Where the F@%# Have We Been? | UFL Podcast #110

A lot has happened since we've last been here. Dive in as The REF and Zach look at all of the UFL news that has popped off in their absence...

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Four months away, and now it's back to getting in
on football and the action of a new UFL. There's
a lot to discuss here, lots of stuff, a relaunch, Micropoli,
you name it, we got to talk about it. It's
episode one ten of the UFO podcast. It starts right now.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Lawn till three.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Welcome back everybody to the UFL Podcast. Zach Kyleman here
once again as always, Yes, I mean I could say
as always. It's been a minute. Here's the fun over there.
Look at him. He's he's having the time of his
life right now. He's doing everything and anything he wants.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
It's been a while, Zaggy boy, you know, I figured
we're gonna come back and do a show. We got
to come back with the style, bring back the fape. Hey,
I'm drinking a shiner.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
He wanted. He wants everybody and anyone to know we're
still alive, We're still kicking, and we're still having a
good time. But uh, let's just cut to the chase here,
as the episode title definitely says, and I believe this
is now about thirty seconds in. I'll give it a
few more seconds because YouTube has stupid rules on when
you can you know, say the thing if you will. So,

(01:31):
uh yeah, that's that's good. Where the fuck have you been? Man?
And I think that's a lot of people that we've seen,
like you know, we have around the UFL has been
going on, but we haven't really been on those episodes
much until recently. We haven't done episodes since June twenty seventh,
according to YouTube and our podcast. And that was the
talk af one that really wasn't even to talk to

(01:52):
the league season. We just talked about the h the
Arena Crown and how great that game turned out to me,
by the way, a close win for the Firebirds over
the Cats and a thrower.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
But yeah, there's there's been a lot going on and
I'll just I'll cut, I'll cut right over to you
with this. A lot of ups and downs and now
we have been feeling about this whole thing, and uh
now it's just it's just time, just time to talk
because this is uh now, all the stuff's out in
the open. There's not all the things we were asking
questions about over the summer. I think it's finally been

(02:24):
answered and now we can just put it all out
in the air finally. Oh yeah, Well.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
I'll tell you this, Zachy boy, it's been it's been
a long journey back to the show. I didn't even
talk about this before we we we jumped on. I've
been so you saw me. The last time you saw
me was the last glimpse.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
Of healthy ref there was until like last week. I
have been sick.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
Remember I told you my boss said his wife got pneumonia,
and I was like, your wife got pneumonia, and I'm
and to get sick from you, and I was. My
whole plan was I'm just going to stand in the sun.
And I did and I didn't burn.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
I didn't I didn't tan at all.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
I still don't understand how my knees are still tanned
from the opening weekend of the UFL. But I'm still
pasty as ever. And man, I got home and it
was like Monday. I remember I had my my weekly
call with my team at work, and about halfway through
I could feel it and I was like, oh, here
it comes.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
And I still have a cough.

Speaker 3 (03:29):
It's it's mostly gone now, I might Jesus cost a
little bit.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
I have been so sick. I powered through.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
I had no choice but to power through though, because
I have work and so you know, work is just
insane always. Uh, yesterday, especially yesterday, we did was it yesterday?

Speaker 1 (03:48):
We did a to you? We did a to you
sometime this week, so that was days two days ago,
because that's where I met two days ago. But it's
also because you're I'm just gonna throw it out there again.
I mentioned this before we jumped on here. I think
you've been the busiest you've ever been work wise this year.
Like I know, we've talked, you go your your job
for any intensive purpose. It's a very one season feels

(04:11):
like I don't see you. The next it's like, hey,
we get to chat a lot this year. It feels like, hey,
you are you alive at all? Like I say, I
still know you are, and I'm glad I've caught up
with you in person during the time we've been away
from the show. But like you you, this is definitely
the busiest I've ever seen you in a professional work
setting outside of this show. So yeah, it sucks. It sucks.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
I'll tell you this for anybody who's young out there,
do not grow up or get rich.

Speaker 1 (04:41):
Just get rich. That's what I should have done a
long time ago, Zach. I should have I should have
just got rich. Instead, I'm working. Pay off that house,
pay off a car. Oh, I'm telling you, Zach, I
get it like. I'm so close. So I have about
three years and three.

Speaker 3 (04:58):
Months before I I think. I think I can make
this crazy thing happen. Part of it, so I'll talk
about it. We won't talk about all the nitty gritty,
but I have you know me, I have so many sides,
and each side has a hustle. I am on the
DVDVCR game right now. I have been flipping DVDVCR machines,

(05:19):
VHS tapes, video games.

Speaker 1 (05:23):
I am getting it all. Hey, you got a garage sale.
I am gonna scoop up all your goodies for cheap.

Speaker 3 (05:29):
While I was talking about tech, I don't know if
the guys can see it at home, but over here
it's still in the wrapping. I have a PlayStation three
three D display. I got it for twenty flipping dollars.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
Every time you say that price to me, you have
to be the luckiest man alive with two pairs of
glasses too. If you are a video game collector in
any bit and you follow our channel, you know that
the three D TVs, especially that one. It ain't worth
a salt or worth a damn without the glasses. You
can't do anything without the glasses. With those, you know,

(06:03):
twenty bucks, that's three hundred dollars TV right there by
the way, and for twenty bucks. This man's been this
man's this man is even called Mackamore. He's been the
thrift shop king. Hell yeah. Now, one thing we have
to try when you're out here next time, Zach, is
we need to find I will be out here. We're

(06:23):
going to talk about that too. We're do don't you
don't We're going island. Don't you worry You're not dropping
all of it. I just I just I'm being cheeky.
Yeah yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:32):
So the uh one thing we need to try though,
when you're out here next time is we need to
find one of the two player compatible games that utilizes
the three D technology, because you can play instead of
having split screen, will each have a full screen.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
The glasses basically block off one view and the other view.

Speaker 3 (06:51):
To me, well, I know Grand Turismo does it, but
I'll find some of the other games that do it.
To me, I just have to try that, and nobody
else I know is willing to care enough to come
and sit in my in my office and play three
PlayStation three games with a three D display. But I
know you will, Zachi Boy, and I'm so excited. And

(07:14):
you know what, Actually, by the time the next UFL
season comes around, I think, I think that little Virtual
Boy attachment for the switch to is going to be
out and I have to get that.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
I already have the Virtual Boy in the case, but
I'm always so scared to use it.

Speaker 3 (07:31):
It's brittle, it's scary. It's just it's in a case.
And if it's in the case, it's in perfect condition.
And so my unless I had like a case, I
could put it in like you know when they have
you know how, like Jake Paul when he puts.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
His charz Ard on display, he has that bulletproof case.

Speaker 3 (07:50):
That's what I want if I would ever display my
virtual Boy something that even if somebody bumped into it,
it would stay steady. Hence I don't have that, and
so it sits in its case. Now, the switch version,
I will put that all day, all day and night.
That breaks, I don't.

Speaker 1 (08:06):
Care, yeah, because it's just some It's just a piece
of plastic that I put my switch to.

Speaker 3 (08:11):
It but I want it because I like gimmicks and
dumb things like that and I'm old. So hopefully I'll
have that by the time you're here next time, and
we can really we'll take a trip down memory lane
of three D.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
Oh my gosh. Yes, No, motor Storm three D is
the one I hope you have because that was like,
that was like the big ticket PS three game. It
felt like with the three D. I think Uncharted also
had it for one of them. I think Uncharted too
had it, so maybe that's another option, you know, But
that's more I guess to watch it. It's not really
co op, but you know what I'm saying, Yeah, yeah,

(08:43):
good picks. But yeah, I mean obviously I was obviously
we'll already going to Houston anyway, but you know, things
have changed with the league. If we're talking football, and uh,
let's just go over all the stuff. That is all
we can say. So first off, rest in peace to
my my Michigan Panthers for now, for now supposedly look

(09:05):
words words to me are cheap at this point, But
I do hope that execution does play out apparently in
twenty twenty eight is what's rumored. But you know, rest
in peace for now. So this has to go to
the sideline, along with Memphis and as well as San Antonio,
which threw a lot of people off guard. We we'll
talk about those teams going because we've got lots of us.

