3rd Degree the Podcast #343

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Third Degree the Third Degree NEP Podcast. Third Degree the Third Degree Nap Podcast. Third Degree the Third Degree Nap Podcast. Third Degree the Third Degree Nerd Podcast. [00:00:26] Speaker B: This episode of Third Degree the podcast has been brought to you by you and people like you, the listeners of this podcast who have joined us on patreon.com third degree. If you like our work in the soccer community, why not join us patreon.com. [00:00:39] Speaker A: Third degree well, hello there, DFW soccer. Curious. Welcome to another episode, the last of 2025 of third degree the podcast. Alas, Dan is busy getting ready for his New Year's party. I assume he's got a beard to tend to, so he will not be joining us today. But that does mean that we do have your hero and my hero, editor, founder of thirddegree.net and the original soccer influencer himself, Buzz Carrick. Come in, Buzz. [00:01:11] Speaker B: Peter, you may be shocked to learn that this is the final episode of season seven of this podcast. That's ridiculous. Season 28 of third degree. [00:01:20] Speaker A: How many episodes of this have we done? [00:01:22] Speaker B: This is 343. And there's been a. There's been a couple special ones too. Like, you know, a secondary episode for. [00:01:30] Speaker A: The very special ones. [00:01:31] Speaker B: Yeah, like when we did a special one when she got fired, you know, because it was breaking news. Big deal. You know, we did the one where. [00:01:37] Speaker A: Dan ran away after school one day. We had to go find him. [00:01:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:01:41] Speaker A: Oh, wait, no, that's not. That's okay. [00:01:43] Speaker B: Different kind of special episode. [00:01:44] Speaker A: Very, very interesting. [00:01:45] Speaker B: The one where the coach touched him. No, wait, Buzz, they don't have that special episode. [00:01:55] Speaker A: Okay. Was it. [00:01:58] Speaker B: Dark? [00:01:59] Speaker A: I didn't have Buzz working dark. My bingo card on this episode. [00:02:05] Speaker B: Christmas is over, wife's out of town, times are dark. [00:02:12] Speaker A: Okay, that tickled me. Thank you very much for that. Well, we'll. I don't know how long this will go on for because it's not a lot going on other than the fact that Dallas does appear to be close to signing somebody. Tom Bogart initially announced or revealed this. I, I'm sure you've probably heard some more, but it, it looks like Dallas is going to here soon announce the signing of a 28 year old Swedish right wing back, Herman Johansson. [00:02:41] Speaker B: Yeah, this is about as official as it can be without being official in the sense that, you know, once Bogart says something's being finalized, that means it's very, very legit. I can tell you from everything we hear. You know, same sort of thing. Like, you know, I'm not reporting Anything new here when selling you that, yeah, this is about to be across the finish line. Can deals fall apart at this stage? Yeah, they can. Somebody in MLS just lost a dude that they thought they had. They even done his physical and then he bailed off to Brazil. Was that Atlanta that happened to just recently? [00:03:12] Speaker A: Was it the. The goalkeeper in Orlando? [00:03:15] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, it was the. Yes, it was Cross MLS move. Yeah, yeah, it was the Orlando Greek. They actually had done the physical and he still bailed off. [00:03:24] Speaker A: Better deal. [00:03:25] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So, you know, until the paperwork is signed and submitted to the league and the league says yes, you know, Dallas will never announce anything. But, you know, we can, we can tell you that, you know, you can believe that it's as far as long as getting to the stage where that kind of thing is happening. And so hopefully within a week, because remember, Peter Absol's camp opens in basically two weeks. It opens January 10th. So within the next week and a week and a half. [00:03:49] Speaker A: So close to starting a new season already. Good lord. Right. [00:03:52] Speaker B: Because. Yeah, because the first game is February 21st. So if you back date that six weeks, that's January 10th, 11th. So, you know, I would expect players will report right around something like the 8th, 9th, 10th, you know, and have their physicals. And within that, Monday, the 12th, give or take, you know, or the 13th, possibly. We should see guys run around training. So, you know, if you're thinking about this, this deal needs to get over the line and whatever else they're going to do, which we'll get come back to in a