3rd Degree the Podcast #332

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Tacoma drew one one Tak Soma. Damn it. I did it again. Let me start over. [00:00:04] Speaker B: Toya Tacoma. [00:00:06] Speaker A: God damn it. Yeah. 3rd degree the 3rd degree NEPA 3rd degree the 3rd Degree NEPA Guest 3rd degree the 3rd Degree NEP podcast. [00:00:29] Speaker C: 3Rd degree 3rd degree the podcast is brought to you by our fantastic and loyal listeners. Just like you. If you like our coverage here on third degree, the podcast on third degree.net on social media, we got all the pro teams, the metrics covered just for you. Why not join us patreon.com third degree give us the support. On with the show. [00:00:51] Speaker A: Well, hello there, DFW soccer curious person. You welcome to another episode of Third Degree, the podcast. There he is, the handsome one of the trio, Dan Crook. Howdy, Dan. [00:01:06] Speaker B: All right, that was a very curious way to say that. [00:01:10] Speaker A: Please expand what you mean by that. [00:01:13] Speaker B: You know what? I didn't really think much beyond just saying I need to throw curious in there to counter your curiousness. [00:01:20] Speaker A: That's curious. Your hero, my hero, everybody's hero. Editor, founder, thirddegree.net and the original and most curious soccer influencer of them all, Buzz Carrot. Come in, Buzz. [00:01:33] Speaker C: Yeah, actually, I was going to say I'm not at all curious about whatever it is y' all got going on over there tonight. [00:01:37] Speaker B: Okay. [00:01:39] Speaker A: Buzz, I want to say. I just want to. I want to tell the curious that I had a lovely time on our soccer date Saturday afternoon. [00:01:48] Speaker C: Oh, you mean when we went to the game? Yeah. [00:01:50] Speaker A: Yes. [00:01:50] Speaker C: Yeah. It was some fun soccer talking. Yeah. We got to disparage Delgado together as he lazily walked up and down the field. [00:01:58] Speaker A: Man, I almost ran down on the field and took him off myself. [00:02:03] Speaker C: I know. [00:02:04] Speaker A: Can we talk? I don't want to. I don't want to start the podcast with my rant about, oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no. You were Delgado. I was Pedrinho. I had the two insanely frustrating and maddening Padrino moments that I would like to rant about for a bit. [00:02:24] Speaker C: We can get to that. [00:02:25] Speaker A: We can get to that. [00:02:26] Speaker C: Very good. [00:02:27] Speaker A: And I want. I'll be curious to see if Dan took notice of them, too, from way up above. But I did have a good time, Buzz. I was glad we were there for the final home game of the 25 FC Dallas season in that incredibly, this isn't. This isn't anybody in the fan base's fault, but the. The atmosphere in that place is awful. It's just brutally bad. And the final minutes of that game when Dallas is trying to hold a 21 lead and LA is knocking on the door and a player turns to the crowd and tries to get them fired up and just crickets, dude. It's just. There's just nothing about that construction scene going on there that is in any way encouraging or, or suggesting that you, you should get excited about anything going on in that place. [00:03:17] Speaker C: Well, I actually think it's being amplified or amplified by the fact that there's no building on the other side now. So. And everyone's on the same side as you are. So whatever noise is happening doesn't, doesn't kick back and there's nobody on the other side cheering back towards you. So like it's for anyone sitting in the stands is my opinion. You know, sitting on stands on that side, it's very dead because all the noise goes out and away and doesn't come back. And so it just feels like you're. [00:03:40] Speaker A: It's a truly weird experience, that's for sure. And, and I also felt bad for Matt Hedges who had a big, you know, moment with signing with the club and everything and did the, the, the doohickey at the begin game and they had a jersey with 349 on it. And I thought it, you know, all the intentions of that being a really sweet moment. I felt like were watered down a lot because of the small crowd and the weird scene going on in that place. [00:04:04] Speaker C: Well, I'm still excited that they did it. I mean that's kind of a. I agree thing and it's such a fabulous moment and I love recently they've really started to honor their past. I was even talking to Kenny Cooper about that before the game going back to Jason Christ. Just fantastic. All the way up and down that they're doing that kind of stuff. I'm expecting more to come. I really hope that they really pay that off and pay homage to their own history. Dan, does. Does Hedges sort of coincide with your time at FC Dallas? I would think it's probably right on the money, isn't it? [00:04:31] Speaker B: Yeah. I moved here a few weeks after he was drafted. [00:04:36] Speaker C: Wow. So he's your guy. He's your guy. [00:04:40] Speaker A: When. Dan. Dan, when you have a baby, you can name it Hedges. [00:04:46] Speaker B: That's a weird name. [00:04:50] Speaker A: You're the one that has E on the end of crook for a last name. So. Hedges Crooked? [00:05:00] Speaker B: No, honestly, my. Yeah, Matt Hedges was. He just broke into the team. That's when UGA had his concussion. And yeah, when I started going along, Matt's mum Donna and his sister Ashley were always, always very vocal in crowds. I remember going to Chicago for a game. And the whole Hedges clan is there because I think a lot of them are from Indiana. And Matt goes down, I think he took a like bad knock to the head and his mum just stands up. [00:05:35] Speaker C: He goes, just run it off, Matt. Just run it off. [00:05:40] Speaker A: Sounds very Midwestern. I love it. [00:05:41] Speaker B: So I. And you know, for anyone spoken to him, he is the most. I'm quiet, I'm reserved. He. He is. [00:05:52] Speaker A: He makes you look seem. He makes you. [00:05:54] Speaker C: He. [00:05:54] Speaker B: He makes me look out going, yeah. So, yeah, I asked him like, hey, had so many family there, what happened? He's like, yeah, we, we had a funeral. [00:06:07] Speaker A: Oh, no, you stepped in the bear trap. [00:06:10] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:06:11] Speaker A: Hey, I got a impromptu off script question about Matt Hedges to the two of you. Does Matt take a position on the Dallas soccer Mount Rushmore? [00:06:24] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, unquestionably. [00:06:25] Speaker B: 100. [00:06:25] Speaker C: Yeah. 100. [00:06:27] Speaker A: Really? [00:06:27] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [00:06:28] Speaker A: So he's one of the four positions on the Dallas FC Dallas Burn, Mount Rushmore. [00:06:33] Speaker C: Yep. [00:06:34] Speaker A: Who does Easter Plant? [00:06:36] Speaker C: Well, my other ones are Christ, Oscar and David Ferreira. And then you didn't have a fourth. Well, those are my four. Those have always been my four. [00:06:47] Speaker A: Oh, well there. You didn't have four before Matt Hedges was drafted into the team. [00:06:52] Speaker C: I don't remember having a discussion about Mount Rushmore prior to maybe four or five years ago when, okay, I just was already breaking the club records for most games played. Like, if you asked me to do it without Hedges in it, I would have to sit down and think a bit. People try and put on Maro Diaz and I always object strenuously to that. [00:07:10] Speaker A: Because, oh boy, I would too. [00:07:11] Speaker C: He only played phenomenal talent, but he only played in about 50% of the games he was available on the roster because he was hurt all the time. [00:07:18] Speaker A: And only really wanted to be here about half of those games. [00:07:20] Speaker C: So he's out on that. So after that I really would have to, you know, like, it's people often. I want to put Bobby Ryan on there too. And I love Bobby Ryan. He was a friend of mine. I know you guys feel the same way, but he doesn't belong on the Mount Rushmore in terms of playing. Like, if you want to talk about his contribution to the club, it's massive. But you know, Bobby, Bobby Ryan was not even a top four player when he was a player that in his particular era, let alone like all time. So like one of the most important people in club history. But that's a different question and different scenario that was about fan engagement and interaction and community building and Fan base building and all kinds of stuff. Way, way past, past his impact on the field. So I, I don't know. I don't know who I would pick if it wasn't Mad Hedges. I have to go look. [00:08:05] Speaker A: Well, the answer, the correct answer is Ted Eck. But. [00:08:09] Speaker B: You'Re gonna say Leon. Leon Alvarez. [00:08:12] Speaker C: No, I would buy Lionel over TedX, but I. Neither one of them for me. [00:08:16] Speaker A: You can, you can take Jason, Oscar, whoever your third one was off if you want to put that up there, David. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So it's Jason, Oscar, Matt Hedges and TedX. There you go. [00:08:31] Speaker B: Okay, I've got one where you can have Tedak undisputedly on the Mount Rushmore. It would be best hair at Dallas Burner. FC Dallas. Tedak, Alvarez, Sanchez, Stephen Keel. [00:08:45] Speaker A: Dan, I. I know you only moved here like, you know, in the last 20 years or so, but the answer is, if there's ever a best of list for anything related to FC Dallas Burn, Ted E is on every single one of those lists. [00:08:59] Speaker B: He's actually all four positions. [00:09:01] Speaker A: Yeah, right. He's also on the best goalkeeper list. You don't know this, but it's true. Yeah. [00:09:07] Speaker B: Is he like. Does he on everyone? Does he count as number 14 and number 41? [00:09:12] Speaker A: It's whatever number you want him to be, but he's on the fucking list as far as I'm concerned. [00:09:20] Speaker B: Everyone but Steve this time. [00:09:22] Speaker A: That's right. Steve loves TEDX talk. I'm sure he does. At least more than Kit talk. All right. Yes. All right, well, that's a lot of nonsense before we get into the fact that Dallas won this weekend over the Galaxy two to one in the presence of both Buzz and myself and Dan. We were all there, although we didn't see Dan at the game. And despite going down, I know he's doing the work. Despite going down one nothing, Buzz, the team fought back. [00:09:48] Speaker C: Yep. [00:09:49] Speaker A: It wasn't a great game and it was kind of a. And I, I will say, I know they probably thought, oh, it's early October, you'll be fine at 3:30 in the afternoon. [00:10:00] Speaker C: No. [00:10:00] Speaker A: While the sea. Everybody in the stands was in the shade, the field was essentially full sun and it was about 90 degrees. And it clearly had an effect on the game as it looked like it was being run at about 3/4 speed. [00:10:12] Speaker C: Oh yeah, that. It definitely sapped the game and to be fair, probably sapped some of the energy in the stands too, I imagine. I mean, it was hot. I mean it was. It's warm enough that I was avoiding the sunshine as much as I could. And, and I'm sure everyone else was feeling the same way. You know, even, even at this time of year, it's still 80, as you said, 88, 90 degrees here in Dallas. And that means on the field it's even hotter because that feels a bowl. So like it's hotter on the field than it is in the stands. So it had to have had an effect. I think it had an effect and there are certainly some players that's, that looked sapped and looked like they were not up to their usual standards. For me, this was one of the Delgados. Despite his absolutely stunner of a goal, this was Delgado's one stinker in three or four games that he put up. He wasn't the only one. Abibakar was just getting roasted all game and we'll talk more about that in a minute. So, you know, not, not a great collective performance, but they took care of what needed to take care of and they, they came back and they got the goals and they won the game. And that's what really matters. And that's what in this, in this back third of the season, that's what they're doing the most, is this, this fight back and this toughness and this not give up and it's. Coach talked about it after the game and it's there for everybody to see. [00:11:24] Speaker A: Dan, I'm curious since I assume you went downstairs after the game, what was the mood like in the locker room? Considering that they haven't yet locked up a playoff spot, but man, they're close. [00:11:35] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a good question because I actually was at the LA locker room for most of it, so I missed a lot. [00:11:42] Speaker A: I missed, I'm sure the mood there wasn't great. [00:11:46] Speaker B: The, the mood there was the, the team admin, like really pimping the food while, while they were trying to figure out how to get everything on the buses. What was I gonna say? Oh, one thing you mentioned the, the game kind of sapped out. It was that slow that they didn't have a second half water break because there just weren't any breaks in play to do it. [00:12:11] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, that was weird. And you asked that question late in the second half, didn't you, Buzz? Didn't you ask where the second half? Because you know the law of the game says you have to have a water break in the second half if you have one in the first. [00:12:23] Speaker C: That's why I asked. I was like, where did it? Where did I do it? [00:12:26] Speaker A: How did they let that pass, I. [00:12:29] Speaker B: Just don't think they had an opportunity to do it. Like if they had a timer for ball in playtime, I'm sure it would be. [00:12:35] Speaker A: Yeah, a new record, MLS record for