August 8, 2024 • 48 mins
Welcome back to Big Life, listeners! We're as excited for the upcoming soccer season as you are. Season three kicks off with a fun game of "Two Truths and a Lie" and some exclusive offers from our sponsor, Ida Sports. Make sure to grab your new cleats with our special discount!
In this episode, Jordan and Sam catch up on their summer adventures and dive deep into the current state of college athletics. Jordan shares her rollercoaster experience rehabbing a PCL injury and discusses the emotional and physical challenges of returning for her final season at Michigan State. They also tackle the complexities of new NCAA rules and how they'll affect future seasons.
The conversation shifts to the Olympics, where Sam provides insights into the drama surrounding the Canadian women's soccer team and the performance of Team USA. With exclusive updates from her pro soccer journey in Sweden, Sam reveals her recent travels, fitness regimen, and exciting news about her contract extension.
Join us for an episode packed with updates, insights, and a sneak peek into what’s coming next. Whether you're a college athlete, a pro soccer fan, or just love the game, there's something for everyone in this season opener!
Checkout IDA here and get 15% off https://www.idasports.com/pages/girlssoccernetwork
Please subscribe to the BIG LIFE wherever you love to listen! Subscribe to Girls Soccer Network's GSN Newsletter to stay posted about upcoming episodes. Find Jordyn and Sam on their Insta's @sam.cary @jordyn_wickes Follow us on Instagram (@girlssoccernetwork) Follow us on Twitter @girlssoccernet Subscribe to our YouTube channel @girlssoccernetwork6137Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Hey big life listeners we hope you are just excited
about your upcoming soccer season as we are for the
big life's new season and since it's pre-season for all of us sponsor i the
sports is ready to help us kick off season three with a little fun game of two
truths and a lie i know it's been a second jordan but let's see if you remember
me as if i could ever forget okay so So which one of these is true out of the three statements?
(00:29):
I just love how hot the turf is in August when we're running those preseason sprints.
Burpees are my favorite way to get into shape and do a little something extra.
And I always rock a new pair of cleats when the season gets going.
That's tough because I think you are just crazy enough to want to do burpees
(00:51):
to get in shape. But I think it's got to be cleats, right?
It's got to be cleats. I mean, come on now. Who doesn't want to start the season with fresh boots?
It's the best way and best part of soccer is when you get those fresh cleats
on your feet to go ahead and start the season, right?
Absolutely. And because Ida knows preseason is getting underway,
they've given us a special code.
So Big Life listeners can get 15% off cleats, turfs, or indoor shoes when you
(01:17):
use code Big Life or visit idasports.com slash discount slash Big Life. That's amazing.
I really do love my Idas. What's great is that I know when I put them on,
these are the cleats that are designed by a woman and made specifically for
the shape of a woman's foot.
I'm happy and proud to have them and have them back as a sponsor.
Yeah, I feel the same way. Go ahead and do your back to soccer shopping at idasports.com
(01:41):
and make sure to use code BIG LIFE for 15% off a pair of Ida footwear,
Ida cleats, perfs, indoor shoes, whatever it may be, or visit idahsports.com
slash discount slash Big Life.
Hey, everyone. We are back with Big Life season three.
You know we missed us. Like, you know you missed hearing our voices in your phone.
(02:02):
But Jordan and I are back.
Jay, how are you feeling? I'm feeling good. It's been a minute since we've been
together, I feel like. So there's a lot to catch up on.
Exactly. And we went in solid. We pressed record once we joined the Zoom.
So because of that like everything is new
information for Jordan and myself so I'm excited
(02:22):
to hear about the extent of everything life feels like it's crazy right now
I don't know if it's just my perception but I feel like the world is changing
I feel like there's just so much going on and every sort of aspect and it's
been interesting it's been interesting I'm not gonna lie Jay how was your summer though?
It, uh, it's been a roller coaster of a summer. One, it went by so fast.
(02:46):
Like you blink and it's over. I feel like last week I was taking my finals and
now you're telling me we're back into it.
Second day of preseason here. First day of real training. Like that's not real. That can't be right.
Summer did not last nearly long enough, but it was definitely a roller coaster.
I think last time we touched on my injury and that's pretty much been the main
focus of my summer is being able to rehab and get back to there.
(03:09):
I had quite a few setbacks throughout the summer in terms of getting back to my play.
Originally, we went through it. We thought it was a partial tear in my PCL.
We did the lockout brace, got the mobility brace then, and had a return to play
kind of protocol from there.
It turns out I have a full tear in my PCL. And then, you know,
(03:29):
a lot of my summer was spent figuring that out through the process and then
figuring out what to do with that information.
Information i can go on a little rant here afterwards about i
think the way the medical world should work within athletics because
i do think there's way too much pressure and there's
way too many umbrellas that a athletic trainer
has to wear and i think somewhere throughout all this
(03:49):
there was a breakdown either communication or lack of knowledge about my injury
and return to play protocol where we were not doing quad and hamstring strengthening
after i got out of that lockout brace when we should have been and because of
that i think i had a lot of the issues where where the back of my knee was popping
and it felt like I got shot. Like I was hurt. I was down.
And then every time that happened, I was out for a week. And that happened three
(04:11):
times throughout the summer.
And that kind of three and a half month period from where we were doing a return
to play to when we found out I had a full tear in the PCL.
So we go through all this. I don't think we rehabbed properly,
even though I was here all summer.
I think we should have known better considering everything that happened.
And a lot of the effects were from me being in a lockout brace that my hamstring
(04:32):
and quad weren't up to where they needed to be.
But because of that, like we weren't doing it and I had these issues.
And then I find out about a month ago, maybe six weeks ago now,
we got an additional MRI.
They had thought I tore my meniscus and that's what the popping was.
We got the imaging back. Meniscus is fine, but it was a full tear in the PCL,
not a partial. So then you're talking about surgery options and things of that nature.
(04:55):
Surgery would be over a year and a half recovery from it. It's one of the hardest
knee surgeries to kind of return to play from.
And it was presented to me almost like it was like a 50-50 option where I can
either decide to play without a PCL or get surgery on it.
I got a second opinion outside of MSU at the Cleveland Clinic where,
you know, and the more we talked about it, the less of an option surgery really
(05:20):
seemed like it would be. I mean, one, it would be the end of my career.
I'm not going to come back after missing two seasons and into my seventh year
of college at at that point. But it turns out you don't need your PCL, really.
You can compensate with your hamstring and quad strength, and it will hopefully do the job of the PCL.
And because nothing else was torn, it was isolated, I don't really...
(05:41):
Have a whole lot of instability within my knee. It was more about the strengthening
of it. So that was an emotional roller coaster, obviously, where I'm here.
It presented to me as a 50-50 debate. It was emotionally draining where I'm
like, is this the end of my career?
Can I come back from this? Can I play without a PCL? Because I've been having
all these issues throughout my entire summer.
I can't play right now. What's going to change? And then going through all that,
(06:05):
it was just so emotionally draining.
Anyhow, there's my rant. But now we're at a point, I've been rehabbing it.
We're about 93% symmetry in my right knee to my left knee.
I have been going 100% without a brace.
We tape it up, but full contact, full running, everything like that now for the last two weeks.
I'm definitely still feeling some of the effects because overall,
(06:26):
I tore this back in March.
It's been five months of this process of getting back to play.
So I'm still feeling some of the effects of that, obviously, in my fitness level
and just some of the rust but for the main part my knee I
feel like is holding up fine you know obviously it hasn't been tested in
game scenarios yet really but between practice
(06:46):
between you know running everything like that I'm happy with where we're at
we've done all the strength testing everything like that you know behind the
scenes biodex and all those fancy machines to see the actual numbers behind
the symmetry of my my two legs my hamstrings and quads so it's looking like you know it's going
to be good in the end but it was a roller coaster
(07:07):
over summer for sure and I think I have a lot of
frustrations with the way that it was handled yeah I
mean wow I really don't even
know what to say to all of that that's right emotional and intense and I can't
honestly imagine how you feel dealing with all of that and now going into what
is your final season of college athletics and everything there's a lot emotionally
(07:30):
going on to balance as well as what you want out of of your senior year.
So I can only imagine and say that myself as well as our community is ready
to support you in whatever way that is.
Yeah, thank you. Thank you. I think the best thing that came out of this,
though, is like when you're looking at retirement early, like I'm looking at
that because that's what my reality was at the time.
(07:51):
You just you have a whole new level of gratitude to just be here.
Like I feel like in the past, I was
so focused on my what I was able to accomplish and fulfilling this
potential that I had as a soccer player and especially we
talked about going into my senior season like the
idea that the potential dies the day that last whistle blows that's as good
as you ever were there is no more potential left for you to accomplish like
(08:15):
that is as good of a player as you ever were so I was chasing this goal in this
timeline and and I was so stressed about the fact that the clock was ticking
down and I wasn't ready for it.
I feel like now I have a whole new lease on it where I'm just,
I'm happy to be here. Like every single day I get to be here is added bonus
time from that decision.
You know, and we'll see. We'll see how the season goes.
(08:37):
I still have high hopes and expectations for myself to accomplish.
And I do think it's still possible.
However, like I'm just, I'm happy to still be a Spartan.
I'm happy to still wear the jersey and represent and to be a part of this team
because I am not ready to retire. Like I need those six months.
No, it's all fair. that's totally and it's a
reality you know I don't want to say I'm excited for
(08:59):
this but it's going to be very interesting to cover you know your last season
and how it differed from mine and different perspectives and potentials
you know obviously the future for you is unwritten I mean
there's so much potential like that can be but it also may be
the last six months whereas I kind of always knew I was going to continue
so it's going to be an interesting journey to follow and I'm
excited for that to see your growth
(09:20):
already through it it's going to be it's going gonna be good
how is preseason day one start of
that you know first last I remember
going through it how has that been for you it's weird it's weird the way I feel
about this now as a senior looking at it like this is my last beep tester running
this is my last time I have to sit through the meetings and learn what defenses
(09:44):
or what offenses like these are all lasts but also I've I've already done them three times.
So like all that anxiety or build up all the stress from it,
like senior year just feels so different.
Like it just, there's a different attitude about it where you just,
there's nothing left to worry or care about.
This is it. Like, this is the end.
(10:04):
The second that whistle blows and I step foot on the field, my eligibility is
over and we're in our last season.
You know, that's, that's it. You know, there's nothing left to really hold on
to and to have that anxiety for,
to worry about like stepping on toes or doing these different things and kind
of those you know social dynamics of things where you know it's senior year
(10:25):
it's just it's so different and it's so weird to.
Do these things now and being like, okay, this is the start of the end, start of the last.
We've been here for two weeks already doing conditioning, lifting,
training, all that good stuff.
