Sam's Army

Sam and EG are joined by MLS vets Tim Parker and Spencer Richey to chat about their time in Vancouver (aka "Canadian Amsterdam" -- if only in Sam's mind), where they were drafted together and won silverware, and all roads apparently lead to Pierre's. Tim discusses his move back east to Red Bulls, which somehow began with an epic birthday/goodbye cake and ended with him being forced into an SUV by (armed?) dudes in T...

Sam and recurring guest Matt Turner lure Kelyn Rowe onto the program to discuss his time at UCLA (lordy!), why a quick job interview in France/Germany led him to hate Canada, the highs and lows of his initial relationship with New England, sleeping around (*professionally*) last year, and a shockingly civil reconciliation for 2020. While giving him the old what-for, we also discuss Matt's obsession with Game of Thrones, Kelyn&#...

Sam and EG sit down with CJ Sapong to discuss his James Madison experience and the uncertainty/ecstasy of draft day; winning both ROY and MLS Cup with SKC, highs and lows of Philly, and shouldering the load during a tough season for the Fire. Amidst the soccer talk we dig into the first thing CJ is gonna do when we finally kill The Rona, his search for Xanadu and first pick for starting a new franchise, googling the meaning of life...

Sam and EG sit down with good friend of the pod Dax McCarty who joins in a slightly different capacity as we take a deep dive into the career of a living legend. (Call it a mini-roast if you must.) We start by discussing his Florida Man roots, rebellious HS years, IMG experience and tenure at North Carolina. Next we wind through his MLS journey beginning with wild child years in Dallas, a pit stop in DC, his incredible RBNY era, hi...

Sam and EG sit down for a no-holds-barred discussion with longtime MLS standouts Chad Marshall and Danny O'Rourke. We run through their respective accolade-filled collegiate careers at Stanford and Indiana; a laundry list of Columbus Crew shenanigans, including the rubber-band and chewing gum prop plane that scarred Chad for life and the legend of #suckone through #suckfour; winning MLS Cup together in 2008; culture shock of mo...

Sam sits down with Geoff Cameron and Alejandro Bedoya to discuss life in the Coronaverse; how they first bonded at Camp Cupcake, became besties playing outside the US and the secret for discussing politics from opposing perspectives without getting worked up (politicians in the US could learn something); living with Klinsmann's draconian dietary restrictions and the time Clint Dempsey said "eff that noise"; Ale's fa...

Sam and EG sit down with Wil Trapp to discuss his time dominating soccer and life in and around Columbus, plus what it meant to be the walking/talking face of Ohio soccer for a decade; how Caleb Porter sold him on University of Akron over Harvard; the conflicting emotions of captaining USMNT in the wake of the 2017 WCQ debacle; what the move to Miami (and resulting culture shock) has been like; his first Beckham Experience; how he ...

Sam and EG sit down with Michael Parkhurst to discuss the glory days with the New England Revolution winning everything except MLS Cup; memories of Clint Dempsey; excelling in the Danish Superliga and facing Chelsea/Juventus/Shakhtar in Champions League; first-hand look at Argentina (f/t Messi) partying at 2008 Summer Olympics; his experience back in MLS with Columbus and finally getting the monkey off his back with Atlanta (while ...

Sam and Eric Gehrig (aka EG) sit down with Justin Meram to discuss his painful decision between playing soccer and football for the Michigan Wolverines; a bunch of INSANE stories about playing for the Iraqi national team mere months after the Iraq War ended; one of the most courteous Messi vs Ronny debates that has ever taken place; and the gory details of his pre-kickoff conversation with Wayne Rooney about getting hairy plugs in ...

Leagues are suspended all around the world -- but not Australia! -- so Adam Peacock of Fox Sports was kind enough to walk Sam through what the A-League is all about, including a backgrounder on the clubs, players and rivalries with tips for picking a team plus insider picks for this weekend's **LIVE SOCCER GAMES**. INTERVIEW: Sam and Eric Gehrig sat down with Portland Timbers GK Steve Clark to discuss living in a tent in the fo...

Sam and Eric Gehrig hit this week's HOT TOPICS, starting with the rapidly evolving situation surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, a big week in Champions League, Ronaldinho being Ronaldinho, and an especially noteworthy few days for both the USMNT and USWNT. INTERVIEW: QPR and long-time USMNT standout Geoff Cameron [[00:25:00]] stops by to discuss life in England, the state of USMNT, whether he or Alexi Lalas antagonizes socce...

Sam and Eric Gehrig hit this week's HOT TOPICS, starting with thoughts on MLS's opening weekend, Tottenham's PG-rated Malice in the Palace, Bundesliga players protesting butthurt billionaires, and frustrated Dutch fans giving their club an impromptu tactics session. INTERVIEW: sadly things fell through with Arlo White (the voice of the EPL and -- as of this week -- Chicago Fire) but we'll have him on sometime soon. ...

Sam and exMLS pro Eric Gehrig hit this week's hot topic, which is a crash course on MLS ahead of opening day this weekend. We touch on where experts think teams should finish, our picks to win the Shield and Cup, which teams we see under- and over-performing (including a few dark horses), and finally who we got winning things like the Golden Boot and MVP awards. INTERVIEW: FC Cincinnati GK Spencer Richey [[24:50]] offers an ins...

Sam, Mike Magee and Max Bretos hit this week's HOT TOPICS, starting with UEFA dropping the hammer on Man City, Klinsmann quitting Hertha, Jermaine Jones vs Alexi Lalas (re: Timmy Chandler's place on USMNT) and Concacaf Champions League. INTERVIEW: Tommy Smyth [[33:41]] stops by to discuss how he became the voice of ESPN's Champions League coverage, death threats and predictions galore, including Saturday's Tottenham...

Sam and Dax McCarty hit this week’s HOT TOPICS, starting with some heavy adulation for The Babyjesus Jr; simple VAR fixes that the Premier League should implement immediately; winners/losers of the January transfer window; and takeaways from recent USMNT/USWNT performances. INTERVIEW: Derby County's Duane Holmes [39:51] stops by to discuss what he's heard from Berhalter about future USMNT call-ups, what playing with Wayne R...

Sam and Mikey hit this week’s HOT TOPICS, including Ed Woodward no good very bad decade (but especially week), Klopp pooping on FA Cup, Christine Sinclair breaking records, Lord Bendtner the Danish reality TV star and a few words on Kobe Bryant. INTERVIEW: NYCFC’s Keaton Parks [23:21] stops by to discuss his experience playing in Portugal, what led him to New York, goals for USMNT Olympic qualifying and why he was sad his FIFA rati...

Sam and Mike Magee are joined this week by a true OG of televised soccer in the US in Max Bretos as Mike and Max set their Galaxy/LAFC biases aside (not really) to discuss the impact of Chicharito's signing on the LA rivalry and the MLS more generally, and (of course) some "early retirement" talk. Other HOT TOPICS include Dortmund's big day [21:45], whether London has ever been further from the center of the soccer ...

HOT TOPICS f/t cheating in soccer vs baseball; UEFAs latest dumbassery; The Babyjesus’ burrito and whether it’s time to fire up The Babyjesus Jr hypetrain. INTERVIEW with Matt Turner, who is embedded at USMNT’s January camp in Florida, about how things are going, who has scored on him most and which of the kids is impressing. WEEKEND PREVIEW f/t preps and predictions for Liverpool vs United, Arsenal vs mighty Sheffield Utd and the ...