Bill Chaves Pod_EP 175

In the final episode of Season 7, Bill and Alex look ahead to the looming verdict on the House Settlement (2:58) before discussing all things UND Athletics, including track and field’s spotlight at the NCAA West Regional (8:32), new home kickoff times for football (11:43), and the naming of hockey’s new associate head coach (16:44). On this week’s triumphant B-Side (36:07), it’s all COYS, as Tottenham Hotspur win their first European trophy in 41 years.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Bill Shapes Podcast, presented by Mid
Coast Sports. Even though the offseason has arrived. Tune into
Mid Coast Sports or subscribe to Mid Coast Sports Plus
to watch replays of the best games and moments featuring
your favorite teams from this past year. Just something that
ties you over until our comprehensive live coverage of the
Summer League and the MVFC starts up again this August.

(00:20):
That is Mid Coast Sports. This is how we do sports,
and this is the Bill Shapes Podcast. Welcome to another
edition of the Bill Shafes podcast, the season seventh finale
of the Shaves Pod. We're taping this on a Tuesday afternoon, today,
the twenty seventh of May. Alex Seiner pil Shaves. Happy

(00:43):
day after Memorial Day, Bill, Happy, last episode of the
school year.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
All of it, Yes, all of it. Yes, the season seven.
There's not a lot of shows that last seven seasons, Alex.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
It's been a good run, going to haven't canceled this yet, Bill.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
So they have not. And I heard over the last
let's just say last time we potted. I heard even
season threes better than season two, and so who knows,
maybe Season eight will be better than season seven.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
You never know, You just never know. Seinfeld made it
nine seasons, Friends made ten.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
I appreciate the shows that can reinvent themselves. They bring
in a new character in a way you go.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
This pod in some ways has done that. We've started
having more guests on the last couple of years, some
fun little wrinkles. Many of the tenants from year one
are still the same. There still will be a fun
b side conversation after some North Dakota and NCAA talk.
But yes, it's been fun to be a part of
it once again this year, of course, is always fun
to chat with you on a bi weekly basis. It's
just one of those things that I always look forward to.

(01:52):
So as we begin to close the book on this year,
we'll we'll have a chance to do some of the
same things that we always get to do. Just chat
about what's going on around North Dakota Athletics and what's
happening in your world. Should be a fun episode to
wrap things up.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Well. I appreciate you, Alex, I appreciate MIDC for supporting it,
and so you know, I think it's a way and
for many folks that hopefully do listen, thank you, And
it gives us a chance to do kind of a
longer form and a lot of times we're just in
a certain amount of characters SoundBite, and you know, sometimes

(02:24):
you need to explain things a little bit longer, a
longer version, and so this, this platform gives us that opportunity.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
That's why it started some seven years ago in Bill's
first year at the CONTROLS, and it's continued on since.
And so today the point is, again, like we said,
we'll look back over a couple of things that have
happened recently, look ahead to the final athletic events of
the year with outdoor track and Field Regionals and in
the instaba's coming up, and then well it will be

(02:52):
a fun beside because there were some positive things that
happened in the world of our sports team. So we
will discuss. So that's all to come. Let's begin though
with this still kind of in the midst of meeting season.
We've been going through some league meetings and CHC Missouri
Valley Football Conference meetings, president's meetings, et cetera. What can
you tell us about what's been going on as you
sit down and chat with the other power brokers in

(03:13):
the conferences that we care so much about it.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Yeah, So, Alex, you know, I think we've talked about
it a lot on the pod this year. We're still
kind of waiting for the House Settlement to come to fruition.
So Judge Wilkins has had, I think a concerns about
certain aspects of the settlement. She asked the legal teams
to go back and maybe address some of the concerns

(03:37):
she's talking about, primarily around roster sizes. That was an
issue in the Truth Be Told. Much of the reason
why we had issues here was because of the roster sizes.
So at the end of the day, we're kind of
an okay company with a federal judge who was a

(03:59):
little concerned about the same things we were concerned about.
And so we're waiting for that news to drop. And
I wouldn't suggest that we're not doing things moving forward,
but I think our whole industry since June of twenty one,
when we didn't get an nil policy regulation by law,

(04:22):
we've kind of been floating now for close to four years,
and we just need to figure out a few pieces
of the puzzle. But part of it, Alex, is every
time rules get made. They were challenged, and that's okay,
But at some point you are going to have to
figure out what what does regulation look like? Because right

(04:44):
now we're deregulated. So sitting in those meetings, we're talking
about a lot of what ifs, what happens if this happens.
How will the Summit League react, How will the NCCHC react,
How does the Missouri Valley Football Conference react. I've just
come back from Summit League AD Joint Council meetings with

(05:06):
senior women, administrators and the staff. Next week I will
go down and meet just the ads, with the presidents
in the Summit League along with then shortly thereafter, I think,
thank the two commissioners for working with each other, both
Commissioner Weims and Fenton. Then we will meet with the

(05:28):
presidents and the NCCHC. So so three of the presidents
and ads will stay there and will welcome in the
rest of the NCCHC folks. So long. In short of
it is lots of conversation. But normally a lot of
this has to do with kind of like policies and regulations.
But when you don't know it at the macro level,

(05:48):
it's hard to set it at the micro level.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
This is four years of this four years. It's been
a while since we've been a cycle of not really
being certain. Have you gotten a sense of when that
ruling will come down? I know they're still in deliberation mode.
We're still waiting on that.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
I think, you know from what I understand, and you know,
the judge decides in this case on her timeline, and
I think she's taking everything into account. And when I
did read the settlement, I was interested about different pieces
of it too, And obviously she's had some concerns. She's

(06:26):
listened to a lot of folks that have had concerns
as well, And honestly, who knows what's going to happen
at what time frame? We still don't know as well.

Speaker 1 (06:37):
When that news drops, hopefully sometime this summer, before season
eight of the Bills Shapes podcast commences, there will be
I'm sure a lot of reaction to that in your chair,
people around the country trying to decide, now how do
they respond and what happens. But still in the waiting
game when it comes to this particular aspect of higher education.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, I would just be speculating and interested doing that.
I mean, I don't know what the judges ultimately thinking
about her ruling and how that again will impact a
number of individuals either way. Really, and so more to

(07:18):
come when we hear it. But you know, sometimes I
think I did read something Alex where she has taught before,
she knows the cadence of a semester and how that works.
But in the bigger picture, this is about I think,
in her mind obviously getting the decision right, and she
doesn't want to be pressured on someone else's timeline. She's

(07:41):
on her own timeline.