(09:26):
We won't. Both of us need to talk this out.
And then you got a whole plethora of things just
going on in the span of this past week. Three
new teams, two rebrands, multiple different venue changes or new venues.
I mean, there's this is a new UFL. This is
not last year's UFL. This is the Micropoli UFL or

(09:48):
as I'm dubbing it two point zero or three point oh,
if you want to be technical. We're in a brand
new league with a reskin like that is as honest
to god truth as you can get. Mike is the
face and the rest are really just the financiers at
this point. He's the guy leading the charge right now.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
Well, I'm still shocked, Zach. I've the Houston flipping gamblers.
Of all the things that were on my list of
things that were going to happen this year, that wasn't it.
We all kind of knew there were changes coming. We
had a good idea of what teams may or may
not be moving.

Speaker 1 (10:23):
But we had that little twist, that little twist right at.

Speaker 3 (10:27):
The end, our Houston Gamblers are going all in, which
makes perfect sense.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
Zackie Boy, twelve and oho. This is why, this is
why we.

Speaker 3 (10:37):
Haven't met our destiny yet, because we've been waiting for
this exact moment. CJ leading the charge twelve and oh
under the Houston Gambler's name in a brand new beautiful stadium,
well not brand new, but brand new to them Shell
Energy Stadium, which since twenty twenty was always the stadium

(11:01):
I said, I wish, I wish the Roughnecks played there.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
Now. TDECU is nice, don't get me wrong.

Speaker 3 (11:08):
I am going to miss that little VIP room for
the club seats. I don't know if we're gonna have
something like that at Shell Energy Stadium, so I am
gonna miss little indoor.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
Seating and extra little barbecue and things like that.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
But I am also very excited about Shell Energy because
they have Shade Zach. They you know, the soccer team
they have to play there in the summer and it's
in Houston, so they already had to account for it.
Where's TDCU generally it's used in the fall, So if
you get a little bit sun, that's not necessarily a
bad thing in the summer, in the you know spring,

(11:46):
if you will, it depends on the day.

Speaker 1 (11:49):
Whereas I think Shell Energy is gonna provide a.

Speaker 3 (11:53):
Nice little atmosphere for all of us Houstonians to go
and enjoy. Now, the thing I ask of anybody that
is a Rough Necks fan, don't do not give up
on the team because they're the gamblers, because you're gonna
miss out.

Speaker 1 (12:08):
I'm going all in, Well, we're already see this is
part of this whole discussion now, is we're back to
what was two years ago or two seasons ago. I
guess where we had which brand states and now they
made the switch. And I think that's its own conversation itself,
is we already have I think many of the of
our friends that are in your season ticket holder base

(12:31):
that you know, they are die hard Roughnecks brand. They
want to keep that. But this is where I'm curious
if they'll if they would even bend the knee to
go back because one of my problems, because one of
my issues I've had in my personally, I don't care
for the new logo because they have to me the
best version of that logo that they had stored away
and already own. Uh there's a few people that disagree

(12:53):
with me on that. That's cool your opinion, But they
have what is a fantastic logo design already and they
invest in a new one. So that plays into one.
You spent money with a design team to make this,
so you have to be okay with throwing away dollars
that you had to then go and switch back the

(13:14):
other thing. And I think this is really the bigger conversation,
and I think it ties back to why they did this,
uh everything and anything that they could have done wrong
to burn the bridge on the Roughnecks brand they did
two years ago in the merger and since the merger,
uh you know, not keeping Wade Phillips, keeping c J. Johnson,
and I know, I know we talked CJ. And we

(13:36):
talk all the big stuff. But you you've seen the results,
no playoff berths since Johnson's taken over for the Roughnecks
in what has been the continuation quote unquote you know
too and a very mediocre twenty twenty four season that's
had as you remember, and we say this to this day,
people in the crowd going where's Wade? That was the

(13:57):
immediate Oaks. The immediate shit moment was, you know, people going,
this isn't the same team. And so I think a
lot of that ties back the company running this team,
aka older management, management that's not running the business side. Now,
they made all the mistakes possible along the way to
burn that bridge. Now you can continue this brand at Shell.

(14:20):
But as we're gonna keep talking, this is being tabbed.
Is almost like we're trying to show this is a
new league. We're trying to appease to people. This is
brand new, We're not the same UFL. This is new management.
And I think one of the easiest ways to say
that is, well, we have it's a new Houston team.
This is this is new in brand. You know, in
both we're not the USFL. We're not the XFL or

(14:43):
the UFL brand. And I think that's why they did it.
They didn't want to be associated with either one. And
they're picking the legacy name, which Mike even said in
his own press conferences that it's a iconic brand in
the gamblers and that's what's doing.

Speaker 2 (14:57):
Now.

Speaker 1 (14:57):
Will this work? There's already like petition site out there.
I'm not sure, but.

Speaker 3 (15:02):
Get those petitions out of here. These guys don't know
what they're talking about. Houston Gamblers is a superior brand
to the Roughnecks in every way, even the new logo. Now,
I'll say this old logo is much better, much much better.
And I even said this on around the UFL. I
don't know if I could really articulate the morning that

(15:24):
these this news came out, because I first saw it
on my phone. It popped up and mentioning all the
teams that's oh, it's finally here. And I saw Houston
Gamblers and my body just filled with the I don't
even know how to explain it, happiness, excitement, just I
don't know it.

Speaker 1 (15:45):
This is the most amazing feeling I've ever had. And
I immediately went online and I said, aha, eat s
F you you know, just talking all.

Speaker 3 (15:53):
Sorts of smack in the discord linked down below, by
the way, And you know, while I'm talking my track,
I finally pull up the press release and I see
the logo and it was.

Speaker 1 (16:03):
Like getting punched in the gut as hard as you could, like,
oh god.

Speaker 3 (16:08):
They have all of that excitement and happiness and something like,
oh god, what is this? Now, after a little bit
of time to settle, I'll still say this. It's still
the best logo in the UFL. It just could be
much much better. Here's what I don't like about it.

Speaker 1 (16:26):
Let me just start there.

Speaker 3 (16:27):
So I work in digital marketing, right, so when I
think about logos, I think about Okay, logos have to
be presented in many different ways. Big for like your
scoreboards on your field and your print design things like that.

Speaker 1 (16:42):
But they also need to be very tiny for things like.

Speaker 3 (16:45):
Your scoreboards and like your digital scoreboards online and things
like that. And when you have that silhouette of Texas
just very daintily on the outside of the logo, when
you crunch that down very small, it's gonna be hard
toll that it's even there, if you could.

Speaker 1 (17:01):
Tell at all.

Speaker 3 (17:02):
Sure, Whereas the original Gambler's logo it was the best
of both worlds. You're using the empty space within the
g to give you the silhouette of Texas.

Speaker 1 (17:13):
You're knocking out two, nay three birds with one stone.

Speaker 3 (17:18):
Because you also have that beautiful star. What is that
beautiful star signifying? Well, it signifies the beautiful birthplace of
the Houston freaking Swan and that's Houston, Texas, and I
mean and knocks it out of the park, whereas now
you just have a G with a star in it
with Texas kind of around it, And I mean, come.

Speaker 1 (17:37):
On now, guys, that's that's actually why I'm so upset
with with it. And I know, like some people like,
what do you It's just a design. You'll get over it. Yeah,
you know, maybe I'll probably time softens everything, Okay, Like
that's fair. I'm gonna be okay with it. However, the
whole point and again, I look at this old one
like this, This is a graphic designer's dream right here.

(18:00):
How do I make a clever logo or a clever
icon that identifies with what I'm trying to say? First off, gamblers,
it's a G. Second off, what's inside the G the
state of Texas. What is on the end of the
inner part of the G down where the Gulf coast
would be the goddamn gold star? That's Houston. It's perfect.

(18:23):
It is a graphic designer's perfect dream. It's an eighties
s looking one. They did retool a little bit, but
why mess with perfection and The only thing I can
come up with is they don't want to be associated
with the USFL because this is a new league, no divisions,
no XFL, USFL branding, no conferences, new league, our own message.

