3rd Degree the Podcast #273

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:00:04] Speaker B: Ooh. [00:00:05] Speaker A: Mm hmm. [00:00:08] Speaker B: Oh. [00:00:09] Speaker A: Third degree. [00:00:11] Speaker C: The third degree. [00:00:11] Speaker A: Nap iii degree. The third degree napocast third degree. The third degree nepochet third degree. The third degree napodcast third degree. [00:00:26] Speaker B: The podcast is brought to you by the Lindstrom law firm for wills, trust, probates, and business law. Or visit lindstromlawfirm.com for a free consultation. [00:00:38] Speaker A: Well, hello there, FC Dallas. Curious fan. Welcome to another episode. This one, number 273 of third degree. The podcast here today is Dan Crook. Howdy, Dan. [00:00:51] Speaker C: Hello. Hello. [00:00:53] Speaker A: All well in your world, sir? [00:00:56] Speaker C: Ah, you know what? Just waiting for Lewton to release New Jersey, and then all will be good. [00:01:01] Speaker A: Oh, who is your supplier this year? [00:01:03] Speaker C: Same one, unfortunately. [00:01:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:01:06] Speaker C: I'll be umbrella again. [00:01:07] Speaker A: Okay. All right. Very good. And your hero. My hero. Everybody's hero. Editor, founder, thirddegree.net, and the original soccer influencer himself. Somewhere. I don't. Are you. Are you at your secret compound in Idaho? [00:01:23] Speaker B: Buzz. [00:01:23] Speaker A: Carrot coming. Buzz. [00:01:24] Speaker B: I'm at the in laws in Spokane, Washington, so I actually have same thing. Yeah, good Internet, but I don't. I still have my crappy mic that I'm. That I drag around with me. So it's. The Internet is much, much better. So we can actually understand each other and talk to each other in real time now, which is nice. Yeah. [00:01:40] Speaker A: Last week was a. Was a real struggle for the three of us to do a podcast. But you got it done. You edited it amazingly. I was very proud of you. [00:01:49] Speaker B: There were a lot of pauses I had to cut out. [00:01:51] Speaker A: Yes. We were waiting for comments to happen. Okay, so here we are. We have a game to discuss. MLS all star game is taking place. The all stars beat the all stars. I don't know if anybody watched that. Probably not. Pause. I am told that pause and Peter Petter Moussa both got in the game a little bit. Hooray. Moussa got a call up. What was the. What was the genesis behind Musa getting? Is that one of the commissioner call ups or somebody got hurt and he was next in line. Does anybody know? [00:02:23] Speaker C: It's one of those late coach call ups? [00:02:26] Speaker A: Oh, all right. Well, good. I'm proud of him. Happy to have it. And how did. How did Martin do in goalie wars? [00:02:35] Speaker C: That was Coyote. Paz was in the skills challenge. [00:02:39] Speaker A: Oh, okay. Well, how did he do? [00:02:41] Speaker C: And I lost. [00:02:43] Speaker B: I don't know. I don't watch that stuff. [00:02:45] Speaker C: He was up against Pierre. I mean, that's kind of rough, right? [00:02:52] Speaker A: I just think it's funny that we do a podcast about our MLS team and none of us watch the MLS all star game, the skills competition. [00:03:00] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that stuff is stupid. I mean, it's not for me. You know, that doesn't mean that people don't love it. I mean, you know, I remember when I was a kid, I loved that crap, whatever sport I was into, but now I don't. So, you know, I didn't watch it. I know Cody was advanced at least somewhat, you know, and he was. I think he got, maybe even got to the final. But, you know, it's. The thing I cared about the most was I going to have access to grab a couple of pictures from it, which I got. So that's. That was the most important thing. So. [00:03:29] Speaker A: For sure. Okay. All right. Well, did anybody watch the. The Olympics? The US lose to France today? I watched that. [00:03:38] Speaker B: Well, tell us about that, because I did not. [00:03:40] Speaker A: You know what? The United States played really well. And the only difference, frankly, in the game was two of their overage players. Lacazette, of all people, who. I mean, good lord, I didn't even realize that guy was still playing, scored a really nice goal. And Olisse, the guy that just got bought by Bayern Munich, you know, beat Brendan Arison at the top of the box and hit a worldy himself. And they ended up losing 30 us. Had some chances. Just didn't. The difference in the game, frankly, is just not converting their chances. And I thought they played really, really well against a very, very good french team. And I thought it boded. It bodes well for the rest of the tournament. How was Tanner, man, Tanner was outstanding captain. Yeah. You know what, we. Over the years on this podcast, we have talked way back when, when he was playing with the academy, we marveled at that kid's ability to play these insanely accurate, highly cultured one touched crossing passes that covered incredible distances and landed at people's feet. You remember those days? [00:04:46] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, for sure. [00:04:47] Speaker A: Well, he has. He has taken that to a new level. He really is an outstanding midfielder. And I, you know, I wish. I'm hoping I get to see him play more. There's a really, really good player on the field there and he. I thought he stood out tonight or today for the US. And I look forward to seeing more of him. And I'm proud that he is from our club. [00:05:10] Speaker B: You know, I think, honestly, the most important us soccer news today was what happened at the U 20 Concoct championship where a cop was murdered outside their hotel and all the teams from that was Group A. I think it is. All those games and those teams have been moved to a different city, and that includes the United States. So, you know, I have no idea what it's like down there, obviously, but it was enough for the people organizing that tournament to shift on no notice at all, shift them all to another town, move hotels, move games, move all the teams, move all the production, you know, everything to a different place. [00:05:46] Speaker A: I did not. I hadn't. I hadn't heard that news. [00:05:49] Speaker B: John Arnold tweeted about it a little while ago. [00:05:51] Speaker A: Ah, well, big going ons in the us soccer world, so. But, yeah, Tanner looked great, Buzz. You would have been very proud of him, and you should be able to go back and watch it on. On Peacock. [00:06:04] Speaker B: Yeah, I probably will if I have time. You know, I'm in the middle of this long, you know, family oriented trip, and just breaking down for some Olympic soccer wasn't necessarily in the cards today. [00:06:14] Speaker A: I hear you. I hear you. All right, well, let's talk about the burn as this is a sister kissing episode of the podcast as they go up to New England and get, you know, look, you go on the road, you get a point. You always should feel good about that. But based, and especially based on the fact that they were missing so many players. Buzz, getting a one one draw at New England, even if you don't play well, you at least take a little bit of feel good out of that, maybe. [00:06:45] Speaker B: I mean, they do did that game up. I mean, it was awful soccer or I don't even know if that's soccer as a bad game across the board. Neither one of those teams had much to going on to speak of. [00:06:58] Speaker A: Well, there are two non playoff teams. [00:07:00] Speaker B: So, yeah, you know, this is a bad game. You know, it's, you know, just looking on paper and the teams that they both rolled out like no DP's and no big time player, Bobby woods started for them. And he hasn't played 90 minutes in like two years or something and hadn't scored in a year. You know, it's just like Dallas had to start. Call Santa in midfield. This is the most first ever start at a position that I thought he wasn't going to be playing. You know, it just was a. It was not a good quality product on the field. ML New England scored relatively late, and then Tyreek Scott. Dan, I'm getting it wrong again, aren't I? Tyrek Scott. Tyreek Scott. Yeah, because he did change it on me again. Tyrick Scott. But I want to get it like he wants it. Tark Scott earned a PK with a really nice run by the way, if you, if you haven't seen him play, and I don't mean you guys, I mean fans in general, if you haven't seen him play, even in the short minutes that he's playing, you can see what he has that is going to make him special. You know what I mean? He had a, he had a burst and an awareness and he's big and he can