ball and playtime. [00:12:39] Speaker B: It's like that Simpsons sketch with the Portugal, Brazil, whatever. It's where they're just passing the ball back and forth and it never goes out. [00:12:46] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, well, Buzz, obviously there was a change to the backside of the team. Boy, and, and boy, was Buzz boiling over this one. Especially when LA took the 10 lead. [00:12:59] Speaker C: Yeah, well, let's to be. To be somewhat adjudicated about it. Pencil does usually, I believe, play on their left side. So Quill made an adaptation to take Romero out of the game because he gets scorched for pace all the time and to sat him down. And I can buy that. I can buy that theory. But the problem was is that in order to try and I think stifle that matchup that he was anticipating happening, he took Shaq Moore out of left center back and moved him to the right wing back position again, which is original position. So I have a twofold problem with this is that you now have made two changes to solve one problem, which you guys know I hate. Not a fan of that. And the second is it's just not likely that the right wing back is going to cover that particular player all that much. If he's a winger on their team, that's going to be more of the right center back. That's more of Iaga's job and where more will help. Just like Bernie Camugo should have helped on the other side, but didn't really. And so the second thing that annoys me about it is that, okay, you've taken a guy who really has been at least your third, if not your second best center back for the last three or four or five games that he's been playing left center back and he moved him out of position and you put a boubacar in there and LA immediately responded by flipping their guys and putting and letting Fundos play most of the game on the left and then pencil going over on the right and immediately scorching Abubakar for game at play, after play, after play, until at least halftime. And a covered up for him so many times. But the point of that is that, okay, if you specifically made an adjustment to cover up a guy when that guy then instantly came out and changed positions, why didn't you within the first five, ten minutes recognize that and make some sort of correction back and get More back over there. You know, Lawless Abubakar is smart enough and has been around enough. If you had put more back in those left center back position, Abubakar could have played right wing back. He's not that dumb. He's not would have me and worse than Romero is at that position. If you would have recognized that was the problem that you were trying to solve that you now aren't solving or you could have made some additional changes. There are other people on the team that could have played right wing back like legit would have been healthy. That would have been one example for sure. But I'm sure there are other people you could have found that could have played right wing back in a situation if you thought that needing pace over there was the answer. And I'm not necessarily sure that would be so like, you know, they got to me. They got lucky. That pencil didn't absolutely scorch them for three or four goals the way he was wrecking a boobacar. But they managed to get through it because, excuse me, Oz Urugide is such a phenomenal player that they managed to get by. And Bernie could have helped Abu car some more on the outside too. So like, you know, it's. It's easy to second guess a guy when he tries to make an adaptation to type with the other team, but you know, have a backup plan for when they flip the script on you. And so for me, that was a case where, you know, Vanny made some, made an adjustment and out anticipated Quill and, and then Quill didn't adapt early enough or at all. So they left more over there the whole game, if I remember correctly. So that was not a good situation. [00:16:09] Speaker A: I mean, I knew Pancel was fast and I think he's one of, if not the fastest dude in the league. But when you see him in person run, it is. It's shockingly fast because I would not. [00:16:22] Speaker C: Say Abubakar was slow. And he went by a boo car like he's standing still. It was ridiculous. [00:16:26] Speaker A: Well, there was that one in the second half going right to left where he was easily 10, 15 yards behind Uruguay Day. Oh, he torched him and he just torched Uruguay Day. And I don't remember how that play ended up. I don't know if he got a shot off or if that's the one where Collode came out and stopped him, I can't remember. But just it was shocking to see how much ground he made up and then just passed Uruguay with little effort because I don't Think Uruguay is slow either. He's definitely faster than Abubakar. [00:17:00] Speaker C: No, the Shaq Moore is one of the. One of, if not the fastest player on the team. Him and Anderson Julio. So like, you know, you had the perfect guy that would have went where pencil played if you'd left Shagmori in his position. He had been playing for like a month and a half now. He would have been fine. It would have been marched up perfectly, you know, and it. And it. Maybe Vanny was smart enough to think to say to them, look, they've got a bunch of slow center backs, so wherever the slowest one is, you go there. And so like, you may have needed to do some kind of thing where like you were just sort of adjusting or maybe at the end of the day they just trust Rigide so much that it's not a problem because it's not like Figundas is a bad player either, you know, and his goal on that side, again, just to show that the wing back has nothing to do with it. For goodness. Goal came because Ibiaka couldn't close him down tight enough and let him get off that shot. Great shot, don't get me wrong. But he needs to close down and not Shaq Moore was Iaga. [00:17:50] Speaker B: So it'd be interesting in the. In the return game. Obviously Pants will be away with international duty. Ramiro was, you know, he was. He was benched more than anything because of an injury concern. If he's back ready to start, you know, if Quill kind of goes back to him because he is one of the two, three guys that he absolutely 110% depends on. [00:18:16] Speaker A: So in the game. Buzz, I'm curious from your observation, we really didn't talk about this too much when we were watching it live. Was there seemed to be something that was stifling Dallas differently with this LA team than we had seen previously in the Portland game or the Colorado game. Prior to that, something wasn't quite clicking in the same way that it had in the previous games. And I'm curious if you picked up on anything that maybe LA was doing differently. [00:18:43] Speaker C: Not really. I honestly think it's about what we've just been talking about. You know, Quills need to have Romero in the game, you know, and the. The fact that, you know, Ramiro to the right of Kaik and Cabbage to the left of the Kaik is making that thing really work. Kaik's numbers, progressive numbers have exploded since they've gone into that shape where that kid is surrounded by those two veteran players. You Know, and so it's possible that that sort of not having his comfort guy over there to help him was a hindrance because there was a moment I saw where Captain Kaik were trying to discuss something. I think it may have been the water break or it was at halftime. I think it was a water break because they were still standing there and they had to bring Alvaro over, of all people, to translate because Capis doesn't speak Portuguese and Kite doesn't speak English, apparently. So they would. They would each talk to Alvaro and then Alvaro would tell the other person what they said. So it's. It's interesting to see, you know, perhaps that. That communication change. Like this is the thing about what I. When as soon as I saw the lineup, I joked about Quill testing the, you know, taunting the soccer gods, because when you're on a roll with things working, when you change things up, it can be that simple that it can derail what you're doing. You know, more passes out of the back differently than a booba car does. That can not having him at that left center back spot changes things. It changes the way Bernie interacts with that side. Right, because we've talked about Bernie releasing. We've talked about how that is benefited by Shaq Moore being over there. And Ramiro can sit in and the whole thing kind of slides a little bit and Bernie releases with more impunity, right? That dynamic changes because Shaq Moore is very much a release and go wing back. Ramiro is very much a stay at home or a, you know, inverted wing back. Right? Very different style than Shaq Moore. So you make little changes like that. It changes the whole thing, right? Changes everything you're doing. You know, it's not catastrophic, but all of a sudden you're stumbling and it's hot and it's. And Delgado's having a horrible game and he's walking up and down and Pedrinho comes in and ruffles your feathers quite a bit, what he's doing, you know, so it just wasn't. It wasn't on, you know, the flow wasn't on, the comfort level wasn't on. It all just kind of got a little bit unsorted. And, you know, LA is bad enough and Dallas is good enough and they work together enough that they managed to figure it out and get it done and. And Patter Moose is on such a roll that it didn't matter. But, you know, and on a different day, some of those things might have cost them. It's a better team. It might have Cost them the game. [00:21:04] Speaker A: Yeah, the Galaxy looked terrible and it is shocking how bad considering. Considering they're the mls defending MLS champs. I mean that is a shell of that last year's team. And yeah, Puig is just a big. Obviously a big chunk of it. But the losses of the other players they had to shed for salary cap reasons. Man, that thing is not good. And it. But it. That said, it's always fun to see Edwin Cereo running around. [00:21:31] Speaker C: Yeah, Dan, I don't know if you notice. He was like the fulcrum of their team. They like played through him the whole day. It was amazing. [00:21:36] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, it is pretty great. It also feels like it's time now for chapter 5274 of Holy Cow. Petter Moose is really good. [00:21:46] Speaker C: Oh yeah. God, that goal he had, that turn was so incredible. It's so tight. It's just like there's. There's been so few players that could turn like that. The last one I remember is Jason. Like Graziani couldn't turn like that. Blas Press couldn't turn like that. Fish doesn't turn like that. [00:22:04] Speaker A: Damian could turn on a ball pretty good. [00:22:06] Speaker C: Damian was pretty good. But Damian was tended to come way deep and outside more like Toha and come at you in a bigger way. He wasn't a. Yeah. Point high nine doing that. You know, like that ability to spin that quick in the box and get that off was before people are closing down was just. That's just phenomenal level that that guy's above the level of the rest of this team, you know, which is why you pay him the big bucks. I mean this is what DPS are for. It's just a fantastic player. [00:22:30] Speaker A: You think Peter Moses on this team next year? [00:22:34] Speaker C: I do, yeah. [00:22:36] Speaker B: I gotta build around him, surely. [00:22:37] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean he's the whole team at this point. Right. I mean he's getting paid a pretty good chunk of money. So, you know, unless I think it's more likely that if you were going to lose him, you would lose him next summer when. And as it always comes back to when the European seasons are, you know, maybe coming out of the back of the World cup, some team might have some money to come in and buy a guy like that. Whereas, you know, this winter that, I mean, at this point, what would it take to get him out of Dallas? You know, probably at least like peppy money, like 20 know. So like who's going to have that in December of this year with the World cup coming up? I don't. I don't know, I just don't. And, and I actually think like if you're him like and you're trying to crack the, the national team, like that would be a terrible time. He's probably out of time anyway. But that would be a terrible time to move because if you go to a new team and then you have like four or five months before the World cup and you're trying to get, you know, end their team in their mid season and play well enough to, to, to catch your national team to. It's Czech Republic. Right. I'm not crazy. That crack into that team, which is very difficult. He'd be better off to, I think to stay here and keep scoring 20 goals a season, you know, in terms of short term gain for him, I. [00:23:50] Speaker B: Think yeah, he's, he's a, he's on the backup list, right, for the next window. [00:23:58] Speaker C: Yeah, you could just see it and see, you could see a scenario. There's a risk of any move he would make of him struggling, taking that four or five months to get acclimated in a new team, stumble and just not quite, you know, again. I think he'd be better off just maintaining his form and trying to just really come out hot next season. That's his best shot really to make that squad. If that's what he really is trying to do, I think. You know, and then, then you can worry about it after the World cup like, hey man, I just scored 15 goals in the first four months here. You know, I got on the fringe of the team. Maybe now it's time somebody might come in for me. Know that summer money, that big money. [00:24:32] Speaker A: So Dan, as I were, we were running through the first half. Buzz was busy taking notes, I assume on his phone throughout the game and making comments. And every time Pac Delgado did something