(18:45):
And that's what I finally came to after sitting a day.
Why they did this. It's absolutely why they did this
because they don't want to be associated unless it's a
brand that they feel like they can trust, like Birmingham DC,
Saint Louis, you know, everyone else is getting rebent. Are
Dallas going back to the Dallas Rennagade's look, But they're
going completely back to what worked in the XFL, you know,

(19:06):
the full cowboy logo, you know, Dallas being the Metro
not Arlington, which could be a deal related thing or not,
who knows, But that's they're clearly distancing themselves to make
it their own message. That's Mike's doing one hundred percent
with this, which that being said, one way or another,
that's what I'm rocking with. Sos as on Atu I said,

(19:28):
I am. I am a Gamblers fan. However, here's my
caveat Stefan. I will not be rocking the new gear
because I love that logo so much my outfit, my fit.
This fit is retired, sadly, I'll maybe bring it out
for shows. But I'm a Gambers fan moving forward till
the Panthers return. I'm already scouting out and shopping what

(19:51):
will probably be I will look like an eighties Gambers
fan by the time one of these episodes starts coming
up later this year. I'm talking like I'm talking like
Letterman style jacket, snapback hat with the old school g logo,
a shirt with something like that that either's from recently
or the eighties. I mean, I'm going full old school

(20:13):
Gamblers because I love that brand. I love that old brand.
But you know where you can get some great retro
Gamblers gear, Well, we have a link down below in
our description over Royal Retros.

Speaker 3 (20:26):
Royal Retros use code USFL podcast because hey, if.

Speaker 1 (20:31):
You're going Royal retro, then you gotta go retro with us, baby.

Speaker 3 (20:35):
But I'll tell you you know what I got my
eye on over at Royal Retros is that jacket. They
got that satin gambler's jacket. And I've been having my
finger hover over the by button for a year, and
I think now that the comeback is official, I think
it's about time. And you know what, I wouldn't be
mad if you and I were rocking them. We'll be like,

(20:56):
what was the grouping Grease? The girls with the pink jackets,
that'll be the pink Satins.

Speaker 1 (21:01):
Pink? Is that what they were? I don't even know, No,
there was, there was definitely different name. I haven't watched
Grease in forever, but it was Are you thinking the pink?
Are you? No, You're you're thinking mean girls? No? No,
no pink.

Speaker 3 (21:15):
Yeah, well I've never watched mean Girls, but I know
what you're talking about. Hold on, let me see Grease.
This is what people tune in for.

Speaker 1 (21:22):
Yeah, clearly, Uh, well you're at it. You can keep
finding this. But I have not had luck finding the
jackets on Royal retros. I've actually seen him on eBay.
I don't know if he sells them anymore, the pink ladies.

Speaker 3 (21:34):
Yeah, okay, well yeah, eBay is where it's at. Which
I'm mad because there was a deal on eBay not
too long ago and I didn't do it, and then
the price went up.

Speaker 1 (21:43):
And yeah, because I've I've been looking through it and
those things. Back when it was USFL he was selling
those like crazy the players and fans, but there's still
some reasonable ones I can find, Like some of his
stuff's online, Like I think I found two XL for
like forty bucks. I'm definitely gonna pick that up. One

(22:04):
that's gotten me and I just while I'm talking the
merch because again, I'm going full old school. That's my
favorite logo. If I'm going to be a Gambers fan,
I'm sticking with the USFL branded stuff just it's my
personal preference. But like one of his hats is on
there and someone's trying to pawn it off as a
vintage like it's the eighties one sixty five dollars for

(22:25):
red built snapback that clearly says the five zero three
sports logo inside it. I'm like, I'm like half tempted
dis message this guy, going, dude, this is not an
eighties hat, Like some of these eighties hats are ridiculous
or hilarious. Like you got like an elastic band Gamber's
hat that is a with Miller Lte logos on the
side from like nineteen eighty four. I've debated pulling the

(22:47):
trigger on that. I'm gonna have a fit, but I
am a Gamblers fan. Moving forward. If the law has
to die, I'm gonna stick with one side of the
law if I have to do it.

Speaker 3 (22:58):
Isn't it crazy Ref's law. This is a mysterious thing, man.
I mean, we went so long. We finally it finally
got knocked down for one game this season, and it
came back with a vengeance.

Speaker 1 (23:11):
So oh yeah, oh you're gonna beat me. You're gonna
beat Ref's law. No more team And you know what, it.

Speaker 3 (23:21):
Flipped a coin, not that it even picked my side,
because it is Ref's law.

Speaker 1 (23:25):
It flipped a coin and it you know what, it
just so happened to land on tails. Why tails for you?
Because you got a cat team. Yeah yeah, I'm sad though.

Speaker 3 (23:37):
I was the number one Panthers fan and now there's
no more Panthers around. There's no more Ref's Law. But
you know what that means, No more's Ref's law. Ref's
law is dead. It's gone. That's another reason we haven't
gone twelve and oh we've always had the forces. CJ's
been out there, not only fighting the team on the field,

(23:59):
but eating.

Speaker 1 (24:00):
The forces of rest law. Now poof gone.

Speaker 3 (24:04):
In an instant, we are playoff ready, Nay, playoff winning
team champion, hoisting team.

Speaker 1 (24:13):
Law. It has a whole new thing. Now we've unlocked
the old all in double down. We're back to the
old school love interest, and now I'm part of it.
We're getting glad they brought back all in. If they
would have changed all in, I would have no, it's
all in. It's it's perfect. We're going all in. We're

(24:36):
doubling down. That's what we're doing. And hey, you and
I I gotta start matching your matching the level of
phantom you have because uh, you know, now's the time
there's no opposing forces anymore. This is this is here
only as as a memory. Right now, I have all
the memories I have to unfortunately move on to better things.
And this is what it would have wanted for now

(24:57):
until it comes back. If it comes back, it's a
natal clause. I pull that o'clock. I gotta bounce the
other side. That's how it goes. You know.

Speaker 3 (25:03):
Remember remember when people were mad the atu is was
like a Panthers podcast.

Speaker 1 (25:09):
Boy boy, they're gonna miss those days now. Yeah, well,
now it's Columbus in Houston. Mostly it's some DC twist
if you will, fun times and you know It's funny
that's only one of the announcements for teams. You know,
we mentioned Dallas, so which I mean, give or take,
the logo was the good change. I'm glad that they're

(25:31):
fully embracing what most people prefer in the that iconic
like XFL twenty twenty renegade logo. It was the better one.
It was more received and well messaged. Brand. Uh. The
switch to Dallas, I feel I feel that's multi stage,
like almost like because new management and I feel like
we're not having a title a knit connection with Arlington anymore.

(25:54):
That they're just they wanted the Stocker Stadium so bad
that they're like, we'll switch the name, you know, because
I mean Toyota Toyota Stadium is not a bad place. Again,
It's an MLS quality stadium. It's pretty solid. The layout's
pretty nice too. It looks like if you look at photos,
it's just it's it's in Frisco. It's North Texas, so
a little different area of the city, but still it's

(26:14):
it's that huge metro. You're still gonna get people out there. Yeah,
I mean that's all I got to say for it.
I had no problem with the change. It it's just
it's more of a technicality and a little bit of
a brand switch. So I like it because I mean,
Choctaw was just a mess.

Speaker 3 (26:32):
It's an as sitting in it. It's you know, it
had problems, And now I think the move's nice. I
really like the move to soccer stadiums. I think that's
a really nice fit. It always worked great for DC. Like,
even if you get ten thousand people in there, it
looks like a hell of a crowd. And now I
think about like Roughnecks in twenty twenty when we were pulling,

(26:53):
you know, when we were five and oh and pulling
like twenty three thousand people.

Speaker 1 (26:56):
That will be a sellout at Shell Energy. Yeah, right, Like,
so there is there to me, there is a.

Speaker 3 (27:03):
Huge benefit to moving to these smaller stadiums for everybody
that says, you know that talks about all the crowds
look empty on TV, Well, this will help that. Right
now when we look at the yeah, now, when we
look at the two other new teams, Zach, I'm curious,
do you have a preference?

