3rd Degree the Podcast #246

[00:00:00] Speaker A: We can sit here and start financially planning out how much money you're gonna make renting out your house. Yeah. [00:00:09] Speaker B: Ooh. [00:00:14] Speaker A: Third degree. The third degree. Napa degree. The third degree. Napa third degree. Third degree. Nepod. [00:00:30] Speaker B: Third degree. The podcast is brought to you by soccer 90. Com. They got everything you can want from the Premier League serial MLS, of course. All that sweet, sweet, ashy Dallas gear shop soccer 90 dot for all your jerseys, tees and scarves. Third degree. Listeners get 20% off at checkout if you use the code third degree. That's 20% off. Soccerine.com code third degree. Some exclusions to apply. [00:00:52] Speaker A: Well, hello there, FC Dallas. Curious fan. Welcome to another episode of Third Degree, the podcast. This one is episode number two four six. Hi, I'm Peter. Dan Crook is not with us this week as he has a family thing to attend and our best to him and his family. So it is just myself and the original. In fact, I decided today he's the original MLS influencer. Your hero, my hero, everybody's hero. And yes, the original of thirddegree. Net. Buzz Carrick. Come in, Buzz. [00:01:29] Speaker B: Hi, Peter. Thank you for that introduction. This was the first training session today of season 27 of our coverage, which is too short of how long the club's been around. [00:01:39] Speaker A: Your coverage, Buzz. [00:01:40] Speaker B: Yeah, well, no, you've been here for close to that. You were with me since maybe a season or two after I started. [00:01:46] Speaker A: I'm just the talking box. You're the one that does all the work. I don't want anybody thinking that I'm actually doing any effort or work here. I'm just the talking box. [00:01:56] Speaker B: I was trying to think of who out there has been around as long as me, and the only one I can come up with is, like, Mark Fiskin, I think, in New York. [00:02:03] Speaker A: I don't think Mark's been around quite as long as you. I don't think Denord has been around quite as long as you, although he doesn't really cover the team in that sense. Yeah, and I know, Buzz, there isn't anybody that has been doing this as long as you have. You do realize, Buzz, that you are a rare bird in that there are guys that really work hard at covering their local team in the United States. But I don't think there's anybody else a who's completely independent financially from the club that can also rattle off the starting eleven of the U 15 team. [00:02:44] Speaker B: It may be that I'm insane, Peter. This may not be a good thing. [00:02:50] Speaker A: Okay, that's your version of events. You're just awesome. [00:02:53] Speaker B: I appreciate that. [00:02:54] Speaker A: Thanks for doing this, man. I appreciate it. All right, so, Buzz, today was your very first opportunity. The weather's been wonky, the schedule for training has been all messed up and things. And today was your very first chance to go out to Frisco, attend training. And we'll start off with the big news that you had conversations with both Mr. Zanata and Mr. Manager. Nico. [00:03:17] Speaker B: Yeah. You want to start with the Zenata one? [00:03:20] Speaker A: I think this is the way today should go, Buzz. I think you should just kind of unload your brain and if I got a question I want to ask you, I'll drop it and spice it up that way. [00:03:31] Speaker B: Well, my day started at 05:00 a.m. Because I had to take my wife to the airport. And when I left for that, of course, it was freezing, so I was in. I put on my long johns, got my big heavy coat and my gloves and my hat. And by the time I got to Frisco and had breakfast and then took a nap in my truck and didn't get arrested, thankfully, I rolled out to the training at like 945. It was already like in the. So I was way overdressed for that. And I was disrobing jackets and hats and everything. The very first thing I learned on the day was that Ennis Soli is indeed here. And they explained to me very clearly how he's here because he's not 18 yet and, you know, that's a big deal. So they had to get a special permission for him to come in. Technically he's in right now, quote unquote on trial because he can't officially sign until he's 18, which is coming up like next month or something. So it's all clear and illegal. And they want to make sure very clearly that I knew and that everybody knew that he was there and not breaking any rules. So that's important when you're talking about a 17 year old kid. And labor laws here in the United States. [00:04:39] Speaker A: Yes, I'd say so. What country is he? [00:04:41] Speaker B: Romanian, canadian? Romanian. But whatever. He's not american and that's important. He has to do it correctly. So they laid out the difference and it's okay. I've never heard any of this, but I believe it. It all sounds right. So this is not MLS rules. This is legal labor rules. The second thing is, I was a little bit shocked by all the new players Dallas added that are over 6ft tall because FC short doesn't really do that. And all of a sudden there's three or four or five new players that are like 6263 on the team, except for Ennis Soli, who is a Smurf. He is the tiniest. Dude. He's Paul Areola without muscles. He is a tiny, tiny little even. [00:05:25] Speaker A: Wait, what was the name of the hungarian kid that was here for a couple of years ago? [00:05:31] Speaker B: Smaller than that. Yes. [00:05:33] Speaker A: Really? I can't believe I. Yes. Sambalkshune. [00:05:36] Speaker B: Yes. Smaller than that. Now. [00:05:38] Speaker A: Smaller than Joselita vodka. [00:05:42] Speaker B: About that size. Yeah. [00:05:43] Speaker A: Okay. All right. [00:05:44] Speaker B: Less muscle. Because he's 17. And Josalita, by the time he was here, came here at 18 or whatever it was. But then he was in his 20s for a good chunk of time. So this kid is a kid, and he's a shrimpy, but he's quick and he's skilled and that's nice, but he is clearly the smallest guy on the team, which is fine. So, like we said before, he's a hero. Almost pretend like he's a homegrown. Right. He's a project. He shouldn't be impactful day one, or we have a problem. But anyway, good first impression on him. Definitely skilled, definitely quick. Not sure that he's only been here for maybe his first day. I'm not really sure. So he definitely wasn't integrated into the team by any stretch of imagination. But we'll get to the rest of training stuff later, I think I want to start with Zanata. And Zanata had some bombshells for sure to talk about, and I'll just kind of run through some of them. The first thing is. And you'll love this, Peter, I'm going to start with the bad news. They are not signing another center back. [00:06:44] Speaker A: I told you. Fucking told you. [00:06:47] Speaker B: You were right. [00:06:47] Speaker A: Signing another. I knew it. [00:06:49] Speaker B: They are really excited about Omar Gonzalez. Yes, coach. Coach has a relationship with him going back to the national team. Loves him, loves his leadership. He's the number three centerback. They both talked about how he was available every game for New England last year. He keeps himself healthy and fit. We'll get back to this in a minute. But, yeah. So he's number three going along with that. By the time people are listening to this, it probably will be announced. But Ahmed Corsa is signed. He's re upped, so he's on the roster for sure, too. It's supposed to be announced tomorrow, so. [00:07:24] Speaker A: Hold on a second. Just pause. So your center backs for the 2024 FC Dallas season are Nicosi Tafarai. I'm excited about that, Sebastian. Igbiaga igbiaba. [00:07:42] Speaker B: Ibiaga. [00:07:42] Speaker A: Ibiaga. Thank you. Sorry. I'm so flustered in this moment, I can't even talk. Omar Gonzalez was three. [00:07:50] Speaker B: Yep. [00:07:51] Speaker A: And Corsa is four. [00:07:53] Speaker B: Yep. [00:07:54] Speaker A: And then the kid they drafted, if he's worth signing. [00:07:57] Speaker B: Yeah. Humphrey, maybe, or Wester grain, maybe at five. Possibly. Or maybe you go with Norris, but I don't think it's Norris. I'll talk about that in a minute. [00:08:05] Speaker A: Okay. [00:08:06] Speaker B: Yeah, that's it. [00:08:07] Speaker A: Haven't we counted, like, six foreign center back signings in the league in the last several days across the. [00:08:15] Speaker B: Well, this is not about the availability. It's about how they're happy with what they got. They're in a wait and see mode and see how it goes. So if it goes south, then they'll be able to do something in the summer, I guess, or whatever. But they're counting on Omar. Nick Zanata was like, oh, he played 17 games. I was like, oh, my God, he's 35. I literally said that to him. But, look, I think Omar is a great addition. I do. If he's fourth or fifth, not third. So, yeah. No, he's Martinez's replacement, which is perhaps appropriate in a way. They went for an older guy to replace Martinez. Moves about the same amount. Omar's not fast these days. But I will say one thing. Omar finished very high in the Beef test, so he is fit. He came in fit like a real pro. That's fine. [00:09:06] Speaker A: But you and I both know that's not. Yeah, okay. [00:09:08] Speaker B: Yeah. All right. That's the bad news. That's the bad news is like, oh, my God. All right. So item number two is I directly asked about the ex Liverpool guy, divock. Origi. Origi. [00:09:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:23] Speaker B: I don't know how to say his name. That guy Zanata said that he was indeed offered to them, but they passed. I imagine