3rd Degree the Podcast #297

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Here we go in a three and a two and a one. Yeah. [00:00:13] Speaker B: 3Rd degree the 3rd degree Net podcast. [00:00:16] Speaker A: 3Rd degree the 3rd degree Ned podcast 3rd degree the 3rd Degree Ned podcast 3rd degree 3rd degree podcast 3rd degree. [00:00:29] Speaker C: The podcast is brought to you by listeners like you. Third Degree, both as a podcast and a website would not exist without our readers and our listeners. Why not join us on our Patreon and give us a support and if you support at the three amigos level, you can join us on our lovely, lovely FC Dallas Discord full of all the FC Dallas Curious and sickle fans that you want to hang out with and learn all about this club patreon.com third degree, come join us. [00:00:54] Speaker A: Hey you FC Dallas curious fan. Welcome to another episode of third degree the podcast. This one is number 297. Oh, so close to the big three double donuts. There he is, Dan Crook. Howdy, Dan. [00:01:09] Speaker B: Oh hey, that was a good introduction. [00:01:13] Speaker A: You know, just trying to change it up. Do something a little fresh. [00:01:16] Speaker B: I like it. Keep it fresh. [00:01:18] Speaker A: Sorry, I've been watching an Action Bronson F that's delicious food video on YouTube for the last half hour. So I'm a little culturally appropriation kind of stuff. All right. Yes. Hot good food in Queens, New York. I need to go have some sandwiches there. All right. And there he is, your hero, my hero, everybody's hero. Editor, founder of third degree.net in the original soccer influencer himself, Buzz Carrick. Come in, Buzz. [00:01:47] Speaker C: Hey fellows. Thanks for being here on a week when SC Dallas didn't really do anything. But we still got plenty to talk about, so. [00:01:52] Speaker A: So this will take what, 10 minutes? [00:01:54] Speaker C: I think we came up with more than 10 minutes, but it might be shortish. [00:01:58] Speaker A: We'll see Action Bronson reviewing food in Queens, New York. [00:02:03] Speaker C: Every time we say it's going to be short, it ends up being an hour, so. [00:02:06] Speaker A: Yeah, that's true. Very true. All right, we will start with the fact that nothing. So when we last. When we last time on Third Degree the podcast, we were all sitting around waiting for a big name center back signing Buzz and here we are seven days later and crickets. [00:02:25] Speaker C: Well, we have a name for everybody we've put out there. You know, I feel pretty good about our sources that told us who that name was and we've since seen. [00:02:34] Speaker A: Wait, wait, hold on. Don't move on. Who is the name and who is the player? [00:02:38] Speaker C: Well, his name is Oaz Rogade. He is a Portuguese. Am I right on that, Dan? Am I losing my mind? Center back playing In France. [00:02:50] Speaker B: He's English born Dutch. [00:02:53] Speaker C: Oh God, I was way off on the four cheese. I think I. Yeah, he's playing for a club in the second division in France. The, the couple of fans messaged at me when I linked the name saying that he was our best center back. Please don't take him. And I was like, oh, you know, okay, so 24, you know, it's obviously not official and not announced. I, I feel good about our sources that said this name but of course until it's announced it's, you know, Ra Saltic or just with us as much as anybody else. But, you know, not quite the center back I think that everyone was hoping for in terms of stature. But at the same time, you know, there are a little bit of skins on the wall here in terms of the places that he's played and you know, you're talking about Celtic a little bit. Some shuffled Wednesday is a youth player, you know, so not unheard of teams. And a guy that has on tape the, the, the, the YouTube video looks like he's got some strength and power. Seems not all that different from Nicosi Tafari, which raises questions about why you're paying for this when you add it already. But here we are, so we'll see if it comes through and see how good our sources are. [00:04:12] Speaker A: Just a pro tip buzz you can do like me. And when you can't remember the name of the country, just go, oh, he's European. [00:04:18] Speaker C: Yeah, European. [00:04:19] Speaker B: I also messed up. He was born in Rotterdam and grew up in England. Was the other way around. [00:04:25] Speaker A: So he's Dutch born, English raised? [00:04:27] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, he's. He grew up in the shadows of Heathrow Airport but was born in Rotterdam. [00:04:35] Speaker C: Transfer market says he's of Nigerian descent. So he's a man of Europe because he's playing in France. He's playing Scotland. [00:04:41] Speaker A: Is he a big dude? [00:04:43] Speaker B: Six? Two? [00:04:44] Speaker C: Yeah, he's got some size. [00:04:45] Speaker A: Huge. [00:04:45] Speaker C: Okay, not huge. Not huge. [00:04:47] Speaker A: All right, so I think this is a pretty predictable CB1 announcement. Assuming it happens for Dallas, because he's a guy with a pedigree and some skins on the wall, but isn't going to cost them a lot of money, I'm assuming. What have we heard? 2 million bucks. [00:05:01] Speaker C: 2 million euros was the buy, which is not. I mean, that's not nothing. But that's also not 18 million for, you know, whatever. [00:05:07] Speaker A: That totally tracks, man. But the question is, here we are six days into the transfer window. Why haven't they announced it yet? And does that pretend that maybe something's gone haywire. [00:05:20] Speaker C: Well, I don't know why they haven't announced it. You know, maybe us putting the name out wrecked it. But you know, it was a Leia keep. The French sports paper is the one that put out the number and said that it's happening. So, you know, if you don't believe us, that's a much bigger organization and probably much more reliable. So you know, I think it's probably only a matter of time. But honestly, who knows what the holdup is. I mean things happen at the last minute sometimes and wreck these deals. Whether we like this last summer we saw them agree to sign a guy and then he failed his physical. So I mean that was all the way across the line except for showing up and getting ready to go and then it fell apart. So you never know what happened. And we'll see. [00:06:08] Speaker A: And we also just so everybody knows, you can all stand down, Tim Parker has been bought by somebody else so he will not be coming to Dallas. I know that was everybody's big worry. That would be the big announcement. [00:06:20] Speaker C: Yeah, it's good that you raised that question because you know, right now without this player coming in, Dallas still only has two center backs. So you know, it's not just this one guy that needs to happen. You know, we know they have the third round pick Momo Cement who they like and we know that they had that guest player they ended up quite liking who is from Portugal place for that second division in Portugal U23 team. But apparently they liked him enough that they dragged him around for a couple of weeks over there. So maybe those guys are in the picture. But honestly, right now they have two center backs. So you got two and a half weeks left before the season starts. To start the season with only two center backs is head scratching to say the least. So something has to change surely. [00:07:02] Speaker A: Okay, but doesn't it totally read like what's going to happen is this guy is going to be their big quote unquote signing. The Portuguese kid will be their CB4 and the draft pick will be CB5. I mean I know that sounds like I'm being pessimistic, but I will also tell you I think that tracks based on how they've been kind of filling their center back roles for the last few years. [00:07:26] Speaker C: Well, it might except for you're out of international spots and all three of those guys require international spots. Now listen, technically, technically they have three open international spots, but one of those we know almost certainly needs to go to a new 10, the Alabaster Velasco replacement. Right. If you use one of them on a center back, then you have one left and you have two center back spots left probably and a left back spot probably. So that's a lot of spots for, with only maybe one or two international spots left available. [00:07:57] Speaker A: You know how you don't use an international spot for a 10, Buzz? [00:08:00] Speaker C: How's that? [00:08:01] Speaker A: You buy Diego Luna from Salt Lake. [00:08:04] Speaker C: Yeah. Hey, who, whose idea was that with. [00:08:06] Speaker A: That new MLS cash for trade opportunity they're throwing out there? Come on, Dan and Clark, go dig around in your couch cushions and dig up some money. [00:08:19] Speaker C: I'm, I, I, I would not speak for them, of course, but I would bet you that if you ask them about that kind of player, they would say we already have that guy. That's Patricson Delgado. Now I, I don't think that's true at all, but that was their equivalent buy of that. Like a guy we thought might end up being a U22 player who is a 10 who's been in that Ecuador camp and everyone's not, just likes to say, oh, he's going to get his big cap this year. Now I'm not such a big fan of that guy like I am Diego Luna, so I don't think