SEC, ACC, NWSL, Super League, Gardner Webb, MLS, ATLUTD-CLB: SDH AM 9.9.25

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Cener're out of Sdham. John here you there, Thanks for
dropping by, as you always do. We're stacked and there's
news in addition to being stacked. So it's a full
show across a lot of different things. So here's the
guest rundown, and then we'll get into the topics outside
of the guests, and the guests may drift into the
topics and so on and so forth. We got Casey

(00:49):
D coming in at nine point fifteen ish and I think,
like I said, we might set a record for leagues
discussed when we have a guest in on a segment,
because with Casey D, we're talking college, we're talking USL Championship,
we're talking USL Super League, and we're talking in WSL,

(01:10):
which lends us an ear and an opening into a
deal that happened in the overnight that involves actually, as
Karma would have it, or as the Circle would have it,
one of the teams that CACD covered on the weekend.
So we'll get into that with CACD AFTERKCD, it is
Scott Wells, the head coach of Gardner Webb. We'll discuss

(01:32):
their win in Morgantown and their season to date and
take a peek at the roster and how things are
up there at Gardner Webb and Boiling Springs, North Carolina.
That's our number one, our number two. We get into
the news a little bit because you had a dismissal.
I don't know if you want to call it a sacking.
Seems kind of rough. You had a dismissal in the

(01:54):
Premier League and a new manager named before we came
on the air this morning at Nottingham Form get into
that story. We have also the story of Independent. If
you saw that video or heard about the video yesterday
when we got into the discussion about the Copasuit Americana,
and we have followed Independent along to this particular point yesterday.

(02:18):
The club release is a video and they read a
prepared statement, and so we'll get into that. So you
have that, you have Manchester City and APT that we
have to get into. So Nuno, the NWSL, Independent and
Cobasuit Americana. It is Manchester City and APT and anything
else going on that we might have missed leading into

(02:42):
the morning.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Ten thirty.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
Chris Dorrin, play by play voice for Columbus Crew, is
going to join us and we're gonna start our opposition
research leading into the weekend, get the early thoughts of
maybe the what the vibe is in Columbus with the
US M and T taking on Japan Tonight.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
We'll catch up with about that.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
And there was a bummer on Chris's two hundred and
eighty character feed yesterday about one of the local players
that impacts maybe how they look on the weekend. So
we'll get the lowdown on crew with Chris, find out

(03:21):
about the break.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Was it a good time to break? Was it not?
Do you want to have momentum in a street fight?

Speaker 1 (03:26):
Those kinds of things will kind of break down the
crew roster and figure out what to expect coming in
this weekend for the matchup against Atlanta United. So that'll
be at ten thirty, and then I'm sure that there'll
be other things that will break as we continue to
go forward here this morning. So that's the rundown, So CACD,
Scott Wells News, Chris Dorin more news, and then we're

(03:48):
out the door rundown as we have it for the
remainder of the week. Remember tonight at seven o'clock, if
you're close to Emery University, go to the Woods Library
and you can catch up with Jason his continuing lecture
series having to do with Atlanta being Soccer City USA.
It's a discussion on Emory University's place within it and

(04:11):
catching up with both the men's and women's head coaches
for Emory University. So that is seven o'clock tonight at
the Woodrof Library at Emory, and so Jason will continue
that cyclical quarterly lecture series about Atlanta Soccer City leading
up to the World Competition when everybody comes to this

(04:31):
hemisphere next year. So that is something that the next
edition of that is tonight seven o'clock with Jason over
at Emory. Tomorrow it is Tyler nine fifteen and hopefully
the busiest man in the Northeast, Dillon Butler at ten.
Then on Thursday, right now, it's the Power Hour Nino
and Nico from ten to eleven oh five will break

(04:52):
down everything going on in qualifying and Cono Ball. We'll
talk about that with Nino. Nico will get you ready
for the weekend. Probably the backlash of what happened yesterday
with the announcement of the additional matches for Luis Suarez
and for Stephen Lenhart. So we'll get into that this morning,

(05:13):
but then on Thursday kind of dive into it and
see if things have sorted themselves out in the Pacific
Northwest as we kind of move forward, and then we're
going to catch up with Dan Orlowitz a day later
then anticipated, So that'll run in Friday Show, and that'll
be the post mortem for this particular window where Japan's
national team is concerned in the matchup tonight against the

(05:34):
USM and T. We'll get into all of that with
Dan on Thursday night, our time, and it'll run in
Friday Show in addition to hopefully our friends from Beyond
Goals mennering at nine thirty and our friends at Major
League Soccer at ten. So that's the rundown for the week.
That's the rundown for the week. So busy, busy times,
no real shock that it is busy, busy, busy, and

(05:54):
it's good to be busy and having a whole bunch
of stuff to talk about. Morning Abbey, Morning, David, Morning, Ricky, Morning,
Nicks and yeah that also Nick says something to discuss
that was brought up this morning. So Ray Hudson hanging
up the microphone. He announced it this morning on the

(06:15):
satellite radio, and it was a big article by Richard
Ditsch in The Athletic for those of you that subscribed
to that, and it was a breakdown of how he
kind of came into things with gold TV, moved over
to b N and became this combination of Lightning, Rod
and Comet all at the same time. So Ray Hudson

(06:37):
hanging him up, I think at the age of seventy.
But and Ray is one of those that is polarizing.
I'm not going to I'm not gonna fib up about that.
And I don't think I'm talking out of school that
with Ray, you either dug him or you didn't. And
then he was able to with Messy as his muse,
as Ditsche referred to it this morning, carry that over

(06:57):
to the early seasons with Messi and seeing friends down
in Fort Lauderdale. So Ray Hudson one of the voices
of the game hanging them up after this year. So
that's the the other piece of news this morning that
that Nix has brought to the table. And Abby, this
is probably prevailing wisdom. You're not alone in this. Three

(07:18):
matches was not enough for Suarez. And like I said
at this morning, as we go wasting no time. We
are wasting no time. I don't even know if that
qualifies as opening kickoff, just blowing through everything that's going
on this morning.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
So we'll see where. We'll see what CACD has.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
On on her on her mind and on her plate,
because it's like ninety eight different leagues that she actually
called matches in last week. So we'll bring in ca
c D and ask the question, CA c D. How
you be where you be?

Speaker 3 (07:48):
Oh, I'm back home.

Speaker 4 (07:50):
I just got back yesterday.

Speaker 3 (07:54):
I'm a little disheveled this morning, and.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
Look, I'm always disheveled.

Speaker 3 (07:59):
So it's all getting a little sick.

Speaker 4 (08:01):
So if you hear my voice, I might have pushed
it a little bit too far this past weekend, but we.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
Got it done, so man.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
And one of the one of the things before we
get into the games, I do want to I do
want to ask you this as someone who is navigating
all these different leagues, all these different teams, all these
different things. Break down your weekend, I guess start with
the start with the matches that you called, and break

(08:29):
down your travel and your week and how you got
through the other side of it.

Speaker 4 (08:34):
Okay, I will just go through last Thursday, I had
UNC versus Alabama game that was here locally in Chapel Hill,
so I had to travel the very long trek of
two miles to the stadium, so that was nice.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
Had that on UNC's campus.

Speaker 4 (08:52):
I flew out Friday about noon to Fort Lauderdale. Had
a Friday night broadcast it was the USL Championship. Then
I had a Saturday night broadcast which was Spokane versus
for Lauderdale United of the USL Super League. Then I
had two on Sunday, starting at two o'clock and five o'clock.

(09:14):
I had another Super League game Lexington Brooklyn and then
Angel City Gotham in WSL. And then I flew back
at seven am on Monday morning, so yesterday, so.

Speaker 3 (09:27):
Probably why I'm not feeling too great.

Speaker 4 (09:29):
Got a little scratchy throat, got a little sneezing going on,
but we got through.

Speaker 2 (09:33):
They were a lot of fun, uh huh.

Speaker 1 (09:35):
And that's why you're one of the hardest working people
in show business, and that's why we try to bring
you in to break all this stuff down. And so
let's go ahead and start at the beginning of the
batting order and talk about the two mile drive it's
still non conference play and trying to figure out, okay,
where are we as we go into conference play? Takeaways

(09:57):
from Alabama and North Carolina as they showed up for
you and then decided to leave.

Speaker 4 (10:04):
I'll be honest, I was really nervous for the Tar
Heels in this game. I think Alabama has a lot
of really good attacking players. They like to press from
the front. I thought they were going to try to
catch them off guard and transition. But UNC showed up
to play. They won four zero. They looked the most
fluid attacking wise I had seen, and it was really

(10:25):
more about you and C looking at a certain standard,
not Alabama looking bad. I could tell Alabama still had
a really great team, but on the night you and
C just looked very comfortable in possession. They were much
more dangerous than the final third.

Speaker 5 (10:41):
Weeks ago, you.

Speaker 3 (10:42):
And I spoke about that.

Speaker 4 (10:43):
I said, they've got some really good things going, but
the final third just isn't dangerous.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
It's not clicking. This game it finally did.

Speaker 4 (10:50):
There were some great passes in behind, some good finishing,
and if you don't have that on a certain day,
that game could be a lot closer. It ended up
being a four zero win for UNC over Alabama. But
it was a really good performance honestly from both sides.
And the reason I say that is because then Alabama
goes in to play Duke on the weekend and ties Duke,

(11:11):
so we know Alabama is a very good team. But
UNC just had a really good night, really good performance.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
Sec Offensive player of the Week Vandy forward Alli Bowlig
from Acon, South Carolina gets the big goal for Vandy
in their win over number sixteen Georgetown Thursday night.

Speaker 2 (11:27):
Now get this, this was.

Speaker 1 (11:29):
Something I did not know sideline for three years due
to injury. First career goal for Ali Bowlig for Vandy
and their win over Georgetown, gets the winner just before
the half as they get their first top twenty five
wins since twenty twenty two. On the flip side of that,
keeper Union Jess will be happy to hear about this.
Defensive Player of the Week Bandy keeper Sarah Royd Delco.

(11:52):
She got the winning pair of shutouts against Georgetown in
Middle Tennessee. Freshman of the Week Alabama keeper Maddy maddiymn
Goo freshman from puyat Puyallup, Washington from the Poloose four
crucial saves, limiting number three Duke to just one goal.
Second time this year Duke has been limited to just
one goal, as they've scored multiple goals in for their
five previous matches. So Alabama shuts Duke down. And that's

(12:14):
your your run down of your players of the week
for September eighth in the SEC standings as we have
them right now, and provided that John could actually, oh,
I don't know, hit the right button and you know,
actually show things the way that they're supposed to be.

Speaker 3 (12:30):
Yeah, too much, John, Yes, it.

Speaker 1 (12:32):
Is absolutely true right now. Oklahoma unbeaten seven oh to one,
Tennessee six oho to one. Vandy has now won three
in a row. They're six and one overall. Mississippi State
KLANGA has won three in a row. They're five and one.
South Carolina six one and one. Ole miss has now
won four in a row after losing after not getting
a win in their first one, so they're at four

(12:54):
and one. Bama has now drawn, so that's an interesting
streak at five to one and one. Kentucky's sixth in two.
A and M's three one and three. Auburn's on the
north side of four winds. George's got four wins, everybody
down to Texas, who's two four and one right now,
everybody in the SEC, they're at five hundred or above

(13:15):
when it comes to their non region, non region, your
non conference schedules so far.

Speaker 2 (13:19):
I mean, this is kind of what we expected with
the SEC.

Speaker 4 (13:21):
True it is, and I think it's even more than
potentially expected from a top to bottom performance through the SEC.
We always expect it to be a good conference, but
I think that they're performing at a very high level
all the way across the board. Tennessee had that tie
with you Memphis, which I think if you don't follow
women's college soccer very much, you could they acquires Tennessee

(13:42):
tie in Memphis. But Memphis is a perennial conference winner.
They go into the NCAA tournament and perform very well.
So that was actually a very hard test for Tennessee
in a lot of ways, just based on the style
of play of how Memphis handles that type of opposition.
But Oh Miss as well. I'm actually in Oxford in
about ten days for a game Ole Miss Georgia, so.

Speaker 3 (14:03):
I'm on the road again.

Speaker 4 (14:04):
So in about ten days from now, I'm kind of
like fingers crossed that they both keep winning, because I
think that's gonna be a really nice matchup in Oxford.

Speaker 2 (14:12):
ACC.

Speaker 1 (14:13):
On the women's side, you've got Duke unbeaten, Notre Dame unbeaten,
Virginia unbeaten. They're all five ozho to one out of
the blox. Notre Dame has scored twenty two goals, they
have given up three. That is not the largest margin
that we're going to talk about here in a sec
Florida state at four oh and one, they've only given
up one goal. They've scored twenty. Louisville continues. They're now
won six in a row. They're seven and one. Their

(14:35):
goal difference is plus thirty three. They have scored thirty
seven and given up only four. Stanford not far behind
at plus twenty five. At thirty and five, Miami, the dirty, rotten,
cheating scoundrels from the University of Coral Gables are five
to one and one.

Speaker 2 (14:51):
Wake at five to one and one.

Speaker 1 (14:52):
North Carolina, Your heels are six and two with a
goal difference of plus nineteen. SMU is on the north
side of five hundred, so is BC and Syracuse. They've
won four pits one four. Virginia Tech's one four, Clemson three,
one and three the only teams that are below five
hundred in non conference call at three to one and
four at NC State and one five and two. What
about the ACC on the women's side.

Speaker 4 (15:14):
Well, one of the things I thought was really important
I got to talk about my tar heels was the
shutout piece. I was talking about it on the Alabama
call because they have two sophomores, two freshmen, and my
biggest question for them was against really good talent in
defending transition, could they stay focused enough at the highest
level and so getting two shutouts in a row, well,
actually more than that, I think. I don't know if

(15:34):
it was two in a row, but might be three.
I think that was really important for them as they
go into ACC play. But the ACC top to bottom,
high high performing Virginia, as we always know, is very good.
My question mark is on them, can they turn the
possession that they have and they really show that a
non conference play into conference play, but also the dangerous

(15:57):
final third play. We all always have a lot of
respect for what UVA can do from a ball retention perspective.
Now it's about can you do that against the highest
level competition? And have that turn into goals. And so
that's what I want to keep a.

