S6E1: The Long Goodbye (Season Premiere!)

Sockers Overtime S6E1: The Long Goodbye
ON THE SHOW TONIGHT

• we welcome in a new co-host and say farewell to another
• The league has new conferences and a new playoff format, we’ll figure it out for you
• We will tour the Sockers schedule and set the stage for a yearlong farewell to the Grand Old Arena
• A wild day at the WMF World Cup sends both the US and Mexico packing

Welcome to all live on Twitch, those next-day on YouTube or podcast
Where have we been? Welcome in Tony, talk 2balls Farewell Jerry and Nate Purpose of show, schedule (Tuesdays)
MASL RESET FOR 2023-24

• 13 teams (no Florida, no Guadalajara (yet))
• West: SD, Chihuahua, Empire, Texas (Mesquite), Tacoma, Dallas
• East: Baltimore, KC, St Louis, Milwaukee, Monterrey, Harrisburg, Utica
• Top 4 per conference make the playoffs, home-home with knockout game

SOCKERS RESET

• Signed: Gabriel Costa (3 years)
• Signed: Drew Ruggles (4 years)
• Re-signed: Cerda, Cardenas, Christian Gutierrez, Leo (5 years)
• Departed to Monterrey: Ismael Rojo, Pollo, Irvin Mojica
• Departed to Empire: Jurado (Paul Wright, Paul Dougherty)

SCHEDULE

• let’s go through it game by game
• Promotional schedule
• Long goodbye to the arena

NEWS

• WMF Wipeout!
• Uzi signs in Texas, could Franck be next?

Episode Transcript

(00:15):
Hello once again everybody, and welcomeback to Soccers Overtime, your weekly look
inside the San Diego Soccers and theMajor Arena Soccer League. And we are
streaming live on Twitch. It's ourseason six, season debut, Craig Elston
here with Tony Sanchez. We gota lot to talk about. It has

(00:36):
been several months away and yet herewe are. Tony, Welcome in,
my friends, straight from your twoballs and a Mike studio. Thank you
for adorning it with some soccer swagas we kick things off here season six
of Soccers Overtime. Absolutely a pleasureto be part of the Soccers Overtime family.

(00:59):
You would have found me in thecomments anyway, so we would have
been talking soccers anyhow. But again, thank you for embracing me into the
out halls of Soccers Overtime. It'sgonna be fun. It's gonna be a
great time. And again, Ineed to get more some soccer swag to
be completely honest. Well, youknow I know someone who at least I
can get you connected to, youknow, I mean, I'm sure we've

(01:23):
got some connections we can work onalong the way. As we hear once
again, the beautiful Sounds of theSouth Bank courtesy of Bobby Cressey. On
tonight's show, we welcome in anew co host, we say farewell to
another. The league has new conferences, a new playoff format. We'll figure
it all out for you. Don'tworry about it. We're gonna tour the

(01:46):
soccers schedule. We're gonna set thestage a year long farewell to the Grand
Old Arena and a wild day atthe WMF World Cup across the world at
United arabem where both the US andMexico are sent packing in a matter of
hours. Today we will talk aboutit. We'll break it all down.

(02:09):
We welcome everybody who and I dobelieve Sir Craig has hit the mute button.
See if we can get them,get them back online. Here there
we go, there to go andI Day one, I don't know what's
going on. It told me Ihad unplugged my mic. It's right here,

(02:30):
it's still plugged in. Oh mygod. Technology. Anyways, we're
here, man, it is soexciting to be back with you. We
also want to welcome everyone who's watchingNext Day on our YouTube channel. You
are equally welcome. We thank allof the Next Day folks. We thanks
everyone who's listening to the audio podcast. You probably forgot that you subscribe to
the show. It's been over fivemonths, and yet thank you so much.

(02:54):
We are back indeed, so youknow, Tony, let's just start
off by answering a base question,where have we been by this point?
Usually every summer we had had threeor four summer overtime shows. We didn't
have any this year. That's becauseyou know, Aunust furloughed the last five
months and was spending a lovely summeraway from the organization as we kind of

(03:17):
shrank down and hunkered down for thesummer. But now we're back. We're
back, ready to go, andwe are here together, and I am
very excited to welcome you in asour season six co host, of course,
from two Balls and a Mic,where you, yourself and Shiva Alejandro

(03:38):
Vias Senor have done so much forthe soccer community, really been a voice
for independent soccer media here in SanDiego. But for maybe folks who have
only seen you as our Spanish languageannouncer last year or filling in with me
on game one of the semi finalslast year, let everyone know what you've
been up to. No, absolutely, And you know, I've kind of

(03:58):
been living the adventure of a lifetimehere in San Diego and covering the sport
of soccer, and the constant hasalways been the San Diego Soccers, and
it's one of those things that youknow, it's kind of like you know
that old family member that you havein the back. Yeah, you know,
they're there. They're fantastic, butthere's value there. There's always been
value, and I've always been,you know, a student of the game.

(04:19):
Indoor soccer for me is my specialty. I grew up playing indoor soccer
in Mexico, over in Furdati,over in and Fogal and all those arenas
where a lot of these players forthe Sandugal Soccers grew up and still play
and just kind of keep up andsharpen their skills. But it's one of
those things where San Diego Soccers issomething that's near and dear to my heart.

(04:42):
It's given me a lot of opportunitiesand I'm just really happy to be
part of the team. And youknow, like we represented the soccers in
the final, unlike the actual teamitself, so that in itself was an
honor to do alongside you so Ijust want to go ahead and keep it
going. And again I want tothank everybody who's been allowing me to to
do this as a as a sideproject and and as more than a hobby,

(05:05):
because it's it's really coming from theheart, and everybody who's laid the
foundation and the groundwork before me,uh is to thank to have us be
in this position. You know what, Craig again, I'm a I'm an
avid viewer of soccers over time everyTuesday at five pm on Twitch. You
can also catch it after podwise oron YouTube. But this has to go

(05:26):
there like that just made me feelgood. That good? All right?
That looks better? Yeah? Yeahone again pre season here, uh.
And a lot of hard work goesinto the back vaccines and and what ends
up being the San Diego soccers inuh their form on and off the field.
So it's a lot of work.So thank you to everybody and to

(05:47):
you to consider me to help outwith this. Well, it's it's a
thrill to have you along, Tony. Of course, you know, every
hello comes with a goodbye. JerryHimenez, who's been my host and right
there by my side for the lastthree seasons of the San Diego Soccers,
getting his own championship ring along theway. Jerry, of course, has

(06:09):
literally moved on to bigger and betterthings. He is now working at a
full time position for San Diego FootballClub. Last year he was working with
San Diego Wave, but working withus side by side. Now he is
locked in. He's one of thebig guys. He's Big Jay over at
San Diego FC, and we're sohappy for him and so excited that he
is living out his football dream andhis career aspirations. Of course, that

(06:33):
precluded him from working for the soccersat all, even in our kind of
lean and mean status here in twentytwenty three, twenty four. So you
know, we say goodbye to Jerry. We wish him well. I'm sure
he'll be in the chat at somepoint during the year. He is still
a huge soccers fan and he isstill an absolutely dear friend. You know.