Speaker 1 (27:21):
Is it? Oh? Go on, well three it's three three.
Oh that's right. Yeah, Hey, unless you're trying to exclude
one I mean, look, i'd exclude Columbus just out of
the reference of the being Michigan alone. But so like
I I think I see the messaging. I agree with
you can pay just two new teams and uh that team,
that the Ohio team, as we'll put it out there,

(27:44):
which you know what I'll if I'm going to be spiteful.
You know, I know we could do the Houston Dallas thing.
I know I'm not really in Texas. I'm picking I'm
in Arizona. But uh no, I'm gonna let my my
my spite on the Michigan Ohio bit go and I'm
that Ohio. That Ohio team out there is existing. But
let's look at the three new brands. So I think

(28:06):
there's been some all over the place things. You got
the Columbus Aviators, you have the Louisville Kings, and the
Orlando Storms. So the three relocations of teams, three new brands.
And from what James Larson has discussed and what we've
been hearing and talking about, is that, yeah, these these
coaching staffs and the signings, they're just going to relocate them.

(28:27):
And basically those teams will start out that way and
then we'll have a new allocation process moving forward on
how talent's evaled and then picked and choosed on where
to go as seasons begin. So, my honest thing, if
I'm not talking like my inner Michigan fan here, the
Aviers branding's my favorite. I really like it. I think

(28:51):
they're designed for The logo's great. I think the color
scheme's pretty solid. The aviator's name ties back to history
alone of the Wright brothers yesterday in Ohio, but Ohio
in general, Columbus being that case out there too. I
like it a lot, you know. Beyond that, I'm okay
with both the Kings and the Storm. The Kings one,

(29:12):
it's hard for me to look past it as another
Stallion's logo with a crown on it. I know what
they're trying to do, but I just can't get over that.
Plus the green seems very clashing for Louisville color scheme.
I don't know. I'm so used to seeing red with
the Cardinals out there with the college team, but what
do I know? The storm to me or just the
Frankfurt Galaxy but reskinned, or I've seen the Tampa Bay

(29:34):
Storm but reskinned. It's all right? What I do got
to get props for and then I'll let I have
your I want your two cents. And I love this.
We had worried on the uh look relocation episode of
ATU that would they have the balls to not go
to Camping World and do that because it's the easy money,

(29:55):
you know, would they actually commit to the soccer stadium
out there and pulled the trigger?

Speaker 2 (30:01):
And they did?

Speaker 1 (30:02):
And you know what, that's actually where I will that's
the main like kudos to like, you know, I'm the
guy where it's less words, more action on Mike's part.
That's the one that actually got me clapping because I
thought they were going to do the easy way out
and just be like, you know what, we have an
owner that loves Orlando, and not only Mike, we're talking
Danny Garcia. You know, we could easily go right back

(30:24):
and do this. We have this deal in our hands,
as we always keep hearing these XFL deals that are
in these hands. And they took the harder path. They
made a new deal that's got that takes some guts
to have to say, you know what, screw going with
the with the monetary choice. We have to chick pick
the better fan choice. So that's where I leave it at.
You know. Well, and technically they did that in Houston

(30:46):
as well, right because like Shell Energy one thing I
love about it, and we saw this when we went
to the went to the uh the Cougar Stadium where
the Roughnecks we're playing last year for that first game
I went to with you. Uh. But it's right next
to downtown. It's a really good location for that, you know,
some decent you know, decent entertainment and food choices that

(31:08):
they built around that, you know, being a more downtown
central and like professional venue right there. It's a good location.
Like it didn't feel out of the way, is what
I'm trying to say. Like like Houston Stadium, it does
not feel like it's direct. It's kind of in downtown,
but it's not really. It's off to the side. This
Energy's Candy Corner to where Old Minute made parks at

(31:30):
or what they call it now. You know.

Speaker 3 (31:32):
Yeah, yeah, it was right there. We went to go
we went to the baseball game. It was like it's
basically right next doors, maybe a couple blocks away.

Speaker 1 (31:40):
I like location. It's a good spot. So but again
that's I gotta give credit matching the wards with the action. Again,
they could have chosen the easy route with the Orlando
and that was the perfect litmus test. They chose Enter
and Co. And yes, they're gonna be the third tenant
intern Co. But it's the necessary step. It's the better stadium,
it's the one that makes more sense. On what Micropoli
keeps talking about, right, kudos to him, because they could

(32:02):
have They could have not done that, and I would
have been sitting here going wow, shocker. But no, I'm
actually shocked. And mate, it's got my attention a little
more now.

Speaker 3 (32:10):
Yeah, I'll say this, so I agree with you that
of the three uh. And as much as I hate
to say this, but Columbus has the best branding. Uh
when it comes to I don't know, Luke was given
this hard.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
Time Low Louisville, Louisville.

Speaker 2 (32:28):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (32:28):
I gotta I gotta be from that part of the
world and I'm not. I could barely say my name, right,
So I know you're saying like some you're saying in
the meme city, Loulville, Loulville. So anyway over, well that's
what they are. Because they're not my team, they are Lowlville.
Thank you. Zach, I'm gonna use that going forward elevent
with in your back pocket. Sometimes I have good good names.

(32:50):
I'm not the only You're not the only one that
gets the good nicknames on this show. I like it.
I like it. So the logo, you know, I think
it was Jake that put online.

Speaker 3 (32:59):
You know, he went into at GPT and asked them
to mix DraftKings with what other logo? Oh, the Mavericks, Mavericks.
I mean, it was pretty damn close. My I think
my bigger grief is not the right word. Confusion is
maybe not the right word. It just seems strange to
have when you have eight teams in a league to

(33:19):
have two of them have horse logos. Yeah, just crazy.
That's that's an over over too many horses. I don't know,
I can't even think of the right word to what
I'm trying to say.

Speaker 1 (33:32):
There now, yeah, there you go. Yeah, Now the green.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
Here's my argument for that. Because you said you didn't
like the green, here's my argument for that. If my
two things. One for horses, they're running on that green
little grass, Loulllsville's got a lot of that right And two,
I look at the Louisville team Loulville as Ripoli's vanity team,

(33:59):
similar to how the Brahmas were the Rocks vanity team.
You got the horse in there, you got the crown
on his head because hey, Rapolis the king, he's the
one that's saving this.

Speaker 1 (34:09):
Look, thought of boom, I need to get.

Speaker 3 (34:12):
Better with my Rioli accent, because right now he's just
like old school Italian plumber Gino.

Speaker 1 (34:19):
Give me the pizza, bring me out, ufo. Anyway, Look,
you gotta get you gotta get that New Yorker down.
You know what I'm saying. I'll get that walking here.
I'm making the decisions here. Okay.

Speaker 3 (34:32):
So so to me, the green could also be for money,
right because he's got a lot of these throws throwing
some bank around.

Speaker 1 (34:40):
It is a gambler sport. The guy, as you said,
Mike is and this is definitely what that vibe is
is he's a horse race guy. He is his his
freaking account is Ripoli's stable. It is half about horse
racing business is where he's posting this from. So like, yeah,
I'll also I'll be devil. I'll a little not Devil's advocate,

(35:01):
but I'll try and justify this more on my thoughts
on the green. It just it makes it a bit
more unique color palette. You know, it's more visually appealing
if you're looking at the list, like the old list
of like the UFL teams, it was like similar to
like a lot of complaints where the USFL ones were
look at all these blues and reds and black and
you know a little bit yellow, but no like alternative stuff.

(35:23):
And I think, like if we're talking like the human
like choice and like pick of we're talking opinion or
color palettes. Maybe that's where this comes from too, where
it's like, well, maybe we get some more interested. Maybe
they're just a color guy. Maybe they're so casual they
like the color. But there are people that do this too,
where it's like green, I'll pick the green team. I

(35:43):
like the green team. That sounds like that sounds like
a parent talking, but like that's totally something someone would
say is realistic.

Speaker 3 (35:51):
So maybe you're an Eagles stand and you're picking a team.
There's no team in Philly. You know what, maybe you
picked the green team alone.

