations where the sounders on the verge of history and nobody has written the story really outlining the conflicts for Garth Lagerweg. Garth Lagerweg
00:13:51
Speaker
Godfly has a chance to really go down as the person who puts together the blueprints for these things, be it small market, big market, big budget, smaller budget, away from the field projects, on the field projects. He has the chance just like, well, even more than Brian, he has a chance to establish himself as the person.
00:14:12
Speaker
in this regard. And somebody should really write something that outlines that because the big thing ahead of any kind of game is setting the stakes. Is anybody taking the time to set the stakes for this one? Well, I think you're right. And I'll add
00:14:30
Speaker
I was a little surprised that me and Nico Moreno, who is a Spanish, mostly he does write for Senator Hart a little bit, but he does most of his stuff in Spanish language for a couple of different outlets, were the only two, Lee only two journalists from MLS to go to Mexico. We were the traveling media.
00:14:54
Speaker
And, and it's a little like, and I was a little surprised by that. Um, and I think a lot of it was because most of the national media was planning on coming here for the second leg. And I kind of get that. Uh, but it also is like, I dunno, it seems like it's leaving a lot of meat on the bone.
00:15:14
Speaker
Like there was a lot, like I think that trip was totally worth it from a personal standpoint. And it was super, like I found it to be a cultural experience that was really eye-opening. And I think I was able to do some decent reporting down there, but I'm not gonna, like, I don't think it was, like there was definitely people who had a lot more capacity, like who could have done a lot better than I did.
00:15:40
Speaker
And I'm going to throw this to Aaron. I'm going to throw this to Aaron in a second, but the pictures you were posting from like Pumice's training facility and stuff like that, or the pictures, the volcanic rock. So the timbers trained at Pumice's facility ahead of their champions league match against clue America last year. And it was gorgeous. I don't know if you got to see the same things, but it was just so gorgeous. Some of the views there. The stadium is designed, I think, to enhance all the views.
00:16:09
Speaker
Yeah, that's why it's so low. But anyway, go ahead. And it was just it was just such a great experience to see, like, you know, I don't think the three of us are really naive as to what Mexico City is like or anything like that, but to kind of have that that map kind of fold it out, pop up book style under three dimensions really gives you like this really cool detail on the things that we talk about every March through May when we're trying to
00:16:37
Speaker
delve into Champions League. But Aaron, I wanted to ask you because you have such a different perspective on this kind of stuff that we've been talking about than Jeremiah and me because Jeremiah and I, as people have just heard for the last 17 minutes, really like getting into the weeds on this kind of stuff. And what I like about asking you about this is like a lot of times you just shrug your shoulder and say, that stuff doesn't matter to me. So like to the extent that anything we were talking about as far as coverage or, you know,
00:17:08
Speaker
setting the stakes for the match or just in general recognizing this as an event. To what extent do you agree with that and to what extent do you care? I care in the sense that
Cultural Comparisons in Soccer
00:17:23
Speaker
I think a lot of sounders fans think that there is an institutional bias at MLS and in American soccer media against the Sounders. And I think it's a lot more boring than that. I think you guys touched on the reasons that the coverage is what it is. I think that Richard, you're right, a lot of it is East Coast bias. They're not staying up to watch the games.
00:17:44
Speaker
I think, Jeremiah is right, that a lot of it is that the sounders don't really need the coverage to stay relevant. I think some of it is trolling, to some degree. I think the way that MLS in-house media especially covers the team, I think is intentionally designed to get a reaction at times.
00:18:05
Speaker
Um, and that's, it is what it is, right? Like, I think it's dumb. I think that MLS in-house media should be covering like the most compelling best run team in the league. Like they should be going nuts with that, right? Like ESPN doesn't not talk about the New York Yankees or like who, I don't even know who's good in baseball anymore, but like,
00:18:29
Speaker
They never show up. It's pretty crazy. I'm trying. I'm trying to get back into it, but like, you know, it's like, it would be like ESPN being like, well, everybody knows about Tom Brady. We don't need to talk about Tom Brady. Let's talk about, you know, Kirk cousins or whatever. Like that's, that's insane to me. It doesn't make sense. It's, it's stupid, but
00:18:49
Speaker
You know, I mean, MLS is a weird sport, right? It's niche. It still is niche even in a market like Seattle. It's the fourth biggest ticket in town probably at this point. And that doesn't mean it's not a big deal and it doesn't have staying power, but it is what it is. And a lot of it is like
00:19:08
Speaker
this very insular thing. And this is just one of the quirks of it. And it's, I've kind of internalized it, I think, but like when you take a step back from it and you say, this is something that MLS pundits have been losing their minds about for years and how an MLS team wanting this tournament is demonstration of like a next step. And you're right, Richard, like there are a lot of really compelling things about
00:19:33
Speaker
the sounders getting to this point. You know, Brian Schmetzer, the long-suffering assistant who applied for job after job after job, didn't get it.
00:19:42
Speaker
Got a chance as an interim coach has turned himself into, you know, has built the team into a perennial competitor and now has a chance to do something no other MLS coach has ever done. Garth Lagerweig taking this job, I think in no small part because he felt like the, that was the next step, you know, for him to take in his career, delivering to CCL and finally getting to that point.
00:20:05
Speaker
guys who are much maligned by US soccer fans as not being good enough to play for the national team, helping lead their team to something that no other MLS team has
Tactical Analysis of Sounders vs. Pumas
00:20:15
Speaker
ever done. Those are all interesting stories and nobody seems to care. It's all very rote stuff, but that's the way it goes. I think there's also this attitude that when the sounders do things, it doesn't count.
00:20:32
Speaker
And that's the one that's most perplexing to me because it's like, well, of course, like the Sounders are the best run team in the league Brian Schmetzer always has his team up for games. And Garth Logger way understands the league and how to build teams better than anyone they have great ownership. Of course they're doing this, but it's like, well,
00:20:49
Speaker
That's a, that's a story. Like that's interesting. That's cool. That's something we're talking about. And it just seems like it's like, eh, that's, we've already covered that before, but you know, but no, it doesn't really bother me because ultimately the team that I love more than any other team is the best run team.
00:21:08
Speaker
a perino competitor and has a pretty good chance to do something nobody else has done. That's where I get the validation from, not from the extra time guys talking about them in a way that I find interesting, but it's bizarre. It is bizarre to me and it's definitely not gone unnoticed, I would say.
00:21:26
Speaker
Do you guys listen to extra time? Okay. Cause I've never listened. Like I don't even know what the format of that show is. I see like, there's like, there's like a hardcore, like, um, component of MLS fans that listen to it, but a term that we talk, you know, coming from a marketing department at this point, a term that we use a lot is inelastic demand.
00:21:51
Speaker
And it seems like Extra Time Radio addresses the inelastic demand, which on one level is fine. But for a league like MLS, I like to talk to people about whether even $1 of MLS marketing should be going to inelastic demand at this point. Like the league obviously has
00:22:11
Speaker
established a certain level of stability, but it's nowhere near the level it wants to be as far as being able to market itself, being able to drive viewership, being able to solicit sponsorship. And I do wonder when something like, again, I've never listened to the show, so I don't want to say that this is it. But when you have a product that only talks to the inelastic demand, is that the best use of your dollar?
00:22:38
Speaker
I'll say this, so I listened to it and I think it's, I actually think they do a pretty good job. Uh, I really like Andrew. Yeah. I mean, he's still hosting it, right? Andrew's still hosting it. And, um, and they've, and they've done a good job, I think of bringing in some more kind of diverse voices with different perspectives, like X players and whatnot. Uh, but the main reason I listen to it is because it's the easiest way to sort of like keep tabs on the league. And so I do it so almost more from a professional.