that that has to do with how much money he would want, because somebody said he was on 8 million last year, and that somebody else, a reporter, when I say somebody else, said something about he wanted the money that Benteka is getting with DC, which is probably millions, and not hunt money, I imagine that wasn't even. They were like, lol, good luck, given how much money he was looking for. But what I will say specifically is, I said to Zanata, I said, well, you keep getting linked to these strikers. Are you guys actively in the market for a nine? He said, yes, 100%. They're trying to sign a nine. So that idea. That idea of Jesus as the off striker or as coach called it, the 9.5 instead of a nine or a ten or wing, that's definitely in the cards. They're trying right now to sign one for this window, so keep an eye out because that could happen any moment, really. If you can find the guy, you find the guy. And it's good to get some confirmation from them that they are actually trying to get better. If you're outgoing for a nine, that's a let's get better signing. That's the ambition signing we've been wanting. Will they do a good job? Will they get a guy? We'll see, but that's at least an indication that they are making an effort to get one. So that's good. Even if it's not origi or whatever his name is. [00:10:51] Speaker A: Well, they've made efforts before and that hasn't gone well. But of course, an origi is what I fear about the origi news. This is interesting on a couple of levels. First off is I'm very familiar with the guy. I would not want to sign him for Dallas. He's one of those guys that I fear buzz has all the talent in the world, but much like his career over in Europe, he'd get here and I have no idea what his attitude or mentality would be. You know, I don't think it's a function of ability. It's just, where's his head at? Is he just looking for another big payday gig that he doesn't have to perform? Because I don't think the dude has scored in a league game in over a year. And when he was at Liverpool, he scored a bunch of really important goals for them. But it was all as a substitute, and on the few times they started him, he was a ghost. So that's not a name. I'm not disappointed to find out they're not willing to spend $7 million a year on that guy. But I also am not super well. No. Yeah. I'm not confident in their ability to go out and find somebody. And I'm also very curious as to how they've gotten to the middle of January and they haven't found somebody. I mean, there's an entire planet of soccer players to choose from. [00:12:14] Speaker B: Well, they were looking for a particular profile. Coach said, of course they want somebody that's a bit more of a post up player because they want Jesus to play and work off of that kind of know, for lack of a better thing, a blas Perez or if you're old school enough. Graziani and Christ. That's what they're looking always. I've always said, I think you guys probably agree with me that Jesus Ferrer is most like Jason Christ in terms of the previous kind of player he is compared to guys that have been here. Not like his dad. [00:12:40] Speaker A: Similarities between the two. Incredible. [00:12:43] Speaker B: He's like a Christ clone, his dad clone. He's a Christ clone. So like a guy like Jason used to play off of big know center channel strikers. That's ideally that's what they want. So keep an eye out for that. [00:12:55] Speaker A: I just dawned on. Yeah, if. If Jason Christ and Jesus had a baby, they could name it Jesus Christ. That'd be the most bitching line in Dallas soccer history. [00:13:11] Speaker B: That would be so good. Maybe if Jason has a. He probably has kids. I don't know. I've never asked him. [00:13:18] Speaker A: I think Jason. [00:13:20] Speaker B: Yeah. One of you. [00:13:23] Speaker A: I made myself laugh. Okay, sorry about that. I threw us completely off the. [00:13:28] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay, so keep an eye on that. And then also Zanata says they actually have a signing lined up. Not Corsa, another one that'll be done next week sometime. Not a nine and not a center back, but something else. So they've got a body. I have no idea how good or bad. He didn't really want to get into it very much, but he did say that they've got one that's in the final stages and it'll be announced maybe a week from now, he said. So probably like as they're going to Spain or something like that. [00:13:58] Speaker A: I'm going to make a prediction. [00:14:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:00] Speaker A: You want to make bets on what it is? [00:14:02] Speaker B: Sure, go ahead. [00:14:03] Speaker A: Do you have any idea what it. [00:14:05] Speaker B: Have a. I have a thing I think it might be, but I don't have any factual basis for what just my. [00:14:10] Speaker A: I think it's a right back. [00:14:12] Speaker B: Oh, do you? [00:14:13] Speaker A: Yeah, because Giovane Jesus is injured for most of the season. [00:14:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:19] Speaker A: And the only other person they've got is Emma. They don't really have an equitable option if Emma goes down. Yeah, I mean, I guess they could play junka over there, move Farfan over there. But I just wonder if it's not a right back. [00:14:33] Speaker B: Okay, well, let me put a pin in that. We'll come back to that when we get to the tactics and coach stuff later. Is that cool? Sure. I will say that. My guess is that a wing because Velasco is out for another. [00:14:42] Speaker A: Don't they have like eleventeen wingers on this team? [00:14:45] Speaker B: Well, they do, but how many of them are like proven like you got Paul and then you got Bernie, right? I mean, Ansa played is a nine all day today, because if you're getting a striker and playing perhaps a two striker system, he's going to be up there a lot more than he's going to be wing. But we'll come back to some of that in the tactic stuff. [00:15:05] Speaker A: Okay. [00:15:06] Speaker B: But anyway, the other options are maybe, like, because at one point I talked to coach about tactics, which I'll get to a little bit more, but he mentioned something about legit and Paxton, and those guys were both hurt, and then we ran out of bodies. So maybe an eight as well in there makes a lot of sense because Velasco is more of an eight than he was a wing by the end of the season. So that makes more sense as well. That kind of linking player perhaps, or more of a free 810 kind of player. So there's lots of possibilities for what it could be. Because otherwise, right now, other than legit as that free eight, you're looking at Pondeca as a free eight or something. So that makes a lot of sense to that position. So we'll see. I don't know that they have room for one DP. If they want, they can buy down. So you might not be looking at a DP for this other player if you're trying to save that for the nine, maybe. But you could still be looking at a Tam gam kind of player, which is what Yar Mendy is, for that matter. So it could be really good or it could be Fakundo, who was also that kind of player, that great of a player. And speaking of Paxton. Paxton's hurt. [00:16:17] Speaker A: We knew this. [00:16:18] Speaker B: Yeah, well, you and I knew this, but we haven't talked very much. [00:16:21] Speaker A: We haven't talked about it. [00:16:23] Speaker B: But I went to training and I saw him. He's on the side now. He's busting his ass on the side. Me watching, I was like, I don't. [00:16:29] Speaker A: Wait, hold on. So the good news is that Paxton has both of his legs. [00:16:34] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. No. And he was moving and booking and it looked great. I don't know why he went in training. He went by me at the end. I said hello, and I asked him what happened, and he said he just had a little clean out. I think he said his knee, but nothing serious, just a little maintenance. I don't know. That kind of thing happens in players. I'm not super concerned. He didn't seem concerned. The team doesn't seem concerned. But Paxman watch, you know how it is. He was moving really good, though, so I don't have any worries about him. [00:17:01] Speaker A: So he's not fat? [00:17:03] Speaker B: No, he's definitely not fat. Not that time when he sat out for six months and was fat. Yeah, no, not like that. [00:17:08] Speaker A: And is there an update on his hair and facial hair situation? [00:17:13] Speaker B: I did not notice facial hair. The hair on the top of his head is the same slowly losing battle and retreat that it's been for a decade. Now. [00:17:22] Speaker A: He's got the Gen Z comb over going. [00:17:24] Speaker B: Does he? Does. It happens. It's easy for me to say, you know what? [00:17:29] Speaker A: He may end up being Dallas's first comb over player. [00:17:33] Speaker B: He needs to just go high and know and look like. [00:17:38] Speaker A: Me. [00:17:39] Speaker B: Yeah. I was going to give him, like, a famous actor, but I couldn't think of one at Helms or something. [00:17:51] Speaker A: Again, me. [00:17:52] Speaker B: Georgie Scott. Yeah. [00:17:54] Speaker A: Woody Harrelson. Fair. [00:17:58] Speaker B: Peter Welton. Fair. [00:18:00] Speaker A: Poor Paxton. [00:18:01] Speaker B: Poor Paxton. [00:18:02] Speaker A: We love that guy so much. [00:18:03] Speaker B: We love him, but definitely give him. [00:18:06] Speaker A: A kick in the sack. All right, well, good. I'm glad to hear that because I was worried about the dude, especially when I heard that he had had knee surgery in the offseason. [00:18:14] Speaker B: No, he looks good. And in fact, I