Speaker 1 (07:43):
Well, have fun as you wait to see what happens
in that regard. Hopefully some good conversation can come between
you and the rest of the conferences that North Dakota
is in.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
The Yeah, I mean we still have without those of
the game, and there's some things that we still have
to think through scheduling. Those things don't change, but I
think the broader impact of how we're actually playing with
others that might be in a different area code, and
you know, you just wonder is that going to affect

(08:16):
I don't know, automatic berths into tournaments, those types of
things that we have no control over right now. But
it doesn't mean that our conference does not have things
to talk about.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
So as we transition from the field of competition to
the meeting rooms, there is still, as you mentioned, one
sport that is still competing and that is outdoor track
and Fields. North Dakota took part in the Summa League
Outdoor Track and Field Championships and Vermilion, now two weeks ago.
The women took third place as a team, the men
took fifth. Some really good performances. We had a number
of champions and a number of medallists over the course

(08:49):
of the three days down in Vermilion. Jaden Keeler and
Kenneth Curry were the meat MVPs on the women's side.
Ethan Thomas on the men's side, was the newcomer of
the year. Out of that, six fighting ocs qualified for
the West Regionals, which will actually take place at this
coming weekend beginning tomorrow in Texas A and M at
College Station in Texas. Again, how this works out, You've
got an East Regional and a West Regional and that's

(09:11):
essentially a qualifier into the NCAA Championships which will be
in June and Eugene. The top twelve individuals will advance,
plus the top twelve relay teams from both sides of
the thing, and a number of our men and women
have a great chance to move on. Jaden Keeler's number
four in the ten k, number twelve in the five k.
Again if the results hold, she would qualify for nationals
in both of those. Kenne Curry is currently number eight

(09:34):
in the hammer throw. Ethan Thomas is number thirteen in
the shot put, and obviously you can have great performances
on the day, so the likes of Frida Gearsdor for
Jersey Finns Dad or Uri Sesca like they could all
still move up. But so cool to see though, our
young men and women having a good weekend in Vermilion,
moving on now to Texas A and M with a
chance to move on to Eugene. Been a really good season,

(09:54):
a great chance to keep it rolling coming up this weekend.

Speaker 2 (09:57):
Just a different vibe though, how when you go into
a meet like at College Station, right, just a different feel,
vibe environment and you know you've got to bring it
on that day and there's a lot of things that
can happen and you're in the moment, and we've seen

(10:19):
a lot of awesome moments for sure.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
One of the things that I think is helpful for
a weekend like this is that Jim Barrenkamp and company,
they've they've gone out to these events that over the
course of the year, a lot of these young athletes
have participated in the regionals before, but even this year,
going on and competing at the Stanford Invite, or competing
at the Brian Clay Invitational in California against a lot
of other top competitors, competing at Drake, et cetera. The

(10:41):
stage won't be too big, but it is a little
different when you are at a venue like that with
the best competition from half of the country going up
against you.

Speaker 2 (10:51):
Correct. I think from a scheduling standpoint, coach Americ Camp's
done a phenomenal job of trying to keep the entire
all everyone in the program. I am engaged, and in
certain weeks we might have multiple things going on in
a week. But I guess I would say it's more
the moment than anything. It's not even the competitors. The

(11:14):
moment of being able to then get onto the next stage,
which is obviously the highest level, and you know, I
think it's going to be awesome, awesome to watch and
certainly a and m will do a great job hosting,
no doubt about it.

Speaker 1 (11:27):
So that's again coming up this weekend, and then Nationals
at Historic Hayward Field and Eugene June eleventh through the fourteenth.
Just fun to watch and fun to keep track of.
So best of luck again to our runners and our throwers.
Coming up this weekend in College Station. A couple other
just housekeeping things from you and d Since the last
time we potted, we now have game times announced for
our home football slate. Yeah, coming up, so fun to see.

(11:49):
Another night game on the way. Potato Bowl will be
against Portland State on the sixth of September. That's a
six o'clock kickoff, and then a couple of three o'clocks
for homecoming against Valpariso on the twentieth of September. Same
story for Youngstown on the eleventh of October, in Indiana
State on the twenty fifth, and then it's a one
o'clock kick for the last two home games of the
regular season against North Dakota State and South Dakota State

(12:10):
in November. If you could just kind of talk through
I know in different years we've seen more uniform times.
This year we have a night game a couple later
afternoon starts in an early afternoon start new coaching staff.
I'm assuming that played a part of being a little
more flexible on things.

Speaker 2 (12:24):
You know, good question. We took a shot last year
playing that one night game against Montana, and I thought
it was I thought it went over pretty well, and
it just happened to be sort of around the same
time that we could do it again this year, so
we thought that that might make sense. I don't think
we want to do night games every single game, but

(12:46):
I think as kind of a one time beginning of
the year when it's beautiful weather makes a whole lot
of sense. Then as we kind of gradually go in
to the fall, that mid afternoon is kind of a
sweet spot for a variety of reasons. Now, happing to
say this, if we don't have hockey at home and
you have the double header where you kind of have
to balance that out. If you don't, you can kind

(13:09):
of do that middle. It's great for the Tailgators, great
for the younger families who have youth sports in the morning,
and so that's what we're trying to get at at
that point in time. Then later in the year, it
just seems logical that you kind of do the traditional
one o'clock kick. So it's a little bit for everybody.

(13:30):
And I think, you know, if I had ten people
in the room, I guarantee you there'll be ten different
thoughts about the times. But we tried to do a
little bit for everyone and in some years, and you
know it better than anybody, having done both football and hockey.
Sometimes there's a balance to all of that as well.

Speaker 1 (13:51):
There are so many factors that go into this, and
as you laid that out, like just the thought process
between whether other events happening on campus, whether it's volley
ball or hockey, to kind of bookend a long day
for your staff, for people to be able to go
in attend more than one event, thinking about people that
have other things going on or have to drive back
to wherever they're going. It's not just an easy decision

(14:13):
to say, yeah, let's all do it at this time.
It's wild to be thinking about games in like October November,
but the fact is the season opener is coming up
in August, which is now not that far away. I know,
on the road at Kansas State and Manhattan coming up
on August the thirtieth, so a little different cadence this year,
just because last year they were all those home games
in a row. The entire month of September was at
the Aleras Center. That's not the norm. This is now

(14:35):
back much more to a road one week home the
next than on the road than at home. And that's
kind of the balance really throughout the regular.

Speaker 2 (14:42):
It is it is. I find it interesting. So, you know,
we do as as we care about obviously our fan base,
our team, our partners mid co obviously being one our
partners on campus. What does that look like, you know,
our other sports. So it is kind of a balance,
and so I think this year we kind of struck

(15:04):
an okay balance. I think it should work out pretty well.
And you're right, it's more of a traditional schedule where
it feels like we're home one weekend, gone the next.
The Kansas State one's interesting. I don't even know if
you know this. Do you know they are playing the
week before.

Speaker 1 (15:21):
In Ireland in Ireland's yeah, I know, So.