fight guys off. And he got in there and earned that PK. And just some of the runs he made were really nice in the very short windows on the field. And I, you know, and we talk about young kids. Sometimes people are like, well, I don't see anything for that, for that kid. I'm like, man, you can see there's something special with that kid. Even in limited minutes. And then Paul stepped up as captain, converted to PK and they got a point. So, you know, if you're trying to scrap your way into the playoffs, you scrapped and stole a point. And if you can do that a couple of times on the road, you can eliminate a win that you need. Because, you know, basically they still need, I think it's five win a four, you, four wins plus something. It's like four and two thirds or something. You almost five wins. Now that you've got this tie, it's four and something out of nine games. So you literally have to win half of them. You have to win all the holden games and get a win or get three ties on the road in order to get it, more than likely. So if you can. If you can put together the three ties on the road, then you don't need to win a game on the road. And so they're fighting in the clawing and they're giving themselves a chance. I mean they're doing what they need to do to have a chance. So you got to respect that in a way and take that as a positive. Going into leagues Cup. [00:09:22] Speaker A: Dan, you got any thoughts or reactions or observations from the draw in new england? [00:09:27] Speaker C: No. Buzz can tell you I legitimately forgot the game even happened because it was very forgettable. [00:09:33] Speaker A: Yeah, you did mention buzz in the notes that. Cause I remember you mentioning this in your, your instant reaction video that you were excited about Anthony Ramirez getting his debut. [00:09:46] Speaker B: Yes, well, that's personal, you know, I mean, obviously he's a talent that I think will help this team in the future. But that's a kid that I've been talking about for probably four years now in terms of like, he's going to be a homegrown someday. And I right now, technically, they've only announced the North Texas part of his deal. My sources tell me it's a hybrid deal. But this was not. This was the first time we've seen an unusual situation, which is where they basically did an emergency short term signing of him from North Texas, like a loan from North Texas. And so he wasn't even really technically a homegrown in this moment. So he made his debut not as a homegrown, but as a emergency short term signing. At some point, he should actually become a full time homegrown. So that's a little bit fascinating if you're a roster nerd kind of guy like I am. But mainly I was just really, really excited because this kid's finally made it to the pro level after I've been talking about him for so long. And he's a classically. He was a ten, but, you know, the ten is kind of a dying position for the most part. He can still do that, you know, underneath Allen Velasco, tennis kind of thing. You know, if they want him to do that, he can also play as a false wing kind of thing. He's similar to valot ways in his game, and lately they've been working him as a deep lying playmaker. Like a deep eight kind of like, almost like I Mindy does. So he's a versatile kid, and he's just now 18 because he's a younger, he's a. He's a class of 2025, I think, or maybe. Maybe it's 24, I don't remember. Whatever. He's just 18. So the kid for the. For the future, and I was just super excited to see him finally make his debut. [00:11:28] Speaker A: And where did Tarek end up? On the field, up top in his. [00:11:34] Speaker B: Usual sort of wing position they were using. This is actually one thing I didn't like on paper. They listed Farrington, you know, as the nine, sort of filling in for Peter Moussa, but he didn't play there. Um, Bernie played as the nine, like a high over the top kind of nine, and Logan was more underneath, you know, flip flopping wings and kind of stuff. And by the end of the game, you know, it's hard to really tell where Targ Scott was playing because by that point, Eugene Ansa was on the field, and Areola was on the field, and he was on the field, and Kamuga was still on the field. So, you know, Dante Seeley was playing left back. You know, there was a lot of attacking kind of players on, and they were trying to overload the front but basically he came in from the right wingish sort of position. Paul was more underneath at that point and, you know, made a slashing run and earned that PK. So. Tarik Scott Tyree. Gosh dang it. Sorry. Tyreek. Scott. Will t Scott. It's funny, like, I've been forcing myself to say his name the other way for a year and a half now, and now I gotta switch back. You know, he's either going to be a nine or an aggressive kind of wing, like Samuel Farrington is a nine or a wing in certain situations. You know, that. That's kind of his game. He's a bit more vertically inclined than Farrington is, but he does have some size, like Farrington. So player. That'll be exciting going forward because this is the year, remember, of his recovery from the ACLMCL double. This is the year we thought you really wouldn't get much out of him. He's. He's still North Texas leading scorer. He's making impactful plays for SC Dallas. [00:13:06] Speaker A: You know, interesting question about that. When did his knee injury take place versus how long it took him before he got back out on the field? [00:13:14] Speaker B: Well, he did his in Spain last year, in his preseason last year. So he came back, you know, for FC Dallas. He came back to training late last season, like in, you know, October or something. I saw him out there at training, but they didn't even bother to roster him and make him, you know, on either team officially until this next season. So, you know, it was a whole year for him before he played, but that was as much about the alignment of when the injury happened as it was his actual recovery time. You know, his return to training came, you know, if it was February to October. So nine months, eight months, you know, probably nine months, probably around there. [00:13:56] Speaker A: I'm obviously asking as it relates to Jesus and Velasco and the idea that we are, I think, getting close to the anticipated time for either or both of those. Those guys to return to the team. And obviously anything either of those dudes can put out on the field would be beneficial for any possible, you know, hopeful playoff push, as unlikely as that seems. So I just wondered. [00:14:21] Speaker B: Well, the team's been really quiet on both of those guys. You know, I actually expected Giovanni Jesus to be back now, but we have heard that he had a scar tissue cleanup kind of situation, which, which happens and may have delayed him a little bit. And Alan Velasco has been posting stuff on social media, but, you know, it's probably been a month since I've been to training now. And so I don't really have any update for anybody on what the status of those two guys. And the team's not saying either. You know, they're, other than like, they're occasionally retweet of whatever Allen's doing, they're not really talking about it. I imagine they want to keep the expectations down. You know, they don't really want to try and get people super excited because nobody knows really what you're going to get, honestly. You know, when you got a guy coming back from these kinds of injuries, the timeline can shift on you. If you have, you know, you can think you're back and all of a sudden there's a pop of something breaking loose and your mind freaks and your body freaks, and all of a sudden it's not really something bad. It's just a piece of scar tissue or whatever, which is my guess what happened with Giovanni and I. You know, we're just gonna, honestly, one of these days it'll just be like, oh, here's pictures of Alan taking part in training full time, and we'll be like, great, he's back, I guess, and then all of a sudden he'll be on the bench. It's like we're gonna have no idea. They don't like to talk about that stuff, really. You know, like, north Texas is even worse. Like, you, they don't even. They don't world Texas isn't required to list any information at all. So they don't. [00:15:47] Speaker A: So it's like, is that like, is that like a desire to tamper expectations or, or are they protecting other teams from thinking about velo? I don't understand the reasoning behind being so secretive about it. [00:16:03] Speaker B: Well, I think they want to protect the player, alan and Giovanni Bose. Cause they don't want to go, oh, alan's gonna be back 1 August. And then, like