it's anywhere near the same caliber of player. But I bet you that they would point at that guy as their young 10 to be in that role. Perhaps. [00:08:55] Speaker A: You know, when I saw that Matt Doyle was, was doing some Patrick, Patrick S. Delgado hype in his write up yesterday or today or whatever day it was, I just shook my head and went, oh no, oh no. This is totally going to be the vindication and the justification they have for, yeah, deciding he's your new D, he's your new 10. And they don't, you know. [00:09:16] Speaker C: Yeah, well, I, I think, you know, again, people we know around the club, you know, all the talk is, yeah, they're going hard after a 10, you know, in the international market, you know, a DP replacement, whether it'll be young or old or whatever is not clear. Obviously, Vander could still be, they could be slow playing because of that possibility of that. So, you know, I, I, I, I don't think that they're, they're thinking Patrick Delgado is going to be the guy all year. But I bet you that if you asked about De Luna, they'd say, oh, we got a guy like that already. [00:09:47] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I agree. I, I, Speaking of predicting, what I think's going to happen at the start of the season is they will not have gotten a Velasco replacement yet. They're going to slow rol. They get the exact person they think they want to get. Maybe that's the right thing to do because they clearly weren't ready for it. And maybe we'll find a real gem in Delgado. I don't know. [00:10:08] Speaker C: I suppose that's possible, but I totally agree that I think, you know, pending the possible still in play for Evander, I think that they'll take lots of time in this first window which again runs till April and then you got a second window later in the summer in which to do something. And we all know this is a likely a several year project in this rebuild with an under air quill. [00:10:27] Speaker A: Anyway, well, before we started recording, I swear I saw a thread somewhere on one of the platform, one of the social media platforms that the Lucho Acosta deal to go to whatever club he's trying to go to in Argentina is in turmoil because that club owes another club money still or something. Yeah, like owes River Plate money for some transfer fee. And so I, you know, who knows what's going to happen? I, but, but after the statement he put out the other day about Cincinnati, I can't even, I can't even begin to imagine he will ever wear the Cincinnati shirt again. [00:11:01] Speaker C: Oh no. If you listen to Glass and Bar today, they were saying the same thing that there's no way he's going back now and that, that that deal to South America, to Argentina is in fact probably in trouble. So, you know, it is very impossible that Lucian Acosto is available inside the league when, when I've, and I think this is true for probably Dan too. When we've asked around and talked to people around this club, you know, our usual sort of people and sources we talk to, everyone doesn't really talk about him. They talk about Evander a lot. But then when you bring up Acosta, they're like, yeah, no, I don't think so. You know, again, we're just reading tea leaves and talking to people. But it seems like that's not really on for Dallas because of the fact he is in his 30s already and we are talking about a longer period project. You know, whereas Evander is quite a bit younger and, and has a, you know, the chance to be the guy for a couple of years if you can convince him. So those are very different players. And I think, I don't think, and I, I really don't think that FC Dallas would be in for Acosta. [00:11:58] Speaker A: So considering that we are this far into the transfer Window and the season starts in 18 day. Am I doing that right? Yeah, 18 days. I think it is. 17 days. [00:12:09] Speaker C: 22Nd. [00:12:10] Speaker A: Yeah. So 16 days. In 16 days. I. I'm of the impression they got a lot more holes to fill than just a deep a DP9 and a few and a couple of center backs. And I do have any vibe you or Dan on any other potential signings coming before the start of the season? [00:12:29] Speaker C: Well, the, the fab FIO linked Dallas to that left back from Napoli but then Boggard immediately turned around and threw cold water on that. So you know, whether that, that. That guy whose name is Lincoln on my brain II whether that guy can actually come in here or not, you know, he was a player in his 30s also. You know, I don't know that that's a great fit, but it is. You are talking about probably a left back backup and not a starter. [00:12:58] Speaker A: Mario Rui who was a Napoli left back. He's 33 years old and is out of contract. [00:13:04] Speaker C: Yeah. So you know, Fab was like, yeah, it's, it's on. And then Bugger was like no, no interest. So you know, ticket those two guys for which one you believe and which one you trust. And I'm probably on MLS matters with defer to booger but you know, I it they do 100 need a left back so that's why that one made some sense. You know, I don't know that they are panicking about that one. You know, that seems to be a move that they're kind of, kind of just waiting to see what else they can come up with other places. Because you're probably pretty confident Marco Farfield can get you through most of the beginning of the season, you know, and they have other guys they could stick over there, you know, in a pinch if they really needed to. You know, Noel Norris for example, obviously. Even though they don't really seem to think he's a left back for the most part. So stay tuned, we'll see. They definitely have some, you know, forget about the high price players. They have some basic building blocks that are missing at this point. [00:13:57] Speaker A: Dan, you've spent the last several episodes celebrating the chaos. It doesn't feel very chaotic right now. I'm just want this got a bit boring really. In it man has kind of spilled into the boring realm very quickly like somebody slammed on the brake. [00:14:12] Speaker B: So very disappointing. It's just Texoma and Garland, they're keeping us going now. [00:14:18] Speaker A: We'll talk about them in a little bit. So they came back from Spain and Portugal. Excuse me? Portugal. The Iberian Peninsula. And why don't you just tell everybody else what else we know about training and any other gym jam everybody should be curious about? [00:14:37] Speaker C: Well, obviously there's a scrimmage tomorrow. That's kind of a big deal, except nobody can go. [00:14:43] Speaker A: Except for. Except a very limited number of people who may or may not be available at 11 o'clock on a Friday morning to go. [00:14:50] Speaker C: Yeah, Ramiro, the new Brazilian player who hurt his calf apparently in Portugal, is, you know, active in terms of rehabbing and stuff like that. I don't, I don't think he's back in training proper, but he's, you know, at least moving and running around stuff. Showcase is here in the United States. He's. He's running and doing stuff on the side. Again, we have no idea what his illness was and we have no idea whether, you know, there's some kind of quarantine aspect of him running on the side by himself. But obviously, if he hasn't had any spring training at all, he's gonna be way behind on fitness. They probably having him doing all kinds of crazy fitness stuff. And if you're sick enough that you can't, you miss three weeks of camp, you probably have your, you know, really wrecked your cardio and your fitness and your lung capacity anyway, so. [00:15:40] Speaker A: Especially if it was Covid. [00:15:41] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I don't want to. I have no idea what it was and I'd hate to, you know, conjecture and get it wrong. The. Those two things, those two guys seem almost certainly not available tomorrow for the Houston game. So, you know, you're going to end up with the same sort of things you've had legit in the midfield, probably with Siki and Delgado, because Paxton Pam also is still just in the on the side phase. You know, Norris hasn't been getting starts in that group. He's. He comes in and plays in that group, but Diego Garcia is not yet getting starts in that group, but he plays in that group. Yarn Mindy's moving on, maybe to San Lorenzo, maybe not. You know, whether that was a. That leak was a play to try and get Dallas to move or whether that leak was a play to try and get San Lorenzo to come across the line, it's hard to say. So midfield is a mess, obviously. In the back, you don't have any choices, except for on the right, where you have a couple of options. And I'm sure Shaq Moore probably needs playing time this spring, but the other three positions, you don't have any depth at all. So you're stuck with those three guys, Ibiaga, Abubakar and Far Fan. And then up top so far it's been. Musa has been a lock and so has Anderson. Julio, the other wing has been the question mark. It seems like it's more often coming though than it is too. So it might be Bernie all the way at this point. And you know. Well, Quill said on the, on the media sound they put out today, he put, he put out some vibes about they want to try some things and mix some things up and do some other stuff in the scrimmage tomorrow. But I imagine that like, they'll start the game with like still what