(06:55):
Along those same lines, I wantto very happily announce that you will
be right there beside me for allof our broadcasts this year on Twitch dot
tv, on m ASL Soccer orMASL Soccer two, wherever they put us
when we do games from Chihuahua,right here on San Diego Soccers, where
you've been by my side in thepast, of course, but this year

(07:19):
we also very sadly say farewell toNate Area who after eight seasons announcing with
the Soccers not coming back this year, we had to be put in a
situation where we had to create aone combo position for the show and for
the games, and this is howit all wound up, having to play

(07:40):
out with everyone's schedule and availability andtech and everything else. And it's here
and I can't wait. You're mypartner all year long. But Jerry and
Nate gone, but certainly not forgottenand certainly beloved in our community and hopefully
still by our soccers fans. Absolutelyand definitely just want to say that again,
thank you to Nate and Jerry forlaying the groundwork and setting the bar

(08:01):
to where it needs to be,a bar of excellence. And this is
what the Sanduel Sockers have always representedthroughout the league. The people know San
Diego Sockers. When the MLS comesin, they know the San Diego Soccers
are here. When anybody comes in, NUS comes in, they know the
San Diego Sockers are here. Andfor that you know again, thank you
for everybody who's been able to laythis foundation. And it's exciting. It's
exciting, Craig, It's going tobe something that's going to be special.

(08:24):
I'm not going to try to fillany shoes. I'm going to try to
make my own little shoes with mylittle cobbler here on the side. So
those are wonderful shoes ever made before. But enough shoe metaphors. I think
it's first soccer all right, we'llgo ahead and kick it then as well,
and just remind everyone the purpose ofthis show is to be the show
of record in the Major Arena Soccerleague. And that's what we are and

(08:46):
that's what we will continue to be, is the show of record. The
show. Everyone comes to the show, All the other teams come to to
listen to the show. The commissionercomes to to listen to to talk about
this league. This is where youget honest opinion about the MAASL. This
is where you get in depth talkabout the MASL and the San Diego soccers.
You get a very few other places. There are other shows. You

(09:07):
know, our friends up the roadat Empire, you know we love them.
Striking Fury, the guys in Baltimore, the guys in Milwaukee. But
you know, we like to considerourselves the show of record because we are
the show of record. Also,of course we'll be on Tuesdays at five
o'clock. That is soccer's overtimes timeslot. It's Tuesdays at five. We
did not go on this Tuesday atfive because it was Halloween, and just

(09:33):
that simple, because it was Halloween. It was Halloween. It didn't make
sense. Tony's had the best costume. I was not going to give,
you know, take away your opportunityto go house to house and to collect
all the various candies, all thedualsdays from from around your neighborhood. And
I know that you do that rightright through dusk. So I didn't want

(09:54):
to take that away from you.Yeah, no, absolutely. I the
borest part of costume was just takinga little too much attention. But then
you know, people did the math. I'm like, aren't you supposed to
be in in a tournament right now, sir? And I'm like, you
know what, I think it's it'stime to retire it. Not so many
sweets doctors recommends, not that many. We're working on it, but it's
all good. It was. Itwas ideal to start maybe today and people

(10:18):
taking that Dad tax in candies tomaybe enjoy some Soccers overtime as well.
Oh, I had a couple ofthose last night. There's there's no question
about it before, Like they're allgone by today. With a twelve year
old in the house who's grown likethree inches in the last month, all
the candies are gone already. Ihad to grab a little mini twigs when
I had the chance. All right, So happy birthday, Kara Ellen in

(10:43):
the chat Soccer's overtime on your birthday. Absolutely that's also. I mean it
was Halloween, but also we wantedto do this in your birthday. Yeah,
amazing gift right there. Okay,I'm going to say right now,
as an admonition to myself more thananything else, that this show is going
to be a tied hour tonight andwe'll be done at six. That's because

(11:05):
both Tony and I need to beelsewhere in Cheula Vista. I say,
eltwell for yourself, I'm in Lemesa. I need to drive to Jeula Vista
because San Diego WAVEFC has a playoffrally tonight. I think that's the right
phraseology for it, and Casey Stoney, the head coach of San Diego Wave,

(11:26):
will be there. I do thepublic address for San Diego WAVEFC,
have done so for two years.Excited for Sunday's NWSL semi final, and
I'm going to get the opportunity tonightto interview Casey Stony for the first time,
meet her for the first time becauseusually, you know, all these
games, she's down there and I'mup here. I'm up there, so
it's it's gonna be a lot offun. That's seven o'clock tonight at Novo

(11:50):
Brazil down in Cheula Vista. Soif anyone watching wants to join us down
there, and you know, hey, why not, show is going to
be off at six so that Ican get down there in time, because
around seven o'clock we're gonna start doingour deal with Casey Stony and chopping it
up with the head coach of theWave. But I believe you have a
chance down there to take a picturewith the NWSL shield, you know,

(12:13):
et cetera, et cetera, soon and so forth. Good chance to
get all rallied up for Sunday night, six thirty pm when ol Rain comes
in to take on San Diego WaveFC. Okay, so here's what we're
gonna do on tonight's show. We'regonna do some basic resets. Okay.
We're gonna start by resetting where's them ASL. They kind of have to

(12:35):
do that every year. We're gonnareset where are the soccers? And we're
going to talk through the big movesthat we would have done individual shows on
had we been here in the summer, and moves that quite frankly, we'll
talk about at greater length in futureepisodes because we're gonna keep this one to
a tight hour. So who's who'shere, Who's gone. We're gonna go
through all of that. We're gonnalook at the schedule. We're gonna go