So it doesn't really feel like day one, really. We had all our meetings yesterday.
(10:45):
We got our gear. We've already done media day, a bunch of meetings with compliance,
all that stuff before our official start.
And then today was the first day of actual practices where we ran our fitness
test, did some possession drills.
And then I believe tomorrow we're just playing and kind of getting a real feel
of where everyone's at and more of a game-like scenario with the coaching staff
(11:06):
present and, you know, a little bit higher intensity than probably what we've
been able to accomplish on our own.
Yeah, that's definitely, that's what I remember. I remember my last season just feeling different.
You know, there's a different emotional and weight, but also like,
like you said, relief to everything.
It's kind of like you're, you've done this, you've been here before,
you know, where everything is, you know, what preseason is going to look like,
(11:28):
you know, and so there's so much more, I think, focus on the,
you know, the things that feel.
More important, and you kind of know what's more important, what's not,
you know, I don't know how you obviously feel, you said you're in the fitness
test, I feel like every athlete's like worst nightmare is that fitness test
of some sort, you know, that anxiety that you get.
And I remember my last season, I was just kind of like, I know I can do this.
(11:52):
I know I'm in shape, let's just freaking run it.
And so how did that go for you and the team and everything like that?
Yeah, I think like a month ago, I was having issues. I couldn't sprint.
I would run and then my shin would separate from my knee and I'd be on the ground.
Like that was, I got an eight. I ran a fitness test in a PT session and I got
(12:15):
an eight. You know, my record is 43.
So you're looking back six weeks ago when we started this process after figuring everything out and.
That's where I was at. So I'm really happy with how I performed now.
I'm way more fit than an eight. I promise that was the start of it.
But yeah, I mean, it wasn't my best test by any means, but I also I've been
(12:35):
out for five months and we just started this process going back.
But I'm happy with my score.
I'm happy with where I'm at, knowing that we still have time.
Season is still very long. There's still plenty of time to get fit and to catch up.
And I think it's about the same fitness wise as I was coming in last year after
an ankle injury where I was at.
So it's not, I'm not too concerned about it this on day one.
(12:58):
I think overall people were a little surprised with their scores considering
what we've been doing, just kind of all over the board.
You had the anxiety of the freshmen running it for the first time.
And you had the people who maybe performed really, really well in the spring
who didn't break their records like they thought they were coming into this.
Or overall, I think it was just a lot of mixed emotions all over the board of
(13:19):
people being super pleased with it.
Some people not being super pleased with it, but as a team aspect,
I think it's just, it's day one. It's the standard of where we're at now.
And then you can just improve from there because we're only going to get better
and more fit. So it really, it just depends on who you're asking, I guess, for how it went.
Everyone has a different opinion on it. Some people performed well,
some people didn't. But at the end of the day, it's day one.
(13:40):
That's fair. That's fair. We had a whole session, like a whole layout when this
is going to go, but I think we are already in the nitty gritty of college athletics.
So let's just stay there.
Jordan, I have been following the news. Obviously, I'm across the world still.
It's weird, obviously, starting preseason and not being in Iowa and seeing everything happening.
(14:03):
And that's a lot going on.
And then I scroll through Twitter and I look at the news and so much is changing.
Can you go into some detail about what you're hearing on your end about all
of these new changes, not starting this year, but next year in college athletics
and your perspective on how that's going to affect women's college soccer.
(14:27):
Yeah, I'm trying to even remember what everything is. It's hard to knowing that this is my last season.
I think I keep up with it a little bit less because I'm... This doesn't affect
me at all. Yeah, pretty much.
It's like, okay, like, it'll be interesting to watch it happen.
But keeping up with it now, like, I'm trying to remember what all the rule changes were.
(14:48):
So obviously, we had the realignment, which we talked about that's affecting us this year.
Going into next year, you have, I mean, from a business standpoint of Michigan
State University, you got the revenue sharing, you have the roster caps,
which also affects scholarships.
So instead of having 14 full-ride scholarships now,
(15:20):
I believe everyone on a 28-person roster can receive scholarship,
either partial or full-ride, depending on how the university funds it.
And you can only have up to 28 people on your roster. That's the max cap.
I think some of this affects other sports like football who was either full
ride or nothing a little bit more with the roster cap because now they can receive
(15:41):
partial scholarships as well instead of just full ride or nothing.
Women's soccer has always been, you can receive a percentage,
so that doesn't really affect us as much. The roster cap will.
Right now, Michigan State has 32 players. Next year, we'll have to be at 28
in order to meet those standards.
I think with a lot of this too, you're getting NIL situations where it's still kind of a gray area.
(16:04):
I'm not sure all the details. I don't think anyone really does.
It just keeps changing more and more every year, every month even.
But I believe the university is now allowed to pay athletes directly.
So originally you were able to receive scholarship and then there was an Austin
scholarship that you can receive up to $6,000 a year, a little bit less,
(16:24):
but essentially $6,000 a year for each student athlete for being on the roster.
And your school can choose to opt into that or not. Luckily,
Michigan State for us does.
So we receive that money. But now in addition to that, your university can pay
you directly almost like a salary or I don't even think it's an NIL deal.
I think it's literally just salary basis.
They didn't just pay you to be on their team and pay you directly for that, which is very, very new.
(16:49):
I think you're already starting to see some of the effects, at least here in Michigan State.
I think we've had some budget cuts in some areas for sure with the idea that
they're going to take that money now and pay it directly to their athletes.
We used to have a director of ops. Now one of our coaches kind of handled that area now as she left.
You've had people in the weight room kind of leave and you're dispersing that
(17:12):
job throughout the rest of the workers now.
You're definitely starting to see some of those budget cuts.
And I think they'll happen more and more as players are trying to be competitive,
especially with football, or teams are trying to be competitive with football,
as they want to pay those athletes.
And then hopefully the idea is you start off, you pay the athletes,
you do well in your season, and then you gain back that money and go from there.
(17:37):
I think that's kind of the biggest extent that I'm going to see is some of those
budget cuts to helpfully pay those athletes.
The rest of it, though, doesn't really affect me.
And it won't, luckily, because I think it's going to be completely different.
And they're still coming out with more and more rules.
They're far from done figuring out what the 2025 season is going to look like.
(17:58):
So it'll be interesting to watch for sure.
But I believe that's where we're at right now I could be I could
be missing a whole legislation though no you are
spot on with what I am aware of going on and
it's something that I know Jay and I are going to continue to follow
and we hope that this season we have someone even more educated than us come
on and talk about all these changes because I think that this is something that
(18:20):
is just showing how college sports especially the impact of women's sports and
non-revenue women's sports has
evolved and And the impact is just kind of unknown in a lot of regards.
And I think that it's showing that college sports is turning way more business centric.
It's a lot more focused on the business than maybe we'd like to talk about or see in the past.
(18:43):
I've blatantly said it a lot of times, but I'll say it again.
I'm thankful I graduated when I did because all of this new stuff is getting crazy.
But yeah, we'll hopefully have someone a bit more educated than us come on and
we will We'll be following everything going on with that situation as we can.
Absolutely. The other thing that's like super unique that I wonder I'm interested
(19:05):
to watch is Michigan State is one of the only self-funded athletic programs.
So we don't receive any money from Michigan State University to fund our athletics.
We are self-funded in that aspect.
All of our scholarships, everything that we do as an athletic department comes
from donors, grants, and self-revenue throughout the season.
So I'll be interested to see if that's still possible with all these rule changes as well as like.
(19:31):
The revenue sharing aspect, how that's going to affect, Big Ten will be fine.
I think Power Four conferences will be fine. How that's going to trickle down
and affect some of those lower conferences, NAIA schools, D3,
things like that, who are getting a huge cut from the NCAA in terms of what
they're receiving to fund these programs and sports.
So a couple of years, it's going to look completely different than what me and Sam did.
(19:53):
You're lucky you got out last year. I'm lucky I'm getting out this year because
it's definitely not going to be the same soccer and the same setup we signed up for.
It's going to be way different. I know I'm definitely hearing and seeing on
social media and stuff that like coaches are going to be way more hesitant in
recruiting their 2026 class because they have to see,
(20:14):
you know, I know at one point in my IO career, I have no idea what roster number they're at now.
We were at 35. So you already have to get down from 35 to 28 and you have to
weigh in your 2025s coming in who aren't signing their NILs till November and
you have your recruiting going on.
So my sympathy is with all of these coaches also trying to balance these as
(20:36):
I'm sure they don't know all that information either.
And yeah, it's an interesting jungle, but also you have to get ready for the 2024 season.
And on top of that, in the big 10, we're going to add four more teams.
So Jay, I know we haven't really talked about this on the pod.
Can you talk a bit about your Michigan state schedule and what you've heard.
I know one of the biggest questions is how is Big Ten going to travel?
(20:58):
All of the different schools and adding for West Coast schools, all of this.
So what does that look like from your standpoint for your 2024 schedule?
Yeah. So we, I'm going to pull this up so I don't mess it up because things
have changed. But that's fine. I'd only bully you a little bit.
It would be embarrassing indeed. And it would be something I would do.
(21:21):
Absolutely. So our Michigan Michigan State's schedule is our first game is an
exhibition against DePaul.
It's the only exhibition we're having this year. Normally, we have two.
This year, we're only having one.
And then you go and you have our home opener August 15th against Notre Dame.
Those are both pretty normal.
We go through then our non-conference schedule.
(21:42):
And then our first conference game is at Maryland Thursday, September 12th.
After that, our main trips, we're doing a Oregon-Washington trip,
which is the new teams that were added, and then Ohio State-Penn State?
Okay. I don't know. I mean, yeah, Penn State's Sunday, and then Ohio State's Thursday.
(22:05):
That would be the only other big trip we would have this year.
The rest are pretty much home games or single away games where we would go and
come back pretty easily.
And I don't even know if they would make that a trip or if we would just come
back and then bust Ohio State, which is what I would assume they do.
But I don't know. I don't know about that. I will figure that out in September.
(22:26):
That's above my head right now.
But yeah, our big trip that we have is Oregon and Washington. We don't play UCLA.
I think we got, I don't know if we're unique in this way or if we just got lucky,
but it doesn't really change much for us in terms of our travel schedule.
Usually you have one big week-long trip at least.
Occasionally you'll have two but usually it's about one week-long
(22:49):
trip that you go that's how the ncaa or
big 10 likes to structure it and then
the rest are a mix of just home and away games depending on who you play and
you try to structure it in a way where you're balancing that between both you
and the other schools you're playing so there's an even amount of home and away
games through that i think the most interesting thing that i still don't have
(23:10):
answers on i don't know know if our coaching staff even does or if the Big Ten has decided,
is if there's going to be a conference champion this year. Next question. Okay.