Speaker 2 (15:24):
That's I don't know what that means. I just find
it interesting.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
It's a fun wrinkle certainly that they will have had
to make a cross atlantic trip to come back before
they taken the Fighting Hawks back at home. They were
a very good team last year again nine and four. Again,
Chris Cligin has done a great job with that program.
To me, I think this will feel a lot like
last year. You have to go on the road to
a good Iowa State team that wasn't maybe a juggernaut,

(15:50):
but very very solid, is going to be very competitive
in the Big Twelve. It feels like it'll be the
same type of a challenge for Eric Schmidt and company
this year.

Speaker 2 (15:57):
Yeah, I think you know you're right. When you play
in Iowa State or Kansas State, they're gonna always kind
of feels like they're going to play at a level.
And you know, I don't see those teams necessarily beating
themselves per se. And they're always and again you can
say this about a lot of schools, but they're really

(16:18):
good at home, really good at home. They find ways
to get after teams and sometimes I guess maybe they
punch above their weight. Is that Is that a fair
way to say it?

Speaker 1 (16:29):
I would say so. It's a good way, good way
to look at it. Yeah, it'll be a good test
to kick off the Eric Schmidt era at Bill Snyder
Family Stadium coming up on the thirtieth of August, and
then again that home slate starts with a night game
against Portland State for the Potato Bowl the following Saturday.
The news on the hockey front as well, Dan Jackson
naming his associate head coach Matt Snabe was now free

(16:51):
to sign the contract. After finishing up Waterloo season, they
come up one goal in overtime short of winning a
Clark Cup that close. Four years in that share for
the Blackhawks and the USHL, Matt had been an assistant,
a volunteer student assist, and I should say at North Dakota,
former captain of the team, I mean a North Dakota
guy through and through. So the staff gets rounded out
by another really impressive guy with North Dakota roots. Pretty

(17:15):
good hire, I would say, I think that was the consensus.
People were excited about this.

Speaker 2 (17:19):
I'm pretty excited about the coaching puzzle. I think they
all compliment each other very very well. And so coach
maybe's been really impressive, had a really good playing career
of course here at und and then beyond, and so
he's really you know, honed his skills as a coach

(17:40):
and had an incredibly successful four year run in Waterloo
and excited to announce, you know, his arrival back in
Grand Forks. And you know he's worked with Bryn Chiswick
for the last several years as well. So I think
the combination works out great. And so we're excited about

(18:02):
that for sure. And you know, so here we go,
probably for many of our fan base, dropping the puck
can't come soon enough? But can we enjoy some summer
weather first? Can we just enjoy some summer weather?

Speaker 1 (18:15):
Yes, I would agree with you on that. Yes, it
is neat, I think so between Dane Jackson and NAT's
maybe and Dylan Simpson and Bryn Schizzwick, all four North
Dakota coaches now on staff all wore a letter in
their playing career, three of them the Sea and then
Brynn was an A. It's just cool to see that
type of leadership coming back, and all from slightly slightly

(18:36):
different eras everybody maybe either overlap a little bitter there
was just a little bit of a time where they
were either within a year of each other or a
couple of years. But it's just neat to see the
nineties kind of the early two thousands and then the
early twenty tens, then the middle twenty tens with Bryn.
It's just cool. I think that you've got a couple

(18:56):
slightly different eras represented, but guys like you said that
all have a shared connective tissue of the program and
have worked together before. And I don't know, it just
it feels like Dane's done a good job of putting
this together. For sure.

Speaker 2 (19:09):
Yeah, I think so, and uh, you know, we're excited
about it. And I you know, and again I think, uh,
in this era of roster construction that feels like is
continually happening. I think, you know, they're still grinding and
working in regards to that, even for this upcoming year
and then for future years. And I think, uh, that's

(19:29):
the one thing that Brinn has been amazing at is uh,
you know, kind of bringing call it a rolodex of
of you know, potential uh you know U n D
type of players. And uh, I think, you know, he's
seen a lot over the last several years in the
chair that he sat, and uh, we're excited about, you know,

(19:50):
moving forward, figuring out you know, what's next for undie hockey.
What I'd ask our coaches is to think be really
thoughtful about, you know, the type of roster you want
to develop and some of the support that we're able
to provide, which is I think significant here, and you know,
be really conscious about that. And I think, you know,

(20:12):
many of the folks that are coming to play next
year are really excited about being a fighting Hawk, and
I'm excited that they're excited. So so, you know what,
who knows what happens, because whatever you play, games and
things happen, but I think you know, it's it sets
up for a really exciting year.

Speaker 1 (20:34):
Good building blocks being laid with all those programs as
they transition from competitive seasons to the quote unquote non
competitive gearing up for type seasons that everybody's moving into
right now at this point. What other bit of news
from you and these perspective. Just this past week, Memorial
Stadium had a monument that was dedicated and unveiled a
really cool ceremony just outside of the facility to honor

(20:55):
the thirty three un D students who left campus to
fight in World War One, you know, a century go,
and gave their lives in defensive freedom across the world.
Just a special thing.

Speaker 2 (21:04):
And you know, Alex, that was something our developers wanted
to do all UNDI grads and they just felt as
if they wanted to pay homage to, you know, why
Memorial Stadium was here and why it was named and
in somewhat of an interesting way, I think this monument

(21:27):
when you see it in the corner of Columbia and second,
it's so impressive that I would say that not only
has it done its job, it will continue to do
its job over the course of time, and you know
that'll get passed down generation now by generation. And you know,

(21:49):
doctor Armacost was the MC and he does such a
great job of depicting sort of the reasons why you
do these type of things. And as we're potting the
day after Memorial Day, it's almost feels like, you know,
there's reasons why we do what we do and so

(22:09):
and we're lucky to be here. So so kudos to
our developers. They've been awesome and it was a great ceremony.

Speaker 1 (22:16):
It's easy to forget, I think, in the day to
day that there were people that went before us and
who are still serving now to preserve the lives that
we have, the freedom that we have, and you even
forget the fact the stadium is named Memorial Stadium, and
you kind of even glide over just in the day
to day, like why, well why was it called that? Well,
things happens, People sacrificed, and that's why we can play

(22:39):
on this game.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
You know. Weirdly, Alex, I think we all get caught
up in our own day to day and we should,
we should, but sometimes you start thinking about it, Oh,
it's just named Memorial Stadium, and then maybe you don't
go that next step and ask the question why.

Speaker 1 (22:54):
This monument will help to bring lights to that and
remind people when they walk past, or when you come
to go watch a pro, or if you're walking towards
all breck Field and you happen to part on the
other side. Yes, I'll just all the things that that
will do. Just kudos again to the developers and to
the university for making that decision and to put that
out there, because those things should not be forgotten.

Speaker 2 (23:13):
No.

Speaker 1 (23:14):
No, in terms of un D NCAA News, anything else,
bill on your agenda, things that you'd like to discuss
on this final episode of season seven.