Speaker 1 (35:57):
What did give me a laugh is uh, I don't
remember the league this is in, but there's a team
in Lexington that's a soccer team, and they also Lexington
SC in the us L and no no Ships the Vine.
It's a green horse logo, and I like credit, like

(36:17):
I love the city rival because already got people that
are like Louisville FC fans are like, shut up because
louis Is won like the last three games against Lexington
f C or SC. But it's funny. They're like, hmmm,
cop imitation is a serious form of lattery or something
like that on Twitter like green and everything. But yeah,
you know, that was one definitely feels more like a

(36:38):
Vanny one, the storm one. I'm okay, but like, you know,
you know what's that.

Speaker 3 (36:47):
I don't have brief with it. Here's my big The
only thing I have grief with I get major Dundon vibes.

Speaker 1 (36:54):
Oh dad, well yeah that I'm like, oh, no, reck On,
I football Hurricanes have nightmares. I gotta grab my holy
water and cleanse this show. You are, You're gonna have
people in comments, but don't bring that man's name up.

(37:14):
Don't bring that evil on this league.

Speaker 3 (37:17):
I saw it and I was like, oh, that was
That's how like PTSD I am about spring football.

Speaker 1 (37:24):
Any little remembrance of like the past of like the graveyard,
but because it shows you how generic this logo is. Though,
Like we have three different comps that come to mind
right away. Two of them are already like all three
of them are football related one of them, and funny enough,
all three are spring football related as well. But like
we can go the Hurricanes in the NHL, like what
that looks like too. So it's just it's funny, Like

(37:46):
I think that's like it's not like no, no design
is like you should end the world over this type
of thing where it's like I need to like bang
down the league office over it unless it's offensive. But
like it's just that's a very generic one. It's it's
pretty safe, but it's something you can get behind enough.
You know, orange has been around in the area. That's

(38:07):
what I think of, like with the Apollos the purples,
just to kind of differentiate because there's no real purple
in any of these in the leagues last two years.
You know, it goes back to the color palette thing.
You know, we we clicked that color palette box as well. Yeah,
so I like it, So I do like it.

Speaker 3 (38:23):
Of the three, is probably my second favorite. The Kings
probably get the third.

Speaker 1 (38:26):
Just I'm not a green guy either. I'm not a
horse guy. I mean I mean FTP as well, for
God's sake, Like just if you want to talk green too,
like I can keep going, you know. But uh yeah,
got those new markets, new revamped brands as well. I
did see someone say that they touched up the Battlehawk's logo,

(38:49):
like they removed a wing and shortened the sword, which heard, yeah,
one feather is gone. I haven't. I haven't dived in
that much to tell, but.

Speaker 3 (38:57):
What it is weird because every time they've rea ranted
the logos, the Battlehawk's logo has gotten.

Speaker 1 (39:02):
Tweaked each time. He always tweets that doesn't need to
be tweaked. All it's fine. I don't know what the
problem with the sword was. It's like, well it's it's
what is it too tall? Was the logo too tall?
Was the issue? Who knows that? Who knows? That's funny,
But I loved it because this is the type of like,
this is the type of fandom stuff that only something

(39:24):
like this would notice. Where it's like they touched the sword,
the sword length it's not the same anymore, like wait
wait what yeah, oh yeah that is different. Thanks for
pointing that out. I'm gonna remember that now, right for
a few weeks. Yeah, yeah, I know.

Speaker 3 (39:41):
It's funny because I'll see the old twenty twenty version
of the logo like something seems off.

Speaker 1 (39:46):
I'm like, oh, that's it's the old version. But you
can't tell really like what you can't It's hard.

Speaker 3 (39:51):
To pinpoint like even the difference between the twenty twenty
and what the twenty twenty three.

Speaker 1 (39:56):
That's where I'll know if I found my people is
if I if I show up, like for some reason,
we go back again next year to Saint Louis barring
the championship location, and we show up and I have
my old like rock the Dome shirt from twenty twenty,
and they're like, well, yeah, there's the old logo. You
see there. There's not as many feathers and the swords
like a third of the two thirds, like one third
the lasta size, Like, oh, this is my people, these

(40:19):
are my people, Damn straight. I know where the tail
get lots at, although we already know, but like we
definitely know that yep, yep.

Speaker 3 (40:28):
So one other thing that came out, so it looks
like kickoff. We got at least a kick a date
for kickoff. There's a lot of people hoping it was
gonna get moved up this year, and I think technically
it no, this is about the same. It's pretty much
the same as last year. Yeah, March March twenty seventh.
But it does confirm we still have Friday night games.
The league's kicking off on a Friday. We were talking

(40:51):
about before the show, Zach. It looks like for the
following year, twenty twenty seven, it looks like they're gonna
be aiming to bring that start date back even earlier,
which I think is gonna make a lot of people happy.

Speaker 1 (41:05):
I've heard both sides.

Speaker 3 (41:06):
Of the argument, though, so I already know there's gonna
be a segment that's like, what are they doing?

Speaker 1 (41:11):
Why are they don't you know you need time between
the two boh blah.

Speaker 3 (41:16):
Somebody's gonna have something to say. As long as they're playing,
you know what, I'm flipping happy. I will say this
as a person that has to go to the games mine,
I mean I don't have to, but as a person
that goes to the games, I would be fine with
an earlier start date because those games get hot in
the summer.

Speaker 1 (41:36):
I will say, well, the super Bowls a little bit later.

Speaker 3 (41:39):
Now, since the last time that they did it right
after the Super Bowl, So we might be able to
avoid even the really cold weather in Houston anyway, because
I wrote in twenty twenty three, right, that's the year
the XFL came back that first game in Houston.

Speaker 1 (41:54):
Who it was cold. It was like freezing, and you'd
be surprised it does get cold in Houston. So if
they move it up behind, I'm even fine. I'd rather
I honestly don't even mind a cold game.

Speaker 3 (42:08):
You'd throw on a couple I don't know if you have,
if you've seen the pictures, but I got like a
hoodie on, a sweater under that, my jersey.

Speaker 1 (42:16):
And a rough shirt on. I just layered up, man,
I was Gucci, and you know, you have a couple
of beers. Whatever weather over here.

Speaker 3 (42:26):
Yeah, of all people, I know, Oh it was yeah,
I don't want to it was horrible, don't get me wrong.

Speaker 1 (42:32):
But I layered up. I layered in, like I said,
A couple of beers. Later it was okay. Yeah, But
it was only that first week after that that it
was like perfect weather.

Speaker 3 (42:40):
Twenty twenty was like we had perfect weather for those
few weeks that we had. But anyway, I'm looking forward
to a Friday kickoff. I'm looking forward to May May,
Like why do I keep saying May too many?

Speaker 1 (42:54):
May? Anyway, March twenty seven kickoff? What else? Is there
anything else? What else is going on with this time?
I mean there's been I'll be honest with you, it's
mostly stuff like you hear at press conferences. If there's
one thing we've learned about Mike since he's gotten on
and I the more you dig in man speaks his mind,

(43:16):
there's gonna be a lot of more I think a
lot more quotes that are gonna be very maybe not
maybe not out of context, but more like, I think
there's gonna be more word grabby quotes from from Mike
than I think any other any other ufl like personality
in the last two years. That's gonna be very off
the chest type of stuff is really the deal. So like,

(43:39):
for example, like twenty twenty seven, with the earlier start date,
they you wouldn't have heard that from like business like
people running the business or previously they would have talked
about like, well we might look into it, you know,
Mike saying straight up, oh, we're gonna definitely move it
up next year. Like that's that's a different vibe. So
like you're seeing stuff like that from him. I think

(43:59):
the biggest piece that came out today as we're talking,
and I think something that people have hung on to
is the uh, he's been doing press conferences for the
new teams. So he did Orlando first, then went and
did Louisville earlier this week yesterday it was, and then
today he did Columbus and stopped in our James actually
was in Columbus and ran into mic and got a

(44:21):
photo with him and talked with him there. And we've
seen quotes from other people and personalities on asking him questions.
One thing that did come out during this I think
someone asked this question but they wanted to know about
like the development angle of the league, like how is
how he views players or like the the years or
either or came off the cuff with it, but he