(12:58):
through it. We're gonna go througha game by game. We're gonna check
on the promotional schedule. We'll giveyou some bit of a sneak peek into
one of some of the content anglesthat will be delivering you this year,
and then we'll wrap up with somequick news, including the WMF wipeout and
including a potential major move in mASL in the power structure with a major

(13:20):
player maybe maybe on the move.We're we're gonna do some ripe conjecture coming
up. Coming up. Toward theend of the show, I see Soccer's
Dynasty asks a question any loyal playersof possibility for this season, like Adrian

(13:41):
Prez. I believe Adrian Perez isactually under contract with Strikers. I could
be wrong, but I thought whenthey signed him last year they signed him
to a multi year deal. Ido not believe that he is available as
a free agent. I saw someonein my padres Hot discord today saying we
need to to start a campaign tobring Elijah Martin to the Soccers, And

(14:03):
maybe, you know, maybe weshould be getting into some of these guys
dms and giving them next week's opentryout, because actually a week from tonight
will be open tryouts up at atBradley Park, UH in San Marco.
So maybe that's a good idea,Tony. Maybe that's something you and I
need to talk about a little bitlater, is seeing if we can direct

(14:24):
E three up to Bradley Park nextweek. Yeah, I mean, I
wouldn't be such a bad idea,right, There's a plethora of talent that's
left over here from the remnants ofSan Diego loyal and I mean to speak
to the type of game that you'retalking about. Adrian Paris came from Empire
and that really was shining an outdoorgame, and that just doesn't go away.
Elijah Martin and his play style forthe San Dieg Oil, I think

(14:46):
that would translate a lot better thansome other outdoor players. Maybe you know.
I'm sure, mister Donovan, youknow it was. It was fine.
I'm starting already and just throwing stonesto former Sante Soccer got to be
catching strays. You knew He's likeI thought my week was tough already.
No, it's definitely something that thatcan happen. But just one thing is

(15:11):
I mean Craig talk about open tryoutsjust throwing it out there. I've I've
recently retired, so I can't participateother than you know, having the booth
duties. Obviously it can't correct godown there. But but no, if
if that's something interests people, Iknow people are listening that want to take
that extra step as well, gotry out because it's it's something that it
might be closer to your reaches thanyou think, and you never know.

(15:35):
You never know, and if youthink you're good enough let's go. That'd
be good to see st Soccer's dotcom slash tryouts. You can sign up
and get set and literally it's likeone week and forty minutes from now is
when they'll have open tryouts from sixtyto nine pm at Bradley Park a week
from tonight. So with that allright, quickly to an m ASL reset.

(16:00):
Where are we? The MAASL willhave thirteen teams Tony in twenty twenty
three, twenty four. We've addedit up Florida over the summer, folded
the Florida Tropics. Boy did wesee that one coming? Boy? We
talked about it for two years onthe show. Florida stopped charging for tickets,

(16:22):
said you could buy a parking passand come into the game. As
soon as you turn your games ticketsinto something other than a commodity, you're
in huge trouble. As soon assomething's free, it's valued against every other
free thing in the world, andsome of the things you pay for as

(16:44):
well. When you pay for aticket, you use a ticket because you
paid for that ticket. When youare given a ticket, you think,
well, you know, I couldgo. So Florida's gone. Guadalajara was
expected to join the league and kindof a stiply take Florida's place, And
according to the MAASL official website,they retain the ability to apply for the

(17:07):
league in twenty twenty four to twentyfive, but for whatever reason, they
didn't fit the criteria, they didn'tmeet the standards. So Guadalajara is not
in MASL in twenty twenty three twentyfour. So what do we have.
We have two conferences. We arestaying conferenced there. You can see the
East on top with Saint Louis,Baltimore, Utica, Kansas City, Monterey

(17:33):
Huge, and we'll talk more aboutit. Monterey goes east, Harrisburg and
the Milwaukee Way. It's a sixteam Western Conference and it's the soccers with
the Savage, with the Strikers,the renamed Texas Outlaws. Now they're a
team for the whole lone star state. Mesquite can't keep them to themselves.

(17:56):
They belong to the whole state.Tacoma Star and Dallas Sidekicks, who now
are restricted to Dallas. No onecould root for them other than Dallas.
Everyone else must be a Texas fan. That's how it goes. That's now
the California Angels and the Golden SkateWarriors rose to prominence years ago. So
there you have the conferences. Theplayoff format Tony does take a tweak.

(18:22):
Last year you might remember there wasa four v five play in game.
They got rid of that, thankgod, that was a huge mistake.
We ripped that last year. That'sgone. So now top four each conference
will make the playoffs. One willface four, two will face three,
and it's the familiar format that you'vecome to know for the past three several
years at least, with the homeand home and then if the series is

(18:47):
tied, the knockout game. Ialmost called it minigame, the knockout game
that follows the game three, sobest of three series, but within that
it's two full games and then afifteen minute knockout. Overall your thoughts on
how the conferences shake out, Imean, it seems like it's it's very
interesting, right, and we mentionedMonterey being being something that have of a

(19:11):
surprise there and it's going to reallythrow a wrench in certain things. Thirteen
teams though, it is one ofthose things that's you know, a little
a little odd just out out ofthe gate. It is split into into
the Western and Eastern Conference, butI mean looking at the teams that are
involved. The Eastern Conference was absolutelywild last season. So it's one of

(19:33):
those things where it's it can takea direction that it's is completely unexpected.
Baltimore Blast was written off so manytimes and they ended up being the rivals
for Chihuahua in what could have beenin what could have been a home match
against the Soccers, but it didn'tturn out and pan out that way.
Monterey is a very strong team.They have a very good style there front

(19:56):
of the elector Technico. Now it'sbeen in Spanish, by the way,
there's more Spanish here, so youmight you might you might need a SAP
button at some point. But Imean it's one of those things where Monterey
actually got reinforced with some very importantplayers, and just throwing that into into
the Eastern conferences is going to bevery interesting. There's some good, good

(20:18):
play out there. But here inthe Western I mean, the Soccers like
that's that's always a team to bein any sense, right, And you
look at Shiwahwa, what they've doneand the infrastructure that they've built all the
way to their m my MA SLtwo team that's a team that really sees
the bigger picture and has been successfulin doing so, winning winning it All

(20:41):
last year, and it's it's somethingthat maybe the soccers needed for the season
to really be inspired and say Idon't want to get kicked in the teeth
again and and embarrassed and in sucha way and have uh it and in
such a way because it was shocking. It's one of the most out of
body experiences that I've had in alive event ever. It's just that was

(21:03):
it. Like Chihuahua scored. Oh, that season's over. It's sudden,
and you know, not not totake anything away from any other teams in
the Western Conference, but those aregoing to be the two teams to watch,
and if you're paying attention to thosematches and how they're gearing up for
each other, it's incredibly interesting andjust an absolute powerhouse that Chihuahua has built.

