0:00

Hey College Football fans Joel Klatt here and

0:02

over on my podcast the Joel Klatt

0:04

show We discussed the best teams players

0:06

and storylines in all of college football

0:08

any questions Then send them in to

0:10

the Joel Klatt show mailbag and I'll

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answer them tap the banner to follow

0:14

the Joel Klatt show on Spotify Better

0:18

to face the Columbus crew in the

0:21

semi-final round beginning in two weeks It's

0:23

a giveaway by Calendary, Brandon Vasquez

0:25

buries it And

0:30

it's history

0:32

repeating itself

0:35

in a

0:38

horrific way

0:41

for an

0:43

MLS team

0:46

in Monterey

0:49

Hello Sunshine, I'm Alexei Lawless

0:51

and welcome to the State of the Union podcast where

0:53

we look at the beautiful game on and off the

0:55

field through the lens of red white and blue colored

0:57

glasses. This show will be talking the

0:59

new romantics, US women's

1:01

national team champions at again, goalkeeper

1:04

redemption stories, Messi in Miami being

1:06

dwarfed, the OJ Bronco chase, UCL

1:08

goal fest, Suarez being Suarez, MLS's

1:11

own goal, World War II in

1:13

color, club world cup nominations and

1:15

so much more. But first joining

1:18

me as always my friend, my

1:20

colleague, my guiding light, David Masea, soccer

1:22

savant and a Fox soccer researcher and

1:25

writer extraordinaire. Masea, how you doing on

1:27

this Thursday, April 11th in the year

1:29

2024? I'm doing

1:31

well. What a great idea to play the John

1:33

Strong call from the Brandon Vasquez goal last year.

1:35

Yeah, we're mixing it up. You know, when you

1:38

hit play on the State of the Union podcast,

1:40

if you have followed us over the years, you

1:42

know that we've tried some different things and especially

1:44

this week, which is going to be something that

1:46

we're going to talk about. It was a monumental

1:49

type of moment and we

1:51

want to talk about that and other things too. So we're trying

1:53

some different things when it comes to the way

1:56

that we give you the State of the Union.

1:58

Have you watched anything, my friend? Do

2:01

you remember a show called the regime that

2:03

I mentioned a couple of weeks back? Vaguely.

2:05

Oh yeah, you were not impressed with

2:07

it. It was supposed to be comedic or at least

2:09

dark a little bit and it wasn't quite in the

2:12

mark for you if I remember correctly. Correct.

2:15

I thought it was 10 episodes. I was

2:17

going to watch five and if I wasn't liking it

2:19

I was going to bail at that point. And then

2:21

I came to find out it was only six episodes.

2:23

So after I watched five I figured I might as

2:25

well just watch the last one which

2:27

I did a couple of days ago. And it

2:29

didn't redeem itself in the sixth, right? Episode? You

2:31

know, I don't like to talk about things that

2:33

I didn't like. I leave that to you.

2:36

But I have no choice here. This show

2:38

was incomprehensibly bad. When you consider the pedigree

2:40

in front and behind the camera I am

2:42

shocked. I was excited for this. Some of

2:44

the reviews I read were positive but no

2:47

bueno. Well you know I'm sure it

2:49

was done with the best of intentions and these

2:51

things happen. What do I have

2:53

for you? Well I got two things. One that

2:55

I actually did watch. World War II

2:58

in color. I know that's a thing that you watched

3:00

before. And the road to victory it's on Netflix there

3:02

and it colorizes a lot of stuff that

3:04

you have seen and some stuff that you haven't seen

3:06

but it's a really good look

3:08

back, a historic look back documentary on

3:11

World War II and it goes to the entire battle

3:16

on both sides. And I thought it was really

3:18

interesting. I thought they did a good job. I like

3:20

that, what they're doing it. I know you're kind

3:22

of messing with the past in terms of the

3:24

colorization that goes on but I think it was

3:26

done in this case correctly

3:29

I guess if it can be called correctly.

3:32

And it was fun to see the footage obviously

3:34

in a very different light, literally in a different

3:36

light with the color there. The other thing is

3:38

did you watch this show a while ago? I

3:40

think I asked you about The Last of Us.

3:43

I did. I couldn't

3:45

remember if you mentioned it but it

3:48

was vaguely in the back of my mind. So I

3:50

was clicking through some different things and

3:52

I happened upon it and this is where I

3:54

get in trouble is sometimes I just start something

3:57

without actually going to look at it and as

3:59

anybody's... that has listened to the show knows that I

4:02

need to be able to binge it from start to finish. And

4:04

so I watched the first episode and I

4:07

kind of got into it, zombie apocalyptic type

4:09

of thing genre out there.

4:12

And then I come to find out when I finally

4:14

looked it up, which I should have done

4:16

initially, that this is only the first season.

4:18

There's another season that evidently is being filmed

4:20

right now that will be out, I'm assuming,

4:22

later on this year or next year at

4:24

some time. So I'm going to have to

4:26

stop watching The Last of Us because as

4:28

you know, it doesn't fill my criteria. And

4:30

Sean Sullivan has raised a pretty interesting question.

4:33

You apply this rule to movie franchises as well. Would

4:35

you not watch a movie if you know that there

4:37

are sequels coming? Interesting.

4:40

No, I think, yeah.

4:43

Well, back when I was growing up, back in

4:45

the 1900s, back in the previous century,

4:48

Maas Si, well, it wasn't

4:50

as blatant that there were going

4:52

to be multiple movies. You

4:55

kind of did something and you didn't

4:57

necessarily see around the corner that it

4:59

was going to become a franchise. Now

5:02

they plan for it and usually it

5:04

happens. So yeah, I still think that

5:06

a movie in and of itself should

5:08

be able to stand alone. And

5:11

therefore, yeah, I mean,

5:13

movies that end and

5:16

it's not ending, that would drive

5:18

me crazy. You know, I am

5:20

starting to employ your approach. There

5:22

are two TV shows out right now, Shogun

5:24

and Manhunt that I'm very interested in. Yeah,

5:27

you're talking about the Manhunt one, yeah. Yeah, it's

5:29

about the search for John Wilkes- Almost done though,

5:31

right? Lincoln. It's based on an excellent book that

5:33

I read a few years back. But in

5:36

both cases, Manhunt and Shogun, they're releasing the episodes

5:38

week to week. I am waiting for all of

5:40

them to drop so I can binge them. So

5:42

your approach does apply to me as well sometimes.

5:44

Okay, good, good. I think it's smart. You

5:46

know, I don't want to be beholden to the man or

5:48

the woman out there that's putting these out. So,

5:51

let's get this candle. Let's do it. All right, where

5:53

should we start? We begin with the

5:55

US Women's National Team. On Tuesday night, they

5:57

won the She Believes Cup by beating-

6:00

Canada on penalties in Columbus. It

6:02

was 2-2 after 90 minutes. Adriana

6:04

Leon and Sophia Smith each scoring twice.

6:07

And then in the shootout, Alyssa Nair

6:09

made three saves and converted her kick.

6:11

This was the final match under Twyla Kilgore.

6:15

Emma Hayes arrives in June. The Olympics are in

6:17

July. Overall thoughts? Overall,

6:20

winning is better than losing. However

6:22

it ends up happening. And this is a

6:24

team that has built, let's

6:26

be honest, their entire image. On

6:30

being champions and having that moment at the

6:32

end where they are able to raise a

6:35

cup and claim a title. And

6:37

yet this is another one in a long

6:39

list. And when they don't, it is a

6:41

story in and of itself. So back to

6:43

winning ways. I don't think anybody within the

6:45

US Women's National Team program are going to

6:48

break their arms patting themselves on the back

6:50

for winning the She Believes Cup. I thought

6:52

it was a much more competitive type of

6:54

game against Canada than certainly the last one

6:56

that we saw that was underwater. And

6:59

let's be honest, while this game, the

7:01

rules were you went right to penalties after 90 minutes. Canada

7:04

hit the crossbar right at the end of

7:07

the game and the US very easily could

7:09

have lost this game. But they didn't. They

7:11

go into penalties. And again, we see how

7:13

important Alyssa Nair is. And again, this theme

7:17

that will become apparent later on in the show of

7:20

goalkeepers and the redemption. Because

7:22

she was at fault on a goal

7:25

coming out and failing to clear it and

7:27

basically gifting Canada

7:29

a goal. But she came back,

7:31

not only made her penalty, but

7:33

also saved penalties. And she is

7:35

just she's money. I think when

7:37

you look at the old guard,

7:39

she is absolutely somebody that I

7:42

think is going to continue on and should

7:44

continue on. And specifically because she's a goalkeeper

7:46

and can do that. And you

7:48

want her back there because she's

7:52

there's an argument to be made that she's the

7:55

best goalkeeper in US soccer history. And

7:57

yet, I think that there are people that

7:59

will say you. Yeah, but and hope and

8:01

Brianna and the list goes on and

8:03

on and on but she just keeps

8:05

racking up wins Individually with

8:08

the team and even at

8:10

a point where this team we all know has

8:12

taken steps back Hopefully to go steps forward. She

8:15

still stars Listen there over hope

8:17

solo. That's a take It's

8:19

not a crazy take out there. I think that there are

8:21

certainly people out there that do it and What

8:24

a listener suffers from and it's not

8:26

her fault It's who she is that

8:29

she's not a big over-the-top type of

8:31

personality in a team that

8:33

is known for Huge

8:35

personalities. She is very

8:37

reserved. She is very quiet. She just

8:40

goes about her business and again That's

8:42

not fair to judge her on that but

8:44

certainly when you compare to someone like hope

8:46

solo That's it's an apples and oranges type

8:48

of type of character and

8:50

personally personality out there But yeah, I

8:53

absolutely think that you can argue that

8:55

she is the best goalkeeper and US

8:57

women's national team history For

8:59

me, the biggest development is Jaden Shaw at the

9:01

10 with three forwards in front of her We

9:03

saw that from the start against Japan and then

9:05

in the second half against Canada It'll

9:08

be interesting to see if Emma Hayes buys into

9:10

that as a base formation or it's only something

9:12

to be used in certain Situations, but wherever you

9:14

put her I said this on our

9:16

last pot I'm gonna repeat it. It's becoming harder and

9:18

harder to justify a US lineup without Jaden Shaw in

9:21

it or a US

9:23

lineup with Alex Morgan

9:25

in it Can

9:27

you justify that? It's

9:30

increasingly tough if McCario and Swanson recover

9:32

their pre-injury form Yeah champagne problems as

9:34

we said last show This is all

9:36

good stuff and I do think that

9:38

you know in this age where now

9:41

we've seen multiple Assistant coaches take these

9:43

teams whether it's the men's team the

9:45

national team Handing it

9:47

off in a better situation than before I

9:49

think is your job and your responsibility And

9:51

again, we don't know how much Emma Hayes

9:53

has made and has been influencing it But

9:55

she has to have been influencing from the

9:57

outside, but well done to Twyla. Thank

9:59

you for your work and now

10:01

she hands it off to Emma and it's

10:04

her responsibility going forward starting with the Olympics.