Speaker 1 (16:10):
Watch on men's side, just in the interest of equal time.
They haven't played as many and they haven't scored as many.
So a Louisville unbeaten at four, to oh Clemson at
three to zero to one. Cowl's got three wins. N
C State's got three wins. North Carolina's got three, Virginia's
got three, Wake has three, Stanford's four and one. Everybody
once again battling in and around five hundred. Then you

(16:33):
get to Notre Dame, who's off to a slow start
at one to one and two b sees at two
and three. So once again, everybody, it's like they're they're
lining them up, they're taking their shots, and everybody's still
kind of doing well so far non conference on the
men's side, but this is just once again the predecessor
to get you ready for conference play. There haven't been
a whole lot of goals scored in the men's actually

(16:55):
in the entire conference of the ACC. So it's kind
of kind of feeling everybody out right now. When it
comes to offense and defense.

Speaker 3 (17:03):
Everyone's beating up on each other.

Speaker 4 (17:05):
That's for sure, And I haven't taken a deep dive
into the men's side by any means, but I think
it's an interesting trend. Like you were saying that there
hasn't been as many goals, Like will that stay that
way throughout conference play?

Speaker 3 (17:16):
Because usually it does get stingier like.

Speaker 4 (17:19):
Non conferences where you're usually finding, you know, the ability
to score goals and matchups usually allow that. But I'm
really interested to see, like are they going to break
through in conference or is it going to be a
lot of one zero wins, two one one one? What
is it going to be as they go throughout that?

Speaker 2 (17:35):
Yep? All right?

Speaker 1 (17:36):
Now that the USL Championship will turn the page there
And the late night that you got to have with
the matchup that you got with Phoenix and Vegas was
this one at Cashman or at the corner of thirty
eighth in Washington.

Speaker 5 (17:50):
Where was it was in Phoenix?

Speaker 4 (17:52):
It was in Phoenix, Yeah, yeah, so they were hosting.
I was actually on the last Vegas feed for it.
So I was on that call, and I tell you what,
myself and my broadcast partner, Michael Watcheran, we expected like
a four to four game three four, four, four three three,
wide open talking to both of these coaches, and I'll

(18:14):
tell you what, it was wide open in a lot
of ways, and it was a zero zero tie, and
we could not believe it. Both teams just didn't look
very sharp, to be quite honest with you. There were
some opportunities, but it really never felt like either team
was going to implement a real attacking style, which was
really interesting because Phoenix has conceded the most goals, but
they've also scored the most goals. And Las Vegas has

(18:37):
the most clean sheets, but his second in conceding goals,
and they don't score a lot of goals. So it
was just it was a weird matchup in a lot
of ways. But I think what was at play is
the Western Conference is so incredibly tight. It through eighth
is a four way tie now and even Las Vegas,
who has had a very rough year, is only six
points out of the playoffs, so three.

Speaker 3 (18:59):
Points would have gone along. So both teams were going
for it, but it just looked flat and it just
looked a little bit, you know, not as sharp as
I think both coaches would have liked.

Speaker 1 (19:08):
Give everybody an idea about the Western Conference. Tulsa which
to me is one of the shocks of the season
that they have pieced it together. They've won twelve to
twenty three. They're six points clear of Sacramento. Sacramento had
it kind of rough last year. Mark Briggs and Sacramento
decided to part ways. Briggs is now in Birmingham and
Sacramento six points back. There are five points ahead of

(19:28):
El Paso, and this is where the chaos starts, because
if you were to take El Paso in third and
go down to Orange County in ninth to expand on
what you were talking about, seven teams separated by four
points just to get to either maintain your spot in
the playoffs or in Orange County's place, try to hop in.

(19:50):
Then after Orange County in ninth, four more points to
that Vegas group that you were talking about. They've got
their own little attack pack going on. Vegas, Oakland, Monterey.
They're all at twenty four points. So the Eastern Conference
actually three to the bottom, three to the bottom, is
separated by eight points. You have ten teams separated by

(20:13):
eight points, either trying to stay in or get in
in the Western Conference.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
That is insane to me.

Speaker 4 (20:18):
We don't normally see that in a USL championship, you
definitely see pockets of where you think that there's going
to be some movement in the standings, but from three
all the way to the bottom, that's pretty crazy to
see that type of play. And that's why I think
I was a little bit underwhelmed with the game that
I had because Phoenix needed three points in my opinion,
just as much as Las Vegas did. Because of how

(20:40):
tight the Western Conference is, you have teams like the
Colorado Springs Switchbacks who started the year in a really
rough way from a points perspective. Anyone who watched their
games knew that they were playing well, they just could
not figure out how to get points. They had a
lot of individual mistakes. They're still right in it and
they're playing well. So when it comes down the stretch,
I think this is about how you manage your group,

(21:02):
how do they perform under pressure, what players step up individually,
because you don't need it to be pretty at this point,
you need it to be effective. And a team like
Phoenix could have really helped themselves by jumping out of
that mayhem a little bit, and they weren't.

Speaker 3 (21:16):
Able to do it.

Speaker 1 (21:33):
Back to the Peloton, loud thirty three, Hartford at thirty
to along with Detroit City. Hartford has one more win,
River Hounds at thirty one, and then the race to
get in is where you have your chaos. Indy's at
twenty six, they're the eight, Rhode Island's at twenty four,
two points back, Legion at twenty two, four points out

(21:54):
of the playoffs, Tampa Bay five points back, and then
the MIAMIFC not a MIAMIFC, but the MIAMIFC as they
wish to be identified. They've now lost four in a row.
They were in the race a little bit. They've now
lost four in a row. They're at twenty point six
points out of the playoff spot. So you've got one
and two in the East. They've pulled away. Then you
have Louden who's kind of cruising around and there's chaos

(22:16):
that they're having to deal with in their front office.
Then the group four through seven going for positioning, and
then eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve will go ahead and
include the MIAMIFC trying to get in. So it's a
different kind of chaos in the.

Speaker 4 (22:30):
East, it is it's a little bit more narrowed, a
little bit more focused on what your current issue is
in the standings. I wouldn't sleep on Rhode Islands. I
know they had a year last year in their denaugural
season that no one really expected, but they do have
a coach in Kato Smith who's been there, done that
at the highest level. And I think, like I said,

(22:51):
I think manager has become really important. They're always important,
but at the end of the day, it's a player's game.
But this time of year, down the stretch, how you
manage your players, how you generate buy in and all
those types of thing I think just become could become
something that's a small margin that really gets you.

Speaker 3 (23:06):
Over the edge.

Speaker 1 (23:07):
This is one of the first times that we have
had the opportunity to jump in and talk about the
super League, the USL Super League, and since our friends
at Gamebridge have yet to sponsor us, we're just going
to call it super League or the USLS right now.
You've had a couple of matches in you know, anywhere
from two to four it's early returns. You had a
couple of games and it was Spokane and Fort Lauderdale United,

(23:32):
Lexington and Brooklyn FC. I want to take it a
match at a time, and just get your breakdown on Spokane.
Spokane I think has kind of found something just as
a soccer home because you see what they're doing in
the in USL League One, and now you're seeing it
roll over into the USLS. I think that Spokane has

(23:53):
really shown themselves to be a great market in the
USL coming out of the block they are.

Speaker 4 (23:59):
And I had a really good conversation with Josh McCallister,
who's the interim head coach right now for Spokane, but
he's the overall technical director and an assistant with Spokane Velocity,
so he was really interesting in the way he approached
this first half of the season. Spokane Zephyr had an
amazing spring in the inaugural season.

Speaker 3 (24:19):
They just couldn't.

Speaker 4 (24:20):
Quite get over the playoff line because their fall put
them way too far behind. But I remember calling a
game of Theirs in the fall of twenty twenty four,
and of all the teams, I felt like they played
the best style of soccer, and I was like, I
don't understand.

Speaker 3 (24:34):
Why they're not getting wins. They just couldn't figure it out.

Speaker 4 (24:37):
And a lot of that was just in the boxes,
you know, some mistakes here and there, not able to finish,
but he said, we can't dig ourselves into a hole.
And it was unfortunate in this game because they were
by far the better team across ninety minutes against Fort
Lauderdale United and still were not able to figure out
the victory. I mean, it's still early days, but I

(24:57):
think there's a lot of positives come in out of Spokane.

Speaker 3 (25:01):
I expect them to.

Speaker 4 (25:02):
Be a team that can compete at the top of
the Gamers Super League. But I'll be interested to see
if they could figure it out or if it was
the same as twenty twenty four for Lauderdale.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
Right now, they are second in the table after three
they are at one win, two draws in five points.
Dallas Trinity right now they're three for three. They're well ahead.
They're already setting an early marker in this one. The
other match that you called once again, it's another market
in Lexington with lex sc when they went up against Brooklyn.

(25:32):
It's another market that seems to be warming to what's
been going on on both the men's side in League
One and now the women's side in Super League. So
lex and Brooklyn. I know that Brooklyn's had a lot
of issues trying to figure out where they're going to
play and all the off the field stuff. But Brooklyn
and lex right now, Brooklyn's played four matches, they've already

(25:54):
there are already four matches in on their season. Lexington's
only played two. Thoughts on this one.

Speaker 4 (26:00):
This is the team to watch Lexington. So you took
me right to where I wanted to go. They look
very good in a lot of ways. They brought in
so many players in the offseason that were top players
in other teams. You bring in Masaki himmy as the
head coach, who had was the interum at Chicago Stars
for a little while.

Speaker 3 (26:20):
He comes in.

Speaker 4 (26:21):
You bring in Addison McCain who had ten goals on
the season last year. Taylor Almer, a really good holding midfielder,
captain of the team. Just different players in different roles.
Amina Ekich, who was the Super League Player of the Year,
came over. She plays in the wide space. There is
some great attacking talent in this Lexington team.

Speaker 3 (26:43):
And Brooklyn in this matchup did not have any answers.

Speaker 4 (26:46):
Yes they went on the road, Yes they're four games in,
but we were previewing it saying, well, Lexington's only you know,
won two games in like they probably one game in. Actually,
they're probably going to be so excited at their home
facility to have this game. But Brooklyn is more played
in they should be more comfortable in their system, and
it was the complete opposite. Where Lexington looked extremely comfortable

(27:09):
in the style of play they wanted to play. They
were stingy defensively at a great four four to two
block like. It was really fun to watch. And I'll
tell you this, the entire level of the Super League
has taken a big step up from last year. It
was it was a solid level for a first year league,
but this year it's gotten even better and I've already
seen that just two games in.

Speaker 1 (27:30):
Let's wrap up with the NWSL and in addition to
what you got to see with Gotham and angel City,
we'll talk about the match first and then the news
that happened in the overnight involving Gotham. Gotham Angel City.
Takeaways from this one. As they're getting to the money
part of the schedule.

Speaker 4 (27:48):
You're not going to hear this very often, but I
think the worst thing that happened to Angel City is
they scored in the second minute of this game. Normally
when that happens, you're thinking, Okay, we're flying. This is great,
we can dictate the game. We're gonna have confidence, we
can generate more opportunities. But they are so thin in
their roster right now, nineteen total players, especially in the attack,

(28:10):
so they weren't really generating a lot of opportunities. And
Gotham woke up immediately and Angel City wasn't bad the
rest of the first half, but they weren't really ever dangerous,
and Gotham started to take over. But what was the difference?
So Andy Spence was the interim or acting head coach,
I should say not interim head coach because Wan Carlos
Amros had yellow card accumulation, so he was up in

(28:32):
the stands and there were subs made at halftime.

Speaker 3 (28:36):
Midge Purse came in and Rose Level. That must be
nice to.

Speaker 4 (28:39):
Have to bring off your bench, right and Midge person
we know, has kind of been in and out and
coming back from injury, a lot of different things.

Speaker 3 (28:47):
Same with Rose Level, but there was an.

Speaker 4 (28:50):
Obvious wide area opportunity to take advantage, and that's what
he did. It was a great substitution because Midge Purse
was excellent in the wide space and goals came in
the second minute, and then just four or five minutes
later they scored a second goal and Gotham never looked back.
So Gotham had control the majority of this game and
ended up getting the deserve three points.

Speaker 1 (29:10):
Middle of the pack right now is where it's interesting, obviously,
Kansas City Current, they are just doing a horizon job
on everybody else. They are like way out here at
sixteen to two and one, which is crazy to think
about forty nine points, fourteen points clear of Washington, who's
in second at thirty five. Then the fun begins San Diego, Portland, Orlando, Gotham,

(29:31):
Seattle and Racing Louisville, all separated by four points, sixteens,
four points, and that gets you to eight. Then you
have Houston and Angel City in courage, who are kind
of chasing right now. They're anywhere from three to points,
three to four points. Back Bay is at seventeen, the
Stars at fourteen points in thirteenth in Utah's at twelve.
I thought it was really interesting, just as a bit

(29:52):
of a side note. Chicago played at the Lakefront at
Martin Stadium on the campus of Northwestern, pack house, full crowd.
I thought it was a great vibe. If I was
anybody of any influence at all in the NWSL, I
would tell Chicago stay there, ye don't move, stay right
where you are, definitely, And.

Speaker 4 (30:14):
It looks like they're going to be for twenty twenty six,
so it sounds like that's going to be happening. But
you're right, It just atmosphere wise everything and then they
got the result out of it, so they definitely capitalized.