minute, you know, it's right around the corner. And this player in particular is a very exciting player. Lots of gold contributions for the team that won their league. Lots of goals and assists out of the wing back position. Very offensive, obviously. Prime of his career, 28. You got to love that. It tells us also that, you know what? We already knew that Shock Moore basically is a center back because this guy is going to be playing wing back. And you also still have Giovanni and Enzo Newman over there, both of which have different kinds of injury situations. So, you know, you're gonna, you're assuming this dude's gonna walk in and start and play basically all the time, which make you wonder a little bit about those other two guys, where they're gonna play or if they'll both be here, Giovanni and Newman. So it's an interesting signing. It was not a signing I was expecting wing back, but the guy looks great on paper, so I, I like it in that essence, you know, once they decide to stick with the back three, the three five. Two, you know, okay, how are you gonna rebuild the team and play good defense? And the idea. And basically this guy confirms that Shackmore is in the middle. [00:05:25] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think there are a couple things to think about. One, I'm. I'm always a little bit cautious when I see a Scandinavian kind of coming to play in Texas. I just, you know, for all the obvious reasons but you know, some guys acclimate to that really well and easily and they prefer it and that's why they move here is because they want to play in the heat. So I guess we'll find that out. I, I think the thing that concerns me the most because I'm not a fan. Well, let me say this. It's not that I'm not a fan of the, of a back three. I'm concerned that if they decide to stick to the back three, it's because they have agreed to stick with the players they already have on hand versus doing the thing that we want them to do, which is go out and find another urge a equitable center back to, you know, play alongside him in A two. So when I see them getting a right wing back, I agree. Buzz. I think that means they're going to convert more to a center back full time and you're going to have him or a Gede and Ibiaga or Lawless Abubakar again. And I just, man, I don't. That doesn't feel good to. I mean we're so far off and I mean a lot of other things can happen but if that's essentially what they're thinking about for a starting back three that. That doesn't feel great. I don't. At least not even on paper. [00:06:44] Speaker B: Well, obviously Ergidi is one of those people and we assume Shaq Moore will be the right center back, you know, and you. And. And we're also assuming that Ibiaga and Law Sububakar are going to be backups because the only pure left back is. Is Nolan Norris and he looked great at the end of the season playing left center back. Now that was just one game. Shagmore looked great at center back for like 10 games at least. But both of those things are fragile. Yeah, both of those are ifs. They're like, they're betting a lot that those two guys are going to come good. But also consider that we, we. We did the stats on this towards the end of the season, you know, once they changed formations and got Shaq Moore back in there as one of the center backs, they went from a horrible goes against. It was, it was on pace to be one of the worst in league history to one of the best in MLS in FC Dallas history. If it, if you extra extrapolated over a whole season. So like if they can maintain that, whatever it was last 10, 12 games that they played the back three, if they can play defense just like that again, their defense is going to be phenomenal. Now you're betting a lot on Nolan Norris and if he fails, and I don't think he will, I have a lot of faith in the kid. But if he fails, then you're looking at more like Shaq. When we're at less center back, you might be looking at Ibiaga playing. But remember Giovanni Jesus also played some center back before he came to SC Dallas. He's, he can play, he can play like that right center back kind of position. So obviously when they go into camp, camp competition is going to determine who's going to play. Of all those people, Alvaro could get in the mix. I mean the only one we know. We feel like it's 100% lock is your idea, you know, is it, is it a dead solid amazing choice. It's not the choice I would have made. They're rolling the dice here because they're rolling the dice on Shaq Moore and Nolan that those guys are going to be good center backs. I'm with you. I would have preferred the back four with a New Yorkiday to play alongside your gide but we're not getting that. So I'm