10:06

She's the female BJ Callahan. Exactly. Whoever is

10:08

not in his job anymore over there in

10:10

Saudi Arabia or wherever he was. Incidentally.

10:13

Oh sorry, that was Anthony Hudson. Anthony

10:16

Hudson, excuse me. Corbin

10:18

Albert came on for Jayden Shaw in

10:20

the 75th minute. Remember,

10:23

this is a player who started five of the six

10:25

matches at the Gold Cup, played very well and has

10:27

continued to play well for her club team PSG. She

10:30

didn't start either game with the She Believes Cup. It

10:32

defies credulity to think that it was purely

10:35

tactical. It obviously had something to do

10:37

with the social media controversy. I think Twyla Kilgore

10:39

felt like it was best for everyone involved

10:41

if she took a backseat in these two games. But

10:44

I think this will all blow over by June and

10:46

July and Emma Hayes will be able to pick her

10:48

team base purely on soccer reasons. And

10:50

then Corbin Albert becomes an interesting part of

10:52

this equation because she was an emerging star

10:54

in the midfield. And so if you play Jayden

10:56

Shaw's a 10, you have to lose one of

10:58

your midfielders for how you fit that puzzle. It

11:01

could be fascinating. This is why Emma's

11:03

being paid the big bucks is to figure out how

11:05

to fit all of this on the field. And look,

11:07

it can only be 11. We've talked about this with

11:09

the men's national team. When you start taking out some

11:11

of these pieces, what ends up happening

11:14

is yeah, you're kicking yourself for not being able

11:16

to have some of this talent on the field.

11:18

But the other side of it is depth. And

11:20

the other side of it is when things go

11:22

wrong. And as good as this

11:24

US team, I think, can be. There will be moments

11:26

when it goes wrong and Emma has to fix it.

11:29

So you can look down the bench and she

11:31

can have some quality going in. But this type

11:33

of competition for spots is

11:35

a good thing. This type of reset

11:38

for this team with all of these players and

11:40

many of them that we're talking about that haven't

11:43

been there before have had very limited time with

11:45

this national team. These are all

11:47

these are all good things. I get out

11:49

with the old, separate listen there and then

11:52

with the new. We also

11:54

found out that Zambia will be the third

11:56

team in the US as Olympic group along

11:58

with Germany and Australia. We now know

12:00

the three group games the US will

12:02

play at the Olympics. Is that the

12:04

order of games too? So we face

12:06

Zambia first or whatever? Zambia

12:09

is the opening game. Okay. All

12:11

right. So I mean that's a

12:13

good team to face at the beginning of the

12:15

Olympics. But this is a

12:17

group in the Olympics that will

12:19

test this new US

12:22

women's national team. And again, as I

12:24

said before, while I want to win

12:26

championships and I want to be holding the

12:29

trophy, whether it's a big tournament or a

12:31

small tournament, I think there have to

12:33

be bigger fish to fry and you have to

12:35

see the long term. And that long term is

12:38

ultimately getting back and winning a World Cup for

12:40

Emma relative to what we see in the Olympics

12:42

this summer. All right. So

12:44

successful, successful, successful. And congratulations

12:46

to this group on

12:48

winning yet another one. How

12:51

many have they won? They probably won a bunch of them, right? All

12:54

right. Yes. So

12:56

the Konkaka champions cup, the semi-finals

12:58

are set. We began this

13:00

edition with 10 MLS teams and six

13:02

league MX and it's three, one league

13:04

MX in the semis. We covered all

13:07

four quarterfinal second legs this week on

13:09

FS1. Let's go through each

13:11

of them individually and then we'll circle back to some big

13:13

picture of talking points. Kuba,

13:15

America, after beating New England for

13:17

Nilla Gillette, hammer them

13:19

again, five, two at the Azteca to complete a

13:21

nine, two aggregate triumph. The good news from an

13:24

American point of view, Alex and they have scored

13:26

in both legs. He's playing very well right now,

13:28

but a pretty embarrassing showing by the revs. The

13:31

revs aren't a good team. Okay. Whether

13:33

it's internationally or in MLS, they're not a

13:36

good team right now. It means to be

13:38

seen as they can be better, but this

13:40

wasn't a complete and utter failure for the

13:42

New England revolution relative to Konkaka champions cup.

13:45

Pachuca beat Herediano 2-1 at

13:47

home to complete a 7-1 aggregate

13:49

triumph. So one semifinal will be

13:51

Pachuca against America. All

13:53

the drama this week was on the other side of

13:55

the bracket. First, the good from an MLS perspective, Chigatas,

13:58

Columbus, they had played to a 1-1. draw

14:00

in Ohio, they played to another 1-1

14:02

draw in Mexico with the same goal

14:04

score Geniac and Rossi. The Geniac goal

14:07

came thanks to a horrific mistake by

14:09

Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, but we eventually

14:11

went to penalties and Schulte redeemed himself

14:13

denying Geniac and Guido Pizarro the crew

14:15

advance. Okay, so first I'm

14:17

going to start with the

14:19

overall positive of this. You are looking

14:21

at arguably the best team in Major

14:24

League Soccer, coached

14:26

by the best coach arguably in Major

14:28

League Soccer in Wilfred Nancy. And so

14:30

that they found a way through says

14:33

a lot about how good they are and I

14:35

think justifies a lot of the

14:38

way that we look at the Columbus crew going

14:40

forward. And now all of these eggs from an

14:42

MLS perspective are in this basket, but this is

14:44

a pretty good basket to put your eggs in

14:47

when you're talking about quality and when

14:49

you're talking about balance of

14:52

a team. This particular

14:54

game was was

14:56

nuts and it went the

14:58

entire spectrum of emotions and

15:00

performances. You mentioned Schulte and this

15:02

gets back to you

15:05

know again these goalkeepers that throughout

15:07

the game have moments of great

15:09

success and great failure and starting

15:12

off not being good. And well

15:16

Patrick Schulte. All right,

15:18

you make a mistake and to

15:20

his credit and to Wilfred Nancy's

15:22

credit because he talked about it after the game,

15:25

he understood and everybody understood that this was

15:28

a mistake that could become

15:30

the defining moment of the game if

15:32

you let it and yet they had

15:34

the fortitude built over time and the

15:36

confidence that has been instilled in them

15:38

individually and collectively to push

15:41

on so much so that

15:44

I ultimately think Columbus was the

15:47

better team in that game. Now it took them a

15:49

while to get there. This

15:51

does go back to something

15:53

bigger picture that we've talked about before

15:55

Massey in the world in which we

15:57

live in, in the soccer world in

15:59

which we live in and how much

16:01

it has evolved over time

16:04

or quote-unquote evolved. And

16:06

this is, you know, I called it, you

16:08

know, the new romantics. And

16:11

whether it's the players or whether it's

16:13

the coaches or whether it's even the

16:15

fans out there, this

16:18

expectation of playing

16:20

out of the back. And again, I have

16:23

no problem playing out of the back.

16:25

Some of the most beautiful soccer can

16:27

be accomplished by successfully playing out of

16:29

the back. And I

16:31

fully recognize that the risks and

16:34

the reward equation is

16:36

drastically different than when I was

16:39

playing. People do things nowadays

16:41

in soccer, as I said before, that

16:43

you would be fired on the spot

16:45

for doing back in my day. However,

16:50

if you are playing out of the back, you

16:53

are taking risks that haven't been

16:55

taken in the past in order to gain the

16:57

benefits. Fine. But if you

16:59

are unable to do so, and if you

17:01

want to die on that hill, which is

17:03

what we saw numerous times yesterday,

17:07

I think it is problematic. And I think

17:09

it comes from coaching and

17:11

saying, yes, I want you to do this. And yes,

17:14

you can blame me. All right, fine.

17:17

If you are the coach, whether it's Wilford

17:19

Nancy or Tata Martino, anybody else out there,

17:21

and you are telling your team, this is

17:23

how we are going to play, come hell

17:25

or high water, then you have

17:27

to accept the responsibility that your players are going to

17:29

do that. And if and when it

17:31

happens that they are not able to do so in

17:33

the most important point, then it is

17:36

on you. And Wilford Nancy

17:38

can sit back and say, yeah, but this is how

17:40

we do it. And I am a romantic, and this

17:42

is what I believe is in good soccer. And I

17:44

would rather lose playing like this than

17:46

win being rudimentary and being

17:48

caveman-esque and kicking the ball

17:50

away and living to fight

17:52

another day. And that's why

17:54

I get frustrated at times. I

17:57

know I was sitting next to Rob Stone and

17:59

Stu Holden. At times, it's incredibly

18:01

frustrating because you are trying to be

18:03

something that you are not. I'm not

18:05

saying in the future you can't be

18:07

that, but right now you're not, and

18:09

you're not doing what is right in

18:11

that moment for what the game needs.