they see as their best 11 right at the minute and then you try them some things off of that and try variations and try mixing things up. I, I don't think with, you know, you only have one MLS level opponent after this one because your other games is against Tulsa. So this is probably your last chance to, you know, sort of, you know, run with things you're trying at a first team level, starter sort of level. So I don't think you'll see massive changes in the, in the, in that 11. And then really, honestly, there's not that many different people available to start. Frankly, given the depth of the squad in a lot of places right now. [00:17:49] Speaker A: It feels like a good time for us to do our job in terms of getting everybody to pad expectations, depending on how tomorrow goes. Either way, like, if they play balls out, that doesn't mean anything. If they get pounded into the ground, that doesn't mean anything. [00:18:05] Speaker C: Yeah, both these teams are going through roster changes a bit. They're, they're also playing each other opening week, so, you know, maybe they don't want to use the exact lineup they're going to use, you know, two weeks from now. You know, I, I don't know enough about Houston to tell you like, what they're going to roll out, but they did lose Coco Karraskia and they lost Hector Herrera, so their midfield's kind of in a mess too. So this is two teams probably trying to figure some things out still. So they might, they might both be in figure things out mode as they try fit for this season. So I don't think you could look at either team as like, oh, this is a really good test for the kind of thing you're going to see all season long or even in two weeks from now, really. [00:18:47] Speaker A: And then the other news we got since we last talked is that they finally have offloaded at Least on a loan and a Soli to a Saudi club. [00:18:58] Speaker C: Yeah, that's, it's a, it's a loan through the end of that current Saudi season, which is interesting because that would mean he would coming back in the middle of the summer here. But that might be hard to do if his international spot is filled or his U22 initiative spot is filled. So, you know, that's a player and a solid who I don't think was ever really going to help them very much of the first team in my opinion. I don't know that they'll say that, but I'll say that you might as well try to get something for him, get some cash for him, see what you can get for him. Hopefully there is a buy in the deal, I believe I was told. So maybe that'll happen and hopefully he's not going to come back here because I don't think he could help this team very much. Dan, did you get a good read on Solly when he was with North Texas? [00:19:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't think he ever really projected to the, to the first team truly and I don't think anyone internally thought so. Obviously I'm not going to shit on him in public though. I'm still baffled by the loan to a degree. Not, not that he's being loaned out because he needed a loan but you know, we thought maybe it'd be USL League one, maybe it'd be lower USL Championship, not the Saudi Pro League. That. How does that even happen? How does, you know, I just don't understand how that connection ever gets made. [00:20:19] Speaker C: You think it's too good for him or is it just a question of. [00:20:21] Speaker B: Like so random like when, you know, when, when, when FC Dallas signed Cobra, right? And everyone was like that's weird. Why, why there? Why him? Why. Why from the, the Polish league? And it turned out it was mls. MLS was trying to get Eastern European based people to, to drive interest in the league in those areas. It made sense. An MLS next pro spare getting loaned to Saudi Arabia is just so out of left field. [00:20:53] Speaker A: So I just, I wonder if it has anything to do with his representation. The fact, you know, from his. I'm assuming his reps are over in Europe somewhere and maybe that's some sort of connection. I mean we, I think we can all three agree the Ennis Soli deal and his, his purchase, which I think we all, I think we looked it up and it's like the. Now the fourth largest spend in club history on a transfer fee. Assuming the $3 million is correct. [00:21:21] Speaker C: I don't remember exactly, but it was one of the bigger. It was in the top 10. Definitely. I don't remember exactly. [00:21:25] Speaker A: So I think we all agree it's going to go down as one of the weirdest purchases in this club's history. [00:21:31] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:21:32] Speaker A: All right. And in here, in the famous run sheet written in red crayon, there is a very furious scribble that says things that bug me. It's like very angrily written. Buzz. [00:21:47] Speaker C: Yeah, well, one of them is that they, in the Portugal games, Dallas gave up a couple of set piece danger moments. Again, this is something that plagued the team last year. And, and one of the things I wrote up when I did my end of the season stats deep dive was the, you know that the pause isn't super great at collecting crosses and you know, they weren't super great at, at winning aerial duels and that kind of thing. And those things still raise their head a little bit. And, and in the, in the first two scrimmages, I mean, obviously look, it's very early and they have new pieces so there, you know, there is time to work some of those things out. But you know, it was a problem last year to a certain extent and you'd like to see that sort of get better. And right now some early sort of red flags are there on that again, so it's not super easy to solve, I doubt, I'm sure it isn't and, but you know, it's still something to keep an eye on as they go into the season from what was a real problem last year. [00:22:41] Speaker A: Well, you said things and that's a thing. [00:22:44] Speaker C: Yeah. The other one has to do with Logan Farrington and there was a nice interview with him today on the, on the team's podcast where he was talking about lots of elements including tactics. And you guys remember that one of the big things I talked about with team building in this league is when you have a 22 year old draft pick on a minimum salary playing the same sort of level and stats as your DP signing, you move the DP signing and you put the, you know, the 22 year old kid on a minimum salary in his spot and that would be Jesus Ferreira. And so they have done that and then yet they are not putting Logan Farrington in his spot. Now last year Logan played a fair bit and you remember it was a 3, 4, 3 for a bulk of the time, which has those narrow wings. It doesn't have wide wings, it has narrow wings. They're like almost like false wings or tens, almost underneath the striker. And so he talked a lot about that on the pod today about like he's more comfortable. You know, he likes to be the 9, but when he's not the 9, he likes to be that sort of 10. False wing underneath. But he's also very excited to play wing if Quill wants him out there. And so that's the thing that's kind of bugged me a little bit is that we're watching these, these lineups and we're seeing Anderson Julio get starts and we're seeing Bernie get starts and we're seeing Leo Chu coming in. And so far, other than a short run where they had a double striker system, apparently Logan's been playing as the backup to Musa and not as one of these two wing positions. I just think that like one of the aspects that they've clearly done with this roster is all three right backs that they have on the roster that are healthy. They're all three offensive minded, flying wingers that get way up and down the line and get forward into the final third. And if you're going to do that, it can behoove you on that particular side to run a bit of a more false wing. And that would really play into the hands of Logan, Farrington, Padrino, Anthony, Ramirez. They have guys that are designed and profiled to play that way and can particularly play that way on that side. But yet it doesn't appear because we're not watching, we can't see the games. It doesn't appear that they're doing that. It appears that they're still using Chu and Bernie and, and Petrino has been over there some but, but also Anderson, Julio, these more normal conventional wide wings on both sides, but in particular on that right side. So I'm a little concerned with what I thought was going to be a step up for Logan to become one of the first 11 really is not happening. And that also they're not using him in this if you false wing capacity if you will, that he was so excellent last year. Particularly when, when you have a natural wide wing, you're going to compress Shaq Moore who you're paying a lot to get and your number one draft pick where you're super excited about and Herbert Inelay who you drafted before to be this kind of flying player. So maybe I'm hoping maybe they don't, they're just not yet ready to like explore those options and those opportunities and they're kind of keeping those on the quiet perhaps, maybe, maybe they want to get more familiar in the basics before they try some of those adaptations. But mainly I'm concerned with Farrington just being Moose's backup and not being considered one of your best three players on the team, which he pretty much is. So I don't. It