00:23:06
Speaker
perspective than from a consumer perspective. But I do think that there is a
00:23:13
Speaker
And this isn't their fault, but I do think that there's a, a, a danger and this is getting way off topic, but there's a danger in, in your best people liking podcasts, man. Let's not, let's not make apologies for it. Right. There's, there is a danger of when you're loudest and your, your media that's taking up the most air is kind of state run. Uh,
00:23:39
Speaker
even though they're, they're right here. Right. And they're, I mean, cause it's like you're, but you're at the same time it's filling a vacuum, right? Cause there's no one, like no one like MLS doesn't go out there and be like, we want to be the main voice of the league. But it's like you're kind of forced to do it when there's not enough people like writing about you. Right. Like the reason,
00:23:58
Speaker
you probably ended up being like the main voice of the timbers was not because you were out there being like, I think I need to be the best voice of the timbers. And I'm going to deny other people access so I can get the best stories. It's like, well, there's like no one covering it from the local newspaper. What are you going to do? Yeah. Yeah. There was definitely like, when I got hired, there was definitely like the realization from the front office, like, Hey, this is the, this is the direction local coverage is going. And we have to insulate ourselves against that. And, um,
00:24:28
Speaker
I still think there's still a catch-22 to that also. Are you prohibiting people from changing their minds on that? Because that's something we really dealt with in this market here in Portland. The fact that why would independent journalism try to compete with me? That actually has nothing to do with even the quality of my work or anything like that. It was the perceived access.
00:24:56
Speaker
Um, so I think that's, that's a major problem that MLS soccer has always had, right? Like I, I even dealt with it at the team level where, um, so I don't know if people know this, but once the playoffs start in MLS.
00:25:09
Speaker
Even if a team is hosting a game, it's no longer a like a sounder's function. It's run by MLS. So all of those MLS soccer guys get access to the players and everything first. Well, not first after national media, like MLS soccer.com. And the first year I was on the job in Portland, I was like,
00:25:27
Speaker
This is crap. We have people that don't know anything about our team coming in and getting access before me when the user would be much, or the user, the viewer, the reader would be much better served by somebody that has actual knowledge in the space being able to contextualize the stories.
00:25:45
Speaker
And it's an analogy to what we were just talking about that I was a part of. Are we really setting up the best environment to promote the product in the best way? And there's obviously no sure answer to this, but there are also no questions we can rule out either or no hypotheses we can rule out.
00:26:06
Speaker
Well, all that said, I am curious and getting, uh, a little bit more about, uh, champions league. Yes. I would much rather talk about that to be honest.
Game Reflection and Fan Culture
00:26:16
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, Aaron, were the sounders good on Wednesday or were they lucky or was it a combination of both? Yeah, I think yes. Is the answer. I mean, I think the sounders did what they needed to do.
00:26:33
Speaker
to put themselves in a good position, I think. I think they played pretty well in the first half. The penalty, it is what it is. I don't want to have a huge debate on whether or not that was a penalty. I don't think it was. I think that's pretty obvious that that would be what I would think. The Pumas penalty you're talking about? Correct. Yeah, the first penalty. The first penalty.
00:26:51
Speaker
at, you know, like that's going to be called the penalty in some, some games, right? And like it's, I know I said that it was proof that the game was rigged during the game, but like, of course I did, you know? Um, and you know, it got called, right? So he just, not a huge, I mean, it sucks, but whatever. Second goal,
00:27:11
Speaker
That's just a great goal. I mean we talked about Denano in the air. He beat I think one of the best sounders defenders aerial defenders, we've seen just flat out beat them in the air to score, you know, one hell of a goal. And then I think we all kind of know what happened from there, like,
00:27:32
Speaker
I think it's tempting to say, well, yes, they equalized, but they got two penalties. But they put themselves in good positions to get those penalties. They were both very clear penalties. I thought Saussado giving up the first was extremely funny. And the second one on Rolled On was just, I mean, that was, this is something Charles Bohm talked about a lot on Twitter. And since we're going to talk about national media, let's give them some credit.
00:28:01
Speaker
roll down does not give up on that play. He puts himself in a good position. He wins a clear penalty and he doesn't stop bitching about it until it goes to Var. I mean, if he doesn't throw a fit, a totally valid fit because he got kicked in the chest.
00:28:17
Speaker
that doesn't go to VAR and, you know, the sounders don't get a second goal, most likely. So I feel, you know, like, was it a super pretty performance? No. Some of the passing, I think, especially as it like dragged on into the middle of the second half and there was some heavy legs was pretty uninspiring, but
00:28:43
Speaker
I thought the defense played really well. It felt after Puma's second goal, like things could get away from them pretty quickly and maybe Sounders teams of the past would have let it get away from them pretty quickly. And it didn't go that way at all. I mean, they kept fighting and put themselves in a great position. I mean, after the first penalty, if they had sort of
00:29:05
Speaker
run out the clock and gone to Seattle down 2-1, I would have felt pretty good about it. Coming back even, I feel great about it. You know, would I have loved for them to go in and win 3-0 and, you know, had it easy coming back here for a party? Sure, but that wasn't in the cards. And I don't think you can ever complain about getting out of the first leg in Mexico City even.
00:29:33
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I w after they went down to zero, I'll be honest. Like I was full blown bargaining mode. Like I was like, okay, two, two zero. Great way to put it. Two zero is not a good result, but they can't give up a third. And if they can, if they can get home down to zero, I'll like, I don't like it. It's not the, it's not, you know, but like it's possible. They can, they can win this thing.
00:29:59
Speaker
32, right? At two, one, I was like, Hey, can we, can we blow the whistle? Like, I'm, I'm, I'm ready to, like, I don't, I don't, we don't need to do any more. I'm, I'm good. And then, and then at two, two, I was like feeling guilty. And, but I think looking back on it.
00:30:18
Speaker
I think it was like, I think the result was there guilty. Oh, my God. Have some self-esteem, man. You don't need to feel guilty about what's happening. Well, I was in the like, if I was at home, I would have been doing backflips. But because I was like surrounded by who was fans who I'd been so impressed by, like it was an impressive display by their fan base, which I don't think came across on TV. It did not, which is it's a number. Fox really hates stadium audio. I mean, it was I mean, oh,
00:30:48
Speaker
Yeah, I was noticing the state, like people don't even know that Fox isn't, I can't remember if they did for this game or not, but Fox isn't even sending their broadcasters like this MLS games anymore. No, like regular MLS games. Like you can kind of figure it out if you ever watch a pregame show, which a lot of people don't do, but like, you know, Stuart Holden will be in studio with Rob Stone and Alexi Lawless. And then all of a sudden he's broadcasting with, um,
00:31:13
Speaker
John Strong, although the game is like in Minnesota or something like that, even in post COVID times, they're no longer sending announcers to games. It's insane. Yeah, they're 100% mailing it in as far as that goes. It's a credit to John Strong that he is able to provide the energy that makes you think that he's there. I mean, that's like, locally amazing to me. I don't know if this is a popular opinion or not, but I think he is one of the best
00:31:41
Speaker
I don't think it's a... I think it's a weirdly unpopular opinion. I agree with you. But I hear people complaining about him so often and I'm like, what are you complaining about exactly? I think that a lot of Sounders fans don't like him because he is a timbers guy. And I think that that's really stupid. And I think some people don't like him because he's American.
00:31:59
Speaker
Um, I think, and I think some people don't like him because he like really leans into like the American style of like really like trying to provide the energy for the moment through his voice. And I think some people would much rather it be Martin Tyler there, which I totally respect, but I think, um, not all of us on this podcast respect that.
00:32:18
Speaker
Look, I respect both points of view, but I respect them to the point where it's not worth me crapping on either of those. John Strong, I think everybody that listens to him should really respect the fact that he has put a lot of work into cultivating the person that he is on air every time. And whether you like that or not, the work is paid off into a voice that he owns. So anyway, I was on a story. It's okay if I can do my story, Richard.
00:32:46
Speaker
Depends on the story. So anyway, I was, I was just very impressed by the atmosphere. Like, like it gave me a new set, like sense of like.
00:32:57
Speaker
When people talk about the organic support sometimes that comes from other countries, I don't think I entirely appreciated it until I was in a stadium where somehow it seemed like the whole stadium was singing, was doing the same chant. And I wasn't always able to figure out the cues that got them all singing the same thing. And so in that way, I felt kind of like, oh man, these fans put in so much energy
00:33:25
Speaker
Like it would have been okay for them to feel and I don't know, whatever. Like I'm happy with the tutu. I'm not like, I don't feel guilty about it anymore. Uh, but in the moment that was how I was feeling. But I mean, I, I really thought like going back and watching it, I, I was convinced that the sounders were the better team on balance. And I think that was before the penalty.