stupid, Buzz would look down at his phone and start furiously typing again. I thought, man, he just. And then all of a sudden Delgado gets a ball square and hits an absolute banger to make it to nothing. And I thought Buzz was going to throw his phone on the field. He was so frustrated. He goes, that's exactly, that's Patterson Galdado right there. [00:25:11] Speaker B: Hey, I mean if he does that, that's fine. You can, you can forgive the other stuff. It's when he doesn't do that. [00:25:16] Speaker A: Can you. [00:25:17] Speaker B: Yeah. If he has that impact on the game, then the rest is like it's so, so if he doesn't, then he's just a passenger. He's not worth being on there. You know, it wasn't A good game for him. [00:25:29] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree with you. But I think a lot of what was not working and was very kludgy with Dallas in this game was somewhat tied to Patrick Sin Delgado and just kind of his, as Buzz call it, walk about attitude. I don't mean walk. It's not that he's not trying. I'm not talking about effort. It's just his style of play clearly isn't as system as the rest of the team is. Right, Buzz? Am I saying this right? [00:25:56] Speaker C: Yeah, I think so. There was a particular play that was the one that got me the most and we even talked about what happened where he. Something broke down up. He was way up on the offensive end and he sort of just sort of half jog walked and got. He finally got all the way back to his defensive position right at the time the Dallas got the ball back in transition. And so he stopped. He turned around and started walking back the other way. And Shaq Moore looked at him and was like, what are you doing? And then he still didn't move. And so Shackmore like, clearly was like, okay. And so Shaq Moore ran all the way up there to get up there in the offensive end and support on the right wing. And it was too late getting there because, you know, it should have been Delgado who was like 10 yards ahead of him when the play turned over and Elgato just walked all the way back. And right at the time he finally got up there to the offense, it turned over again and now Shaq Moore had to run all the way back down to cover him up. So it's like. And that. And then I was like, that's the moment where I turn to you. I said, this guy just drives me absolutely crazy. And then 10 seconds later, he scores one of the greatest goals we've seen in years. An absolute. [00:26:52] Speaker A: It's an absolute banger. [00:26:54] Speaker C: You know, my. [00:26:55] Speaker A: My sense is, is that I. I don't. I don't think it's as much attitude as it is fitness. I just don't think he's super fit. And I think the temperature and the heat really got to him. And I think that story that you just told about him kind of dilly, dilly dallying in defensive transition and not even making a try to run forward when they got the ball back. I just think he's not. I don't think he's super fit. He doesn't look super fit. [00:27:22] Speaker C: Yeah, I. I know what you mean. I don't know how to really gauge that. [00:27:26] Speaker A: Buzzfat is What I would call it, I would have. [00:27:28] Speaker C: Yeah, me too. In the sense of, like, he doesn't have that shredded look that I personally like. [00:27:33] Speaker A: Like, I personally have. [00:27:34] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:27:35] Speaker C: Oh. I'm not a professional soccer player. If you're in the stands, I don't care. Do what you want. [00:27:40] Speaker A: That's right. [00:27:41] Speaker C: You're getting paid a couple hundred thousand dollars or a million. You better not be looking like that. [00:27:45] Speaker A: Ate all the hot dogs you want. [00:27:46] Speaker C: Yeah, glizzies, apparently. [00:27:49] Speaker A: Oh, sorry. [00:27:49] Speaker C: So, like, on the game, look, he had 75 passing. So on the service, you're like, okay, that's fine. That's actually pretty decent for a high attacking player. But look, three progressive passes is really low when you're the playmaker. Zero progressive dribbles, zero key passes, an X assist of 0.0, three missed controls, and he was really poor across the board defensively. So, like, every stat is trash. Except, of course, he scored this absolutely banger of a goal that was, you know, the highlight of the game and got man of the match and team of the week bench or whatever it was, which is ridiculous. You know, it's an incredible goal. But, like, it's the thing about, like, Oscar should say, take away the goal. The goal is amazing. And there have been guys that have gotten man of the match for a goal before, but, like, his performance was, for me, a complete stinker other than the goal. But he wasn't the only one. There are other guys that bad games. [00:28:40] Speaker A: I'm sure he shot all the way back up to Matt Doyle's top of the U22 list again. Yeah, because he saw the one highlight. [00:28:47] Speaker C: Doyle sees the highlights. I know why Doyle thinks that. The size, the body, the relative quality. [00:28:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:52] Speaker C: When he's on, he is on. And like I said, it's like two, three games in a row he'll be on and then he'll turn in a game like this and it'll just be like, good. Come on, man, he's 2020. [00:29:02] Speaker A: He looked tired and he looked out of. He didn't look like he. Yeah, and that was kind of it. Yes, yes. Whatever happens and la, just let him take that shot. There was nobody near him. You know, the ball was played to him very nicely and it set up perfectly for him and he took his shot and it was beautiful. I can't. I've got to give him credit for that. [00:29:21] Speaker C: But in the big picture, what we're trying to watch, and Dan, you agree with me on this. We're trying to watch with this idea of, like, can he Be the playmaker, can he be the man? Or do you have to go out and get a DP and I don't know where you are, Dan, but I'm not, I don't think he can be the man yet. I don't, I don't see it yet. [00:29:40] Speaker A: But isn't that indicative of this entire roster, which also at the same time in parallel just makes Quill's success in the second half of the season all the more tremendous. I mean, sure, you know, he, he's, he's elevated. [00:29:53] Speaker C: The dudes, the dudes are playing great, but like they're short two dps. And so if you're talking about difference making players, guys are going to alter the game. Guys are going to take you up to the top of the, the next level, which is the middle of the top half of the pack. Right where you look at that is the quarterback. It's the 10, it's the, you know, the center back we've been talking about forever. It's a goal scoring wing maybe. So that like Moose is not doing it all by himself. I'm just saying, like that's a position where you spend $5 million on Acosta, you know, so that's. [00:30:23] Speaker A: Well, the other thing that you and I were talking about is if you just kind of go around the league and Dan, you can jump in here too and you think about the best teams in mls, how many Dallas players would start for any of those top five or six teams in the league? And I think, would we agree it's two guys. It's Peter Musa and Uruguay. And everybody else in this team is probably a good backup player or a mid tier MLS player like Chris Capus is playing very, very well for Quell right now. But I don't know if Chris Capus is a starter for any other top six MLS team in the league. [00:30:56] Speaker C: Not, not something like a top four team. But you know, he's capable of being a quite. That's one of those guys I'm talking about. He's elevated the dudes. You got to elevate your whole roster. It's not just the best guys, but you've also got to have the best guys, you know, and they don't have the best guys right, right now. So that's why we talk about guys like Delgados, because we talk about like, is this a spot you would want to go get a guy and spend some money? And they clearly did last season coming into this year. So will they again? [00:31:19] Speaker A: Is the question you agree with any of this, Daniel? [00:31:23] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's spot on. Sorry to not be controversial there. [00:31:28] Speaker A: God, I wanted to fight with Dan about something. [00:31:30] Speaker C: I know he's not. Not fighting tonight. [00:31:32] Speaker A: He's not. He's not being combative, Dan. [00:31:36] Speaker C: Sorry. [00:31:38] Speaker B: It's a victory pod. Can't be. [00:31:40] Speaker A: That's right. It is a victory pod. All right, so with the win, if I'm doing my maths correctly, Mr. Buzzard and Mr. Dan, the magic number is three. [00:31:52] Speaker C: I don't. I don't know what the magic number actually is, but the answer is if they win, they're in, basically. Because that would be three. Well, it might actually be less. [00:31:59] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because the MLS actually put out the scenarios and basically everyone needs FC Dallas to win. [00:32:07] Speaker C: Yeah. If FCD wins, they're in. But that doesn't mean that, like they couldn't get in if something else happened. I don't think like. But that's the clinch scenarios or clinch. [00:32:15] Speaker A: Now in means they're in the play in. [00:32:18] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:32:19] Speaker A: Now if they win their last two games and Portland loses this weekend, in their last game, they actually would clinch seventh place, I believe, because that by winning those two games, they would then pass Portland on goal differential. [00:32:36] Speaker C: Yeah, I think that's correct. But the important thing to know is that like the one win means that two teams can't catch you and you're automatically in that. That's the important in some sort of post term season play. Since you guys hate to call that playoffs, you're right. They can get to seventh if they get things going in the right direction. [00:32:53] Speaker B: But more importantly, if that scenario plays out, I'm not worried about them clinching. I'm worried about everyone in Dallas clenching. [00:33:02] Speaker C: Yes. Dan objects to the way I say clench instead of clinch. [00:33:06] Speaker B: No, I meant clench your ass cheek. [00:33:08] Speaker C: I knew what you meant. [00:33:09] Speaker B: Okay. [00:33:10] Speaker A: Why would they clench their ass cheeks? [00:33:12] Speaker B: That's shaky sphincter time. It'd be like the. The year they got 2017 when it was like, oh, yeah, they're in. They're in. And then San Jose and Minnesota, there's a 97th minute goal and suddenly it's like, oh, the game finished. They're not in anymore. [00:33:29] Speaker A: I love quirky English sayings and phrasing like clenchy sphincter time. It just makes me. [00:33:36] Speaker B: Laughter time. [00:33:38] Speaker A: Shaky sphincter time. I dig it. [00:33:40] Speaker C: That's great. [00:33:42] Speaker A: So this is a long. This is very different than this podcast's attitude about all this. As recently as, what, three episodes ago? [00:33:51] Speaker C: Four episodes ago. [00:33:52] Speaker B: We pretty much. Button was hit today. [00:33:54] Speaker A: Yeah. When yeah, well, no, no, no. Just meaning we were right. We had written the season off. How. What was the last episode of Third Degree, the podcast. We went, well, okay. I guess we can start making plans for November 2022. [00:34:09] Speaker C: It probably was after match day. Let's see, what day is that? That was 2028, because they had drawn three straight. [00:34:18] Speaker A: That's. [00:34:18] Speaker C: And we were like, you're going to tie your way out of it. But then they've won three or four since then, so it's like that probably was. When they're not. We were worried that they weren't going to quite get enough points. And we should talk about. At some point, because the point turnaround is just absolutely ridiculous. I mean, it's. I broke it down today. [00:34:36] Speaker A: Okay. [00:34:36] Speaker C: And it was. It was like the first up through week 24, which was when they benched Acosta in LA, the LAFC game. They lost that game. They had. They had. Okay, so through that game, they were 5, 10, and 6, and they had 21 points, and they were. They had lost four in a row. And we were talking about they're gonna need 42, probably. And since then, 11 games, they've gotten five, one and five. And the one game they lost was the New York game, which is the last game Acosta played. It was the only game he's played since that LAFC game. And they have 20 points, five, one, and five. And those 11 games, that is a bonkers, bonkers turnaround. And it's not just that they got rid of Acosta. That certainly is part of it. He certainly was, you know, it turns out, we understand, really not super excited about being here. He definitely was not super great with the locker room, per se. It sounds like, you know, we'll get in more of that, I think, as we go along, probably this winter. But, you know, by moving Acosta out, they were able to go to three at the back. Right. Or five is the back, as Quill sometimes likes to refer to it, you know, and that change has allowed them to go from 1.0 points per game before to 1.8 points per game after. And prior to that LAFC game, or, excuse me, right after that LAFC game, they had a minus 12 goal differential, and since then, they've had a plus 9 gold differential. So this is a completely different team, completely changed, completely inverted. And the other factors that go with it, other than the tactics and other than Acosta, is that that's exactly when Chris Capus got here, and he has revolutionized the midfield, and that's Also when IR came back from his two months out injured and like the first game he played was the NYC game. So