(21:26):
So all credit to them. Absolutely, it's the soccers, it's the
Savage and Shihuahua comes back is thedefending champ, so they deserve to have
that front runner status. They deserveto be the team out in front that's
considered the favorite to to take itback. And you know it's up to
the soccers to take it back fromChihuahua this year, and that's what they

(21:48):
have to endeavor to do. TheSoccers won the m ASL Shield for the
second straight season, you know,lifted the supporters Shield. That's outstanding.
A shield is great, it's silverware, it's it's you know, a recognition
of a tremendous season. The soccersplay for a different piece of silver where
they play for the wrong Newman Cup. So obviously the goal here is to

(22:10):
take that last step and to goall the way, which leads us directly
to our soccers reset. So what'shappened with the club since last we spoke?
And for a team that won twentytwo games, you know, it's
really not a surprise. There's alot of continuity for the soccers. There
has been continuity for the last severalyears. It's generally been the same team
with a couple strategic additions, andthat's largely the case this year as well.

(22:37):
So let's start with who's been signed, and I would say the Soccers
signed the single two best free agentsavailable in the MAASL this offseason, starting
with the midfielder who was Newcomer ofthe Year in the MASL with the Empire
Strikers. Gabriel Costa, the littleBrazilian gets a three year contract to come

(22:59):
down on fifteen to San Diego.And Costa, who had forty points as
a rookie, who was part ofthe tst Million Dollar Championship team along with
Drew Ruggles, so skilled with hisleft foot, with his right foot,
he can pass, he can shoot, and to me, he just fits
into a midfield that when you lookaround and you see Charlie Gonzales, and

(23:22):
you see Brandon Descoto, and yousee Gabriel Costa, Like I mean,
there's just there's no weak spots inthe San Diego Soccers midfield and that's something
that's incredibly important, especially going intothese matches where sometimes it seemed like the
soccers last year missed a step becausethey were missing a player due to injury.
And now you have a player thatcan slot in there with the caliber

(23:45):
of of Ruggles, and that's theposta. But it's something that's going to
be able to really show the dynamicnature of the soccer's philosophy of playing,
and that's something that's really important.Ken Gavirio of courst that come in and
play like a San Diego soccer.The style of the soccers is something that's

(24:07):
is recognizable throughout the league, andyou know when you're watching a soccers game.
So it's gonna be very interesting tosee how that weapon is going to
be available and how they're going togo ahead and utilize them. It's it's
again, it's always been an embarrassmentof riches at times, and it's it's
always the who are you going toplay? When are they going to play,
and when are they going to shine. It's a long season, so
it's good to have that sort ofdepth. Yeah, and extensively. He

(24:30):
takes he Aron Poyo Ruiz's spot inthe soccers lineup. We'll talk about Poyle
more in just a second. Uh. We mentioned that the Florida Tropics dissolved.
That meant that all the Florida starsthrough on, you know, threw
themselves down to the market at thesame time. And you know some of
those key players, Ugo Silva wentto Harrisburg, Ricardo Carvallo went to Milwaukee,

(24:53):
and Drew Ruggles came to San Diego. I remember being in Australia Tony
with Drew at the WMF World Cupfour years ago and US joking at that
time he had just signed a bigmoney deal with Florida and saying that all
roads lead to San Diego and like, eventually, eventually you'll be with us,
Drew, one of these days,eventually you'll be with us. And

(25:14):
here it is a four year contractfor Drew Ruggles extensibly to you know,
lock up his career here in SanDiego. Guy who won the championship in
Milwaukee, was part of the EasternConference champions Florida that that you know,
the season ended with COVID, thoseteams, you know, the team that
made it to the finals against USin twenty twenty two, and of course

(25:34):
last year another team that was good, but things were falling apart behind the
scenes, the you know, thereggae trade. Now you know, the
team folded at the end of theyear. So bringing Ruggles in just strength,
a left foot can score. He'she's big, he's versatile, great

(25:55):
chemistry, guy, extremely smart.Had the behind the back path million dollar
assist in the soccer tournament TST sevenv seven earlier this year in North Carolina.
Honestly, you know, from apersonal standpoint, I love Drew Ruggles
so much. I just think thisis this was inevitable in some way,

(26:17):
but it is so great for DrewRuggles to be part of the Soccers.
And I mean to quote on theannouncement, listen to this, Craig right,
It's an honor to wear the Soccersjersey said, Ruggles, and I
look forward to defending the badge withpride. It's an exciting team, loaded
with talent and veteran savvy and Ican't wait to go to work with all
the guys in search for another championship, grateful, hungry and excited for what's

(26:40):
to come. Doesn't that just likejust want to just make you run through
a wall already. I just wantto see this team go and fire on
all cylinders. Yeah, it's soexciting. Ruggles is a special player.
He's one of the best players inthe entire league. He truly is.
He's one of the you know hecould be. He's a Defender of the
Year candidate every year. But he'snot just a standback and block shots guy.