00:33:47
Speaker
I think it was after the penalty and I think it was before the second goal. And I think it was after the second goal and they, the sounders just weren't, they weren't sharp. They weren't great. They, they did a lot wrong, but I think they were still able to create good looks and they put themselves in dangerous positions and they weren't, they weren't finishing those, but like the penalties didn't come out of nowhere. They were putting pressure on Pumas and they were,
00:34:14
Speaker
Uh, you know, I thought they were creating dangerous opportunities. It wasn't like they were just possessing the ball with no purpose. You said they weren't sharp. They weren't great. They weren't wrong. For some reason, that seems like those seem like Kanye lyrics to me. Yeah. I wasn't sharp. I wasn't great, but I wasn't wrong. Like, I don't know why that came to mind, but I definitely think you probably spent too much time thinking about Pete Davidson at this point in your life.
00:34:42
Speaker
Fair enough. No, I think Richard, I think that I think every time somebody says like the better team, I definitely know what that means in like soccer. Yeah. The parlance of our times. But I think that I've just developed a way of looking at the game where it's just like always a chess match. And it kind of like, if you survive to the 11th move, it doesn't matter what the first 10 moves were. It always just
Player Development Strategies
00:35:06
Speaker
matters. Like what's on the board at that point. And so,
00:35:10
Speaker
Yeah, I definitely get that talking about teams in terms of who was the better side is really when we get down to it, trying to analyze what's most likely to happen going forward. Like, hey, if the sounders were better over these 90 minutes, no matter where the score was, we're trying to predict their ability to replicate this performance or who misses inability to restrain Seattle going forward. But I do think the chess analogy
00:35:35
Speaker
works a little bit better because I think the way that coaches approach games are really about problem solving and putting your players in a position to problem solve. So when you see the Sounders salvage a result like that, to me, it's really admirable because we've seen this so many times from the Sounders core, especially since Brian took over.
00:35:57
Speaker
no matter what, they're finding a way to salvage something from that moment. And it's just completely endemic to the personality of this team that they would at least get out of there with a 2-1. They would at least find some way to when they get back to Seattle
00:36:13
Speaker
resume being on the front foot. I also think that in terms of the chest mass analogy, it does remind me of what the timbers went through last year with Club America coming to Providence Park first and then going down to Mexico City. There is a big advantage to having those last 90 minutes at home. And it's just because
00:36:33
Speaker
At home, you're obviously going to be better equipped to take advantage of leverage. You're going to have more information on what is laid out in terms of the matches. Merely being able to survive with the 2-2 to get back here.
00:36:46
Speaker
I just think that it puts Seattle in such a great place. Um, in addition to the fact that we can talk about this, I still think a lot of the things we would have talked about two weeks ago or true, like Seattle on paper do have the better players. They are prime for this moment in a way that Pumas maybe for a lot of these last three months don't seem prime for this moment. So a lot of those things, as far as potential advantages, we should be looking at still very much apply after the first leg.
00:37:13
Speaker
And I guess one of the questions I'm, I'm wondering, is there any reason, like is Deneno the only part of Pumas that we should be worried about at this point? I mean, he's scored their last four goals. He's scored. Actually my, he thinks he's, I think he's actually scored six of their last seven goals in their last like eight games. Uh, he's, he looks like he's their offense. Is there anyone else on this team that the Sounders should be really freaking out about?
00:37:43
Speaker
I mean, I'm not thinking about anybody else personally. He scares the shit out of me. He's so good, but he's pretty scary by himself. Yeah. He's, I mean, he's, um, the, the degree to which he appears to be a matchup problem, I think is what worries me the most. Like I trust the defense on this team to tactically take care of, of opposition threats. But I mean, we saw like what he's capable of in the air. We saw just.
00:38:13
Speaker
he's going to cause problems, I think. And I think so much depends on what Pumas decided to do tactically. I don't really expect him to completely sit back in a shell. So he's probably going to get some chances. And, and I mean, yeah, it's the thing that I'm nervous about. Like I, at least in terms of Pumas attack, like the sounders creating chances I'm concerned about the sounders finishing chances I'm concerned about. The only thing I'm
00:38:43
Speaker
super freaked out about going the other way. It's just a nano. One thing that comes to mind that I've been trying to figure out the best way to bring up here is like the psychological factor. And I think it kind of dovetails with what you were describing about the crowd Jeremiah at the Pumas game, because there's something about soccer fandoms and like mega cities that we
00:39:07
Speaker
have yet to experience in this country. And when I'm thinking about mega cities, it's like Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, these places where the population is so culturally divided that the soccer teams end up representing a very distinct slice of that city's life. And so in Mexico City, that's very much the case. In Buenos Aires, that's very much the case. Istanbul, we can go through all the cities.
00:39:32
Speaker
how that dovetails with the psychological aspect is that I think that there's major pressure on Pumas to not be the first here, to not be the first to lose to an MLS site. And that pressure, maybe, and I don't know from not being in the situation, it seems like it could be heightened by the fact that when you're from a major city, you're representing that part of the city.
00:39:57
Speaker
in a way that doesn't get represented in other places. So to represent that part of the city and be the first to lose is something that you definitely want to avoid. Like I definitely think if, you know, it would be different losing in the Champions League final if you were Tijuana or Puebla than it is if you're Pumas or Cruz Azul or Blue America. Like... Yeah, I can see that.
00:40:18
Speaker
At least that makes sense to me. I wonder how much that is a motivating factor. Or maybe that was a factor for Monterey when they beat RSL. They didn't want to go back there. This was the days before Tigres was a superpower, but at the same time, there was an intercity dynamic there. I could see that, especially when Chivas beat Toronto FC. There's no one debating whether Chivas or Atlas are the biggest team in Guadalajara, but there is a
00:40:45
Speaker
I think Chivas sort of represents Mexico in a way that you know like they carry a lot of that weight and so I think that could be at play. It is an interesting dynamic but it's
00:41:00
Speaker
There is a there was I think there is definitely a mood among Mexican soccer fans. I didn't entirely appreciate like my kids Godfather is Mexican. He's he's lives in Seattle. He's going to he goes to sounder games all the time with my He lives in Seattle and he and so he
00:41:24
Speaker
I was asking, I got him tickets for this game and I'm like, so you're going to be rooting for the Sounders, right? And he's like, no, I'm rooting for Puma. So I'm like, you're not a Puma fan. He's a Leon fan. And he's like, yeah, but it's Mexico. I'm like, what is this? And I kind of opened my eyes and it's like, they have this hegemony, but they have no intention of giving it up.
MLS Marketing and Media Representation
00:41:45
Speaker
And so it's like, I think there's this, like in some ways Puma's is a very, uh,
00:41:53
Speaker
They're a wounded animal, but they're also like really dangerous. And in that, from that mentality perspective, because it's like, they really, like, I don't, I think they do like are very aware of like, this is not only is it our, our opportunity to win our first title of any science time since 2011, but
00:42:14
Speaker
We don't want to be the, we don't want to be the Mexican team that blows this, this dominant and oh, by the way, we're the last team to not to have like lost in a final to a foreign club. They were the, I think they were the first Mexican team to win or to lose at home in CCL two weren't they?
00:42:33
Speaker
to FC Dallas, I think. What was that? Were they? I don't remember who was. I was going to say Leon was, and it wasn't to Dallas, but I just realized I was pulling things out of my backpack.
00:42:50
Speaker
Well, now I'm very curious, where are they? That would be okay. Well, I mean, I don't know. It just, there's a lot of dynamics at play here that I think sometimes are easily overlooked because we get so focused on like the MLS angle of it. There's a whole other side of this that they have their own motivations that, uh, in.
00:43:11
Speaker
are equally strong, if not stronger. I think also like within our discussion, we've unintentionally focused on kind of like this margin for error that the sounders have, whether it be like, they do have a talent edge, they could have played better, they're primed for this moment in a way that Puma wasn't, et cetera, and not really recognizing that there are things on Puma's side that maybe mean that if Seattle doesn't play their best game, they can still lose. Like if Seattle plays their best game,
00:43:38
Speaker
They can win and like in a lot of soccer matches we watch a team can perform to their like 82nd percentile and win like I don't know enough about who was to say what that percentile is for the Sounders But I would guess it's like they probably in order to guarantee a victory need to be at 94 Yeah, and they could probably still win it like, you know, depending on what circumstances have and they could probably still win it as low as like 36 but in order to like really guarantee victory they they probably need to be their best selves and
00:44:07
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, Brian Schmetzer sort of alluded to that today. He said, like, if we play up to our potential, we believe we'll win. If we don't play up to our potential, like Pumas has plenty of ability to win this thing.