Speaker 2 (23:23):
No, because you know we'll flip to the B side
and we'll talk certainly like we always do generally, probably
about soccer first. But you know what I would say, Alex,
so if I can just like combine it before we
really totally flip. If folks are not tracking in England
all the pyramids that they have with leagues, that's what

(23:48):
it feels like. The NCAA is sort of heading to
and I just want to get there. I want to
get there. If there's going to be a Premier league,
get those forty to sixty schools in the Premier League.
Many of us can be in the Championship, which is
the second league, and that's okay as long as the game,

(24:11):
the rules of the game are the same, because as
we've seen, teams in certain leagues can play against the
teams on the top. And so it feels like we're
slowly getting there, but painfully we're not getting there. And

(24:32):
it just maybe I'm just getting older and I'm more impatient,
but it's like it feels like I know where we're headed,
but we're just not getting there.

Speaker 1 (24:44):
It does seem like the endgame to this has been
laid out. Greg Sankie even talked about it yesterday or whenever.
This was like just the discussion of are we ready
to break away from the NCAA and do our own thing.
This is the SEC commissioner, and it does like that
is almost inevitable. At this point. There is so much
money in that top pyramid, that top level, that it's

(25:07):
very difficult to see the likes of teams that are
a step below consistently competing against teams that are having
that have have rosters that are like a fifty million
dollar football roster. Like that's just that's where we're basically
at here at this point. So, yes, I can see
why it would be frustrating that we know we're going

(25:27):
to we know this is going to happen. This is
already happening where we're having this separation between Yes, I
don't want to say haves and have nots, but like
some programs that just simply have way more money and
way more resources than others. So let's just enact legislation
or whatever, you know, change the guidelines to say this
is this is one's here and they're going to do
their thing. Here's a second tier. Doesn't mean they still

(25:49):
can't play each other like this is the this is
the beauty of the FA Cup. You have teams from
the Northern League that are like in the sixth division
that could play at Premier League side if they win
a game or two, and you have this great opportunity
to have a one off between these two teams at
different levels, and you see Goliath fall sometimes to the
slingshot of David. That's what is in the future probably,

(26:10):
But yes, just take it a while to get there.

Speaker 2 (26:12):
Well, and I would say that's right. And there's there's
many folks that sit in the chairs that I sit
in in others that are scared to just say it
out loud. And at the end of the day, you know,
we talk about the nca Tournament, say in basketball, because
that's what binds all of Division one together. And if

(26:35):
it means that we have to play more, date in games,
play in games, that's what they do in the FA Cup,
and then the Premier League teams drop in and play
and it's okay. It's actually okay because when those teams
from the lower divisions have won multiple matches going up

(26:59):
their day dangerous and if you ever get potted at
having to play at their place, that's not easy.

Speaker 1 (27:08):
No, it's not. And it's a great thing for not
to continue this analogy, but it's a great thing for
the lower teams no matter what, either you're hosting Arsenola,
Manchester United, or Chelsea or Liverpool or one of these
massive teams, which is an incredible thing for your fans,
for your fan base to bring those teams. Look what
it was like this year when you and D hosted
Alabama in the Betty Like that was incredible in men's basketball,

(27:29):
the incredible moment in a memory and just about got
the win on that night. On the flip side, it's
also a great boost for those little teams when they
get drawn to go on the road because they get
half the gates, they get the revenue shared with whatever
you guess from a game at Stamford Bridge or Anfield
or Highbury or Old Trafford or whatever, you get that money.

(27:50):
So it's great either way. Either way, this is a win.
It's just there's just some reality that, yeah, there's different
levels to this, and the teams with the most money
and the most resources at the top are just not
going to want to play the smaller teams consistently. They
want to play teams who are their peers and their eyes.
And that's okay, that's all.

Speaker 2 (28:11):
Right, that is okay. But when you have a sport
like hockey where there's just not a lot of schools
that play at a certain level. We have to figure
out what the nuance is to that. So there's balances
to all of this. That's why when folks say, well,
this is just like professional sports, I try to say, no,

(28:31):
it's really not, because you're trying to balance all these
sports and then eventually you're trying to figure out that
is the way our Olympians actually train over the course
of a four year period. Talking about track and field, right,
talking about Jaden and Kenna and doing what they're doing, well,

(28:54):
the bottom line is they're honing their skills throughout universities
in that four year period, not only for Americans but
for the world m.

Speaker 1 (29:06):
It's very true, It's very very true. So that those
are all the things you have to kind of consider.
And the unique thing too, I think about this is
that now with the transfer portal and the rules as
they are, it really is a lot like European soccer
and the fact that you do have this this pipeline
of are you are you a club that kind of
helps move people along, are you kind of in the middle.

(29:27):
You you know that if you have a good season
and you're in a mid stable club, the bigger clubs
are going to come for you. And it's just like
that here and again that's just that's just how it is,
and there's there's not going to be any change to that.
And that's once we accept those things that things will
be better.

Speaker 2 (29:43):
And Alex, it's actually okay. So so and again I
know what are we we're in Uh, we're not in
the A side or B side. We're like in the
A minus side right now. So at the end of
the day, I would would be plus. I do like
to say A but but the real of it is
think about a team like dortmun in Germany. They made

(30:04):
it to the Champions League final last year with a
very thoughtful way of how they do business and you know,
probably better than I do if you go backwards right.
I was talking to Brad Schlassman about this. Who does
follow dortmun Is. I think was it maybe fifteen years ago,

(30:27):
could have been earlier than that. They had some really
financial issues on how they managed their what they've done,
but they've still been successful even in this era of
all these big clubs.

Speaker 1 (30:45):
Yeah, so many of those teams have to make choices
what kind of club are we going to be, What
kind of player are we going to bring board? What
is our niche? Are we the club that will help
develop younger talent. We're gonna have a really good young squad.
There'll be some years where we do hit the heights
and we do make it deep into a champions League,
like by our Lebracusan did last year. They run the

(31:06):
table in the Budhesliga and they make the Europa League final.
And now a lot of those players are being sold
to Liverpool. But it's just unique and their coaches going
on to Real Madrid. But that's okay, that's.

Speaker 2 (31:16):
All right, But that's okay, and that that's where I
think many of us we've just won't accept the fact
that there's a tier or tiering. There's always been tiering,
so like why can't we be like just thinking through
then what's next? But it's always been really hard for

(31:40):
us to figure it out ourselves. And that's where I
don't know. I'm wondering where this all goes. But I
would love to get out of the courts. Be great,
but that's where we are right now.