we've just described happens, you know, he steps onto the first game of training, and then he plants and cuts and all of a sudden a piece of scarf tissue pops out and he panics and has to have a cleanup. And now it's another month later. [00:16:22] Speaker A: You said that. You said that like it was gum flying out of your mouth. [00:16:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't mean pops out of your leg. I mean, it just like, basically what happens is like, some piece of tissue kind of pops and slides in your knee, and it's not a bad thing because it's not a structural piece of tissue. It's actually very, very common on this kind of situation. When you get back to the full power cutting. You know, this sometimes happens, sometimes it needs a cleanup, sometimes it doesn't. But it can make your brain, you know, a lot of recovery from this kind of injury is your, is your subconscious brain having faith that you can plant and cut. And if with that kind of little setback, even though it's not a structural setback, it can be a mental setback. And so they don't want to say, Alan's gonna be back August 1, and all of a sudden something happens and he's not back August 1. And then now what? Now everyone's losing their minds. What's going on? Is it gonna be worse? You know what I mean? So they'll just, they'll just wait until he's cleared and then they'll start talking about it, I'm sure. And I don't blame him. I mean, these are the kinds of injuries. This is why from the get go with him, Alan specifically, even more than Giovanni, I was like, dude, just ride off this season and replace him with that DP money, you know, and because you just have no idea what you're going to get and you have no idea how. Because even from the very beginning, they were like, oh, we're real optimistic that he's going to have a really quick recovery and he'll be back, like in nine months. Well, dude, it's nine months. Where's he at? You know, like that hype already has put them under this. People bug me all the time about it. When's he back? Where is he back? How come we're not hearing about it and I'm like, nine months for both. [00:17:48] Speaker A: Of them or, or just, well, Alan. [00:17:51] Speaker B: Will be nine months, I think, in August. [00:17:52] Speaker A: Okay. [00:17:53] Speaker B: You know, so, like a couple more, another week and a half or so will be nine months. And then Giovanni, I think, is over nine months now. So, like the usual prognosis, no. Is nine to twelve. It can be a whole year before you're cleared depending on how fast you heal. Everybody's different. So, you know, I think, Dan, yours. [00:18:10] Speaker A: Was a different injury. How long did it take you to overcome your achilles tear? [00:18:15] Speaker C: It was six months just to walk properly. So I think it's a year to your back to normal and then for sports it's two years. [00:18:27] Speaker B: I mean, that's what we talk about with this injury, too, is that like a lot of times it can take almost a whole another year before your brain really believes that you're back and you really get back to your old form. I mean, we've seen lots of players struggle that first year back, you know, in terms of wanting one to get all the way, as you would say, peter stuck in, you know. [00:18:43] Speaker A: So, Dan, are you back to interpretive dance yet? [00:18:49] Speaker C: I mean, if that means standing at the side of a bar holding a beer, yeah. [00:18:55] Speaker A: All right. It's interpretive, man. It's whatever you want it to be, dude. [00:19:01] Speaker C: Exactly. I may interpret it as a dog. I may interpret it as something else. [00:19:06] Speaker A: That's right. Exactly. Before we get into buzz, the signings or the transfer window rumors and this, that and the other one of the things that is starting to come out of the team's performance is obviously people's anticipation of what's going to happen with the announcement of a new manager. Obviously the team, at least Zenada and Dan Huntley suggested that nothing would happen until this season is over. And that looks and has, has the season to win this job. And based on, you know, a significantly or at least noticeably improved performance and run of results, are you getting the sense that Peter is the man that is going to ultimately end up winning this job, or is it still too soon to, to, to, to judge that? [00:20:01] Speaker B: I think so far he's put himself in just about a good circumstances as he could. You know, he's. He's winning at a, you know, above 500 rate. What are they, five, one and three? I think it is. I should have double checked. [00:20:18] Speaker A: I think that's right. [00:20:19] Speaker B: You know, so that's. That's a nice clip. That's above 500. That's like, that pace is, you know, one of the top, um, you know, five or six teams in the west. However, a lot of it's at home. So there's that part, you know, um, a lot of it is. Has come against teams that aren't as great. There's that part, but, you know, the, the. When they. When they put it out there, when they fired and Steve, they put it out there, you know, making the playoffs is the line. Okay, well, he's. He's put himself pretty damn close to that line. There will be things out of his control that, you know, depending the teams, there are teams ahead of them that are also playing pretty well, and if those teams continue to play pretty well, you know, that's going to be out of his control. He could win all his games and not get in. Well, actually, probably. That's probably not true. If you want him, all he would get. But the point being is that, like, maybe like to say it's playoffs or bust is probably a little harsh. So what you have to look at is, is he done enough? Is he playing good enough soccer that it would have been a playoff team if he had more time? And he has done that. He did okay in the Open cup, didn't advance super far, you know, and part of it, too, was they said the Leagues cup was on the table. So we're going to have to see how they make a run at that. I think he'll go all in at Leagues cup because that was one of the things they talked about was a chance to win trophies that was available on Leaks cup. So I think in the end of the day, so far, it looks like he's done enough. He's got guys that were underperforming that the team needed to be special. He's gotten them to perform well. And I'm looking at guys, like, legit. I'm looking at guys like Paul Areola having a couple of his best games of the season. You look at the progression of Logan Farrington. That's happened under him. Nikosi's playing a little bit better. You know, a lot of good things are happening. At the end of the day, you know, if he's put himself in a good position, I think that just makes him, however, one of the candidates. Like, if he had screwed this up and it continued to crash and burn, then he would have taken himself out of the candidate list. I think what he's doing is basically putting himself into the candidate list because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter almost how good Peter has done. If there's an amazing candidate that shows up, that's even better. You can't, he won't get it. You know, now, I don't know who that would be. You know, we've talked forever about the kind of candidates that exist, you know, has Luke saying, done enough that he's now a better candidate than Eric Quill? I don't know about that. I think, you know, that he's put himself in the conversation with that level. So then it'll come down to, you know, do they like the way he works with them? He's in the office with them. Does Zanata like him? Does Dan Hunt like him? In the end, that's what's going to matter. And Clark Hunt. Right? But you all know that, like, if, if, I mean, I don't even know if Oscar calls up and says, I'm coming back, right, then Lexi's not getting it, you know, or if, I don't know, who else would be a hunt favorite. But let's say that, you know, I don't know, Bob Bradley or Pep Guardiola calls and goes, I'll come there for 200 grand if you guys want me. I mean, you know, like, you can see a case where it wouldn't matter how good Luxain did if the right candidate calls, but I definitely think he's in the conversation. Where do you. What do you guys think? [00:23:41] Speaker A: Speaker zero? Well, I was going to ask Dan. You know, Dan, you've been in your lifetime as a Lewton fan, been through your fair share of firing and hirings of managers. I'm. I'm interested in your perspective of if Luxon has done enough to win this job. [00:23:58] Speaker C: I think he's on course, too. A big thing is getting back to the identity of the team, and