00:44:23
Speaker
I would love to ask somebody like John Arnold or Cesar Hernandez something like this like people who know both leagues just like out of these two teams, how many starters would you take off of Seattle, how many starters would you take up with us and I kind of think it's like close to like eight to three in Seattle's favor, but
00:44:40
Speaker
I don't know, I get frustrated with myself when I think in those terms because particularly watching the basketball playoffs right now, and this applies to soccer too, like the fit is far more important than the aggregation of like high-end performance. Yeah. Well, I'm talking to Cesar tomorrow, so I'm going to ask him that question.
00:44:58
Speaker
You should. Yeah, I'm going to. You know, he went he went to UC Santa Cruz. So you should you should quit. I think he's from Watson. I'm not sure. Yeah, I'm just not sure. I'm I'm not doubting you on that at all. I really should know. All I know is that he still is. He lives in San Diego, which, of course, is going to make me perpetually jealous, perpetually jealous. Yeah. Well,
00:45:18
Speaker
People might be wondering, I'm from very near Watsonville, so that's why I care. Are you actually from, like from where? I'm from Gilroy. Gilroy, you claim Gilroy. Okay, good. Yeah, that's like 100% where I grew up. Do you know they used to have a really big garlic festival and they don't have one anymore? Shut the fuck up. Do you know it died with COVID? Oh, Richard, what are you doing here? I can smell the Roddy carcass from here.
00:45:43
Speaker
We're, in fact, the first Mexican team to lose an arm in CCL in 2011. Wow. To Dallas. Like a week before the Sounders beat Monterey. The Shellis-Heimann-Dallas team.
00:45:59
Speaker
That was the year they won MLS Cup, I believe. Right. 2011. That was 2010. They lost to the rapids. Oh, that's right. That's right. But motivation for Pumos. Right. I'm sure they make the connection. Yeah. Although that was crazy. That was a Puma team that won a title. Yeah. They were defending champions.
00:46:26
Speaker
Wow. Well, it's crazy that it's been that long for them. But I guess, I guess one of the things that's happened in Mexican soccer is that it's become like far less egalitarian ever since like the high end of the league has been able to really spend on things. Yeah. Well, I think this is a good place for a break. We're going to come back and take some listener questions. And one, that's not so much a listener question, but a thought provoked by a listener. So, uh, anyway, you're listening to no Saudi at this and we'll be right back.
00:46:57
Speaker
Full pull wines are based in Seattle, owned and operated by Sanders fans, and have been sponsoring Nota adieres since 2011. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest. Their model is simple. One, they email compelling offers.
00:47:16
Speaker
2. You request bottles that sound appealing and 3. Your wine arrives at their soda warehouse and is ready for pickup or shipping. Their soda tasting room is also open to the public. If you're interested in joining their mailing list or learning more about them, visit fullpaulwines.com
00:47:36
Speaker
Thanks to Watson's Counter for sponsoring this episode. Located in Ballard, Watson's Counter is your neighborhood specialty coffee shop, brunch spot, and now, coffee roaster. Sourcing exclusively high-scoring coffees, Watson's Counter has started their coffee roasting project to showcase amazing coffees grown around the world. Their first featured coffee is the beautifully complexed, washed Ethiopian Odola.
00:47:58
Speaker
Follow them on Instagram at watsonscounter to keep up with all the upcoming releases or check out their website at www.watsonscounter.com. Whether you want to stop by for your daily coffee to go or sit down for delicious Korean inspired brunch, Watson's Counter has got you covered. Welcome back to Noah's Adiatus. We have a bunch of questions but before we get to the questions Aaron, you had a
00:48:25
Speaker
You identified a, not even a question, but like an interesting note from Andrew Pearson, who is a listener.
00:48:35
Speaker
because he asked another question. But why don't you read this and go where you wanted to go with it? Well, you retweeted it. Oh, yeah, I did. But I did retweet it. He points out that there was an XG chart going around that basically plotted XG and XGA over the course of the season. And he pointed out that NYCFC's XG differential has improved something like seven bulbs since.
00:49:02
Speaker
Um, they left CCL and that's over the course of like three games. Like it's, they've, they've just been a machine. They've looked like the team that won the MLS cup last year. And, um, I think it's worth thinking about because the sounders are not doing well in league play as I think, uh, you know, everyone is probably aware to some degree, um, they're, they're pretty far outside the playoff race at the moment. They are, um,
00:49:29
Speaker
probably not going to win the supporter shield. I think it's fair to say. But there seems to be like actual conversation happening of like, if the Sounders win CCL, it's fine if they miss the playoffs, it doesn't even matter. But I did think that was interesting to think about it in the sense that like,
00:49:49
Speaker
I think people forget that the CCL penalty is real, like that it's takes a lot out of teams from a mental standpoint, from, I mean, that's a, that's a brutal travel schedule. We talked about this last week where, or a couple of weeks ago where, you know, the Sanders played that just absolute slugfest in New York city or Rhode Island or wherever the hell it was came back like and had like, you know, 36 hours to rest up before a game.
00:50:19
Speaker
And I'm just curious, to me, I feel like this team is going to be fine in league play. They're just too good. They're too talented. The games they've lost, they've lost in such uncharacteristic fashion. I feel like they're going to be fine when they don't have this competing priority, especially one that's so taxing mentally. But I'm curious.
00:50:45
Speaker
What do you guys think? Like, do you think they're going to have the kind of bounce back that NYC FC has had? Or do you think it's going to be a more gradual thing? Or do you think that, you know, just playing this extra round against Pumas, it's been pretty intense in the first leg. I don't see any reason to think the second leg is going to be any different. Like, is that going to take so much out of them that they're going to have a much more delayed or muted effect coming back from CCL play?
00:51:12
Speaker
I'm more curious, I'll leave some space for this from Richard, but I will say that I don't buy the idea that
00:51:20
Speaker
the Sounders are gonna put so much into this that it's gonna like derail things that are happening two months from now. And I never really understood the logic behind that for when people sort of, when Toronto went through a similar situation in 2018 and their season was completely derailed by getting to the Champions League final. I guess they had a lot of injuries and maybe those injuries were sort of blamed on Champions League.
00:51:48
Speaker
I don't I don't think that I don't think there's anything that says that has to happen. I I think the possibility of the centers are going to bounce back like NYCFC is far more likely. But what do you think, Richard? Yeah, I think there's a lot of things that came to mind when Aaron was creating that context, I think. NYCFC could be just experiencing aggression to the mean. I mean, that could just be it and.
00:52:14
Speaker
in order to know that I need to see their schedule so they could have just gotten up, had a vastly different schedule in league, like just had some easier things. But I definitely think that like the numbers that the Twitter user sites and then Aaron repeated, they're a factor of self-determination.
00:52:32
Speaker
A lot of soccer fans may not like this because of the language we use around soccer that in this country is developed around other leagues a lot. But the simple fact is that a lot of these MLS teams do not take this season seriously until July or August. And obviously Sanders fans are very familiar with that.
00:52:49
Speaker
organization that I came from is experiencing that right now to a certain extent and has in other years, but the playoff system changes things and the popularity of other leagues in this country has created kind of a lingua franca where we take every loss so seriously. And it's just not the case in this country where every loss is so important.
00:53:11
Speaker
particularly for a team like the Sounders right now who are like two or three spots out of the playoffs, but maybe like four points out of the playoffs with a couple of games in hand. It just doesn't matter. Like if I were a Sanders fan, I would not even be looking at the standings at this point. They just do not matter at all. And I think that the CCL penalty is really, it's real. The circumstances you guys are talking about the travel, the demands of it, whether it's elevation, distance, short rest.
00:53:40
Speaker
I think teams just accept the penalty right now. They're not even trying to fight the penalty. I remember last year traveling with the Timbers, they had like a game at home against Club America. They clearly were going to go all out for it. And they had a game in Dallas on the Saturday before another midweek game in Mexico City, which is of course altitude, short rest at that point.