I think there's going to be a conference champion, just less weight on it.
Whereas in previous years, probably your normal season conference champ had
(23:31):
a little bit more weight when you're talking NCAA rankings, just because it's
a balanced schedule. You're playing everyone.
It's a longer period of time to judge performance. performance now I think a
lot of that decision making a lot of that weight's going to be held on the tournament
because you have such an unbalanced schedule throughout the season there's so
many teams we're not playing this year where in previous years you only don't play,
(23:54):
two teams so yeah we now
we don't play several teams throughout the season so there's going to be a lot
more weight on that tournament I still don't know the structure of the tournament
how many games we're playing dude I don't I don't know we have meetings later
today where maybe Maybe they'll fill us in or I don't even know if our coaching
staff really knows at this point because things keep getting restructured and changed like.
(24:16):
Every day okay you heard it here first dropping on
the big life what is the big 10 soccer tournament gonna
look like this year because yeah it's i mean i'm sure you're adding four new
teams how are we gonna extend because originally it's only the top eight went
through there's a lot of questions and once again i'm happy to be watching from
across the world but it's gonna be really interesting to see it go down and
(24:39):
you know i'm sure jordan wanted to casually remind you that
she was the 2023 conference champion.
And one of the things... And 22.
Oh, 22, 23? Yeah. Remember what year it is before you start talking, sis.
I just... I know there's two of them, and they were back-to-back.
(25:01):
And on top of that, I know, obviously, this is season three,
I guess, of The Big Lies now, but all the way back in season one,
Jordan and I found ourselves playing back-to-back, And if I'm right,
I don't even think I will place Michigan State this year.
So it would have been so sad not to have that kind of mashup that we had last time.
So at least we got to make up for it. You know, they decided to get it back
(25:23):
to back and we're good for the next couple of years.
Honestly, honestly, we're solid up. You guys, I was in East Lansing too, too many times.
It's all right. I think I've only been to Iowa once. I went my freshman year
and I don't believe I've been there since.
Yeah I do feel like we often play in East Lansing it's
always a weird balance like of how that shakes out and
(25:46):
yeah now adding more teams it's gonna be it's gonna be even
more so it'll be interesting to see our commentary but
Jordan do we have a vibe on the Big Ten this year we're adding four new teams
you know there are some like prediction polls going out of how Big Ten soccer
is gonna look obviously the big thing is you know USC UCLA joining the Big Ten
how do we feel about you know the overall structure of the big 10 strength and schedule wise i mean,
(26:13):
i can't considering how little i know as
a senior going into this i can't imagine what it's like to be
a freshman in the big 10 right now and truly have no knowledge
of what's happening and no experience to back anything
up really i don't i
don't know honest obviously michigan state's gonna win it all like naturally
(26:34):
and then you're talking to through you know the rest of whatever makes you don't
even know how many make the tournament this year though i was gonna say tournament
makers but i don't even know how many there are this year,
But I think it'll be interesting to see how these new teams fit in.
I mean, there's four new teams.
I think UCLA is obviously the biggest one coming in that everyone's watching.
(26:58):
They always perform really, really well.
However, the performance they had in the NCAA tournament last year,
it'll be interesting to see how they come in starting this season in a new conference.
Guns a-blazin', I'm going to assume. Something to prove after getting out in
the first round of NCAA last year.
So I think that's the most interesting team I want to watch this year.
(27:20):
I think you have the obvious teams that always perform really well, Penn State.
I don't think there's been a huge amount of turnaround in a lot of these Big
Ten teams where you're looking at new coaching staff or whole new rosters like that.
I think it's kind of the same. I could be wrong here, but I believe it's kind
of the same Big Ten you have seen in previous years just with the addition of
(27:41):
these four new teams and to see how this all plays out and how they fit in.
I don't know who's playing who from other schools.
I don't know who's playing UCLA or who else is going to the Oregon-Washington
trip, but we'll see. I mean, honestly, I have no idea.
I barely know what's going on here at Michigan State, much less the rest of
the Big Ten at this moment.
So I don't know. I think I'm just excited to watch to see how this all plays
(28:04):
out because truly, I just want answers at this point.
Yeah, that's fair. I think my biggest question marks, it's going to be interesting
to see the impacted the class that graduated last year.
Of course, that's one of the classes I'm most familiar with being a part of it.
But I think you have a lot of incredible talent that has graduated and moved
on, you know, whether it's Emma Jaskinick from Wisconsin,
(28:26):
Eleanor Dale, who is the NCAA leading goal scorer from Nebraska,
plenty of names at Penn State, Pete Linehan, Kate Wiesner, Samantha Carey from
Iowa, you know, a lot of big names from the Big 10 have graduated.
So I think it's going to be really interesting to see that impact.
Celia Gaynor from Michigan State, you know, there's going to be an impact of
that class leaving, and it's going to be really exciting to see who fills some
(28:49):
of those shoes that I feel like were names that were known across the Big 10.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think you get that every year.
And it's always kind of a scramble to see where everyone falls in,
especially I think Penn State, now that you're mentioning it,
like probably had the biggest loss of that, that talent from that class,
biggest turnover from the players that graduated and went pro.
(29:11):
Throughout the rest of the season, we have plans to hopefully bring on,
you know, coaches and players from these four new schools and talk about how
the integration into the Big Ten is going and different perspectives from that standpoint.
And, you know, following this ever, ever fluid, ever changing role that is college soccer.
That being said, Jay, you know, we'd be ignorant if we're not talking about it's Olympic season.
(29:34):
I have the huge perk for the first time in my life to be watching the Olympics
in the same time zone as the Olympics are going on.
So all games are in prime time for me. Everything I get to see and eat dinner
at night and watch everything and at a normal time instead of like waking up
at 4am like I feel like we have in years past.
Jay, have you been watching any of the women's women's soccer coming from the Olympics?
(29:59):
I have not been keeping up as much as I have in previous years.
Yeah, I know. I've been slacking here. But honestly, I probably watch more gymnastics, to be honest.
Valid. I mean, as we're recording the women's team events going on.
So I have a pause that way.
It doesn't get spoiled with me. But I'm watching some mobiles as we speak.
(30:21):
I mean, three of my roommates are gymnasts. So I feel like naturally I have to. too.
But we have Canadians on our team.
I think that's the biggest conversation within it right now is that whole scandal
and how that's playing out and how it's going to play out with them.
And I have been keeping up with that quite a bit, but I think I've seen a lot
(30:42):
of clips and stuff on social media and I've watched bits and pieces of the games
here and there, but I haven't been able to sit down and fully watch a game yet this Olympic season.
So I promise I will, but
you probably have more insight than i do in terms of the performance
of our olympic team right now yeah you know there's so
many questions that this olympics have brought so far i think
(31:02):
you know one of the biggest ones you hit the nail on the head the canadian scandal for
those who maybe don't know i'm assuming if you listen to this podcast you
keep up with women's soccer enough to know what's going on in canada but the
new zealand national team reported a drone recording
their practices on two separate occasions at the
olympics it got investigated that it was Canada's drone
and so the coaching staff has been
(31:24):
removed from the Olympics as well as FIFA placed a negative
six point punishment on them basically meaning
for Canada to advance to the next round they have
to win all of their games and other you
know dream scenarios have to align that has happened so
far at this point obviously the tennis podcast airs hopefully
we're not out of date Canada upset France in a lot of ways and you know one
(31:48):
two to one which is getting them in position should still advance even though
this punishment has occurred and there's a lot of debate about whether this
is a just punishment and you know as players we really have no say what our
coaches do you know this on so many aspects so.
Is it fair to punish the players and potentially not have them advance in the
Olympics that they deserve to advance in because of something that they can't control?
(32:08):
And yeah, there's a lot of questions that this has brought on.
You know, what are your Canadian friends back in Michigan State saying to all of this?
I think they're just like heads down, like, you know, we're obviously giving
them a bit of crap for it because they're Canadians and like, come on, guys.
And they're They're like, we have literally nothing to do with this.
(32:29):
But I think the hope for them is that they deduct from, instead of six points,
they go down to three points and that they'll still make it through all this.
Because like you said, the players don't have the ability to really control
what the coaches do at all.
And it doesn't seem like they had any knowledge that this was going on,
considering they wore their shirts and stuff inside out for their next game,
(32:52):
not representing the Canada logo or anything like that.
So I think they're just hopeful that this will all work out still for them in
the end. And it'll be interesting to kind of watch and continue.
But what's your take on it? Do you think that the punishment is just or do you
think that it's a bit extreme?
You know, it's a really hard situation just knowing players and knowing that,
(33:14):
you know, it's not something that they had anything to do with. And so many regards.
I do think that there should be punishments against the Canadian Soccer Federation.
Then again i don't think it should be taken out on the players representing the
country and so i i agree that the negative six point
man feels harsh and it's casting an
unfortunate look on canada soccer that the
(33:34):
players don't deserve in so many regards that being said you know it's really
interesting being in sweden right now because a lot of the story is that this
taping has gone on well before the 2024 olympics and it's been happening years
throughout and in the The 2020-2021 Olympics,
Canada beat Sweden on penalty kicks in the final.
(33:55):
And so Sweden's like, well, was there something going on at ours?
We practiced PKs the day before the final.
You know, did they know where our shots were going to go? And so hearing a Swedish
person's perspective, they definitely feel like it's just because they feel
like, and obviously I'm not speaking for a ton of Swedish people.
I'm speaking for the Swedish people I talk to. you know it could
potentially feel like they got robbed of their olympic win years
(34:18):
ago so there's there's a lot to the story but it's
definitely something very i feel like women's soccer is normally
the conversation in a lot of regards in in terms of
the olympics and i feel like it has this time unfortunately yeah i wish it was
in a more positive light that we were the conversation or topic of but it's
it's just a hard situation for everyone involved like i have like you said I
(34:40):
have no idea what the right answer is or how far and how deep this goes and
how many people knew about it or condone this.
But well, it'll be interesting to see how it plays out. And if they do stick
with the six point penalty or deducted to three, I think that'll make a huge, huge difference in how.
How they perform and how this all turns out in the end. But how's our USA team
(35:00):
doing? What are your thoughts on that, our performance?
USA, to this point, has played two games. They have won 3-0 against Zambia and
4-1 against Germany going into the final game against Australia.
They are looking strong.
I know I saw a couple people a little worried that we only scored three against
Zambia considering they were down a man for a large portion of the game and
(35:23):
we didn't score once they were down a man.
I think the more crazy conversation out of our pool has been who might take
that second place, especially with the Zambia-Australia game,
which was absolutely nuts.
Zambia at one point winning the game 5-2 and the final score being 6-5 for Australia. yet.