he's kind of brought that in younger players, more attacking soccer, kind of more inviting, interesting soccer. The success is there to follow. It's going to be down to how he performs over the rest of the season, how the players perform, and I guess, crucially for the Hunts, who actually wants the job at the price they want to pay, right? [00:24:31] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's a really good way to say it, Dan, is that he's. He's on track to have put himself in the conversation. He could definitely lose it over the last nine games. You know, if they. If they crater and burn or if injuries start to get better and it doesn't keep improving, you know, that'll be a bad sign to buzz because I. [00:24:49] Speaker A: Know you're a fan. If Eric Quill. Let's just say. Let's say Luxon gets this team into the playoffs, they squeak into the playoffs and lose in the first round, which would be a pretty remarkable achievement based on how shitty this season really has been. [00:25:05] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:25:07] Speaker A: But Eric Quill said, hey, I want that job. Who would you hire? [00:25:14] Speaker B: Wow. I think I probably would still hire Quill because he's actually won stuff. [00:25:27] Speaker A: Right. [00:25:27] Speaker B: You know, but it's. It would be close, you know, I mean, I think it would probably come down. Really? [00:25:33] Speaker A: That would be close to you. [00:25:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Because if you can get this team into the playoffs with the load, they have to get to 44 or even 45, as some people are projecting. It might be, you know, you. You're going to have to win half of the games you have left. [00:25:48] Speaker A: How many points did they have when he took. When he got. When they fired Nico, were they on 30? 28? [00:25:55] Speaker B: It was not 20 because they had 20 and they were going to need 24 in less than half the season. So, like, if he'll have to win half the games he has left, maybe even more than half the games he has left. Not, not just play above 500. We have to win half of them. So that's more like a 750 clip really, because you're not going to lose them all. You're going to tie some too, you know, so it's. If, so if you can get this team with the injury, it's, it has. And the, and the, and the roster disconnect. We've talked about how pieces don't fit and such. If you can get this team playing a 750 clip, man, that is, that's amazing. So, like if they pull this off, that's honestly an incredible endorsement, you know, and I like Peter. The only thing that he has deficient compared to Quill is first team head coach experience and not winning anything. And even now Peter can add the fact that he's coached at MLS and Quill hasn't. Quill's only been an assistant in MLS, but he's been a head coach at USL and at next pro. [00:26:59] Speaker A: Right? [00:26:59] Speaker B: So resume wise, originally you would have said Quill, but now this chance that Luxaine's having and getting and doing well with makes them about even. So, you know, it'll come down to, you know, if Peter can get him in or at least get him really close, it'll come down to interview process, you know, how does it mesh with what Zonata wants to do and what the team wants to do? You know, like we've talked about this lack of identity. It's like right now, like it used to be. Somebody pointed this out in the discord today they were talking about a couple years ago, the identity when they first became a fan was this academy and this pathway and the best development. Well, right now you can't say that. So like, what is the identity of FC Dallas? Do they even have one anymore? [00:27:44] Speaker A: No. [00:27:44] Speaker B: So, like how does that all mesh? You know, we've talked about, they deny this, but like, to me, like, the way that coach wanted to play a back three, it was like they were building a roster to play a back four and he wanted to play back three. It's like there's a disconnect, you know, so which one of these coaches might mesh better with the front office? And don't forget, there's a new TD. Like, Zenot has been promoted. So there's another person involved in here that we know very little about yet. He doesn't really do media, you know. So in the end of the day, Dan and Clark and with Zenada are going to make this call, and it's going to come down to like. Because. Because Luxaines put himself in the conversation. Unless he burns the thing to the ground, you know, he. They're. You're going to. They're going to go in there and they're going to go, here's what we think this roster is here. Who. Here's who we think. Who the good players are. Do you agree with us or not? And if one guy is saying, no, this roster stinks, I got to get rid of 80% of this roster. Whereas Luxe might say, nope, I got. This guy's going. So, like, that. It could come down to something like that, you know? Cause I think even if luxe gets into the playoffs, I don't think that's a lock to have the job. I don't. I know that they said it would. [00:28:55] Speaker A: I think that just gives Dan the excuse to hire him. [00:28:59] Speaker B: It does, but I don't think it makes it a lock, though. But you're probably right. It would give them the excuse to just go ahead and do it, because it's easier just to keep going than it would be to bring in somebody new. [00:29:10] Speaker A: He'll take the job for probably less than Estevez was making, and he got him in the playoffs, and he'll want to, you know, bolster his resume. It'll be. It'll be a. It'll be the easiest choice in Dan Hunt's head he's ever had, other than, you know, getting shellis to finally take the job. [00:29:33] Speaker B: It's also the. See, we were right hire. Right. Because if he gets this thing into our brand right next to the playoffs, then they can say, see, we told you it was a playoff roster. And then, see, that's our guy. He's getting it done. Let's go with that. You know, and they may be right at that point. You know, I think that. I think there's a big biscuit disconnect around that idea of it's a playoff roster with the injuries, because clearly, with all those injuries, it wasn't, you know, and the way people were performing under establish, it wasn't. And then Luxaine, to his credit, has got guys performing. Um, and that makes it where, like, if they played this way all year, they would be a lock in the playoffs. They'd be uneasy. [00:30:11] Speaker A: Yep. Well, I guess we will see. The other big news of the week is that, yes, Dallas did make a signing, and it is exactly the gentleman from the israeli league that we were seeing rumored about on the interwebs. He is from Angola. So he's the club's first angles player. At least I think I'm correct in saying that. I'm safe in saying that's the first. [00:30:37] Speaker B: I would have said Angola player, but why your angle? Anglese Angolan. [00:30:42] Speaker A: Yeah, and go, okay, whatever. His name is Manuel Kafumana, and he goes by show, as we've discussed, which is he's 25 and he is a defensive mid or some sort of center mid. We don't know much about him. And I guess the speculation is this is a loan with an option to buy buzz, and so it's very low risk. They need a body in the middle of the field. If he shows up and farts and it, you know, pulls a GRC or something, nobody's going to care. [00:31:16] Speaker B: It's a rental player. Yeah, nobody cares. I mean, if he shows up and turns out he's great, awesome, keep him by him, whatever. But it's like when, you know, when you're talking about a one year contract with a buy, like the one one year. If that. If the one year is literally correct, that's like, till the middle of next summer, because that aligns with the european or everybody else's calendar. Right. Well, I'm sure there's a way for Dallas to get out of it in December. So really it's like this guy's, you know, worst case, he could be here for just like three months and that's it, you know, so I don't think they would have done this if Frazier hadn't gone down for two months. You know, you combine it with all the other bang ups, they're like, we got to get a body because especially with Nolan being gone for the U twenty's and then, you know, there just was too many missing pieces, so I understand it. I mean, I would have just signed Garcia, but they're not me, so. [00:32:05] Speaker A: Right. Okay. So this is the big question I have is, why sign this guy? Is this. Is this some sort of performative, hey, look, we tried kind of thing by the club to the fans or, I mean, if really the whole point to this club is you grow your own, you have an