getting a slightly riskier version which is to stick with the 3, 5, 2. But quill is convinced so you know, it's his gig and he's gonna, he's betting his future basically because you know if they crash and burn and miss the playoffs, he's going to get canned. [00:08:44] Speaker A: Right. [00:08:44] Speaker B: They just barely made the playoffs this last time and that's the minimum. So if he doesn't make it. So he's betting his future that this is the way to go. [00:08:50] Speaker A: Yeah, I guess I'm curious and I don't know if we'll ever know this. Answer is how does the club find itself picking up a 28 year old Swedish right back? Is that something where Zenata and his team scouted him out and said we're giving you this guy, make him fit. Or is this where Quill was like get me a right back, a right wing back and they went out and that, you know, that whole conversation, how did this come to be? Is because we've been very concerned that the roster roster construction for a while now has been guys in an office making decisions and just passing off whatever the results are to the coach and say make the best of it. [00:09:31] Speaker B: Yeah, since, since sort of the mid, the summer window last time. You can, you can sort of for me point at moves and, and think about them as like, oh, that's one Quill wanted versus one that's sort of an organizational just sort of players in a pile move like Cap is clearly is a Quill. Like you're getting me Capis. Right. Whereas we look at Deedson and now you think how does that guy even fit into this team? And we hear about how the club is was after him for a couple of years before Quill even got here. So clearly that's sort of a more of an organizational sort of scout. So this guy, when you look at him as Johansson, you look at him, you think, well if Quill says I'm playing a back three and Shock Moore is going to be a center back, I'm sure Quill said I need a right wing back and I want one that's really offensive so that this feels more like a guy that's got, that's been gotten just to fit the system where the young Israeli U22 guy sure feels like a dude that maybe the organizational scouted and just sort of just throw it in the pile. Like how does that guy fit in if Paxton's supposed to be the answer? You know, if you got Ramiro and you got Kaik, what in the world do you get that that player for? So you can sort of feel to me a difference in those kind of signings. I think. [00:10:36] Speaker A: No, that makes sense. That, that makes, makes a ton of sense. Now I will also say on the upside that this Johansson character does have some time in his career spent at right mid. So it's not like he's exclusively a wing back. I, I believe the manager prior to the one that, that he has now was not playing a system with three in the back. And Johansson played both right mid and some center mid at that time. So it' Quill decides he's not going to play three in the back. This guy can do some other things too and, and show some qualities again, very much tbd. You and I have been thinking we've, we've. You and I have that the same mantra every year, which is you really can't judge a player until you actually see them. [00:11:20] Speaker B: No. [00:11:21] Speaker A: In training or in Texas, in the heat, in the state, you know, doing all that. You just don't know what you're going to get and, you know, we'll see. It is an interesting one though, because the. Both positionally and where he's coming from, he's in the right age group. It's crazy to me that they pick this guy up for like one point something million dollars in a transfer fee. And then you compare and contrast that with some of the money they've spent on other players over the last few years. Yeah, I mean, think about Kaik. Well, the, the money for Kaik or the money they spent on Ennisali, or the money they spent on, you know, some of these other guys that you. I don't know, it just. It's wild to me how all that stuff comes together. [00:12:06] Speaker B: Well, based on the reports, he's going to be about the same money as Anasali. But remember that they have this European scout now who's is. We don't know whether he was involved in boost of Soli or this guy, but I would assume that he is on some level. But you're right, this does have some of the versatility they like. And Quill did say in the press conference, well, that 352 is going to be the default or the base. There will be games where he'll change just to catch people off guard or if it fits the other team. So don't be surprised if all of a sudden it's a back four at some point and this Johansson dude's playing right back or it's a 4, 42 and he's playing a right mid or he's a right wing. Like, you know, a player