Speaker 1 (31:54):
Yeah, it's just an interesting debate, I think. So you
mentioned how it is hard I think for people to
accept sometimes where things stands. I think some of it
is like it's hard to accept that, yeah, you're not
you're not one of the top tier teams, like you
don't have the resources of other schools. And there was
the I think what the current format has been really
over the last roughly twenty years. I think just I'm

(32:17):
thinking specifically for our Dakota schools. When the Dakota Schools
made that transition from Division two and the old NCC
to Division one in two thousand and four or two
thousand and eight, there was I think an expectation from
the fan base like all right, we're now in the
top level. You know, we've made that transition to the top.
Now we have the opportunity to play the likes of

(32:38):
whomever Kansas and Duke and Kentucky and whatever else you
want to say, and that sort of thing. And now
I think it's it's hard I think sometimes to feel like, Okay,
now that's going to be taken away, or now we're
in a situation where our players who we've supported that
have come to these particular schools, or these coaches who
have come to these schools and had success, and now
they're leaving, you know, for different opportunit unities a quote

(33:00):
unquote bigger schools. And I think there's just that sense
of like you thought we were moving into this new
era and then it feels like it's being taken away,
or it feels like that outside forces are preventing you
from having the thing that what you felt like was
promised to you. It's hard. It's a hard thing, I
think to kind of wrap your head around sometimes.

Speaker 2 (33:20):
But I would say this having been for a long
time in New England and in the Division two game,
and I would always look at the Dakotas and say,
what are they doing in Division two? I mean, those
are Division I schools dressed up as Division two schools.

(33:42):
And so then once they went to Division one. I
think what ended up happening in the Midwest. And again
I'm a little bit on a soapbox here, but here
we go is I think it really affected other at
that point in time Division I schools because it really
separated out a lot of talent. And so if you

(34:03):
really want to say what has happened, let's just say,
very broadly about Nebraska football, I think the Dakota's happened,
and at the end of the day, we know how
good the Dakotas are in a lot of sports. But
I think you also have to be realistic on where
you are in the pyramid, and so back to the

(34:26):
soccer analogy, you just have to be really thoughtful about
where we are. And I don't know if we're being
that thoughtful and in that realistic as far as where
we need to be. Some of us will be Dorton,
none of us to some degree are going to be Byern,

(34:50):
probably not going to be real Madrid, not at least
in my lifetime. But you'll always point to the Boise
State or the Gonzaga. You're going to point to the
one that has done it over the course of time.
But there's always been little flare shots over time Valpo
Butler Vcu I mean, but not sustainable over time. And

(35:15):
so we just have to think through what do we
want with this thing called college athletics in this country
because it's been awesome, but we are in an inflection
point and we have to figure out what's next.

Speaker 1 (35:29):
I think that's a wonderful way to wrap up year seven,
or at least the side of your seventh phil because
we do have some other stuff to talk about that
is very very important that we're going to get to.
But yeah, I think that's a good way to look
at it. Yeah, very very well said.

Speaker 2 (35:43):
Well, there you go season seven in the books. We
sure hope there'll be season eight. But you know what, Alex,
we never know, so you know what, it's not a cliffhanger,
and we're not saying anything that we don't know. We
plan to be back for season eight, but who.

Speaker 1 (35:58):
Knows nothing guaranteed. We're all day to day, right, everybody's
day to day in this We we are.

Speaker 2 (36:03):
All day to day. That's right. We're all into.

Speaker 1 (36:09):
Well as as promised, let's do the official flip we
were lafway, Let's go all the way over to the
B side because we have i would say, perhaps the
most dramatic, the most significant B side conversation that we've
ever had in seven years. Bill Shaves's soccer club, Tottenham
Hotspur are champions of Europe. You've won a trophy, Bill,

(36:32):
You've won a trophy first time since two thousand and eight,
first European trophy in forty one years. How does it feel?

Speaker 2 (36:42):
First of all, we like to say we're winners, that's
what that's that is it winners in the first the
I is the actual trophy. So that's the So we're
winners start there. Yes, and for those of you who
are still with us, thank you. And so I love

(37:03):
this and I don't know why this happened. So in
the Premier League, the last Sunday of the year, every
team plays at the same time because every spot matters,
and for some years teams are getting relegated, so you

(37:24):
don't want any gamesmanship going on. No hanky panky. So
at the end of the day, all these other tournaments
that are happening normally have been after that Sunday. How
on earth we started we played on a Wednesday prior
to Sunday is beyond me. But somehow we won, right

(37:47):
we won, We won, and we have partied ever since.
So Brighton Brighton, who we played on Sunday, probably had
the biggest layup in the world, not.

Speaker 1 (37:58):
The stiffest of zil distance from Spurs who were flying
back from Billboo Spain after their won. Nothing went over
Man United. You mentioned, by the way, why is it
being played on a Wednesday, Because it's it's the Europa
League build I think that's about all you need to say.
That's Champions League's next week, they get top billing. They
the UEFA had the Women's Champions League final this weekends.

(38:20):
There are just certain rules where hey, things just have
to be spread out. Europa League football has played on
a Thursday throughout the season, like, yeah, why not just
a random Wednesday at the end of May.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
But if Champions League, which inters playing PSG on Saturday,
why wouldn't they play on Sunday?

Speaker 1 (38:36):
Well, because I think UEFA wants that show piece fixture
to be alone. They wanted to stand alone. It's the
last big game of the season. I'm not saying it's
right or wrong, but that's what they've always done. Europa
League's always the week before or at a random time,
not on the same weekend. Part of it, too, is
I think UEFA wants to have I think I think

(38:57):
everybody in that office wants to be there for the
Champions League. Can you imagine if you're in a what
you'r wave of employee or you're Alexander Seffern and you're
running the things, you guys say, hey, you got you
guys got I'm going to I'm going to Munich. You
guys got to go to Bilbao and take care of that.
Like I think, there's just the optics of it all
that they want to make sure that this is so.

Speaker 2 (39:17):
We the pod was was tracking on this for a
long period of time, that that Tottenham, in its infinite wisdom,
could be the first team ever to finish as low
as you could in the league table, not to get promoted, demoted, relegated,

(39:38):
but also win a pretty significant trophy and then get
into the top tournament the following year and sure as
he could happen.

Speaker 1 (39:48):
Pretty incredible. It's been fun to see, just like the
the contrasts in Spurs' league form, it's pretty awful. I think,
did you twenty seven games share? Was that what it was?

Speaker 2 (40:02):
Twenty seven lost, twenty two games lost ten of thirty eight.

Speaker 1 (40:06):
So this horrible run, as you said, seventeenth in the league.
You literally can't be worse than that and stay in
the league. Like the three teams below them are all
being relegated to the championship. And yet, as we have
talked about at length, there came a point where clearly
Ange Pasta Coaglu and Spurs as a whole said it
makes no sense for us to give any credence to

(40:28):
the league. All we care about is moving on in
Europe because that's our opportunity for the Champions League riches
that now they have earned because of that one nothing
win over man YOUU.