academy, you have all these amazing young players. It's not like they don't have bodies. They don't need a body. So I don't understand the reason why you go find some obscure african player playing in Israel to come be a body. [00:32:39] Speaker B: Well, presumably they must feel he can play at a certain level, that he can play at a level, you know, equivalent to Frazier. You know, part of it, too. I think is that they were watching how many minutes they were piling up on the yar Mendy, you know, when he's got his leg soreness, you know, so they probably feel like they need a guy that can play at a, at a certain level, you know, rather than going out, you know, he must be better than Carl Santa, for example, otherwise. Yeah, well, Nolan's gonna be gone a bit, so that one I can understand. But he must be. They must think he's better than those two guys, you know, or what would be the point, you know, just keep playing Carlos Santa and or an Anthony Ramirez for that matter. You know, just keep doing these emergency signings from North Texas if you have to. But, you know, Luxane is probably saying, dude, you guys are killing me. I'm trying to make the playoffs here and win this job. Okay, we'll get you a guy. So they wouldn't got him a guy. So that's how I look at it, you know what I mean? Like the signing doesn't bother me, honestly. Cause this is the kind of like we're dying in the midfield. We got like 18 injuries at one position. Okay, go get a central midfielder. You know what I mean? [00:33:42] Speaker A: Well, you know what, maybe the biggest lesson out of this is some sort of insight into the quality as to this club's supposed additional. What's the word I'm looking for? Ability to scout and globally. Like, haven't they hired other scouts for other areas of the world? Yeah, like if, if somebody went out and scouted this guy and he turns out to be, you know, you're kind of run of the mill due MLS dude. It probably makes sense as a good signing because he was a body and he filled a role and he was better than one of your kids. But if he shows up and he's another or any other endless list of midfielders, this team is totally bonked on in the last decade, I think we know what we, I think we learned all we need to know. [00:34:28] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, that's the thing is like, until we find out what kind of player he is, it's really hard to make much of a judgment because, you know, you can look at YouTube or whatever and you don't know the leagues that the videos are from and it's just clips of whatever. That's not the same as watching a guy play 90 minutes, you know, in an MLS game. So, you know, until we get some, some game action, it's going to be really hard to judge the signing. And if the dude never plays, like, there have been signs before where they've signed a guy and the dude's never played. It's not the end of the world as long as the deal isn't crazy long or crazy money. The problem here for me is that he ate the last international spot. So, like, if you're going to do anything else, you're now going to have to make a roster move of some kind. To do anything else, you'll have to clear an international spot somehow, and you'll have to clear a roster spot somehow because this guy ate the last open roster spot and the last international spot, by my math, my roster math. So, you know, there are ways to do that stuff because of how they'll, you know, move guys down to North Texas or loan them here or whatever. That's not the problem. The problem is that you now have to do it. This was the open spot, and so now we expect them, or one of them to go get a center back. The coach, who's no longer here, has been saying since February, since they played a couple of games and realized they needed a center back, that they need, still need a center back. You know, your backup choices are Cortia and Omar Gonzalez is 35. And Sonte, who hasn't played hardly any center back at all. You know, that's what he was supposed to be. [00:36:02] Speaker A: So, so I guess, you know, when you did your poll and asked the everybody to guess how many people they'd sign in this window, the winning number was one. They've made one, which was a bit out of desperation. Do you think, buzz or Dan, that they will sign a center back in this window? [00:36:18] Speaker B: What do you think, Dan? [00:36:22] Speaker C: I don't know. They've definitely been looking at center boxes, whether they can get one over the line. [00:36:33] Speaker B: I'm going to bet at this point that it's no, because we're that window open on the 18th, so we're like, what, a week into that now? And there's nothing being. There's not even any rumors anymore. Like, they have been linked to a center back. [00:36:47] Speaker A: And hasn't there been two center backs signed in the last week? [00:36:50] Speaker B: There's been more than two. I think there's been like ten center back signed this window in MLS, you know, and like, there's even some center backs who want to get traded in the side of the league, you know, there's. Look, they still could, there's plenty of time before the roster freeze deadline to do it, but I just kind of feel like, you know, like I said, they ate the last open spot and the last international spot. Loxain's got the team running pretty good. You know, he's not the full time guy. He's an interim guy. I just feel like that's probably it. Like, even though I would say they really need one, it's probably a wait and see time now because they're like this. They don't know for sure this is the guy yet, the coach, you know, which is what I was trying to ask him when they had their catholic church conference. I was like, you know, are you going to move forward with building roster when you don't have a coach, you know, a full time coach? And they were like, oh, yeah, Lexington's going to. Are they? I don't know, man. It's like. It just feels like there's a lot of wait and see happening right now, waiting for guys to get back and get healthy. How good are we really? Can we make a run with what we have? You know, like, we talk about a center back, because we're talking about a big picture, like two or three year window, right? It's like, ibiog is 32, you know, Omar's 35. Neither one of the other guys have progressed yet. There's some other guys in your system that look interesting, but they might be a couple of years away. It's like you need a center back for the next two or three seasons, maybe four seasons. That's the center back they need. Not. We're fighting to make this playoff spots with two points out with nine games to go. That's a different calculation, you know, so good. [00:38:30] Speaker A: Grieving. [00:38:31] Speaker B: I'm at a point now it's not gonna. I'm now leaning more towards that. This is gonna be it. That one guy. [00:38:37] Speaker A: Well, that wouldn't surprise me either. I mean, there's so many. Yeah. The whole thing's a disaster. [00:38:44] Speaker B: I want to be wrong. I want them to be getting a real center back, but. [00:38:48] Speaker A: But I can make an argument that now is not the time to be getting a center back when you're still trying to figure out who your manager's gonna be. 25. [00:38:55] Speaker B: Totally. 100%. But. But this is the window where there are more players available at better prices and better talent levels, because this is the major window for everybody. [00:39:04] Speaker A: Yeah, but this is also the cluster f you've put yourself in, you know? [00:39:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:39:08] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah. [00:39:10] Speaker B: Totally. 