basically like that window, those four things happen across the left. The tactics changed from Capus came in and IR came back. And those four things are why this rally has happened. And it's just been phenomenal. [00:36:36] Speaker A: It is. And I just kind of pulling back a little wider angle to look at the entire season. I was looking at a form guide that I'm sharing here on the screen with you guys. If you divide this season up into two halves and the halves come in between game 17 and 18, do you realize that Dallas has won the same amount of games in the second half of the season as it had the first five? And the crazy part of this story with Dallas is, is that the second half of the season started with that four game losing streak which ended at lafc. [00:37:09] Speaker C: Yep. [00:37:09] Speaker A: And that's the. And that's when the. And so the run that has got them poised to go into the playoffs is comprised of just these games right here. This undefeated. Well, not undefeated. [00:37:20] Speaker C: 11 games. Yeah. [00:37:21] Speaker A: Yeah. It's this game that includes the NYSE game which really drives home how ridiculous and weird this season has been because it, it. I was shocked to realize that this run of games that includes these five wins is the same amount of wins that they had already collected at the rest at the beginning in the first half of the season. I thought, yeah, I didn't think they had won five games to that point. [00:37:47] Speaker C: Yeah, there was a lot of rockiness up and down this, you know, and it was the, those, those four losses in a row really were an absolute killer at that time. You remember that three of those games were at home. [00:38:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Two, four. Yeah, it was that weird run. It was San Diego or San Jose, San Diego, Minnesota and lafc. And it was also that same run that included home games against teams that there were at the end of extended road trips themselves. [00:38:16] Speaker C: And I know you're talking about this five wins thing, but look at the. Where the wins are. The four of them are in the first like seven games. [00:38:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:38:23] Speaker C: After those four wins, there's that stretch with like one win, three ties. And what is that? Seven losses. That middle run of the season, one was when it was really falling apart and the wheels were coming off and they lost. We were actually feeling okay when that draw, draw, win happened and they lost us four in a row. Three of them are home and we're like, nope, they're screwed. This season's over. And then Quill did his thing and he benched Acosta and he changed the formation and he brought in his guy and irrigated, got healthy and those four things completely turned the season around. And you got to give Quill all the credit for that. [00:38:56] Speaker A: And. But nobody could blame anybody, us especially for wanting to shut down the season. Because the story behind losing those four games in those three home games and, and the. The context of those three games each being a club that they were playing at the end of a significant lengthy road trip, which never happens in mls, just seemed to be the final nail in the coffin at that point of the season. Because it was such a ridiculous way to lose games because it never happens that way in this league. You don't lose to road teams at the end of extended road trips. [00:39:33] Speaker C: No. And at the time, at the time we. What we talked about was like, you know, teams this bad don't become as good as they need to become to make the playoffs. Like they went from being one go one point a game to base to almost two points a game. You know, that's. That kind of change almost never happens. Which is why we were all like, the season's basically over. They had to double their points in half the games. [00:39:57] Speaker A: It's almost Seattle esque. [00:39:59] Speaker C: It is, it is. [00:40:01] Speaker A: It's weird. [00:40:02] Speaker C: Nobody ever doubles their points in one third of the season with 2/3 of the season. [00:40:06] Speaker A: Right. [00:40:06] Speaker C: This doesn't happen. [00:40:07] Speaker A: Here's the deal though, guys. There's two games left and they've got to win one of the two. They got to go and they're both road games. It's not that the Galaxy really have anything to play for and I'm not certain. Maybe Dan, you know, better is net. Is Vancouver going to have anything to play for other than because the shield is decided? [00:40:27] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:27] Speaker B: I think they can still get the first round buy in the West. [00:40:30] Speaker C: Okay. Yeah. Their tie was San Diego on 60 points points, you know, and understand that like as good as we say Dallas's home. Sorry away record has been like they're a good way team. A lot of this ties. They only have four wins on the road, so they're gonna need to win. You know, it's not tie on the road. They need to win on the road. [00:40:48] Speaker A: Yeah. They can't do two ties. Two ties really endangers them. [00:40:52] Speaker C: Yeah. They can maybe get in on two ties, but they would need other people to really pull the shoot. So it's like they really just take care of your business and win a game, you know, and really, honestly, it needs to be The Galaxy one. Because it doesn't matter if Vancouver is not playing for a thing. Vancouver's really, really good, you know, and if they're. Even though they're not playing for a position, they're probably not going to want to dump their whole roster and play a bunch of kids because they're going to want to maintain their form. [00:41:13] Speaker A: Vancouver is actually the one team in Major League Soccer with a slightly better record over the last 11 games than Dallas. They have won one more game than Dallas. They've won six instead of five. [00:41:24] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:41:25] Speaker A: And they've only lost once. [00:41:27] Speaker C: They are 10, two and four at home. I mean, yeah, it's gonna be. That is a. That is a massive, massive ask in The Galaxy are 5, 8 and 2 at home. So, like, Dallas has more road points than the Galaxy have home points. Not wins, but points. Yeah. Because they're eight ties and they're almost as many wins. So like, that's. That game is really a 50, 50 game. Like that game is easily winnable for FC Dallas and it better be because you're not, knock on wood, you're not winning in Vancouver. [00:41:51] Speaker A: Well, now, just to be fair, Dallas could lose both those games and still make the play in game game if everybody else continues to, you know, s. The bed as Salt. Salt Lake, Houston and San have been doing. Oh, Houston is officially out. [00:42:07] Speaker C: Yeah. And the thing in your. In your favor is Colorado and San Jose only have one game each. Right. So they can only get to 43 and 41. [00:42:14] Speaker A: And that's again. So San Jose has Austin. [00:42:17] Speaker C: Yep. [00:42:18] Speaker A: Their home versus Austin. [00:42:19] Speaker C: Yep. [00:42:20] Speaker A: And Hughes. And not Houston. [00:42:22] Speaker C: Colorado. [00:42:23] Speaker A: Where is Colorado? Up here? Colorado has LAFC at home. [00:42:29] Speaker C: Yeah. Okay, so Colorado's got a much tougher road than San Jose does, but Austin's also good, you know, so you need some help. And then you also have to worry about. Right now you're ahead of Salt Lake. But Salt Lake has two games like you. Dallas does. So Salt Lake has, you know, options. [00:42:43] Speaker A: Seattle and St. Louis. [00:42:45] Speaker C: You know, Seattle's tougher, but, you know. [00:42:46] Speaker A: And they're both away. And they're both away games too, by the way. [00:42:49] Speaker C: Yeah. So you. You like the way the thing has shaped up in Dallas's favor, but that doesn't mean that you can. You. You can't let. You got to go do it. Right. It ain't over. You got. It ain't clinched. You got to go do it. [00:43:02] Speaker A: Before I get into my observation, anything else about the game that you guys wanted to talk about? My epiphany that I Had post game. [00:43:09] Speaker C: Yeah, I wanted to share other. Other than we should. We'll just note that Peter Musa tied the single season goal record with 18. So he's got two games to break it. [00:43:16] Speaker A: He's badass for sure. [00:43:19] Speaker B: I said that about Jesus a couple years ago. He's got two games to break it. [00:43:22] Speaker C: Four games to break it. If I remember right. [00:43:24] Speaker A: He's just crazy. Okay, so I was, I was driving home from the game having a thought, because one of the comments that Buzz and I made is we were sitting down and watched. You know, I sat, I watched like 20 minutes of warmup and Buzz had commented in our group chat that Paxton had made the 18 Paxton Palm call. And we were kind of surprised that that was the case and they were going to put him on the bench and was like, that's weird. So when I went, when I sat down and they were out there kicking the ball around in warmups, I specifically watched to check Paxton out, just kind of check out his body language, what he looked like. Dude didn't run. He barely touched the ball more than two times in the 20 minutes I was there. He's just kind of standing around watching warmup. And I thought, okay, well he's not going to play. And then game goes on and when all the players get off the bench to go over, do a little warm up doohickeys over there behind the goal. Bunch of guys are doing mini sprints and squats and thrusts and this, that and the other. And Paxton's leaning up against the wall with a rubber band around his ankles and he's doing leg lifts. [00:44:30] Speaker C: I'm like, okay, well, I guess we're. [00:44:32] Speaker A: Not going to see Paxton. Buzz and I both made the same comment, like, okay, well, he's just not going to play. This is, you know, they just decided to put him on there because they're paying him a million bucks. Right, whatever. And then lo and behold, as we get into the final minutes and the added like with a minute left in regular regulation, and then the three minutes of added time in a tight game no less, where Dallas is trying to hold off LA from tying the game, a game they really, really, really need to win, they throw Paxton on the field for the last three minutes of this game. Buzz, you were just as surprised as I was, weren't you? [00:45:08] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, yeah. I couldn't believe it. [00:45:11] Speaker A: I couldn't. [00:45:11] Speaker C: Now I thought, what is he doing right? [00:45:14] Speaker A: And look, it's not that he played bad or good. He wasn't on the field long enough to know it and as I was driving home, I was in the car and I was thinking about this and it suddenly washed over me like, holy crap, I'm glad I went to this game because I think I just watched them low key throw Paxton on the field for his farewell game and we're never going to see him wear a Dallas shirt again. [00:45:36] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm with you. It 100 felt the same way to me after I thought about it for five minutes and I, you know, I looked at the pictures of him waving everybody at the end of the game and stuff and I was like, oh man, was that, was that really it? Because you know, like to me, like if you were thinking like he could really help me this season, I don't know that I would try and push him on the home game. I might just sort of wait to the last second or even, just even wait to the playoffs. You can put him on the playoff roster and not have to put him in a game, you know, because it's putting him in a game that got him in trouble. So this to, I'm, I'm 100% with you. Why do you bring him in with such little notice? So I could ride at the end of the very last time of year in the year. And I was like, boy, well, especially. [00:46:12] Speaker A: In that specific scenario, you needed to win that game. [00:46:16] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, it felt forced. And I was like, why, why did they force that, Dan? Where what did you think watching this happen, Dan? [00:46:24] Speaker B: So my understanding before the game was that he was likely to play like the last 10, 15 minutes. So I start same as you. I, I started watching the warm up towards the end. I, I got me honest, I tuned out of a lot at the end of the game because I was trying to set something up for a Matt Hedges story. So I was like talking to LA's PR and stuff like that, but sat back down and watching, watching the warm up in Paxton is pacing. He's looking over the, at the bench. He's like, you know, it's like he knows this is the time that he's supposed to be called up. Ramirez just been pulled over and yeah, he's, yeah, I mean I can understand if they gave him the instruction, hey, don't, you know, don't like, don't just take the warm up too hard because Paxton does everything 100 intensity. Just, just get loose towards the end and you're gonna get X number of minutes. But yeah, it was, it was interesting seeing him pacing. It's not something that I, I can never really recall seeing from him. [00:47:38] Speaker C: So it didn't feel like a curtain call to you? [00:47:41] Speaker B: You know, I don't know. And unfortunately I saw him after the game. He came over and like, you know, gave me a fist bump. But I was in the middle the, of talking to Kevin Hartman and I was like, I can't really break away from this conversation right now because I would, I, I did want to at least say hey, you know, it was, you know, great to see you out there. I feel like I've had that same conversation with him about half a dozen times over the years. But yeah, you know, I mean, he, he