00:54:01
Speaker
And they just completely rotated their team. And of course, like fans are smart enough to know that that result doesn't mean anything. But when you're looking at an aggregation of results as in the standings, the performance that the Sounders had against San Jose gets
00:54:16
Speaker
flattened out to mean the same as a game that's going to happen in October where they were really trying. And I think we're just smart enough to know that that's not really the case. I think we're also smart enough to know that we resort to certain ways of talking about sports that are just like really not nuanced at all. And we all know that MLS should not be discussed in the same way that we discuss the English Premier League where only the top four matters. Like 50% of the teams in MLS are going to even survive to make it
00:54:44
Speaker
to a title charge. And we don't need to act like, you know, if you're a Liverpool fan and you have two straight losses in the middle of the year, holy crap, you might've just lost enough points to where Manchester City pulled ahead. If Seattle loses two straight games in April, it might mean nothing. It doesn't, it not even might mean nothing. It means nothing. And we're smart enough to know that we can evolve a conversation around that context and not just talk about soccer as if it's a generic thing that exists in the same way all across the world.
00:55:17
Speaker
Yeah, I don't, I mean, I think that's, that's a very good perspective on it. I think I had a new bound appreciation for the brutality of champions league travel. Like granted I was on a.
00:55:33
Speaker
budget flight, but like that's a long, that's a long way. It takes a lot out of you. And I don't think there's any way to really gloss over that. Like there's nowhere in Europe where they have to make these kinds of flights. And so, I don't know. I just think it's, uh, yeah, I, I, I'm not worried. I would say like, and it's not because it's like, Oh, if the sounders win champions, like nothing else matters. I just am not worried about their prospects going forward.
00:56:02
Speaker
I think the only thing that's a bummer is that they're probably an acronym in this shield. I know a lot of people care about the shield and I don't think it's a dumb thing to care about.
00:56:14
Speaker
If you're giving me the choice between the supporter shield, especially this version of the supporter shield and a CCL trophy, I think. Yeah. Yeah. I'd sacrifice support a shield is like, um, it's become almost an entry level trophy. And I hate to say it like that, but like when Philadelphia won it, it meant something the year that FC Dallas won it and open cup the same year. It meant something, but, and like for even the timbers, if they want it, they've never won it before. It wouldn't mean something, but you.
00:56:40
Speaker
I think we all need to face the facts that nobody's job is going to be evaluated on whether they win the support or shield. So kind of follow the motivation, like winning the support shield is definitely nice, but it's just not the end goal for any of these teams.
00:57:00
Speaker
I mean, I think you can look at Ziggy, frankly, and say like, you know, if he had won MLS Cup and the US Open Cup in 2014, instead of Supporter's Shield and MLS and US Open Cup, he might have survived 2016.
00:57:17
Speaker
Yeah. And I think some people are going to hear that and go, Oh, that's not fair. But just the bottom line is these players motivations are not centered around either open cup or the supporter shield. Like the open cup, once you make the semi-finals you're in and supporter shields is type of thing like the last two or three weeks of the season. Like, Hey, if we have, if we have a chance to do this, let's not only do this, but we'll get home home field advantage too.
00:57:40
Speaker
But these players motivations are tied to winning MLS cup. And no matter how important people want to think open cup and the supporter shield is, if the players are motivated by something else, they need to recognize that that's the context for these players performance.
00:57:59
Speaker
All right. Well, Aaron, what, what, what do you want to start off with the actual questions? Let's do it. Uh, so it's from your personal, uh, look at that. Uh, Nick, the 2019 MLS cup had the potential to be a transformative moment for the club in terms of attendance and growth, but COVID promptly derailed everything. Does the CCL final have the potential to be a new transformative moment for attendance and team relevance?
00:58:24
Speaker
I, you know, I think that's a great question. I, I'm curious about that answer too, because I, I do think it has some potential to be a breakthrough in a way in a different kind of audience. Like I think MLS cup was the sounder's chance to sort of become an event.
00:58:43
Speaker
citywide event that the Sounders had not really been a part of. And it brought in people that had left the team or left fandom and come back and suddenly it was this hot ticket. And I think what's exciting in a way that's maybe even more exciting about, but like, and I guess the problem was like, those people were always going to be sort of fickle. And I think that COVID happening right after that ruined really the ability to keep those people.
00:59:10
Speaker
What's interesting about Champions League is that there's going to be a lot of people here that are fans of Pumas but are local.
00:59:22
Speaker
And I think this opens up the possibility of convincing those people that the sounders are worth caring about. I think this has the opportunity. This is like the sounders first great opportunity really to bring in a lot of Latino fans that they have maybe missed with marketing for one reason or another. And in a lot of ways are much more likely to become passionate fans than the casuals that maybe came to MLS cup. So.
00:59:52
Speaker
I don't know if that's going to happen, but I do think there's a lot of potential there to make some inroads into communities that the sounders have not done as good of a job as they maybe should have done. Totally agree.
01:00:09
Speaker
The relevance of MLS changes, like the importance of MLS, the respect that MLS has regionally, probably once an MLS team, once CCL, I don't think it's going to be like earth moving. Like I don't think that people are all of a sudden going to say, actually, you know what? It's not a retirement league. Like it's not a joke of a league. It's, I'm going to care about this now, but I think that it, it becomes really difficult to ignore like the shreds that it's made, you know, once an MLS team breaks through and finally wins.
01:00:41
Speaker
I also think that if an MLS team wins, it's not only the window that's open in May, it's the window that's open at the end of the year to get national and international publicity when you are playing, you know, whether it's an Asian team, an African team, a South American team eventually, like those games maybe don't seem like as glamorous as playing like potentially a Barcelona or Barcelona is not a good example this year, but like,
01:01:07
Speaker
a Manchester City or something like that, but it does open another window to provide a different context for your club. Whereas we know the context of MLS is limiting, right? There's a legitimacy factor that is BS, but it exists, right? Like, you know, we're always seeing, not always, but we still see people talk about like, oh, is MLS like the 14th or 15th best team league in the world? It's like, it actually doesn't matter. But once you open that window to where you can talk about
01:01:37
Speaker
the Sounders in the same context as potentially like a Manchester City or a Real Madrid or something like that, it really doesn't matter because the league is being talked about in the same context as the best leagues in the world. And that's all MLS really wants.
01:01:57
Speaker
All right, this one is from Bill Jones, S-T-R-P-T. Are Yemor and Shabi up to the task of keeping Denino? Why can't I say it? Quiet. Would you change anything about the line of preformation to deal with him? And yeah, we got that. Yeah, we'll ask that. I don't think that like I'm not going to put Jackson Reagan in there because I'm worried about Denino in the air. Yeah.
01:02:26
Speaker
I don't I mean I don't know what you can change right like he jumps really high and finds space in the box and who must have a lot of a lot of players that put in a good ball and he's really good with the ball at his feet, and we're pretty clever player.
01:02:45
Speaker
I love the dude. I love his game so much. He's so much fun to watch. And I'm not looking forward to watching him on Wednesday, but he's just a really hard player to stop. It's like, what can Pumas do to neutralize for over ideas? Don't make mistakes, I guess is the answer to that. And it's the same thing. He's the X factor for them.
01:03:06
Speaker
I mean, I'd say the best thing you can do is shut down the service to him, though, right? For sure. Yeah. Like we talked about earlier on in the show, the thing that bugged me so much about the header wasn't just that he made a great shot. He jumped really high. Our defender made a bad... But what was frustrating about it, really, was that no one was closing. Like the right back had forever to put in that cross. You can't let that happen.
01:03:36
Speaker
Yeah, I think, I mean, that really felt like they were talking about it nonstop on the broadcast of like, Mozo is out injured. The sounders have got to take advantage of that and push guys forward on that side. And they did and got punished for it. And I would hope that that's a lesson learned that I don't care who it is. Like you can't let them put in crosses like that when they've got an aerial threat like that in the box.
01:04:02
Speaker
I think especially when there's a threat that's so distinct like this, it allows a technical staff of video analyst crew to really drill down on things like, okay, is most of the successful service coming from
01:04:17
Speaker
deep crosses or high crosses. Like do we need to start confronting the players playing in the cross higher or do we start forcing them in at a higher point or do we need to like push them to the sidelines and that might allow our full backs to get beaten, but that means that they're going to end up crossing deeper than they otherwise would be. Like when you have such a distinct threats like this or threats that seems like so easily identifiable allows you to drill down in these things in a way that's like, no, no, no.
01:04:45
Speaker
we are actually going to confront this guy 40 yards out and force him to go one-on-one with a fullback. And if he beats them, that's fine because that means he's going to be crossing at 20 yards. And we know when he's crossing at the level of the penalty box, they're less successful to higher up. That's a complete hypothetical. I don't know what the data is on this.