(44:43):
basically said out loud, I want players that I gotta
find this specific well, but basically there's a lot of
talk now on how he views veterans in terms of
like guys that are beyond like three years in the league.
Here it is I don't know that's not it. I'll
find it. We're talking. But right now the big thing

(45:05):
is about how long do you think a player should
play in this league? Is the question? You know, should
we treat it like the CFL where we have stars
in the UFL, or do we go the pure developmental route.
And this is where Mike stands, where we get these
guys in the league if they're not in the NFL soon,

(45:26):
we then start looking for the new next cream of
the crop and we start cycling out vets when we can.
Like that's the debate right now online. It's interesting because
I'm not fully on the developmental to just get new,
let go old as quick as possible. But I see
the point is what he's trying to say, because they

(45:48):
have to compete with, you know, the NFL in some
ways for talents, CFL with talents College football is different
nowadays with nil I mean, where are you on this man?
Because like I like, look in his own like I'll
put this scenario out here. In this scenario, least president
playing next year and he just signed on this would

(46:10):
be his seventh season in spring football between all the leagues,
and if you're counting XFL in with UFL years. This
would be his fourth year of football under like UFLS management,
which would kind of be in that threshold in his
eyes of we need to move on from this freaking
guy and get someone else, and where I think a
lot of Spring fans go, Yeah, but this guy's like

(46:32):
really good and is like a marketable guy because he
plays really well and is like a Spring football example
of like someone making a career out of it. It's
kind of a hard spot. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (46:43):
So my take is, you know, I'm a guy that
has a team and I support a team, and I
want my team to win.

Speaker 1 (46:51):
I want the best players.

Speaker 3 (46:52):
I don't care if they're right out of high school,
and I don't care if they're going into the retirement home.
If they can throw football football, run with the football,
not drop a football, get a touchdown, kick a football,
whatever you want to do with the football other than
give up points.

Speaker 1 (47:07):
I want them on my team. And I think the
example you used is really good, right, Luis Perez. I
mean he's been around. That's kind of like his stick.

Speaker 3 (47:16):
He is the king of Spring, and you kind of
need people like that in your league to get people
to come back. Right, So, if you're gonna have a
new roster every three years. You know, you're leaving I
always like the term free money, but you are. You're
leaving free money on the table because there's guys that
inevitably are going to be Spring football guys, just like
there's guys that are NFL guys and guys that become

(47:38):
arena football guys. And because of that, you have a
little bit of stability. You have star name recognition for
people that are gonna come back. I mean, I look
at PJ Walker, right, If the XFL never went away
and PJ Walker stayed in the XFL and then the UFL,
I think they'd be crazy for trying to get you know, oh,
well he's been in the league to well, he's throwing

(48:01):
dimes and doing this and that. And there's other guys
that have been around other than Luis Perez, they've been
around for a couple of years too.

Speaker 1 (48:08):
That like, okay, three years, three years is only three
years and the talent.

Speaker 3 (48:14):
Yeah, there's a lot of guys trying to get into
the league. But if the guy that's been around for three,
four or five years still competes and wins the battle,
then put him in the game.

Speaker 1 (48:24):
Yeah, as a coach, I would want that too, right,
I mean I would, I would want My take has
always been I want to very if you're going to
advertise to people that are football fans like you. Yes,
one of the core missions coaches have said is the
development side. But I want winners and I want entertaining football,

(48:44):
you know. And I feel like he keeps on of
these veterans, got veteran guys on that they get used
to their systems and all that. The argument for me
has always been less turnover means you have guys that
are more that are more antiquated to what they're doing
with their coaching stabs and what they want to do
with their playbook to where it gets better year over
year is my whole thought. And then you bring in

(49:05):
the new players. They get in with the vets, it's
easier to kind of catch them up, and then you
can also learn from those guys because they've been in
the NFL scene too, So it gets a double whammy.
You know, you're never going to truly get rid of
veterans in this space. But I do find interesting that
the comments so far for Mike seem to be we
need to focus more so on the development and get

(49:27):
moving on from these life. I guess not to put
in his words be in my words lifer type of players,
which I don't fully agree with, because like I see
the CFL, which I'm gonna be honest with you, like
the CFL looks at these leagues like the UFL is
like in a way competition. It's not the exact time
of years of the CFL, but it's talent competition. You're

(49:50):
competing for talent if you're looking like International, and you know,
they embrace those players like they are veteran star CFL
guys that they make a career out of it. And
you would think if the league gets more and more
and more in depth and stuck around, you know, the
union we're hoping if leave, it's still around, you know

(50:11):
it's it's gonna want to keep things where salary's gonn
to keep up. Development's gonna want to be there where
you're gonna have guys that are coming back. Because here's
the truth too. You can talk all you want about
development and getting signings into the NFL and not, but
you're not getting everyone in. We've seen this already. We
know what's gonna happen. You're gonna get fifty to seventy

(50:32):
ish guys this season that will go to the NFL.
They'll get a camp tryout, and they'll get those opportunities
for trying camp there, most of them are gonna get
released that You're gonna get a very select few that
make rosters, and even from that, a very selector few
that will make an impact on the field. You know.
Not everyone's a Cavante Turpin or a Brandon Aubrey or

(50:54):
a Jake Bates, you know, or Redmond as well, throw
him in as well, because he's been killing it too
at defensive tack. You know, you're not gonna get those guys.
So those guys are gonna cycle back. And I don't
know if that's the best message to be saying, well,
you know, like a guy like Donald Payne, no, we
need to move on from him. We need to just
you know, fans connect with him, but we just we

(51:17):
just need to get a guy like that out because
we need to focus on development first and foremost. And
I'm like, you can do both. I just like, here's
another example. And I don't mean to take too much
spot like air from you, but this drives me. That's
because here's my take on this. I already see this
play out in another league. I follow that I care about.
The IFL does a very similar thing with how they

(51:40):
treat veterans. You can only have and and this is
last I checked. They I don't believe they've ever expanded
this beyond you can only have seven players on an
IFL roster that are veteran status, and that includes either
you've played in the NFL you have had three years
IFL play, so that's the other qualifier. So think about this.

(52:04):
You play three years in the IFL, you know you're
a guy that can't you get those opportunities. You've had
the tryouts in other leagues. It just hasn't stuck. But
maybe you're close. You know, it's like you just need
a little bit more, or you know, maybe scouts don't
think that way and you still want to play football.
The ifl's message in that is, well, we need new talent,
and sure you do need new talent, but they go,

(52:24):
we need new talent to the point where we need
you to leave, like you need to just we unfortunately
we don't have space for you. You need to get out.
And that's that to me, has always rubbed me the
wrong way, because there are good life for players that
do want to keep playing that make the sport fun. So, like,
while I understand getting new guys in is important, let's

(52:46):
not discount like guys that are legitimately good and that
maybe could make this where you can market yourself a
little bit, which is another problem they haven't done in
the last two years as the UFL combined. So just
that's my pitch, Like, hey, if you have guys you
think are stars, don't find a reason to throw them

(53:07):
to the curb because of development and trying to force
this development thing to be all of it. You know,
let's focus on winning and like also getting new you
can do both. But yeah, good players should stay if
they're wanting to have their coaches have them around. That's
my message, So just keep that in mind. That's where
I'm at today with that whole topic.

Speaker 3 (53:27):
I guess yep, yep, yep, Yeah, I know I'm with
you there, but you know what time will tell. I mean,
at the end of the day, you just want people
that are wanting to play football for you pretty much,
so you don't really want to be pushing people out
the door.

Speaker 1 (53:40):
Either. So we'll see how this all plays out.

Speaker 3 (53:42):
There's still plenty of time to go before the season,
hopefully many more seasons. Anything else on the docket, or
do we clear it out? Look at this we're gone
for like eight years and we come back. We knock
it out in less than an hour.