18:13

How am I wrong, Russ? I agree

18:16

with you. I've always interpreted playing out

18:18

of the back as if you have a choice

18:20

between going long and going short, you choose to

18:22

go short. But sometimes there is no choice. Everybody's

18:24

short is covered. And this idea that you have

18:26

to force it from hell or high water, I

18:29

don't agree with. We've even seen Pep Guardiola manage

18:31

Manchester City, not be above Ederson, sending a

18:34

long ball to the strikers if that's the

18:36

right play in that situation. So yeah, some

18:38

of the decision making we saw the

18:40

last couple days, I agree with you with head scratch. But I

18:43

don't blame the players. And

18:45

yet, I'm kind of jealous.

18:47

I would love to have been given that autonomy.

18:49

I would love to have been given that freedom

18:51

to be able to play out of the back

18:53

in these risky type of situation situations. But again,

18:56

the coaches are saying this is how

18:58

we have to play. And

19:00

maybe Schulte or others that we're going to

19:02

talk about, or even a listener, whoever, maybe

19:06

in that moment, the seed has

19:08

been planted. And they know, you know what, I have to

19:10

get I have to find a way to get out of

19:12

this position. And they believe that I can get out of

19:14

this position. I have to play that small thing. I have

19:16

to pull a cray in my six yard box. If I'm

19:19

a goalkeeper, I have to do that. Well,

19:22

then it's on the then it then it is on

19:24

the coaches. And if and

19:26

when it happens, we shouldn't blame the players.

19:29

You know, what the coaches are going to

19:31

do is say, yes, but I give them

19:34

the responsibility because I believe that they can

19:36

do it. And too often, I

19:38

think what we're seeing, again, is players

19:42

and teams saying, we are at a

19:44

certain level, when they are not even

19:47

close to being on that level, because

19:49

that's what we equate with real football.

19:51

That's where you equate with sexy football.

19:53

That's what we create with. We

19:56

equate with romantic football. I can't believe you

19:58

got me to say football. All

20:00

is lost. I will say

20:02

if you analyze these two legs and their

20:05

totality, Columbus was good value for their advancement.

20:07

They played well, but what gave it an

20:09

air of fortune was some

20:11

of the chances that Tigres missed in the

20:13

first half of that second leg. The crew

20:15

were all over the place defensively, bad giveaways,

20:17

poorly executed offside traps, and we're

20:19

so accustomed to seeing MLS teams get punished in Mexico

20:21

for that. It was pretty unbelievable that they got to

20:24

halftime only up, only down one nil, and then they

20:26

were able to improve from there. But

20:28

they found a way through, and that

20:30

is the mark of a good team.

20:32

Obviously, they needed penalties. A lot of

20:34

people wanted to remind me I was

20:36

getting texts about how MLS

20:39

Next Pro has

20:41

used penalties as the deciding factor

20:43

when there are ties. And so

20:46

there's a generation of MLS Next

20:48

Pro players that are coming up

20:50

that have had many more opportunities

20:53

to be in situations where they're hitting

20:55

penalties. And I've

20:58

said before, it is not a coin

21:00

toss. It is not a flip of a coin.

21:02

It is not a crapshoot. It is a skill

21:05

and an art, and ultimately

21:07

Columbus were much better. And

21:09

redemption time, Schulte comes to

21:11

the rescue. For about 24 hours there, MLS

21:14

fans got their swagger back because Columbus

21:16

went through. You had a motivated Messi

21:19

facing Monterey, and you thought, well, if

21:21

they move on, then it's 2-2 in

21:23

the semis, and it would guarantee an

21:25

MLS finalist. So this whole negative MLS

21:27

narrative would go away. But it

21:29

was not to be because Inter Miami laid an

21:31

absolute egg in Monterey. They had lost the first

21:34

leg 2-1. They lost the second leg 3-1. Brandon

21:37

Vazquez scored the first goal, taking advantage

21:39

of a horrific giveaway by Drake Callender.

21:41

So you'll have occasion to go on

21:43

the same rant again. Same thing. Just

21:45

plug in Drake Callender, plug in Inter

21:47

Miami, plug in Tatsumartino. But

21:50

ultimately, they didn't win. And so this was

21:52

the beginning of the end. Then

21:54

Berterami and Gallardo scored in the second

21:57

half. Diego Gomez pulled one back late.

22:00

all the talk about poking the bear

22:02

and Messi's gonna have fire in his eyes,

22:04

he wandered around completely disinterested, it was

22:06

one of the worst matches I've ever seen

22:08

him play, so ours wasn't much better, Jordy

22:10

Alba got himself sent off, so a terrible

22:13

night for Intermian. Well it just confirms that

22:15

there is a difference between poking a bear

22:17

and poking a dwarf, right? So this is

22:19

a situation where Messi

22:22

and company didn't show up, and

22:25

the field wasn't good, I get

22:27

that, but that's not an excuse, all right?

22:30

But they better get their crap together down

22:32

there because 2026 is coming and that

22:34

is a venue for 2026, and it was, you know,

22:36

it was all over the place, you could tell it

22:38

was very very soft, but it was the same for

22:40

both teams. I

22:42

thought the beginning of the game,

22:44

Inter Miami was completely in control,

22:47

certainly a possession, but they weren't

22:49

creating a whole lot, there weren't

22:51

a lot of moments of magic

22:53

from Messi, he had one

22:55

opportunity that you would bet he would have

22:57

gotten at least on goal, he sailed it over the top,

23:00

but this was an

23:02

Inter Miami that did

23:04

not collectively or individually, and

23:06

some of the stars that we have, show

23:09

up in the most important

23:11

moment, and again, time and

23:14

time again, if you look at these goals, this

23:16

Inter Miami team playing out of the back, and

23:18

I said on air, there

23:20

are some Barcelona legends on this

23:23

team, Inter Miami, but

23:25

this is not Barcelona, and

23:28

yet again, the risky passes, and if

23:30

you're Monterey, you're looking around

23:32

going, yeah, we'll take this, no

23:35

problem, you want to give us this

23:37

gift, you want to play these risky

23:39

passes out, fine, not only will we

23:41

eat that up, but we'll eat it

23:43

up in dangerous areas, and then we

23:45

will make you pay, and so consistently

23:47

and unnecessarily shooting themselves in the foot

23:49

when it comes to Miami from a

23:51

playing out of the back perspective, and

23:53

then not creating anything up top. Alright,

23:55

so big picture, we've had 14 matches

23:58

in this edition of the Konga Cali. champions

24:00

cut between League MX and MLS teams.

24:02

MLS has not won a single one.

24:04

Nine wins and five draws for League

24:06

MX. They've outscored MLS 33 to 10

24:09

in those games. They prevailed in

24:11

six of the seven two-legged

24:13

ties, the only exception being Columbus would

24:15

advance on penalties after a pair of

24:17

draws. So that's leading to a lot

24:19

of hand-wringing today, a lot of discussion.

24:21

Tata Martino said after last night's match,

24:23

until MLS relaxes its many roster rules

24:26

in order to build more robust squads

24:28

where player absences, injury suspensions aren't as

24:30

difficult to overcome, League MX will have

24:32

an advantage. Henry Bushnell wrote an article

24:34

today on Yahoo to that effect. You

24:36

talked about it last night. So what

24:39

are your thoughts? Okay, so

24:41

you know we talked about the fact that

24:43

MLS plays with one foot behind their back

24:45

and everybody understands this. Tata, everybody understands this.

24:48

I would love to change it. I love

24:50

to spend other people's money. We all love

24:52

to tell rich people how to spend their

24:54

money, especially when it comes to a game

24:58

entertainment that is soccer. But it is

25:00

a reality.

25:02

And again, you're not telling the MLS owners

25:05

anything that they don't know. But when

25:07

it comes to, for example, last night

25:09

when Brandon Vasquez scores a goal. Now Brandon

25:12

Vasquez is an MLS killer. All right, so

25:14

he's gone through Cincinnati, now he's gone through

25:16

Miami, and there's a possibility he'd go through

25:18

Columbus. This is a player

25:20

that did not want to go and

25:22

play in League MX. That wasn't his ultimate

25:25

goal. He wanted to stay.