01:05:03
Speaker
But a lot of times when you have these forwards that are so successful in this area, the timing of it is so important when they're timing their first movement to get a center back going one way and then shifting to another way, like another direction. If you can get the fullback playing the ball either sooner or later, that really throws off that timing. And those kinds of things become really important when you start scouting this type of threat.
01:05:30
Speaker
We should have you on the show more often, Richard. I know, right? He actually was like providing genuine insight in what we're just like. Oh, stop crossing. I kind of thought we were all saying the same thing, but whatever. You guys can say that if you want to. That's magnanimous. So the next one's from ColinSaurusRex. So I know there's a push for everyone who follows MLS for Seattle on Wednesday. If the rules were reversed, would you be rooting for the timbers? Full disclosure, I would not.
01:05:58
Speaker
That's him saying that, but I also wouldn't just for them. No, I would not. Richard, would you root for the timbers?
01:06:06
Speaker
I would, yeah, I'd actually root for anybody. I mean, there are a couple of teams out there that I wouldn't root for, but that has mostly to do with like their coaches or their front office staff and stuff like that, where it's nothing like the public would see. But I'm definitely of the opinion that like, you know, what's best for MLS is best for the teams in this situation. So I definitely think it's better for the timbers that the Sounders win this week.
01:06:30
Speaker
Interesting. Uh, I, I think I was rooting for LAFC kinda in 2020, but that's an example of like, I wasn't rooting for LAFC because Bob Bradley was such a pain in the ass. Like the same way that Bob Bradley was such a jerk to Brian Spencer, he was the same to GEO. So it's like impossible to want anything good for Bob Bradley. I mean, I definitely think I found some entertainment in him and them not winning, but I also, I, I do think that.
01:06:56
Speaker
Right now, I'm glad that they didn't win because I think that would have been a sort of asterisk. Like, it's like, we would be talking about the one you want them to win. Right. Because it was like this COVID year and it was no fans and it was a neutral site. I guess we could still be saying like how an MLS team had never won.
01:07:16
Speaker
at a multi-site Champions League. Because we would have found some way. Yeah, we would have, but we'd had more, add more qualifiers, which would have been annoying as F. So this is from D. Heights say, Oh, do we have predictions? He just wants predictions. Yeah. I mean, I, it's, it's funny because I feel better.
01:07:39
Speaker
after the first leg that I did going in, but I still think it's total crapshoot. My prediction hasn't changed. I think the sounders have a talent edge. We talked about this earlier, they have a talent edge, but it's not.
01:07:57
Speaker
extreme. There are some really high quality players on the other side. Home field advantage is nice, but it's not everything. I would not be surprised, like I think we said going into the first leg, like wouldn't be surprised if the sounder's romp, wouldn't be surprised if Puma's romp, wouldn't be surprised if it's a tense 2-2 draw with a bunch of penalties, right? Like I
01:08:22
Speaker
You know, I don't know. I don't, I wouldn't say that I feel confident, but I don't also don't feel dread. I'll just, we'll see. We'll see how it goes. It's definitely the most neutral I've ever felt going into a ISA scan like this. Three, one sounders.
01:08:40
Speaker
I don't want to touch that. Let me explain that a little bit. I think one thing that people don't appreciate about the sounders, unless you actually watch them, is that they're a team full of grinders.
01:08:57
Speaker
Yeah, we don't want to reduce it to that because we don't want to reduce re Diaz and Lidero and Morris and roll down to like being grinders but their grinders in addition to all of the other brilliant things that they do, and the fact that their grinders really makes it feel like
01:09:15
Speaker
I can't remember if we talked about this off error on the worst case scenarios are not going to happen. The best case scenarios are in play. And I don't think 3-1 is the best case scenario. I think it could be better than that. But I think that if Puma's at all get caught up in the occasion, start to fall victim to a lot of the advantage we're talking about, it's very easy to see a 3-1. And so yeah, 3-1.
01:09:41
Speaker
Yeah, I will add that one of the things I've thought about a lot is that the sound, I felt like the sounders were one of the first teams to recognize that
01:09:53
Speaker
Ground coverage is not just about hard trying and it's like that there's like an and there is like a value to players who cover a lot of ground. There's a value to there's like a like a quantifiable value to grinding.
01:10:11
Speaker
And it's and that when you couple that with actual skill and talent that it can and that's how you can kind of really level up. And I think for a long time, American soccer really sort of like broke down into like, oh, you just have a bunch of guys who try hard. And it's like you kind of discounted the like. And it's like, but they're not technically good. But like the sounders actually embrace the idea. It's like, well, no, what if they're technically good? But like they find a nickel that sort of embodies that idea is like, yeah, he's technically good. But he also like.
01:10:42
Speaker
never stops for Apollo. Yeah. Another great example of that. It definitely seems like an archetype, the target. Right. So the next one is from Josh on the sound Infantino going to announce Seattle as a world cup 26 site where it's decided, but maybe vetting for world cup semi or a final. I, I'm not holding out any hope that they're going to bring a, I, uh,
01:11:06
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think I want, I realized all the bad, like we just talked to Ryan Rosenblatt recently and he was like, he made a pretty compelling case. Yeah. He made a pretty compelling case for not wanting the World Cup in your city. And I like logically can't disagree with anything he said, but I'd be kind of bummed if the World Cup came to the United States and Seattle wasn't part of the bid.
01:11:34
Speaker
I very much feel the same way. The FIFA is this horrible and the World Cup is a boondoggle. I still kind of want it. What are you going to do? The heart wants what the heart wants. When you guys put it like that, that does make sense. Okay, part of the premise here is it's already coming to the United States.
01:11:57
Speaker
Right. Yeah. Okay. Whatever. All right. You guys want me like it's like all the bad things that are going to be visited on America are going to be visited on American cities one way or the other. Right. Yeah. The reality. And I think Seattle is more resilient than others. Like I was I was going to say that not only more resilient, but also most more capable of just like handling that in a way that's actually
01:12:20
Speaker
I don't want to say non-disruptive, but just capable of handling it. I think Seattle is much more capable of handling it than Kansas City is going to. I'm sure Kansas City is going to just take fire hoses out. Why don't we just really lean into the American tradition and have the World Cup final in Columbus? Is the old cruise stadium still there?
01:12:44
Speaker
Yeah, I think so. Is it? I think they use it as like a training facility or something. I think it is. Well, yeah, didn't they like, yeah, isn't it like modified to like Hauser Academy or something like that? Am I making that up? No, I think that's, that sounds right. Crew 2 is playing there now. Right. It might be.
01:13:02
Speaker
Chamber, is it Chamber Eye Seattle? I guess that's how he presents it. I'd like to ask about the Defiance. I know, not part of the CCL celebration, but will the Defiance playing in MLX Next Pro help develop and ready the kids better for the first team that USL did? I don't know. I don't think so. I'm skeptical of MLX Next Pro. I'm very skeptical, but I'm also not a. It feels.
01:13:31
Speaker
I don't know. We'll see. I'm not a youth soccer development expert, but it seems like a major step backward to me.
01:13:42
Speaker
It feels like a short-term step backward for hopefully a long-term step forward. But I think there are some benefits to be had by controlling the ecosystem in which you're developing players. And I think MLS felt like they were losing control of that ecosystem at a rapid pace. And they were worried about that spiraling
01:14:07
Speaker
to the point where they couldn't really even control it anymore. Like I don't think they wanted to risk literally having all their teams kicked out of the U.S.L. or forced into a situation that they weren't ready for. And so I think they talked up a lot of the benefits to MLS Next Pro, maybe out of turn, maybe overly ambitious. But I do think that they do believe that
01:14:35
Speaker
the, from a purely player development perspective, that there's a benefit there. Time will tell, but like, and I'm a little skeptical. Like I think it would be great to like, if they could have come up with a more. Sensical loan system where they could freely loan players into the USL championship, maybe that would have been better, but I don't know. Maybe, maybe this is better than, than like the English and European systems where all your young players are just going on loan, but I don't know.
01:15:04
Speaker
And they do, I mean, to be fair, they do tend to have systems where unless you're in, you know, the teams that have like, uh, their second teams in the pyramid somewhere, like all the English clubs have PL two sides and it's very much like a U 23 U development league, but then the players that have graduated past that and are ready for senior football go on loan somewhere else. And.