don't think he liked the fact that I asked him about it. He's tired of me having to ask him all the time. Every time I talk to him, he's hurt, but. Okay, so where were Zanata talk. [00:18:29] Speaker A: Zanata offer to buy you lunch or a coffee? [00:18:32] Speaker B: No, Nico invited me to come to Spain, though. [00:18:35] Speaker A: Say that again. [00:18:36] Speaker B: Nico invited me to come to Spain. [00:18:39] Speaker A: Whoa. [00:18:40] Speaker B: I mean, not like with the team, but he's like, oh, you should come. Bring your wife. I was like, well, next year. Okay, let's see. Oh, yeah. Zanata. Okay, so Jesus Cimentez and Jose Mulatto. Zanata did confirm for me that both those players have been told they're not going to be involved and not to come to camp. They are different in a, you know, two seasons at, you know, wasn't really looking like he was going to get a lot of opportunities here, and they don't really want to stand in the kid's way of progression of his career. Zanata said there's a fair number of teams that want them because you remember, he was the Byron world team guy, and he said, there's teams in South America and in Europe that are interested. I mean, it ain't going to be like Byron, of course, but they'll be able to move him for something, what nationality is? So I mean, there's some teams that are going to want him. Just because he's not going to fit in MLS doesn't mean somebody's not going to bag him. And the international slots a problem for him. And just the glut of guys in front of him last year you saw, I think, that he was not able to be very effective at the MLS level, even though he scores bangers at North Texas, there's a gap there, so it's not quite there. That's just fine. [00:19:47] Speaker A: A small one. [00:19:48] Speaker B: Small one? Yeah, it's about as wide to run a truck through it, but yeah. So Jimenez is tougher, but they're working with Jimenez's agent to facilitate this. They obviously have the buyout in the back of their pocket. They could do the buyout, but they're trying to also do what makes more sense for both them and for Jimenez because you got to get him to work with you. You can loan him, you could sell him. He's going to want probably to try and keep his salary the same, or I think he's got one year left. So there's probably a question of, well, maybe we could send you somewhere where they might want you for a couple of years. There's that kind of trade off. They do have the ammo to buy them out if they have to. Obviously, they would probably prefer to some other way where they can kind of reduce the cost out of pocket because on a buyout you do actually have to pay the guy. They'd probably rather not pay him if they can get away with it. So there's ways to move him out and basically that'll clear two international spots and clear two senior international spots. Sorry, two senior roster spots, which is actually really important because with Velasco and Giovanni, Jesus, you're losing two roster senior roster spots, so you're already down two and you would have been down two more. So really you got to clean those up and get them out, and that's important. [00:21:04] Speaker A: And you may be headed this way, but I'm going to ask it. Did he give you any insight as to the plans on putting Velosco or Giovanni on Ir? Short or long term? No. [00:21:17] Speaker B: Well, they answered that before that they wouldn't do long term. You can do short term, which is a minimum of six games, but that'll get you a roster spot available, but doesn't get you cap relief. So there's not all that much point in doing it unless you've got an extra player laying around. So, like the distinction between, oh, if I want to do that, then I'll keep a guy that maybe I'm going to loan to North Texas for the year. I'll just keep him up for a little while for six games or whatever it is. It'll be longer for Velasco's case, but you could sort of already do that anyway in the sense of like, because you have the North Texas movement now, that kind of simple adjustment is not as hard as it used to be. So I don't know if they'll bother with that short term ir. I assume they might, but the last few years, they've always ran with two open roster slots anyway on the senior team. So those two guys could be those two slots. I don't know. We'll see if we get more clarity on that as time goes on. When they actually get to cut downs, we'll be able to count how many people they keep on the roster and count how many senior spots. And along those lines, this is really important. Nico actually told me, coach Nico told me that Omar Gonzalez, Ahmed Corsa, and Jimmy Mauer, all three signed Garrett Melcher, called it a team friendly deal. What that means is they signed a deal that allows them to be put on the supplemental roster. So those are three players that would have normally cost you senior spots, that they've managed to figure out how to get them down onto the supplemental roster. And that's important because that doesn't count on the cap. It doesn't use up a senior spot. This is what they talked about in terms of trying to figure out how to have more depth to help them get through this load. [00:23:08] Speaker A: Wait, so that's what they did with Omar? [00:23:10] Speaker B: Yes. [00:23:11] Speaker A: So if they're getting Omar on cheap dollars and he's not taking a senior slot on the roster, why wouldn't they go out and get another set, like a prime level center back? [00:23:22] Speaker B: I think they want to use it on these other pieces. They're still trying to bring in two pieces. And keep in mind right now, Peter, they're actually way over the limit on players. They've got, like, 35 players in camp. [00:23:31] Speaker A: All right, Buzz. No, I agree. Ten of those guys, or, hell, 20 of those guys aren't probably MLS level ready players. [00:23:41] Speaker B: Yeah, well, that's the thing, is that that's why they want to have these. Omar, basically, and Jimmy Mauer basically are taking, like, the league minimum in order to do this. So it's really important. This is the kind of case where a guy's really wanted to be here in order to make these things happen. And that was why courses deal last year was declined and why he's already been signed and they just haven't announced it yet because of all the inner Miami games. The pain in the ass and all that kind of stuff is distracting everybody. So of course he's on the roster and Omar's on the roster and Jimmy's on the roster, but in his friendly ways. And so you'll notice, if you look, that there's a bunch of homegrowns that are going to get shuttled down to North Texas in order to make all that happen. But this is what we've been talking about all winter, this adjustment of the roster. And I'm with you, though, I think they're nuts that they don't want to go get a center back, but it's what they're doing, so that's where we are. [00:24:30] Speaker A: Okay. [00:24:31] Speaker B: And the last thing I asked about Zanata was Julian I stone, and I said, you know, is it as bad as I hear it is? And he basically said, it's really complicated and maybe he would tell me more someday in the. Yes. [00:24:50] Speaker A: What does that mean? [00:24:51] Speaker B: That means they're not getting them, is what it. Yeah. It was his way around about saying that, yes, it's as bad as you hear it is. [00:24:58] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, look, that's a tough situation for this club because for all the time, effort and energy and frankly, money that they dedicate and put into these kids, and only to learn that they really are in many ways powerless to the allure and as I say, the lifted skirt of the european club, and I'm sure that's where I. Stone's headed somewhere, is somewhere over in Europe, obviously, and on a much bigger opportunity, and they end up getting nothing, frankly, for the guy. Yeah, I can see why they're kind of hesitant and reluctant to talk about part. [00:25:38] Speaker B: Part of the issue, too, with him is I think they got blindsided by his acceleration of his high. Know, when basically he came out a year earlier. They were like, oh, shit. You know, different than Weston, where they were going to let him go to college for a year. And then Shaka came in. This is one where the kid jumped the gun and went to college before they thought he was going to. And then they were like, oh know, you're right. It's a problem for the entire league. It's not just FC Dallas. Just because this happened at FC Dallas like five times doesn't mean it's not a problem for. [00:26:10] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:26:11] Speaker B: This is more like Weston than it is. Like Jogo, who went early, sure. [00:26:14] Speaker A: But I would say, if, in fact, that version of events is true, that somehow they were surprised to find out that he accelerated his academic career, then that tells me there's all of the things that should be in place from a personnel standpoint aren't in the right place, because that's something they should know. [00:26:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:37] Speaker A: Shouldn't they be talking to these kids on like a monthly basis just to track them if they've got their eye tagged on a guy to sign? That's really important to the long term value of the club. I think you'd like to know that they at least know when the kid's planning on leaving high school. [00:26:54] Speaker B: Yeah. They don't have enough staff in the academy. It's a question of spending money. They count on the parents and the kids to communicate with them, academic stuff, because if you're having academic problems, they won't