Speaker 1 (30:25):
All right, last topic for you, so you can go
and rest your voice and actually spend some time and
like unplug and put things down. In the overnight, Jeff
Kassouf comes out with a blockbustery, blockbuster of a deal.
Courage agree to trade Jaden Shaw to Gotham for a million,

(30:47):
two fifty million and a quarter. Multiple sources confirmed to
the four letters, So that doubles the intra league NWSL
record set a month ago, ranks ranks a month some
of the top global transfers. So Jade and Shaw from
Courage to Gotham. I thought that was really interesting. It

(31:07):
doubles the six hundred thousand that we talked about previously.
When Ali Sentiner goes with the Kansas City and Utah
deal million and a quarter for Jade and Shaw and
she gets a change of address.

Speaker 3 (31:19):
I woke up this morning.

Speaker 4 (31:20):
A little sick, like I told you, and I thought
I was like, like not reading properly when I saw this,
like not because of jad and Shaw leaving, but the amount,
I couldn't believe it. I will say this, Jaden Shaw
at North Carolina just has not really worked. That could
be a whole nother conversation, but it hasn't really worked
all year, and so I'm not surprised this is happening.
You get that much money for a player, you can

(31:42):
do a lot with that, which is great. I think
she has a big opportunity going into Gotham. Obviously you
have a stare. A stair is not going anywhere, but
you can supplement with her. You've got Jase up top,
you have Porcio, you have Midge Purse. But none of them,
of those three are players that I think have really
established that they can't be taken off the field at
any given time. So you insert Jade and Shaw into

(32:04):
that with Rose level, I think it just increases your
depth in that area. It gives her a new lease
on her experience. It just gets to start over and
see if this could be a good fit for her.

Speaker 1 (32:15):
All right, so when you recover and you get your
voice back and you're not sick in running a temperature
of like one hundred nice, excuse me in my jacket.

Speaker 3 (32:25):
I'm normally not in a jacket.

Speaker 1 (32:27):
You're all dialed up in your tar heel. In your
tar heel, trim, what's the next joints on the rundown
for you? Where do you head next?

Speaker 5 (32:35):
So?

Speaker 4 (32:35):
I have a game tomorrow night, but it's at home
from my home right here. I will have Wake Forest
versus Miami on the ACC Network Life from home, So
I'll be sitting right here calling a game, which is
so fun. One day I'll turn my computer around and
let you guys see my setup. So I have that
tomorrow night, and then I go to Chicago on Friday

(32:56):
for Chicago Fire in YC. So it's a lighter week,
but I still have travels. So I am going to
take the next few days and just kind of try
to hang out in Chapel Hill and recover a little bit.
But it should be fun.

Speaker 1 (33:10):
Okay, So do you know who your broadcast partner is?
When you go to uh Chicago?

Speaker 2 (33:14):
Wow? Wow?

Speaker 1 (33:16):
She just like she hit a button. She was trying
to It's like she was trying to sit there and something. Yeah,
here we go, she hit a button.

Speaker 2 (33:24):
It's like, I.

Speaker 3 (33:26):
Didn't hit a button. You FROs. I swear, I.

Speaker 2 (33:29):
Swear I hit no freezing, young lady.

Speaker 3 (33:31):
Oh well on my side, it fro. Sorry about that.

Speaker 2 (33:35):
Yeah, who's your broadcast partner?

Speaker 4 (33:36):
My broadcast partner tomorrow night is Joe Malfa, who I've
called a lot of games with across ALATA leagues and
he's the head play by play now for a SEC
network for men's college soccer and he does women's as well.

Speaker 3 (33:48):
And then I have Jes Charman on the weekend.

Speaker 2 (33:51):
It's awesome. It is the Wonder Twins this weekend.

Speaker 4 (33:53):
Yeah, the remainder of our MLS assignments are together, so
I think we have after this weekend, we have three
more again, so the last four we'll be together.

Speaker 2 (34:01):
Sweet.

Speaker 1 (34:01):
The Wonder Twins are in the Chicago And is it
a bridge View or is it a Soldier Field.

Speaker 3 (34:05):
Soldier Field?

Speaker 1 (34:07):
Okay, good because you're at the Spaceship instead of having
to drive an hour southwest to go to Bridgeview where
there's like office parks and nothing else.

Speaker 3 (34:14):
Yes, we're excited about that. It should be. It should
be a lot of fun.

Speaker 4 (34:17):
I'm gonna be diving into that game pretty much tomorrow
and go from there.

Speaker 1 (34:21):
Good deal, all right, Go get healthy and enjoy your calls,
and we'll catch up with you next week in the
same time slot where you get to discuss what it
was like in Chicago and what it's like in the
ACC plus all the other leagues you covered. We did
set a modern day record, by the way.

Speaker 3 (34:35):
I love that. I'm proud to be a part of that.
Now I gotta recover.

Speaker 2 (34:38):
Thanks for having me there.

Speaker 1 (34:39):
Now Casey can go and recover. That's the easy part.
So Casey can go, and she's gonna go, and we
go hang out with dogs and things and just kind
of decompress a little bit.

Speaker 2 (34:48):
Okay, it is nine.

Speaker 1 (34:52):
It is time to go to Boiling Springs, North Carolina,
I think, And it's time to uh. Okay, So it
looks like he's either in his office or his home,
one of the two.

Speaker 2 (35:02):
So we'll figure it out.

Speaker 1 (35:03):
So somewhere close to Boiling Springs, North Carolina, we'll catch
up with our friend Scott well as a head coach
of Gardner Web sir, how you doing?

Speaker 5 (35:12):
Can you hit me?

Speaker 2 (35:13):
Yeah? You're good, Scott? What's going on?

Speaker 5 (35:16):
Not much?

Speaker 6 (35:17):
Great to be back on again, non Maybe not as
much USL two relation this time, which is good as all.

Speaker 2 (35:23):
Hey, it's all good.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
And the reason that we wanted to circle back with
you is because of the hot start that you've got
ranked to top twenty and depending on which pole you're discussing,
and before I kind of get into the season in general,
with what's been going on with you so far and
with Gardner Webb, I kind of wanted to pull back
the curtain a little bit and for folks that may

(35:47):
not understand what it's like in Division one soccer to
go from point A to point B and get all
the travel squared away and road trips and all this
kind of stuff. After the win against West Virginia, and
I do want to discuss that too.

Speaker 2 (36:03):
After the win against West.

Speaker 1 (36:04):
Virginia, I texted you and I was like, that was epic,
and I'm paraphrasing that was epic. I want you to
come on the show. So you were coming home overnight
from the match, after you got everything all squared away,
you were coming home overnight. You might have gotten in
and nap before you had to take folks to school.

Speaker 2 (36:24):
Is this accurate?

Speaker 7 (36:25):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (36:26):
Yeah, we drove home through the night and I think
I got in around six, and then work the kids
up at breakfast, took them to school, and then was
kind of still on an adrenaline rush, to be honest,
So when in the office, score a little bit, and
you know, shamefully forgot about our our meat.

Speaker 5 (36:44):
So I apologize for that.

Speaker 2 (36:46):
No, it's all good.

Speaker 1 (36:46):
But what I wanted to what I wanted what I
wanted to do was have folks kind of understand that
it's not all glamor when it comes to piecing road
trips together and schedules together and going a certain distance.
What are some of the biggest misconceptions when it comes

(37:06):
to travel in the college game and putting schedules together.
What if folks need to know that they may not
know when it comes to piece and something like this together.

Speaker 6 (37:17):
Yeah, I think obviously, first and foremost, you want to
schedule top teams. You know, we're We've not been shy
of scheduling top teams since I've been a gana weeb.
Obviously our game against Wake last season as well, but
a lot of the times, you have to go there, right,
you have to go and beat them at their place,
which is really difficult. Is a little bit different than
the USL two where you probably are staying that night,

(37:38):
you know, and you've got the budget to potentially do that.
Mid major budgets usually don't have the ability to stay
in hotels for multiple nights. But then the other factor,
which is the most important decision is unfortunately the players
didn't get any sleep as well.

Speaker 5 (37:51):
You know, they had to get back. They had to
get back to class.

Speaker 6 (37:53):
You know, if we do go away, we don't get
exceptions to the guys missing class, you know, so attendance
is huge at the college level. Had to make sure
that they were in class at eight am. The boys
were asking me, are you sure? Are you sure? Like
I was like, you better get some rest on the
way home, because you know, you guys have got to
go to class and take care that responsibility, which is
equally as important.

Speaker 5 (38:11):
But hopefully they sat at the front row.

Speaker 6 (38:13):
And had a big smile on their face because I'm
sure they were delighted through the day as well.

Speaker 5 (38:17):
But yeah, I'm sure they were.

Speaker 2 (38:19):
Just like me.

Speaker 5 (38:19):
They were exhausted by the end of that day.

Speaker 1 (38:21):
You are out of the blocks at five and zero,
and it's been a really good start for you. You
go to the JMU Invitational in Harrisonburg, you knockoff Drexel
and the hosts. I'm sure that sat well with a
lot of the Duke fans, the Duke's fans, Dukes fans,
not Duke fans, but Dukes fans. One nil win at

(38:41):
James Madison to wrap up that tourney. Then you go
to Davidson. Then it's the matchup against West Virginia. It's
up there, it's the number six team in the country.
What was prep like getting ready for that game? Knowing
that you were going into an angry environment, knowing it
was the number six team in the country, knowing that
you came out of the blocks at three and zero,

(39:03):
What was prep for that match?

Speaker 2 (39:05):
Like?

Speaker 6 (39:06):
Yeah, I think that the message to the guys, you know,
leading up to West Virginia was really clear in terms of, Okay,
who are we going to be this season? You know,
are we going to be a team like last season
that we had some upsets and we had some great results,
but are we still going to be the fringe guys?

Speaker 2 (39:20):
Right?

Speaker 6 (39:20):
The guys that are happy to be in the top
twenty five, are happy to be sniffing around that national attention,
or we're going to be a team that are going
to be taken serious here, and we really are top
ten team, and we're good enough to go to places
like West Virginia that hadn't lost him three and a
half years and get a result. You know, it made
things a little easier because Dan Stratford is one of
my mentors. You know, I worked within for two and
a half years at Charleston in West Virginia and we

(39:43):
win a national championship together, so I knew exactly how
he was going to approach the game tactically and just
you know, in general.

Speaker 5 (39:50):
So I feel like I was prepared.

Speaker 6 (39:52):
You know, I've been prepared for that moment for many,
many years to play against him, and then our guys
just relished the opportunity to play in big moments.

Speaker 5 (40:01):
You know, that was a fourth game away.

Speaker 6 (40:03):
We hadn't played a home game at that point, but
our guys were really interested in the atmosphere and really
enjoyed it and wanted to be, you know, represent our
program in the best possible way on the national stage.

Speaker 5 (40:14):
And they've done just that. So yeah, it was a
great evening.

Speaker 6 (40:17):
Obviously, the challenge that after is keeping their feet on
the ground because you know, it's not really where we
are right now in the rankings. It's where we want
to be at the end of the season. So they
understand that. But you know, we had to draw our
attention to Etsu straight away. We had foury eight hours
before that game, and then again now we're prepping for Furman,
who were also a nationally ranked team.

Speaker 5 (40:35):
So it's just never ending, as you know.

Speaker 1 (40:37):
Yep, and when you have a moment like this, and
it was a really cool moment to hear. If I
can hit the right button, here's how it ended for
you in Morgantown.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
It's a historic win for Gardner.

Speaker 8 (40:50):
When it's a result that may reverberate around to Vision
I men's soccer, the message is beware of the dogs.
Number thirteen, web Hands West Virginia. It's first home last
in one thousand, ninety two days, a thirty two match
on Beaten Street from the Mountaineers at the West is over.

Speaker 2 (41:11):
There.

Speaker 1 (41:11):
You go like that for an ending courtesy of our
friends at ESPN plus.

Speaker 6 (41:15):
Huh, Yeah, it's it's it's great. It's a great feeling.
You know, I was really upset at the start of
the season. We were in no preseason rankings, we were
in no watch lists. You know, we finished top twenty
five team last year, and it was very clear, you
know what the message was. You know, we we had
had a great twenty twenty four season and it potentially

(41:37):
may be difficult to sustain that success. And that's one
of the reasons I'm still here because I wanted to
susay that success. So when you hear things like that,
you know it really it's pleasing because you know that
you've been able to show people something that you wanted
to achieve, and that was one of the biggest goals
for our guys coming in in pre season. So yeah,
it's lovely to hear, but we want more. We definitely
want more.

Speaker 1 (41:58):
Scott Well's head coach of Gardner Web hanging out whether
say after a five and oh start is the Big
South and I guess the group of five, if you
want to use college football parlance, are the non Power
four conferences. I don't want to use the word ignored,
but is it how hard or is it for a
team that is not in a Power for conference to

(42:19):
get preseason respect to get rankings respect. Is it the
same in soccer as that we see in other sports
like college football play?

Speaker 6 (42:27):
I think there's an element of that, yes, for sure.
You know, you take High Point, who have obviously dominated
the big self for many, many years.

Speaker 5 (42:35):
They deserve the recognition.

Speaker 6 (42:36):
You know, they are on preseason watch lists individually and
collectively and ranking committees, but.

Speaker 5 (42:42):
They have done it over a period of time. Their
body of work is fantastic.

Speaker 6 (42:45):
Right when I was at UNCG, we were frustrated in
the first couple of seasons that we weren't getting national recognition.
And if you look at UNCG now it's getting what
it deserves, you know. So I think it's just a
case of trying to sustain the success and show them
that you're not going away and that you have a
model that works each year and the expectation of the
program is the same each year. And I do think

(43:06):
things will get better for Ghanda Web and for other
teams that are doing the same thing. George Mason, you
know number one Western Michigan. Obviously they've they've been really
prolific over the last four or five years, but we've
only done it across one year. So I respect that,
but I would expect if we can continue to keep
this expectation and this level of detail that we're doing
right now, i'd like to think that we are going
to be talked about a little bit more. And I

(43:26):
want that for my players. That's a big part of retention,
you know. If they're not feeling that love and that
national recognition, that's where the transfer portal comes back to
buy you, you know. So I certainly want that for
my guys, and I want that for this program.