that's as talented as this guy appears to be will be one of the first names that's going to go on the sheet. And then you work other pieces around him. You know, you fit in Romero where you need to, in the, in the gaps, you know, and this guy, you'll be one of the first dudes you'll put in there. And that's really why it's sort of an exciting player on paper. You know, again, we need to see him in person. But this move feels good in the sense that like so many moves they do are just like, here's a guy, throw him on the pile. Whereas this one clearly is like, it's for the system, it's for the coaches, for the fit. And this is the kind of signing I like, is the one that fits the coach and fits the system. [00:13:21] Speaker A: I. I do wonder also because subsequent to Bogart announcing this about a week Later, I think a couple of days ago, we to see the rumor that caught me off guard, which is there's a chance that Ramiro may end up getting sold back to a club in Brazil. [00:13:37] Speaker B: Yeah, Ciro, I believe it is. Yeah. Basically, this is a situation where they're selling a player. If I read the reports right, this is not my reporting that that team is trying to sell a player. And if they sell him, they're like, crap, we need a body. And they're like, wait, Ramiro's around, Go get him. You know, and they remember him fondly for like being a guy who's really smart, really intelligent. You can plug him in and he'll be fine. He's not going to be elite, but he'll be fine. You know, that's the kind of thing. Situation and it reminds me for people that are like, no, no, no, Quill loves this guy. Quill loves Romero. They won't get to want to keep him. Sure, they love Thiago Santos too. And then like two weeks before the season, they got a million dollar offer, Tiago Santos, and they sold him like that. And they, then they met a layout of Lucci two weeks before the season without a six. You remember this? Oh, and they went into the season and then like late in the preseason or even in the season. Well, it's. They. They went and got Keon. They. They went and got Keon. Yeah, yeah. So like with, you know, but this feels like that, like Thiago Santos was a respected veteran player that some club. I was like, crap, we need a six. Same thing. Crap, we need a six. Here's a million dollars for, for Ramiro. [00:14:50] Speaker A: Great. [00:14:51] Speaker B: Give us a million bucks that'll pay for the Swede we just bought. Because, you know, think about it this way. Like, if you're penciling in a 3, 5, 2, and you're adding these pieces, is Romero a lock starter? No, because you're thinking Pamical. They're thinking Pam starting right or Kaik is starting like. So like Ramiro is a, a guy that could play many. He's a great insurance to have, great locker room, great leader. You know, you love everything about him in terms of like, I can stick him in like eight different places and he can do okay, you know, but is he, is he a necessary piece anymore? No, he's getting paid. He came here on a free and he's getting paid like 250. [00:15:28] Speaker A: Well, as much as much as he played out on the right late in the season, it just made me wonder maybe the Johansson signing Isn't as unusual as we like knowing these two things together. Oh, Romero's leaving now we've got one less guy to play out on the right. We need somebody to do that full time, especially if we're moving Shaq more. You start thinking about these individual pieces of news and gluing them together, and it all starts to build a much more. [00:15:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:55] Speaker A: Complete and. And total picture. So the other thing that we found out is that they are going back to Spain for preseason. [00:16:01] Speaker B: Yeah. Marbella or whatever it's called, where they went last year. I think they really like that. Obviously they found Alvaro, the center back that they have there and the thing. But I think they just like the isolated environment. So they're doing that again. And the only reason we know that is that Maribella put out a graphic that has the logos of all the teams coming and there's like five MLS teams on there, including SC Dallas. There's no dates confirmed. And by the way, we should add on Romero. It's not like there's a Bogart level news break of they're selling him. This is more of a talking kind of points of like, they're trying to sell this guy. And if they do, Romero might be the emergency sort of go get that dude. [00:16:38] Speaker A: Plus you're having to Google Translate Portuguese. [00:16:41] Speaker B: Yeah. It's. Yeah. [00:16:42] Speaker A: Brazilian sports journalism. [00:16:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:45] Speaker