put up with that. They'll sit you down if you're not keeping up your grades, if you're having school problems. There's been kids they've ejected from the academy over school issues. Know, but they don't have a person whose job it is to monitor. Know. They just count on you to tell them that. And I'm not sure. I don't know for sure, but I'm not sure that I stone told them he was graduating early or not until all of a sudden he. So he obviously told Duke he was. I don't know if he told the club he was or know he might have told the academy, and the academy didn't necessarily make a big, like, holy crap, you guys better pay. Know, Donna's got other things to do. You're right. If that's what caused the biggest issue, they need to figure that out. I would say, generally speaking, that the academy staff is just not big enough to have like, this month by month checkup with your very best products. There's a lot of people down there. But I also don't want to make excuses for the fact that in the end, they can't afford to match what I think island is going to get. I think in the end, that's the problem. Yeah. [00:28:16] Speaker A: I mean, tracking or not or whatever. At the end of the day, the club very easily can get out bid for its best players if they're not unable to get them to sign deals. [00:28:26] Speaker B: That's what happened to Weston is that by the time Schalke came in, Dallas was blown out of the water before they even got in the. [00:28:31] Speaker A: I mean, but you know what? That happened in the very earliest days of the academy and homegrown signings and things like that. I mean, it was a much different time in the league. So much has taken place between then and now. I mean, how many people have they signed to homegrown deals between Weston and I, Stone? What are they up to, 20 or 30? Right. So they know how to do this. That's not the mystery at the end of the, and I think that's really the hardest part of this is they know how to do it. But there are going to be those times where they have players that are so exceptional and so good, they are utterly powerless to get them to come actually sign a deal professionally with them. [00:29:08] Speaker B: It's going to be interesting. I've heard through the grapevine that I, Stone, changed agents at the last minute. So I do wonder if first agent was like going along with MLS and all of a sudden some agent maybe came in with this big money or whatever and they're like, oh, crap. And know, because I say change agents, you don't sign with an agent until you actually are signing a contract. So all you can do up until that point is just advise a player who's a youth who's under the age of 18. You can just advise them. So there's not like he fired a guy, he hadn't signed with any agent yet. So you can change on a whim when you don't really have one officially you only have an advisor. [00:29:45] Speaker A: Yeah, well, look, that is the unfortunate byproduct of this club being so good and arguably the best in the league producing talent. I mean, it just is. It's not like Houston that can't generate talent for themselves, much less the rest of the world. Look, and at the end of the day, it'll be interesting to see where I, Stone ends up because that, for me will dictate whether or not I decide it's a good opportunity for him. [00:30:13] Speaker B: Yeah, I will say 100% that from what I'm understanding is that it's not 100% done. He's not 18 yet, so he's not signed anything, but it's just not looking good. I know Zanetta is still talking to them and trying to salvage something, so maybe he can figure something out, but in the meantime, it's definitely going in the wrong direction in terms of that. [00:30:36] Speaker A: So is Zanata nice to you? [00:30:38] Speaker B: Yeah, he's always very nice to me. It's just hard to get him sometimes because he's got hard questions. Yeah, well, I ask questions that people don't ask, but he also doesn't come to training that often. And when he does, he usually stands over there on the coach's side of the field. And I can't actually go over there. So unless I wave him over and he sees me or if I tell the PR guy to go get him or whatever, I don't get him as much in my life. [00:30:59] Speaker A: I have this image of you trying to walk over to the coach's side and somebody running over and tasing you. [00:31:06] Speaker B: It might not go that far, but it might be like, hey, what are you doing? I'll give you an example. The main training field that they use. We'd immediately go in the gate right by the stadium, right there by where the walkway is, right where that little shed is. And then at the other end of that field is an angle by the parking lot. There's a big, huge gate. And when they go to the next field over to train, all the players walk through that gate. And we, the Media, are not allowed to walk through that giant space. We have to walk back out and walk around to the other. You can't. I'm allowed to go up and down one sideline, basically. So that's about know. It's back in the day, there were coaches that knew me a lot better that would invite me to come over or me and everybody else that was there all the time. Tobias, Steve Davis. We would go stand right next to the know, but we're not allowed to do that. These. So it is what it is. That's not a battle worth fighting. It's just kind of that. That rule particularly like what gates you can go through originate during COVID And they just never relaxed it, they just kept it after that, which is hard to blame them for, I guess, in a way. All right, players, safe space and all that kind of stuff. [00:32:14] Speaker A: Thanks, Andre, for the chat. [00:32:16] Speaker B: Yeah. Here's one more thing. I found out Ennis Soli is going to wear number 99. And I hate that. That's so stupid. [00:32:23] Speaker A: Can I ask. So have you decided it's Ennis or. I thought it was anise Soli. [00:32:30] Speaker B: Oh, I swear somebody said Ennis to me today. [00:32:32] Speaker A: Well, no, that's why I'm asking, because you're out ribbed people. And maybe because I thought the pronunciation guy had it as anise, but maybe it is. [00:32:40] Speaker B: I have the sheet in front of me right here and I will see what it says. I'll tell you a funny story about that. Maybe I've told this before, but Tariq Scott, his name is Tarek. I called him Tariq for literally four years. [00:32:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:32:54] Speaker B: And I was like, oh, it's Tarek. And people literally, coaches in the academy are like, I've been calling him Tariq for four years. I was like, the kid never said Tarek. [00:33:03] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:33:04] Speaker B: So that's on him for not saying then. Because the people that played with him were calling him Tariq. Okay, it says enes e e big capitalized. Enes. [00:33:14] Speaker A: Enes? [00:33:15] Speaker B: Yeah, enes soli. [00:33:17] Speaker A: So it's not anise. It's not Ennis. [00:33:19] Speaker B: It's not anise. It's Enes. [00:33:22] Speaker A: Enis. Okay. [00:33:23] Speaker B: E e big capitalized nes small. Enes. So I was right. Enes solid. So anyway, he's 99. [00:33:31] Speaker A: So it's like penis without the p. Yeah. Okay. [00:33:34] Speaker B: Exactly. Wow. Anyway, I think he's always wanted seven because he's always worn 77. But Camille has 77, who also wants seven. Everybody wants seven. So he's wearing 99. Maybe for Gretzky, I don't know. Because he's canadian and I hate it. [00:33:53] Speaker A: I'm sorry, Buzz. [00:33:55] Speaker B: It's all right. [00:33:56] Speaker A: You could tell on my penis joke. [00:33:58] Speaker B: Yeah. When I'm a billionaire and I buy the team, no numbers over 30 ever. That's the rule. [00:34:04] Speaker A: Okay. That's a tiny roster you have there, sir. [00:34:07] Speaker B: Yeah, well, it's a 30 man roster. Michigan soccer, learn to love it. Anyway, okay? [00:34:12] Speaker A: Are all your academy kids going to wear three digit numbers like the mexican clubs? [00:34:16] Speaker B: No. [00:34:17] Speaker A: See, that's what I want to see. [00:34:18] Speaker B: Not doing that. I hate that. [00:34:20] Speaker A: Okay? [00:34:20] Speaker B: I mean, I get it culturally, but I hate it. It always guitar on me because I would not want to wear that kind of number. [00:34:27] Speaker A: All right, I've totally derailed this. So you're done talking to Zanata. Then you run over and you give Nico a big hug. [00:34:34] Speaker B: Yeah, Nico gave. Give him a big hug. He invited me to come to Spain. It was cool. He's like, oh, you should come. It's beautiful. Because I told him I have before, I used to go to la manga and I went, he's like, oh, yeah, you should come. Bring your wife. I said, maybe next year. So that's on the table. That'll be fun. [00:34:48] Speaker A: All right. [00:34:49] Speaker B: So what I wanted to mention under talking to Nico is that I brought up the beep test because we've reported that era Mendy won it. And then Diego Garcia, who's the 1718 year old kid, was second and Junka was third. Sam Junka. Apparently Omar Gonzalez finished really high as well. And I was talking to coach about that, and he talked about how a lot of it is mental. And he actually was really proud of Yaramindi and Gonzalez both because it shows how professional they are. They both came in, in great shape, ready to go, and sort of demonstrated everybody else what's at stake and how you have to be. And I think that's actually a good point. I'm sure there's also a correlation of, oh, you don't want an old guy to be your best player. But that comes back again to the idea that it's mental. It's