(35:43):
So that game was just highlight after highlight and goal after goal shows,
you know, a lot of fight in Australian team to be able to come back like that.
So will they able to secure a spot in the next round?
A lot of questions are going to be had about that. But overall right now,
I mean, when you have an offensive line with Trinity Rodman,
Sophia Swift, and while mouse wants an operating on the cylinders,
(36:03):
I apparently can't talk either operating on the cylinders that they are.
I think Rose Lavelle during the last game stood out a lot to me just to like
extra gritty, extra tough, running all over.
You know, I was with people that know nothing about soccer and they're like,
dang, like they, she impressed her.
And so I think that there's a lot to say moving forward. And I'm excited about,
(36:23):
you know, potentially getting out of pool play and what's going to happen next.
Absolutely. You know, while I may not have watched full games,
I had been watching a whole lot of TikToks from the Olympic athletes.
And let me tell you, I love the Olympic Villa. It is so fun. Yeah.
So fun to sit there and watch these athletes that you watch perform and are
so serious in representing your country do like some of the cringiest,
(36:47):
like just silly things on social media.
And it's been so fun to really feel like you're a part of the journey.
And I think that's been the biggest difference between this Olympics and the
previous Olympics is I feel like I have a lot more of an insider knowledge of
how this is all working and going down because of the use of social media.
I think that's just been it's been so fun. Have you been getting the TikToks?
Oh, it's my entire For You page. I want to go to Olympian Village and switch pins so bad.
(37:11):
So yeah. I want Simone Biles or Snoop Dogg.
Yeah, where's Flava Flav and Snoop Dogg? There's a lot going on.
Once again, going back to my previous statement about how the world feels chaotic, that's why.
So anyway, I want Simone Biles pin. I don't remember personally voting for Snoop Dogg to be our mascot.
However, I'm not mad about it. It seems fitting in a lot of regards.
(37:33):
So I'm just going to take it and run with it. I'm glad we're all on the same page with that.
Exactly. the one thing the nation unites on
is snoop dogg as our mascot but all we
need exactly so we covered the college talk we covered olympics now come on
sam what have you been up to how has your summer been what is life in sweden
(37:54):
like for you now i saw you went on a pretty amazing vacation so it seemed so
give us all the details all the updates incredible vacation incredible little holiday day.
No, life has been good since we last talked. I am officially halfway through
my first pro season, which is insane and exciting and, you know,
so many different cylinders.
So yeah, we have played 13 games in the Don Mills Vonskin.
(38:16):
I don't know how it became that many that quickly. It just kind of,
I feel like I blink and it happened.
So yeah, 13 games in a Don Mills Vonskin play. We're on our holiday break,
basically being back in preseason right now.
So we got back, back to work last week after a little two day or two week holiday,
which was So it's very well needed to reset, you know, recoup and now get back into it.
(38:37):
And we'll play 14, 14 more games, I think 15, 15 more games before the season ends.
I know I'm great, too. At least I know when my games aren't who I'm playing.
So our first game back is officially on August 11th. So that's when we'll fully
kick back into gear of Domos Vonskin play.
We'll play through November 9th is our last game.
(38:58):
So, yeah, no, things are good here in so many regards. A lot of my summer was
playing through it and playing all these games.
You know, I think we ended the first part of the season on a four-game home stint.
So that was incredible just to, you know, be home again and not have to leave.
And during that stint, both my parents were able to come and visit.
And so I got some family time in Sweden, which was absolutely amazing.
(39:20):
And then during our little, you know, two-week holiday, Trey and I did honeymoon
part two, figured while we live in Europe, we might as well travel Europe.
So I went from Sweden to Zurich, hiked in the Swiss Alps, and then took a train
down to Italy, spent some time in Rome and Venice,
and then got on a seven-day cruise through Greece, stopping in Santorini, Athens,
(39:43):
Mykonos, and Olympia.
So, I mean, you really, really can't ask for a better vacation than that.
That was pretty much my entire bucket list checked off into two weeks.
Had an absolute blast doing all of that. And yeah, now refocused,
rejuvenated, ready to go back to work.
We had, you know, our fitness testing and so much going back last week.
(40:04):
Which is interesting. I feel like, you know, once again, like college preseason
is back. So I have to be in preseason at some extent.
And yeah, I'm kind of back at it. I've been fortunate enough to have the play
that I wanted to play in Sweden.
I've been fortunate enough to be doing a lot, like really well with it.
And so I've played 90 minutes at every Donbass-Wanderskian game, started all 13 of them.
(40:24):
Embarrassing positions depending on what formation we're playing
kind of switching in this hybrid left back left center back
role that i did for the last five years at iowa so nothing nothing
really new with that regard and yeah it's just a lot of really exciting things
going for further i've heard a lot about what a swedish summer would be and
it's everything i could have dreamed of and more so i think the high we got
(40:46):
we maybe got into the 80s on a handful of days most day Today is 77 and sunny and perfect weather.
I know I feel like when I go back to the US, I'm going to die of heat because I'm not used.
We've had family and friends come and visit us. Shout out to GSN's Maddie Sabatier
coming to Sweden, hanging out with me for a week.
(41:06):
And GSN got featured at some EFCO Nora shipping practices when they came hang
out and did some social media content there. So that was super fun.
And yeah, overall, it's just kind of good to be back at it.
It doesn't feel like much has changed over in my life, but moving forward and yeah,
it feels really weird not being in the Iowa jersey
(41:27):
not being in Iowa right now I still text
with the staff and the girls and I feel like I've still connected in a lot of
ways but it's definitely it's definitely odd so I think just kind of figuring
out what this life post-college is like and getting through pro season number
one is the biggest goal yeah absolutely I didn't okay Okay.
(41:49):
Not that I haven't embarrassed myself already this podcast.
So you are in summer now, because when you first got there, there was snow on the ground.
Yes, there was snow on the ground. So we just, spring, I would say didn't really exist.
We went from, there was snow in April, like six feet, like six inches of snow in April.
And then it was like, boom, summer. So summer, like it's the same as,
(42:12):
you know, the U.S. of Autoguards.
It was like a mild June and then a nice July and now going into August.
It'll start to get a little bit cooler. The days, I think, is what trip me up
the most. In the summer, the sun doesn't go down.
That's because in the winter, the sun doesn't really come up.
And so I think it would be like the sun rose at 3.30 in the morning and set at 11.45 at night.
(42:37):
So there's barely any time the sun was down. It was bright all the time.
Super crazy. I know there are parts of Sweden, especially northern Sweden,
where the sun doesn't go down and it's like two in the morning and it's bright, like it could be noon.
So that's super, that was weird to get used to in a lot of regards,
but the days are getting shorter again.
And, you know, there's actually like a sunset coming around a normal time right now. So.
(43:00):
All the goods. But yeah, life is good here in Sweden in the pro season.
So yeah, I'm looking forward to it and can't wait to keep competing.
Yeah, absolutely. So you're this second portion of it. It kind of follows the
same timeline as the college season. Yeah.
Yeah, exactly. So our season is basically like if this college season was like time to.
And so, yeah, we have our main or we have a half stint that goes from April
(43:23):
to July and then August to November.
Gotcha. And And did you sign a one-year contract with them?
I did sign a one-year contract. So technically my contract ends in November.
However, I believe at this point it'll be public news that I have officially
been offered a contract extension and I have signed.
(43:45):
So I will be in Sweden times year two back at EF Co-Nurshipping for next year.
And I'm really excited about it.
Oh my God, that's awesome. Congratulations.
Yeah. Yeah, no, it's been a long time coming. I got offered,
yeah, a contract extension and I'm excited to be back in Sweden.
I think for me personally, for me, for my career and a lot of regards,
(44:06):
I think it makes a lot of sense to stay where I'm at and keep growing and keep
getting, becoming a better player overall.
And I have a team and a club and a city that believes in me and it's exciting
to be able to know that I'm going to stay here.
I think for a long time, it's just like, you know, a six month period,
I was in Iowa and then I was back home and then I was bouncing around in so
many different places. So, you know, I bought a plant for my house today because
(44:28):
I'm like, I'm going to be here a year so I can buy a plant.
And just a lot of things like that. So it's really exciting to know I'm going
to be back in Sweden and I'm excited about it. Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome.
So what's the end goal for you now? Is it to come back to the U.S.
Or are you thinking about maybe becoming Swedish?
You know, that's a big question. I think right now it's through year one.
(44:51):
I know where year two is going to be. I think my goal right now is year one,
figure out what being a pro is like, get better. Year two...
We're going all out. Not that we haven't in year one, but that's,
that's, we're going both the walls there.
And then year three, we'll see what happens. I think that's,
you know, one of the biggest things about, you know, of course I have goals.
I have trajectories of where I see myself, but also football is so weird and
(45:15):
so many opportunities come up in so many different ways.
And also like we've kind of touched on, you also never know when that final
whistle is going to blow.
And so I don't want to catch myself looking too far and not,
and not living in the now. And so I'm excited about being able to live in the now right now.
Yeah, absolutely. I love that. It's part of the Swedish lifestyle. It's adapted to me.
We're a lot chiller in Sweden, apparently. So it's been, I've caught myself
(45:38):
slowing down a lot more here, which is amazing.
You know what? I think you probably needed it considering the chaos that was
ensuing your last couple of months there.
You could use some chill time, some downtime.
Yeah, a little bit. But Trey, happy to say Trey's happy to say Trey is,
you know, Sweden's number one rover.
I feel like in North shipping, we got a new dog in our house at all times to
(46:01):
keep our puppy loving since we can't really get one.
We got, oh, we've got dogs around. Our current one's name is Simba. He's adorable.
If you ever caught me laughing on this video streams, cause Trey was behind
the camera lifting up Simba like.
It happens a lot. So yeah, maybe we won't be George Figgins' number one rover after this.
And anyway, beyond that, I think we're both really excited about where the community
(46:21):
is, you know, Trey's involvement. And yeah, it's going to be really good.
That's awesome. I'm so happy to hear that. And breaking news here on the Big Life Podcast.
We're just dropping bombs all the time. Keep tuning in to figure out what the
heck the Big Ten's going to be and Sam's contract status.
Simple things. They might know before I do what the Big Ten will look like.
(46:44):
I have a strong feeling I will. I'm not even going to lie.
I feel like that's exactly what's going to happen. And I can't wait to hold it over your head.
I mean, just please, like, rip the bandit off and let me know.
Because I'm definitely not going to find out first at this rate.
Like, I have no idea what's going on.
But I almost like it better that way. I'm like, our next game is August 10th.
(47:06):
You know, tee-hee. I don't know.