100%. [00:39:12] Speaker A: Aka another season. Yep. All right, so next up is the league's cup. Here is Dallas's big chance to win silverware. First off, on Saturday, they have to travel up to St. Louis and play St. Louis city. And then they've got the game at home against juarez on the 31st. I'm sorry, on the. Yeah, on the 31st, which is just four days later. So, Buzz, I heard you say earlier just a few minutes ago, you think they're going all in on this? [00:39:47] Speaker B: I do. [00:39:48] Speaker A: All in. Does that include any of the injured players that have not been able to play? Do we have any idea if Asus is back or. [00:39:56] Speaker B: No clue. Hases is streaming and all that stuff. I think Delgado's got a little bit longer and obviously Fraser's out for a while. You know, the, the. I think they're all in on this because they mentioned this was a chance to win a trophy, you know, and they've got a little time to rest, you know, and if they get eliminated, they will have plenty of time to get guys back. But if they, they also have a pretty good path. I mean, somebody was doing the math and like, the, if they win this group, the, the, there was a discussion in the discord about the teams that they would be in their way and it's, it's all beatable teams. It's all, for whatever reason, their part of the bracket is relatively beatable, particularly because they probably means they would host, I think. I believe they host if they get out of the group. So they're going to feel like they've got a shot. And so I think they're going to go all in, especially because, look, Sain is still trying to prove that he's the guy. So now, given how many injuries they have all in as a relative, you know, there's, there's. But they should have Musa back, you know, if they don't sell Paz, he's going to be here. You know, that seems to cool off a little bit, you know, but I. The windows are still open for everybody, but the other leagues, like the european leagues are all starting in the next couple of weeks, I think. So teams are winding down the, the buys probably. [00:41:25] Speaker A: Well, just so everybody knows, I'm sitting here looking at the bracket. If Dallas was there in the west, three, the winner, the first and second place teams play the first and second place teams out of five, which is Leon, Portland and Colorado, just FYI. [00:41:44] Speaker B: Yeah, they, I think they would, you know, Leon obviously would be. If Dallas would advance. Leon, you'd play here. I think Portland was because I believe it's based on last year's standings. So Dallas would be the higher seed compared to all those teams, I think based on last year's standings because didn't Portland have a bad season, if I remember correctly. And Colorado for sure did, you know, they had a remarkable turnaround. So, you know, there's a good chance that, like against any of those teams, you're going to get a host, you know, and so there's a chance that you could have a relatively good pathway for yourself. [00:42:19] Speaker A: Unless you ended up in second and won the game against the group five winner, the next game would more than likely be against Club America. [00:42:27] Speaker B: That's a tougher one. But again, but again, it would be here or it would be states. It would be the states. Club America would have. I think they're one of the teams that has the neutral venue, but it would still be in the states. [00:42:38] Speaker A: Oh, would it? [00:42:39] Speaker B: Yeah, right. There's no, there's no games in Mexico, I don't believe, unless I'm massively mistaken, but I don't think so. [00:42:45] Speaker C: That dude in the regional hubs. [00:42:47] Speaker B: Yeah, right. So I don't know where Club America's hub is, but, you know, you don't have to go to Mexico at any point. [00:42:53] Speaker A: Let's see. Club America hub privileges through the semifinals in the state of California. Club America will debut at. In San Diego. [00:43:05] Speaker B: Well, Cup America in LA, to be fair, is a. Is a couple of american home game. That's a tough one. But, you know, like I said, because you would have the. I think, I'm pretty sure you have host rights above those other teams, you know, so you would have a good chance, if you get through, to sort of give yourself a run, you know. But again, it's. I don't think that any of that matters. I think it's going to come down to saints trying to win a job. He's going to try and win everything possible, and he doesn't, while, you know, he's playing more kids than I, Estevez did. And we're finally seeing some movement in the pipeline again. Thank God. You know, it's still. He's only doing it mostly because he's being forced to, not because he really wants to, you know, because of all the injuries. And I don't know that, you know, this club, this season has had a really bad record of saying, guys, we're going to be out two weeks, and then a couple months later they're back, you know, so, like, I'm pretty sure. Jesus, if I remember incorrectly when he went out, they were like two, three weeks. I'm pretty sure we're way past that now. So it'll be any game, he'll show up and be ready to go or it'll be indefinitely. [00:44:12] Speaker A: You know, the other thing that happened this week, and this is obviously because the transfer windows open and all sorts of noise happens. There was a reoccurrence of a tie of Dallas being tied to a brazilian player. [00:44:30] Speaker B: Yeah. He's been apparently linked like a year ago. He plays for Fluminace. [00:44:36] Speaker A: Yeah, Fluminese. I can't remember his name off the top of my head. He's really fast. Young, skinny dude. [00:44:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:43] Speaker A: I can't remember his name. [00:44:45] Speaker B: I looked him up and he looks like a. You know, depending on who you believe in terms of how much he would be costing, he's. He could be a U 22 initiative or if the price is high enough, he would have to be a DP. You know. So whether they're actually after a guy like that or whether they're line that up in case they lose on Jesus sale or Moose's sale, you know, sometimes those links are there because of the team is interested in like, hey, if we. If we have to do something, we need a guy. We want this guy. You know? So you line it up for. If that happens, you know, or if you're. If you're shifting your system and you want to go four DP's. Sorry. For U 22 initiatives. Or if you decide that one of your current UU 22 initiatives is not working, you know. So hearing about a guy now with that, what would likely be that kind of price tag doesn't make sense. Unless you're talking about really more for next year. Because I don't think you're getting a guy like that. And I'm trying to find a. Yeah. [00:45:51] Speaker A: I'm sorry, I forgot what his name is. I think it's. Isn't it? It begins. And his first and last name begins with ours. I thought. Wasn't it? Anyway, it's not important. I'm sorry I brought it up without looking at the other one. The other thing that happened was the. The rumor out there that Musa is being looked at by Ipswich, which created all sorts of consternation with the curious because obviously he just got here and has just started scoring goals for Dallas. And that even the idea or suggestion that the hunts would turn around and immediately sell him didn't go down well. [00:46:26] Speaker B: Well, it's all about money, isn't it? You wouldn't want to sell a guy that you just got. And it was doing great things for you and was really turning your team around. But if they offer. If anybody doesn't have to be Ipswich town or not, and doesn't have to be a viable source or not. If they're offering legitimate profit on a guy that you just got then you might do the business, you know. What would it take? I don't know. Peppy money. I mean, if somebody comes in and offers you 20 million and you can double your $10 million. [00:46:56] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. You have to take that, right? [00:46:58] Speaker B: You have to take it. So if somebody comes in and offers you twelve, I would hope that they would say, no, we're not going to make 2 million on a guy after like six months. You know, that's ridiculous. We bought this guy. Like, keep in mind they have a contract through 2007, you know, and then they have options. So they have a long deal on him. So they have all the leverage. Even if he wanted to go, they have the leverage, you know. So it's not. It's not the kind of thing where, like he's banging down the doors as far as we know, to get out of here. He literally just got here. So it's. You know, it's. I find it unrealistic unless somebody money whips them. But, you know, the numbers he's putting up. I don't put it past him that somebody wouldn't money whip them and the hunts wouldn't jump at it, you know, again, peppy money, right. That would pull the trigger. I bet. [00:47:42] Speaker C: Ultimately it's a team talk. So it's about as reliable as a insert really, really terribly crappy car team. [00:47:54] Speaker A: Talk being the source that reported it. Hey, Dan, I'm curious. On the english football club hate scale where does Ipswich fall for you? Are they like close to Watford? [00:48:08] Speaker C: No, no, no. I think for Leighton fans. So we're in East Anglia. Well, that's our tv region and the two big teams in the market because that's where the tv studios are in Norwich and Ipswich. So that's. You get who dominates the tv time no matter how good they are, how bad they are, how. Whatever. So it'd be like. I don't know, being a. I guess there's not really an equivalent here, is there? I guess like being