Speaker 1 (43:38):
How difficult is it with the transfer portal being what
it is these days? How much more added difficulty is
it to retain and then to fill those slots through
the portal?

Speaker 2 (43:52):
How difficult is it in soccer?

Speaker 6 (43:53):
Yeah, it is difficult, you know, I'll be honest with you.
When we were in the airport at Denver last season,
we'd lost in the second round, the transfer porter was
opening that morning, and I told my staff I backed
myself for us to keep our group together and first
six meetings boom gone, gone gone. And so unfortunately that's

(44:14):
just the reality that we live in now. I think
the hardest part for me and my family and my
wife is that January in May is meant to be
a little bit easier, a little bit more balanced in
our day to day schedules, But unfortunately, you know, you
don't know what you're going to lose, you don't know
what you're going to retain. And for the mid majors,
it gets harder and harder every year with what some
of these powerful schools can do now. And that's not

(44:36):
me having a bash at anyone. That's just the reality
that we're living in now. So we just have to
as a staff make sure that every transfer port, all
every you know, kind of off season, the recruiting is
the level of detail in that recruitment has got to
be even better than it has ever been before.

Speaker 5 (44:53):
For people like Gardner Web.

Speaker 1 (44:56):
You come out of the game in Morgantown, you finally
got your first home man coming up. It was three
days later, which really isn't three because it's home and
it's recovery. Then it might be a little study. How
difficult to turn was it going to Morgantown, driving back overnight,
having kids have to go to class, try to navigate practice,

(45:17):
and then be ready for that matchup Wednesday Saturday they're
at home. How tough a slog was that one.

Speaker 6 (45:23):
Yeah, the turnaround time was in college soccer in genually
is always difficult, and so we knew when we got
back that we had the challenge of you know, the
periodization piece and making sure that we could manage their
fatigue level but also get as much information across as
possible on Etsu. And then also that was probably more

(45:43):
important to see how we react in that game than
than playing against West Virginia because you.

Speaker 5 (45:49):
Can easily slip up.

Speaker 6 (45:50):
That's what the beauty of what people love about college
soccer is you never know what's going to happen, the
upsets that can happen, and the circumstances that are going
on with every team, you just never know how they respond.
So my biggest message at Etsu was I wanted a reaction.
I wanted people to see that, you know, the West
Virginia game was not an upset, you know it was,
and we're going to We're going to treat Etsu at
home in front of probably a third of the crowd

(46:13):
the same way that we did against West Virginia, you know.
So yeah, and we did. We responded well. We had
another clean sheet, which is really really important. Alan Harricks,
my goalkeeper, got defensive Player of the Week for the
second time, which is fantastic, and it was a very
well managed game and I thought a complete performance. And
then again, you finish that game, you celebrate. We do

(46:33):
get a little bit more time off now until Friday,
but Furman your top ten team as well, you know,
so it's going to be all Adams.

Speaker 5 (46:40):
On deck and preparing again.

Speaker 6 (46:41):
So the energy and the exhaustion mentally that we have
as a staff to be had to prepare the guys
and make sure that that all of the details aligned
with how they're feeling and what their mood level looks like.
It is very, very stressful, but we love what we do,
so you know, most of the time, we don't work
a day in our life, if.

Speaker 5 (47:00):
They say so.

Speaker 1 (47:01):
Top fifteen in the rankings, once again, depending on which
pole you stare at number thirty six in the RPI.
Last time that was punched out top the heaviest schedule
ranking in the Big South right now at number thirty six,
just to head a high point, who was at number forty.
How difficult is it for you to schedule non conference

(47:23):
games because of what you're building there at Gardner Web.
I would imagine that some folks will sit there and go, yeah,
come on, we'll do it, but you got to do
it at our plays, and then others would be sitting
there going like, nah, no, we're good, you know, and
you kind of know why they're they're saying, now, we're good.
How difficult is it to do non conference scheduling?

Speaker 5 (47:39):
Yeah, it's difficult.

Speaker 6 (47:41):
As you get better and as you get results and
you start to build the program. I have to put
a shout out to Bobby Moose because Bobby wanted me
to give him recognition for being an acc team that
were willing to go on the road to a big
South team last season. And obviously since that game, you know,
it's been very difficult to schedule games at Gardener Web.
You know, we have I'm doing the twenty twenty sixth

(48:01):
schedule right now, and not many people are interested in
coming to Boiling Springs and it's challenging for sure, But
we're okay.

Speaker 5 (48:10):
We're happy to go away. You know.

Speaker 6 (48:11):
It's some of the environments we go away to a
really enjoyable to coaching and for the players to play
in as well. West Virginia was fantastic. We go to
Lipscomb next week, really excited about that trip as well.
Davidson's facility was fantastic, So we're happy to do it.
And we're saving our field right now too. Our field
is in the best shape it's ever looked because we
haven't really played on it too much. So all in all,

(48:33):
I don't put too much emphasis on home and away.
I think we need to be good enough, especially come
the postseason, to be playing in some of the toughest
environments that you can and this will stand us in
good stead for sure.

Speaker 1 (48:44):
What sets Gardner Web part as a home venue for
you guys? What has made it a tough place to
play other than what you've done on the field. What
has the environment been able to build over the last
couple of seasons. What is making it this tough place
to play?

Speaker 2 (49:00):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (49:00):
When I took the job, the president had said one
of his biggest dreams for soccer was to be having
a crowd, to be having a fan base, to be
having an atmosphere. The community is small outside of Gardener
Web and so you know, we wanted to build that
up and I have been really really pleased, specially against Etsu.
You know, we played another mid major at home and

(49:21):
we had the whole standard was full, and there was
a lot of people on the grass on the outsides
of the grass area around the gates, and so that
for me was very pleasing to see that. I speak
to my players all the time when they're going to
class and they're walking around campus. They're getting a lot
more attention to which is nice. So there is a
bit of a hype right now about it. And you know,

(49:41):
I have so much support here. I don't I don't
want to make out that we don't have the support
that other programs do because we have great people at
this university. It's one of the reasons why you know,
I'm so happy here is the people.

Speaker 5 (49:53):
You know.

Speaker 6 (49:53):
I had my my dean and one of the directors
of student success come out to practice yesterday and say, Hey,
what do we need to do for Furman on Friday?
Do we need to have food out there? Do we
need to get Flair's drums? Like, what do we need
to do. We had guys on the team speaking this
morning at some of our classes about how we need
the support. So we're really excited about Friday. And I

(50:14):
think you know, you'll see on the ESPN broadcast that
you know, we're going to make this place a difficult
place to come to and a challenging place to get
a result. And that's obviously had to It's took time,
you know, across the three seasons I've been here. You know,
it's took time to generate that kind of excitement. But
now we're starting to see, you know, general students say well,

(50:35):
you know what, maybe I'll go home on Saturday morning,
you know, maybe I'll stay Friday night for the game,
you know, and that is really pleasing to have a
buzz around that and for the boys and for the
program is really pleasing, and you know, you feel like
you've accomplished something there as.

Speaker 1 (50:48):
Well, and we are looking forward to following you in
the Big South as things continue to go here this season.
After a five and oh start home match with Furman
Friday night at six, it is on the You can
watch it there or you can just go to Boiling Springs,
North Carolina and see Gardner Web hosting Firman. As always, Scott,
great to catch up with you and find out what's
going on. One of the building programs in the rankings

(51:11):
in all of NCAA Division One soccer. Thanks for being
a great friend here to the morning show. We'll catch
up with you soon. We'll be keeping an eye on you.

Speaker 5 (51:18):
Thanks John, I really appreciate you, Butody, I'll speak soon.

Speaker 2 (51:21):
You got it.

Speaker 1 (51:21):
Scott Well's head coach of the Gardner Web on the
boys side and men's soccer right now out of the
blocks at five and up once again rank thirty six
in the RPI, and they got that big signature win
in Morgantown against West Virginia. So it's good to be
able to kind of duck our head in the door
and see what's going on there, and as things continue

(51:45):
to grow there at Gardner Webb, to be able to
kind of duck our head back in and catch up
with Scott and find out what's going on. But keep
an eye keep an eye on the big South with
high Point and with Gardner Web. And by the way,
full disclosure on their schedule. The high Point game is
in Boiling Springs this year October twenty fifth, So if

(52:09):
Gardner Web has a home college football game, hopefully it's
a one o'clock kick that's done by four you go
over to the soccer stadium. The big matchup against high
Point is October twenty fifth, so circle that one on
your calendar, high Point, Big South, Gardner Web at Gardner Web,
that's the one probably going to determine the one and
the two in that conference obviously power rankings and getting

(52:31):
you into the postseason tournament. So keep an eye on,
keep an eye on Gardner Web and the matchup with
High Point coming up at the end of October. Man
that was a fast hour Number one USL Super League,
USL Championship, NWL, NWSL, sec ACC, Big South. That's our
number one once again. Bottom of the hour. It's gonna

(52:53):
be Chris Doran, the play by play voice for Columbus Crew.
He's gonna join us and he'll break down Crew. He'll
look at the vibe in Columbus having to do with
the us M and T and the match at the
Death Star coming up tonight, and we'll obviously talk about
it tomorrow as a part of anything and everything. And
I don't know if I don't know if Bart's gonna

(53:15):
have a voice tomorrow, but we'll certainly find out. So
that's uh, that's kind of where we are right now,
and we'll go through all the news that's fit to print.
Obviously the biggest story of the morning. We'll work backward because,
like I said, we got to talk about we have
to talk about Nuno, we have to talk about Independent,

(53:36):
we have to talk about Luis Suarez and the suspensions,
and so those that'll be where we are will kind
of lead our way into our conversation with Chris Dorn
coming up at the bottom of the hour. This morning
in the Premier League, aj Pasta Coglu is now the
new headman at Nottingham Forest. Nuna Is Spiritu Santo sacked

(53:59):
and it had been divulged that Nottingham Forest had their
new guy already in mind, in house, and it was
kind of already figured out, and then it was announced
this morning that it's ons Poshta Coglu on a two
year deal, confirmed back in the workings of the Premier League,
three months after he had been sacked by or dismissed,

(54:21):
however you wish to phrase it by Spurs. Contract understood
to run till twenty seven, so now you can win
Europa League again. But remember he always wins things. In
year number two, Pasta Cooglu personal relationship with Evangelinas Marinacus
Ben Jacobs had actually on his two hundred and eighty

(54:42):
character account mentioned as far back as the twenty third
of last month that there had been kind of communication,
consultation and a bit of a back and forth between
those two. Breakdown in relations with Nuno led to his departure.
Marinacus previously had spoken of his admiration with pos To
Coglu bringing in a coach to the club who's proven

(55:02):
in consistent record of winning trophies and so Vangelinas Marinacus
goes for a couple of sentences, begins with a game
at Arsenal on Saturday, and his reunion with Spurs comes
at City Ground in mid December, Spurs sacked him because
they finished seventeenth in the prem losing twenty two matches.
Nuno led Force to a seventh place appearance. Much of

(55:23):
the season it looked like they would qualify for Champions League.
Pasta Coglu's playing style completely and totally different than what
Nuno does, and Pasta Coaglu did adjust his tactics so
they could win Europa No signings obviously before January. Nuno's
departure was announced at seven point fifteen hour time last

(55:43):
night Eastern time US. Then you end up this morning
with Nuna with Ange Pasta Coaglu being named as the
new head coach at Nottingham Forest internal conflict, according to
the Athletic, obviously been going on for months. Nuno was
outspoken in the media about his relationship with the owner,

(56:05):
saying ahead of the sides match against Crystal Palace it
had changed and they were quote not his close Marnacas
said that Nuna was the right person for the job.
A week later, I guess that's a vote of confidence.
Nuno had also spoken about his disappointment with the club
summer transfer business, saying he was quote very worried about
his squad. On the eve of the new campaign, completed

(56:25):
a club record deal on Amari Hutchinson from Ipswich, signing
James Mcatte, Arnold Calamuendo and Douglas Luiz in their thirteen
summer signings. Forrest picked up four points in their opening
three Premier League matches and then his final game the
three meel loss to west Ham prior to the international break.
And so that is where you are with Anjpastacoglu coming

(56:47):
in the relationship with Adu and Nuno, Adu kind of
as the sporting director. It traditionally was that Nuno could
have conversations with Marinaca's fairly easily. Adu comes in as
sporting director, He's a roadblock, and so it's conversation is
not as many direct conversations that Nuno could have with Marnacas.

(57:09):
They had to go through ad and then it went
to Marinacas, and so all of that coming together, Daniel Ornstein,
David Ornstein, Daniel Taylor at all now gives us Ongepasta
Coglu in charge at Nottingham Forest. A lot of different

(57:30):
things going on, and obviously the curiosity factor big, big, big,
big big, now that Ange has signed this two year
deal first approached by Marinacas in early August, meaning a
Onge not Nuno, but Nuna was given time to see
how he would adapt to the new sporting structure. Adu
technically the global head of football. After the draw to

(57:55):
Crystal Palace August twenty second quote, our relationship has changed
and we are not as close. Everybody at the clubs
should be together, but this is not the reality. Apparently,
Nuna's comments, according to Talk Sport, caught Marnacus off guard,
sealed his fate. Marianacus talks to Pasta Coglu leadership starts
the plan. Ultimately, Nuno was not viewed as on the
same page as Adu or Marinacus Pasta Coglu had turned

(58:18):
down the chance to take over for Jose Mariino at
Fender Bacche and so it was very, very swift. Forest
sources had claimed Oliver Glosner and then dony Iraola had
also were admired by Marinacas so that would have been
Pallas in Bournemouth along with Fulham boss Marco Silva, and
I'm guessing Marco Silva might have jumped at the chance

(58:41):
he'd been in charge with Forrest, meaning Nuno almost two
years after replacing Steve Cooper in December of twenty twenty
three kept him safe at that campaign, highest finished in
almost thirty years. Sources had told Talk Sport Nuno asked
for being aggressive in the market, then started the voice
concerns with squad size growing too big, known for wanting

(59:05):
to work with smaller squads. We mentioned everything with Adu
and Nuno ad failed to sign a domed triory in
the summer. Forest sources insist aid who did everything possible.
Fulham didn't want to sell without finding a replacement, but
those close to Nuno argue when the player called, when
the when called the player told them no approach had
been made. So there's all of that once again, truth

(59:31):
probably somewhere in the middle. And so now Nottingham Forest
once again middle of the pack.