Something's never changed. all right i am way up all of that being said we're
so happy to be back i'm so happy to have my weekly therapy talks with jay that
we just happen to record and other people listen to,
we're so excited for what this season can hold we have fun guests
in the making you know we even hear that maybe some people
(47:28):
from the current olympics may be on wink wink
notch notch it's the only hint i'll give about that we have
a brand new soccer league starting in the u.s in august
you know the usl super league we didn't even talk about that so excited
to start covering that seeing you know hopefully getting some
guests on from the super league get some inside look about what's
going on in the usl as well as always covering other pro soccer
(47:50):
other pro events and we got we got to get the roster of guests lined up for
this season so stay tuned guys as always i'm at sam carrey j is at jordan underscore
wickus find us out for questions contact girls soccer network all of the above
we can't wait to hear from you and soccer on Bye, guys.
Hey big life listeners we hope you are just excited
about your upcoming soccer season as we are for the
big life's new season and since it's pre-season for all of us sponsor i the
sports is ready to help us kick off season three with a little fun game of two
truths and a lie i know it's been a second jordan but let's see if you remember
me as if i could ever forget okay so So which one of these is true out of the three statements?
(00:29):
I just love how hot the turf is in August when we're running those preseason sprints.
Burpees are my favorite way to get into shape and do a little something extra.
And I always rock a new pair of cleats when the season gets going.
That's tough because I think you are just crazy enough to want to do burpees
(00:51):
to get in shape. But I think it's got to be cleats, right?
It's got to be cleats. I mean, come on now. Who doesn't want to start the season with fresh boots?
It's the best way and best part of soccer is when you get those fresh cleats
on your feet to go ahead and start the season, right?
Absolutely. And because Ida knows preseason is getting underway,
they've given us a special code.
So Big Life listeners can get 15% off cleats, turfs, or indoor shoes when you
(01:17):
use code Big Life or visit idasports.com slash discount slash Big Life. That's amazing.
I really do love my Idas. What's great is that I know when I put them on,
these are the cleats that are designed by a woman and made specifically for
the shape of a woman's foot.
I'm happy and proud to have them and have them back as a sponsor.
Yeah, I feel the same way. Go ahead and do your back to soccer shopping at idasports.com
(01:41):
and make sure to use code BIG LIFE for 15% off a pair of Ida footwear,
Ida cleats, perfs, indoor shoes, whatever it may be, or visit idahsports.com
slash discount slash Big Life.
Hey, everyone. We are back with Big Life season three.
You know we missed us. Like, you know you missed hearing our voices in your phone.
(02:02):
But Jordan and I are back.
Jay, how are you feeling? I'm feeling good. It's been a minute since we've been
together, I feel like. So there's a lot to catch up on.
Exactly. And we went in solid. We pressed record once we joined the Zoom.
So because of that like everything is new
information for Jordan and myself so I'm excited
(02:22):
to hear about the extent of everything life feels like it's crazy right now
I don't know if it's just my perception but I feel like the world is changing
I feel like there's just so much going on and every sort of aspect and it's
been interesting it's been interesting I'm not gonna lie Jay how was your summer though?
It, uh, it's been a roller coaster of a summer. One, it went by so fast.
(02:46):
Like you blink and it's over. I feel like last week I was taking my finals and
now you're telling me we're back into it.
Second day of preseason here. First day of real training. Like that's not real. That can't be right.
Summer did not last nearly long enough, but it was definitely a roller coaster.
I think last time we touched on my injury and that's pretty much been the main
focus of my summer is being able to rehab and get back to there.
(03:09):
I had quite a few setbacks throughout the summer in terms of getting back to my play.
Originally, we went through it. We thought it was a partial tear in my PCL.
We did the lockout brace, got the mobility brace then, and had a return to play
kind of protocol from there.
It turns out I have a full tear in my PCL. And then, you know,
(03:29):
a lot of my summer was spent figuring that out through the process and then
figuring out what to do with that information.
Information i can go on a little rant here afterwards about i
think the way the medical world should work within athletics because
i do think there's way too much pressure and there's
way too many umbrellas that a athletic trainer
has to wear and i think somewhere throughout all this
(03:49):
there was a breakdown either communication or lack of knowledge about my injury
and return to play protocol where we were not doing quad and hamstring strengthening
after i got out of that lockout brace when we should have been and because of
that i think i had a lot of the issues where where the back of my knee was popping
and it felt like I got shot. Like I was hurt. I was down.
And then every time that happened, I was out for a week. And that happened three
(04:11):
times throughout the summer.
And that kind of three and a half month period from where we were doing a return
to play to when we found out I had a full tear in the PCL.
So we go through all this. I don't think we rehabbed properly,
even though I was here all summer.
I think we should have known better considering everything that happened.
And a lot of the effects were from me being in a lockout brace that my hamstring
(04:32):
and quad weren't up to where they needed to be.
But because of that, like we weren't doing it and I had these issues.
And then I find out about a month ago, maybe six weeks ago now,
we got an additional MRI.
They had thought I tore my meniscus and that's what the popping was.
We got the imaging back. Meniscus is fine, but it was a full tear in the PCL,
not a partial. So then you're talking about surgery options and things of that nature.
(04:55):
Surgery would be over a year and a half recovery from it. It's one of the hardest
knee surgeries to kind of return to play from.
And it was presented to me almost like it was like a 50-50 option where I can
either decide to play without a PCL or get surgery on it.
I got a second opinion outside of MSU at the Cleveland Clinic where,
you know, and the more we talked about it, the less of an option surgery really
(05:20):
seemed like it would be. I mean, one, it would be the end of my career.
I'm not going to come back after missing two seasons and into my seventh year
of college at at that point. But it turns out you don't need your PCL, really.
You can compensate with your hamstring and quad strength, and it will hopefully do the job of the PCL.
And because nothing else was torn, it was isolated, I don't really...
(05:41):
Have a whole lot of instability within my knee. It was more about the strengthening
of it. So that was an emotional roller coaster, obviously, where I'm here.
It presented to me as a 50-50 debate. It was emotionally draining where I'm
like, is this the end of my career?
Can I come back from this? Can I play without a PCL? Because I've been having
all these issues throughout my entire summer.
I can't play right now. What's going to change? And then going through all that,
(06:05):
it was just so emotionally draining.
Anyhow, there's my rant. But now we're at a point, I've been rehabbing it.
We're about 93% symmetry in my right knee to my left knee.
I have been going 100% without a brace.
We tape it up, but full contact, full running, everything like that now for the last two weeks.
I'm definitely still feeling some of the effects because overall,
(06:26):
I tore this back in March.
It's been five months of this process of getting back to play.
So I'm still feeling some of the effects of that, obviously, in my fitness level
and just some of the rust but for the main part my knee I
feel like is holding up fine you know obviously it hasn't been tested in
game scenarios yet really but between practice
(06:46):
between you know running everything like that I'm happy with where we're at
we've done all the strength testing everything like that you know behind the
scenes biodex and all those fancy machines to see the actual numbers behind
the symmetry of my my two legs my hamstrings and quads so it's looking like you know it's going
to be good in the end but it was a roller coaster
(07:07):
over summer for sure and I think I have a lot of
frustrations with the way that it was handled yeah I
mean wow I really don't even
know what to say to all of that that's right emotional and intense and I can't
honestly imagine how you feel dealing with all of that and now going into what
is your final season of college athletics and everything there's a lot emotionally
(07:30):
going on to balance as well as what you want out of of your senior year.
So I can only imagine and say that myself as well as our community is ready
to support you in whatever way that is.
Yeah, thank you. Thank you. I think the best thing that came out of this,
though, is like when you're looking at retirement early, like I'm looking at
that because that's what my reality was at the time.
(07:51):
You just you have a whole new level of gratitude to just be here.
Like I feel like in the past, I was
so focused on my what I was able to accomplish and fulfilling this
potential that I had as a soccer player and especially we
talked about going into my senior season like the
idea that the potential dies the day that last whistle blows that's as good
as you ever were there is no more potential left for you to accomplish like
(08:15):
that is as good of a player as you ever were so I was chasing this goal in this
timeline and and I was so stressed about the fact that the clock was ticking
down and I wasn't ready for it.
I feel like now I have a whole new lease on it where I'm just,
I'm happy to be here. Like every single day I get to be here is added bonus
time from that decision.
You know, and we'll see. We'll see how the season goes.
(08:37):
I still have high hopes and expectations for myself to accomplish.
And I do think it's still possible.
However, like I'm just, I'm happy to still be a Spartan.
I'm happy to still wear the jersey and represent and to be a part of this team
because I am not ready to retire. Like I need those six months.
No, it's all fair. that's totally and it's a
reality you know I don't want to say I'm excited for
(08:59):
this but it's going to be very interesting to cover you know your last season
and how it differed from mine and different perspectives and potentials
you know obviously the future for you is unwritten I mean
there's so much potential like that can be but it also may be
the last six months whereas I kind of always knew I was going to continue
so it's going to be an interesting journey to follow and I'm
excited for that to see your growth
(09:20):
already through it it's going to be it's going gonna be good
how is preseason day one start of
that you know first last I remember
going through it how has that been for you it's weird it's weird the way I feel
about this now as a senior looking at it like this is my last beep tester running
this is my last time I have to sit through the meetings and learn what defenses
(09:44):
or what offenses like these are all lasts but also I've I've already done them three times.
So like all that anxiety or build up all the stress from it,
like senior year just feels so different.
Like it just, there's a different attitude about it where you just,
there's nothing left to worry or care about.
This is it. Like, this is the end.
(10:04):
The second that whistle blows and I step foot on the field, my eligibility is
over and we're in our last season.
You know, that's, that's it. You know, there's nothing left to really hold on
to and to have that anxiety for,
to worry about like stepping on toes or doing these different things and kind
of those you know social dynamics of things where you know it's senior year
(10:25):
it's just it's so different and it's so weird to.
Do these things now and being like, okay, this is the start of the end, start of the last.
We've been here for two weeks already doing conditioning, lifting,
training, all that good stuff.
So it doesn't really feel like day one, really. We had all our meetings yesterday.
(10:45):
We got our gear. We've already done media day, a bunch of meetings with compliance,
all that stuff before our official start.
And then today was the first day of actual practices where we ran our fitness
test, did some possession drills.
And then I believe tomorrow we're just playing and kind of getting a real feel
of where everyone's at and more of a game-like scenario with the coaching staff
(11:06):
present and, you know, a little bit higher intensity than probably what we've
been able to accomplish on our own.
Yeah, that's definitely, that's what I remember. I remember my last season just feeling different.
You know, there's a different emotional and weight, but also like,
like you said, relief to everything.
It's kind of like you're, you've done this, you've been here before,
you know, where everything is, you know, what preseason is going to look like,
(11:28):
you know, and so there's so much more, I think, focus on the,
you know, the things that feel.