bothers me a little bit. We got three games left to go in the spring, though, so we'll see what happens. But I'm concerned about that. [00:26:04] Speaker A: All right. Anything else related to the senior team specifically that we need to run over. [00:26:11] Speaker C: Before we move on? I don't. Danny, got anything? [00:26:15] Speaker B: No, not enough's happened. [00:26:17] Speaker C: Yeah, there really isn't enough to go on. You know, we've had this couple preseason games. You know, it's not much there. [00:26:22] Speaker A: We haven't really even been able to see them, so. [00:26:25] Speaker C: Yeah, and the roster's got some holes in it. And, like, you know, I guess the bottom line is, like, again, we've talked about this a lot this spring is that they cleared the deck. They moved out a bunch of pieces. They gave themselves just piles and piles of gam. Lots and lots of ways to do stuff. They got open DP spots, they got open U22 spots, and none of those things are being filled. None of those things are being used. All that money is being spent. You know, you've set the table. You've. Well, not set the table. You cleared the table. Where's the other half? Where's the delivery? Where's the payoff? Where's this? Where's the table setting for the big feast? You know, are you going to actually improve the team? You know, there's one or two little spots that are. Shaq Moore is probably an upgrade. I like the look. Anderson, Julio, so far, but nothing is better in midfield right now. Nothing is really better up front right now. Maybe I don't think Bukhar is an upgrade. Maybe more is an upgrade. So you've upgraded maybe. I don't know, one thing, really, and sort of gone lateral on a couple of things, and then you've gone. Because of the people missing and hurt, you've gone. And all the pieces you moved out, you've gone backwards in a lot of places. So we've. [00:27:38] Speaker A: All. [00:27:38] Speaker C: We always talk about, like, if you sit still, the league will pass you by. Well, what happens if you tear it down to its bare bones and then don't fill it back up? What's going to happen to you in the standing? So is there not another half to this thing? [00:27:52] Speaker A: Well, you know, speaking of Doyle, Doyle also kind of did a preseason check on the, you know, kind of Back of the napkin kind of math. And had Dallas down for the wooden spoon. [00:28:03] Speaker C: Yeah, you know, look, I, I like Quill enough that I think he can take this team and make it competitive on a game to game basis. And I think that he would probably get it above the wooden spoon and might even be able to make us feel like it was challenging for that bottom of the playoffs at some point. But man, it would be really difficult because you have no depth and no security. Remember last year all about the risky roster and the injury players? Well, this year they have no depth right now at all. And across the defense and that was the area that was supposed to get better. Only one spot is better. Jack Moore. They cleared out all the big money and they haven't replaced it with things because that was a little talk. Right. You got to. When your team's bad, you move out these big, huge, monumental MLS pieces and get in better ones. Where's the better ones? They haven't done that. So right now this team's going backwards. I mean, I hope that with two weeks to go to the season, you know, again the window goes to April, but golly, that's. You're talking about playing the first two months of the season, you know, with trying to find pieces. That feels really like a bad idea. Like you're going to put yourself in a hole like last year again. And then we all know like if you're out of it by mid season, it's almost impossible to get back in. And I really hope that's not what we're looking at. [00:29:16] Speaker A: I think it's very predictable what's going to happen. And they're. And we talk, you know, I mentioned it a few minutes ago, they're going to sign a center back. They'll fill in maybe one more center back position with, you know, kind of a scrub type player, somebody you probably aren't going to see. And they'll rotate those three guys in those two positions and they'll tell everybody, hey, we're looking for a DP10 to replace Velasco, but we're probably now going to have to wait till this hap. You know, the Velasco thing happened so late in our window. Yeah, we're going to have to wait and we just weren't ready for it. Look, everybody else can debate whether or not how they should, if they handled that part of it correctly or not. I'm burned out on debating about that. Yeah. And I am willing to wait until some reasonable amount of time before I look at everybody and go, I Told you so. [00:30:05] Speaker C: Yeah, I just. Where's the build? It's a rebuild, right? Where's the build? [00:30:08] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a rebuild. Just go back and look at what happened with the Hunts when they made two major building oriented projects with this team. Go back and look at what they did with their roster and their spending when they were building the stadium in Frisco, when they were doing the hall of Fame build. And even if you really want to get down to it, when they tried to move the team to Southlake for a season, I think there are some consistencies in how they constructed and did their budget and those three points that you can probably use as a guiding light. Obviously you can adjust for economy, you know, for the economy and the changes in the league since then, but I would say it would not be unreasonable to think that those are past actions on their part, to think how this is going to go while they're in the middle of this particular rebuild of the stadium. I don't think it's. I don't think it's unfair to suggest that as a possibility of how this is going to play out. [00:31:11] Speaker C: I don't. I don't think it is either. You know, and. And given the way Quill runs his teams, I think they'll. They'll put a product on the field that'll feel fun in some ways. It'll feel vertical, it'll feel like it's attacking. But man alive, watching this team be put together, you know, I just. I just sit there scratching my head like, I. I don't. I don't know how you do half of a job, you know, and maybe, maybe to. To try and be fair, if you really are tearing it all the way down like they apparently have and trying to go back up, maybe you really need to take your time and get it right. Okay. Okay. You know, we'll. The proof will be in the pudding half a year from now or a year from now, but man alive, right now, it sure is missing a whole lot of stuff. And maybe you're right, Peter. Maybe. Maybe you've been right all along that, that they just really needed to compress the budgets. And maybe they've known all along that the GAM rule is going to change and that it would be unexpiring and they would just be able to pile it up for a couple of years and then go nuts. You know, maybe that's all true. [00:32:10] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't want to. I don't really want to be right. I want to see them improve this team and put a competitive thing on the field. It just feels like if you go back and think about how they've managed these similar situations that they kind of scaled back in their, in, in their pursuit of players. And I'm, you know, again, I'm not saying they're going to go full South Lake Carroll season on everybody. [00:32:37] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:32:38] Speaker A: But I also would be shocked if they went out and spent $10 million on a player right now. [00:32:44] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, I hear you, Dan. [00:32:46] Speaker A: Wouldn't you? [00:32:48] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean it's, it's hard to justify that spend in the current climate. It's just, it's knowing that in, in the present times, the times where they, they have spent money, is it still that factor is, does that still count against the same pot of money or are they just like, hey, we're actually going to make a go of it, stadium be damned. [00:33:09] Speaker A: Like here, just think about this. So think about the years they were constructing the stadium. The stadium opened in 05, but in the 04 season, which was the season they went back to the Cotton bowl after the, the, you know, the South Lake deal and the South Lake deal, they didn't really buy anybody. They bought Corey Gibbs for 50 grand in the 04 season. Greg Van. These were all free transfers. They spent $150,000 on Mario Torres, a player I barely. Boy, does the name Roberto Mina mean anything to you? Simo Barlakari came that year and that. These were all free transfers. So they didn't spend any money on those particular years. All right, so just think about that. Now go fast forward. The stadium's built and now they decide they're going to announce the hall of Fame construction which really falls over the seven the 2017 season and the 2018 season. And the only person they paid money for in 2017 was Ned Ykov, the left back that got homesick and split town shortly after, you know, hurting his arm. Remember that guy? [00:34:20] Speaker C: Yeah. 2017 is the great post end of season collapse when they, they bought, they, they got a bunch of veteran players to go after the Conquer