A: So we don't really know, but it does make sense. [00:16:48] Speaker B: The account. I checked the account to see how many followers they had, and it was robust enough that I was like, oh, that's fun. We'll retweet that and talk about it. All right. It's a good talking point. I mean, as you said, it makes sense where, like, he's not an ideal right wing back. He was filling in out there. You know, they tried other people and it didn't work. So, like, if you're gonna go get one and think about. I also correlate this back to Zenata going into that press conference and raving about the health of Giovanni. Maybe he wasn't talking to us. Maybe he was talking to people that are out there wondering what happened to Giovanni and can we buy him? You know, so we'll see what all happens with the. With the rest. With the two weeks till the season preseason starts, which is amazing. It's like two weeks away, dude. Can you believe it? [00:17:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I know. [00:17:27] Speaker B: That's fast. And we still don't have all the players we think in. Well, for sure we don't have the right wing back end. No. [00:17:33] Speaker A: And we also know history Tells us that, you know, they'll add players to the very last minute. I mean, the Lucho deal came together not very long before the season started last year. [00:17:43] Speaker B: Yeah, that's the one. That's the one position left. That's the one. You know, gigantic, massive chess pieces, the 10. And those are hard to do, you know, and the chatter is something's in process. But I don't, I don't have a name. I've tried to get it. I don't have it. It's not leaked. I'm surprised it hasn't leaked. I mean, I figured Boger would have it by now. That dude gets all the New York news. [00:18:04] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, will Dallas start the season with one dp? [00:18:12] Speaker B: That's a good question. I mean, it depends on how much they want to bother flip flopping around. I mean, you could start this season with somebody filling that DB hole. But you know what I mean by dp? [00:18:24] Speaker A: Quality player. I mean, sure, there's guys on the roster that they could convert to dp, but that's not the same thing. [00:18:33] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:18:34] Speaker A: Versus bringing in somebody who is pedigree or game or both, that's worth paying DP money for. [00:18:42] Speaker B: Well, I, I've heard very specifically that it's a singular person that they're trying to get across the line, that it's not like, oh, they're out looking for a 10. It's the kind of thing where people are like, oh, wait till you hear about the 10 they're getting, you know, from somebody who knows that wouldn't tell me. So, you know, I, I'm pretty sure it's in the works. I, I can't go as far to tell anybody how far along it is. You know, I think they're probably somewhat satisfied to open camp with Patrick Sin Delgado as that 10. You can of course always stick a, stick a, a Paxton in there. You know, there are other bodies you could cram into that 10 spot in A, in A. The 352. I don't think it would work. You know, you, you know Peter as well as anybody how huge that position is in the 3, 5, 2, because your wing backs are going to be giving you your width and they're not really going to be playmakers, which, but, but that is part of why they went, are going out and getting an offensive minded playmaker. But Bernie on the other side, production is not great out of him, you know, and the other option other than Bernie is like a Josh torcata who's now 18 instead of 17. But you know, so like a fulcrum 10, like. And so even if you're Matt D and you just absolutely love Delgado, I don't know that you would think, oh, that's the guy that's ready to be the fulcrum playmaker 10 is going to dial up 15 to 20 assists. You know, it's not. [00:19:55] Speaker A: Look, I love Matt Doyle, I love me some Matt Doyle, but I also respect and understand that he's trying to pay attention to 30 different clubs at the same time. And his Patrick Sin Delgado experience is pretty much limited to highlights. [00:20:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:09] Speaker A: Not the fine collection of mid tier and low lights that the rest of us get an eyeful of game in and game out. [00:20:17] Speaker B: Well, in the end of the day you want a guy, you know, with that passing assist creating profile, you know, you want your Maro Diaz, your, your Lucho Acosta. [00:20:28] Speaker A: Right. Well, I think that's the, that's the problem is that the Packerson Delgado highlight package is largely comprised of him hitting a bunch of