25:28

He was a talented player in Major League

25:30

Soccer. He was a star. Commissioner

25:33

Don Garber for years has talked

25:35

about MLS being a league of

25:37

choice. Well, if MLS

25:40

is to be a league of choice, it not

25:42

only has to be a league of choice of talent

25:44

coming in from the outside, but talent

25:47

has to be rewarded and

25:49

accommodated that

25:51

choose MLS from the inside. And that's what Brandon Vasquez

25:53

was. But because of the mechanisms, because

25:55

of the restrictions, because of the reality,

26:00

And by the way, the reality that has made it

26:02

the most successful American professional soccer league in

26:04

history. But because of

26:06

that reality, Brandon Vasquez

26:08

is now taking

26:10

down MLS teams. MLS has become

26:13

the architect of their demise. And

26:15

so it's on them. They

26:17

have no one to blame, but themselves,

26:19

they could change it overnight. If they

26:22

wanted to, they don't want to. And

26:24

find that is their business decision, but

26:27

they will continue to not fight

26:30

on an even playing field. And

26:32

so Tata Martino is absolutely right. And in the

26:34

past, we've just said, well, that's no excuse. Find

26:36

a way to get it done. And that's what

26:38

Wilford Nancy has done. But think of as

26:41

well as they have done, given all the

26:43

challenges, think if they were actually given the

26:45

opportunity to have an equal playing field, my

26:48

goodness, that would be wonderful to see, but

26:50

they don't want to do it and it's, and it's on them. Although

26:53

news this week coming out

26:56

of the MLS board of

26:58

governors meetings, they approved some

27:00

changes, the relaxing of restrictions on

27:02

the combined number of designated players

27:04

and under 22 initiative signings,

27:07

doubling in the number of contract buyouts allowed

27:09

per season and increasing the amount of general

27:12

allocation money teams receive when players are transferred

27:14

out of the league. So there is some

27:16

movement on that front. That's great. It's still

27:18

too complicated. Just let people spend what they

27:20

want and let's go on. Have a, have

27:22

a, you know, have a floor, have a

27:24

ceiling if you want. And the real, the

27:26

real problem with MLS right now is that

27:28

it, and Tata Martino said this is that

27:30

it's, it's top heavy and Columbus

27:33

has actually done a better job of spreading it

27:35

out. Now I know it's not as sexy when

27:37

it comes to signing big names, but when you

27:39

have your designated players and you're paying them all

27:41

this money and then the rest of the team

27:44

isn't making even close to that amount of money,

27:46

that's, you know, that's a problem for MLS from

27:48

a, from a business structure standpoint,

27:50

but obviously it impacts the competitive side,

27:52

uh, on the field right now. And

27:54

again, we're telling people how to spend

27:56

their money out there and the success

27:58

that they have had. But it goes back to

28:00

what I said about 2026 and wanting

28:02

to do big bold things and we'll talk a little bit more

28:05

about That later in the show. Yeah, we

28:07

got an ask Alexi question about the Club

28:09

World Cup next year And the u.s by

28:11

hosting it gets an extra spot and who

28:14

might that go to? So I have a

28:16

feeling we'll bring up intermiami again in

28:18

that discussion down there But they now have

28:20

to turn the page to mls. They

28:22

really wanted to win this konkaka of champions

28:24

cup Because of that birth to

28:26

the Club World Cup So you wonder where they are

28:29

mentally now where they do have leagues cup later in

28:31

the year But for now, it's just a slog of

28:33

the mls regular season this upcoming weekend. They are away

28:35

to skc They

28:38

go they evidently are going directly to kansas

28:40

city and skc is playing this game in

28:42

uh, What's the football stadium there that I

28:44

used to play in? Uh, Can

28:46

barrel head barrel head? Yes, my goodness. I can't believe

28:48

I forgot forgot that so they've you know Messy's

28:51

coming into town. They can sell a lot of tickets.

28:53

They can make a big deal about it However,

28:56

oh by the way tata martino, you

28:58

didn't make a single sub last night Everybody's waiting

29:00

for you to do something. You didn't do anything

29:02

You just folded your arms and said this is

29:04

it and he just kept everybody playing out there.

29:06

And so now messy has played midweek

29:10

after travel on a

29:12

very soft field It

29:15

would not surprise me in the least if

29:18

come saturday or sunday was the game

29:20

saturday sunday But anyway, uh this weekend

29:22

over at arrowhead that the good folks

29:24

of kansas city Are not given

29:26

the treat that they all paid for which was

29:28

to see arguably the greatest player player In

29:30

the world played the game saturday game Now in

29:32

your opening when you teased all the topics we were

29:34

going to discuss you did mention louise soir as I

29:36

blew pass it Do we want to discuss his petulance

29:38

last night? The problem is

29:41

it's louise soiris and soiras is going to soiras,

29:43

right? And for those that didn't see there was

29:45

a moment in last night's game That I cannot

29:47

believe for the life of me was not reviewed

29:49

Well, it probably was reviewed by var and then

29:51

just said well, it's soiras and it's a different

29:53

grading structure but What

29:57

what it looked like to me was soiras

29:59

grabbed the defense defender's arm in the box

30:02

and try to rip it off. It

30:04

was very, very, well, it's

30:07

very, very strange if you're not Luis Suarez. But

30:11

when Luis Suarez is into the game

30:13

and he's scoring and he's being dangerous

30:15

and he surprisingly has been very much

30:17

that in MLS so

30:20

far, that's great. But it

30:22

just takes a second for that dude to click and

30:24

he just does some very, very bizarre stuff and he

30:26

was lucky to continue on the field last night. Yvonne

30:29

Bartone was strangely subdued last

30:32

night. He was the referee in that match. He's

30:34

known for allowing his matches to

30:36

descend into chaos and overreferring and pulling out

30:38

red cards at every turn. Don't you agree

30:41

that last night he was weirdly calm and

30:43

trying to keep pace? Maybe he was just

30:45

then recognizing that there was the possibility of

30:47

the crazy Messi showing up and all that

30:50

kind of stuff. One last

30:52

thing before we move on. We showed

30:54

footage of David Beckham at a Monterey

30:56

restaurant getting absolutely mobbed. I

30:58

was discussing this with our boss, Zach Kenworthy.

31:00

Could you argue that in Messi and David

31:02

Beckham, Inter Miami have two of the five

31:04

most famous sportsmen in the world right now? Yeah.

31:09

I mean, if you look

31:12

at the most

31:14

famous people in the world, it would be

31:16

interesting if you put together a list out

31:18

there. We've talked about the Donald Trumps and

31:20

stuff like that, but Messi for sure would

31:23

be in that top 10, I

31:25

would think. That line

31:27

outside the Inter Miami hotel to

31:29

get a glimpse at Messi that we showed. It's a show,

31:32

man. It is a show and people want to see it.

31:35

We talked about it on the show last

31:37

night. We're just

31:39

coming off this Caitlin Clark stuff and

31:42

what was his name? Prime, Dion and stuff like

31:44

that. As I said before, the only reason that

31:46

I watched women's basketball was because

31:48

of Caitlin Clark. The only reason why many

31:50

people are going to these games is

31:53

to see Messi. He transcends

31:55

the sport. He brings people into the

31:57

tent and he is looked at as

31:59

a guy. God everywhere that he

32:01

goes. And so this type of reception and

32:03

David Beckham obviously is a, and has been

32:05

a name for decades now and

32:08

not just soccer world, but in

32:10

celebrity world. So it's no surprising. And it

32:13

is kind of like a

32:15

world tour of the biggest band in the world when

32:17

Inter Miami

32:19

now goes domestically or internationally. Made me think

32:22

of the last dance or Chicago Bulls during

32:24

Michael Jordan's last season, every city they went

32:26

to, it was crazy. Any

32:28

other MLS games you want to highlight? I should say

32:30

Inter Miami away at SKC and Sean Sullivan did put

32:32

in the run at Arrowhead and we both somehow missed

32:34

that. So, Oh, there we go. Yeah. We should probably

32:37

read his run down every once in a while. One

32:39

more game to mention top of the table clash in

32:41

the West Vancouver will host the galaxy, the galaxy looking

32:43

to bounce back from that El traffic code to see. And

32:46

Vancouver coming off a big win last weekend.

32:48

So they're, they're feeling good right there. Shout

32:50

out also to the New York

32:52

Red Bulls. And you know, they're sitting top

32:54

of the, the East

32:56

over there and really, I

32:59

guess kind of quietly given what, what

33:01

they are, they host Chicago. And so

33:03

they could continue, continue on. I think

33:05

a couple of shows ago, I said,

33:07

I'm not quite yet ready to anoint

33:09

them and give them elite status, but

33:12

they keep going the way they're going. And that's, that's good

33:14

news for the red side of New York over there. All

33:17

right. But anyway, there'll be a lot of

33:19

MLS stuff going on this, this weekend. I'll

33:21

be sitting in front of my MLS

33:24

360 watching as we talked about last show.

33:27

Adam Inman, a colleague of ours at Fox, who's

33:29

a big galaxy fan and an avid listener of

33:31

this pod. He was appalled by your take on

33:33

the Buanga penalty last week. He couldn't believe it.

33:35

He thought it was a dive.

33:37

Correct. Yeah, whatever.

33:40

I mean, I, yeah,

33:43

we talked about it before. Adam's

33:45

a good man, but he's, you know, delusional.

33:48

All right. What now? That is it.

33:50

All right. Let's take a quick break.

33:52

And we come back. Ooh, some champions

33:54

league action goals galore. I'm going. Hey

33:57

college football fans joke that year and over on

33:59

my. podcast, the Joel Klatt Show, we

34:01

discussed the best teams, players, and storylines

34:03

in all of college football. Any questions?

34:06

Then send them in to the Joel

34:08

Klatt Show mailbag and I'll answer them.

34:10

Tap the banner to follow the Joel

34:12

Klatt Show on Spotify. Okay.

34:15

Welcome back. There was all sorts of action when

34:17

it comes to, uh, you wait

34:19

for Champions League, Mosse, where to start

34:21

goals galore. Yeah. The quarterfinals are off

34:23

and running. It was an incredible couple

34:25

of days. Let's begin Tuesday at the

34:28

Emirates. Arsenal Bayern Munich finished 2-2. Saka

34:31

scored first for the Gunners, then Gennabry made it

34:33

1-1. Harry Kane from the

34:35

penalty spot 2-1. And then

34:37

in the second half, two subs combined, Jesus

34:39

to Trosard 2-2. Some

34:41

controversy at the end. Let's go there first.

34:44

Saka, Neuer. Did you think that was a

34:46

penalty? Uh,

34:52

he drags the leg, right? Is that what we're

34:55

screaming and yelling about here? Is that what the

34:57

situation is? Correct. Yeah.

35:01

I think he drags the leg in

35:03

an unnatural, well, in an

35:05

unnatural way. Okay. Again,

35:08

as I said before, many times, it's

35:10

not his responsibility to avoid contact. It's

35:12

not his responsibility to take a different

35:14

route. It's not his responsibility to jump

35:17

over a leg, but it's

35:20

one thing to go to feel it and

35:22

good players feel it. It's another

35:24

thing to actually kind of kick

35:26

out and in doing

35:28

so, initiate the contact there

35:31

because whether it's Neuer or anybody else,

35:34

players that are defending, they have a right

35:36

to occupy a space. And

35:38

when you in this instance, then

35:40

encroach in on their space, I

35:43

think it completely changes the dynamic and the complexion

35:45

of what you're calling there. So yeah, I thought

35:47

it was a little bit, uh, a little

35:50

bit much, but I don't, I don't blame him for doing it.

35:52

Yeah. I do not think it was a penalty at all.