Calf Champions cup early in the season. [00:34:28] Speaker A: Right. [00:34:28] Speaker C: Coming off the back of the great 2016. And then the whole thing sort of fell apart in one of the great club collapses of all time under, strangely enough under Oscar in the back half of 2017. [00:34:36] Speaker A: Right. So 2018, which is still somewhat impacted by the hall of Fame construction. Not a lot, but they, they bought Pablo Aragis for about a million bucks and the Brian Acosta signing for from Tenerife for just under three million pounds. [00:34:53] Speaker C: Well probably at the time, their record signing. At the time. [00:34:57] Speaker A: Yeah, at the time their record for them. Record signing. Now this is the context that you have to put all this in. At this point in the club's history, the Hunts were probably one of the lowest transfer spend clubs in the league, period. The end, like they just didn't spend money on transfer fees. [00:35:12] Speaker C: Right. [00:35:13] Speaker A: So anything, I guess probably back then was considered a big deal. Fast forward to now. They've spent lots of money on players, at least according to them. So with the construction situation and the reduced revenues and things like that, I don't think it's unreasonable to kind of look back at their history and how they've dealt with similar situations and say, hmm, I wonder if that's kind of a model in which they'll follow while they're in the middle of this building reconstruction. And maybe that's what we're seeing. [00:35:40] Speaker C: It's definitely not an unreasonable conclusion. You know, and I, I thought when they're, and maybe I completely have misread them, you know, I thought the moves they were making were setting themselves up to be going after some fantastic pieces and spending some money and doing some great things, but they haven't done it. So maybe, maybe you are, maybe your suggestion is correct that you know, and, and I will say that if they knew these roster rules were coming, which is probably very possible because Clarkon's involved in the rules committees, you know, they may have made a calculated risk that these rules were going to change and they're going to be able to pile up all this gam and, and sort of be ready for partway through this reconstruction to then really go gangbusters and maybe, you know, when they're hiring a coach that's young and wants to play very athletic and wants to go back to a youth sort of movement, maybe they're like, yeah, we're on board with that. Let's, let's, let's pile up some kids and sell them over the next couple of years and make some money and then we'll be raring to go when we get out of the back of the stadium construction. Possibly. [00:36:37] Speaker A: Well, and I, and I would say this all falls into the backdrop of Atlanta spending like more money than Dallas has ever spent in transfer fees in a few days. I mean, it's ridiculous what Atlanta is spending and some of the other moves, some of the other clubs are making this point. I mean this, this league is getting to a really weird inflection point of owners willing to go out and do stuff and other willing, other Owners that are just trying to run bottom line businesses and, and you know, part of me understands why they would want to. You know, I think I understand what the Hunts would be doing if in fact the Hunts really do reduce spend over these next three seasons. I understand that and to a degree, as, as a business person, I respect that. But I also think they are really running the risk of washing away a lot of support and fandom of this club if what they put out there for the next season, two or three, is not a consistently competitive team. I'm not saying they got to win MLS cup or they got to be a top three team, but man, they got to put up something out there that's fun to watch and just compete competitive to make up for the crappy game day experience. [00:37:44] Speaker C: Man, I hope so. Really do. We're gonna find out, aren't we? [00:37:47] Speaker B: And this is gonna get real positive through the next three years. [00:37:51] Speaker A: Well, I'm trying. I mean, look, I mean, are we supposed to shoot sunshine up everybody's ass or are we all supposed to use our collective experience of following this club to kind of tell everybody, hey, this is what we think is happening? [00:38:02] Speaker C: The second one of those things. Yeah. [00:38:05] Speaker A: Well, I think there's absolute room for any fan to look at this particular center back signing and everybo else they signed this year and feel like, you know what, this can be a competitive team. This is a different coach, a different attitude. That's totally a reasonable, you know, a reasonable vibe to have, I suppose. [00:38:26] Speaker C: Yeah. And if you look at Earl Gadda, if you look at him, you know, and his age, you know, this is the, the idea matches there that like you're getting a guy who's not yet at his peak age. He's going to peak in two or three seasons, you know, he's going to start hitting his peak. So, you know, a lot of the things they're doing, you know, feel like they're designed for multiple years. So it's not surprising then that they're not trying to build this thing up overnight and that a lot of these moves are going to be designed to happen over a couple of years. So hopefully that means they have great faith in their coach and that halfway through the season they're not going to panic and fire the guy because they're, they only have five wins, you know, so I mean, imagine what happens if Abubakar or Ibiaka gets hurt right now. [00:39:10] Speaker B: Don't put that out into the universe. [00:39:13] Speaker A: I'm sorry, but isn't that exactly how we started last season? [00:39:16] Speaker C: It is exactly how we started last season. They didn't learn the lessons of the injury prone or poor built roster with lack of pieces, so. Man, you're bumming me out, Peter. [00:39:26] Speaker A: Well, look, listen, I feel like I need to say this. I apologize for saying. I may end up saying I told you so because I honestly, genuinely don't want to be that guy. [00:39:37] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:39:37] Speaker A: But I also, I also feel a responsibility to just express my opinion based on my observations of what I know to be true with this organization. And I'm not even holding it against them. I'm not saying they're right or wrong. I just. This is how I think this is going to play out based on their past performance. I would love to be wrong. [00:39:56] Speaker B: You know, if, if Andre or Dan was on this podcast right now, they would say process about 15 times. [00:40:04] Speaker A: Sure. [00:40:04] Speaker C: Trust the process. Yeah. [00:40:06] Speaker A: Look, this has been a really shitty week in this sports community because of the LUCA deal. I'm not even a basketball fan, but watching friends of mine and people I don't even know very well just be devastated over that ridiculously stupid deal always drives home the thing that really at the end of the day, you can get mad about players, you can get mad about coaching, you can get mad about referees, but really what drives your level of satisfaction and happiness about any sports club is whether or not the person that owns your team is a fucking idiot or not. Right? I mean, really, at the end of the day, isn't that all we, that's all we have as sports fans is does the person or people that own my team, are they knuckleheads or not? [00:40:56] Speaker C: Yeah, I look around other sports too, that I'm. That we're all fans of other sports as well and other leagues as well, you know, and I, and I watch owners that I'm jealous of compared to like, you know, my fandom of the Cowboys. And I want, you know, just as one example, or if you're a fan of the, the Mavericks right now, you're probably feeling the same way, like Guy, I miss Cuban so much, you know, and that kind of thing. So I'm sure the same is true for lots of Sea Dallas fans too, in the sense that we've said since the Hunts took over. Do you remember, you remember, Peter, way back in the day we said this is both the best thing because they saved the franchise and the worst thing because they were going to run it the way they run every franchise that's going to happen to this team. So at the end of the day, they kept the team Alive, but they're also not going to give you lafc. [00:41:40] Speaker A: Yeah, I. This is. Think about being a sports fan in Dallas with all the different ownerships that we have to deal with. [00:41:48] Speaker C: Oh, man. [00:41:49] Speaker A: I mean, Jerry Jones, this new Adelstein Group, and the Nico deal with the Mavericks, the Hunts. Your mileage may vary. The funniest thing to me out of this is that for. For 50 years of absolute mediocrity, it's the Rangers owners that somehow finagled a new indoor stadium out of the city of Arlington and then turned around and won the effing World Series because they spent so much money. They just overloaded their roster with the best players in the league and they. [00:42:19] Speaker C: Immediately paid it off. [00:42:20] Speaker A: And immediately paid off. Yes, I know. It's ridiculous, isn't it? Like, all the stars aligned for them because they proactively went out and made it happen. [00:42:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:42:30] Speaker