not just physical. You got to be able to fight through a wall with your mind and your willpower because it is very, incredibly difficult to do. Of course, I don't know if you. [00:35:46] Speaker A: Have it well, when you reported that the oldest guy on the team won the beat test, I wondered if that says more about the player or everybody else on the team, because it's not like it's 136 year old and a bunch of 18 year old guys. There are a lot of guys in there that are in the prime of their career that I think should be beating the 36 year old at the beep test. Well, and I know it's mental. I know that the mentality part of it is a huge part of it, but I also think there's a list of these guys that should have the mentality to be winning the beep test. [00:36:28] Speaker B: Yeah, I would agree with you on some level. Now, can I throw in one other thing? [00:36:33] Speaker A: Let me throw in one other thing. This also brings me back. Remember at this time last year when Nico Esteves was having his conversations with the media? Remember how we kept talking about his repeated use of the word complacency? [00:36:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:52] Speaker A: And not being complacent? And we kept asking ourselves, why does he keep bringing up complacency? And then as the season played out, it was like, oh, now I know why. Because he thinks everybody just was jerking off during the offseason. And that's what makes me think about this, which is your oldest dude wins the beep test. And it makes me wonder, has everybody just been sitting around with their thumbs up their butt all offseason? [00:37:16] Speaker B: Yeah. He actually was raving about how Yarmindi and mentality, and he was like. And he said it was such a hammer down of like, this is what it takes to compete at a real level. And what an eye opener, a wake up call it was for the whole team to see that and be like, holy crap. And I think it's probably true. Now, keep in mind, but doesn't that. [00:37:40] Speaker A: Bother you that they needed to have their eyes opened. [00:37:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:37:44] Speaker A: They're not a bunch of high schoolers. They're professionals. They're getting paid. [00:37:48] Speaker B: A lot of know, but, you know, sometimes people get complacent. [00:37:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:37:54] Speaker B: Admittedly, passion did not take part in the beep test. I think he would have. [00:37:57] Speaker A: And neither did Jesus. [00:37:58] Speaker B: Neither did Jesus Furra. [00:38:00] Speaker A: He wasn't there. Oh, is he there? [00:38:01] Speaker B: No, he's here? Yeah. [00:38:04] Speaker A: Oh, no. I thought maybe was still coming off his injury situation. [00:38:09] Speaker B: No, he's good. He did the beef test. Nikosi Safari and Bernie Kamungo are missing, right? They're at national camp. [00:38:15] Speaker A: No, I thought Paxton and Jesus didn't do it because of injury situation. [00:38:19] Speaker B: No, just back. [00:38:20] Speaker A: Okay. [00:38:20] Speaker B: Jesus was in it. [00:38:21] Speaker A: God, I'd love to know where Jesus ended up. [00:38:23] Speaker B: Yeah, I didn't ask. I don't have the poor finishers. Oh, then it's always keepers. [00:38:28] Speaker A: That's a failure on your part as a reporter. [00:38:30] Speaker B: I know. Well, I should have just been there. I don't want to know. I'll ask somebody I know that was there. I'll see what he says. [00:38:35] Speaker A: Okay. [00:38:37] Speaker B: Without adding him. So what else did Nico say? One thing when training was that there was a whole lot of today. Three, four three and four, four, two. And I was like, are you abandoning your four three three? And he said, no, I just want to be able to play all these different formations and so I want to drill it a bunch. He really likes to switch it. I don't like it, but he really likes it. And both of those formations use Jesus as, not as a nine. So Jesus played the whole day today as a wing or as an off striker. So they really are all in on this idea that he's not going to be the know. Ansa was at nine. Logan Farrington was at know. So that's definitely in the cards, if you will. And then other than that, it was just a lot of talk about. He told me they're upgrading some more facilities there at the Toyota to do some things inside. He didn't get really into specifics, but some more health and fitness kind of things like they did last year, some more of that kind of stuff. [00:39:38] Speaker A: He pulled his phone out and showed you photos of that? [00:39:41] Speaker B: No, I wish. And we talked a little bit about Spain and how excited they are to go against some of these teams from other leagues. There's other coaches that are around there that are scouting and picking up these other tactics and lessons, and I think it's really great. And they're going to Wichita Falls. They left today for Wichita Falls and coach was team exercise, getaway, sequester, military base, and also that clinic at the university and all that stuff. So that's all happening. [00:40:14] Speaker A: So it's. We've. I don't even know how long we've been talking now, but we've had long conversations about two discussions with two key players in the front office, and I've not yet heard you mention the inner Miami game on Monday with either one of them. [00:40:32] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I didn't really talk to them about it because it's a training mean. They're not involved with know, they're just playing in it. [00:40:40] Speaker A: Yeah, but I mean, I'm surprised they didn't go, we have to do this. And this is how we're. I mean, none of that came up in terms of. [00:40:46] Speaker B: No, really, the only people that brought it up were the pr people that said that they're getting absolutely crushed by it because it's such a complicated shit show. [00:40:54] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm interested in figuring out how many tickets they've sold because doesn't look like. [00:40:59] Speaker B: It'S very many to me. [00:41:00] Speaker A: No, because all the season ticket people, the season ticket holders that converted their tickets, are all getting really killer seats at cheap prices. Certainly way better than what the face values were on sale from the fairpark ticket site. [00:41:18] Speaker B: I think it goes to show that particularly here in America, it's a preseason game. It doesn't count. Nobody cares. I'm not paying $300 to see Messi when it's a scrimmage he's even going to play. The weather is going to be shit. [00:41:30] Speaker A: Yeah, well, if the weather is crappy, all bets are off. But if it's a nice day, which it doesn't look like it's going to be, the walk up could be pretty ridiculous. [00:41:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:41:40] Speaker A: Fair, because you can only buy tickets at the stadium on the day of the game. I saw that in the list. All right, interesting. Okay. [00:41:52] Speaker B: I brought up with coach Nico the idea of, I asked him if they had any interest in, for example, my idea of sending Antonio Carrera on loan to get him some top flight games, because again, he's passed by north Texas, basically. And they know potentially we're kicking the tires on a couple of things because they want to invest in him. He's a keeper for the future that they have signed. So the one they got. So they're trying to invest in him. And they may decide that the best thing for him is to get some sort of rip of games, whether it be a whole season with a right of recall, or whether it just be a certain stretch or know he mentioned, like they'd done with Colin Smith and Jesus went to. I mean, even Jesse Gonzalez way back in the day went to like, I think it was Pittsburgh or know, these kind of things are good versus, you know, if he is here in camp here, they do want him to push as hard as he can to be the number know. And that's a discussion that'll happen over time, whether him or Jimmy is really the number. And that's about it for talking to Nico. And then we can just talk about training if you want, like some first impressions on guys. [00:43:04] Speaker A: Yeah. I want to hear more about your penis. Enos. Yeah. [00:43:12] Speaker B: Enos. [00:43:13] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:43:15] Speaker B: Quick, quick. Bursty skill. [00:43:17] Speaker A: I'm going to really regret coming up with that. I know. Yeah. I'm sorry. Buzz, go ahead. [00:43:23] Speaker B: Yeah. Obviously inexperienced kid, but boatloads of talent. Really exciting to watch the skill set. See how quickly he could burst through gaps and charge forward. And not a ton of fulfilled game to really evaluate, like a full game. But clearly you can see why they signed him. There's bags of skill there. We'll see if he can actually play. Those things are different. But first impression was really skillful players. But then again, I had that. That same impression with Isaiah Parker, who again today is a really skillful player. That doesn't always mean that you play the way the coach wants or has your brain work the way it should work and make the right decisions. And I want to come back to brain in a minute if you suddenly get a question there. [00:44:10] Speaker A: Well, I was just going to say, but the difference between Parker and Sully is they've gone way out of their way to get this romanian kid over here. So I assume they know he fits the system. [00:44:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I would hope so. Gosh, if they didn't, that would be. I mean, he better. [00:44:29] Speaker A: Are