(27:03):
He is somebody who has the abilityto move the ball. He's somebody
who can be the sixth attacker foryour team. He's got that type of
foot skill, he can score fromoutside. He's just he knows where to
be. He's kind of a rightplace, right time kind of player as
well. Drew Ruggles is just anA plus, you know, honestly,
Costa. You know, I wason Nick Perrera's podcast a few weeks ago

(27:25):
and he's sprung a question of like, outside the Soccers, who are the
players that you like, love towatch in the league other than me,
And like Gabriel Costa and Drew Rugglesare like right there at the top of
the list for me. And lastyear I was like, well, Costa
is one of the only guys inthe league that just gives this team all
kinds of trouble. He's going tobe a handful for years. Nope,

(27:45):
he's on our team now, notgoing to be a problem at all.
He's on our team. So twoA plus signings for the Soccers truly top
of the list type signings for thisclub. And you know, I understand
are pedigree and reputation and everything thatprecedes it as a top flight organization,
but it's kind of an embarrassment ofRichards to have guys like Costa and Ruggles

(28:07):
on the team now moving to resignings from signings, these are all great
news, and these are all guysnot coincidentally at all, whose visas were
up Taysar Sera, Mitchell Cardin Is. We're talking right there about the two
top defenders in the league. ChristianGutierrez and Leonardo de Olivera have all signed

(28:30):
five year contract extensions. The threeof Cardin, Asserta, Gutierra's were all
announced at once over the course ofthe summer. Leo just came a couple
of weeks ago for the soccers.But I mean, you're talking about core
players on this club, Tony,and in particular when you now think about
this defending corps and how it's justlocked in for years to come, and

(28:56):
you know Pino's still here. Youknow, he's one guy I wouldn't expect
to sign to a five year contractbecause he's still living in the Midwest.
But but what you just look atfor this year, Sertic Cardon is Pino
ruggles pee wee okay, Like we'reset on defense. Where's the weakness?

(29:18):
And that's the thing. Like onpaper, on paper, this team is
poised to be one of the bestteams and iterations of the soccers in the
last couple of years, and it'sit's something that can potentially really play into.
Like I was saying, that stylethat the soccers have, that strong
defensive style based on possession. Sometimes, yeah, it's indoor soccer in Spanish's

(29:41):
football rapido. Sometimes it's football slowwith the soccers and just that slow build
up from the back and you needthese dynamic players to go back and forth.
Ruggles is going to go ahead andadd that with his flair and his
style and completely a team a unit. These players are tight knit and they

(30:02):
know each other like it's they speaka language at times that is unspoken,
and all they do is just reallycommunicate with their passes, their timing,
the vision that they have and allput together, it's going to be something
special. I mean, we talkabout Leo. Leo's part of that midfield
too, So now you're talking aboutLeo and Brandon as a front line,

(30:29):
Costa and Charlie as the second line. Felipe right there in that group again,
embarrassment of riches. You know,the fifth guy, if you're fifth
midfielder is Felipe Gonzales. You knowyou're you're you're kicking ass in the major
Arena soccer league, and the upfrontis the same to avoid Child's guccierras.

(30:55):
The forwards you've come to know,so a lot of continuity. Of course,
you know, as Susan mentions inthe chat Boris, you know when
you talk about the defense, yougot bors Parto, the defending goalkeeper of
the year once again in the back, first team all m ASL goalkeeper in
the back. So you've got experience, infusion of new talent, three levels

(31:18):
of talent forward, midfield, defense. This is a completely loaded for Bear
team, to the point that youcouldn't keep all of the players around.
So let's mention who's departed many toMonterey. Not a surprise Poil Luiz Ismail
Rojo, there's one kid that Iwouldn't have minded keeping and Irvin Mohica have

(31:41):
left for the Monterey Flash and willget to ply their trades in the Eastern
Conference, not the West, notagainst US directly, soccers don't even play
the Flash this season, so wewish them all extremely well. Ismail Rojo
deserves to be a starter in thisleague, and if it wasn't going to
be, he and needed to besomewhere else. So Monterey works out great

(32:02):
for us Poyo. Same thing Mohica. You know, young player, up
and coming and in a different world. I'm sure the soccers would have loved
to have kept him as the fourthforward, but I think his profile grew
over the course of the season tothe point where Monterey was interested. So,
you know, good news for Irvin, bad news for the soccers.

(32:22):
And then we have to talk aboutwho left for Empire. Harado Hurradro will
suit up for Empire Strikers this yearin the Inland Empire. And hey,
a retired number has moved north aswell, because Paul Wright will be the
head coach of the Empire Strikers andhis number one assistant will be soccer's legend

(32:43):
Paul Doherty as well. So twoof the great legends of soccers passed.
If they can't have our current players, if we have all their current players
with Charlie and Costa in our midfield, they can have our retired players Paul
Right and Paul Doherty. But withouta question, you know you're talking about

(33:04):
two great, great soccer minds,two great players in the indoor game,
and hopefully they will build something overtime that will be formidable and will be
once again a challenge to the soccersbecause I do think, you know,
we're not going to do a teamby team preview today, will probably be
a couple of weeks from now,to be honest, but I do think
Empire, from a talent standpoint,could be taking a little bit of a

(33:27):
step back, but maybe from anorganization standpoint, they take a step forward.
Who knows exactly, And you know, this is something that you want
to see right as the league growand really have that talent spread out,
and it seems like, you know, sometimes you can only carry so many
players in your hands, and yougot to drop a couple here and there,
and some might hurt a little more. I think about Irby Mohica right,
like he was an up and comer. He played lights out at times,

(33:50):
and again like people take notice ofthat, and the fact that he's
going to be able to showcase thatelsewhere is good for the league. And
at the same time, the soccersthey need that competition as well, because
they need, you know, diamondsharpened diamonds and if you're if diamonds are
going up against a wet you know, napkin, it's not the best.
At times you become complacent, andwe saw that a little bit at times

(34:15):
where they didn't show up to play, and that's when you really start to
put together the weaknesses of this team. And it seems like something that was
built upon eventually in Chihuahua. AndI know it's it's minor details here and
there, but these are the thingsthat professional teams will take notice of,
and these players across the league willmake you pay for it. And so

(34:36):
it's going to be very interesting tosee this this league and interesting to see
what the competition is like this season. All right, twenty two minutes left
in the show. We're going ahard hour. Let's look at the schedule
for the San Diego Sockers, releasedabout three weeks ago, right about when
I came back in the fold withSan Diego, and there it is,
line by line, so let's gothrough it real quick. It starts with

(34:59):
the home opener Sunday, December third, against the Tacoma Stars. Soccers and
Stars will see a lot of themselves. The six meetings out of twenty four
this year, so a quarter ofthe schedule, and three of those come
in the first five games. Sohome opener Sunday, December third, five
oh five pm at the Grand OldArena Pachanga Arena. San Diego Soccers Tacoma