More important, and you kind of know what's more important, what's not,
you know, I don't know how you obviously feel, you said you're in the fitness
test, I feel like every athlete's like worst nightmare is that fitness test
of some sort, you know, that anxiety that you get.
And I remember my last season, I was just kind of like, I know I can do this.
(11:52):
I know I'm in shape, let's just freaking run it.
And so how did that go for you and the team and everything like that?
Yeah, I think like a month ago, I was having issues. I couldn't sprint.
I would run and then my shin would separate from my knee and I'd be on the ground.
Like that was, I got an eight. I ran a fitness test in a PT session and I got
(12:15):
an eight. You know, my record is 43.
So you're looking back six weeks ago when we started this process after figuring everything out and.
That's where I was at. So I'm really happy with how I performed now.
I'm way more fit than an eight. I promise that was the start of it.
But yeah, I mean, it wasn't my best test by any means, but I also I've been
(12:35):
out for five months and we just started this process going back.
But I'm happy with my score.
I'm happy with where I'm at, knowing that we still have time.
Season is still very long. There's still plenty of time to get fit and to catch up.
And I think it's about the same fitness wise as I was coming in last year after
an ankle injury where I was at.
So it's not, I'm not too concerned about it this on day one.
(12:58):
I think overall people were a little surprised with their scores considering
what we've been doing, just kind of all over the board.
You had the anxiety of the freshmen running it for the first time.
And you had the people who maybe performed really, really well in the spring
who didn't break their records like they thought they were coming into this.
Or overall, I think it was just a lot of mixed emotions all over the board of
(13:19):
people being super pleased with it.
Some people not being super pleased with it, but as a team aspect,
I think it's just, it's day one. It's the standard of where we're at now.
And then you can just improve from there because we're only going to get better
and more fit. So it really, it just depends on who you're asking, I guess, for how it went.
Everyone has a different opinion on it. Some people performed well,
some people didn't. But at the end of the day, it's day one.
(13:40):
That's fair. That's fair. We had a whole session, like a whole layout when this
is going to go, but I think we are already in the nitty gritty of college athletics.
So let's just stay there.
Jordan, I have been following the news. Obviously, I'm across the world still.
It's weird, obviously, starting preseason and not being in Iowa and seeing everything happening.
(14:03):
And that's a lot going on.
And then I scroll through Twitter and I look at the news and so much is changing.
Can you go into some detail about what you're hearing on your end about all
of these new changes, not starting this year, but next year in college athletics
and your perspective on how that's going to affect women's college soccer.
(14:27):
Yeah, I'm trying to even remember what everything is. It's hard to knowing that this is my last season.
I think I keep up with it a little bit less because I'm... This doesn't affect
me at all. Yeah, pretty much.
It's like, okay, like, it'll be interesting to watch it happen.
But keeping up with it now, like, I'm trying to remember what all the rule changes were.
(14:48):
So obviously, we had the realignment, which we talked about that's affecting us this year.
Going into next year, you have, I mean, from a business standpoint of Michigan
State University, you got the revenue sharing, you have the roster caps,
which also affects scholarships.
So instead of having 14 full-ride scholarships now,
(15:20):
I believe everyone on a 28-person roster can receive scholarship,
either partial or full-ride, depending on how the university funds it.
And you can only have up to 28 people on your roster. That's the max cap.
I think some of this affects other sports like football who was either full
ride or nothing a little bit more with the roster cap because now they can receive
(15:41):
partial scholarships as well instead of just full ride or nothing.
Women's soccer has always been, you can receive a percentage,
so that doesn't really affect us as much. The roster cap will.
Right now, Michigan State has 32 players. Next year, we'll have to be at 28
in order to meet those standards.
I think with a lot of this too, you're getting NIL situations where it's still kind of a gray area.
(16:04):
I'm not sure all the details. I don't think anyone really does.
It just keeps changing more and more every year, every month even.
But I believe the university is now allowed to pay athletes directly.
So originally you were able to receive scholarship and then there was an Austin
scholarship that you can receive up to $6,000 a year, a little bit less,
(16:24):
but essentially $6,000 a year for each student athlete for being on the roster.
And your school can choose to opt into that or not. Luckily,
Michigan State for us does.
So we receive that money. But now in addition to that, your university can pay
you directly almost like a salary or I don't even think it's an NIL deal.
I think it's literally just salary basis.
They didn't just pay you to be on their team and pay you directly for that, which is very, very new.
(16:49):
I think you're already starting to see some of the effects, at least here in Michigan State.
I think we've had some budget cuts in some areas for sure with the idea that
they're going to take that money now and pay it directly to their athletes.
We used to have a director of ops. Now one of our coaches kind of handled that area now as she left.
You've had people in the weight room kind of leave and you're dispersing that
(17:12):
job throughout the rest of the workers now.
You're definitely starting to see some of those budget cuts.
And I think they'll happen more and more as players are trying to be competitive,
especially with football, or teams are trying to be competitive with football,
as they want to pay those athletes.
And then hopefully the idea is you start off, you pay the athletes,
you do well in your season, and then you gain back that money and go from there.
(17:37):
I think that's kind of the biggest extent that I'm going to see is some of those
budget cuts to helpfully pay those athletes.
The rest of it, though, doesn't really affect me.
And it won't, luckily, because I think it's going to be completely different.
And they're still coming out with more and more rules.
They're far from done figuring out what the 2025 season is going to look like.
(17:58):
So it'll be interesting to watch for sure.
But I believe that's where we're at right now I could be I could
be missing a whole legislation though no you are
spot on with what I am aware of going on and
it's something that I know Jay and I are going to continue to follow
and we hope that this season we have someone even more educated than us come
on and talk about all these changes because I think that this is something that
(18:20):
is just showing how college sports especially the impact of women's sports and
non-revenue women's sports has
evolved and And the impact is just kind of unknown in a lot of regards.
And I think that it's showing that college sports is turning way more business centric.
It's a lot more focused on the business than maybe we'd like to talk about or see in the past.
(18:43):
I've blatantly said it a lot of times, but I'll say it again.
I'm thankful I graduated when I did because all of this new stuff is getting crazy.
But yeah, we'll hopefully have someone a bit more educated than us come on and
we will We'll be following everything going on with that situation as we can.
Absolutely. The other thing that's like super unique that I wonder I'm interested
(19:05):
to watch is Michigan State is one of the only self-funded athletic programs.
So we don't receive any money from Michigan State University to fund our athletics.
We are self-funded in that aspect.
All of our scholarships, everything that we do as an athletic department comes
from donors, grants, and self-revenue throughout the season.
So I'll be interested to see if that's still possible with all these rule changes as well as like.
(19:31):
The revenue sharing aspect, how that's going to affect, Big Ten will be fine.
I think Power Four conferences will be fine. How that's going to trickle down
and affect some of those lower conferences, NAIA schools, D3,
things like that, who are getting a huge cut from the NCAA in terms of what
they're receiving to fund these programs and sports.
So a couple of years, it's going to look completely different than what me and Sam did.
(19:53):
You're lucky you got out last year. I'm lucky I'm getting out this year because
it's definitely not going to be the same soccer and the same setup we signed up for.
It's going to be way different. I know I'm definitely hearing and seeing on
social media and stuff that like coaches are going to be way more hesitant in
recruiting their 2026 class because they have to see,
(20:14):
you know, I know at one point in my IO career, I have no idea what roster number they're at now.
We were at 35. So you already have to get down from 35 to 28 and you have to
weigh in your 2025s coming in who aren't signing their NILs till November and
you have your recruiting going on.
So my sympathy is with all of these coaches also trying to balance these as
(20:36):
I'm sure they don't know all that information either.
And yeah, it's an interesting jungle, but also you have to get ready for the 2024 season.
And on top of that, in the big 10, we're going to add four more teams.
So Jay, I know we haven't really talked about this on the pod.
Can you talk a bit about your Michigan state schedule and what you've heard.
I know one of the biggest questions is how is Big Ten going to travel?
(20:58):
All of the different schools and adding for West Coast schools, all of this.
So what does that look like from your standpoint for your 2024 schedule?
Yeah. So we, I'm going to pull this up so I don't mess it up because things
have changed. But that's fine. I'd only bully you a little bit.
It would be embarrassing indeed. And it would be something I would do.
(21:21):
Absolutely. So our Michigan Michigan State's schedule is our first game is an
exhibition against DePaul.
It's the only exhibition we're having this year. Normally, we have two.
This year, we're only having one.
And then you go and you have our home opener August 15th against Notre Dame.
Those are both pretty normal.
We go through then our non-conference schedule.
(21:42):
And then our first conference game is at Maryland Thursday, September 12th.
After that, our main trips, we're doing a Oregon-Washington trip,
which is the new teams that were added, and then Ohio State-Penn State?
Okay. I don't know. I mean, yeah, Penn State's Sunday, and then Ohio State's Thursday.
(22:05):
That would be the only other big trip we would have this year.
The rest are pretty much home games or single away games where we would go and
come back pretty easily.
And I don't even know if they would make that a trip or if we would just come
back and then bust Ohio State, which is what I would assume they do.
But I don't know. I don't know about that. I will figure that out in September.
(22:26):
That's above my head right now.
But yeah, our big trip that we have is Oregon and Washington. We don't play UCLA.
I think we got, I don't know if we're unique in this way or if we just got lucky,
but it doesn't really change much for us in terms of our travel schedule.
Usually you have one big week-long trip at least.
Occasionally you'll have two but usually it's about one week-long
(22:49):
trip that you go that's how the ncaa or
big 10 likes to structure it and then
the rest are a mix of just home and away games depending on who you play and
you try to structure it in a way where you're balancing that between both you
and the other schools you're playing so there's an even amount of home and away
games through that i think the most interesting thing that i still don't have
(23:10):
answers on i don't know know if our coaching staff even does or if the Big Ten has decided,
is if there's going to be a conference champion this year. Next question. Okay.
I think there's going to be a conference champion, just less weight on it.
Whereas in previous years, probably your normal season conference champ had
(23:31):
a little bit more weight when you're talking NCAA rankings, just because it's
a balanced schedule. You're playing everyone.
It's a longer period of time to judge performance. performance now I think a
lot of that decision making a lot of that weight's going to be held on the tournament
because you have such an unbalanced schedule throughout the season there's so
many teams we're not playing this year where in previous years you only don't play,
(23:54):
two teams so yeah we now
we don't play several teams throughout the season so there's going to be a lot
more weight on that tournament I still don't know the structure of the tournament
how many games we're playing dude I don't I don't know we have meetings later
today where maybe Maybe they'll fill us in or I don't even know if our coaching
staff really knows at this point because things keep getting restructured and changed like.