they really counting on anything out of this guy this season? [00:44:32] Speaker B: Not the beginning. Okay, again, that's why. You know what? There's some possible value of the sign they're working on that could be potentially a winger or an eight in that sort of same ballpark. [00:44:44] Speaker A: Anyway, so look, you've been following this team and this club in its entire existence. Does his size concern you at all? [00:44:52] Speaker B: No, because he's not so small that it's a problem. He's just polyriola size and 17 instead of 27. So he's short. That's okay. He's not too short. There is a point at which it's ridiculous and you're just too small, but we don't ever see that really happen. He's probably taller than the MVP in Cincinnati. [00:45:20] Speaker A: Really? [00:45:20] Speaker B: He's five three or something, right? So I think he's taller than that, but only barely. Depends on how tall you believe Paul Areola really is because he's about that same height. [00:45:30] Speaker A: But is he a good baller? [00:45:32] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Very skillful, solid. [00:45:36] Speaker A: So if you saw him as a 17 year old playing on the U 19s, you'd go, okay, this kid's got something. [00:45:42] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:45:43] Speaker A: He's that level. [00:45:44] Speaker B: Super excited. Yeah. All right. Yeah, he'd be top of the homegrown list. Yeah. He'd be like, dude, get that kid signed for sure. Yeah, he's not so small that you'd be like, forget it. No, he's definitely skilled, but they go for a lot of guys like this. I mean, they got several kids in the academy that are this kind of. [00:46:03] Speaker A: Since he's, I'm assuming since he's half canadian, he speaks English. Well, I don't know. [00:46:08] Speaker B: I would assume went to. I think he went to high school somewhere in here in Canada for a bit, but I have no idea. I just assume so, being canadian, I can't imagine he's not. [00:46:22] Speaker A: Tell me all about the kick ass collegiate striker that Logan Farrington hit a bucket load of goals this season. [00:46:29] Speaker B: Yeah, well, he moves better in person than he does on tape. I was actually really pleased when I was watching him in a small sided drill. He reads the game really well, moves really well, could handle the ball in tight space. So, yeah, all signs of a really quality player there. When you get into a full field, it's very different. And the most I saw today was about a two thirds field where he got some touches. It was only about 15 minutes, but there's definitely some quality there. I like him more than I did just off the tape. Got some good shots on in the drills and stuff and has potential now considering that. The first day I saw Cobra, within two minutes, I was like, oh, no. And then six minutes later I was like, oh, fuck, this guy's terrible. And then this wasn't like that. This was like, oh, yeah, good. I like it. Nice player. So really positive first impression from him. He is tall. That's good. Good size on him and can ball. So we'll see how good his decision making is in a full field. Hit the ball game. He didn't really get any open, big blasting shots like that. The place he was most effective, actually, was the small space drills. When he got into the full field drills, he was on a team that was a lot of youngsters, and he didn't get a whole lot of the ball. That's not really his fault. [00:47:53] Speaker A: Okay. [00:47:55] Speaker B: Turner Humphrey, who's the second round pick, I quite like, gave me big Nikosi tafari vibes. Really rangy and was. And good one on one defending, so he could get the ball off of guys quite well. But then he wasn't sure what to do with it once he got it. His feet were tidy, so he didn't turn it over. So it's not like he's Lucas Bartlett, where he's panicking and turning the ball over and it's bouncing everywhere and he's kicking it out of bounds and stuff like that. [00:48:22] Speaker A: Poor Bartlett. [00:48:23] Speaker B: He was actually pretty tidy with the able once he won it, he was able to keep it away and shield it off. He just didn't really know what to do with it right away. But he was able to hold it for a second and then people could show for him and they were like, oh, here we go. And they would get it out. So, not at all nervous. Bartlett was nervous. This kid wasn't nervous. He was up for he. [00:48:44] Speaker A: What college did he go to? [00:48:45] Speaker B: Oregon State. They always have to. Oregon State, guys. [00:48:48] Speaker A: Beavers. [00:48:49] Speaker B: Yeah. From the one game, the one Oregon State SMU game. Drafted everybody from that game. Yeah. I almost asked coach about that, but then I waited until ask him some other day, but, yeah. Good first impression from him. I liked it. I don't know that he's going to make the FC Dallas roster, but maybe he can because, like I said, they're not getting that extra center back. Then that should be a spot for him. [00:49:11] Speaker A: Okay. Well, let's put it this way, all right. You've only seen him a very little bit, but it's not like you've seen Corsa a you just based off what you've seen, would you put him on the roster over Corsa? [00:49:25] Speaker B: Yes, because I think he may have more upside than Corsa. [00:49:28] Speaker A: Okay. [00:49:30] Speaker B: He's a little more rangy. I like that in a player. [00:49:35] Speaker A: Okay. [00:49:37] Speaker B: All right. The last pick, mads western grain. He is not as rangy. He's a bit of. More of a stay at home guy. Funny enough, he looks just like Nolan Norris. I kept getting him confused. Seemed like a solid player. Didn't blow me away. Wasn't terrible. So I don't know what will happen with him. The problem is he's an international. Will he take a North Texas gig? It's a super long shot that he would make the FC Dallas roster. That's very unlikely just because of the numbers, but it didn't look out of place. So kind of. Yeah, okay, fine kind of review on him. No big deal. Other stuff from training. Like I said, isaiah Parker looked good again. Nolan Norris played midfield most of the time. His touch is so good. If he was a center back, he'd be the best passing and dribbling center back, but he looks improved. [00:50:33] Speaker A: Are you surprised at all they're not giving him a run at center back? [00:50:38] Speaker B: No, I think they think more likely he's going to be in the midfield. He's an inch or two shorter than you might like to be a center back. I think it's not out of the woods yet that he won't play some center back. I don't think they're 100% sold on where he's going to be, but playing him in midfield challenges him more in terms of passing in his feet anyway. So it's a higher pressure environment. So you can really learn a lot playing him there as it is. [00:51:05] Speaker A: Okay. [00:51:07] Speaker B: What else was I going to say? Oh, Alejandro Urzura, who's the newest homegrown, having had one of the hybrid, know where he was? North Texas last year and homegrown this year, he looks quite confident and mature, which is really nice. He's grown a little bit. That was all really good signs with him. A couple of North Texas guys, they had up looked pretty good. I mean, the guys they have up are some of their very best players. So that was nice to see. I was surprised to see Thomas Pondeka play right back today. That was weird. I think of him, he really accelerated as when he made him an eight last year instead of a wing. And so today he played right back and I was like, what is going on there? I think it was mostly because in a three, four, three, they need like these Dante Seeley, kind of wide outside wingbacks. Tariq Scott, excuse me, was out, run around, looked good, moving around, so just glad to see him back after his double MCL ACL last year. Horror. And his brother, of course, is on the team now, too, so they both look exactly alike and they don't look exactly like I can tell them apart, but they look very similar. And that's about all I really got, I think, off of no big surprises. [00:52:21] Speaker A: No stunning moments, no cool training story to tell. Nobody fell over like got shot by a sniper, embarrassed themselves. [00:52:31] Speaker B: Well, there was nobody that was like, oh my God, this guy is total crap. There was nobody like that, which is actually really good. Yeah, that's an improvement considering there have been times where that has been the, you know, whether it be Bartlett or whether it be Cobra or Coleman or nothing, like know. And the guys, I was looking forward to seeing the draft picks. I was like, oh, looks pretty good. The big problem, of course, is that it is just one day and I won't see them before they play enter or go to Spain. I won't see them know. And until you play somebody, you never really know, like everybody looks great in training when you're playing yourself and then when you finally go play another team is when you really find out. So we're going to find out real quick. Ansa playing more nine than wing was kind of there. Logan playing nine a whole way. They obviously think quite highly of him, that they're dumping other people basically to keep that they weren't there. That really is about it. [00:53:34] Speaker A: All right, well, look, I hope the Logan kid turns out to be a winner for them, but you and I both know that history tells us the odds of a draft pick striker hitting double digit goals is very rare in the history of this league. I know it happened in Orlando last season, but that is definitely the exception to the rule. [00:53:56] Speaker B: Yeah, Darryl DK, that's about, you