Speaker 2 (59:37):
Three weeks in.

Speaker 1 (59:37):
One, one on one and four points. So you're middle
of the pack. You've got some work to do and
we will see where Ajpastacaglu is when it comes to
Nottingham Forest going forward. Independiente I wanted to get into
this obviously because of what we He had been discussing

(01:00:02):
several times over with what happened in South America in
the Copasuit Americana, and yesterday it was revealed at least
by the club in a prepared statement that they felt
the decision was a political decision that they were not

(01:00:26):
allowed to continue in the Copas Suit Americana. They referred
to it as an injustice in releasing a statement after
the common Bal ruling was known. Obviously, the libertadoris to
America because they believe it as a total injustice that
Universidad that Chile is in the quarterfinals and they are not.

(01:00:51):
Then on social media everything went berserk. So Independent records
a statement and they read it on social media. Various
players reading various parts and so now with with with

(01:01:13):
the disqualification having happened with Independente, they went on social
media and they believe that it is now an injustice
what happened with them on in the Copa suit Americana.

Speaker 2 (01:01:26):
And I want to get I want to get the.

Speaker 1 (01:01:30):
This the statement in and of itself. So they claim
political bias.

Speaker 2 (01:01:41):
In this case.

Speaker 1 (01:01:44):
And according to La Nacion, to start, I'd like to
just click on an article. Just give me the article.
That's all I want. I'm not asking for much. I
just want the article. People, I just want to I

(01:02:04):
just want to read what they were saying. Come on now,
La Nacion latsa the hard press of it, the Independente
campus without naming the universe of Da di Chile or
the or Convo ball. So that was that, that was
how it's uh and this is going through the This

(01:02:27):
is going through Google translates, so bear with me here.
Rodrigo Ray, Ivan Marcone and Federico Manqueo expressed the player's
position after the disqualification, and they literally, they are literally
they are reading a statement. So Independiente releases the official
statement on Instagram on of the Instagram account of their
captain Rodrigo Ray showing a strong stance and this is

(01:02:51):
translated from La Nacion and the message of the players
expressed their helplessness over the serious incidents that occurred at
the Libertadors Date America Stadium during the second leg of
a round against Universa da da Chile, and something else
the support of the Argentine soccer community quote, just like
our fans, we are experiencing the same feeling of pain
and injustice. Amidst the sadness and helplessness. It's not easy
to express ourselves, just as it's not easy to put

(01:03:14):
intowards everything we've experienced over the past few days and
how we feel about the final decision. Twenty four hours
after Conmobaal issued their ruling ordering the team's elimination from
the Sud Americana they have sporting and financial fines, Independente returned.
The Avalonda club published a statement on social media directly
addressing Alejandro Dominguez, president of CONMIBAL, asking him to return

(01:03:37):
all material relating to Independente displayed in the organization's museum.
Independente addresses you to express and this is the letter
then its strongest condemnation of the decision issued by the
entity you preside, which ignores its current regulations and unjustly
condemns our institution begins. The letter, signed by the President
Nester Grendetti and General Secretariat Daniel shall Swan, then specifically

(01:04:02):
addresses the decision to eliminate Independent from the Cup, allowing
Universe the Chile to continue sets a disastrous precedent. A
team that was ahead in the series but faced the
real possibility of being overtaken on the field resorts to
the most brutal violence against rival fans. They get the
match canceled and receive a desk as a reward to qualify.
In other words, violence becomes a shortcut to avoid competing

(01:04:24):
sportingly until the end ruling contradicts that vision sends a
devastating and contradictory message to all of South America. The
usual violent ones can get away. With an end quote.
This Monday, after that statement had been initially released, the
team says, injustice is the feeling that invades us because
we did not have the opportunity to compete in the

(01:04:46):
qualifying round on the field, but instead we have to
see and feel how a group of visiting fans who
came to our stadium with the clear intention of attacking
our fans. Today they are surely celebrating that their acts
of violence have resulted in their team qualifying. Players emphasized
at the heart of the riot, they asked match authorities
to suspend the game.

Speaker 2 (01:05:02):
Quote.

Speaker 1 (01:05:03):
We ourselves insisted that they take action because everything was
getting out of hand, but there was no response or
action taken to that request. Everything just dragged on, which
ended up further increasing the levels of violence, desperation, and
insecurity in the stands.

Speaker 2 (01:05:18):
Statement continues.

Speaker 1 (01:05:19):
They also warned against the negative precedent sending a dangerous message.
That's why we went to ask Argentine clubs and their
players for the support they may need one day, because
this precedent is leading us toward a dark place for
the future of fair competition. Those who believe there was
only one winner are completely wrong. Football lost here, So

(01:05:42):
Lanasion with the translation of the statement on Instagram that
independent is more than just a little fired up. Let
me check and see, let me say hi to everybody,
let me do that, and Ricky doing the uh producers
worked as he always does. Christiano Ronaldo us M and

(01:06:04):
T Cristiano Ronaldo is in line for a US return.
So at the age of seven hundred and two, Christiano
Ronaldo is set to return as a part of the
Portuguese squad in the worldwide competition where they're chasing after

(01:06:25):
a cup and we will see what this says World
Cup twenty twenty six.

Speaker 2 (01:06:30):
What we're hearing.

Speaker 1 (01:06:33):
In line to play in the US for the first
time in more than a decade anonymous sourcing. Obviously, USM
and T is seeking to play games against both Portugal
and Belgium in March. Location still to be fully signed off,
but likely to take place in an NFL sized venue
on the East coast translation Metal Lands. Maritio Pochettino's expressed

(01:06:56):
the desire to face teams from different confederations to test
his players in the year leading up to the competition,
friendlies against Portugal and Belgium, both currently ranked among the
world's best top ten according to FIFA contingent of on
both European teams qualifying for the tournament in the US,
Canada and Mexico. Portugal is also in line to play
against Mexico at the Azteca in the same March window.

(01:07:18):
Within a twelve year absence of Christiano Ronaldo, playing in
the United States hasn't appeared since August two of twenty fourteen.
Came on as a sub Real Madrid Manchester United at
the Big House. Played for Portugal in the US earlier
that summer against the Republic of Ireland. You gov polling
in the US ranks, Ronaldo is the second best known

(01:07:39):
player among the American public, second only to Lino Messi.
I'm not shocked us eyeing up a UCI base In
twenty twenty six. England is looking at Kansas City. Might
be the might be at Calirvine. So zot zot zot
us M and T Harry the Anteater look it up.

(01:08:02):
So might be cal Irvine. The location for that and
the English Football Association might be decided by the draw.
Representatives have visited Kansas City. Three training sites on the
FIFA guide current Sporting Kansas and the Chiefs, obviously in
Saint Joe's, Missouri. Not a team base, but available for
nations who need training or facilities for a day or

(01:08:23):
two between matches. English FA officials have also paid a
visit to Charlotte FC's facility in North Carolina. World Cup
volunteers have been promised lasting friendships, but USA visas are unclear.

Speaker 2 (01:08:37):
According to the Athletic.

Speaker 1 (01:08:39):
FIFA set, approximately sixty five thousand volunteers will be called
upon unpaid. FIFA said, Volunteer relating expenses are not covered.
After arrange your own travel to the host countries and accommodations,
you get uniform and meals as well as the certificate
and FIFA say lasting friendships.

Speaker 2 (01:08:59):
Some of you are you know.

Speaker 1 (01:09:00):
This volunteer is expected to attend tryouts as well as
undergoing training and attending a minimum of eight shifts. Athletic
has been told by people close to the process, the
US State Department, which handles visas for entry into the US,
is yet to provide clarity to FIFA as to which
visa class FIFA volunteers should apply for when seeking to
enter the country for the tournament. This is despite Johnny

(01:09:21):
and Fantino telling the press conference in Kenya that there's
a lot of misconception out there about US immigration policy.
State Department spokesperson said quote working diligently to insure an efficient,
smooth and effective visa process which protects America's security. So
that is the the World Cup latest on what's going on,

(01:09:42):
and we will continue to see as things grow and
develop is the word that we're looking for. The word
is developed, John, and say hi to everybody. Morning Abbey, morning, David, Morning, Ricky, morning,
Nicks pars Pars is in this morning. Good morning, morning

(01:10:03):
Ricky once again, and that is everybody who is participating
in the twitch pitch. Okay, I've kind of laid off
on this until we had a little time to breathe.
Chris Thorne's going to join us in about fifteen minutes. Yesterday,
you had a decision came down from Major League Soccer.

Speaker 2 (01:10:25):
Having to do with.

Speaker 1 (01:10:29):
The activities at the end of the League's Cup match,
the League's Cup final involving Messian Friends and Seattle. So
we get the decision from the decision makers about their decisions,

(01:10:50):
and you end up with the following on top of
what was laid out by a League's Cup. Leagu's Cup said. Okay,
Luis Suarez, you get a six match, you get a
six match suspension, and you end up with a couple

(01:11:15):
of other folks getting their finger wagged at for a
couple of matches in leagues cups. So yesterday MLS comes
on top of the ban announces Luis Suarez gets an
additional three match suspension for spitting on a member of

(01:11:36):
the Sounder staff. He gets to mismatches against Charlotte, Seattle
and DC United. You kind of had a feeling that
if there was going to be something that was going
to be on top of the League's Cup six match ban,
you probably were going to push it past the Seattle match,

(01:11:58):
because if there was an opportunity for Luis Suarez to
play in the matchup against Seattle on September sixteen, that
there would have been receipts. I'm anticipating. I'm not saying
I know who, and obviously we'll talk to Nico about
a little more on Thursday, but you end up with

(01:12:25):
another three matches for Luis Suarez. The match on that Tuesday,
by the way, is at the Erector Set. But I
would have anticipated some kind of receipt, somebody being called up,
maybe from Tacoma, somebody who's on the verge of a
yellow card accumulation. There probably would have been a receipt

(01:12:47):
and it would have gone out of control all over again.
League's Cup once again confirmed. Suarez gets a six, which
means basically next year you're not playing in it. And
part of me is wondering, Okay, are you even going
to be back next year? Is this going to be
a Clint Dempsey Mike Petkey kind of a thing, like

(01:13:13):
you wander off into the sunset. If you ever come back,
then this is what's gonna hit you. So we went
over the Suarez apology said what he said. We went
over Messi and friends team statement. MLS will also revoke
the credential privileges for Stephen Lenhart, a member of the

(01:13:35):
Seattle Sounders staff, for the remainder of the twenty five
regular season and postseason, for his involvement in the fight
that broke out between the two teams after the final
quote MLS and a press release, Lenhart will only be
permitted in public seating areas during Seattle Sounders FC home matches,
cannot be or on, cannot be on or near the
field of play, nor in or around the locker rooms

(01:13:56):
or tunnel. His access will again be reviewed at the
head of the twenty twenty six last season. Sounders have
also been fined by the league and forced to pay
an undisclosed amount for a quote misappropriation of credentials end quote.
I'm guessing I have no concrete knowledge, but if Lenhart
was on a credential and went into an area that

(01:14:20):
MLS deemed not accessible through his credential, then I guess
that's where the misappropriation comes from. I'm guessing that's my
extrapolation of events. Busquets and Ovulus also had Leagues Cup sanctions,
getting two and three. Bousquet's an Ovulous, however, get no

(01:14:42):
additional punishment from Major League Soccer. Jackson Reagan did not,
John Bell did not to Almost Ovulis did not. Sergey
Bousquetz did not, Maxie Falcone did not, Chellawagan did not.
We had what eight I think individuals that had been

(01:15:04):
earmarked in that coming together. Suarez gets an additional three
and that's it. Nobody else. I find the choice is interesting.

(01:15:24):
I find the choice very very interesting.

Speaker 2 (01:15:29):
That on tape.

Speaker 1 (01:15:32):
And Ricky I don't know. Ricky's asking how did how
did Messi and friends not get fined?

Speaker 2 (01:15:40):
I don't know. I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:15:45):
How did Sergei Busquetz not get an additional match or two?
Because once again, you can go to two. The MLSPA
doesn't have a I don't believe they have the right
for an appeal. You can go to two you're okay,
more than two than I think the MLSPA has the
the in their pocketbook. They have the activity that they

(01:16:08):
can appeal. It is that is a condicil in the
disciplinary process. You go more than two than I think
MLSPA has the right to appeal. How Sergei Busquets, who
we see on tape, deliver a short right to Obed Vargas.
And I'm left handed, so I'm gonna do it with

(01:16:29):
my left hand. But literally, you see surgery, you have,
you have Bousquete, Sergio. You have Sergio on the back,
deliver a short right to Obed Vargas. Literally, and I
don't care about impact or whatever. You literally have a
short right to Obed Vargas. You literally see Maxie Falcone

(01:16:55):
having someone in a choke hold. I think it was Vargas,
chellawag Ant, Thomas Avulus. I think they were taking swings.
I'll go back and look. But the two that stick
out I think obvious. I think three. I think obvious
if I remember correctly, was taking swings. Maxi Falcone had
someone in a choke hold from behind. I think it
was Vargas. Jackson Reagan had folks in a choke hold, yes,

(01:17:20):
I understand it was because he was defending a teammate,
but nevertheless, you still had someone in a choke hol
and you still only give Luis Suarez the suspension. You
still only give Louis Suarez the suspension on top of
what Leagues Cup delivered. I'd literally this for me would

(01:17:48):
be one of those where you're like Reverend Jim and Taxi.
You're just kind of like, fuck it, Doc. It was,
I mean, nothing from Bousquet's, nothing from Ovulus. Bousquet's got
a two in League's Cup, Ovulis got a three. Ovulus

(01:18:13):
threw punches, according to paulton Oreo, and the only one
that gets the extra is Luis Suarez.