35:54

I thought Saka kicked Neuer. So, uh, to

35:57

me, when you saw the replay, it wasn't even debatable. But

35:59

did you think that. The result ultimately was

36:01

fair. Yes.

36:05

Uh, of, of the match overall. Yeah. I thought

36:07

Byron was better. I find Byron. I'm saying we

36:09

let one get away here. Yeah,

36:11

perhaps. Our song got off to a good start. Saka made

36:13

it one, no Ben white should have made a two nil.

36:15

And then a mistake by Gabrielle, which

36:18

led to the. Good Abre goal really turned

36:20

the tide. Our stone never recaptured the fluency

36:22

they had in those first 15 minutes or

36:24

so. Um, and so yeah, uh, Byron

36:26

could feel like they should have won that game. They had

36:29

an incredible chance late with come on hitting the post. Oh

36:31

my God. Um, so now we go back to

36:33

Munich. I still think this is a 50 50. I

36:35

think our snow are very capable of going there and getting

36:37

a result. Uh, do you lean Byron at all? Or you

36:39

say 50 50? I

36:42

lean Byron. Yeah. I think

36:44

that while they will feel

36:46

they lost one there,

36:48

I, you know, and

36:50

again, I think that

36:52

Byron just has this aura

36:55

and it's got to have been stoked up from a

36:58

forgettable league season and talk about putting

37:00

all eggs in one basket. This

37:03

is it. And there's, there's still, there's

37:05

still really good. And yeah, so I'm

37:07

going to go with my own. Also on

37:09

Tuesday, round Madrid and Manchester city played

37:11

to a three, three draw, lots of

37:13

fireworks early. Bernardo Silva with a cheeky

37:15

free kick got past Luna and one

37:17

nil city. Then Kama Venga

37:19

took a shot that deflected off Ruben Diaz

37:22

one, one, and then Venetius to

37:24

Rodrigo on the break to on round Madrid. This is

37:26

all in the first 15 minutes. Then

37:28

in the second half, two incredible strikes by

37:31

Foden and Vardio made it three two city,

37:33

but a beautiful Valverde Valley made it three

37:35

three. Yeah. This, this had

37:37

everything you mentioned in the Guevara goal.

37:40

I mean, he's never going to hit

37:42

that again. And he was as surprised

37:44

as anybody there. Some wonderful goals, some

37:46

suspect goals. Did you think who's

37:48

at fault on the, uh, on the free kick goal? The

37:51

wall, the goalkeeper. Yeah.

37:54

I think you called it cheeky. Yes. Um,

37:56

I think the wall needed to be set up better.

38:00

Yeah, yeah, it's it's inexcusable

38:02

for something like that to happen and

38:05

They should all be ashamed that they get paid

38:07

money to actually play professional soccer a

38:10

few thoughts on this one Manchester City

38:12

is the better team the fact that Ramadhan played

38:14

on the counter the whole time is evidence of

38:16

that But I will say there was a middle

38:18

chunk of this game last 20 minutes or so

38:20

the first half first 15 minutes of the Second

38:22

half when it was 2-1 round Madrid and they

38:25

had all the best chances City

38:27

really played with fire there on a different day around we

38:29

did have their finishing boots on they could have broken that

38:31

open Gone up like 4-1 and then that would have been

38:33

a big hill to climb from Manchester City So I do

38:35

think they dodged the bullet there and they ended up getting

38:38

a pretty good result in the end It

38:40

was I mean from a neutral

38:42

standpoint It's fun because it's a lot of

38:44

goals and it's back and forth and there's

38:46

no real defense and there's no real rhyme

38:49

or reason To it. I'm I'm sure whether

38:51

you know, it doesn't matter Either

38:54

side probably looked at it when they're gonna look at

38:56

it this week and say that's not necessarily that we

38:58

want to do Or something that we can count on

39:00

going forward, but I'm

39:03

still gonna go ultimately with City But

39:06

it's amazing you know some of these teams that

39:08

we hold and put on a pedestal and they

39:10

you know all the Technique and

39:12

the tactics and stuff like that when

39:15

it ends up being kind of like a street ball

39:17

type of game like that We go out. This is

39:19

this is great But there's no way

39:21

that these coaches drew that up like this now

39:23

Yeah, a couple of thoughts on City one good

39:25

one bad The good so Foden has leveled up

39:28

this season and is now one of the best

39:30

players in the world He

39:32

had a shot minutes before his goal From

39:35

that same spot that he shot right at looning and

39:37

it felt like a golfer taking a practice swing You

39:39

knew if he got another chance from there was gonna

39:41

go in the upper corner and it did what a

39:43

sensational goal from him Do you think it's just a

39:46

logical type of progression and evolution for him? Or

39:48

is it something that has happened? I mean

39:50

it's interesting because he stuck it out there

39:52

through some years where he wasn't playing as

39:54

much as people wanted him to while others

39:56

Like Sancho and Cole Palmer decided they didn't

39:58

want to wait unless city at an early

40:00

age to go somewhere else. So it's interesting the different

40:03

paths you can take and for a phone you have

40:05

to say it's now paying off because he's full potential.

40:07

But you're looking at him as one of the elites

40:09

in the world. Oh, absolutely, he's incredible. And then on

40:12

the downside, Erlan Holland. I think

40:14

everybody right now is struggling to reconcile this. Look,

40:16

goals win games and when you have a

40:18

guy that is adept at scoring it as he is,

40:21

he's obviously a valuable commodity, but he's

40:23

so limited and it gets exposed in some of these

40:25

games that can we really consider

40:27

this guy one of the handful best players in the

40:29

world? What do you mean

40:32

he's limited in that he's predictable? Yeah, and he's just

40:34

so reliant on service. You have all these other players

40:36

in the field that you see can conjure up things

40:38

on their own while Holland, if you don't get him

40:40

the ball in his spots, he

40:42

barely touches it and you don't even notice he's out.

40:45

But this should not have come as a surprise to

40:47

anybody. I mean, it's not like he's forgotten to do

40:49

it. And to your point, I can agree because when

40:51

you talk about, look at

40:53

some comps out there, Lewandowski, even

40:55

he who is certainly reliant on

40:57

service, he does some individual

40:59

things that you say, all right, well, that's

41:01

something that Erwin Holland has. And I'm not

41:03

saying that Erwin Holland hasn't had individual moments.

41:05

Sometimes he'll get out in open space and

41:07

he'll be able to take players on one

41:09

on one. And that's something doing alone, but

41:12

I understand what you're saying, but you're

41:14

not, you're giving up on him? No, I

41:16

just think he's a specialist. Like I'm trying to

41:18

reconcile the fact that I can both

41:20

think he's gonna be the best center forward in the

41:22

world for the next 10 years, but there's never gonna

41:25

be a day that I'm gonna think he's the best

41:27

player in the world because I'm just always partial

41:29

to somebody that's got a bit more

41:31

to his game and it's creative. And so that's

41:33

just how I view these goalscoring

41:35

center forwards. I don't know. I mean, is

41:37

that crazy? It's not

41:39

crazy, but I think what you've reconciled

41:41

is that this is who he

41:43

is. So there's no change

41:46

or growth. He

41:49

can't be something that he's not and you don't see

41:51

him having something else. I don't know

41:54

because there was one match late last season against Arsenal

41:56

at home where he all of a sudden, his link

41:58

up play was excellent. He was skipping. around the fenders

42:00

so he has it in him. It's one game but

42:02

nevertheless that one game is stuck in my head and

42:05

it makes me think that there is more to his

42:07

game if he wanted to really develop it so I

42:09

don't know, we'll see. Mossy wants more

42:11

from him. I can appreciate that because

42:14

it'd be easy to just say well this is

42:16

who he is and either you like him or

42:18

you don't but that's it. He's never gonna get

42:20

any better but you believe there's still an opportunity

42:22

for him to be better. As for the second

42:24

leg, Kevin De Bruyne did not play due to

42:27

illness and Kyle Walker did not play due to

42:29

injury, they're both expected back at the Etihad

42:31

next week so I think Edge, Manchester City,

42:33

I expect them to go through. Yeah, especially

42:35

with a non-puking Kevin De Bruyne, that'll

42:37

be a good thing. You know, when

42:40

the lineup sheet came out and I saw that

42:42

De Bruyne wasn't in it, you

42:44

know how Pep can sometimes overthink these big games.

42:46

Oh really? It did actually cross my mind that

42:49

he had just left them out but then I

42:51

checked on X and saw that he was ill. Oh

42:53

my God, that would have been nuts. Where

42:56

to now? We go to

42:58

Wednesday where we had another great game,

43:00

Barcelona with a 3-2 away win over

43:02

PSG at the Pac de France. Rafsina

43:04

scored in the first half, then PSG

43:06

scored twice early in the second half,

43:08

then Bele and Vicina, but

43:10

then Barcelona, a sensational goal to make

43:13

it 2-2. The pass from Pedri and

43:15

the volley from Rafsina and then Christiansen

43:17

off a corner 3-2 so

43:19

great result for them, they are in the driver's

43:21

seat to advance. Okay, so what kind of nutty

43:23

this is this, Masi? How is this possible that

43:26

Barcelona is able to conjure up this type of

43:28

performance, everything that we have said about that, what

43:30

they are, more importantly, what they aren't in this

43:33

version of it and not

43:35

only that, but in Paris

43:37

against PSG. How is that possible?

43:39

You know, with Barcelona doing what they're doing since

43:41

Shavi announced he's leaving and even the Bayern result

43:43

with Tuchel in the same boat, my dad joked

43:45

with me that this is the departing manager bounce.

43:48

Well, we don't have to really

43:50

listen to the dude anymore because he's going anyway, so

43:52

we'll just do what we want. Yeah.

43:54

Well, all right. You know, speaking of

43:56

managers, Luis Enrique in

43:58

his press conference... before

44:00

this match. He was asked,

44:03

who embodies Barcelona's spirit and identity more?

44:05

You or Shavi? And everybody expected him

44:07

to give some diplomatic answer and he

44:09

said me without question. I love it.