Speaker 2 (40:39):
That game was a sliding windows moment where you know
you're playing a Manchester United team with the history of
man U New York Yankees. Right at the end of
the day, one team wins who they were sixteenth. Now,
maybe not because.

Speaker 1 (40:56):
They want to match I think is what they've slid
up to.

Speaker 2 (40:59):
Similar but the ability and given the different schedule now
with the Champions League with more games, it's a minimum
minimum seventy five million dollars minimum, could be more. But
the other piece of it is the fact that your

(41:22):
roster may want to continue on with you because you're
playing Champions League football. So there's just a lot of
pieces to the puzzle.

Speaker 1 (41:30):
The biggest one might be your manager, and that's what
I want to ask now. There's been so many think
pieces over the last couple of days over what to
do with ange Pasta Coaglu. I think Jonathan Wilson, who's
like the foremost soccer historian of our time Pend a
very long form piece the other day and basically entitled
like the conundrum of Ange, what do you think the

(41:51):
club should do? Do you do you persist and give
it a go for a third season? The guy just
won you a European Championship or do you say thank
you for this? But we did still finish seventeenth in
the league this year and we maybe need someone new
with Champions Football on the way. Where do you stand?

Speaker 2 (42:08):
Yeah? So, as Alex said, there's thirty eight matches in
a year, Tottenham lost twenty two of them. They went
eleven twenty two and five, so one a third of
their matches. Not great, not great. Twenty twenty two losses
in any other Premier League season since what two thousand

(42:31):
and one would have got you relegated. This is the
one year it didn't happen because the three three teams
that came up last year were not great, and they
were not great. You knew in January they weren't great.
So actually Tottenham had enough points in January to really
discard the league, which they did. Is interesting. Yeah, So

(42:55):
what's fascinating about it is? So I'm going to answer
the question, but I will say this many teams cannot
play in Europe and in the league simultaneously. We've seen
it with Newcastle, We've seen it with a lot of
other teams. Right Napoli had won it two years ago,

(43:19):
won it again this year, couldn't do it last year.
So you've got these other teams right now that just
don't have the depth of their roster to figure it out.
When Ange was not in Europe, he finished fifth, made
a decision, so that got us to Europe. Then figured out, well,

(43:40):
we're not going to get relegated, and so we better
put our guys in bubble wrap and have them in
Europe midweek and if we can win this thing, we've
done something that no other team has done in seventeen years,
won a significant trophy first time in forty one years
in Europe and go to Champions League. You gotta bring

(44:01):
him back. Yeah, I mean, it's not even a question. No,
I mean not even a question. And when you saw
the parade on Friday, which again forty eight hours before
their last whole match, which didn't go well. I will
just tell you this did not go well. And I
don't know why we didn't play our U twenty one team,

(44:22):
but it did not go well. Those guys love him,
so you let it rip.

Speaker 1 (44:31):
That's where I stand through and I regret what happens.

Speaker 2 (44:33):
It doesn't go great, then you figure it out from there.

Speaker 1 (44:37):
I think there have been a lot of people that
have said, like, is this just Eric Tenhag with Manchester
United all over again? Where they won the They were
going to get rid of him, but then he won
the FA Cop They're like, wow, we can't, we can't
sack him. He just want us a trophy. And then
but clearly they didn't want him. The board was the
board wanted to get rid but they couldn't. And then
two months into the season, after he's bought all these

(44:58):
Dutch players, then they were like, yeah, this is terrible.
Then they let him go. But I think you're right.
I think this feels different. This is kind of a
guy that has really stuck in his heels and has
become I don't know, his personality is so unique. Again,
this is the first Australian manager to ever manage in
the Premier League. He's the first, I believe it was

(45:19):
the first non European or Argentinian to win a European trophy.
Like it is hard to not come from Europe or
from a major South American hotbed, to have success and
to be accepted into European football. And the fact that
he's been able to do this as you, I mean
really like a thin squad that is young and was

(45:39):
banged up all season. It is a very impressive feat.
Some would posit because Champions League teams now don't drop
into the Europa League as they used to do. So
if you got third place in your Champions League group,
you didn't move on in the Champions League, but you
moved into Europa League play during the knockout phase. A
lot of times those teams would just parachute in and

(46:00):
then win the competition like that was kind of how
it went. That's not the case this year because they
expanded the field and all the different things. But it's
still impressive, Like you still had to go through and
win games on the road in various places, the Arctic Circle, etc.
To do what you had to do. And I don't know,
I just think, yes, it would be silly, I think
a little bit at this point just to abandon after

(46:22):
the fact that he did have a really strong start
to the year his first year. He won you a Trophy.
It did finish fifth last year, which is nothing to
shake a stick out like. It's fifth place in the
Premier League for Spurs. They had the seventh largest budget
in the league this last year, so fifth would be
punching above their weight. Seventeenth is punching a little bit
below it. But weird circumstances give them another try. Who

(46:44):
else are you going to bring in? That's the other question.

Speaker 2 (46:47):
Well, it's interesting, I don't It would be one thing
if you felt like it was mutual or the team
wasn't loving who he was. But there's too many times
where some of the young guys that said it was
a call with Ange that got me to the Spurs,

(47:09):
love the project, loved whatever this was. I don't know.
I just to me, if you're lucky enough to win
that match, which they always say the Championship League playoff
final is the most lucrative in soccer. This one was
pretty lucrative too, And at the end of the day,

(47:31):
that's kind of to some degree his roster, like, why
wouldn't you just keep going, I mean, at this point
in time and then figure out because they have enough
guys right now where they're gonna have to try to
figure out how to move on. They're gonna be lucky
enough to like they've got like five contracts that are
coming to its end, so you kind of move on
from those. Timo Werner's regular on. There's a few of

(47:53):
a Fraser Forrester, there's a few that just they're done.
But at the end of the day, there's others that
they're gonna have to figure that out and you just
have to do it now. And if you're if you're
in the moment where you know who you gonna get
number one. This is where it happened a couple of
years ago where they got Nunia and they kind of

(48:13):
ended up with him and they didn't like the way
he played and he so he wasn't at the right
place for him, even though he had a heck of
a year with Forest this year. So so at the
end of the day, yeah, I think you just move
on and uh and see what happens. I mean, I
don't know, Hey, I've been angen the whole time. Derek

(48:35):
Derek my Son has always been an out for a while.
Then he's like now he's back to an Jen and
but he thinks there's some that are just stallwart ang outs.

Speaker 1 (48:46):
And there probably always will be, even even if through
the bumps in the road next year seems to be
someone that has earned another shot with this club that
he just is taken to European Laurie, I would agree
with you.