Speaker 2 (01:18:23):
And that's this year. So I am confused. I'm thoroughly confused.

Speaker 1 (01:18:38):
But that's where we are with that particular with that
particular judgment, with everything that we saw on tape. And
we played the tail end of the match as it
aired after it aired, not as it aired, because if
it was as it aired, we get in trouble. After
it aired, we played the ending of that match and

(01:19:01):
literally we sat there and zipprooted the film. After we
listened to the call Ovulous and Bousquet's taking swings Jackson
Reagan with folks in a choke hold Maxie Falcone. I
mean literally, Jackson Reagan is like this. Maxie Falcone is
trying to you know, do you know maybe a triangle
choke from behind and the only one who gets popped

(01:19:26):
is Luis Suarez. Oh bit Vargas get popped in the jaw.
Like I said, I don't care how harsh the shot was.

Speaker 2 (01:19:35):
I don't.

Speaker 1 (01:19:37):
I'm just as confused as everybody else. But that is
the decision that was made by Major League Soccer in
the league's cup final. About the league's Cup final. But yes,
something would have happened when Seattle goes September sixteenth, Garon,

(01:20:01):
Blanke and Tee, something would have happened and it would
have gone sideways all over again. So I'm guessing that
the league wanted to include that match in there so
you don't have anything that way, you go more than two,
you know, that third match in there, so you don't

(01:20:21):
have anything happen at the Erector set. I will be
intrigued as to what the starting lineups look like on
the sixteenth. On that Tuesday night, it will be must
watch television. Will the teams just go out there and play.
How chippy will it be? How many reminders and receipts
will there be? That, to me is the intriguing question

(01:20:44):
of the whole thing.

Speaker 2 (01:20:46):
What does it look like?

Speaker 1 (01:20:48):
What does it look like on the sixteenth when these
two teams square off again? What does it look like?
So we got that coming up, we'll keep an eye
on it and it'll be it'll be interesting, to say
the very least. So, yeah, that puts an end to

(01:21:13):
a really cool tournament. It's a different kind of punctuation
attached to it. It gives you question marks now instead
of exclamation points. And I'm hoping that we get to
have a post mortem with our friends from the League's
Cup about the tournament in and of itself. Obviously, we'll

(01:21:35):
try and figure out a way to discuss the ending
and how much of a Probably the way that we
would phrase it is how much of a learning experience
was it for the tournament, sadly to have to learn
from a situation like what happened in the final. Probably
that's how we'll phrase it. So that's the that's the
thought anyway. But Yeah, yesterday, the largest piece of news

(01:21:58):
that came out other than what went down overseas with
Nottingham Forest is the additional couple of matches involving involving individuals.

Speaker 2 (01:22:11):
We're getting there, it's close to the bottom of the hour.

Speaker 1 (01:22:13):
We might we might welcome him in a little early,
just just because you know, and it's always fun to
catch up with our friend Chris Dorn and find out
anything and everything going on involving Columbus Crew. And it's uh,
it'll be our education Opposition Research Choice d all the above.
We get to kind of find out what's going on,
and we'll ask about an event that's actually happening tonight.

(01:22:37):
And Chris has been kind of keeping an eye on
folks that have been doing training and following them along
and everything. And so we bring in Chris Dorn and
the the the velvet tones of Chris Doran.

Speaker 7 (01:22:48):
By the way, John, it's so good to see you.
Good morning to you, Good morning to you.

Speaker 8 (01:22:53):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:22:54):
I have a I have a question of that I
will end our segment with and it has to do
with the item over your right shoulder in the corner
of your office.

Speaker 7 (01:23:05):
Yeah, on the floor, the guitar.

Speaker 2 (01:23:07):
The guitar.

Speaker 1 (01:23:08):
So I have a guitar based question that I will
save to the ending. I do want to lead off with.
I mean, we were discussing, and you can take it
in whatever direction you want. We were discussing the suspension
that was added to Luis Suarez before you came in
as one of the big pieces of news coming out
of League's Cup. League's Cup made their decision. Then MLS

(01:23:28):
makes their decision and says that Louis Suarez gets an
additional three and that's it. Nobody else gets nothing. Louis
Suarez gets a three. What when you saw this in
League's Cup? What was your initial thought? And now that
the league has come down with their decision on top
of what the League's Cup has come up with their disco,

(01:23:48):
what is what's your process of this particular run of events.

Speaker 7 (01:23:52):
Well, it's it's a great discussion point, and obviously it's
been an active topic on social media. I did see
the whole thing. I did not pursue alternative camera angles
if they were out there, saw a few fans shooting
video from the stands. First and foremost, it's the most

(01:24:14):
unfortunate outcome to what was a pretty spectacular evening of
soccer for Seattle, not just the game itself, but the environment,
the sixty thousand fans, the promotion of turning in one
jersey for another. I just thought the whole thing was terrific.
It was great for the club, it was great for

(01:24:34):
the league, and it was great for League's Cup. So
really disappointing in the end. My tendency, John is to
look at some of the things that really are maybe
not capturing the spotlight. For example, you mentioned Luis Suarez.
He was the only player who got the additional suspension
from the league, but Stephen Lennart, who is part of
the Seattle coaching staff as a mental health coach, also

(01:24:59):
has his credit You'll pulled for the season by the league.
I just thought that was hilarious that he was even involved.
If he's a part of helping the club and the
players with their mental health and he's involved in that
melee at the end, what does that say to you
about your hiring practices. He used to be a member
of the Columbus crew, So you know, I feel a
little bad talking about it with regards to Suarez getting

(01:25:23):
the three games. I mean, the league's got to do something.
I don't think everyone is ever going to feel like
it was enough. But if you back up the microscope
just a bit and say to yourself, Okay, what has
the league had to do in order to accommodate Miami's
growth and build over the last several years, you come

(01:25:45):
to understand that. And I think the League would admit
this too. They've they've kind of gone all in on Miami,
and with good reason. Lionel Messi's down there. Unfortunately, if
you live by the build up, you're gonna die by
the build up two. And I don't think that the
league wanted to be in a situation where Miami makes

(01:26:06):
this last thrust into the playoffs and then through the
postseason without one of their star players, and the continuing
conversation of well, you know, if Suarez were here, he
would certainly help Messi win MLS Cup, you know. So
I just feel like the league was in a tough spot.
But I think the league put themselves in that spot.

(01:26:30):
I also don't like the fact that it took Suarez
four days to go out on social media with a statement.
I don't like that it took Miami four days to
get out there on social media with a statement. So
that's an indication that the PR people the comms people
and the League were all in cahoots and figuring out
exactly what they should say and shouldn't say the timing

(01:26:54):
of the League's Cup announcement of suspension, and then forty
eight hours later we get the League Cup suspension announcement
or the league's announcement of a suspension. You know, it's
all coordinated, but unfortunately it has to be in our
day and age. And then beyond that, does it go
far enough? You'll always have people who say it doesn't.

(01:27:15):
But I think the League had to just keep it short.

Speaker 1 (01:27:18):
Yeah, And when you mentioned Messi and friends down in
Fort Lauderdale, I give them credit as an ownership group
for pushing the envelope when it comes to acquisitions and
navigating the salary cap and.

Speaker 2 (01:27:37):
However you want to refer to it.

Speaker 1 (01:27:39):
I give them credit for chasing after all the big
guns that they're bringing down there.

Speaker 2 (01:27:43):
Sure.

Speaker 1 (01:27:44):
I think what it does is it reminds all of
the other ownership groups. It's like, Okay, they're doing their
things that way. If you want to go and hang
out with the Joneses and do that, that's your prerogative.
They've shown the way you can do that. But It
also reinforces if you're comfortable with you your way of
doing things. It's just a reminder, let them do their thing,
we'll do our thing and we'll be fine. So I

(01:28:05):
think that there's a lot of buttons economically that are
working for Inner Miami and that's their thing. Just it
reminds folks if you need go down that road if
you want, you know, caveat emptor buy or beware in
a situation like that.

Speaker 7 (01:28:18):
Though, Yeah, I think it's a really great point. And
you know, I applaud the league for taking the chance
with Messi and making it happen. You know, they did
the same thing with David Beckham fifteen years ago, and
the first thing Beckham wanted when he landed in Los
Angeles was the opportunity to be loaned out for the
off season, and that was like, well, hold on a second,

(01:28:40):
is David not happy with being in Los Angeles and
the welcome that he's been given and all the money
from Adidas and the cash that's been laid out for
him to play in Los Angeles? So that was kind
of a cluster as well.

Speaker 2 (01:28:54):
I agree with you.

Speaker 7 (01:28:55):
I think the ownership group pushed the envelope in Miami
and they're enjoying the benefits that. But where the league's concerned,
I think they've got They just probably are in a
tough spot and I don't care. You know, we're going
to probably see Miami in the playoffs. I just want
to beat him, That's all I want.

Speaker 1 (01:29:13):
You and everybody else and major line you, sir, are
in a majority opinion in that regard. There's something going
on tonight there in Columbus. H Yeah, it has to
do with the national team or something. I don't know,
you know, some some team that's yelling about that. They're
not all happy. You know, no one's and everyone's ever
going to be one hundred percent happy when it comes

(01:29:34):
to the US M and T. Anyway, what is the
vibe in town as they're getting ready for this game
where let's see the sky is falling. Mauritio Pochettino doesn't
know what he's doing right. What is this starting lineup
that he's got out there?

Speaker 2 (01:29:50):
What is he looking for?

Speaker 1 (01:29:52):
Where are the big stars? What questions am I missing?
I'm sure they're all out there. When it comes to
what is the vibe like there in Columbus getting ready
for this man with the US and Japan.

Speaker 7 (01:30:02):
Well, John, great question, and as usual, you have your
finger on the pulse of the disgruntled in America when
it comes to the men's nations.

Speaker 2 (01:30:08):
Has anybody ever been gruntled? Chris I I.

Speaker 7 (01:30:12):
Well, I'll tell you what you know. You even go
back to two thousand and one, which is twenty five
years ago, when Columbus was the host for the very
first qualifier between the US men's national team in Mexico.
That is to say that Columbus was hosting for the
first time and it's twenty eight degrees outside Brad friedel'sen

(01:30:33):
goal for the US. Mauricio compos I think was the
goalkeeper for Mexico, and it was intentional that that game
be played in Columbus in the middle of winter, because
Mexico had been such great sports of taking the US
men's national team to Estadio as Teca in the middle
of summer at elevation with bags of who knows what

(01:30:56):
coming out of the stands. So it was just sort
of tit for tat at that point. So twenty five
years later, here we find ourselves. And by the way,
that was the first of four Dosa Sero results against
Mexico in Columbus. Twenty five years later, we find ourselves
in a position of having to host here in Columbus.
We absolutely adore it. Now you can talk to the

(01:31:18):
people who are lifelong soccer fans in this town and
they are thrilled with the opportunity of having the Red,
white and Blue in the city. I was out at
OhioHealth Performance Center yesterday. The guys were training, spirits were great,
the weather was terrific, and I think there's an there's
a thought from the team that they've got to do

(01:31:41):
better than they did on Saturday night, and there's a
spirit that understands there's a way to do it against
a team from Japan that's already qualified and as well
plays very much like South Korea. So I think that
the mission is probably pretty clear from the head coaching

(01:32:01):
staff on down. I think the understanding is that they're
on sacred ground here in Columbus. The men's national team
is ten to one in three in fourteen appearances here
in the great City of Columbus, and they want to
do they want to do right by the crowd that
shows up tonight. I suspect that we'll see some fans

(01:32:23):
of the Japanese national team in town. I don't know
how many. I kind of doubt it's going to be
equal to the number of South Korean fans who showed
up in Harrison on the weekend.

Speaker 2 (01:32:33):
What's your gut tell you about tonight?

Speaker 7 (01:32:37):
My gut tells me that my wife and I'll be
sitting field side and enjoying the sites. We don't get
to go to games very often together, as you might suspect,
and so when we have the opportunity, we kind of
sees it. So it'll be a special night. I'm anxious
to see Max Arsten at least get a whiff of
playing time, if not a start. In addition to that,

(01:33:00):
don't forget that Sebastian Berhalter spent six years in this city.
His dad was head coach of the Columbus Crew before
Greg took over with the men's national team, so Sebastian
was a part of the Columbus Crew academy while he
was growing up. It'll be a really fun evening. It'll
be beautiful in terms of the weather. The pitch is

(01:33:22):
in terrific shape. It's been cared for over the last
two and a half weeks since our last home game,
and I really think that it'll be a fun night
for everybody, for.

Speaker 1 (01:33:30):
Someone who doesn't have the luxury of seeing Columbus as
much as you do. What does Max arst bring to
the table in a Columbus sence and in a national
team since from your observations, what does he bring because
he's gotten a lot of slings and arrows in his
short time there. From the from someone who is gruntled

(01:33:50):
where Max Arston is concerned, what does he bring to
the table?