01:15:28
Speaker
As long as the lower divisions stay strong, like that's a feasible option at some point. And that, and the centers are kind of trying to do that too. Like players, they know that every player isn't best suited to playing them in MLS next pro. And some of them need to go on loan and you know, we'll see.
01:15:46
Speaker
USO Championship was working out for them. Does baseball have this right, guys? With the options system? For people that aren't familiar, players are optioned back and forth between AAA baseball and Major League Baseball. There's a limit on how many times you can option them. And I think that's basically put in place so you don't just abuse it. So you're not constantly trying to expand your roster to being bigger than it actually is. You're only really optioning people when they
01:16:13
Speaker
need to go down to another level for some reason. Compared to the models that we just alluded to, Aaron alluded to two various models between PL2 or outright having a VIA reality in the third division of the Spanish system. And we've obviously talked about MLS Next Pro.
01:16:36
Speaker
does baseball have the best system about being able to actually utilize and create a cohesive roster? Yeah, I think there are a lot of things to like about the way they do it, but I think the problem is that there's like the century old tradition of minor league baseball and the teams like all require that like,
01:17:02
Speaker
talent pipeline like the aqua socks don't exist without the mariners the rainiers don't exist without the mariners whatever their double a team is that you know, and so.
01:17:12
Speaker
And like, yeah, you know, you have like the quality guys that are in the organization, but are never going to be pros that just kind of hang around and take up space on the, on the roster. Um, but like, I feel like that's kind of what they were trying to do with the entry into, into the USL, um, with the affiliated teams, especially. And like, ultimately the USL teams want to win.
01:17:37
Speaker
And the Rainiers won the AAA West last year and they had a big fireworks show, but it wasn't like nobody really cared that much because they're a farm team. And when your only purpose fundamentally is to develop players, that's a much different selling point for your fans. And we want to win trophies. We want to compete.
Challenges in Player Retention and Development
01:18:05
Speaker
Like it's hard for Seattle and Portland to keep putting players in USL when like Phoenix rising is playing paying players like $150, $200,000 a year to steamroll their players that are just out of the Academy. Like that's, that's a tough sell for some MLS teams. Yeah.
01:18:22
Speaker
But there's benefits too, right? I think there are definitely coaches who are convinced that the only way a 17-year-old is really tested is when he's going up against someone who's fighting for their job, fighting to feed their family or whatever. That's not going to make them the best
01:18:46
Speaker
technical player, but it does put some, you know, like it, it forces them to learn to play like at a professional level. I think, I think a thing that doesn't get talked about enough is like a lot of that competition doesn't have to exist in front of people who bought tickets and that are national television. Like a lot of that competition, that's a good point exists. Like, you know,
01:19:07
Speaker
Tuesday through Friday, when you're put in a training environment, we're like, once you outperform this player, you're going to play. And that doesn't lead to like a lot of in public results. And it doesn't allow us to talk about it here, but really it is actually develops a huge sample size of you being able to see like consistently this person week over week is besting this 32 year old person who, yeah, maybe doesn't justify a roster spot anymore. Yeah.
01:19:34
Speaker
It's, I think there's a reason that the way development is structured in the league changes every five minutes. And it's because like, it's a complex thing. Like how do you make it sustainable and produce the results you're looking for and be all encompassing of like where people are different phases of the development curve. It's tricky. And like a lot of things in American soccer, we'd really benefit from having like 180 years or whatever of
01:20:05
Speaker
you know, an established league pyramid and system to facilitate that growth, but we don't. And there are also a lot of different motivations here too, like not every team is developing talent to play on their first team.
01:20:21
Speaker
The most successful academy at this point in Major League Soccer is clearly FC Dallas. And you know how we know that? Because people are coming in and now paying six to ten million dollars per player for their high-end players and doing it two or three times a year.
01:20:38
Speaker
And FC Dallas has no reservations about their business model. And even on the high end of teams, like Real Madrid for years has had a successful Academy that barely, barely impacts our first team because they end up selling so many of their players to second division or lower first division sides in Spain. So when you're developing an Academy, and this is what I think is interesting about what's going on in Seattle, like what are you developing that Academy for?
01:21:08
Speaker
And, um, every market is going to be different, but that doesn't mean the decisions that one market makes are going to be applicable to any other. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I hope the sounders are building an academy primarily to help the first team and secondarily to add some money to the budget, but.
01:21:33
Speaker
clearly that's not the way every team is looking at it. Yeah, no, I mean, like, you know, the contrast is the timbers here who deal with a smaller population base, but they still want players to come through like the top end players. But after that, you know, it's a difference. It's a little bit of a different story because
01:21:52
Speaker
They, the timbers revenue streams allow them to outperform their market size in terms of talent acquisition. So obviously the equation gets a little different for them. Like when we're talking about teams that really should be leveraging like an Academy system, like San Jose.
01:22:10
Speaker
San Jose has like a huge population base for, and then like very little first team expenditure. Like they should be pumping through players. Like Colorado should be, I mean, Colorado is pretty decent. Like they're not terrible, but they're not great either.
01:22:27
Speaker
Philadelphia has like a great thing going there, right? Like they actually have, they're selling a lot of players. They have players that are actually contributing. They have like a balance there too. But you know, like we, like we said two minutes ago, it's going to be different for every market. Yeah, for sure.
Western Conference Team Analysis
01:22:46
Speaker
Um, next question is from Chuck Motzer. Uh, where do you now expect to see the Sounders finish in the West?
01:22:54
Speaker
I think I still see them being somewhere between second and fourth in the West. They don't need to be that much better actually to get into a playoff position. They don't even need to be that dramatically better to get into fourth, which would be hosting a playoff game. If they can get into fourth, I think they're in great shape.
01:23:24
Speaker
owners have three games in hands on, on RSL. And if they win those three games, I mean, obviously just for illustration of where, where they are realistically, I don't know if they're going to win those three games or not, but they'd be even with RSL for fifth. That's like where they're currently at. Right. And they've got 30, what 34 games. So they've got 27 games left.
01:23:52
Speaker
I think, yeah, I think somewhere second to fourth. I mean, that's a huge gap to make up against LAFC at the top of the table. But I mean, honestly, it's not that much bigger than the gap between second, but the gap in third is nine points with two games in hand. Like, it's just... I just think Austin's probably going to come back to the pack a lot.
01:24:15
Speaker
Like none of the teams that are in the West right now or other than LAFC strike me as teams that are just gonna keep.
01:24:24
Speaker
you know, racking up points at a alarming rate. I will say that dropping those six points to Miami and San Jose probably gonna, gonna like cost them some spot or two in the West. I think those are bad, but like Austin and Dallas are profiling as just the type of teams that come back to the pack. Yeah.
01:24:47
Speaker
RSL, I'm not so sure about, especially after it seems like they're going to have Severino return to the team later this week. So, I mean, that's like, that's just like a difference making player. Like even if he didn't put up huge numbers, um, when he was here before, like every team, when they played RSL started with how do they at least contain with Jefferson Severino. Um, but at the same time, I think the other thing that is a little bit precarious about this question is the fact that both Portland and Kansas city are at the same level in the table as, um,
01:25:17
Speaker
Um, the sounders and while Portland and Seattle both have like a lot of his lot of experience climbing back up the table and Kansas city doesn't Kansas city's usually like the early season front runner who you kind of sit there and go like, Oh, maybe that's the team we actually want to get in the playoffs. They still have like a lot of institutional knowledge about what it means to get into the playoffs. So, um, I think that's the thing is like, you could see not just the, not just Seattle clawing up the table, like Portland and or Kansas city also, which could affect Seattle's positioning.
01:25:47
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I can see Portland. I'm, I'm a little more bullish on bullish bearish. I'm not sure. I'm, I'm skeptical that Kansas skeptical. Yeah. Same. I'm same. I just want, I just want to give Verme some, like some respect here, but like, yeah, when I did, they're too, all of their indicators are out there.
01:26:06
Speaker
Yeah, and all of like their indicators are very conflicting right now, like, like, they're not their xg. As far as attacking their xg minus g, like they should be scoring more goals, but their defense should be given up a lot more goals too. So it just looks like they're like a very
01:26:23
Speaker
a team without an identity here and also like, even if they get everything together, Kansas City, ever since they switched from the east to the west which was like 74 years ago now, like they're just the team you don't mind getting in the playoffs, they're just not the team that has an extra gear in the postseason so
01:26:40
Speaker
Like, you know, uh, what was it, uh, four years ago with the timbers, let's bring it back to the timbers. Um, when the timbers made it through Seattle and the conference semi-finals, there wasn't a big fear of going against Kansas city in the conference finals, because I already beaten Seattle. If you can beat Seattle, you can beat Kansas city. Right. Which they did. Right.