know, no one's done it. There have been many seasons where the leading scorer for SC Dallas didn't have double digit goals, let alone like a college draft. You know, I did talk to coach about, we got to get more goals, we got to find goals. They know, so it won't shock me. We know they're out of looking for a nine and it won't shock me to see them get somebody that can help contribute to that goal total. Bringing back again the idea of an eight or a free eight, maybe a ten kind of player, a guy that can get assists other than since they've lost Velasco for basically the year, not coach Zanata pushback on that. Well, I don't know where you heard. Basically the whole year, dude, I've seen these knee injuries. I know how they go. I don't care that Velasco has already got the brace off and he's doing all this stuff. It's like the odds of him coming back and being a pack full next year are slim. So you got to get through the bulk of the season. So it wouldn't shock me to see a player in that capacity. How much money they want to spend. We'll see. I think my other big takeaway is there's a bunch of kids in training. I think they're there just more for their development. I think there's ten guys in training right now that have no shot at all of making the first team. But that's not why they're there. They weren't signed for that. Even if they're homegrowns, they're not really for that first team. We talked about the older guys that are taking these supplemental slots. That's pushing those kids down to North Texas. So that's kind of where we're at. I'm really pleased to hear them talk about, of course, no center back, that sucks. But the fact they're going to get another player and they're going after a nine finally is the first sign of at least some level of ambition to get better. So rather than just hold pat, and that's good, they got to now deliver. But it's the signs of life, right? [00:55:47] Speaker A: Well, yes and no. It'll all depend on the end result in terms of sign, of how we determine how ambitious they are. But making Omar Gonzalez your number three center back does not flash ambition to me. [00:56:03] Speaker B: Well, it saves you a bunch of money, I guess, that you can use other places, I suppose. [00:56:07] Speaker A: Okay. [00:56:09] Speaker B: I think it's a terrible idea. Peter, I'm with you. I'm not trying to convert you. [00:56:12] Speaker A: Well, I'm more concerned about it now that you told me how they've actually gotten him on the roster at practically nothing. And it's like, well, that would give you all the more reason to go out and get another top quality center back. [00:56:24] Speaker B: And Nakosi is really cheap, too. [00:56:26] Speaker A: Yes. [00:56:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:56:27] Speaker A: I mean, look, Sebastian should be three, Omar should be four, and there should be some kick ass other centerback, young prime player, center back, paired with Tafari. That's absolutely what should be happening here. [00:56:40] Speaker B: And I agree. And all the national writers said the same thing. Not that you needed validation that I knew what I was talking about, but. [00:56:46] Speaker A: No, they all just listened to what you said, wrote it down and spit it out. [00:56:51] Speaker B: I don't think so, but maybe so. [00:56:52] Speaker A: You're the original buzz. [00:56:53] Speaker B: That's what they do. [00:56:54] Speaker A: They trust you. [00:56:55] Speaker B: Look, it's pretty clear that they jettisoned Martinez because he wasn't good enough and they signed a player that's probably basically the same, except that they know him and trust him and like him. [00:57:06] Speaker A: No, I think Omar is better at defending an open space. He is an improvement over Martinez. But I was looking forward to a season where neither. Where Sebastian Ibiaga was not your second center back? [00:57:25] Speaker B: Yeah, I would have liked to have had two center backs. I wasn't worried about. So now I'm always going to be worried about one of the centerbacks, whether it's Omar, whether it's Ibiaga. I'm always going to be know, maybe a year or two. There's a great value to have an Omar here, but just not the three. [00:57:44] Speaker A: Yeah, the value of the Omar signing is all down to where he know as long as he wasn't the only one, he would be an outstanding fourth or third. He should. Oh, no. You know what? [00:57:59] Speaker B: Just. [00:57:59] Speaker A: Yeah, okay. I wanted two center back signings. I will say that the grizzled veteran home guy from Skyline, awesome. But let me also get some young prime player that's going to kick somebody's ass out there and be able to chase and have some pace. [00:58:14] Speaker B: I will say some of the issue in terms of bringing in bodies has to do with how you get rid of Jimenez. Because if you do a straight buyout, he's 100% off the cap, but then you have to eat $1.6 million. So there are ways you can get rid of him where you can have some level of cap hit so you don't have to eat the whole thing. Maybe there's 100 little rules about how you get rid of players, and it can be very complicated. Every time it happens, some new wrinkle or rule sort pops up. So I can't even begin to define you for all the different ways you can get rid of Jimenez, but there are some ways to do it that are better for your cap than others and some ways that are better for your bottom line than others. [00:58:56] Speaker A: Right? [00:58:56] Speaker B: And, you know, the hunts are going to hunt, so we'll see how they manage to get rid of the guy and what kind of cap hit they end up having to take on the guy. And that maybe that is part of what is going to taking some time on these other guys is determining how you do that. [00:59:10] Speaker A: All right, now we're just to the point where we're repeating ourselves. [00:59:14] Speaker B: Am I okay? [00:59:14] Speaker A: Well, no. Me too. We both are. I want to move on to something else. [00:59:21] Speaker B: Okay. [00:59:22] Speaker A: Your wife is a real estate agent. [00:59:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:59:25] Speaker A: And I want to know if you and the lovely Mrs. Kerik have had a conversation about how much money you're going to make by renting your house out. Since you're walking distance from at and t stadium where the World cup final is going to be held in 2026. [00:59:44] Speaker B: How much do you think I can get for renting it for a month and a half? How much do you think I can get? [00:59:48] Speaker A: Dude, seriously, how far you're not walking distance from the stadium, are you? [00:59:56] Speaker B: It's exactly 1 mile from my door to the door of cowboy Stadium. [01:00:00] Speaker A: Then my answer to your question is probably if you rent it, I bet you could do ten grand. [01:00:06] Speaker B: Yeah, you think? [01:00:07] Speaker A: Oh, for a month and a half, yes. For how many bedrooms? [01:00:13] Speaker B: Two. With an office. [01:00:14] Speaker A: I bet you could. Maybe more. The market will tell, but as soon as. [01:00:20] Speaker B: And I have a garage apartment, too. Sure. How about that? [01:00:22] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Dude, you're going to clean up? [01:00:25] Speaker B: Yeah. I got a couple of years to get this place in ship shape. [01:00:28] Speaker A: I don't even know how ship shape you need to put it in. You don't spend all your profit getting it nice. It's just as long as it's presentable. Somebody will rent that thing from you being so close to the stadium. [01:00:39] Speaker B: Apparently my street is like the last one. You can be Airbnb in an entertainment district. So literally like half the houses on my block are Airbnbs. [01:00:48] Speaker A: See, here's the thing. I wouldn't even bother Airbnb in it. I wouldn't give Airbnb that slice of the deal. You could just put an ad out and just do it on your own. [01:00:59] Speaker B: I wouldn't do it through them if I was going to do it. I would just do it because I know people. [01:01:03] Speaker A: Or you could just stay there and walk to the stadium every day. [01:01:06] Speaker B: Yeah, I might. I might go to a lot of games. [01:01:08] Speaker A: Hell, I may come live with you for a month and a half. [01:01:10] Speaker B: You can come park in my driveway if you go to a game, save yourself $50. [01:01:13] Speaker A: I will absolutely take pick you up on that one. [01:01:16] Speaker B: Dan did that. Dan parks in my driveway to go to some wrestling over there. [01:01:21] Speaker A: That's awesome. [01:01:22] Speaker B: He's very excited. [01:01:23] Speaker A: Yeah. All day that we've all been kind of working under the premise that Dallas was the lead city of the three up for the final. And then somebody leaked, I guess. Some rumor hit the news cycle today that Dallas is going to be announced and then FIFA had to make an announcement about the announcement, which now I guess is going to happen on February the fourth. [01:01:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I got a casita, too. I can rent out my casita, my trailer. [01:01:51] Speaker A: Dude, you are going to clean up. [01:01:53] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:01:54] Speaker A: You are a landlord. I was going to say you and Amy should probably live in the casita. [01:02:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:02:00] Speaker A: Rent out the house and rent out the house in the garage apartment for sure. [01:02:04] Speaker B: Yes. [01:02:05] Speaker A: No doubt about it. Or live in the garage apartment or something. I don't know. [01:02:09] Speaker B: But go stay at my dad's