seemed happy. He wasn't, you know, he was talking to people, he was kind of joking around. Fact that I'm stood over on the side by the LA Galaxy locker room talking to someone. He made a point of coming over and say hello. That's, you know, I think we've all spoken to Reggie Cannon in the past where it's been something like he's got injured or subbed off and he wasn't happy. And it's like he's not talking to anyone, he's not making eye contact with anyone. This was, this was not that. So, yeah, I guess, you know, if he sees it as a, as a curtain call, that's, that's possible that that could just be like a happy send off. I do know that Quill absolutely loves him. I'm pretty sure that in Quill's mind his ideal midfield would be Paxton Paol and Chris Capis. [00:48:53] Speaker A: That'd be my ideal midfield. [00:48:55] Speaker B: But it's, I guess it's like, might. [00:48:57] Speaker A: Be Buzz's wet dream. [00:49:00] Speaker B: There's, there's so much of a psychological, with the part in soccer and you know, we, I think we've all sat there with, with Paxton at one point or another when he's talked about injuries and coming back and having a setback and you know, to have two years off, have a cup, two games, have more time off the. Yeah, maybe, maybe he sees it one way and the team sees it another. Maybe they all see it the same way. It's, it's going to be interesting to see what happens over the winter, especially as the team sheds players. You know, we know the jets probably not coming back with his salary, so there's, there's an urgency to keep midfielders, if they can, the same way they had to keep Sebastian Iaga in defense because they were just out of defenders. [00:49:44] Speaker A: You know, I think we all have an emotional attachment to Paxton for a whole host of reasons. And it, and if in fact this is how this ends. It's an incredibly sad ending to what was probably the most promising career out of anybody to come out of the academy. We were all so excited about Paxton Palm McCall, especially in that World cup game against France where he was just playing out of his mind and. But the reality is, is that, Buzz, you brought this up watching the game. Is that with the three minutes or maybe the one minute, I guess officially it counts that he played in that game. He's played 56 minutes of MLS soccer in the last two seasons. [00:50:25] Speaker C: Yeah, it's about that. I don't know. [00:50:27] Speaker A: While also making a million bucks a year. [00:50:29] Speaker C: Yeah. Or more. Yeah, yeah. I mean, there's obviously a big investment in him, but. Yeah. [00:50:35] Speaker A: And that's just not sustainable or good business for anybody. I mean, it is for Paxton, obviously, but it's not good. It's not good for the roster to have that going on. [00:50:46] Speaker C: If he wasn't Paxton Palmicle, then I don't think that would have happened with any other player. [00:50:50] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. [00:50:51] Speaker C: You know, the other side of the coin is that when he is 100% healthy, he is a special game changing player and he's not on a number that's a full dp. Like you can tam him right. So that's a really nice player at a good number, but only if he's healthy. And that's the thing is like you can look at his entire career and the number of fully healthy seasons is like three. It's like even seasons where he played three. Yeah. Like full healthy seasons. There's been seasons where he's had like 20, you know, but he always gets like chunks where he's missing or like the back end of the season. Like, like full blown, 100% healthy seasons. I think it's three. And for the last two, it's been basically nothing. So like. But that's also true of Giovanni Jesus for a totally different reason, you know, so it's a weird situation. I totally get why that they hold on to him because of the personal connection and the values that he really does bring, if you can save it. But at this point it's such a long shot that he's going to be back 100 healthy. Yeah. [00:51:55] Speaker A: I mean, he is a kid that he's. What is he. He turns 20 in December. His birthday's in December, I believe. I think he's getting ready to turn 25. And he's had a major hip surgery, major knee surgery. And then recently a secondary knee procedure earlier this season after the the knee. Bruce or whatever they call the Nebrews thing. I mean It's. [00:52:20] Speaker C: He'll be 26 in December. [00:52:21] Speaker A: Oh, 26. Okay. [00:52:22] Speaker C: You're still talking about a guy who could, you know, if the health problems went away, you'd be looking at a guy that could play till 32, 33, 34. Like, you know, six, seven more seasons of real high end talent for this league. But that, that the Giant if is the thing you got to salvage him. You know, it's like if he's not salvageable, it's like what are we doing? What is anyone doing? You know, at some point he'll get tired of it all. [00:52:45] Speaker A: Well, that's why my read of all of this from Saturday was that that was it that, that the team made a concerted effort to put him on the field because that was very possibly the last opportunity he'd ever have to play for Dallas in a professional game. And they threw him on as best in. In the. In the tightest moment they possibly could. And I, I hope I'm wrong. I hope, I hope my assumption or guess or a speculation out of this, that is wrong. But same that would really suck because I love that kid. [00:53:19] Speaker C: Yep. [00:53:20] Speaker B: That was Paxton's second meniscus surgery. The major one. Well, no. So that was a cartilage. He had a meniscus a few years ago. [00:53:29] Speaker A: Yeah, he had a meniscus a few years ago. The cartilage replacement surgery was, was the one that was last year. And then he had a secondary. I think it was kind of a cleanup this year. [00:53:40] Speaker B: He's had. He's done both meniscus. Taz. [00:53:43] Speaker A: Really? Okay. [00:53:44] Speaker B: Yeah, he did one in 2017, one in 2018. [00:53:46] Speaker A: We've always known that Paxton was very unusual in terms of as a human being, as an athlete. The, the amount of pressure and torque and the just wear and tear he put on his body was extreme. Extreme even for an high level academy product of from anywhere. He just, this was one of his downsides was just the way he treated his not not, you know, treated his body in game. He just went all out 100% and I think that's. And where we're. Why we see what we see today, unfortunately. All right, so Dallas ends up winning. Everybody knows where they're at. Keep your fingers crossed. It is as Dan would say, squeaky bum time as we move into the last two games of the season. And that game, that game against LA is coming up on Saturday the 11th at 9:30pm Anybody talking about that game, Buzz, you want to speculate on how you think they'll line up for that? Do you think he'll make the correction back on and Shaq back at back line? [00:54:50] Speaker C: Well, since Dan said he had a little something he was fighting through, that'll depend a lot on that. Obviously. Wesley who? [00:54:55] Speaker A: Romero. [00:54:56] Speaker C: Romero, yeah. Because if Romero can go, like, he's so indispensable right now, like, I don't know that they want him to be, but he is. I think he'd be back out there, you know, and then. And then shock more can go back to the other spot. So I think, I think that's what you would prefer to have happen. You know, Abubakar didn't do anything. Makes me think like, oh, he's gonna keep that spot. I think that it would go back to the way it was before if Ramiro is recovered, because I think you pointed out that pencil's not going to be there. That eliminates some of that worry, you know, from the Dallas and Deetson will be gone with Haiti. Diego Garcia will be gone with the USU 20s. The next version of it, it's not. I don't think Nolan will be back yet. So, like, you're. You're getting a little thin. So you might see in a Sally on the bench. That'll be a huge, huge ad if he's on the bench. So I don't think. But you know, this is the part of the time the bench is being shot shortened in the sense, like you're seeing less subs, you're seeing Pedrinho and you're seeing Anderson, Julio, and that really is about it. Like, you know, maybe you might see an Abubakar late. That's one of the nice things about having Boobacar back on the bench is that you can bring him in as an extra, you know, more defensive sort of minded guy, like late in the game if you really feel like you need to. So that's, you know, a thing. So I think he'll want to go back to that. The question is in net. Obviously, Pause is gone. So, you know, Jackson Jacob Jackson picked up some sort of knock, so you hope that he's back in. And then you have a question. Clody versus Jackson again. If Jackson's not healthy, then they might have to go to an emergency keeper signing. Probably J.T. harms. [00:56:30] Speaker B: They've got him signed already, I think. [00:56:32] Speaker C: Do they? [00:56:33] Speaker B: Okay, yeah, they. When. When Kaleidi got the red card and pause was injured. [00:56:41] Speaker C: Yeah, they did it once, but those only last a short period of time. So that probably would be the Answer again, I would assume so. As you point out, Dan. So it all picks itself, you know, if people are healthy, this is the time of year and the run they're on. You don't change anything, you know, unless your hand is forced. So, you know, a caveat to my bitching about the lineup was Dan's information that that Romero had something he was fighting even though he wasn't technically hurt. [00:57:05] Speaker A: You know, before we move on about other things, I just want to comment what I talked about at the beginning of the podcast, which was my anger at Mr. Pedrinho, who proceeded to do two things in his short stint on the field that made me absolutely bonkers. And I was shocked Eric Quill didn't run out there and two foot him himself. First off, receiving the ball in space and juggling it three times to himself before proceeding to playing a forward pass that he immediately turned over a bad pass to an LA player. Unacceptable. Like total showboat BS ridiculousness. Agree. [00:57:48] Speaker C: Oh yeah. [00:57:49] Speaker A: Am I wrong? Am I nitpicking? Am I being an asshole? Okay. Damning thing he did, number two dribbling, as he did towards the end of the game, through the LA defense and instead of making the simple square pass to a wide open hand, Anderson Julio just waiting to score the third goal, he tries to squeak it under the goalkeeper and blows it. And Anderson Julio I thought was going to go over there and rip his head off. [00:58:17] Speaker C: And it's just been mad a lot lately. I wouldn't put it past him. [00:58:20] Speaker A: Yeah, I, I that, you know, that guy's been in the doghouse and that's the kind of stuff players do that makes me nuts and wants them to stay in the doghouse. [00:58:30] Speaker C: Yeah, he's really talented. The reason he doesn't start, you know, is because he can't put together complete games. He puts together 20 minute great and then a whole bunch of nothing and he makes these dumb decisions again also. 20 year old kid, you know, so like he's there because he's got some potential and some talent, but you know, the mentality, the mindset, these things matter when as you move up, higher up the ranks, it's important. So like those kinds of things are going to hold him back if he doesn't get his head screwed on straight. And I don't mean like lifestyle, I'm talking about in the game. People won't put up with that. You know, coaches won't, teammates won't. You can't be clowning around in the game. [00:59:03] Speaker A: I think if, if cereo had been 10 yards closer when he dribbled the. When he juggled the ball. Cereal probably would have just taken him. White wiped him out. [00:59:12] Speaker C: Yeah. Edwin's developed an ashy streak in the last three or four seasons and which is good for him because he needed it, you know, and he'll hit you hard nowadays. [00:59:19] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, I kind of wish he had on that particular deal. All right. Well, I can't believe. Here we are in this episode of the show and Dallas has re rejuvenated itself so good that they actually hold their own destiny in their hands to make the playoffs. That is effing remarkable turn of events based on where we were not that long ago, guys. Truly crazy stuff really is. [00:59:43] Speaker C: Yep. [00:59:43] Speaker A: Letters from listeners. David Mercer from Buzz's Discord asked this question regarding Mr. Christian Capis. Is it possible to point out a few things that he's consistently doing that you think Buzz has really made a big difference in the midfield? [01:00:01] Speaker C: Yeah, a lot of this is possible to see with the eye test, but I know not everybody sees the game the same, so I tried to find some stats and the. The simple answer is is that he. Look, he's not a sprinter. He can't really run all that fast. I don't know if I've ever seen him sprint really. But he reads the game really well and he slides really well and he puts himself into good positions and that's the fundamentals of what he's doing. And so I tried to pull a couple stats that can show you how that results in play change. And so one of the obvious ones is what is a progressive reception. And Capus has about.05 per game per 90 more of those than Kaik and 1.0 more than those than Ramiro. And what we. What we used to say when I was a kid was that you have to show for your teammates when you're trying to build out of the back, you got to put yourself in a spot that they can find you and pass to you. So that's right there. A demonstrable way that you can see what he's doing is showing for