(35:19):
Stars two teams rematch the following weekendon a Saturday, Saturday, December ninth,
up at Assesso Showwear Center, andthen the Soccers will take on the
Dallas Sidekicks Saturday, December sixteenth atthe Credit Union of Texas Event Center.
However, that's a back to backweekend for San Diego because they will have

(35:40):
to board a flight, come straighthome and take on Empire. Sunday,
December seventeenth is our second home matchof the year Soccers and Strikers. That
game will be one hour later thannormal for a Sunday six oh five pm
to account for possible travel issues asSan Diego comes home from the Lone Stars
state homestand continues on Saturday, Decemberthirtieth with the Tacoma Stars back in town

(36:05):
last game of twenty twenty three.That'll be our first Saturday night and a
seven h five pm game. Sunday, January seventh, Texas Outlaws in town
five oh five pm for the Soccersand Outlaws meeting for the first of three
times, another back to back travelweekend. January thirteenth and fourteenth. Saturday,

(36:27):
Boy, this is tough. Thisis tough. Saturday, January thirteenth,
a night game against Tacoma. SundayJanuary fourteenth, first meeting of the
year against Chihuahua. And those areonly the most important games of the year
the Soccers and the Savage and theSoccers will not only be doing a back
to back, they'll be doing aback to back, having flown from Washington
the day they play Chihuahua. Sothat stinks, but it is what it

(36:53):
is. And three days later,San Diego will be in the Inland Empire
for their first trip to Empire totake on the Strikers for a Wednesday night
seven oh five pm game. Anothertravel back to back. Saturday, January
twenty seven, seven oh five pmSoccers and Saint Louis ambush for their only

(37:13):
meeting of the year and then straightto the airport. Actually, it'll probably
be bright and early the next morningfor the Soccers to fly to Tacoma for
a five o'clock match against the Starsat a ssocialwear center. So those are
two really three nasty back to backeach time traveling between states, interstate travel

(37:37):
and all of that takes place atthe beginning of the season. Things I
think get a little bit easier fromthere, as that Tacoma game is the
start of a four match road tripwhich we'll see San Diego spend a weekend
in Texas Thursday, February first atthe Texas Outlaws, Saturday February third at
the Dallas Sidekicks Friday February ninth,a week later, they will go south

(38:00):
of the border and take on Chihuahuafrom Cornersport Arena, and that, of
course will be once again one ofthe most important matches of the year.
A Thursday home game February fifteenth,seven thirty five pm for the Soccers to
take on the Texas Outlaws. Someexciting stuff coming up in the promotional schedule
for that. The following weekend,Sunday, February eighteenth, Soccers are up

(38:23):
at Empire. That game will kickoff at four o'clock locally. Then the
following weekend, San Diego will hostKansas City Sunday, February twenty fifth,
five oh five pm. Kansas Citycomments in town once again, but for
one time only this year. Thatkicks off a four match home stand heading

(38:44):
into the final month of the seasonas the Soccers on Friday March first,
will host Empire on Sunday, Marchthird, the third and final meeting of
the year against Chihua. Note threematchups two at home for the Soccers against
Chihuahua. So if you just winhome field. If home field only prevails
between Soccers and Savage, San Diego'sgot an edge up for the MASL shield

(39:06):
again. However, one of thosethey're going to be flying home from Tacoma,
so should be interesting. Sunday Marchtenth wraps up the home stand against
Empire, then a three match roadtrip Sunday, March seventeenth at Empire four
h five pm, one Eastern trip. It'll be a back to back Friday,
March twenty second at Milwaukee four thirtyfive local time for that Saturday,

(39:28):
March twenty third at Kansas City fourh five local time for that fan appreciation
night, and our final regular seasongame at Pachanga Arena. R farewell to
the Grand Old Arena game will beSunday, March thirtieth, five five pm
against the Tacoma Stars, and thatallows Tony to get back on screen because

(39:50):
that wraps up our look lined byline at the schedule in future weeks,
you'll be you'll be able to beto be there as well ton But some
thoughts, I mean, I think, honestly, it's not the most difficult
schedule of the last six years forthe San Diego Soccers. I think they've
had tougher schedules overall. It certainlywill be challenging, and I think a

(40:12):
big part of it is how theteam reacts to those three back to backs
in the first twelve games of theyear exactly. And it's really setting the
tone early on in the year whereyou don't really have that time to adjust
and take that backseat to say,you know what, our talent and the
players are going to take us through. It's really time to hone those skills
and make sure that everybody is onthe same page. And it's those road

(40:35):
trips where you know, it's theintangibles, right like the road trips the
new players come in, it's atight knit group, but now you're going
to be able to go and reallyrepresent exactly what you've been working on in
these trainings. And that's another difficultaspect of this. In the MASL,
the trainings could look so different thenthey can be in an actual field,
or they could not be on afield. They can be in the arena

(40:58):
themselves at times, and you know, it's the wild West. But one
thing I will say is that thatMonterey trip is not necessarily looking well,
it's looking great, not on theschedule, because that's a lot out of
out of the players, and that'sthat's definite, definitely something that that I'm
pretty sure everybody's rejoiced to rejoicing onyou you travel in the country into Saint

(41:23):
Louis and and have that now.But that moder Ay trip was was something
that, at least looking at theschedule initially, is something that is going
to be a weight off their shouldersand I'm glad they're not traveling so much
and for that, I think,yeah, it's it's definitely a little bit
easier or not as tough of aschedule as it was last year, including

(41:45):
that moner Ray trip. A coupleof them. You know, Chris Toth
has gone to Tacoma, so youknow, you're playing Tacoma six times this
year, and Daniel will still bethere, but Chris Toth is going to
be there, is probably their numberone goalkeepers, so you know, I
want the soccers have just had toComa's number for ever, essentially in the

(42:05):
modern game and in the NASL.I still think those are gonna be tough
games. Empire, by contrast,doesn't have Chris to who I thought kept
them in most of the games thatyou know, they were in competitively against
with the soccers the last couple ofyears. They're going to hope that Clayson
Delma takes a huge step forward thisseason, and maybe he can. You
know, in the COVID year,he won goalkeeper of the Year in that

(42:28):
many seasons, so you know it'svery possible that he could do that.
But I like this schedule for SanDiego. I think really probably the nine
points between the soccers in Chihuahua probablyare the nine points that are going to
matter the most in terms of howthis conference table shakes out. Having two

(42:49):
of the matches at home is huge, and you know, the soccers are
just going to have to be reallysmart on that first back to back,
that thirteenth and fourteenth, you know, coming home to take on Chihuahua in
January, to make sure that they'vegot the right team to go that second
night. And you know, ifthat's one of those things where you start
Xavier up in Seattle to hold Boris. You know, I'd love to see

(43:15):
this. I'd love to see thesoccers get Xavier a little bit more involved
this year and start to use alittle more load management as Boris is now,
you know, approaching forty and basicallyplay started every game but one last
year. So you know, we'llsee how that shakes out. We're going
a tight hour today, so I'mgoing to make a quick executive call.