(24:16):
Every day okay you heard it here first dropping on
the big life what is the big 10 soccer tournament gonna
look like this year because yeah it's i mean i'm sure you're adding four new
teams how are we gonna extend because originally it's only the top eight went
through there's a lot of questions and once again i'm happy to be watching from
across the world but it's gonna be really interesting to see it go down and
(24:39):
you know i'm sure jordan wanted to casually remind you that
she was the 2023 conference champion.
And one of the things... And 22.
Oh, 22, 23? Yeah. Remember what year it is before you start talking, sis.
I just... I know there's two of them, and they were back-to-back.
(25:01):
And on top of that, I know, obviously, this is season three,
I guess, of The Big Lies now, but all the way back in season one,
Jordan and I found ourselves playing back-to-back, And if I'm right,
I don't even think I will place Michigan State this year.
So it would have been so sad not to have that kind of mashup that we had last time.
So at least we got to make up for it. You know, they decided to get it back
(25:23):
to back and we're good for the next couple of years.
Honestly, honestly, we're solid up. You guys, I was in East Lansing too, too many times.
It's all right. I think I've only been to Iowa once. I went my freshman year
and I don't believe I've been there since.
Yeah I do feel like we often play in East Lansing it's
always a weird balance like of how that shakes out and
(25:46):
yeah now adding more teams it's gonna be it's gonna be even
more so it'll be interesting to see our commentary but
Jordan do we have a vibe on the Big Ten this year we're adding four new teams
you know there are some like prediction polls going out of how Big Ten soccer
is gonna look obviously the big thing is you know USC UCLA joining the Big Ten
how do we feel about you know the overall structure of the big 10 strength and schedule wise i mean,
(26:13):
i can't considering how little i know as
a senior going into this i can't imagine what it's like to be
a freshman in the big 10 right now and truly have no knowledge
of what's happening and no experience to back anything
up really i don't i
don't know honest obviously michigan state's gonna win it all like naturally
(26:34):
and then you're talking to through you know the rest of whatever makes you don't
even know how many make the tournament this year though i was gonna say tournament
makers but i don't even know how many there are this year,
But I think it'll be interesting to see how these new teams fit in.
I mean, there's four new teams.
I think UCLA is obviously the biggest one coming in that everyone's watching.
(26:58):
They always perform really, really well.
However, the performance they had in the NCAA tournament last year,
it'll be interesting to see how they come in starting this season in a new conference.
Guns a-blazin', I'm going to assume. Something to prove after getting out in
the first round of NCAA last year.
So I think that's the most interesting team I want to watch this year.
(27:20):
I think you have the obvious teams that always perform really well, Penn State.
I don't think there's been a huge amount of turnaround in a lot of these Big
Ten teams where you're looking at new coaching staff or whole new rosters like that.
I think it's kind of the same. I could be wrong here, but I believe it's kind
of the same Big Ten you have seen in previous years just with the addition of
(27:41):
these four new teams and to see how this all plays out and how they fit in.
I don't know who's playing who from other schools.
I don't know who's playing UCLA or who else is going to the Oregon-Washington
trip, but we'll see. I mean, honestly, I have no idea.
I barely know what's going on here at Michigan State, much less the rest of
the Big Ten at this moment.
So I don't know. I think I'm just excited to watch to see how this all plays
(28:04):
out because truly, I just want answers at this point.
Yeah, that's fair. I think my biggest question marks, it's going to be interesting
to see the impacted the class that graduated last year.
Of course, that's one of the classes I'm most familiar with being a part of it.
But I think you have a lot of incredible talent that has graduated and moved
on, you know, whether it's Emma Jaskinick from Wisconsin,
(28:26):
Eleanor Dale, who is the NCAA leading goal scorer from Nebraska,
plenty of names at Penn State, Pete Linehan, Kate Wiesner, Samantha Carey from
Iowa, you know, a lot of big names from the Big 10 have graduated.
So I think it's going to be really interesting to see that impact.
Celia Gaynor from Michigan State, you know, there's going to be an impact of
that class leaving, and it's going to be really exciting to see who fills some
(28:49):
of those shoes that I feel like were names that were known across the Big 10.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think you get that every year.
And it's always kind of a scramble to see where everyone falls in,
especially I think Penn State, now that you're mentioning it,
like probably had the biggest loss of that, that talent from that class,
biggest turnover from the players that graduated and went pro.
(29:11):
Throughout the rest of the season, we have plans to hopefully bring on,
you know, coaches and players from these four new schools and talk about how
the integration into the Big Ten is going and different perspectives from that standpoint.
And, you know, following this ever, ever fluid, ever changing role that is college soccer.
That being said, Jay, you know, we'd be ignorant if we're not talking about it's Olympic season.
(29:34):
I have the huge perk for the first time in my life to be watching the Olympics
in the same time zone as the Olympics are going on.
So all games are in prime time for me. Everything I get to see and eat dinner
at night and watch everything and at a normal time instead of like waking up
at 4am like I feel like we have in years past.
Jay, have you been watching any of the women's women's soccer coming from the Olympics?
(29:59):
I have not been keeping up as much as I have in previous years.
Yeah, I know. I've been slacking here. But honestly, I probably watch more gymnastics, to be honest.
Valid. I mean, as we're recording the women's team events going on.
So I have a pause that way.
It doesn't get spoiled with me. But I'm watching some mobiles as we speak.
(30:21):
I mean, three of my roommates are gymnasts. So I feel like naturally I have to. too.
But we have Canadians on our team.
I think that's the biggest conversation within it right now is that whole scandal
and how that's playing out and how it's going to play out with them.
And I have been keeping up with that quite a bit, but I think I've seen a lot
(30:42):
of clips and stuff on social media and I've watched bits and pieces of the games
here and there, but I haven't been able to sit down and fully watch a game yet this Olympic season.
So I promise I will, but
you probably have more insight than i do in terms of the performance
of our olympic team right now yeah you know there's so
many questions that this olympics have brought so far i think
(31:02):
you know one of the biggest ones you hit the nail on the head the canadian scandal for
those who maybe don't know i'm assuming if you listen to this podcast you
keep up with women's soccer enough to know what's going on in canada but the
new zealand national team reported a drone recording
their practices on two separate occasions at the
olympics it got investigated that it was Canada's drone
and so the coaching staff has been
(31:24):
removed from the Olympics as well as FIFA placed a negative
six point punishment on them basically meaning
for Canada to advance to the next round they have
to win all of their games and other you
know dream scenarios have to align that has happened so
far at this point obviously the tennis podcast airs hopefully
we're not out of date Canada upset France in a lot of ways and you know one
(31:48):
two to one which is getting them in position should still advance even though
this punishment has occurred and there's a lot of debate about whether this
is a just punishment and you know as players we really have no say what our
coaches do you know this on so many aspects so.
Is it fair to punish the players and potentially not have them advance in the
Olympics that they deserve to advance in because of something that they can't control?
(32:08):
And yeah, there's a lot of questions that this has brought on.
You know, what are your Canadian friends back in Michigan State saying to all of this?
I think they're just like heads down, like, you know, we're obviously giving
them a bit of crap for it because they're Canadians and like, come on, guys.
And they're They're like, we have literally nothing to do with this.
(32:29):
But I think the hope for them is that they deduct from, instead of six points,
they go down to three points and that they'll still make it through all this.
Because like you said, the players don't have the ability to really control
what the coaches do at all.
And it doesn't seem like they had any knowledge that this was going on,
considering they wore their shirts and stuff inside out for their next game,
(32:52):
not representing the Canada logo or anything like that.
So I think they're just hopeful that this will all work out still for them in
the end. And it'll be interesting to kind of watch and continue.
But what's your take on it? Do you think that the punishment is just or do you
think that it's a bit extreme?
You know, it's a really hard situation just knowing players and knowing that,
(33:14):
you know, it's not something that they had anything to do with. And so many regards.
I do think that there should be punishments against the Canadian Soccer Federation.
Then again i don't think it should be taken out on the players representing the
country and so i i agree that the negative six point
man feels harsh and it's casting an
unfortunate look on canada soccer that the
(33:34):
players don't deserve in so many regards that being said you know it's really
interesting being in sweden right now because a lot of the story is that this
taping has gone on well before the 2024 olympics and it's been happening years
throughout and in the The 2020-2021 Olympics,
Canada beat Sweden on penalty kicks in the final.
(33:55):
And so Sweden's like, well, was there something going on at ours?
We practiced PKs the day before the final.
You know, did they know where our shots were going to go? And so hearing a Swedish
person's perspective, they definitely feel like it's just because they feel
like, and obviously I'm not speaking for a ton of Swedish people.
I'm speaking for the Swedish people I talk to. you know it could
potentially feel like they got robbed of their olympic win years
(34:18):
ago so there's there's a lot to the story but it's
definitely something very i feel like women's soccer is normally
the conversation in a lot of regards in in terms of
the olympics and i feel like it has this time unfortunately yeah i wish it was
in a more positive light that we were the conversation or topic of but it's
it's just a hard situation for everyone involved like i have like you said I
(34:40):
have no idea what the right answer is or how far and how deep this goes and
how many people knew about it or condone this.
But well, it'll be interesting to see how it plays out. And if they do stick
with the six point penalty or deducted to three, I think that'll make a huge, huge difference in how.
How they perform and how this all turns out in the end. But how's our USA team
(35:00):
doing? What are your thoughts on that, our performance?
USA, to this point, has played two games. They have won 3-0 against Zambia and
4-1 against Germany going into the final game against Australia.
They are looking strong.
I know I saw a couple people a little worried that we only scored three against
Zambia considering they were down a man for a large portion of the game and
(35:23):
we didn't score once they were down a man.
I think the more crazy conversation out of our pool has been who might take
that second place, especially with the Zambia-Australia game,
which was absolutely nuts.
Zambia at one point winning the game 5-2 and the final score being 6-5 for Australia. yet.
(35:43):
So that game was just highlight after highlight and goal after goal shows,
you know, a lot of fight in Australian team to be able to come back like that.
So will they able to secure a spot in the next round?
A lot of questions are going to be had about that. But overall right now,
I mean, when you have an offensive line with Trinity Rodman,
Sophia Swift, and while mouse wants an operating on the cylinders,
(36:03):
I apparently can't talk either operating on the cylinders that they are.
I think Rose Lavelle during the last game stood out a lot to me just to like
extra gritty, extra tough, running all over.
You know, I was with people that know nothing about soccer and they're like,
dang, like they, she impressed her.
And so I think that there's a lot to say moving forward. And I'm excited about,
(36:23):
you know, potentially getting out of pool play and what's going to happen next.