a Mets fan in New York and just being bombarded with Yankee stuff. You don't necessarily care about them. But it's probably annoying that your team doesn't necessarily get the news that. The coverage that they deserve because of it. [00:48:51] Speaker A: Well, I just wondered if there was a big looting Ipswich rivalry that I was. [00:48:55] Speaker C: No, no. In any way, shape or form. [00:48:57] Speaker A: Okay. All right. Shuck stern. All right. So that's all the rumors, stuff, I guess. We have no idea what's going to happen. We'll just have to sit around like the rest of the bums and figure out, you know, wait and see if Dallas pulls anything off and then just see how leagues cups go. Because I think now I'm going to guess buzz as we. Well, before I get to that, anything else we need to talk about? Because I can't think of anything off the top of my head. [00:49:25] Speaker B: Well, I just wanted to mention that the pipeway started working a little bit, and since we saw Anthony Ramirez with the first team, there also were three academy kids made their debut with North Texas, which is, like, the first time. Others is Daniel Barron, who's at Unite Teen. That came up, you know, a couple months ago. This is the first time we've seen, like, young. Like, one of them is 14. So, like, this is the first time we've seen a kid that young since Corcoran. Matthew Corcoran came up for the first time. So, like, that kid is legit. He's with the USU 15 team. He's the one that had that absolutely sick move the other day. He popped up on my list of potential, for sure. Homegrowns. He's a 2009, by the way. Keep that. That's insane. [00:50:06] Speaker A: Shut up. [00:50:07] Speaker B: Yeah, and the other two guys were zero eight s, you know. Now, what really matters with North Texas is if you continue to get call. One call up doesn't mean a lot other than, like, okay, that's cool. Because a lot of times it's about who's available and the positional needs and that kinds of stuff. But if they continue to get looks, if it's just a. It's one step on the progress. And considering we had seen none for a long time, it was really exciting to see those three kids, so. And by the way, I found the tweet about the guy. Um, it's John Kennedy, is his name. [00:50:36] Speaker A: Oh, that's right. Yes. Yeah, it was the weird. Yeah. Brazilian dude with an american name. [00:50:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:50:42] Speaker A: Forgot that's what it was. Yeah. Okay. Probably not much to that either. [00:50:48] Speaker B: I mean, you know, remember what we always say, ten out of the ten links, one of them will be real. You know, what you can think about is, like, where is the smoke coming? Positionally? Are we seeing lots of links in one particular spot? [00:51:00] Speaker A: Well, the one link turned out to be show. [00:51:02] Speaker B: It did. Well, there's been two more since then, you know, so. [00:51:06] Speaker A: But does the counter start over? Once that one of the links comes. [00:51:09] Speaker B: Through, you start the counter over again. If you. If you look at, like, where, like, Brazilians, obviously, because there's a knot of Brazilians, we go, oh, we open our eyes a little bit more, you know. [00:51:18] Speaker A: And they may be selling mooses and they need a striker. [00:51:21] Speaker B: All of a sudden, there's a mooses sale rumor, we know that somebody tried to buy Seuss last year. You know, there's. It's always those. Logan Farrington's playing really well. People were talking about him on, like, the all star game broadcast. Someone told me, you know, that's right. There's hype around, and Dallas is playing, all of a sudden, really hot soccer. So people are paying attention, you know. [00:51:41] Speaker A: So the dramatic music. [00:51:43] Speaker B: Yeah. Q drama. This. It's slick season time, right. For me, for the. Because this is. The windows are open, so you never know. So it's always worth discussing what these things mean. And, like, could it be real? Could it not be? And, like, you know, what would happen if the right price came from Musa? What would you do? You know? And those things are always important to talk about. [00:52:03] Speaker A: Well, I think by the time we do another episode, the two leagues cup games will have been played. Am I saying that? Yeah, because it's Saturday and Wednesday, so we'll probably wait and record till after the Juarez game, won't we? [00:52:15] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. [00:52:16] Speaker A: Are you back in town by then? [00:52:18] Speaker B: Uh, no. [00:52:20] Speaker A: No. Okay. [00:52:21] Speaker B: No, I'll be on the road somewhere. [00:52:23] Speaker A: Dad. Buzz, you are missing the best Dallas summer we've had in the last several years. [00:52:29] Speaker B: I know. It's hotter here than it is back home. [00:52:32] Speaker A: It's amazing. The weather here has been so good, and it's going to stay that way for a few more days before it pokes back up to 100. But basically, we're getting a reprieve from the last two hell summers we've had. [00:52:46] Speaker B: Yeah. Next Wednesday, I'll be near the black canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado. Be on my way back. [00:52:51] Speaker A: Dan, this is a quality Dallas summer, just so you know. [00:52:55] Speaker C: Oh, it's solid. Yeah. Haven't melted to the ground yet. [00:53:01] Speaker B: Well, thankfully, the next two days here, the high is supposed to be like 80 and 77. The next two days for a high. So I'm broke. That about that. [00:53:08] Speaker A: Have you been or. Hey, wait, are you over by Yellowstone? [00:53:12] Speaker B: I was a week ago. I'm not. How cool was that video, though? Wow. [00:53:17] Speaker A: Missed the explosion. [00:53:19] Speaker B: I'm amazed nobody got hurt. [00:53:20] Speaker A: Yeah, it's crazy, crazy stuff. All right, well, very good. Well, soccer. Keep going on. We'll see how things progress, and we'll all keep our fingers and toes crossed for a successful Dallas burn league's cup run, see if we can have some more fun. [00:53:36] Speaker B: Yeah, I actually really surprisingly enjoyed league's cup last year. I, I was, I thought I was going to hate it and I didn't. I actually kind of liked it. So hopefully it's still fun. [00:53:46] Speaker A: Did you come to that conclusion after the messy game or before the messy game? Because my, my, my enthusiasm for it was, I have to admit, was largely bolstered by that amazing night. [00:53:59] Speaker B: That certainly was an amazing night. And, and part of it, too, was that Dallas or coach or whatever used those games to try something different with Alan in the middle. And it really was explosive. And so that was fun, you know, and it. Why, you know, it's just in like, the game that people seem to care about the games. The team care, seemed to care about them, the fans seem to care about them. You know, so, like, the whole thing was just, I thought no one was going to give a crap and people gave a crap and so I was like, oh, this is more fun than I thought it was going to be. [00:54:27] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm very curious to see how leagues cup gives received this year. Obviously with all the open cup drama and fan groups boycotting it because of the open cup drama and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and the fact that Messi probably isn't going to be playing in it. [00:54:45] Speaker B: No, last year he was a huge part of that. [00:54:47] Speaker A: It was obviously, yes, because that entire Boulder was just starting to roll downhill when he just started hitting, you know, winning games late and hitting bombs left and right and just doing, you know, doing messy stuff. So I am very curious how successful MLS is and get in kind of building the hype and sustaining it for this tournament for the next month. I'm. I don't know. I'm. My guess is that it will be way less than last year, but I don't know. We'll see. [00:55:20] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. [00:55:22] Speaker C: Maybe it'll just be, I mean, you know, if you look at the FC Dallas games minus that Miami game, it was dull as dishwater. Outside of the Alan Velasco experiment, the games themselves were horrendous. Officiating was terrible. Crowds were flat. I mean, you know, just not excited for that part of it. Again, if you take out the kind of one successful thing which, which was messy. [00:55:50] Speaker A: Well, I do. I would say I think the worst case scenario that could come out of this is that both the open cup and the league's cup fall flat. I think. I think MLS has got a, and