44:12

But then they were hugging before the game

44:14

so I don't think Shavi took it in

44:16

a bad way. It's fine. I mean ultimately

44:18

we've got the well not the last laugh

44:20

but certainly this laugh here today. So now

44:22

what happens in the return? I think Barcelona

44:24

go through. I will say

44:27

Mbappe was oddly subdued in that first leg.

44:29

Did not play well. We know he's leaving

44:31

in the summer. He had kind of a

44:33

LeBron game five against the Celtics in 2010

44:35

kind of vibe to him. I

44:37

don't know what that was about. So you're going to

44:39

bet on him not returning to form? Well they certainly

44:41

need him in the second. Like I saw a great

44:43

post on X. If you

44:45

had told me that there were going to be 18 goals

44:47

in the Champions League this week and Mbappe and Holland would

44:49

not score a single one of them and you wouldn't believe

44:51

it. I'm still gonna stick with

44:54

PSG. Alright and then finally. And

44:56

then finally Atletico Madrid claimed a 2-1 home

44:58

win over Dortmund. They scored early when Coble

45:01

and Mattson made a mess out of playing

45:03

out of the back. Rodrigo de Paul capitalized

45:05

so it doesn't just happen in CONCACAF. We

45:07

see it in UEFA as well. Listen the

45:10

new romantic effect is all over. It is

45:12

global. Everybody wants to be a part of

45:14

it. And then Samuel Lino

45:16

made it 2-0 and Atletico had chances to

45:19

break this wide open. They didn't take

45:21

advantage and then they got punished for it

45:23

late. Sebastian Haller made it 2-1 and Julian Brandt

45:25

actually hit the woodwork in stoppers times. It was

45:27

almost 2-2 but Dortmund with

45:29

that Haller goal still very much in this tie. But

45:34

do you think Dortmund

45:36

is still in this? I

45:39

think Dortmund is still in this but Atletico will go

45:41

through. Yeah me too. I agree with you there. What

45:44

else? Do we have any Europa action? Yes

45:47

some terrific quarterfinal first legs this

45:49

week in that competition as well.

45:52

Roma went to the San Sito and

45:54

beat AC Milan 1-0. Mancini with the

45:56

goal in the first half. Polisic started.

45:58

Musa an unused Oof. Well,

46:02

that's not good for AC Milan

46:05

and Christian Polisic. Listen, got a

46:07

yellow two and not

46:10

good for Musa there, but great for

46:13

Mancini to get that

46:15

big, big goal. And

46:17

Roma continued their resurgence under De Rossi,

46:19

who's been a big improvement over Jose

46:21

Mourinho. I know the Mourinho fanboys don't

46:23

want to hear that, but... It's

46:27

like night and day, right? Yes. I

46:29

know who's happy with this result. Who's that? Jack,

46:31

apparently, is a Roma fan who worked on our

46:33

pot. I just found that out today. He's been

46:35

keeping this quiet. Yes. And he

46:37

came in today and he was screaming

46:39

and yelling. So, interesting. Well, I

46:41

mean, his perfect day would be Roma winning, but

46:43

Christian Polisic playing and doing well. That's

46:46

usually how it goes. And Michigan doing something where

46:48

he's a big Michigan fan. That's how him and

46:50

I bond. Michigan being docked points for doing something

46:52

illegal. Michigan actually played tonight in the Frozen Four,

46:55

so Jack does have something to watch. The

46:58

equivalent of the Final Four. Any other Europa stuff?

47:00

Yes. Atalanta went to Enfield

47:02

and smacked Liverpool around 3-0, Skamaka with two

47:04

goals. I'm reading Keith Costigan's post on X.

47:06

I've never seen him go after Klopp like

47:09

this. We were out coached. Wrong lineup.

47:11

Bad subs. Keith is beside

47:13

himself. Really? Yeah. He's

47:15

all over Klopp? I thought Klopp was

47:18

untouchable. Yep. Evidently not. Well,

47:20

I mean, they just got their ass handed

47:22

to. Wow. That

47:24

is a... That is amazing. Now,

47:27

how does this affect big picture quotient and

47:30

all that kind of stuff? Does this possibly

47:32

impact us? Yes. If Atalanta were

47:34

to eliminate Liverpool, that would be a big feather in

47:36

Serie A's cap. They're in good shape to get that

47:38

fifth place to be a champion. Which

47:41

could be good news for Sean Sullivan's

47:43

Bologna or Jack's Roma. They're both in

47:45

that mix. Thanks, Klopp. Yes. Leverakusen

47:47

incidentally scored twice late to beat Wesam

47:50

2-0 at home and Benfica

47:52

beat Marseille 2-1. In

47:55

terms of the weekend in Europe, let's go to

47:57

the Premier League, the title race there. Manchester.

48:00

City will host Luton town Liverpool will

48:02

host Crystal Palace and Arsenal will host Aston Villa

48:04

So they're all at home. Arsenal have the toughest

48:06

game of the three I mean,

48:08

yeah so much so I mean you got to feel that peps

48:11

gonna arrest some players against Luton I would think I

48:13

would think so. Yeah, right All

48:15

right. Yeah, I don't Yeah,

48:19

so who Liverpool you think has the Wait,

48:22

you said Liverpool has the most difficult Arsenal has

48:24

the most Arsenal. Yeah, Aston Villa. Yeah, I

48:27

still think they all find ways through I

48:29

agree. I think all three win this weekend.

48:31

We dropped down a level to the championship

48:33

We had some midweek action Norwich played to

48:35

a 2-2 draw away to John T Whitehead

48:38

Sheffield Wednesday Josh Sargent with a goal in

48:40

that one while Coventry Suffered a 2-1 defeat

48:42

away to Southampton. How'd you write missed a

48:44

penalty in that game? Oh, no That's

48:47

not good, but it is good for Josh

48:49

Sargent I mean, I don't want to be

48:51

blase that we just constantly seems like every

48:54

week you're talking about Josh Sargent scoring another

48:56

goal This is wonderful.

48:58

I mean he

49:00

is a goal scorer, but he's improved and

49:04

The consistency in which to use scoring Again,

49:08

just irritates me that he was

49:10

hurt this last window But I I would love

49:12

to see him this summer and see what this

49:14

new version of him looks like in the national

49:16

team The center forward battle for the US is

49:19

so interesting last night. We did Monterey Intermae I

49:21

could not help but watch Brandon Vasquez through that

49:23

lens and Analyze his movements and how it would

49:25

compare to the other center forwards in the mix

49:28

and how he would gel with Pulisic Rain and

49:30

companies so, you know, you can't help but think

49:32

that reality show just bring them all in Let's

49:34

just see what happens and the best man standing

49:37

So Norwich five points clear

49:40

of Coventry for that last promotion playoff spot

49:42

in this upcoming weekend Norwich away to Preston

49:44

Coventry away to Birmingham Finally,

49:46

we mentioned that lever accused

49:48

and beat West Ham today in the Europa

49:50

League There's still unbeaten in all competitions this

49:53

season and this upcoming weekend They can wrap

49:55

up their first ever Bundesliga title. They host

49:57

Werde Bremen if they win. They are the

49:59

champions April 11th, we're gonna

50:01

have a champion incredible Wow That's

50:04

pretty impressive the last time somebody other

50:06

than Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga title

50:09

It was Borussia Dortmund in the 2011-12

50:12

campaign. They clinched it in April of

50:14

2012 and just to put that into

50:16

some Perspective in April of 2012 Sean

50:18

Sullivan and Kat were still college students

50:21

at Tennessee Aaron Schechter

50:23

was like 12 or 13 years

50:25

old preparing for a bat mitzvah So

50:27

long time ago Wow, that is a that

50:30

is a long time. What year you say

50:32

that was? 2012 I

50:34

was still I was still at ESPN

50:40

Getting ready for I guess.

50:42

I don't know maybe a euros or something like that.

50:44

I don't know all sorts of stuff was going on

50:46

back then Doesn't seem that

50:49

long ago. It really wasn't that long ago anything else my

50:51

friend. That is it All right. Let's take

50:53

another quick break when we come back. It's time for a selection

50:56

Okay, welcome back It's time for ask Alexi that part

50:58

of the show where you send in your comments questions

51:00

and concerns and you can do it on The social

51:02

media platforms out there and keep in mind that our

51:04

handle is SOTU with Alexi and

51:06

use that hashtag ask Alexi or you can

51:08

call into our State of the Union podcast

51:10

hotline Which is six five seven five four

51:12

nine two two nine seven six five seven

51:14

five four nine two two nine seven masi

51:17

What are the folks want to know today? First

51:19

up a voicemail. Let's take a listen right now Hey

51:24

Alexia Masi, it's Josh from Atlanta. Hey,

51:26

love the pod So Masi's

51:28

probably heard about the college football Super

51:30

League. They're talking about proposing. I only

51:33

bring this up because The MLS

51:35

guys they're working with MLS guys to

51:37

build a similar model Where

51:40

the schools own the league like the kind

51:42

of like the teams on the league in MLS

51:45

One really interesting things about this college football

51:47

Super League that think translates possibly to

51:50

the MLS is Talking

51:53

about having like most of the teams can't

51:55

get relegated But

51:57

there's a couple spots each year

52:00

that the lower division, they can come up

52:02

and some of these schools that are

52:04

up can go down. My

52:07

question for you guys is, do

52:09

you think this is something that could maybe work in the MLS? Like

52:12

we have 30 teams, they're locked in, but

52:15

the MLS buys the U.S.L. or buys the

52:17

second division, whatever, and then one

52:19

or two teams come up each year. Is

52:21

there any possibility of that working?

52:25

I know it's not like anything in the world that

52:27

exists, but I thought it was an interesting idea and

52:29

would love to hear you guys take on it, thank you. All

52:32

right, thank you, Josh from Atlanta. Massey, can you

52:34

just distill it down a little bit so I

52:36

understand my little brain as it

52:38

relates to this football possibility and translating it

52:41

to a soccer situation? So a lot of

52:43

people think the NCAA is no longer equipped

52:45

to run college football. Are

52:47

you one of those people? I have a lot

52:49

of issues with the screen. Particularly

52:52

in their handling of sign stealing controversy.