Speaker 2 (48:58):
Now you can also say that though too, and you
probably you did mention it. You're going to have to
make a decision. Hey, if we're going on for season three,
which is my reference on the A side, is season
three of A show versus season two. Probably the worst
thing that happened was what man you did, because now

(49:20):
their manager is in a really tough spot and it's
not his players. Wasn't his players when he came in,
didn't have a summer to work with them prior to
the year. That's probably the worst of all situations.

Speaker 1 (49:35):
Right, That's about as bad as it gets, because basically,
you had a guy that you wanted to sack, you didn't,
but everybody kind of knew you did, and you would
lined up people to take his job, but then ultimately
decided to stick. So he was sort of a lame
duck manager to begin with. Then you bring in Ruben
Amram in this case, who was kind of the hot

(49:55):
young coaching prospect that Liverpool nearly signed. Although, to give
Liverpool credit, they knew that Amram wanted to play a
back three and had had some different ideas about the
type of football he wanted to play, and they said,
you know what, I don't think that your ideas fit
our personnel the best. So even though you're a really
great coach, we're going to pass and find someone that

(50:16):
suits what we have at our disposal because if you
come here, it's probably not going to work, or it's
going to be like a really long term project because
we're going to have to get wingbacks in Hi, we're
going to have to change the style. Man United, We're
just like, yeah, sure, come on in in November or
whenever he joins and try and make sense of this.
I mean, I like it, because who likes Manchester United?
If you don't like Manchester United, they are very fun

(50:38):
to see fail. They're in such a terrible spot because
they've just gone through manager after manager after manager, and
they keep putting the next guy in a worse position
as the guy before, and then there's no patience for
them to try and fix it because the results aren't
good and you need to win him when you're Manchester United,
so they're going to get someone else in there, and
it's just a bad cycle bill.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
So stylistically, it would be like in a sense being
in a spread offense in football and then trying to
play a power running game and you just don't have
the actual roster to do it mid stream mid stream
that is hard.

Speaker 1 (51:14):
Now.

Speaker 2 (51:15):
The thing that's interesting to me and I as I
was watching and throughout the last two years, and he
obviously you're talented to be at that level, You're you're
an amazing uh, you know, you're accomplished all of that stuff.
He's an amazing order. But at the end of the day,
obviously you know he's gotten you know, uh, stubborn on

(51:38):
certain things. But I think he's actually learned some things too.
In Europe we played fairly and i'll call it defensive
at times too, and that that is something I think
he can bring to the prem which he's not really
done at some point because he went all in on
trying to win this trophy, which actually has happened, and

(52:01):
you know, the chance that the level of between winning
and losing the difference is so slight. I mean, there
was one play by one of our center backs. That
was just phenomenal.

Speaker 1 (52:16):
Mickey Vanderven was like, I don't know, five feet off
the grounds and was able to bicycle kick the ball
out of the net before it crossed Like that's I've
never seen a goal line clearance like that before to
preserve the one nothing lead. Ever, it was incredible. Ever,
people were joking that that's going to be the statue
in front of the Notspirs Stadium.

Speaker 2 (52:36):
It would have to be. It would have to be.
It would have to be. So, you know, all that
to be said, I think you give them another year
in a way you go. But hey, congratulations on Liverpool.
That was awesome Liverpool. Again, no one's gonna feel sorry
for Liverpool ever. But at the end of the day,
you've won enough trophies. But that one was cool because

(52:58):
the fans had not seen it five years ago during
the COVID year And uh, pretty cool.

Speaker 1 (53:05):
Right, it was very cool. Yeah, it was a really
neat thing for them to do it in year one
of a new manager after they had had this legend
there for the previous decade and they were only able
to win the league once under Yurgen Klop And like
you said, it was under circumstances where the fans couldn't celebrate.
I think people kind of wondered, Gosh, when are they
ever gonna get another opportunity like this man city is unbeatable.

(53:29):
We have a new regime coming in. They didn't sign
anybody this offseason, Like it just felt like this was
going to be a tough year. I think a lot
of people thought they're going to maybe have to fight
for top I mean, fight very hard for top four.
People kind of were picking them anywhere between third and
sixth maybe, and then to have the season like they
did under Ernest Slott was incredible. Yeah, it's awesome scenes.
The last handful of days is gonna be one that

(53:51):
side lit Spurs expense and that was just a celebration
all day. The match against Crystal Palace was neat because
Crystal Palace had won the FA Cup. So you had
just these two these It was a little similar to Spurs.
You had these two teams where the result does not
matter whatsoever. You're still the fans are still celebrating previous victories.
They gave each other a guard of honor, which I've

(54:12):
never seen before. It was very cool. Yes, for the
City of Liverpool and for the Liverpool fan base and
for me personally, yes, it was a very a very
enjoyable year. I loved the journey with this team.

Speaker 2 (54:23):
So I would say this and I find it interesting.
So Liverpool, they they had gotten ahead around the track
a little bit, and then Arsenal, who was the number
two team kind of wasn't winning some matches. They weren't
getting threes three points and so at the end of
the day Liverpool was in pretty good shape. They ended

(54:44):
up clinching a while ago. And when I say a while,
I think they had four more matches. They literally haven't
won since that, and so it's like, you know, you
think Tottenham was going to win on Sunday. I mean,
Liverpool hasn't won since they beat Tottenham, right, So at
the end of the day, once you've already crossed the
finish line, you've crossed the finish.

Speaker 1 (55:05):
Line exactly, and everyone's fine with that. The levels of motivation, sometimes, yes,
can really affect the outcome when and when all things
are created equal and you've got these elite athletes going
against each other. If the guy across the way or
the woman across the way has something to play for,
tangibly and you don't. That's a real thing. And we
experienced that as Liverpool and in Spurs and some of

(55:27):
these other teams who had kind of done what they
had to do and are basically an off season mode already.
We've seen some of that lately.

Speaker 2 (55:33):
But so we talk about a lot of this on
the B side, and you know, I try to bring
it to the chair that I have too, because I
know how important you know, you and d athletics and
our and our programs are to folks. And if you
haven't watched it, I would recommend you watching it. But

(55:54):
at the pregame before the Liverpool Crystal Palace match, and
there was a number of teams that had won trophies
for the first time in many years and for some ever,
and that was Crystal Palace. And if you haven't seen
Rebecca Lowe from NBC talk about how important that was

(56:15):
for her to be with her family and her dad
in the stands to beat Manchester City. It's pretty emotional
and at the end of the day she said, there's
three days in her life. It's when she married, her husband,
had her son, and when Crystal Palace won this trophy.
I mean it's amazing.

Speaker 1 (56:36):
That's very cool. It's because again, it's like anything. It's
like supporting you and D hockey are you? And D
the football are you? And to women's basketball or whatever.
When you've got a team that you've invested in, you've
been along for the ride, you've been a fan since
you were a little kid, like Rebecca was for Crystal Palace.
It just matters so much. It's the part of the
fabric of your life, and you have highs and lows,

(56:58):
but you get to share those experiences, hopefully with your
family or your friends or the support that surround you.
It's just a thing that can devastate you on the
one hands and bring you down, but the highs are
so high, and they're so good, and they're so worth it.
And that's again another reason why sports are special. And
obviously for the supporters and certainly for the people that

(57:18):
are in between the lines playing, it's really special.