Speaker 1 (53:56):
Yeah, I mean that's that's pretty much the most of it.
I mean, you have the shop. It's going to come
back out here in about a month or well, actually
not a month. Well it says new shop coming in
thirty one days on the website, so I take that back.
But new shop coming. I mean, I think it's just
to finish this off. Look, you and I. I'll put

(54:16):
it this way to kind of add on to the
theme of you know, where have you been? You know,
we weren't sure what the hell was going to happen,
and you know, I still have questions. I still am
not I'm not where I was like a few years ago,
where I'm very high on the optimism and the dopamine
rush of you know, we're here and everything's going up,

(54:39):
and I see the business plan I see and I
see changes, I see tough love choices being made, and
I think there's a person in there that's brash enough
to make calls. I just need to keep seeing that.
And I'm also very and I maybe you're the same
way as me, but last few months has been very
standoffish and like where is this going? You know, like

(55:01):
what what is the move? Where is the future with
this league right now? And I think now that we
have some clarity, we can kind of like contextualize. All right.
Maybe I still want to, keep, of course, following. I
think the concept's great, but I also have to put
myself back a step and go, okay, just keep showing
me with things you're doing, because I've I've gotten over

(55:24):
being told and fed the pipe dream of words and
you know, pressers on things. I've flipped it for any
football and analyst analysis I do anymore. It's it's action
over words. We're talk is cheap. Doing things shows what
you're doing and the movement you want to do, So
show me actions. I don't care as much about the

(55:44):
pressers unless like it's concrete, definitive things being said, no
more floating up idea ball or ideas in the air
type of stuff. And that's that's where I'm at. I'll
keep following this, but like I, uh, I think I've
I think it just changed how I view the football fandom.
My head with spring football now, you know, I just
know where it's at with this stuff. I think they

(56:05):
both did.

Speaker 3 (56:06):
It's funny, right when we came into this, we were
like fresh eyed, even though when we first started this
we had already been into into the scene for a
couple of years. But there were some of the older
guys from when we you know, XFL came back, us
po kebeca. They all said, I wouldn't put in much
hope in these leagues, and they were also pessimistic about it.
And I get it, I get it a little bit right,

(56:28):
But here we are, we're still playing football, right, and
I don't think any there was a lot of people
that didn't believe. Granted whatever one name, two names, four names,
twenty names, it's more or less the same thing. Still
playing new ownership group. But you know what, like you said, Zach,
they're they're doing things.

Speaker 1 (56:47):
They're there that we're seeing the action happen. Now, is
it going to make a huge difference, Well, we'll see.

Speaker 3 (56:54):
I really hope that they'd stand by their word of
hitting the ground and actually doing marketing in the cities,
because to me, that's going to be one of the
major pieces that ensures that people are going to come
to these games. You can't depend on advertisements on TV, Zach.
You know how they know this, Zach, because they did it.
They put ads on TV during the NFL, during the

(57:15):
super Bowl, during the playoffs, during a NASCAR, during golf,
during Racehorse, during everything you could possibly think of, and
it maybe made a dent, but it didn't make a
big one. So you know what, I think when we
saw in twenty twenty when they were on the ground everywhere,
a lot people were at those games.

Speaker 1 (57:37):
So I want to see it. I hope to see it.

Speaker 3 (57:39):
I think you kind of need to do it, especially
in these new markets. You do need to do it
in Houston. We saw last year in Houston.

Speaker 1 (57:45):
You know what, I can't leave this episode with saying
one thing. I feel validated Micropoli. This is the last
thing I'll tell him, and this is my next Okay,
let's see you do this in like action over words.
This man is onmultiple times in our accounts saying we
fumbled the ball on the local marketing end and I
went hello, like every account and I have said, I

(58:12):
said this on my Twitter account that I posted this
with the uh someone going and someone I knew this
was gonna happen when Birmingham announced they're going to Protective
Stadium again, there's more pressure than ever to sell tickets
or guys, we have to we as fans need to
get out here. And I instantly said, hey, for the

(58:32):
last freaking time, it's not the business has to sell
you to go buy these tickets. Even Micropoli, now the
man leading the freaking business ops of the League, has
said they screwed this up the last two years. If
that doesn't tell you enough that you need to start
critiquing the League on how they operate their business. I

(58:55):
don't know what to say anymore. And I even put
this as quote, and I would do this. I institutionalize
myself if I have to go through another year of
fans being okay with businesses running their business like garbage.
So that is my next crusade. Is okay, this man's
on record now saying we screwed up local marketing and

(59:16):
grassroots efforts. Great, I hope you actually do what needs
to be done. I know this is a weird thing
to put at the end to be angry about but
I wasn't going to leave this episode without it because
I have been sitting here for three years now. May
three were more, honestly, of people going grassroots marketing. That's

(59:37):
clutching pearls. No, it's not. That's sports business. One oh one,
you idiots. And I don't even mean to be this.
I don't even mean to sound like it's like, why
are you so angry about this? Because all of you
act like we can just sit on social media and
just everyone's just gonna buy tickets without being in my stage.

(59:58):
NFL teams do this stuff. The fact that the UFL
didn't do it for two years and everyone was okay
with it is crazy. It's crazy, and this is coming
from us talking to ticketing people that we know in
the business as well, talking to freaking ticket season ticket
holders that also get pissed when their teams don't do

(01:00:18):
things in their city. Stop telling me that it's okay
to do nothing in a city and act like people
should just come out and support something blind. That's not
how business works. You guys can't just force people and
tell people that it's your fault that the business didn't
do its job. This is the last time I want

(01:00:39):
to hear about this because now it's on record. They
didn't do their job. They said it, they said the
quiet part out loud. There's no more argument for this.
The business fucked up. That's the simple part of this. Guys.
I hope to never hear from this again about this
because it's their fault. They have to convince you to tickets,

(01:01:01):
not you. You have to be convinced to buy the tickets.
That's how sports works. And the fact that there's people
that even I know that cover the sport and say
I don't understand. Why is it the business's responsibility. It
is the business's responsibility. You're supposed to advertise to get
people to buy your product. What the hell are you

(01:01:21):
talking about? But this is spring.

Speaker 3 (01:01:25):
People are just gonna show up. Don't you know that
people have been dying for the Houston.

Speaker 1 (01:01:30):
If I just put thing here, if I just build
a store, just a random store, that's it. That's all
I had to do. I hope you come in. I
hope word of mouth is the only thing that drives customers. No,
I would have an advertising strategy. Are you kidding me?
Are you crazy? I am so done with people saying
that having nothing in market is okay, that's completely that's

(01:01:55):
that's bullshit. That is the most bullshit thing I have
heard in my life. Gambler Zachau. Gambler Zach is fun. Yeah,
I'm here, bler fired up. This is this is post,
this is post Sunshine, Rainbow spring football. Zach. You are
you have you have what is this nihilism? I don't
even know what to call it anymore? Like you? You
have realist Zach, Zach that has spent several years talking

(01:02:20):
and learning from people in this side of the business, luckily,
and from people like Stefan who gets me people connections
I can talk with, so I can learn things about
how these things run. And the truth is, I'm glad
that I'm finally validated for the first time since twenty
twenty two that duh, you have to do that stuff.

(01:02:42):
You gotta do the nitty gritty. You can't be lazy
in that department. Thank you, Micropoli. If there's one thing
I'm giving a thumbs up for, you validated the one
thing that I felt like I was screaming into the
void about and I went, oh wow, there is no void.
That actually was a problem. Everyone just wanted to act dumb. Yeah,
so there's that. Feel free to tell me the comments.

(01:03:02):
I'm wrong, but I'm sorry. The business manager of the
league says they screwed this up. So how is that wrong?
Is the final thing I have to say. I rest
my case. I hope this is the last time I
talk about this. I really do. It's the one thing
I hope he acts on the most. I really do.
Me too, me too, especially because I want to go

(01:03:23):
to some fan engagement events and I want to go
get you. I want that. I want my friends in
Birmingham who I feel like this vindicates for them for
how much they screwed that up. And again, I'll stand
on them all day. They screw that up the last
two years so bad. And a lot of that ties
back to what Mike's talking about too. So this isn't
just a league thing too. This is me also defending

(01:03:43):
Birmingham again because they were direct targets of this stuff. Championships, yes,
you still got to do all this business stuff. Guys.
Winning games only does so much. But winning game no, no,
that's not how this works. You know, Even if you
want me to tie this in, the University of Alabama
doesn't just hit around on their hands and expect you
to come and buy tickets, even though they're an establishment.