Speaker 7 (01:33:54):
Well, I think people who have watched him over the
last couple of years certainly understand that his trajectory doesn't
pear to have a ceiling. And that's the most positive
part about it. It means that he's a great student.
He puts the work in and you do get results.
He's increased in his performance as it relates to shooting
opportunities that he's created with the Columbus crew this year

(01:34:17):
and then beyond that has been a tremendous contributor, not
just on one side, but on the opposite side too,
as Wilfred Nazi has experimented with certain points in different
matches switching the wingers. He does the work defensively, getting
back in that three five to two lineup that Wilfred
likes to use, and then beyond that will go ahead

(01:34:39):
and get the work done on the attacking side of
the ball. So from a Columbus standpoint, he's an integral
part of our attack. I think the addition of Ibrahim
Alie I beg your pardon of wessamabu Ali is going
to make things even more interesting as we learn to

(01:34:59):
find him in dangerous spots and complete plays at the
attacking end of the field. I think the sky's the limit.
We've heard rumors that there have been teams that have
called about his availability, and the club has, it's been rumored,
opted to hold Max until the end of the season

(01:35:22):
and likely ship him out at some point on a contract.
But for now he's in Columbus and we're glad he's
wearing the red, white and blue tonight.

Speaker 1 (01:35:32):
Question for you with your observations yesterday when you were
at OHPC, the other half of the equation was not
at practice and when Sean was danged or nursing an injury,
what have you, however you want to phrase it. Obviously
that's going to be one of your storylines heading into

(01:35:53):
this weekend if he's available under normal circumstances. When you
look at someone like Sean, who to me is much
like Max, He's kind of a joker. It's like, okay,
so he's here, He's here, he's here, He's He's a
typical wherever you put him until the whistleblow. What does
he bring to the table for folks who haven't seen him,

(01:36:16):
and what do you lose if he's not available this weekend.

Speaker 7 (01:36:20):
That's a great question, John, and I appreciate you asking
about him, because we were disappointed to get the news
yesterday that Shawn injured himself with the national team last
week and Harrison training for that friendly against South Korea
on the weekend. He didn't dress on Saturday, and he
will not dress tonight. There are still some questions as
to whether or not he'll be available at all this weekend.

(01:36:42):
My suspicion is that it's either one or the other.
It could be a devastating injury or it could be
something that keeps him out for a couple of weeks.
But I think what Wilfried, Nanci and the Columbus crew
miss from a player like Shan Zawatsky is sort of
the Swiss Army Knife of all different types of player profiles,

(01:37:04):
a guy who can play in a lot of different
spots and unfortunately actually had to play goal for US
last year against Seattle because we had a goalkeeper that
was red carded in the twenty third minute. Shawn started
and grew as a midfielder, went to Georgetown out of
the academy, and came back to the men's to the
Columbus crew as a midfielder, played alongside Darlington n Agby.

(01:37:27):
When Rudy Camacho went down our center back, it was
shown who dropped back between the two outside center backs
and sustained we thought very good consistent performances gamed game.
That's where he's been all season long for the most part,
and has done very very well. Have there been some

(01:37:49):
problems defensively, Yes, but it can't all be on shan
Zawatski and it can't all beyond the goalkeeper either. This
team depends on pushing forward with the ball and everyone
dropping back in recovery without the ball, and we've had
a lot of problems with teams who have been able
to get past our midfield when they take over and

(01:38:11):
transition and create these isolated one v one or two
v one situations that create goals for them. Zawatski is
a big miss if he's not available, no matter where
coach decides to play him, and it does mean that
our center back force is thinned out. We go from
five in the stable to four in the stable. Although

(01:38:32):
Andres Herrera could be pulled back as a center back
he's been doing so well in the midfield, it would
be yet again and another spot where we would have
to plug somebody in.

Speaker 2 (01:38:45):
Do you know if Stephen Morera has how do we
phrase this? Does he has a private jet?

Speaker 1 (01:38:56):
Is he going to be able to make it from
because are you going to be watching Cape Verde at noon?
In their in their activity in the Afcon as they
are a slight favorite against Cameroon. To make sure that
he gets back so he can be a part of
things on the weekend.

Speaker 7 (01:39:11):
It would be wonderful if the coach would rule him
out and they'd put him on a plane, now, wouldn't it,
But that that would be selfish. You John have been
around enough soccer players to hear them just gloat with
the opportunity to represent their national team. And I think
it means so much to Stephen to be able to
do this. I wish him and Cape Verdey all the
luck in the world as they take on a very

(01:39:33):
tough Cameroon team in an effort to qualify for the
World Cup. In our in our experience on these types
of international windows schedules, Steven typically doesn't get back until
Wednesday night early Thursday. Maybe he trains, maybe he doesn't Thursday,
and then Friday, the tactical session. The guys get on
the plane flight to Atlanta Friday afternoon. You know, Stephen

(01:39:57):
could be on the bench on Saturday and all likelihood
and in that scenario we'd have to go again into
the roster and start pulling players to sub in for him.
The flip side to that is sixty minutes out of
Stephen Morera can be a dangerous sixty minutes if Columbus
is on que with everything, So it'll be interesting to

(01:40:20):
see how coach Wilfred Nazi handles it.

Speaker 1 (01:40:21):
On the weekend, Chris Dornaldoppo Research getting us ready for
Columbus and their visit to Atlanta, and Mercedes Benz on
the weekend. One other player that I wanted to get
your opinion of, what has it been like to see
Jason russell Rose game advanced where it is.

Speaker 7 (01:40:36):
These days, It's been good.

Speaker 2 (01:40:40):
You know.

Speaker 7 (01:40:41):
I think Jason wants more out of his game. I
think Wilfred Nazi wants more out of Jason's game. I'll
be very candid, I'm not exactly sure if if Jason
maybe needs another coach's voice in his head. And I'm
not being critical of Jason at all. I just feel
like there's probably a little bit more from Jason as

(01:41:03):
a pro athlete, as a goal scorer. And you know,
I think Wilfred brings the best out of all the
players he works with. But I think players can also
limit the reception of the messages, either consciously or subconsciously,
and I feel like we maybe have hit. I won't

(01:41:28):
say a wall, but I feel like there's there may
be an impasse where Jason Russell Rowe might actually might
actually benefit from hearing from a different voice. Again, not
being critical of either the player or the coach. As
a coach myself, I understand that players get to a
point where they need something different or something more. I

(01:41:50):
don't know that Jason is at twenty two able to
acknowledge that he needs another voice and I think Wilfried
Nancy has got a track record of player development that
may keep Jason Russell Row in the Columbus Crew camp
knowing that he can make inroads with this young player.

(01:42:10):
But I think we expected a little more from Jason,
given the departure of Christian Ramirez and Cucho Ornandez, the
opportunities night in and night out of regular starts for
Russell Row, and I just don't know that we've seen
it all. And I don't know if he gets the
opportunity to show it all here with Columbus or if

(01:42:30):
maybe the opportunity exists elsewhere.

Speaker 2 (01:42:33):
From your.

Speaker 1 (01:42:36):
Keenest of keen observations, what concerns Columbus Crew the most
about Atlanta and what are they most confident about coming
into this matchup going up against Atlanta.

Speaker 7 (01:42:48):
Well, I think they're very confident in their system. They
always have been. Going on the road is never a problem,
and it's because they invest so much in making sure
that the roles and responsibility are covered, so the details
are covered. You know, this draw that we had in
Harrison two weeks ago would have looked terrific. In the

(01:43:11):
middle of June, you go up against a fired up
red Bull squad on the road, a field that had
just received new turf four days before the game, and
you get out of there with a scoreless draw. It's
a great shutout for Patrick Shulty. He had four saves
on the night. We didn't have quite as many shots
as I think probably the coaching staff and players would

(01:43:32):
have liked, but still a scoreless draw. Its one point
on the road, had a tough place to play. Unfortunately,
it came with seven games left in the league schedule,
and so while there may have been some frustration on
the fan base side, it's still you still have to
take the good with the with the ugly, and I
think there was a lot of good that came out

(01:43:53):
of that, so there is some confidence there. The downside is,
while the crew does have two weeks to get used
to Wessumabu Ali, he's been gone with Palestine for the
last week, so you really haven't had the time to
get accustomed to him. And then the two week break
is also providing Columbus with the opportunity to let Darlington

(01:44:14):
Nagby continue to heal without being tested on a weekend.
My hope, of course, is that Nagby is available this weekend.
Mo Farci could be coming back from his injury. That
starts to add to the stable a little bit. We'll
learn more about the availability this week.

Speaker 1 (01:44:30):
Yeah, as you sit there and you look at my notes,
cross that question off of the board with the whether
or not it was a good time for a two
week break before we get to Saturday. Your IU football
team is taking on Indiana State Friday night, A boy
and it is It is in Bloomington, six thirty kick

(01:44:52):
for IDU and number twenty two Indiana and it's Is
this a homecoming game? Or is this just a visit
from the friends from Tara HOAt what's going on there?

Speaker 7 (01:45:04):
You know, I only follow wins and losses. I don't
know what the ceremony is around it. I'm so glad
that you brought it up. I think Kurt Signetti has
been just a firecracker for that program and for that town,
and I have a lot of friends who just embrace
everything that he's doing. He has demanded so much from
the athletic department in terms of raising the level off

(01:45:26):
the field, and he has matched expectations on the field.
If he can duplicate what he did last year, I
think everyone will be happy. I don't know that running
through an Ohio State football team at some point during
the season is something that can be fairly expected by
Indiana who's your football fans, But it's certainly it'll be

(01:45:46):
a big Friday night when Indiana State comes to town.
We'll have a lot of folks coming into town for
that matchup, as Tera HOAt is only about forty five
minutes away.

Speaker 1 (01:45:55):
And then after that it's Illinois, then you go to Iowa,
then you go to Eugi and it just continues to roll.
So it's a that is a that is a that
is a big honkin schedule that you've got coming up
the next couple of weeks. Okay, my wrap up question
for you, and thanks for putting up with all of
my tangents as you always do. You are so entertaining,
don't worry about it over your right shoulder. You have

(01:46:18):
what some folks refer to as a guitar. And so
what I wanted to do was, if you had the
opportunity to sit in in a jam session with said guitar,
who would you want to sit on a stage and
jam with? Given the chance, who would you want to
sit there and it's like, yeah, I'll trade licks with

(01:46:39):
that dude.

Speaker 2 (01:46:40):
Wow.

Speaker 7 (01:46:41):
Well that's a delightful question, and I should preface it
by my answer by telling you I can't play with
a devil.

Speaker 2 (01:46:49):
I really can't.

Speaker 7 (01:46:51):
I mean, I thank goodness for the iPad and all
the lessons that are available out there on the interweb
because it gives me the chance to hang out in
the office and play with it.

Speaker 2 (01:47:01):
But that's about it.

Speaker 7 (01:47:04):
You know, Eric Clapton's doing a show in Cleveland here
in a couple of days, and Clapton's from Ohio. He's
been to Columbus Crew games. The one concert I missed
out on John when I was working in music radio
some years ago was to go see Eric Clapton play
and and sit very close to the stage, which would

(01:47:24):
have been incredible. So I would say that if I
had the opportunity, I would sit on a stage with
Eric Clapton and probably just sit and admire him for
the for the two hour jam session.

Speaker 2 (01:47:37):
It was like, yeah, just dude, I'm right here if
you if you need a riff, I'll give you a riff.
But I'm just gonna sit and watch. Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:47:44):
That is that's a That is a tremendous pull and
any jam session with Eric Clapton would not be suboptimal.
Go ahead, and if you would, sir, for folks that
wish to listen to anything and everything going on Columbus
Crew with you and the the thousands, it makes it happen,
go ahead and cut the promo for me.

Speaker 7 (01:48:02):
John, Thanks so much. I appreciate it. Inside the Crew
airs Wednesday nights on iHeartRadio and you can catch the
podcast on Thursday, follow us on Twitter and get the
link instantly on Friday. On Thursday morning on your right
to work, we'll have plenty of coverage of the men's
national team, including a couple of one on one interviews
with Sebastian Burhalter and Max Arstin. And then look forward

(01:48:23):
to this weekend against Atlanta.

Speaker 1 (01:48:26):
Looking forward to it as always, my friend, Thanks for
always dropping by, and like I said, you know where
the key is under the mat, you know where the
garage door opener is. If there's anything you ever want
to get off your chest, you know how to do it.
It's always great to see you and we'll catch up soon,
my friend.

Speaker 7 (01:48:38):
You're terrific. John, Thanks so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (01:48:41):
You got it Chris Dorn, and he knows anything and
everything about everything going on in Columbus, Crewe national team guitars,
I use football, all of it.

Speaker 2 (01:48:50):
He's what we refer to as a stud.

Speaker 1 (01:48:54):
Dorian is a stud without any question, and it's always
great to be able to circle back and catch up
with him and find out what's going on. I did
have those burning questions about the back, and I think
that it's something that to pay attention to morera and
travel coming back from AFCON, the Zawatski injury and the
progress therein is it just the knock or a ding

(01:49:15):
or is it something more substantial and finding out what
the layout is and trying to make sure that the
connection with the wesam abu Ali continues to grow. Darlington
n Agby continues to heal with a couple of weeks off,
and so that is what you're staring at in the
street fight that is the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer.

(01:49:36):
So once again just to kind of recap the street
fight as we break it all down here, Eastern Conference
we know is going to be a race to the
bitter end. We know it is figuring out who's going
to go where and do what. Here's the rundown. Philadelphia

(01:49:56):
is in. We just don't know where. Five points clear
there at fifty seven points, twenty nine matches played. Cincinnati's
at fifty two. Charlotte and Nashville are at fifty. Charlotte
has one more win. Orlando is at forty seven points.
They are the five. They have a match in hand.
Messi and friends have as many as four matches in hand.

(01:50:19):
They have three on Orlando, four on one through four.
So if they were to run the table, say if
they ran the table in those four matches that they
need to catch up on, they would be the number
one seed. So we'll see what happens there with that Columbus,
they're in the street fight. They're at forty six points,

(01:50:41):
one less win than Miami, but of course, once again,
Miami has three matches in hand on Columbus. Columbus right
now is your seven twelve, six and ten, eight, three
and four at home, four three and six away from home.

Speaker 2 (01:50:53):
This year.

Speaker 1 (01:50:55):
The eight to nine you're playing right now NYC and Chicago.
NYC is at forty four points, twenty seven matches, thirteen wins,
Chicago fire forty two points, twenty eight matches played so
NYC match in hand on the folks in front of
them and behind them in the standings Chicago at forty
two points. They are the last one in right now.