A: They didn't wait for it to happen. They didn't do a little here, a little there. They made it happen for better or worse, right or wrong. I mean, you can. You can debate whether that was a. A good outcome for the scheme of things or not, but I just. [00:42:44] Speaker C: I mean, it was nice to see the Rangers win a World Series. And I couldn't tell you the least little thing about whether how their revenue worked out for them. Like, did they. Are they losing money like crazy? Are they like one of these European soccer teams where the owner spends $500 million and has a negative hole the size of a planet in the ground from his money loss? [00:43:00] Speaker A: You know what? You know, Buzz, I don't care. It's their money. I don't. I don't care if they're making or losing money. I just want a good, fun product to watch on the soccer field. That's all I care about. [00:43:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:43:12] Speaker A: And. And, you know, hey, and. And I will say this. If the plan goes the way I think it's going to go, assuming anybody still cares in 2028, I think the scene and the activity in this team would probably be. It has a lot of promise to be a really cool thing in the year 2028. I just think we're going to go through a few. I think we're going to go through at least one, if not two years of suffering to get to that point. [00:43:37] Speaker B: To add to the other 20 some. [00:43:40] Speaker A: You said it, not me. [00:43:42] Speaker C: I was hoping we were done with this, but apparently we're not. So we'll find out. [00:43:48] Speaker A: Yep, I suppose so. I'm sorry if I'm being a bum. A bummer of a. I think you're. [00:43:55] Speaker C: Being, I think you're. Oh, oh, stay off me. I think you're being a realist about what we might be seeing. You know, I, it's, it's hard for me to see the moves they were making and think that there's not another half of it, but yeah, it might be. [00:44:06] Speaker A: Yeah. Hey, look, they may somehow figure out a way to pry Evander over here and that will suddenly change everybody's mood and attitude about this thing. [00:44:15] Speaker C: Boy, does it ever. [00:44:15] Speaker A: That's a player that single handedly could really change everybody's. I still think there would defensively be a question because a lack of depth at center back. [00:44:25] Speaker C: They would, they would be, it would be a problem. But Evander's a linchpin that you can make the whole thing work around. Yeah, like right now, like, Moose is a great piece, you know, but you need. Moose is not. We said this before, he's not messy where he's going to pick the ball up and dribble 10 people and score. Moose needs service. So like, you've got to have a linchpin back there. You got to have your legit's making assists from deep in midfield. You got to have your Farringtons making assists from the wings. Like, you've got to have these pieces to, to key him off you. And if you can get Evander, we feel very different about it. The whole outlook in terms of like, okay, you are going in the right direction. Let's. Okay, it's not Evander. Come May, not May, because that's after the window closes. But somewhere in March or April, if you pull off a move like this, or even if it goes into August and you pull off a move like Evander, all of a sudden we might feel very, very good about it. But man, that's a, that's a. If you do have to do it in August, that's a sacrifice of this season because it's, you know, it's, it's, it's going to be so awful until you do that because of the fact that you went into the offseason saying number one job is to repair the defense. And you have not done that. You've not repaired the defense. It's the same or worse because you haven't got the pieces in. [00:45:34] Speaker A: All right, I don't want to be a bummer about that anymore. Nothing's happened. The window's still open. Think good things could still happen. I'm sure I'm wrong and everybody can look at me and say, see I told you so, Peter and I will be glad to receive that message from anybody and everybody that would like to laugh at me and point their finger in my face. Let's talk about other things. Let's see. North Texas SC signed a player. Was it today? [00:45:58] Speaker C: Yeah. Marlon Luxon. Peter, wait, I know that. [00:46:02] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:46:03] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. The former coach's son is way out the door. Here's your contract for your son. [00:46:08] Speaker A: Peter leave town and forget his kid? [00:46:10] Speaker C: No, no, he was at the signing. There's pictures of him there and everything. So he's here. You know, Marlon is graduating high school, I believe, this summer, so, you know, maybe they're happy to stick around for a little bit. His other younger son, Peter's youngest son, plays in the academy at a younger age group. So there obviously isn't not enough scorched earth that he was like, I'm taking my boys and leaving or anything like that. So, you know, Marlin's been signed to a straight North North Texas SC contract. He has two seasons with an option for a third. [00:46:40] Speaker A: So is any good? [00:46:42] Speaker C: He's okay. He's very technical. This is not a homegrown contract, you notice. It's not a hybrid contract, you'll notice. So not of the caliber of your Paxtons or your Reynolds or even like your Caleb Swan. This is a next step down. This is a. This is a contract like Imano Almaguer or Gibron Rao, which you put. Peter probably won't know those names. Those are guys that signed straight North Texas deals. But, you know, he kind of. He kind of can be hit and miss. Very technical, very good on the ball. Some games he'll look really great, and other games it's like he doesn't really want to be there. So, you know, like everything else, they're kind of going a little younger and a little down with the kids at the North Texas. And I, I have some reasons to believe there's probably a couple of more signings like this coming in the next week or two as North Texas has ramped up camp. So it's not gonna be the only one. But it's interesting because it's Peter's son. And that's sort of fascinating given the fact that they just didn't hire the guy, you know, and he's now twisting in the wind or whatever. So stay tuned. [00:47:40] Speaker A: All right? And also in the other new popping up, lower level pro teams and semi pro teams, Texoma. Hey, look, guys, I did it right the first time. [00:47:53] Speaker C: Peter, nice job. [00:47:54] Speaker A: I'm bowing. Signed another keeper at least one or two guys. [00:47:59] Speaker C: Two keepers in one day, couple center backs, a left back. What's important, however, is they drop some absolute banger kits. Yes. That's what matters. [00:48:09] Speaker A: Kit talk. [00:48:09] Speaker C: Kit talk, kid talk. Yeah, Fantastic kit. It's a good classic base concept. Remember, we talked about that a lot with the vertical red and white stripes and it's got some cool, like, map underlay of, like, the region and the colors are aligned with theoretically some of the influences in the area. It's a really well done kit. I mean, it might be one of the best kits in the city, frankly. We might do a power ranking of local kits when we get them all out for the season here coming up. So it's really good, I think. [00:48:39] Speaker B: I think they've got a brilliant marketing angle, potentially. The right around the right nipple is Tishomingo, the home of Blake Shelton. So go on, make it happen. [00:48:53] Speaker A: Yeah. The map being sublimated behind the red and white stripes is an interesting touch, for sure. I am. I am a little confused by the official naming convention of the red and the white being called magnolia because that looks like a white white to me, and magnolia to me is not. Is more of a cream color. So is the shirt white cream or is it white? [00:49:16] Speaker B: It's white. [00:49:16] Speaker A: It's white. [00:49:17] Speaker C: Yeah. And the red is not, you know, red river red, the Texas Oklahoma red. It's like it's regular candy red. But it's still a really nice kit. [00:49:24] Speaker B: Well, I mean, they're obviously bound by what colors Hummel can deliver. You know, I mean, if you go on the website, the red is a little different. They have. I mean, they call it Magnolia. It's not like magnolia bog standard British house paint color, but it is slightly off white. [00:49:47] Speaker A: Okay, well, I dig it. And I think I saw somebody say somewhere they're not going to wear it with black and black short socks. They're going to do white and white shorts. Sucks. [00:49:56] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a little bit of a bummer. But, you know, we reached out to the PR department, their PR department about, you know, what the colors were going to be, because we were really hoping for the black, which is what you see at, like, most of the clubs that have this. Sunderland, Southampton, Dan. I'm sure there's like eight more, you know, have the black, but I think it'll still be pretty nice. It. It looks like from some other leaks that their secondary kit is going to be an all black kit. And at that level of the league, you kind of need a mostly white and a mostly black. [00:50:22] Speaker B: You know, I don't