52:56

But so the idea is all the schools

52:58

would band together and they would create this

53:00

super league and they would

53:02

have different tiers and there would be 70 schools that would be

53:04

guaranteed to always be in the first tier, but then there'd be

53:06

another 50 or so that could get promoted

53:09

and relegated between the first tier and the second

53:11

tier. And the teams in the first

53:13

tier would be divided into divisions. And then depending on

53:15

how you fair in those divisions, you advance the playoffs.

53:18

So they would basically organize themselves and

53:20

render the NCAA obsolete. Okay,

53:23

so I certainly don't know

53:25

a whole lot about the football situation, but

53:27

when it comes to the NCAA, from

53:30

what I see and what I feel

53:32

and what I sense is to your

53:34

point, it

53:36

is heading in the direction

53:38

of being irrelevant. And so

53:41

there is absolutely a case to be made

53:43

for something new and improved,

53:45

quote unquote better to come along and take

53:47

the place, given all the

53:50

changes and the dramatic changes that we have

53:52

seen over there in college sports. As

53:55

it relates to how American

53:59

soccer and In this case, you're talking about

54:01

MLS, you've mentioned coming together with USO.

54:04

I've talked a long time about this

54:07

ramp up to 26 and

54:09

the opportunity and the moment that soccer

54:11

has in the United States, and we'll

54:13

throw Canada into, and Mexico for that

54:15

matter, relative to 2026, but

54:18

this moment to do things and

54:20

to do big, bold,

54:23

dare I say, arrogant things. Because

54:26

if you're not going to do it now, then

54:28

when? Go big or go home relative to 26.

54:31

This applies to anybody in the soccer space

54:33

out there. When

54:36

it comes to a potential

54:39

league like this, a

54:43

lot of people out there, a lot of zealots

54:45

out there when it comes to promotion, relegation will

54:47

argue, well, this is just intra-league promotion,

54:49

relegation, and it's a bastardized version,

54:51

but at least it's something. I

54:53

do think that at some point,

54:55

all of these teams, and obviously

54:57

next year, MLS will become 30

54:59

teams. If you were to add

55:01

all the USO teams, it would be this goliath

55:05

of a league. You

55:08

would have to find something to

55:11

separate out the different divisions

55:13

and possibly to incorporate it.

55:16

But the way you're explaining it to me, there

55:18

are certain protections, and I know when the original

55:20

Super League idea came out,

55:23

there were going to be these untouchable

55:25

types of teams. I

55:27

think that's hard. I think it's hard to

55:31

split that baby, if you will,

55:34

and have teams that are protected.

55:36

But the argument is, the only way

55:39

this gets done if people do insulate

55:41

and protect themselves, and the

55:43

big dogs out there are going to do

55:45

it in perpetuity going forward.

55:47

But you still have the opportunity for

55:49

others, if and when they have their

55:51

moment, to rise. Am I framing that

55:53

correctly? Correct. Yeah.

55:56

I mean, I would love nothing more

55:58

than... the MLS

56:01

owners, which by the way we said, they

56:03

met right around the corner here in Los

56:05

Angeles. And as you mentioned, they've changed some

56:07

rules. I don't consider them necessarily big, bold

56:09

and arrogant to come out tomorrow and say,

56:12

we're buying a U.S.L. It's all

56:14

being branded MLS from top to finish.

56:16

We have three different divisions, one, two,

56:18

three. There is

56:20

promotion, relegation within. There

56:23

are parachute payments. Everybody is

56:25

made hold and it's one

56:27

big MLS ecosystem going

56:29

forward. But I also would

56:31

say that there is a

56:34

sleeping giant and an existing infrastructure in

56:36

the college soccer game that

56:38

has been not

56:40

untapped because in the past it was

56:42

tapped but now it has almost become

56:44

obsolete. And I would love to find

56:46

a way to regenerate that and

56:49

to use it and whether it's a

56:51

feeder system, a developmental type of system

56:53

or who knows, maybe

56:55

it becomes part of that new type

56:58

of pyramid that you have when

57:00

it comes to the level. So there's a lot

57:02

of creative different things that can be done that

57:04

don't completely throw the baby out with the bathwater

57:07

when it comes to the existing structure even though

57:09

some people don't like it out there

57:11

but also make it more

57:13

inclusive and in doing so make it

57:15

more interesting because ultimately this is about

57:17

attracting people into watch soccer to be

57:19

involved in soccer. And the more interesting

57:21

you make it, the more competitive you

57:23

make it, the more entertaining you make

57:26

it and the bigger

57:28

I guess you make it given relative to how

57:30

big the United States is and Canada is the

57:32

better off you're going to be. On

57:35

the topic of college sports, we mentioned this

57:37

in our last pod so just to put

57:39

a ribbon on it, congratulations to the UConn

57:41

Huskies, they beat Purdue to win the NCAA

57:43

men's basketball championship that made

57:45

some people in our control room very happy,

57:48

Sean and Kat hate Purdue so they rooted

57:50

hard for UConn and also Erin Schechter won

57:52

her pool by virtue of UConn winning the

57:54

title. Question for you now, and

57:56

I was with Rob Stone carpooling in the other

57:59

day, do you consider... UConn now

58:01

a Blue Blood. Absolutely.

58:03

Six national titles in 25 years is

58:08

incredible. They've forced their way into that

58:10

aristocracy of the sport. They've been more

58:12

successful than the Kentuckys and Kansas and...

58:15

But there's no official criteria. People just

58:17

said this is the group of Blue

58:19

Bloods, whatever? Correct. They had won a

58:22

lot and said... Yeah, it's

58:24

similar to European soccer. You have your Real

58:26

Madrid's and Manchester United's and Bayern Munich's. If

58:28

some club that

58:30

you didn't previously think was on that level, all of a sudden

58:32

won a bunch of Champions League titles, at some point you'd have

58:34

to say they belong in that group now and UConn is absolutely...

58:37

So in this scenario UConn, I know

58:40

they're talking football here, but if they did

58:42

it basketball-wise they would be protected from any

58:44

type of relegation. And

58:47

you know John Calipari left Kentucky

58:49

to go to Arkansas. Kentucky made

58:52

a run at UConn's coach Danny Hurley and

58:54

he has apparently turned them down. So even

58:56

more satisfying news for UConn, they're now at

58:58

the level where their coach is turning down

59:00

Kentucky. He stores through and through. Kentucky is

59:03

like the Real Madrid of college basketball. Wow.

59:05

That's pretty big deal. Times have changed. Times

59:07

have changed. I wonder what Erin will do

59:09

with her winning. She presumably earned

59:11

a lot of money by winning this pool. Well, I mean

59:14

usually what you do is you save a

59:16

portion of it yourself and treat yourself and I

59:18

think that's justified. Well, and the rest you

59:20

usually spend on people that you like and

59:22

you respect that limits the pool

59:24

here. So you and I will

59:27

not be getting any gifts. No, of course

59:29

not. Next up we have a question on X.

59:32

Glenton Richards asks, for the expanded Club World

59:34

Cup in 2025, as host nation the

59:36

US is allowed to nominate one team to play in

59:39

the tournament in addition to the Seattle Centers.

59:41

If you could pick any team for that slot, which would you

59:43

choose and why? Oh man. Now typically

59:45

in the Club World Cup, in previous

59:47

versions of it, the host nation,

59:49

their reigning domestic champion got that

59:51

slot. So in MLS's case it

59:53

would mean the 2024 MLS

59:56

Cup winner. But there

59:58

is this cynicism out there. that

1:00:00

they want to get Inter Miami in there any

1:00:03

way they can. So they're going to wait and see

1:00:05

what Inter Miami does this year. If they win the

1:00:07

league's cup or the supporters' shield or the MLS cup,

1:00:09

whatever they do, MLS will then determine that that's who

1:00:11

gets that slot. Obviously, Inter

1:00:13

Miami qualifying by virtue of the Conger Kaft Champions

1:00:15

Cup went by the wayside last night. So

1:00:19

this is an interesting question, Glenn. So

1:00:24

if my goal is to make the

1:00:26

biggest and most positive

1:00:28

impact using the platform

1:00:30

that is the club World

1:00:32

Cup. And when I say my goal, it

1:00:34

would be my MLS goal, right? Because

1:00:39

what we talked about earlier, you're

1:00:42

looking at Columbus Crew

1:00:44

right now as arguably the

1:00:47

best team in Major League Soccer. And

1:00:50

so from a pure competitive

1:00:52

standpoint, they certainly

1:00:54

would be a team that I would

1:00:56

have no problem inserting

1:00:59

into that tournament and being very

1:01:01

confident that they would do well and that

1:01:03

they would equip themselves well relative to, you

1:01:06

know, their brand, which is Columbus and

1:01:08

the brand of MLS and I guess

1:01:11

by extension, American soccer and certainly American

1:01:13

professional soccer. But keep in mind that

1:01:15

this is happening a year from now. And

1:01:18

whether it's some of the world rule changes that

1:01:20

you mentioned earlier, whether it's, I think, an

1:01:23

improvement and a continued improvement and a doubling

1:01:26

and tripling down when it comes to Inter

1:01:28

Miami. I think Inter Miami is going to

1:01:30

look very, very different come the summer of

1:01:32

2025. And

1:01:35

like it or not, again, don't kill the

1:01:37

messenger. But an Inter

1:01:39

Miami doing well in

1:01:42

the 2025 Club World Cup for

1:01:45

the brand of MLS and for

1:01:48

American soccer is

1:01:50

much more impactful than

1:01:52

the Columbus Crew doing well. And

1:01:54

I know there's people screaming and yelling right there saying,

1:01:57

oh, my God, no, but the Columbus Crew can actually

1:01:59

win in. Inter Miami can't win it. My point is

1:02:01

I think that they will

1:02:03

get to a point where they're a comp

1:02:05

for the Columbus crew. That's not that

1:02:07

the Columbus crew can also improve that

1:02:10

I would still feel more comfortable in

1:02:13

getting the biggest bang for your buck with

1:02:15

a messy and inter Miami running around

1:02:18

in a club world cup. So yes,

1:02:21

for the greater good, I would

1:02:23

say inter Miami, I would pick as the team

1:02:25

going through and to your point, I know there's

1:02:27

a lot of people from a financial

1:02:30

perspective that would love to

1:02:32

have that happen. Yeah, I mean, Glenton is framing

1:02:34

it as if they can just pick a team. I

1:02:36

think they're going to have to nail down a criteria.