Absolutely. You know, while I may not have watched full games,
I had been watching a whole lot of TikToks from the Olympic athletes.
And let me tell you, I love the Olympic Villa. It is so fun. Yeah.
So fun to sit there and watch these athletes that you watch perform and are
so serious in representing your country do like some of the cringiest,
(36:47):
like just silly things on social media.
And it's been so fun to really feel like you're a part of the journey.
And I think that's been the biggest difference between this Olympics and the
previous Olympics is I feel like I have a lot more of an insider knowledge of
how this is all working and going down because of the use of social media.
I think that's just been it's been so fun. Have you been getting the TikToks?
Oh, it's my entire For You page. I want to go to Olympian Village and switch pins so bad.
(37:11):
So yeah. I want Simone Biles or Snoop Dogg.
Yeah, where's Flava Flav and Snoop Dogg? There's a lot going on.
Once again, going back to my previous statement about how the world feels chaotic, that's why.
So anyway, I want Simone Biles pin. I don't remember personally voting for Snoop Dogg to be our mascot.
However, I'm not mad about it. It seems fitting in a lot of regards.
(37:33):
So I'm just going to take it and run with it. I'm glad we're all on the same page with that.
Exactly. the one thing the nation unites on
is snoop dogg as our mascot but all we
need exactly so we covered the college talk we covered olympics now come on
sam what have you been up to how has your summer been what is life in sweden
(37:54):
like for you now i saw you went on a pretty amazing vacation so it seemed so
give us all the details all the updates incredible vacation incredible little holiday day.
No, life has been good since we last talked. I am officially halfway through
my first pro season, which is insane and exciting and, you know,
so many different cylinders.
So yeah, we have played 13 games in the Don Mills Vonskin.
(38:16):
I don't know how it became that many that quickly. It just kind of,
I feel like I blink and it happened.
So yeah, 13 games in a Don Mills Vonskin play. We're on our holiday break,
basically being back in preseason right now.
So we got back, back to work last week after a little two day or two week holiday,
which was So it's very well needed to reset, you know, recoup and now get back into it.
(38:37):
And we'll play 14, 14 more games, I think 15, 15 more games before the season ends.
I know I'm great, too. At least I know when my games aren't who I'm playing.
So our first game back is officially on August 11th. So that's when we'll fully
kick back into gear of Domos Vonskin play.
We'll play through November 9th is our last game.
(38:58):
So, yeah, no, things are good here in so many regards. A lot of my summer was
playing through it and playing all these games.
You know, I think we ended the first part of the season on a four-game home stint.
So that was incredible just to, you know, be home again and not have to leave.
And during that stint, both my parents were able to come and visit.
And so I got some family time in Sweden, which was absolutely amazing.
(39:20):
And then during our little, you know, two-week holiday, Trey and I did honeymoon
part two, figured while we live in Europe, we might as well travel Europe.
So I went from Sweden to Zurich, hiked in the Swiss Alps, and then took a train
down to Italy, spent some time in Rome and Venice,
and then got on a seven-day cruise through Greece, stopping in Santorini, Athens,
(39:43):
Mykonos, and Olympia.
So, I mean, you really, really can't ask for a better vacation than that.
That was pretty much my entire bucket list checked off into two weeks.
Had an absolute blast doing all of that. And yeah, now refocused,
rejuvenated, ready to go back to work.
We had, you know, our fitness testing and so much going back last week.
(40:04):
Which is interesting. I feel like, you know, once again, like college preseason
is back. So I have to be in preseason at some extent.
And yeah, I'm kind of back at it. I've been fortunate enough to have the play
that I wanted to play in Sweden.
I've been fortunate enough to be doing a lot, like really well with it.
And so I've played 90 minutes at every Donbass-Wanderskian game, started all 13 of them.
(40:24):
Embarrassing positions depending on what formation we're playing
kind of switching in this hybrid left back left center back
role that i did for the last five years at iowa so nothing nothing
really new with that regard and yeah it's just a lot of really exciting things
going for further i've heard a lot about what a swedish summer would be and
it's everything i could have dreamed of and more so i think the high we got
(40:46):
we maybe got into the 80s on a handful of days most day Today is 77 and sunny and perfect weather.
I know I feel like when I go back to the US, I'm going to die of heat because I'm not used.
We've had family and friends come and visit us. Shout out to GSN's Maddie Sabatier
coming to Sweden, hanging out with me for a week.
(41:06):
And GSN got featured at some EFCO Nora shipping practices when they came hang
out and did some social media content there. So that was super fun.
And yeah, overall, it's just kind of good to be back at it.
It doesn't feel like much has changed over in my life, but moving forward and yeah,
it feels really weird not being in the Iowa jersey
(41:27):
not being in Iowa right now I still text
with the staff and the girls and I feel like I've still connected in a lot of
ways but it's definitely it's definitely odd so I think just kind of figuring
out what this life post-college is like and getting through pro season number
one is the biggest goal yeah absolutely I didn't okay Okay.
(41:49):
Not that I haven't embarrassed myself already this podcast.
So you are in summer now, because when you first got there, there was snow on the ground.
Yes, there was snow on the ground. So we just, spring, I would say didn't really exist.
We went from, there was snow in April, like six feet, like six inches of snow in April.
And then it was like, boom, summer. So summer, like it's the same as,
(42:12):
you know, the U.S. of Autoguards.
It was like a mild June and then a nice July and now going into August.
It'll start to get a little bit cooler. The days, I think, is what trip me up
the most. In the summer, the sun doesn't go down.
That's because in the winter, the sun doesn't really come up.
And so I think it would be like the sun rose at 3.30 in the morning and set at 11.45 at night.
(42:37):
So there's barely any time the sun was down. It was bright all the time.
Super crazy. I know there are parts of Sweden, especially northern Sweden,
where the sun doesn't go down and it's like two in the morning and it's bright, like it could be noon.
So that's super, that was weird to get used to in a lot of regards,
but the days are getting shorter again.
And, you know, there's actually like a sunset coming around a normal time right now. So.
(43:00):
All the goods. But yeah, life is good here in Sweden in the pro season.
So yeah, I'm looking forward to it and can't wait to keep competing.
Yeah, absolutely. So you're this second portion of it. It kind of follows the
same timeline as the college season. Yeah.
Yeah, exactly. So our season is basically like if this college season was like time to.
And so, yeah, we have our main or we have a half stint that goes from April
(43:23):
to July and then August to November.
Gotcha. And And did you sign a one-year contract with them?
I did sign a one-year contract. So technically my contract ends in November.
However, I believe at this point it'll be public news that I have officially
been offered a contract extension and I have signed.
(43:45):
So I will be in Sweden times year two back at EF Co-Nurshipping for next year.
And I'm really excited about it.
Oh my God, that's awesome. Congratulations.
Yeah. Yeah, no, it's been a long time coming. I got offered,
yeah, a contract extension and I'm excited to be back in Sweden.
I think for me personally, for me, for my career and a lot of regards,
(44:06):
I think it makes a lot of sense to stay where I'm at and keep growing and keep
getting, becoming a better player overall.
And I have a team and a club and a city that believes in me and it's exciting
to be able to know that I'm going to stay here.
I think for a long time, it's just like, you know, a six month period,
I was in Iowa and then I was back home and then I was bouncing around in so
many different places. So, you know, I bought a plant for my house today because
(44:28):
I'm like, I'm going to be here a year so I can buy a plant.
And just a lot of things like that. So it's really exciting to know I'm going
to be back in Sweden and I'm excited about it. Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome.
So what's the end goal for you now? Is it to come back to the U.S.
Or are you thinking about maybe becoming Swedish?
You know, that's a big question. I think right now it's through year one.
(44:51):
I know where year two is going to be. I think my goal right now is year one,
figure out what being a pro is like, get better. Year two...
We're going all out. Not that we haven't in year one, but that's,
that's, we're going both the walls there.
And then year three, we'll see what happens. I think that's,
you know, one of the biggest things about, you know, of course I have goals.
I have trajectories of where I see myself, but also football is so weird and
(45:15):
so many opportunities come up in so many different ways.
And also like we've kind of touched on, you also never know when that final
whistle is going to blow.
And so I don't want to catch myself looking too far and not,
and not living in the now. And so I'm excited about being able to live in the now right now.
Yeah, absolutely. I love that. It's part of the Swedish lifestyle. It's adapted to me.
We're a lot chiller in Sweden, apparently. So it's been, I've caught myself
(45:38):
slowing down a lot more here, which is amazing.
You know what? I think you probably needed it considering the chaos that was
ensuing your last couple of months there.
You could use some chill time, some downtime.
Yeah, a little bit. But Trey, happy to say Trey's happy to say Trey is,
you know, Sweden's number one rover.
I feel like in North shipping, we got a new dog in our house at all times to
(46:01):
keep our puppy loving since we can't really get one.
We got, oh, we've got dogs around. Our current one's name is Simba. He's adorable.
If you ever caught me laughing on this video streams, cause Trey was behind
the camera lifting up Simba like.
It happens a lot. So yeah, maybe we won't be George Figgins' number one rover after this.
And anyway, beyond that, I think we're both really excited about where the community
(46:21):
is, you know, Trey's involvement. And yeah, it's going to be really good.
That's awesome. I'm so happy to hear that. And breaking news here on the Big Life Podcast.
We're just dropping bombs all the time. Keep tuning in to figure out what the
heck the Big Ten's going to be and Sam's contract status.
Simple things. They might know before I do what the Big Ten will look like.
(46:44):
I have a strong feeling I will. I'm not even going to lie.
I feel like that's exactly what's going to happen. And I can't wait to hold it over your head.
I mean, just please, like, rip the bandit off and let me know.
Because I'm definitely not going to find out first at this rate.
Like, I have no idea what's going on.
But I almost like it better that way. I'm like, our next game is August 10th.
(47:06):
You know, tee-hee. I don't know.
Something's never changed. all right i am way up all of that being said we're
so happy to be back i'm so happy to have my weekly therapy talks with jay that
we just happen to record and other people listen to,
we're so excited for what this season can hold we have fun guests
in the making you know we even hear that maybe some people
(47:28):
from the current olympics may be on wink wink
notch notch it's the only hint i'll give about that we have
a brand new soccer league starting in the u.s in august
you know the usl super league we didn't even talk about that so excited
to start covering that seeing you know hopefully getting some
guests on from the super league get some inside look about what's
going on in the usl as well as always covering other pro soccer
(47:50):
other pro events and we got we got to get the roster of guests lined up for
this season so stay tuned guys as always i'm at sam carrey j is at jordan underscore
wickus find us out for questions contact girls soccer network all of the above
we can't wait to hear from you and soccer on Bye, guys.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.