(43:37):
We'll talk a lot more about thepromotional schedule on next week's show. Just
would like to highlight real quick acouple of the big highlights of the promotional
schedule. Opening night, we'll havea scheduled T shirt that includes the Farewell
to the Grand Old Arena logo onthe front, So a T shirt that
not only recognizes this year, butalso recognizes the history of the soccers at

(44:00):
Chianga Arena formerly the San Diego SportsArena, formerly the Valley of View Casino
Center, formerly the Ipay One Center. I think it was that too.
Our annual media game is Sunday,January seventh against the Texas Outlaws, where
we bring in you know, BettoPerez and Cabana Boy, Jeff and all

(44:22):
the rest of our favorite media andcelebrities. You know, maybe Jerry can
play this year as a San DiegoFC like that. Now, you said
you've retired, correct, But doesthat mean you wouldn't play in the media
game. Well, I think thisis one of the situations where even retired
players are part of celebrity games.So it's almost like a celebrity player meritis

(44:49):
in a sense. I'm I'm justconcerned of my recovery time just playing and
just the history that I've had inthose games. I go all out,
So just being winded, huffing andpuffing, getting back on the on the
on the mic, I might needan extra second. So I mean,
yeah, that's allowed, if you'reokay. If yeah, I might just

(45:10):
do the third quarter by myself,like, you know, just give you
a recovery quarter. Let you catchit, you know, catch catch some
hydration, slash some califedo, youknow, down in the locker room.
And I see Fricker in the chatsaying he wants to play with you,
so wants to score on you ofcourse, so you know, we'll see,

(45:30):
we'll work that one out. Butbut the media game is January seventh.
The Alumni game is Saturday, Januarytwenty seventh for the soccers in Saint
Louis, Ambush, So keep youreye on that because that's always going to
be special. For Alumni Night,Thursday February fifteenth, that'll be San Diego
Sport Night. We should we arehoping to do a lot of collaborative things

(45:52):
with the local teams in town.But I will just say, and we
don't. We're not going to showthis for a little while. Season ticket
members we'll see it first and Isee a ticket member party, but we
will be debuting a third kit thatnight. That's going to be incredibly popular.
It's just it's going to be superpopular, and it's super great.
Friday March first is Star Wars Night. Soccers are wearing Yoda I believe Mando

(46:17):
on Pardo. Those jerseys are fire. You'll see them later and then once
again Saturday, March thirtieth Fan AppreciationNight. So just a very very quick
tour of the promo. Schedule willgo in much greater detail next week for
every giveaway, every theme, etc. But those are kind of some of
the highlights for the Soccers this season. And remember it's you know, we've

(46:44):
entitled today's show, the season premiere, the Long Goodbye, because that's how
I look at this season, Tony. It's a year long farewell to the
place where the soccers have won twelveof their sixteen championships, the San Diego
Sports Arena, a place that they'sknown unprecedented success. Really an arena where
their memories are the most critical sportsmemories that have been founded inside that particular

(47:10):
building. So every single home match, there's twelve regular season home matches,
the soccers have won twelve championships insidethe Sports Arena. Calling the Sports Arena
home, we're going to have representationat all twelve matches from those twelve championships.
We're going to market down from eightyone to eighty two all the way

(47:30):
to twenty one twenty two, andhave someone there for the first kick,
have someone there, have a littlebit of a history lesson to remind us
of this incredible history that we arenot leaving behind, but that we want
to recognize in our final year beforemoving, of course to the palatial new

(47:52):
front Wave Arena coming in September Octobertwenty twenty four and the future home of
the San Diego soccers. So itis. It's the long goodbye season,
but it's one where we're really youknow, like we've done so many times,
tying the paths to the prison moment. No, it's a legendary arena
here in San Diego for everything thathas transpired, and the fact that the

(48:14):
history of San Diego soacras cannot betold without sports Arena and vice versa,
is something that's incredibly near and dearto my heart as a San Diego And
then it's something that I mean,just being in that building is special,
being in the bowels of it,just going around and seeing, oh wow,
they keep the globetrotters, you knownet there like just little things like

(48:35):
that that make this arena special.And all the memories that have transpired there
are truly ones that I'll never forget, and the soccers have been a huge
part of that. And I thinkit's only app that probably the biggest memory
can be potentially another San Diego SoccersChampionship, a Ron Newman Cup in the
Randall Arena, that that would bea story. All Right, we've got

(48:59):
eight minutes left for doing a hardhour, so we've got some We've got
two news notes here the first one'sbigger than the second. But Tony,
This morning I woke up to shockingnews. The WMF World Cup, which
has taken place since twenty fifteen andis in its fourth iteration. They played

(49:20):
in twenty fifteen, twenty seventeen,twenty nineteen, twenty twenty one got wiped
out due to COVID plus. Itwas scheduled to be in Kiev, and
you might have heard some stuff's gonedown in Kiev the last couple of years,
and this year in the United ArabEmirates. The WMF World Cup is
still taking place, but no soccerwill win the Cup this year because back

(49:44):
to back. This morning, Mexico, the tournament favorite. Mexico loses to
Kazakhstan, scoreless through fifty minutes,they go to penalties and lose two to
one to Kazakhstan. And then rightafterwards, the United States played Czech Republic,

(50:06):
one of the top teams in theworld, one of the top five
teams favored to win the WOMF WorldCup, and for the second straight WOMF
World Cup, Czech Republic eliminated teamUSA. Four to two was the final
score of that one. So youknow, Drew ruggles, Forest Pardo,
Philsovaggio on the US team, onthe Mexican team, you know, from

(50:29):
Pino to Serta to cardin Is toEscoto to Renee or teams you know.
Of course, once again half theteam, half the Mexican team was soccers
and truly shocking. I mean,many football is a tough sport and if
you hunker down, you can defend. And obviously Kazakhstan defended today to advance.