hate the idea of them going white shorts and socks. You know, most teams do like you say they have red, it's black or red shorts compared with it. So it is, it's, it's a bit of a different look. [00:50:33] Speaker A: You know what, you know what the great opportunity is, is to see this in action and think back how much different the red and white hoops for FC Dallas would have been back in, you know, when they introduced those, if they had worn that shirt with white shorts and white socks. [00:50:50] Speaker C: Yeah, the, the hoops strange enough work better with white on the bottom. [00:50:54] Speaker A: Yes. [00:50:55] Speaker C: Versus like the red become, it becomes kind of just muddy. Muddy and stuff. It's a weird dichotomy that way. [00:51:00] Speaker A: Yeah. I said all along that while I was not a big fan of hoops, everybody would have loved the red and white hoops way much more if it hadn't been red shorts and red socks because that just made it look too Mr. Peppermint. [00:51:10] Speaker C: It did, yeah. 100%. [00:51:12] Speaker A: Oh, by the way, speaking of kit talking, did I see that the rumor is out that they're going to refer this new away kit as the Inferno jersey? [00:51:21] Speaker B: That was in a, that was in a media alert thing that was sent out in a week. [00:51:28] Speaker A: So, yeah, that's a bummer. [00:51:31] Speaker C: I don't know there's much Inferno about it. It's basically a white kit. [00:51:34] Speaker A: Well, I, I, Is it, are we assuming that that's a reference to the original supporters group of which I was a member of back in 1996 and Dustin started? I mean, I would assume so. [00:51:46] Speaker C: It must be. I mean, what else would it, I don't, I mean, or else they just don't remember it at all. I mean, it doesn't really have burn colors. [00:51:53] Speaker A: I know. [00:51:53] Speaker C: And that's so, I don't know why it's Inferno. [00:51:55] Speaker A: And that's why I'm a little torn about this because I think it's great for them to pay homage to the original supporters group. But that shirt, one, is so incredibly boring and two, in no way reflex or has anything to do with the Inferno. [00:52:09] Speaker B: Well, I think that's, you know, when I did the, the markups in an article and you know, obviously we always do the, hey, here's what we would have done different and immediately went to, well, okay, it's, it's gray. The 2005 and 2006 away were both gray. Inferno was obviously very active at the time. You've got like an immediate link there. If you go, okay, this is, this is Harking back to, you know, the, the start, the. There's their time at a rebrand, but I don't know. I don't know. [00:52:42] Speaker A: All right. [00:52:42] Speaker B: It's a reach. [00:52:43] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, I wasn't, I wasn't part of the Inferno at that point anymore any longer, so. Okay, when I think Inferno, I think the old black and red days and the Inferno flag of greatness and all that other stuff, but maybe there was a different generation of Inferno. [00:53:00] Speaker C: That's. [00:53:00] Speaker A: That's a reference to. Okay. Did you guys see the new Portland team, the FC Bangers? [00:53:06] Speaker C: No. [00:53:06] Speaker A: So, yeah, so there's a Portland team and I think it. Yeah, it's Portland, Oregon, because Diego Valari, I think, is coaching it. [00:53:16] Speaker B: Oh, wow. [00:53:16] Speaker A: And they're called Portland Bangers or the Bangers FC and they're going to be a USL 2 team, I think. And their colors are. [00:53:28] Speaker B: Oh, that's hilarious. [00:53:29] Speaker A: A green and kind of this peachy pink. [00:53:33] Speaker C: And they're. [00:53:34] Speaker A: And their. And their logo is essentially sausage. Like packaged sausage. A banger? Yeah, like that. Yeah. Not like a banger, like hitting a goal. A banger, like a sausage. [00:53:46] Speaker B: Oh, it's the same people who are in the Portland Pickles baseball team. That's why. [00:53:51] Speaker A: Ah, is that what it is? And, and what's really interesting, and I didn't know this because the. They've got the whole. One of those funny, you know, logo graphic explainer charts out there. Well, the bangers word mark is very comics driven and they say that's because Portland is well known as being kind of a place with artists and comic book artists and comic book writers, and that's an homage to that part of their community. And I thought that was kind of cool too. [00:54:21] Speaker C: Yeah, nicely done. [00:54:22] Speaker B: Oh, that's great. That's how you do like a. A brand. That's a bit. [00:54:27] Speaker C: Yeah, that's really well done. [00:54:28] Speaker A: Footy headlines posted. The official club team competition FIFA rules guideline illustration, which is kind of interesting if you're a super kit nerd, because it designates all of the size limitations and requirements and specifications for kit designs across the world at the club level in terms like how big sponsorships can be, where numbers can go, how big club logos, you know, that kind of stuff. That's a really cool graphic. So if you go check out Footy Headlines.com, you can find it there. [00:55:05] Speaker C: Yeah, I shared it on the third degree account. Just retweeted it. It's nice. Very cool. [00:55:09] Speaker B: My January early document reading thing is always like company releases, handbook changes, and we have to sign our acknowledgment form. FIFA releases that. [00:55:22] Speaker A: Interesting. [00:55:23] Speaker B: I don't have to sign a form to read that. Thankfully. [00:55:25] Speaker A: Yeah, thankfully. And the Chupacabras have named a head coach that is the new. I forgot what league they're playing in. Buzz McKinney. Chupacabras. [00:55:35] Speaker C: USL2, I believe. [00:55:37] Speaker A: That's right. And they're. They've got a new head coach. [00:55:39] Speaker C: They do. Jose Luis Bertiaga, their first ever coach. He. He coached what became four ofc. He coached that. You guys will know that name because he's a local kid from around here who played in MLS for a long time. He played for Sporting Kansas city. He was one time MLS best 11. He was there in Casey's MVP in 20 2006. He was known for scoring these long range bomb goals. I mean a player that played, you know, pretty much the highest level in America and he's been kicking around the coaching round ranks around here trying to get like a club or two going but you know, they've tapped him to be. [00:56:16] Speaker B: Andy was part of the NTX Rados Open cup runs. [00:56:21] Speaker C: Yeah, he played for them at the end of his sort of playing days as he was starting to get into coaching. And you know, he's basically like a local big time superstar as things go in terms of the soccer world and has had a name around here for a long time. And so if you've been in this scene, you'll know him. If you're a new fan to mls, you won't know him because you want to have seen his heydays with the Kansas City Wizards at the time, but you know, definitely a guy who could play and you know, spent some time with the side Silverbacks in Atlanta and the Sidekicks and as Dan said into ex riados and then, you know, it's a good local angle in terms of getting a guy who wants to be a coach and get coaches at a grassroots level for your local grassroots level team. So there's a good synergy there as well. Good iron. [00:57:06] Speaker A: And Dan, we got our Open cup matchup between Texoma and Foro. [00:57:14] Speaker B: We most certainly did. They were kind of the only two that could be drawn against each other with the, the local aspect. But it's Tuesday, March 18th, so if you're, you know, kind of. [00:57:27] Speaker A: Where are they playing? [00:57:28] Speaker B: Hungover from St. Patrick's Day. They will be at Bearcat Stadium in Sherman. [00:57:33] Speaker A: Oh, so they're playing it at. Okay. Will this be their debut game like their first game as a club? [00:57:38] Speaker B: No, no. [00:57:39] Speaker A: Oh, by that Point they will have started their season. Okay, all right. All right. Well, very good. [00:57:44] Speaker C: Yeah, they've got a scrimmage coming up against North Texas on the 22nd. Like the day that Dallas opens the season earlier in the day. Texas playing North Texas sc. So like, you know, they're. The USL seasons are right around the corner too, just like everybody else. [00:57:57] Speaker B: Do you know that the season only begins the week before? [00:58:00] Speaker A: That's what I thought. I thought it was really close to the start of the season, if not before. [00:58:04] Speaker B: So they don't start their league season until the week after when they play one. Knoxville. [00:58:09] Speaker C: Okay, well then I'm an idiot. I could have sworn it was starting at the beginning of March. Maybe that's USL Championship. [00:58:16] Speaker B: I'm thinking of USL1 does. But they have that weird split thing where some teams kick off in on the first week and some kick off on like the second and third. [00:58:26] Speaker C: All right, all right. [00:58:27] Speaker A: Okay. Well, I hope everybody got to hear Lexi Misimo and Amber Brooks on the kick around last week. That was a lot of fun having them and their season starts on the like next a week from Saturday. And this feels very unrelated to this, but I'm going to throw in the