01:27:02
Speaker
They very much did without needing a penalty kick shootout on the road to do it. Yeah, and then they didn't. And then they went to Emma's Cup, didn't they? And they lost your favorite team in the final. I'll tell you, I've never been more conflicted in my life on who to root for. What do you mean, conflicted? Of course you're going for Atlanta United. What are you talking about? You're a member of all the Bravas. I know, but I felt guiltier about it.
01:27:32
Speaker
Although it is funny when the two times the Timbers have been to MLS Cup was against Columbus and against Atlanta, which were definitely two teams where I did not. I was not like stoked to be like kind of rooting for. Yeah. No, that was that was.
01:27:50
Speaker
You know, of course Atlanta, Atlanta won that year and they were kind of the best team all year but I think that was one of those years where like, it's the friends you made along the way type of thing like, even, even in terms of like the playoffs like that's Seattle Portland series.
01:28:09
Speaker
We've talked about it a little bit in this podcast about how neutrals might have a hard time investing in Portland or Seattle, but if they did, that series alone will justify the playoffs or made the playoffs. That was great. I would think as a neutral, that would have been a lot of fun. It wasn't so much fun for me to...
01:28:29
Speaker
live through, but someone else. Yeah.
Scheduling and Venue Challenges
01:28:33
Speaker
All right. So we're going to, this is we're going to close out with a question from Andy Fretwell. He says, how long will the stadium repairs take after new who scores for us on Wednesday? Where would the sounders rain play while the stadium is being repaired?
01:28:46
Speaker
I think they would have to play at Starfire. There's nowhere else now. Is Memorial not open anymore? You got to go play at Memorial. You guys just outlined the premise here. The premise here is you guys win on Wednesday and you do such structural damage with New Who scoring. Specifically New Who scoring. Yeah, New Who has to score for the stadium to be
01:29:09
Speaker
Yeah. I thought, well, yeah, there's no way they win without new scoring. We can just make that clear. Right. On a diving header. Right. A diving header. Yeah. Well, I thought it was going to be like a scissor kick on like, I was picturing like a corner kick cleared by a who was defender. It's like this looping header. And then new who's on the edge of the penalty area. He's like the, does one of those awkward scissor kicks, but it's not awkward. If you know what that he's new who, and it's just like banana curves into like the upper right-hand corner. Yeah.
01:29:39
Speaker
that was also accessible i just i don't think i've ever seen him like he's he he's kind of an awkward header of the ball and so the idea of him diving hitting a diving header just is it feels like um you know like when you see those
01:29:57
Speaker
movie depictions of like a squad team battering ram and they have like the the iron handles above this what's essentially a pipe and they're like four people swinging it into like a door he seems like that basically maybe that could be a subpiece routine
01:30:15
Speaker
I actually think his first goal is going to be one of those like long runs where he probably shouldn't be making it, but does anyway. And he tries to cross. No, he'll try to cross, but we'll actually score. Oh.
01:30:30
Speaker
Yeah, that would make sense. That would be very fitting. It would be. I mean, I think the perfect way of this would be is the sounders are up to one in the 94th minute and new who just gets out on a break and makes Richard's prediction come true. Yeah. If, wow, if that happened, like I would be like,
01:30:54
Speaker
I would just let myself pee my pants while new who is like taking those awkward, like, you know, setter steps before touching the ball and then full sprint, setter step, full sprint, start step. But going back to this thing, like you just mentioned, like the rain have had to be in the DC area for the last, what?
01:31:13
Speaker
six days because they had to relocate their challenge cup semi-final because of the unavailability of Lumina Field. Is Memorial just not a thing anymore? That's a good question because I heard the discussion of them trying to get the game move to Starfire.
01:31:31
Speaker
Yeah, that too. Well, that apparently there's a conflict. I don't remember what it was. It's probably like an eight-year-old kid's camp. Sure, sure. Something like that. And then Cheney is like, there's a whole, I don't know how much of this you paid attention to, but all the Mindlake stadiums have all these new rules about moving the field over. There's like no place on UW's campus they could do this?
01:31:58
Speaker
That's another, I don't know that that's another obvious one that I did not hear any discussion about, but I didn't hear any discussion about Memorial. I think Memorial probably would have been a non-starter because CBS Sports needed, like the whole point, the whole premise of this was that CBS needs their broadcast, needs to like fit their broadcast window. And I'm guessing Memorial maybe doesn't have the... You don't provide the high quality broadcast experience that CBS Sports is known for.
01:32:26
Speaker
Right in WSO games. Yeah, well doing it like yeah. Yeah, I don't know. I don't so I don't know what's going on in the world. I know that there's Like I don't know maybe it's been condemned like even like, you know, like, you know, Seattle University.
01:32:46
Speaker
I mean, that is the only, they only have bleachers there, but at the same time, like the, obviously the big constraint here is like the broadcast here, but like, come on. I would love to see Seattle university.
01:32:58
Speaker
utilized more by the professional soccer community because it is actually a great pitch. It's just a tiny stadium. There's no, there's not really a stadium there, but it's, yeah, it's just like the bleacher capacity. There's probably a, what, like 18, 1600, 1800. I don't know. I'm probably underestimating it or remembering it. It's, it's, it's a high, it's basically like high school capacity. You might be overestimating it.
01:33:24
Speaker
Like, it's really small. No, I'm serious. In my name, it's like a tiny, it's very small. But yeah, that whole thing is a bit of a mess. The NWSL, who would have ever guessed the NWSL painted themselves into a corner where they were... Yeah.
01:33:47
Speaker
moving games and all this other stuff.
Conclusion and Gratitude
01:33:50
Speaker
Well, anyway, who would have guessed trying to schedule a cup competition in parallel with your regular season competition would create logistical concerns? Yeah, it's a weird one. You'd like to think you would wrap that up before you start your regular season, but yeah, I guess that was too much. Well, Richard, thank you so much for hanging out with us.
01:34:14
Speaker
My God, this was great guys. I mean, this isn't going to come across on the podcast, but we have been together for quite some time at this point.
01:34:23
Speaker
Yeah, but at the same time, I've incredibly enjoyed it. Hopefully, nobody from my former employer listens this far into it, but I've had a lot of conversations recently with friends that are just... I had a lot of conversation with friends recently who have been like, hey man, between January and early December, we never hear from you because of your job.
01:34:49
Speaker
And we don't get to catch up with you. And it's been the same thing with you guys. Like I get to have casual conversations with you. But when the seasons are actually full, full bore. Yeah. Yeah. Um, that's the thing. Yeah. So to be transitioning out of that, to be able to talk to my friends again, like
01:35:09
Speaker
It feels weird, but it feels good. Well, it feels good to talk to you too, Richard. And you, Aaron. Yeah. I like Aaron. I need you to drop me your hair care routine because your, my hair is as long as yours, but I have to keep it in a bun because it's not as good as yours. So I need like, I need to know what you're doing. Man, you guys are both rocking long hair. Yeah. I'll send you the products. Okay. Yeah. Mine goes to about here, but it's pretty ratty. So that's.
01:35:36
Speaker
It's been a, it's been, I haven't had anything else to do for the last three years. So it's just grow there, but well, in life you learn how to take care of it too, you know? Oh yeah. Yeah. I'll send in my products. Okay. I'll D I'll DM you as a reminder at some point. Sounds good.
01:35:51
Speaker
So today's episode was sponsored by hair care. That's right. Right. You couldn't think of a better company day. I know. I was like hair care. It looks like how much care I give my hair is that it's brought to you by hair there. Hey, you see that hair. Bring it back over from over there. It's hair there. That's right. But it was sponsored by full pool wines and Watson's counter for real.
01:36:20
Speaker
I'm Jeremiah Shan, signing off for Aaron Campo, Richard Farley, and Lick It. This is No Study Yet This. Remember, you'll never get alone.
01:36:45
Speaker
Roll on, Columbia, roll on. Roll on, Columbia, roll on. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn. Roll on, Columbia, roll on. We love you. Let's win another one!