his teammates and allowing build through the middle of the team. Because we've talked about how they can now transition through the middle at a better part of the team. Okay. So if you want to talk about progressive passing, on the other hand, he actually does not progressive pass better than those other two guys. They're pretty much about the same. And Kaik Ramiro are just a tiny bit higher in some ways. Now, to be fair to Kaik, his progression Numbers have exploded since he's been playing next to Capisc. So again, it's not the progression forward, it's his making himself available. Now, the quality of the passes is important. Cabbage has about one key pass a game and the other two guys are at 0.7 and 0.8. So he's better at that. He's better at passing into the penalty area. He's at 1.13 to a.8 and a 0.7. Okay, so that's basically the differences, is the, the difference in the making the team able to play through the middle of the field. Okay, it's not carries, none of these guys carry. It's not blocks. They're basically all about the same tackles, all about the same, right? Capus is cleaner. He's. He's dispossessed less than Kaik. Missed controls, they're all about the same Again, so the other place Gabas is really good is Ariel's one. So that's what it is. It's just his, his. The way he shows for his teammates, puts himself defensively in good spots, allows the collective team the ability to pass and develop through the middle of the field. [01:02:38] Speaker A: See, you learn things when you listen to Third Degree, the podcast. Question number two from Mark Wright. What academy player would you bring back to Dallas? Non signed and previously signed. Practical and dream. [01:02:53] Speaker C: Okay, Dream former signed player is a no brainer to me. It's Chris Richards. This team is absolutely desperate for a center back and he is one of the best passing center backs you have ever seen. And he's Quill's guy. Quill found him, developed him and discovered him. No brainer. Easy Assigned player that's actually realistic is Alex Zendayas, who is playing amazing soccer in Mexico, but is probably available for like 9, 10 million. And if you wanted to bring in a DP for like, you know, a wing sort of tennis kind of guy, play a little false swingy side on either side. That to me is a legitimate possibility. I believe he's 27 years old. [01:03:36] Speaker A: So do you think he could beat out Deetson? [01:03:38] Speaker C: I do think he could beat out dudes, yeah. [01:03:43] Speaker A: Do you think Club America would take Deetson in a trade for Alexander? [01:03:48] Speaker C: No, I do not. I do not. So not likely. But realistic on Alexander. [01:03:53] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a good one. I like that shout. [01:03:55] Speaker C: All right, so non signed. Yeah, non signed dream players, of course, Weston McKinney, because you just put him in midfield with Gabis and you open the door, whatever or not. I mean, you know, it's a dream Right. I'm not saying it's real, saying it's a dream, non signed, realistic. This one was harder. A player that they let get away that might actually contribute and help. I went with K Roll Figueroa. Do you know who Kol Figaroa is? [01:04:24] Speaker A: Minor's son that went to Liverpool? [01:04:27] Speaker C: Yes, He's a Liverpool U21. He is not yet making the leap into Liverpool's team. I mean, come on, it's Liverpool, right? But, but a guy who obviously has some pretty serious quality to have gotten that high in their organization might want to come back. Played here in the academy is a dude that you could put into your rotation as like a winger or a striker. You know, they have guys that are similar, but a dude that you might actually be able to get and I think could help you. You know, probably you even, you know, maybe get on ahead of. Of Anderson, Julio or Dietza, I don't know. But those guys, you know, kirol is like 17 or 18 or whatever. He's not, he's not 19, 19. Whatever he is, he's not a U21 team. I couldn't remember exactly how old he is. He's pretty young still. He's like not even really a full professional yet. So that's hard to find an unsigned guy that actually could be impactful because I think people might have expected me to say Matthew Corcoran, but like they just spent 4 million on Kaik. What, what are they going to get do with Matthew Corcoran who's a 6? [01:05:29] Speaker A: So you know who I thought you were going to say? [01:05:31] Speaker C: Who's that? [01:05:32] Speaker A: Charlie Kelman. [01:05:33] Speaker C: No, Charlie Kelman's too slow for mls. Oh, whoa. Look at the level Charlie Kelman plays at. [01:05:40] Speaker A: League. He's in the championship. [01:05:44] Speaker C: Yeah. Or the league below that. [01:05:47] Speaker A: Well, he's playing, he's playing for Charlton right now. [01:05:50] Speaker C: I don't think he's good enough for mls. His dad will probably message me now that I said that, but I don't think you're gonna. Plus they have, plus they have Peter Musa. Why would you want Charlie Cumming? You have better Musa. You have Logan Ferrington. [01:06:01] Speaker A: Yeah, well, he started seven games this year and not hit a goal or an assist this season. [01:06:05] Speaker C: I'm just saying, like, I don't, I don't think Charlie Kilman answers any fixes, any problems. Okay. If he, if, if he wanted to come back to the. Look, I know he wants to. I know he's tried to get on with FC Dallas a couple of times and they're like pass. Like they don't even want to talk to him, you know, so. [01:06:20] Speaker B: Okay. [01:06:21] Speaker A: All right. Now you brought something up that I want to. I want. I did. We had no plans to get into this. It wasn't on the crayon written run sheet. [01:06:29] Speaker C: Okay. [01:06:29] Speaker A: But you brought it up because there is a rumor running around that West McKinney's agent is shopping him around Major League Soccer according to at least one outlet or a few outlets because of some sort of personal reason. Maybe somebody in his family's not. Is not well or baby mama thing. Who knows what it is? I'm. That's total speculation. Yeah, I don't know what it is, but there's. [01:06:53] Speaker B: There's one caveat to that. It's not shopping into mls. He's shopping him to Chicago. [01:06:59] Speaker A: Is it Chicago specifically? [01:07:01] Speaker B: Specifically, there's interest in other teams. FC Dallas is one of them. But. [01:07:06] Speaker A: Okay, but my question is, when you take into consideration the budgetary constraints of the next few seasons due to the stadium project, which is absolutely a thing, whether Dan Hunt wants to admit it or not, would they blow out the baloney to sign Western McKinney to come home and play for this team? Assuming Weston wants to? Because a lot of guys professionally don't want to play in their hometowns for a lot of obvious reasons. [01:07:34] Speaker C: Well, that's why I think it's unrealistic. And I put them in the unrealistic dream category because, you know, is the. Is the. I have not researched that. That stuff with Chicago. Is it. Is he going to be available on free. Are they trying to get them to buy him from Juventus? Because if you're trying to buy him, he probably costs over $20 million. I would bet 20 to 25. You know, I think West McKinney wants a big, substantial offer from an MLS team so that he can say, beat this and I will come play with you to Uve or whoever he wants to play with. I don't think Weston McKinney, this is my personal opinion. I don't think he really wants to come back to MLS right now. He's 27. [01:08:16] Speaker B: Supposedly he just signed an extension, so his contract goes through summer 2028. [01:08:23] Speaker C: Right. So, like, I don't see, like, if Wes McKinney was on a free agency situation, then I think the Hunts would call and I think they would have. It would behoove them to do everything in their power to pay whatever it took to get him to come. But I can totally understand them not spending 20, 25 million to get Weston to come Back. I think Weston coming back to dream on the dream scenario. Not realistic scenario. [01:08:47] Speaker B: Well, even off the field, Dan Hunt's always thought about wanting an MLS cup of homegrowns. He has a homegrown. He might not have that contract designation, but he is. And marketing efforts. What's better than. Yeah, you know the guy that's in the Midfield for the U.S. national team. [01:09:06] Speaker C: Yeah. That's why I say like a dream scenario. Yes. Free. Yes. I don't know. 8, 9, 10 million even. Sure. But I don't think that's what he costs. I think he costs, I don't know, 20 million. [01:09:15] Speaker A: So it would, it will aggravate me to no end if West McKinney comes to play in this league and it's not in the Dallas shirt. [01:09:23] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:09:24] Speaker A: Dan and Clark Hunt are effing billionaires. And at some point they owe this fan base. [01:09:30] Speaker C: Totally agree. [01:09:31] Speaker A: Something like that. Especially the season ticket holders who they have asked to shoulder the burden of this stadium project for way too long. [01:09:40] Speaker C: Yeah. Now if you want to come out of the back end of the World cup, you want to have the, the calendar change to the winner, you want to have a new stadium. I need to fill up. I just sold Peter Musa for 20 million. I can get Western for 20 million. I'm in. Then I think it's plausible. Then I think it's real. Then I think you could actually do it. I don't think that. But what you're talking about, two years from now he'd be 29. Then he might be entertaining it. Right. But like right now I don't think it's, I don't think it's legit. [01:10:07] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, I don't think it's going to happen either. I think the way that Clark does business and with the red that keeps coming out of that stadium project and probably will continue to until it's done, I just, I, I would be shocked. I really, really, truly would be shocked. I'd be delighted. But I would be shocked if that ever happened. [01:10:26] Speaker C: Well, that's why I put Alex and Dejas on the Reasonable, because I think, I think an 8,9 million spend is. [01:10:31] Speaker A: A really interesting one. I'd love to see Zendaya has back here. [01:10:34] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:10:34] Speaker A: He's kind of the, isn't he? The original Academy sale for three quarters of a million. Was he the first one? [01:10:41] Speaker C: They sold half a million. Yep, Yep. [01:10:43] Speaker A: Half a million. [01:10:43] Speaker C: And think about this way, like if you, you, you've just spent 4 million on Kai and you have REM kicking around too so maybe you're looking more at a 433. You already said you like to Capus palm club midfield. In a dream scenario, packing is healthy. Okay. That means you're no real 10. So now maybe you're looking at more of a false swingy kind of guy on one side and more of a direct guy on the other side. Perhaps. He'd be perfect. He would. He would. He would be that Arturo Rodriguez guy for FC Dallas that he Quill had in North Texas. Same thing. Same guy. So I think it's pretty exciting and plausible, you know, if you're talking about wanting to do a little spend. If you're not talking about when it's been whatever you got spend to do it, though. [01:11:20] Speaker A: Very good. Go burn. Get one of the last two. [01:11:22] Speaker C: Let's get questions. [01:11:24] Speaker A: Very good questions. And you can always submit your questions wherever you submit your questions to Buzz and we'll read them on the podcast. Dallas Trinity play Next on the 12th at Spokane, which will lead into the big game. They're promoting at the Cotton bowl, which is the friendly against Club America. Boy, that. That's a team that needs some rest. They've been traveling a lot and they need some points because they've. I know they're still. I think they're still in second, but they've been struggling. [01:11:55] Speaker C: They were. When I looked, they were in second. And that's the question. Will. They had a week off. Hopefully that really helped. Cause they could. You know, their two losses are to two really good teams. You know, so, like, Spokane's not having a great season, so that's a winnable game, even on the road. But obviously they're probably hoping not to be. They're not looking too far ahead because that big game on the 18th is going to be a fun one at the state Fair. You know, we're all working, unfortunately. I wish I could go, but. Because I really would like to be at that one. [01:12:21] Speaker A: So I got a question for you, too. [01:12:23] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:12:23] Speaker A: What? What do you think the attendance for that game is going to be? [01:12:28] Speaker C: I think it depends. I. I don't. I'm not gonna have a good answer for this one because I think when you're talking about clock Club America finale, finale year, you're talking about how they penetrate the sort of East House Hispanic audience. And I don't have a good finger on that pulse. I don't. I can't really tell you whether that club resonates or not. I know that they vastly overestimated what they got. We're going to get out of Barcelona's women's team. And that ended up being about 5,000. So my expectation is like, you know, five, 6,000, maybe. But, you know, if you were to tap into the right segment and that in that free Cotton bowl, that ticket, the free ticket to the state fair maybe is resonating with people because, like, there's a lot of talk right now about how expensive the state fair is. You know, if you can get out there on the midway and throw some coupons around and get some people in the stands. I mean, you know, if I