(50:52):
But hey, travel safe. Wedon't have to worry about injuries.
You know, there's all of that. Everyone gets out of it healthy,
get out of the Middle East,get home, you know, get home
safe. All of that is cool. But yeah, as Marlicia says in
the chat, oof like big,big oof, especially Mexico. Like,

(51:14):
if I'm being very honest, thisis where Team USA was kind of scheduled
to go out, you know,much like Mexico in the real World Cup
they're around the sixteen is where they'rescheduled to go out. But in this
case, Mexico was was very muchexpected to move on and did not.
And I love Marlicia saying, yeah, all many football should use target score

(51:37):
like they did at TST. Imean I'd love to see it a World
Cup. It's tougher to agree tothat kind of score change. But hey,
big time bummer. No WMF WorldCup ceremony this year before opening night
because we don't have any players fromKazak Standard, Czech Republic or UAU or
whoever the heck's gonna win it.It's not gonna be us, Yeah,
I mean selfishly right, like noinjuries. You said it, like no

(51:59):
injury come back, you know,a little bit fresher, start the season
off and start revving up for theSan Diego soccers, and you know,
obviously you want to see them succeed. But man, that is an absolute
shock. Who knew Kazakhstan, absolutepowerhouse, powerhouse, who knew Kazakhstan.

(52:20):
I know, in twenty fifteen Ihad to I called a Kazakhstan group stage
game, and it was the singlemost stressful roster I've ever been given in
terms of how the hell do Isay that? Oh boy, eight syllables
that don't seem to fit together inany wish like a Tetris gone wrong,
and so hey, you know itis what it is. They lost.

(52:44):
I think it's a really really toughplace to go and play the Middle East.
I think it's very tough for WesternHemisphere teams to go there and succeed.
And I think if you look atthe bracket, it's a lot of
local teams that are generally advancing inWMF this year. But you know,
congrats to the guys for making itto knockouts. Sorry you're out in the

(53:06):
first knockout. Glad you're coming home, I guess is the bottom line?
Yeah, last, but last,but maybe not least. I noticed that
yesterday the Texas Outlaws announced the signingof defender Uzi Tayu to a free agent
contract. Now, why would thatbe of interest to me, Tony.

(53:28):
I mean, that's a particularly goodplayer that we were seeing here in the
Californias and it might lead to othermoves perhaps perchance. Well, I know
there was that one year that Uziplayed in Baltimore, and I think Frank
played in Sonora. But other thanthat, Uzzi and Frank Tayu have played

(53:51):
on the same team every year fromVegas down to Monterey and back up to
Empire. And I wonder. Iwonder because Frank was in the Middle East.
YEP. Pretty hard to sign acontract and announce something in the Middle

(54:12):
East. I would put my moneyon Frank Tayu being a Texas outlaw this
year, and that would kind ofclean the cupboard in Ontario where you're now,
you talk about where we are stackedup three deep on three levels.
Okay, Toath at the goalkeeping level, one of the best keepers in the
league, Goodbye Costa at the midfieldlevel, Goodbye Tye. You has been

(54:37):
the engine of your offense. Goodbye. If that happens, you know,
look for Paul, right, PaulDoherty. They're going to start something new,
maybe with some young guys, youknow, as Marlicia said, lots
of trades and picks at the leaguecombined. So maybe it's a completely different
looking team in Empire this year.But I just can't help but think if

(54:58):
Uzi is in Texas, Frank's stillon the roster on THESL website in Ontario,
but I kind of the feeling likethe Inland Empire might be a bidding
farewell to tie you. Yeah,no, and and and that's something that
you know, you see the Empirestrikers a lot, and we got to
see them punch the soccers in themouth a couple of times, and and

(55:21):
and really give it, give itto them. It was the powerhouse of
this of this team that they had. As you were mentioning, but yeah,
this is gonna be almost it's alreadykind of playing out as as one
might think. And if you werebetting man, Craig, I don't know
if you are. But no,no, no, yeah, absolutely not
nope, no Surrey only only withuh you know, fake monopoly money.

(55:45):
We'll try it out, but uhno, that that's gonna be an interesting
maneuver to see if that ends upunfolding that way. And I mean,
I'll take your word for it,Craig. I'll put on the tin hat
with you on that one. Allright, look at this, it's the
top of the hour and we're readyto wrap up the show. We've made
it through the menu. We didit. I set a goal and we

(56:07):
achieved that goal. Season six,Episode one of Soccer's Overtime, The Long
Goodbye. We now get to saygoodbye to this particular episode. I want
to say very special thanks to ourproducer Tony Sanchez. Yes, thank you
for being the man behind the scenes, all the technical wizardry to get us

(56:27):
up live on Twitch. We thankyou so greatly thanks to everybody who found
us. I know we only putup the show about four hours notice today,
so thanks to everyone. It lookslike our regular audience found us no
problem. We will be back nextweek regular timeslot Tuesdays, five pm live
on Twitch next Day, available onYouTube next Day, available on our podcast

(56:49):
feeds, So stay tuned for that. And if you've got a wild hair,
we'll see you in an hour downat Novo Brazil in Schula Vista for
the Wave rally. Tony, Inever wont to follow you. Everybody can
go ahead and follow me at underscoreTony Zanchez to U n Y z A
n C ch easy or at twoBalls in a mic. That's the That's
where you can find me talking socceroutside of the walls. Follow me on

(57:13):
six or nine sports in life onInstagram. You can follow me on X
if you want. At six tonine sports. I still occasionally post there.
I just like the format, butI still do it because I'm a
professional and I have to sometimes complainabout the padres, and when I do,
I usually do it on X allright. Follow the soccers of course
at San Diego Soccers on Twitter,which is called X on Instagram, on

(57:37):
TikTok as well on Facebook and wewill talk to you next week. For
Tony Sanchez, I'm Craig Elston.Have a great rest of your week.
We'll talk to you next Tuesday.Until then, take care and go soccer.