1:02:39

I don't think you can just wait and then decide

1:02:41

we want to send such and such team. I think

1:02:43

they're going to have to determine at some point that

1:02:45

it's the MLS cup winner or the supportership winner. You

1:02:47

know that you have to have won something I think

1:02:49

to get in there. But if you are sitting in

1:02:51

Don Garber's chair and they came to you

1:02:54

and said, look, just give us two teams. Yeah, inter Miami would

1:02:56

for sure be one of them. Right now, would

1:02:59

would Seattle be one? Oh,

1:03:03

you're saying even if you just start from scratch. Yeah,

1:03:06

if you're just starting from scratch and say,

1:03:08

look, we're having this tournament, you get to

1:03:10

send two teams, Don Garber, for the good

1:03:12

of your league doing what's

1:03:14

best for your league. Who are

1:03:16

the two teams that you're sending? I think probably

1:03:18

Columbus and inter Miami. Yeah.

1:03:21

No. And by the way, Columbus could

1:03:23

qualify if they win this Conga Calf Champions Cup. Exactly.

1:03:26

And and Philadelphia has a path to

1:03:28

getting in. Monterey won the 2021 Conga

1:03:31

Calf Champions League. So they're already in it. If

1:03:33

they were to win this edition, then it goes

1:03:35

to the next team with the highest coefficient. I

1:03:38

read somewhere that that would be Philadelphia. So if

1:03:40

you're a Philadelphia fan, you're rooting for Monterey right

1:03:42

now. That's oh my goodness.

1:03:44

That's right. All right. I guess it's strange,

1:03:47

strange things. But look, good

1:03:49

question there, Glenn. I appreciate it. And let us

1:03:51

know what you think of Glenn's question. What what

1:03:53

two teams or what one team, given

1:03:56

that Seattle is going, would you pick if you were in

1:03:58

charge in order to make. the biggest impact, not

1:04:00

to satisfy you from an individual perspective, but if

1:04:02

you were in that chair and you were able

1:04:04

to pick, let us know who you would pick.

1:04:08

Anything else, Massey? That's it. All

1:04:10

right, let's go to One for the Road. It's the end of our show

1:04:12

and at the end of each and every show I do give you my

1:04:15

One for the Road. We are coming

1:04:17

to you on Thursday, April 11th.

1:04:19

We woke up today to the

1:04:21

news that O.J. Simpson, former football

1:04:23

player, former TV personality, actor, all

1:04:25

that kind of stuff and I

1:04:29

guess now a former murderer passed

1:04:32

away. For those

1:04:34

that remember back in

1:04:36

1994, O.J. Simpson

1:04:38

was in the high

1:04:41

speed or low speed, excuse me, Bronco

1:04:43

Chase as he

1:04:45

was allegedly running from the

1:04:47

law, from this craziness that he

1:04:49

was involved with. It

1:04:51

overlaps with so many different sports

1:04:54

stories, including yours truly

1:04:56

and the U.S. Men's National Team that at

1:04:58

the time was getting ready to kick

1:05:00

off the 1994 World Cup. Keep

1:05:05

in mind the 1994 World Cup was in the

1:05:08

United States. For the U.S.

1:05:10

our first game was in Detroit in

1:05:12

my old stomping grounds about 15 minutes

1:05:14

away from where I grew up and

1:05:18

it was at the Pontiac Silverdome.

1:05:20

So the

1:05:23

night of the chase,

1:05:26

if you will, the Bronco Chase, and

1:05:29

the Bronco Chase happened

1:05:32

on June 19th, excuse

1:05:35

me, June 18th if I'm not mistaken, 1994.

1:05:38

Sorry, June 17th, I want to

1:05:40

make sure I get this right. We played

1:05:42

on the 18th but the Bronco Chase was the

1:05:44

night before which was on June 17th, That

1:05:50

night we were all in our hotel

1:05:52

room getting ready for the next day where we're

1:05:55

going to play a World Cup game and

1:05:58

we all finish our meal. We head

1:06:00

back to our rooms and word

1:06:03

is out. We're watching on our television

1:06:06

that this chase is happening.

1:06:08

Now keep in mind the game is not only the

1:06:10

next day, but it is at 11 a.m. in

1:06:13

the morning in order to accommodate European

1:06:15

time. So that's an early game,

1:06:17

early kick, which means that we have to get

1:06:19

up early, which means we were trying to go

1:06:22

to bed as early as we could.

1:06:24

But it was impossible. The entire

1:06:26

country was just

1:06:29

sitting there in front of their

1:06:32

televisions, watching this slow speed chase

1:06:34

in the Bronco happen on all

1:06:36

the California freeways, including those

1:06:38

of us that were on the team. At

1:06:41

the time, as we all know, I was

1:06:43

a roommate of Eric Winalda. I was

1:06:45

the only one that could put up with him on the

1:06:47

team. But the day

1:06:49

before, he had he had had

1:06:53

a bottle of a sports drink that she'll

1:06:55

remain nameless and he had

1:06:57

an allergic reaction. They didn't

1:06:59

know it was a sports drink, anything. And

1:07:01

so they were worried that he would infect

1:07:03

me with whatever he had. And so they

1:07:06

put him in a single room. And I

1:07:08

went and roomed with Brad Friedel, our former

1:07:10

colleague, wonderful goalkeeper. And

1:07:12

I'll never forget sitting with laying

1:07:14

down in our double beds there

1:07:17

in Pontiac, Michigan, and

1:07:19

watching this Bronco chase

1:07:21

happen. Like

1:07:24

so many millions were also across

1:07:26

the country and looking at

1:07:28

the clock and then looking at the television, looking at the

1:07:30

clock and saying, son of a.

1:07:33

This this is going to keep me from getting

1:07:35

the sleep that I need before the biggest game

1:07:37

of my life, the World Cup, the next day.

1:07:40

Now, this was such a convergence of so

1:07:42

many different things, including many things in the

1:07:44

sports world that ESPN has

1:07:46

an incredible documentary that documents all

1:07:49

of the things that were happening

1:07:51

at that moment or getting ready to happen.

1:07:53

The World Cup had already had

1:07:55

already kicked kicked off. But when I think of

1:07:57

O.J. Simpson and I think of that Bronco chase.

1:08:00

I think of sitting there next to Brad Friedel watching

1:08:03

it up in Pontiac, Michigan Getting

1:08:05

ready to go and play our game

1:08:07

that next that next morning is something

1:08:09

I can never forget I know for an entire

1:08:11

generation It's one of those moments where you know

1:08:14

exactly where you were when that was happening I

1:08:16

just the correction on something you called him a

1:08:18

murder. He was found not guilty actually. Oh, that's

1:08:20

true. Okay Well to each their own but I

1:08:23

did get invited by a friend today to an

1:08:26

event tomorrow night at the Egyptian theater It's

1:08:28

the 15 year anniversary of

1:08:30

ESPN launching the 30 for 30 series Really?

1:08:33

So there's gonna be a panel with a

1:08:35

bunch of filmmakers and ESPN execs and they're

1:08:37

gonna show clips from several 34 30s including

1:08:39

the One you just alluded to the June

1:08:41

17 1994 one So I'm

1:08:43

thinking of going to this because it's gonna be pretty interesting

1:08:45

now in the wake of OJ passing away But yeah

1:08:48

now it's an incredible sports day. You had the

1:08:50

Bronco chase you had Knicks Rockets NBA

1:08:52

Finals You had the New York Rangers parade

1:08:54

after they won the Stanley Cup You had the

1:08:56

start of the World Cup you had Arnold Palmer

1:08:58

playing his final round at the US Open Ken

1:09:01

Griffey Jr. Hits three home runs in a in

1:09:03

a major league baseball game So yeah, and ESPN

1:09:05

did an incredible job of capturing all that to

1:09:08

me This is that's like a top 5 30

1:09:10

for 30 for me along with like the two

1:09:12

escobars and there's a couple others But well, I

1:09:14

mean the the actual OJ documentary. I think is

1:09:16

one of the great ones in history. Absolutely

1:09:18

OJ made in America That's the greatest thing ESPN

1:09:20

has ever done. It's one of the best a

1:09:22

transcend sports It was one of the best documentaries

1:09:24

period I've ever I couldn't I mean I talk

1:09:26

about binging. I just could not Watching

1:09:29

that that was that was

1:09:31

insane. My goodness Anything

1:09:33

before we go much that is it. All

1:09:36

right. Well, thank you for hanging with us today and

1:09:39

Just facing us on and off the field We

1:09:41

appreciate that you're downloading and reviewing and watching and

1:09:43

rating and doing all the different things whether you're

1:09:45

listening to it in your car Or whether you're

1:09:48

watching on Spotify or YouTube out there all

1:09:50

different platforms We thank you for doing that

1:09:53

If you want to get in touch with us as

1:09:55

we mentioned you can use that ask election hashtag on

1:09:57

social media or Again,

1:10:00

it's X5754922976. Have

1:10:03

a wonderful weekend. Enjoy

1:10:06

all the soccer on and off the field or

1:10:08

whatever you're doing out there. See you again next

1:10:11

week. And until then, and as always my friends,

1:10:13

besides the... ...the

1:10:30

Joel Cladd Show on Spotify.