(01:04:04):
You know, you look at the South. The Atlanta Falcons
don't just sit around on their hands, guys. The Tennessee
Titans don't sit around their hands. Businesses are always operating.
Do not act like you have an off season because
it's not true. Yeah, that's it. That's it.

Speaker 3 (01:04:20):
No, And I do hope they do keep more people
in the off season next year because those things help.
Having ticket people that can answer phones during the off
season is a good thing.

Speaker 1 (01:04:31):
Yes, I'm saying you have people not only that. This
isn't like you're just going out there, Oh well, we
just want Stanley other No, no, no, no, no. Think
about the opportunities you go to events. You got tickets
that you can have people buy right there. It's so
much easier to sell someone in the moment like that
when you can be in front of them. There's the

(01:04:53):
art of having a personal salesman and someone that can
sell you that or concept instead of being online. It's
a completely different experience. It's a different skill for those
in those sales departments. I'm you need that stuff. I
I this is the last time you need things like this.

(01:05:15):
All sports businesses that are run professionally, whether it's minor
league baseball, minor league hockey, professional hockey, football, basketball, you
name it, they all run their stuff with a local
presence in mind. It's ridiculous that anyone says that that's
not the case, because that's simply not true. That's the norm.
This is the Norman sports business. So I'm glad. I'm glad.

(01:05:37):
I'm glad. So many of us that have been sitting
here are vindicated for this. Thank you, Mike, you finally
said the loud part out loud. There's the quiet weart appreciator.
Thank you. It's gonna be a good ownership. I can
feel it already for a week seven and Tom he
pulls off a mask and to dun the Rocks back crowd.

(01:06:04):
This is the storyline I craped. Yeah anyway, anyway, Well,
it's it's good to be back. It's good to be bad.
It's nice. I feel juiced up. Hopefully by next episode
I will have some of my new fit again. I
hate retiring this, but unfortunately, until we maybe see this return,

(01:06:26):
retirement is now necessary for my Panthers gears. So I'm
gonna read the future, Zacht just somehow.

Speaker 3 (01:06:34):
This is how it's gonna happen when the Panthers do
make a return. You see, this is the thing you
gotta worry about. It's not going to be your Panthers.

Speaker 1 (01:06:43):
Right because unless they move.

Speaker 3 (01:06:46):
Now, I'm just waiting for them to relocate Houston. So
you're just getting ready. And so when when Michigan's ready,
they move Houston to Michigan, and then I could be
the number one Panthers fan again with you by my side.

Speaker 1 (01:06:59):
So this this is the start of a beautiful fan experience.
It's nice for we're both in this somewhere boat. Now
we both can cheer for the same thing. You know.

Speaker 3 (01:07:07):
It's nice CJ leading the charge ANDJ. If they got
rid of CJ, I will go nuts. We'll find out
to go nuts.

Speaker 1 (01:07:15):
No soon. I talked to him the other day. He said,
I'm good. Huh, Well no he did. I didn't actually
talk to me. Hey, I don't know you knowing you
that might also have been serious. I say things on
this show and then people are like, oh my god,
he talked to him. He's good now. Two days later,
I don't know, but we kept CJ Oh my god,
what are you serious? I don't know. Yeah, yep, yep ye. Anyway,

(01:07:39):
pushing the pushing the chips in the table, all in,
We're going all in, dude.

Speaker 3 (01:07:43):
It's gonna be so good this season. We gotta get
They better have Houston week one.

Speaker 1 (01:07:47):
They're just better. They're just better. I mean, best team
in the league right there. You gotta have him at
home first week.

Speaker 3 (01:07:54):
Because I'll be pissed if it's they play their first
game week two because they'll be on a cruise. That
would be really chat my cheeks, Zachy boy if I
don't see the first game there.

Speaker 1 (01:08:04):
But anyway, uh, I think that's it. I need to
you know, I have been eating today. What is it
with you? And coming on like recent episodes or recent
things we do on this channel saying well, I just
don't eat. Do you just not well, I don't eat.
It's that I have no time.

Speaker 3 (01:08:21):
I've I've been like the other day when we did
a tou I started my work day at six in
the morning with meetings and had meetings until like three
in the afternoon, and then I work and then I
I always say.

Speaker 1 (01:08:32):
This because I know your place. You can't walk down
the hallway and microwave a dinner and come back and
sit down at your desk. Oh, it's locked you know.

Speaker 3 (01:08:42):
I'm locked in, dude, And oh my god, I've been
dealing with just not problems, but things that use a
lot of brain energy. Like I've been doing a lot
of conditional logic to where if you do this thing,
this thing happens, but multiply at times like twenty to
where if you do this.

Speaker 1 (01:08:59):
These things happen. But if you do that, these things happen.

Speaker 3 (01:09:02):
But if you do this, part of this happens. A
part of that that when you're in the zone, you
just stay in the zone. Because this, like I'll get
a message on teams and it throws me all off
of what I'm doing, let alone of me getting up
and going to the kitchen.

Speaker 1 (01:09:19):
I can't do it. But we're getting there. We're getting there.
I got some leftover pizza in the fridge. I just
gotta get to it and eat it. Oh I'm gonna
oh something I'm gonna put out here in this episode.
So maybe, uh, if for some reason this happens again,
we can have everyone clown on me. I still gotta
ship your earbuds. Yeah, back to Texas. We'll get there.

(01:09:39):
I don't use them a whole lot, so I'm not
I haven't. I haven't missed them that much.

Speaker 3 (01:09:43):
And actually I got a backup pair of like crappier ones,
so even if I did need them, but one day
and worst case, just bring them out here when you
come out here.

Speaker 1 (01:09:50):
Now. No, I ideally we'll get this done tomorrow. Who knows, though,
I'm hoping. I'm for some reason mailing things for me.
I'm like the worst person at mail. I don't know why.
It's just I get do with it. So me too.

Speaker 3 (01:10:03):
This is why the only reason I can do eBay
selling is because my wife ships out my packages. If
she didn't ship these packages out, I would have the
worst feedback on eBay, because yeah, I would.

Speaker 1 (01:10:14):
Be like, oh, I got a mail. I can't remember
I had to mail something to somebody.

Speaker 3 (01:10:18):
Once I remember, it took me like a year. There
is something I had to mail to somebody. I can't
remember what it was. But I'm the worst with that
crap too, So I get it.

Speaker 1 (01:10:27):
I get it. Good time there, yep yep. Yeah, Well
so you want to close this out? Yeah, final things
right here? Hey, if you're tuning in. It's a new
day in the UFL. It's a new version of the UFL,
and we're still along for the ride. It looks like
even now, more so now that we both have a
team that we're gonna be allianced with in the Houston Gamblers,

(01:10:51):
I want to follow along with this. Check us out
at UFL podcast. Hopefully should be a little more active
now now that we're kinda we know what's going on,
we know the direction we see, and now we can
kind of get back to talking a more regular basis
and things like that UFO podcast on your favorite social platform,
Facebook against YouTube. Obviously subscribe there. Click the bell builds

(01:11:12):
morale not only for you, but for us to always
click that bell man and if you are tuning in
for future episodes, you're gonna be reminded every single time.
That'll help us. Also, by the way, if you haven't
done this by now, and honestly, given that we're broadcasting
these more and more around the UFL, go check out
the guys over there, James Larson and Crewe obviously hanging

(01:11:34):
out Ducky and Company. It's good. We're sometimes show up
sometimes we don't just really depend on schedule anymore for us. Otherwise,
you can definitely get us on this show, which hopefully
will be a little more regular moving forward now that
we're kind of getting the swing of things again. And yeah,
that's about it. That's really all I got at us.
Code USBO podcast on World retros dot com. Save ten

(01:11:55):
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(01:12:17):
sports league. So definitely check those guys out. And yeah,
it's about out it. I'm Zach, he's the ref. Catch
it for episode one one one soon enough, have a
go on everyone,