house. [01:02:10] Speaker A: Go stay at your dad's house. Do something. You're so close to the stadium, it's ridiculous. [01:02:15] Speaker B: Yeah, I walk to cowboy games when I work. [01:02:19] Speaker A: Just the idea that the World cup coming back to DFW is amazing unto itself, but the idea they're going to play the World cup final in our town or in our metroplex or anywhere near us is, I just find, to be unbelievable. [01:02:37] Speaker B: Yeah, we probably won't be able to get final tickets, but I'm going to go to as many games as I can here in Dallas. How many they have? [01:02:42] Speaker A: Oh, I'm sure they're going to have group stage. I'm sure they'll have some knockout in the final. Absolutely. I mean, there's no way Jerry's going to talk them into doing this and spend all this time and money and not have as many. I bet they have like eight games there or something like that. [01:02:58] Speaker B: Wow, that'd be crazy. [01:02:59] Speaker A: That'd be know and somebody else pointed out and that a while ago. To me, it's part of the allure of them doing this is not just the fact that it's 100,000 attendance stadium right there, but there are two other stadiums within walking distance that they can have watching parties and do fan events in. [01:03:19] Speaker B: That's part of their bid. Was that the World cup final? They can fill up those other two stadiums and literally have, like 250,000 people over here for the. [01:03:29] Speaker A: By then, maybe by the year 2026, there'll be some sort of new technology where they can hologram the game on the surface, and you can watch the hologram version of the World cup final in both Choctaw and globe life in real time. [01:03:45] Speaker B: Let's have an olds check. How many games did you go to in 94 at the cotton ball? [01:03:48] Speaker A: I did not go. I was not living here at the time. [01:03:51] Speaker B: Oh, I went to three. Yeah, three of the five. I think that there were. I was at the Germany South Korea game where South Korea was winning like two nothing, and Germany came back and won three two, I think it was. Wow. I went to Bulgaria, Argentina, and I went to. What's the third game? Something like Sweden, Nigeria, something that was like a whatever, but it was still awesome. [01:04:17] Speaker A: Well, good luck to us here in the metroplex, for sure. Okay. Anything else, Buzz? [01:04:26] Speaker B: North Texas SC opens camp February 1. That's the only thing I really got, meat. Yeah, I know you don't care, but I care. Anything else you wanted to ask me about? [01:04:40] Speaker A: I kind of threw it in there. Did anybody bring up the kit? I'll have to just default? [01:04:44] Speaker B: No. [01:04:46] Speaker A: Okay. We don't have any more on that. [01:04:50] Speaker B: Nothing on the kit other than we're right on our guests. [01:04:54] Speaker A: They're reviewing. Well, have we posted a guest online at all? [01:04:58] Speaker B: Not yet. [01:04:58] Speaker A: Do we have a final mockup from Dan? [01:05:01] Speaker B: No, not yet. He's close. But we were waiting for media day, and there were a couple of things we got from media day that are refining what we're. Oh, okay. So a couple of payoffs from that, and then obviously, Dan's a little distracted. Right. The. [01:05:14] Speaker A: This. Yeah. This is also bad podcasting, but how different is it than the one mockup he shared in the group chat? [01:05:23] Speaker B: Not far. Just some minor stuff that we picked up from. Stuff sticking out of people's untucked shirts and stuff. [01:05:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:05:32] Speaker B: And some of it from other teams, too. Like, we've seen other leaks and other refinements. [01:05:38] Speaker A: Have you seen the. Of the New England X jersey? [01:05:45] Speaker B: No. [01:05:46] Speaker A: So there's a leak running around out there that New England's New jersey is kind of like Rangers blue with a giant white x across it with the sponsor logo kind of dividing it in the middle. [01:06:03] Speaker B: That sounds awful. [01:06:06] Speaker A: The logo probably ruins a really. I mean, it kind of does have Marvel universe vibes to it. I don't know if it's real or not. Somebody put it in the kit section of your discord. Oh, if I remember, that's where I saw it. [01:06:23] Speaker B: I'll go back and look. [01:06:23] Speaker A: You have to go there and see if you saw that. And I've seen the LA third, the dark green and black half panel. [01:06:32] Speaker B: Apparently, the thirds all are going to have, like, a city branding rather than a sponsor. The sponsor is going to be on the back. Supposedly, people are the. Oh, it looks like a Scotland jersey. [01:06:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:06:50] Speaker B: Well, that's not as terrible as it sounded. Well, the sponsorship is terrible, but the pattern is not bad. [01:06:55] Speaker A: Yeah. It's not a cross. It's an. [01:06:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:06:57] Speaker A: Yeah. Like a Scotland flag. I see what you're. Yeah, yeah. Scottish flag. Okay. Yeah. Interesting. Okay, well. Well, I'm glad you got to make it out to practice today, Buzz. [01:07:08] Speaker B: Thanks, man. [01:07:08] Speaker A: It was so you don't get to see them again until when? [01:07:11] Speaker B: Well, the inter game is this weekend. Then they go to Spain, so it's like, or Monday or whatever the game is. And that's it. Basically, they're leaving, and so when they come back, so it'll basically be February before I'll see them again. But other than the games, we'll get to watch the games. Both those games are being. [01:07:28] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, Miami game is being streamed. [01:07:30] Speaker B: The Miami's game is being streamed. The New Mexico game is not being streamed. But it's at a time I can't go. I could have gone because of media, but it's in the middle of the afternoon. I have a game I'm producing that day, so I can't go, but Dan will go to that one and cover that one. And I'm sending photographers and we think. [01:07:44] Speaker A: They'Re streaming games from Spain. [01:07:46] Speaker B: I'm told for sure they're streaming some and that the club was working on streaming the ones that aren't being officially streamed by whatever, the little fakey tournament. They're going to be involved when? I don't know if you remember when Dallas would go to Lamonga or when they went to Arizona. Like the official quote unquote games from that quote unquote tournament. They stream them, but then they roll out these scrimmages just against whoever over at a field that usually has refs. So they're real games, but they're just not in the tournament. They're trying to figure out how to get some of those other ones. No promises, of course, but there'll be some of them we stream for sure. [01:08:20] Speaker A: All right. I'm told, and I'll end this conversation with a question from one lifelong cowboy fan to the other. Are you mad they're keeping McCarthy? [01:08:31] Speaker B: No, I don't worry about coaches too much. I'm not surprised at all they're keeping McCarthy because if you have three straight twelve win seasons and make the playoffs often, the Cowboys in the past two decades have failed to even be 800, 800, 500. So I'm not surprised they're keeping him. He's won two of the last three NFC's titles. Not surprised at all. [01:08:55] Speaker A: Okay. [01:08:55] Speaker B: Plus Jones doesn't like to fire guys early. He likes to let their contracts run out. He's got one more year to go, I think. [01:09:02] Speaker A: Okay. [01:09:02] Speaker B: I'm okay with it. I'm fine with it. I'm aware that they have deficiencies that are keeping him from winning the title, but I'm not sure you can fix them in one season. What those things are. [01:09:12] Speaker A: All right, there's cowboy talk. Yeah, cowboy talk on the soccer pod. All right, man. Great talking to you. [01:09:19] Speaker B: Yeah. Always a pleasure, buddy. Thank you for being here. [01:09:23] Speaker A: It's like 30 years of doing this. [01:09:24] Speaker B: I know, 27, but, yeah, almost 30. [01:09:27] Speaker A: All right. Congratulations, buzz. [01:09:29] Speaker B: Thanks, man. Thanks. I'm glad everybody's here for the ride. Hopefully. [01:09:33] Speaker A: Yeah. Give buzz more of your money, people. Do it. [01:09:36] Speaker B: Thanks. Third degree, the podcast has been brought to you by Soccer 90. Dot your spot for all that MLS gear. Premier League Syria, man. If you want it out of Europe, they got it. National team stuff. Soccer 90. Com, they got everything, jerseys, tees, scarves, getting more soccer gear by the day. Third degree listeners get 20% off if you use the code third degree to check out 20% off code third degree soccer 90. [01:10:00] Speaker A: Com. [01:10:01] Speaker B: Some exclusions apply. [01:10:02] Speaker A: All right. Thank you, FC Dallas curious fans. We will be back and talk more. I don't know if I'm going to the Miami, I have my Miami game ticket, but the weather will be the indicator of whether or not I actually attend the game. And if I go, I'll have a full report. How about that? [01:10:21] Speaker B: Sweet. [01:10:22] Speaker A: Okay. [01:10:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:10:23] Speaker A: All right. Thanks, guys. Thank you, Buzz. Thank you, FC Dallas curious fans. We'll speak to you next week, another episode of Third Degree, the podcast. Come back soon, Dan. Third degree, the third degree nap, I guess. Third degree, the third degree nap, I guess. Third degree nap, I guess. Third degree nap, I guess. [01:10:50] Speaker B: Bomb backy.