(01:51:18):
Once again, they've got a match in hand on Red Bulls,
who are at forty points. They are in tenth and
then there's a nine point gap to New England and
then Atlanta at twenty six, Toronto at twenty five, Montreal
and DC eliminated with twenty nine matches played and twenty
four points. That's your rundown there. Western Conference. In the

(01:51:40):
interest of equal time, San Diego is in at fifty
six points. Just don't know the where twenty nine matches played.
Same for the Loons. They're five points back. Vancouver and Seattle, however,
have two matches in hand. Vancouver can get to the
two and be right up against San Diego go if.

Speaker 2 (01:52:02):
They went out.

Speaker 1 (01:52:04):
If San Diego stumbles, Vancouver may have an outside chance
with Yesper Sorenson and their crew to be the top seed,
but they've got to win out and they've got to
get help. Seattle at forty four points twenty seven matches played,
they're you're four five LAFC, two matches in hand on Austin,
same number of wins, LAFC match in hand on Seattle

(01:52:28):
eleven wins, forty one points. Portland is your seven at
thirty nine. Colorado and San Jose are you're playing right now?
Colorado at thirty six, San Jose at thirty five. Houston
below them at thirty three points in tenth, RSL in
Dallas both at thirty one points, eleven and twelve. RSL

(01:52:48):
has two matches in hand. On the folks above them,
they went out.

Speaker 2 (01:52:53):
They're in.

Speaker 1 (01:52:55):
Dallas thirty one points, seven wins. They need to win
a lot and they need a lot of help. Kansas
City at twenty seven points, twenty nine matches played, All
Caps at twenty two points and twenty nine matches played
in La Galaxy LAG's.

Speaker 2 (01:53:09):
At four, sixteen and eight.

Speaker 1 (01:53:11):
They've given up fifty six goals this season, scoring only
thirty three, O nine and six away from Dignity Hell
Sports Park in Carson, California this year. So that's your
run in right now as it stands heading into the weekend.
But we'll keep an eye on things as we continue
to press forward scoring updates in qualification in the AFCN

(01:53:34):
Kenya rolling all over the Seychelles there to five nil
at a minus five thousand. There at ninety plus. Namibia
is a final. They knocked off Saltomai and Principe, so
it was a two on one Namibia one. In the
odd Man Rush, they were a country down at a
minus six twenty five. They got the three nil win
Niger over ten Zania as a big underdog showing there
to plus four to forty eight. They got the win

(01:53:54):
one nil. Zimbabwe wins. Sorry, Zimbabwe loses to Rwanda. Rwanda
a big fel a favorite on the road at a
plus one seventy seven. And we are waiting on Sierra Leone,
who is favored on the minus side, leading Ethiopia one nil.
That one is at ninety plus. Later today it is
a handful of matches at noon. You can watch them

(01:54:15):
on the plus. Armenia, Iland, Ireland, Ireland favored, Azerbaijan, Ukraine.
Ukraine favored at a minus two fifty six Forurquina Fosso
in Egypt. Egypt favored at a plus one thirty eight.
Cape Verde and Cameroon. We mentioned Stephen Morera for a crew.
They're favored against Cameroon at a plus one seventy four.

(01:54:36):
Dr Congo is a dog, hosting Senegal at a plus
one thirty seven. South Africa is a plus one sixty
seven hosting Nigeria, and Togo is a plus one thirty
one hosting Sudana to plus two fifty two two forty five.
This is when it starts to drift into Europe. There
is some Afchan. At three o'clock two forty five, Albania

(01:54:56):
favored with Latvia, Bosnia hurts a, Gevina a big underdog
host Austria. Romania favorite at Cyprus, fring it to minus
twelve fifty hosting Iceland. Hungary is a dog hosting Portugal
of minus two thirty three. Norway big favorite against Moldova
to minus two thousand. Serbia a plus three thirty. England
is a minus one poh nine, so keep an eye

(01:55:19):
on that one. At two forty five three o'clock, once
again you're drifting into afcan tonight. Remember it's the last
day of the Conme bal stages. We have to figure
out who gets the play in spot. Is it going
to be the Vinotinto who came out with a tremendous
video on their social media. Three o'clock and Gola, Mauritius,
Beninla Soto, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Burundi, Mauritania, South Sedana.

(01:55:44):
That's your AFCON at three o'clock, seven o'clock Ecuador Argentina.
Argentina favorite at a plus one sixty six. Do they
run the table? They don't necessarily need the three points
considering how clear they are. Bolivia Brazil. Brazil's a plus
one twenty five at La Pause. Chile is an underdog
hosting Uruguay a plus one twelve. Peru favored at home

(01:56:05):
against Padaguaya a plus one forty seven. Venezuela is a
plus one seventy one hosting Colombia at a plus one
seventy three. Venezuela. That's the one you're looking at. At
seven point thirty tonight Conka CAF eight o'clock Curras al Bermuda,
curis Al's big favorite. Jamaica minus two seventy hosting Trinidad

(01:56:26):
and Tobago. Ten o'clock, Costa Rica Haiti minus one sixty
four for Los Ticos Honduras a minus two to seventy
eight hosting Nicaragua, who's a plus seven sixteen. So looking
at the standings once again, we'll go through how it
looks in South America, Argentina, in Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador, Colombia,

(01:56:49):
Paraguay two through six, they're all within three points of
each other, so it's the order that is going to
be decided. Venezuela right now eighteen points, one point ahead
of Bolivia. Venezuela gets Colombia. Remember they're a slight favorite.
Bolivia gets Brastille, so Venezuela has to Honestly, if Bolivia draw,

(01:57:13):
If Bolivia draws, Venezuela loses, Venezuela is still in because
of superior goal difference. So if you're looking for Joseph
and Ronald to make it into the World Cup in
twenty six, Venezuela needs a result of some kind. Legitimately,
they could have a kick about for ninety minutes and
they would get in. Bolivia has to win. Venezuela has

(01:57:35):
to draw or lose. That's the only way Bolivia gets in.
Bolivia has to win tonight and then they would get
in seven eight for that play in against Oceania. That's
what you're looking at, and it looks like in the
Oceania standings in the third stage. It looks like in

(01:57:59):
that third stage, New Zealand over New Caledonia by the
score of three to zero. So keep an eye on
all of that. It looks like New Caledonia might be
the play in from Oceania as New Zealand makes their
way in, so it would be New Caledonia against the
seven from South America. So that's what you're staring at.
Let me take a tour real quick and see if

(01:58:21):
there's any other news that is fit to print or
talk about before we're out the door. The Manchester City settlement,
we kind of got into it a little bit yesterday,
but not a lot. As the show was ending, this
was coming down the pike. So Manchester City and the
Premier League settled their dispute over rules that limit the

(01:58:41):
ability of top flight clubs design sponsorship deals with companies
related to their ownership. This fight over so called associated
Party Transaction rules. There has been a challenge to the
rule book. Both parties now step back City agreeing to
accept the legitimacy of the APT rules as they stand.
They came out with a joint statement yesterday. City claimed
an addition, an initial victory over the League. In October

(01:59:07):
arbitration Fannel Pound certain found certain aspects of the rules
within were discriminatory. Loans made by shareholders to their own
club should have been included with an APT, the panel adjudged,
while there were also problems with the way in which
clubs were given information on what might be fair market
value in the given deal. After making adjustments to accommodate
the panel's ruling, Premier League argued any problems over APT

(01:59:28):
had been resolved and its rule book fit for purpose.
City challenged the league's adjustments and began a new process
of arbitration. It's the second process that has been resolved.
Both parties are still in the process of determining the
one hundred and thirty alleged breaches of the Premier League
rule book. So it is the second case of APT

(01:59:49):
and not the initial rundown of what happened with the
discussions over the rules breaches.

Speaker 2 (01:59:57):
The new APT is what they came out with the joint.

Speaker 1 (02:00:01):
Statement with, and you know they were allegedly everybody's all
happy now where that's concerned, but anyway, so that's what
you're you're staring at with Uh, well, that's what you're
staring at with APT. Manchester City, the them and the
they in the Premier League agreed and so now they
still have to fight over the one hundred and thirty
rule breaches.

Speaker 7 (02:00:20):
Dell.

Speaker 1 (02:00:21):
Sweden did lose yesterday to Kosovo Kosovo. You figured Kosovo
was going to steal somebody's lunch, turned out to be Sweden.
So Kosovo right now is the number two spot in
Group B and they that's uh, that is an inside track.
So Sweden, uh loses to nil, Kosovo gets the winning

(02:00:41):
group in their second match, and so that's where they
are in Group B. Just to run it down really quickly. Uh,
the only ones. So we've got Group D who is
playing match day two, Group F is playing match day two,
and you have the five team groups that are in
there either fifth or fourth or match day there really
pushing the envelope in all of these. So it is

(02:01:03):
currently Group A Slovakia six points, Northern Ireland Germany. Northern
Ireland has scored more goals, so they are in. Germany
is currently out after match day two. Luxembourg is in fourth.
Group B, Switzerland, Kosovo, Sweden and Slovenia. Group C Denmark, Scotland, Greece, Belarus.

(02:01:23):
Group D match Day two is today going in Iceland
and France have one win each. Ukraine and Azerbaijan have
one loss. Group E, Spain, Georgia, Turkia, Bulgaria, Group F Portugal,
Hungary so Portugal at three points, Hungary and Ireland with
one point. Hungary has we're down like the ninety eighth tiebreaker,

(02:01:45):
but Hungary right now is at number two. Ireland's at
number three. Armenia lost their first match once again. They
play match day two today. Group G Netherlands and Poland
one to two. Finland at seven points, three points back,
Lithuania at three points.

Speaker 2 (02:01:58):
Malta is at two. They've lost three of five.

Speaker 1 (02:02:01):
Bosnia Herzegovina lead Group H, Austria is at nine points,
Romania out at six, Cyprus is at three. In San
Marino is at five matches played and only one goal scored.
Group I Norway, Italy You're one two. Israel has a
worse goal difference. Estonia is at three points. Moldova has
lost all four and they have scored twice. Group J

(02:02:24):
North Macedonia, Belgium and Wales all separated by one point.
Kazakhstan has three points. Liechtenstein has not scored. Group K
England and once again England playing today. England twelve points.
They've run the table so far in group Serbia at seven,
Albania at five, Latvia four, Andorra has not scored. Group
L Croatia and Czech Republic. They are both at twelve points.

(02:02:45):
Croatia has an eleven goal advantage in goal difference Faroe
Allen's at six, Montenegro at six, and Gibraltar has scored twice.

Speaker 2 (02:02:53):
They are oh for their first five.

Speaker 1 (02:02:56):
Now let's see what to watch, where to watch it,
how to watch it, and we'll get you out of
here once again. Tomorrow's the Power Hour with Nino and
Nico coming up at ten o'clock and that'll be the
last half hour of the show. So what to watch,
Where to watch it, how to watch it. Today it
is World Cup qualifying France and Iceland on FS two
at two forty five. USA Japan is on T and T.

(02:03:18):
That's at seven thirty. ESPN deport This has South Africa Nigeria.

Speaker 2 (02:03:21):
At noon.

Speaker 1 (02:03:22):
Telemundo has the CONCA CAFT doubleheader Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago,
Costa Rica and eighty at eight and ten to the
NA simulcasting Mexico in South Korea at nine o'clock. Universo
has USA and Japan at seven thirty under a Stickaraguill
at ten, and Univiciona has Mexico in South Korea at nine.
All of the AFCON is on the plus all the

(02:03:44):
nine o'clock matchups we talked about, the five at noon
and the five at three. Fox Soccer Plus Norway Moldova
to forty five. Golazzo Network has the simulcast of the
two CONCACAFT matchups Jamaica T and T, Costa Rica and Haiti.
Hbo max as USA Japan. Paramount Plus has the two
matchups at eight. Curras Allen Bermuda Jamaica, T and T,

(02:04:05):
Costa Rica, Haiti, Honduras and Karagua at ten. Your pay
per view action on picking up everything in conbo ball.
That's going to be a boatload of money. I think
it's like fifteen bucks a match. Peacock simulcasting USA, Japan
and Honduras and Nicaragua. Man, it's a big show, all right.
So once again I'm trying to see if I have

(02:04:26):
missed anything. I don't think I have, unless there's anything
on all of your collective minds as we exit the
day here on a Tuesday, so once again we're tracking
stuff down as we always do. And tomorrow it's Tyler
and Dylan Tyler at nine to fifteen and Dylan Butler,
the busiest man of the Northeast, is.

Speaker 2 (02:04:45):
At ten o'clock.

Speaker 1 (02:04:46):
So thanks to Chris Dorn to get the opposition research
about everything going on in Columbus getting ready for crewe
Thanks to Scott Wells, the head coach at Gardner Webb
profiling one of the top fifteen team in the country
out of the blocks at five and oh a big
win at West Virginia, talking a lot about what it's
like not to be a power four team in NCAA

(02:05:08):
Division One, leading the Big South along with a high
point and then leading things off KCD Casey White calling
four different leagues, four different levels, and we talked about
all of them, and we set a modern day record
for leagues and conferences discussed with one interviewee. So as always,
thanks for hanging out with us as you always do.
That's another go round of SDHAM back at it again

(02:05:30):
in a little less than twenty two hours, and since
this is the end of the show, thanks to all
of you for being a part of it as you
always are. That means I get to do this. We'll
talk about USA in Japan tomorrow. David is looking for predictions.
Have fun predicting. We'll be watching. We'll catch up with
all of you again nine oh five Eastern time here

(02:05:51):
across the network. Play safe, everybody, moocha platel Since it
is the end of the show that means I get
to do this.

Speaker 2 (02:05:56):
We'll see you tomorrow morning.

Speaker 5 (02:06:01):
Lieutenant

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