would be stunned if they hit 10,000. I'm thinking more five or six, I think. And I would be. I would consider that to be a positive because their first few home games had about three. So if you can, you know, almost double down, I think that would be good performance. [01:13:26] Speaker B: I think they're gonna. They'll hit their own record, but not by a ton. Yeah, you know, I remember FC Dallas played Tigress Feminil a few years ago and it was an okay attendance. It wasn't anything spectacular, but it also wasn't really that well advertised. It was at Bishop's lynch, while that was in the middle of a construction project of his own. It wasn't the State Fair. It wasn't, you know, you, you get a free ticket with it. They weren't, you know, Dallas Trinity is giving, understand, free tickets to volunteers at the fair or a fair park, which could boost it a little bit. Liga. Mickey's Feminil is definitely a higher profile now than it was when FC Dallas played that game. [01:14:17] Speaker C: Yeah, but I'm also, I'm not. Again, I'm not a Hispanic expert, but I'm pretty sure that the. That Tigris and Monterey are the bigger clubs in Texas, not the Club America doesn't necessarily resonate here as much as Tigris and Monterey do, because I have the proximity more than anything else. [01:14:32] Speaker B: America's just the global. [01:14:34] Speaker C: That's so. [01:14:35] Speaker B: I mean, they're still going to have that effect. It's just whether it's. Whether it penetrates to the women's side. [01:14:42] Speaker A: My perception, and I don't know if this is correct, is that in. In Mexico, the top flight women's teams aren't. They're supported, but not like the men's teams are. Yeah, and. And so I am. The reason why I brought this up was I was doing some nor normal Instagram surfing and I saw this video from Trinity being posted and I saw sent Marshall, who was the woman that Mark Cuban hired to take over and run the Mavs after the in office sex scandal and clean all that up. And she was going on about what a great atmosphere it was and how much fun it was. And it wasn't just a soccer game. It was an event and it was this and it was that. And she was talking to Jim Neal, the patriarch of Trinity, the father that runs the family, that owns the team and essentially does all the work. And he said, I couldn't believe he said this. He said, this is our opportunity to have 30 or 40,000 people in the cotton board for this game. [01:15:40] Speaker B: He told me 20 a couple of weeks ago that bumped up real quick. [01:15:45] Speaker A: And I, and I just, well, maybe it was 20, 30. It was tens of thousands and it was a number so large I thought there's, I just thought, man, that is, I hope that. Is that really what his expectation is? Is he really expecting to surpass 10,000, even 10,000 for this game? Because I'm like, you Buzz, I'll be shocked if they get 10,000 people. And I also, you know, you were the one that told me that the news that if you buy a ticket to the game, you actually get into the state fair for free. And also it's cheaper to buy a ticket to the game than it is to buy a ticket to go to the state fair, which doesn't get you into the game. [01:16:31] Speaker C: Yeah, it would be a shame if they, if they counted all those tickets. [01:16:35] Speaker A: I've never heard them promote that aspect of the ticket purchase. I've not seen it. Maybe it's out there and I've just missed it. [01:16:42] Speaker B: I don't think they know where to disperse that information. Weirdly, like, it should be all over the socials, but I don't believe it is. [01:16:53] Speaker A: Here's the thing. I got a lot of guys that I play with that have kids or grandkids, girls specifically, that play this game at pretty high levels, and none of them know about this game. Like they were. Oh, really? I didn't know that. They didn't know. They don't know. And I don't know if their kids know. [01:17:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:17:12] Speaker B: I think the problem is, and it's funny, I was talking to Jim Neal the other week and you know, about how they kind of get, get the word out and stuff like that. And it was, you know, obviously people that listen to us, they're engaged, they already know. [01:17:26] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:17:27] Speaker B: You know, I personally, if I'm them, I'm throwing money at the ticket. I'm throwing money at you, the tv, because that's, that's the Soccer audience that probably isn't engaged in that. [01:17:38] Speaker A: See, I think it's even got to be bigger than that. If you really are. If you're really shooting for 20, 30, 40,000 people in the cotton ball in the middle of the State fair, you got to be doing TV ads, you've got to be doing major digital advertising campaigns. You can't just throw things on your socials and hope it gets. Goes viral. [01:17:57] Speaker B: I will say they, they are getting good coverage from Fair park, from the state Fair, but you have to have already been to the state fair and spent all that money to know that. [01:18:08] Speaker A: Yeah, I hope it works out. I'm a big fan of the club and I'm a big fan of the project and I, I really want it to work, but I, I'm conf. When I saw him say 20, 40, 30, whatever the number was, numbers he threw out there, I just thought it was a, an. A moonshot. [01:18:25] Speaker B: What he said to me was it said 20. And I'm fully aware that if we hit that number, 75 of those people will not be aware of Dallas Trinity. But that's our chance to do it as you convert them, which is totally fair. It's just, you have to get that 20,000 in. And looking at the attendances in Liga, Mackie's feminine, it's just like Dallas Trinity. Uh, their average is 3,000. Their highest 6. 6. Their low is 1 8. [01:18:54] Speaker A: Okay. If Trinity went out and they gave away 30,000 tickets to this game, how. [01:19:03] Speaker B: Many of that get about 10,000 people in the stadium? [01:19:06] Speaker A: Yeah, so it's a, It's a tough. [01:19:09] Speaker B: That's huge. That would, that would be a good net win for them. [01:19:12] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. Well, that game is on the 18th, and I do encourage everybody to buy a ticket and go because you get into the State Fair essentially for free for that. [01:19:22] Speaker C: Yeah, it'd be fun. I mean, I'm bummed. I'm not getting to go, so. [01:19:25] Speaker B: Plus, we're also talking about, you know, wanting them to succeed. So if you buy that ticket through them, they, they get the revenue. [01:19:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:19:33] Speaker B: You know, they get that revenue share that, that's going to be important for them, particularly at a time where they're coming off the back of six away games. The operational costs for that, the lack of revenue in that period. So it's going to be a difficult time for them every year. [01:19:49] Speaker A: Well, that's a lot about a game that's just essentially a friendly, but it's important to them for a lot of reasons. It's a big Game for them. North Texas at lafc. They got a win and Sarver went bonkers. [01:20:02] Speaker C: Yeah, for, for most of the game, Dallas was not in it. And they started a guy that I was, you know, look, I, I nitpicked that or 11 sometimes with 8. I thought they made some poor choices in the 11 and they made a change at halftime that really worked and really opened them up. Saver did not have the first goal that kicked it off, but then he then went crazy. He had, he had three goals in 20 minutes and should have had a fourth. He, he, he earned a PK and then he took the PK and missed it. And that would have been his 20th goal. He would have tied for the golden boot if he would have converted that pk. And he had two other chances after that to convert that. He didn't because he was getting really tired. But he, he went bonkers. At the end of the game I. [01:20:42] Speaker A: Saw a goal where he had a ball on the outside on the right and he juked his guy and went to straight end line and he finished at the most obscene angle at the far post. It was ridiculous how good a finish it was. Probably should have been saved by a better keeper and would have been saved by a better keeper, but it was still a very nice fit. I don't know what number of the three it was, but that was a very, very nice goal. [01:21:04] Speaker C: I think that was the first one. I joked about what the XG on that goal was. [01:21:07] Speaker A: It was ridiculous. [01:21:09] Speaker C: And the second one was a volley where he, it came across and he voled it like, you know, waist high, but he didn't slam it. He kind of just flick volid it. So it kind of floated in like that. Just because he didn't want to rip it back towards the front where the goalie was. I just Saver when Sarver is on, he's so better than that league. He should be with SC Dallas, but understandably he's not playing with FC Dallas in this crunch time. He's not, he's fifth, fourth, fifth on the depth chart, the wing. So keep sending him down, let him keep playing, you know. And he's going to, as their captain, he's going to do a lot in terms of their ability to actually get past people and surprise people in the playoffs. So they end up finished sixth. So. And if you remember Peter, you get to pick your opponent in that playoff, which is super awesome, cool system. So we'll see who picks them. And they might. The thing is, is like because they've gotten Hot right at the end and gotten in. And when Sarver's down there, there might be some people that duck them. So they might get like the 4 4th place team as a sixth, you know, maybe so they could get a beatable team. It could be fun. So playoffs are always fun at that level because you never know what's going to happen. Guys could get called up or whatever or not, you know, and so it'll be fun. [01:22:11] Speaker A: Yeah. Especially when you get to throw in the sour of. Wait, we. You. You picked us to play us in the playoffs. [01:22:21] Speaker B: That picture last year was pretty fun. [01:22:23] Speaker C: Yeah, that was a pretty special, spicy show last year because Dallas picked like the team that wasn't. They were the number one seed and they didn't pick the eight. They picked like the six and everyone was like, oh, why didn't you pick the eight? I was like, dude, the sixth place team has lost 10 games in a row without or not lost. It went 10 games without winning. So they were like as well. [01:22:40] Speaker B: So it was like the hardest trip possible. [01:22:43] Speaker C: Yeah, it was a. It was a. It was definitely like. People were like, why would you pick that team? I was like, dude, just. They haven't won in 10 games. It's like they picked the coldest team there was and they stopped them. [01:22:51] Speaker A: I think. I think Dan's right. I think there was also the element that Vancouver had to like travel 17,000 miles to get. Get here or something at the same time. [01:22:58] Speaker C: It was an obvious pick, but it was like the six and not the eight. So people, they were like, oh, you picked the. You know, so who knows what will happen this time. [01:23:05] Speaker A: I just. I also want to throw in a side comment here because I'm probably up to my fourth or fifth person that I have met or know. I already personally know that lives in the Mansfield area that is like really into this new stadium and they are really excited about that happening down there. [01:23:25] Speaker C: Could be cool. Could be cool. [01:23:27] Speaker A: Yeah. Interesting stuff. Texoma got the 1:1 hockey stick draw. They're not making their playoffs, are they? They're busy. Busy trying to figure out what they're going to do for a stadium next year. [01:23:39] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah, they really are. Spangler had a pk. They did. Spangler, yeah, his name is Spangler. He's the best player. Number 10. He had a PK and it was their goal. We had a new photographer on the game. Should go check out her picks. That's cool. Beth Spicer. Anyway, yeah, they're in 12th. They're. There's only two teams worse than Them one of whom they play this next weekend, Richmond Kickers but you know they're like eight points out with two games. Like I don't know why they're not even showing them eliminated because I'm pretty sure they're actually eliminated. But it doesn't show that way in the standing so maybe to make everybody feel good. But anyway they got one more home game and then one road game and that's it. And for this season I imagine there's gonna be a pretty heavy rework up there on that kind of performance of the roster and maybe of the staff and maybe of the stadium and maybe of the. Not the brand yet it doesn't seem but still haven't heard from the owner. I'm gonna try again and track them down. [01:24:31] Speaker A: So yeah, and Atletico Dallas doing their bit to stay in the news and in front of everybody's social media feeds as they paid Carly Lloyd to come down and do a little public speaking and go drill sergeant on some eight year old girls. [01:24:46] Speaker C: Somebody did. I mean it was. They were somehow associated with this clinic but there was only like a clinic for a couple of either like a particular camp or a couple of teams. It wasn't like a wide. There weren't like a thousand kids out there. There were only like 20 or 30 or whatever but you know, whatever. They put it on their social medias and celebrated wear the shirt and, and yeah, she's there with a jersey holding it up and they did some, you know, shaking hands and whatever. So they're doing their bit I the fact that nobody heard about it until after it already happened was kind of a whatever. But they may have the whole pair point may have not been a, a general open public call for