us soccer in general is a real problem if both of those turn. I mean US Open cup games have largely been poorly attended, at least at the MLS level so far. And if Leagues cup in term also isn't well attended and get a lot of attention then that's a real. That's a real bummer result for everybody. If that's. If that's what happens. [00:56:26] Speaker B: Well it's a complicated topic but I think the fact that ML cut MLS has basically crapped all over the open cup for 30 years is why no one cares about it. It's like if they got on board and hyped it up and made a big deal about it like they do the Leaks cup, people would care about it, you know. So like if leaks cup crashes and burns, I'm actually would be okay with that because maybe it'll mean they'll go back to being caring about the open cup. Probably not. But you know, you never know. [00:56:51] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean the problem you got is they don't hold marketing rights for the open cup so they aren't going to care. [00:56:57] Speaker B: No, of course not. [00:56:59] Speaker C: The big, I mean the big issue of Leagues cup is, you know, it's cool good to have different teams. And Cosi Tafari was talking the last home game that, you know, he was looking forward to it because it's. It's just different playing teams you don't ordinarily play. But let's be honest, unless it's Pumas Tigris America, maybe Monterey, who cares? There's not, you know that the appeal of the mexican teams isn't massive outside of. Oh and Chivas I guess, you know, it's the same. The reverse. Playing against St. Louis City is. Is not sexy. Playing against LAFC and Miami, sure. But you know, St. Louis, Minnesota United, FC Dallas, it's just not a draw. [00:57:44] Speaker B: Yeah, that's fair. [00:57:46] Speaker A: Well it's all just a, you know, test run for the eventual merging of the two leagues anyway, so. For sure. Say that again. [00:57:58] Speaker B: That always gets people riled. But I totally believe it. [00:58:01] Speaker A: Oh, it's totally happening. Andy and I have been predicting that for ten years. I mean any. Yeah, you probably too have. You too. You have to. [00:58:12] Speaker B: I'm sure we've talked. [00:58:13] Speaker A: Sorry it's late. [00:58:14] Speaker B: It is. [00:58:15] Speaker A: I'm drunk. Okay, well here we go. I think we've done it once. Another one. Anything else we need to touch on? Kit talk? Is there any good kit talk out there? [00:58:26] Speaker C: It's not. But you've looked over the big transfer news in DFW this week? [00:58:34] Speaker A: Oh that's right. Dallas Trinity assigned some more players. [00:58:37] Speaker C: Yeah, they're kind of a little bit more interesting now you've learned Madison White from racing. Louisville goalkeeper drafted this year from. Well, she was drafted out of Texas Tech, actually one of the all american, first team, first in Texas tech history. Did I say goalkeeper? Probably. I said goalkeeper. Good. Yeah, she's a goalkeeper local. Yeah, from Rockwell. She played actually under Katie Lund as their first choice keeper, who was an FC Dallas kid, played with the WPSL team as well. But I think the biggest sign in is Chioma Ibergagu, who is. She's originally from London, raised in Capel, played for Arsenal, played for Tottenham, played for Houston Dash, Orlando Pride, played with a lot of the us age groups and then has been capped a couple of times for England. By far in a way the most accomplished player that they've signed. And beyond that, a cool story. She's actually resuming her professional career after fighting cancer. So yeah, we've talked a little bit about USL, Super League in general, being kind of people who couldn't make the grade in NWSL or have kind of aged out of it. And this is someone who, you know, I think she's 30 so, you know, on that kind of higher end for NWSL. But this could really be a launch pad for one. If Super League turns out to be a success story, she could be the face of that. Or two. You know, if Super League is. Is firmly that second tier, then that could kind of propel her back into that top tier discussion. [01:00:24] Speaker A: That is fascinating. Yeah, I saw they signed her and she did seem quite accomplished. The. The cancer part of her story is not something I was aware of. But that does answer why she was a available to come play here. So that's good that she's gotten healthy again and can do that. That'll be fun. Their first games beginning of September here at the cotton ball. Correct? [01:00:43] Speaker C: Yeah. And actually something came out today. Someone had gone through the team's ticket prices. Turns out Dallas Trinity actually has the most expensive, cheapest ticket of all the teams. [01:00:56] Speaker A: Really? [01:00:57] Speaker C: Yeah. Interesting. Surprisingly in general just far more expensive than Brooklyn. I think the only team more expensive was DC power. [01:01:06] Speaker A: Hmm. I wonder where Brooklyn's playing their games. [01:01:10] Speaker B: Brooklyn. Well, sorry, please. [01:01:15] Speaker A: I curious if it's like Randall's island or something like that. [01:01:19] Speaker C: I know someone's gonna start playing out. [01:01:21] Speaker A: Of icon, which is the old Randall's island. [01:01:25] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I don't know if it was them or if it was. No, actually it was NYC FC two. [01:01:30] Speaker A: It wasn't well, anyway, I'm interested to see where that thing goes. I'm curious as to what kind of attendance they get, especially on the regular and how that all falls together. That's really interesting to me. Being the first professional women's team in the area is a big deal. I hope it's received well. [01:01:53] Speaker C: They're gonna play on Coney island. [01:01:55] Speaker A: There's a stadium at Coney island? [01:01:58] Speaker C: There's the baseball stadium. I don't know if it's that. [01:02:01] Speaker A: Oh, okay. All right. [01:02:02] Speaker C: Wait, hold on. It's. [01:02:04] Speaker A: It's not that big a deal. I just wondered. [01:02:06] Speaker C: It's the baseball stadium. Yeah. [01:02:08] Speaker A: Okay. All right. [01:02:09] Speaker B: Well, okay. By the way, quick shout out to Ainsley McCammon. She's from. [01:02:15] Speaker A: All right, Ainsley. [01:02:16] Speaker B: Yeah, she's from Bedford and plays for solar. Or did play for. [01:02:19] Speaker A: What did she win? [01:02:20] Speaker B: She signed for the Seattle Reign. 16 years old. [01:02:24] Speaker A: I saw that. [01:02:25] Speaker B: Youngest, youngest player in rain history and something like the 6th or 8th youngest player I don't have right in front of me in the whole league's history. 16 years old and coming up on her 17th birthday soon, so impressive. Accomplished by her. She's a us youth national team player, so. Ainsley McCammon, congrats, man. [01:02:42] Speaker A: I'm telling you, Dallas Fort Worth is cranking out women talent left. [01:02:47] Speaker B: Oh, it's ridiculous, dude. Yeah. [01:02:49] Speaker A: Yes, it's ridiculous. [01:02:51] Speaker B: Solar is insane. And even a couple of the FC Dallas teams are pretty good, too. It's just unbelievable. Unbelievable town. [01:03:00] Speaker A: I don't think it'll be a surprise, but I'm thinking jaden Shaw is going to be the surprise star of the women's team this tournament because Rose is going to get hurt or something like that, and they're going to need her, and she's going to show up and she's just gonna ball out. I just know it. I can feel it in my bones. [01:03:16] Speaker B: I'm hyped. Third degree. The podcast is brought to you by the Lindstrom law firm for wills, trust, probates, and business law. Call 469-515-2559 or visit lindstromlawfirm.com for a free consultation. [01:03:29] Speaker A: Very good. All right. Well, dan, thank you for your insight and loving soccer talking fun. [01:03:35] Speaker C: Thank you for making us sound all good and organized. [01:03:40] Speaker A: Yeah, you're overhyping that buzz. I hope your trip is going well with you and your in laws and your family and whatever weird, mysterious things you do up there in Idaho. [01:03:50] Speaker B: Well, thanks for you guys for working with a tough schedule for me. I appreciate it. [01:03:54] Speaker A: It's our pleasure. We love. We love doing it. All right. And thank you, FC Dallas curious fans. We will be back next week, I assume, after the Juarez game, so we can talk about both of those things on another episode of third degree, the podcast third degree Napa. Third degree, the third degree nap. Podcast third degree, the third degree nap, I guess. Third degree, the third degree nap, I guess.