local tie if you're up for FA cup action on Saturday morning at 6:15, Man City is traveling to London to play Layton Orient, which is the League one club, which is owned by Kent Teague who is a DFW resident who lives up in the McKinney Allen Anna area. And he's a great guy and in fact he is going to be coming on the show later that afternoon to talk about what happened against Man City and everything and I think that's kind of. Of cool. [00:59:19] Speaker C: Yeah. Leighton led by FC Dallas. Great. Charlie. [00:59:22] Speaker A: Yes, that's right. Charlie. Charlie scored a penalty kick and scored the goal in the previous round when they best. I can't remember who they beat in the previous round. [00:59:32] Speaker C: Just to remind everybody, he came out of FC Dallas ECNL as the premier team, which is the second team here and then he has gone on to Europe and played his way through the middle divisions in England for the most part, I think technically. Is it QPR that owns. [00:59:44] Speaker A: I think so, yeah. [00:59:45] Speaker C: He's loaned him around a couple of times but he's doing really well for. [00:59:48] Speaker A: This is his second. This is his. Yeah, this is second stint in Orion's Orient, so that'll be a lot. [00:59:53] Speaker C: Yes, we're claiming him. He's fun. Love it. [00:59:56] Speaker B: They're late in. Orient's doing pretty. [00:59:59] Speaker A: Yeah, you're right. [01:00:00] Speaker B: With at least financially, I guess They've got Ethan Galbraith who is kind of a hot commodity right now. They just turned down a million pound bid from Swansea. I know there's a lot of Lewton fans that are really interested in trying to get him as well. [01:00:16] Speaker A: I don't think Kent would mind me telling you. I think he's scared shitless they're going to get promoted. [01:00:23] Speaker C: I was going to say like looting aside, maybe. Maybe that could be the third degrees lower division English team with the local connection should be. [01:00:30] Speaker A: Yes. [01:00:30] Speaker C: Charlie playing for se. [01:00:32] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh man. I think getting promoted to like he since he's been the owner, they've been promoted twice out of the National League and from League two to League one and they've done a really tremendous job. But I think getting promoted to the championship is a whole nother level. [01:00:47] Speaker C: Fun name too. [01:00:48] Speaker B: It is funny though, right now you think like looking at the League one table below them. Charlton, former Premier League team Reading, former Premier League team Bolton, former Premier League team Barnsley, former Premier League team. [01:01:01] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And they may be playing Luton next year in League one. [01:01:05] Speaker B: I mean that's if they don't go up in the playoffs and we don't write the pass on the way. [01:01:11] Speaker A: Sorry, Dan. Wow, you're right. They're up to sixth. I didn't realize last time I looked at the League one charts they were like eighth or ninth but they're up to sixth. [01:01:20] Speaker C: Holy cow. [01:01:22] Speaker A: Good luck, Kent. Okay, let's see. Anything else to talk about before we go? We got the FC cup or the F, excuse me, the Open cup game in. We talked about all that stuff. I bummed everybody out and shout out. [01:01:34] Speaker C: To the three Fs at Alice Academy kids who were taking part in the Concord CAF U17. Well it used to be the U17 Championships but they've now that it's every year they call it the U17 qualifiers. Anyway, there's three kids. Jose Fuentes, who's the U17 keeper for SC Dallas, he plays for Honduras. He's actually been in the U20 team as well. Which is crazy for a kid who's like 16, 17 years old and then two for Puerto Rico. Diego Echeveria, who is a forward for the U16s. He's playing like up a class. He's a 2009 so he's playing up an age group to go with Puerto Rico. And then Ogier Vega who is a central midfielder who joined SC Dallas from Dallas Hornets last year. Last season is sort of a playmaking free 8 box to box 8 depending on what you where you're going to use them for. Puerto rico. So those three kids representing S. Dallas in the COMCAF U17 championship. [01:02:25] Speaker A: Okay. And by the way, guess who I ran into the other day? I'm not going to make you guess because you'll never guess. [01:02:31] Speaker C: Kenny Cooper. [01:02:32] Speaker A: Actually, that's not a bad guess. Almost Kenny Cooper. I know. I ran into Zach Lloyd. [01:02:38] Speaker C: Whoa. [01:02:38] Speaker A: So Zach Lloyd was at Spectrum on Sunday and he was running a trial for his charity organization because they are putting another team in the T. The TST tournament 7v7 tournament again this year as they did last year. I think it's called 1510. His. [01:02:56] Speaker C: His. [01:02:56] Speaker B: 10. 15. [01:02:57] Speaker A: 1015. Thank you. And so they were having an open trial on Sunday before my Sunday beer league team game. And yeah, it was great to see Zach and he didn't remember me at all, but he was happy to tell me his story and what was going on. And it was fun to watch those guys all scramble and try out and none of them could finish a sandwich. That's, that's the first thing I noticed. [01:03:20] Speaker C: Did you see that in Luin Wins Rec indoor team won some sort of championship and everyone's like, holy crap, that's Lee Win. [01:03:26] Speaker A: What are you doing? Lee Win is playing like in a. Not even playing in the top level of that particular night at Spectrum. It's ridiculous that somehow somebody talked Lee Win into playing. [01:03:39] Speaker C: It's like Division 6 or something. I don't know what it is. [01:03:42] Speaker A: Well, so on particular nights they, you know, there's always an A, B and C division for open and in theory they're all, it's, everybody all plays. It's all the same thing. So it's, it's, it's always fun to see an ex pro playing at one of the indoor places. And you know, it reminded me of. [01:04:00] Speaker C: The old ESPN AD where they're playing in the Bristol Wreck Basketball League and they've got Cherokee parks and, and like Mugsy bugs on their ESPN rec team. And they're like the guys from Joe's Plumbers are pissed off about the whole thing. [01:04:13] Speaker A: I gotta tell you, that will remind me of one of my best memories in the last five or six years years was playing some indoor out at Blue sky in the Colony when somebody, when we talked Ronnie O'Brien to come by for a couple of weeks and I got to play with Ronnie O'Brien and that was amazing. So. [01:04:28] Speaker C: But it was, yeah, that was a lot of fun. [01:04:30] Speaker A: Very funny guy, by the way. Ronnie. Ronnie O'Brien oh, yeah. Ronnie O'Brien may be funnier than he is good at golf or soccer, and that says a lot. [01:04:38] Speaker C: He's pretty good. [01:04:39] Speaker A: All right. I think that's it. That's a very happy, funny, giggly note to end on. [01:04:46] Speaker C: Yeah, because we had a lot of doom and gloom at the beginning of the show. I mean, people asked a few weeks ago, when is panic time? And I said, I don't know that there's ever a panic time, but man, there's definitely some raised eyebrows happening for sure at this point. [01:04:57] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I, I get, I get, I get messaged every couple of days from people in the league going, hey, what's. What is. Why is nothing going on down there? And I just shrugged my shoulders and I say, I wait and see what happens when the season starts. [01:05:10] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:05:10] Speaker A: That's all I can tell you. [01:05:11] Speaker C: Not me, man. [01:05:12] Speaker A: Maybe they're dragging this out for dramatics or something. I don't know. [01:05:15] Speaker C: Something. [01:05:16] Speaker A: Who knows? [01:05:16] Speaker C: Something. It gives us talking points, though. That's fine. Third Degree, the podcast is brought to you by listeners like you. Third Degree, both as a podcast and a website, would not exist without our readers and our listeners. Why not join us on our Patreon and give us a support? And if you support at the Three Amigos level, you can join us on our lovely, lovely FC Dallas Discord, full of all the SNL's character, curious and sickle fans that you want to hang out with and learn all about this club, patreon.com thirddegree come join us. [01:05:44] Speaker A: Okay, boys. Dan. It was good speaking with you, sir. [01:05:47] Speaker B: Yeah, it was. It was good. Except for the depression. [01:05:50] Speaker A: No. Cheerio. Come on, Pip pip. Chin up, son. [01:05:54] Speaker B: Mate, bollocks. [01:05:58] Speaker A: And buzz. Thank you, man. [01:05:59] Speaker C: Hey, yeah, thanks for both of you guys for being here and helping us through through these dull times of no activity. [01:06:04] Speaker A: Come on, it's gonna be fine. Not worried about this. They got this. I'm sure. [01:06:08] Speaker C: I hope. [01:06:09] Speaker A: And thank you. Thank you, FC Dallas Curious fan. We will speak to you next week with all sorts of crazy good and hopeful news on the next episode of Third Degree, the podcast. [01:06:21] Speaker B: Well, that was positive. [01:06:22] Speaker A: Third Degree. The Third Degree Ned podcast. Third Degree.