Carly Lloyd since it seemed to be a particular training group that they are working with apparently or something so. But anyway they're doing their bit keeping their nose in, you know, keeping learning themselves in the news a little while they try and put this thing together. [01:25:29] Speaker A: Okay, very good. Well I think if I'm looking correctly so I don't miss anything again I'm running down the famous red crayon round sheet sheet and I think I have read everything on there while you do that. [01:25:41] Speaker C: I mentioned Diego Garcia and the U20. Liam Verostek is a youth FC Dallas youth player. He's got a USU17 call up so camp good for him. Okay. [01:25:51] Speaker A: Nolan has scored a bunch of goals for the U20s in the world Cup. [01:25:55] Speaker C: Yeah, they won their group. I think he didn't play game three. [01:25:57] Speaker A: He didn't no. They sat a bunch of players. [01:26:01] Speaker C: Anyway, you know. [01:26:02] Speaker A: Yeah. And they have Italy next. [01:26:04] Speaker C: They do, yeah. France got through. I think three teams from the group got through because the other team was so bad. But Nolan's playing really well, so keep an eye out and cheer for him. [01:26:15] Speaker A: Interesting. All right, well, very good. I think that's all I got, boys. Dan, you got anything else you want to chit chat about? You look like you have something. [01:26:24] Speaker B: Oh, I don't know if you notice this. They've started putting something up on the other side of the stadium now. [01:26:30] Speaker C: Over. [01:26:31] Speaker A: I did see this. [01:26:32] Speaker B: It's. It seems like forever. It's just been. There's a pile of dirt and it moves a few feet and then it moves back and then it moves back again and then someone's hiding in it. Potentially. Yeah, there's. [01:26:46] Speaker A: I'm curious because I was of the impression that part of the demolition was that they were actually going to break out all of the concrete where the seats are and take all the seats out and rebuild that entire lower bowl section. And I. They're going to have to do something on the west side, bud, because you've even. You pointed out it's essentially sliding off into. Onto the field. [01:27:10] Speaker C: Yeah, well, the west side. The whole structure has to come down. The whole big, huge structure. And the seats are sliding, so they have to do that. But that's. I don't think that's happening on the other side. As far as I know, the other side is not being touched. The seats aren't so. [01:27:24] Speaker A: Well, they're going to take those seats out. [01:27:25] Speaker C: The seats are changing, but the structure of the seats I don't believe was changed. But Dan's right. There's something there. It's. In terms of going up, but I like a metal. [01:27:33] Speaker A: It's like a framework for a building, I guess. [01:27:35] Speaker C: Right. But remember, the flip is middle of next year, so. [01:27:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:27:39] Speaker C: That's nine months from now. Nine months from now. Is that flip happening? [01:27:43] Speaker A: Well, the month. The flip is supposed to happen in August. [01:27:48] Speaker C: Okay. So that's closer to a year from now then. Actually. [01:27:51] Speaker A: I still say that. Man, that's so. That is. [01:27:53] Speaker C: That's ten months from now. [01:27:54] Speaker A: That's an incredibly, incredibly fast build to be able to flip everybody over that side. It's supposed to be done. [01:28:01] Speaker C: We just. From our eyeballs, we can tell there was some delays from when the original knocking down was supposed to start happening to when it actually did happen. Like no one's letting out a secret there. You can look at it and see it like it didn't happen when it was supposed to happen. So. [01:28:16] Speaker A: Well, it definitely delay and that's a delay after the original delay of having to swap out construction companies. [01:28:22] Speaker C: Right. So like there have been some delays. So it's definitely not going to happen on the original schedule. So like will it be ready for the July, August flip around is probably like it won't shock me if they play all next year on the same side that they're on now. [01:28:36] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. I just. The more I watch what's going on the more questions I have about what this end resulting structure is because they haven't. They took out kind of the middle section where the gate was and maybe the two buildings immediately on the other side of the gate. But they've left a bunch of those concession stands that lead down to the pro shop and whatever that foul odor is coming from is over on the north side. And then the same thing going from the south, you know, from the going back towards soccer 90 and everything. I thought all that was going away too and I guess now it's not or it never was. [01:29:15] Speaker C: I don't think the northern structures or the side the southern structures were going away. It's just the middle part and the part and like to build on top of that. And there was some stuff that was supposed to happen on the north between like where the soccer shop and like that north side was supposed to be there. I don't know if any of that's changed. If they lose the fixing of the elevators and leave that stink in there. That will be an absolute disgrace. That think is so bad they have got to get that fixed while they have the stadium torn down. It's so. So I mean obviously things. There's been some adaptations. We're not privy to the adaptations. I mean maybe somebody. Somebody will tell us. [01:29:53] Speaker A: Adaptations? What do you mean? [01:29:54] Speaker C: So the plan like what they were doing. [01:29:56] Speaker A: Oh changes modifications to the original adaptations means. I didn't. Okay. I've never heard it referred to that. [01:30:03] Speaker B: So if you actually look at the renderings I've got like the. The two. The northwest northeast corner structures. They. They are there. The north west being the like the. The actual front office. The northeast is the HRS over there where they kind of broke it down to is like the operations and security that end of it. So yeah. I mean they may just be looking. Looking at it. They're going to build off the end of both of them and kind of sweep around for that new expanded footprint. [01:30:41] Speaker A: Well if there's going to be a big Thing in the middle. That is going to be the suites and everything. I'm just curious how this roof line is going to sustain when the buildings on either side of it are only one story tall. Like, I'm just like. I can't in my mind figure out how this thing's going to be built. But you know, it'll get done eventually. Hopefully I'm still alive. [01:31:02] Speaker B: I don't know if you remember on the original rendering they showed there is a view. That is a view. Sorry. It's a view from the south west corner to the northeast. And there's a straight roof and a curved roof and there's just like a big corner opening. So that's. That's right over the. The HR office. [01:31:24] Speaker A: Yes. Well, we'll just remind. This is a friendly reminder to all the curious that we told you when they showed drawings on day one, whatever we saw then is not what we're going to end up getting at whatever future date it's actually completed. [01:31:38] Speaker C: Nope. [01:31:39] Speaker A: Just everybody know that up front. [01:31:40] Speaker C: Okay. [01:31:41] Speaker A: Remember that. Set your expectations accordingly. Thank you for the mention, Dan. Yes. There's actual construction going on, not just deconstruction. Buzz, you got anything else you want to throw in? [01:31:52] Speaker C: No, I got my one little bit in the Rustic. [01:31:55] Speaker B: Did I really notice that? So the supporters groups had a Matt Hedges tifo. It was the one from when he broke the appearance record. [01:32:04] Speaker A: What happened to that thing? [01:32:06] Speaker B: The staff walked around to the other side, tried to put it up on the top, weirdly, in the smallest section possible where the band, the two banners they had were way too big, but it kept sliding down. Matt slowly melted through the game. And at one point it was hot. The red that was showing was the exact same profile as the mound of dirt that seems to move back and forth every game. [01:32:27] Speaker A: Yes, we did notice that. Matt Buzz and I actually wondered what was going on with Matt's face after they had put it up there. [01:32:33] Speaker B: You know that. That cart he got in that New York City game that time, it just got way worse and melted him apparently. [01:32:39] Speaker A: Ah, I see. [01:32:40] Speaker C: It'll be interesting if it. If this does turn out to have been Paxton's curtain call that we got the Hedges retirement. Paxton curtain call in the same game. We were there for that. That's pretty. Yeah. Fortuitous. Yeah. [01:32:48] Speaker B: And Edwin's first return. [01:32:50] Speaker C: And Evans. Yeah. Yeah. [01:32:52] Speaker A: That's the first time Edwin's played in Dallas since he went to la. [01:32:56] Speaker B: I think so. [01:32:57] Speaker C: I don't know that for sure. I don't. [01:32:59] Speaker A: No. I think he's Been. I think he's played in Dallas. [01:33:01] Speaker C: Well, he was pretty good. Like, you know, I. I joked about how he's the fulcrum of the team and that surprised me, but I thought he played pretty well. [01:33:08] Speaker B: 93 touches. The most anyone on Dallas had was 50. [01:33:12] Speaker C: Yeah, I thought he had a really good game. And Johnny Football looked pretty good too. So congrats to Johnny Nelson for still took a shot. Yeah, he looks pretty good. I mean, he took a giant Nelson shot, but still he looked pretty solid as a defender. [01:33:24] Speaker A: Now you've pissed off Johnny Nelson's dad. [01:33:26] Speaker C: I love Johnny Nelson, man. Don't get off. Get out of here. I interviewed him once when he was in the early days. He was great kid. [01:33:33] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, I'm wrong. [01:33:34] Speaker C: He. [01:33:35] Speaker B: Edwin played in the game last year when they. [01:33:37] Speaker A: Yeah, that's what I thought. Yeah. [01:33:41] Speaker C: No, I'm really, really excited for how his career has gone. I mean, I know that LA is not good right now, but he was big part of the run last year and I think he's just turned into a great six, so. [01:33:48] Speaker B: Oh, he definitely seems a big stand standing around that lot by that locker room. It seems like he is definitely a big personality in that team, which is. Is crazy when you think of the stature of LA Galaxy and American soccer. [01:34:01] Speaker C: And he was very quiet when he was here. He was a quiet kid, very reserved. [01:34:04] Speaker B: Yeah, he's still quiet. [01:34:09] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [01:34:10] Speaker B: No, like, you know, I said it was good to see. Good see or back and, you know, very quiet. Like, yeah, it was good to be back, but at the same time, you've got people like Eddie. [01:34:20] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:34:20] Speaker B: I was like, okay, he's Mr. Popular. [01:34:23] Speaker A: Well, if we hadn't already gone on and prattled about for an hour and a half, I would love to talk about Landon Donovan's new hairpiece, because I'm fascinated by that. [01:34:31] Speaker C: Because you're going to get in on that. [01:34:33] Speaker A: No, I have zero interest in having anything to do. I mean, my hair situation is not that much better than Landon's, but, you know, I think one of the good things about 2025 compared to the 80s and 90s is, is that you can be open and transparent and share with the world your hair follicle challenges and the length she'll go to to correct it. Yeah, Landon Donovan is doing that, man. So, you know, I told my wife that Landon was on Instagram telling everybody he was getting a hairpiece, and the look on her face was one of horror. And then I showed her the photo of the end result and her reaction was hey, wait a second. That's not that bad. He actually looks really. He looks like 20 years younger with that thing on his head. [01:35:18] Speaker C: It's not like Landon was a bad looking dude. He's a good looking dude when he's bald too. You know, it's just. But you know, make do it McShappy. If you don't hair. [01:35:25] Speaker B: Totally unrelated note, if hims Neutrophil Hair Club for men. The Turkish doctor who did Wayne Rooney's hair plugs. You know, if any of them want to sponsor the podcast like we are. [01:35:35] Speaker A: Here, we'll totally take it. [01:35:37] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [01:35:38] Speaker A: Excellent. [01:35:39] Speaker C: Peter will even do the thing. [01:35:40] Speaker A: No, I would just let. No, just. We'll take cash. I don't need in trade. I don't need hair trade. I'd like cash, please. Cold hard moolah. For sure. [01:35:49] Speaker C: 3Rd Degree the podcast is brought to you by our fantastic and loyal listeners. Just like you. If you like our coverage here on 3rd Degree the podcast on 3rd Degree.net on social media. We got all the pro teams in the metrics covered just for you. Why not join us patreon.com third degree all right boys. [01:36:06] Speaker A: Thank you very much everybody. Keep your fingers crossed. It is squeaky bum time as Dallas goes in for the run in for the playoffs. And that'll do it for this particular episode. Thank you Dallas Fort Worth. Curious soccer types you. We will speak to you next week on another episode of Third Degree, the podcast Third Degree the Third Degree podcast. Third Degree the Third Degree Third Degree the Third Degree Never guess. Third Degree the Third Degree. Sam.