Speaker 2 (57:21):
And I've watched a lot of this was past week
or so, and we talk about the pyramid. All the leagues.
They all have their final playoffs to figure out who's
the final team to go up to the next one.
And if you haven't watched Sunderland until I die. Sunderland

(57:42):
has made it back up to the Premier League and
they will play against Newcastle United first time in a
decade where that's a bitter rival, but Newcastle for the
first time in many many years, has hoisted a trophy
this year. And so there's just a lot of pieces
that puzzle. And you know, when you follow a team,

(58:03):
you know it unites you and it unites the base,
and you know, I don't know. Sometimes I went across
the pond about fifteen years ago to see all this
because it's important. All of it's important, and so I
don't know, it's exciting moving forward. Who knows what's going

(58:24):
to happen this summer. It's like the transfer portal, Who
knows what's going to happen? Right, You're taking guys from
lever Cusen. Apparently they're pretty good.

Speaker 1 (58:33):
As far as I know, I think, so Real Madrid
is taking Liverpool players like this is just this is
the the arrows, the ups and downs and the acrosses,
et cetera. This is just how this works. So it'll
be fun to watch and we'll see what these teams
look like come August, which is right around the corner. Really,
they have a pretty short offseason.

Speaker 2 (58:52):
So the last thing, last thing, last thing before we
pot off. So here we go. This upcoming weeks, as
Alex said, is the Champions League Final, so it's inter
Milan against PSG Paris Saint Chamant. Question for you, whoever
wins supposedly plays the Europa League Finals winner in August.

(59:19):
Is that a real trophy?

Speaker 1 (59:21):
If that?

Speaker 2 (59:21):
If that, if you win, would you consider that a
real trophy or no, you would consider it a trophy,
you wouldn't consider it a major trophy.

Speaker 1 (59:31):
There is a difference, yes, on the hierarchy. The Supercopa
would be like you know, I mean, it's happening at
the beginning of the season. It's a bit like the
Community Shield or the Charity Shield as they used to
call it in England, where you have the FA Cup
winner play the Premier League winner. It's a cool thing
to get to be a part of. It's not something
you're going to do an open bus parade.

Speaker 2 (59:52):
For Where are we playing this match, by the way,
that's any idea.

Speaker 1 (59:56):
It's a neutral site. I do not know. I do
not know. I can look it up.

Speaker 2 (01:00:00):
That's very important. I know we're playing.

Speaker 1 (01:00:03):
In it is at the Stadio Foruly, which is in
that's yeah, in Udine, in Italy. So there you go.
So you're in the north of Italy. Yeah, that's the
home of Vicario. This is the Vicario's hometown. How about that?
So your goalkeeper going that, assuming he's still your goalkeeper,

(01:00:23):
going back home for the for the Super Cup against
PSG or answer? Exciting stuff there, Bill excited.

Speaker 2 (01:00:31):
So I'm actually probably rooting for PSG because inter would
be a hole match. Okay, so you're scouting for me,
all right, you're already giving me this, all right? I
like it. I like it.

Speaker 1 (01:00:42):
I think whoever, whomever you face, it will be a
tough assignment gift competition. Answer is an old team. A
lot of their players are veterans of the process. PSG
is a young team. This is their first foray into
a competition like this.

Speaker 2 (01:00:58):
Who do you think wins?

Speaker 1 (01:01:00):
I would say, based on what I have seen between
these two, PSG is kind of like the hot new thing.
They've kind of shed the Galactico experience of recent years.
Killing Embappe is no longer with the team, and they
just feel care free. It's like all the burdens of
PSG losing dramatically. It's just new and so it's it's

(01:01:22):
a little hard. I think they are the favorites in
this competition. They have some of the best young players
in the world. Inser just have this sense about them though,
like these old war dogs that are just what is
the movie with Sylvester Stalon where everybody got together for
one last It feels like they are the expendables. This

(01:01:43):
is kind of what Inser milanel and so I think
it's a coin flip. I mean, it's it's youth verse experience.
It's Italy versus France. It's gonna be a great match
and it's in Munich. I don't know who's going to
come out on something. I expect it to be low scoring,
a cag like one nothing type of fair, probably because
that's just how these things are. But again we had

(01:02:04):
we had inserved seven Barcelona six recently in the semi finals,
which are always supposed to be cagy. So never know, Yeah, it.

Speaker 2 (01:02:11):
Should be really really good, no doubt about it. Well, hey,
I can't thank you enough Alex for everything that you
do and in mid co and appreciate you, you know,
being a part of the pod and like I said,
you're the engine that makes it run, and we are
able to talk about things that are important in more
long form. And you know, we're hoping that season eight

(01:02:33):
is right around the corner.

Speaker 1 (01:02:35):
Yeah, that's the hope. That's the hope. So no, Bill,
it's always a pleasure getting to do this with you.
I've really enjoyed another season having these conversations with you,
and yes, looking forward to many and more to come,
whether whether officially or unofficially in the future. So we'll
keep you posted on what's coming down the pike. But yes,
on behalf of Bill On, behalf of alex Soccer Johnson
who just had a baby. By the way, shout out
to Alec. Congratulations to him and sig on the birth

(01:02:57):
of their first child. So Paul Paulli rawlon whose Arsenal
women just won the UEFA Champions League, finally first English
team to win it. An English team had never won
that competition. They beat Barcelona.

Speaker 2 (01:03:10):
The Barsa women were good.

Speaker 1 (01:03:12):
Huh, incredible, Like the Spain has kind of been the
best team on the world stage. Women's World Cup Champs
in twenty twenty three, and most of that team was
from Barcelona, And it's just these legends that's finally got
taken down one nothing so pretty wild, but yes. Thanks
again to Paul and to Alec for all of their
work throughout the year to get the pot up and
going and all those sorts of things and posted on

(01:03:33):
social media so you can listen. Thanks as well to you,
Bill for allowed me to be a part of this.
It's been a pleasure.

Speaker 2 (01:03:38):
Appreciate you.

Speaker 1 (01:03:40):
Appreciate you have a great summer. To you and your
fam enjoy hopefully a little bit of downtime before things
get crazy again after all the meetings wrap up. To
all our listeners, thanks again for being a part of
this journey once again this year. You enjoy a lovely
offseason and we will talk before too long. Thanks again.
It's the Bill Shapes Podcast, Year seven into books from
the Proximate pot Scalps in the Proximate posting pot scating

(01:04:07):
the props in their proximating hospitals.