bangers. [00:20:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:38] Speaker A: As a kid, not the, not the Morrow Diaz, Lucha Acosta kind of passing the ball combination style wizardry that we've seen out of that and need out of that position. I mean, it's not that Delgado is a terrible passer, but he certainly isn't the quality of those cats. [00:20:56] Speaker B: He's more that charging forward eight kind of guy than he is like the pure string pulling 10 and that shape needs the pure 10. You need the guy to, to be dicing up the defense with when you're going to have Logan Farrington and Petter Moussa in front of you. [00:21:08] Speaker A: Yeah. If they get to the end of the window and they haven't signed a true DP10 and we're. And it's the Patricson Delgado experience for 2026, I think we're all going to be pretty disappointed. [00:21:20] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think they can still make the playoffs that way because all the other pieces will be pretty solid, you know, but you know, that's basically what they did last year. It's like you, you added a wing back, but the defense is going to be the same as last year. The offense is going to be the same as last year. Patterson, Delgado in there with Capus and Ramiro Kaik is what they did last year and they made the playoffs. So, you know, it's not likely to be crazy. Worse. I'm not going to say that they're sitting pat and getting passed because the addition of this wing back I think is a legit ad and you know, Cap is coming in mid at point of last season. He should even take a step forward, one would hope, as he's now six months into the league, you know, so I, I'm not, I'm not too discouraged about what they're doing. The biggest piece is left. You know, the queen in your chess game is missing. You know, if you get that piece, it's gonna be really exciting. I mean, I. I'll go as far to say, you know, top four in the West. If you can get that playmaking 10, man, that's everything. I know you don't agree with me, but I think the defense is all there. [00:22:17] Speaker A: I. Yeah, I don't know. I. I mean, yeah. So you're telling me the starting back three next year is Shaq on the right, Uruguay Day in the middle, and Nolan Norris on the left. [00:22:29] Speaker B: That's what they finished the back of the last season with. Or with the alternative, which was more on the left and then like Abubakar on the right. And that's what they finished the season with and had would have been in the top three in the league and goals allowed, they would have been right there with LA and Seattle and San Diego. [00:22:49] Speaker A: I feel like there's some intangibles tied to who they played and the point of the seat, but. Well, okay. All right. Well, let me put it this way. I feel better about that three than more Ibiaga and Uragide or Abubakar irrigate and, you know, whatever. [00:23:07] Speaker B: Right. [00:23:08] Speaker A: Okay. [00:23:08] Speaker B: All right. All right. Yeah. I mean, we're looking at a season where Iaga and a Bubakar combined get maybe 10 starts. [00:23:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:17] Speaker B: You know, filling in on a cooperate injury. I'm okay with that, you know. All right. [00:23:21] Speaker A: The other thing that happened this week was more of this weird rumor mongering around Martin Paz getting bought or being sold to a Indonesian club. [00:23:32] Speaker B: Right. [00:23:33] Speaker A: And then weirdly, he posted a photo of him telling everybody. Oh, don't, you know, lots of room. You know, whatever he said, he was essentially said, hey, I don't know. None of this stuff is true. But what was weirder was it was a photo of him standing outside a Muay Thai boxing ring getting his hands wrapped. Get ready to throw down some martial arts. [00:24:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:00] Speaker A: In. Over in Indonesia, it looks like. [00:24:03] Speaker B: Well, I probably figure that's kind of like the way offensive linemen do that, you know, to work on their hand technique and strong. Yeah. Mentality. [00:24:11] Speaker A: Maybe he wants to pick a fight against for the job. [00:24:15] Speaker B: I can. I can't wait to hear about a Clody paws dust up in training. That'll be awesome. [00:24:20] Speaker A: Colony's going to show up one day with a DJ Black eye. DJ Countess Black Eye. [00:24:27] Speaker B: I mean, you know, if. If you're keeping both guys, man, there's nothing wrong with having that be a wide open position and having it be a week by week challenge. I mean, some guys respond better to that kind of environment. Maybe Pause is a guy that needs to feel challenged, you know, because ever since he started getting Indonesia call ups, he's. To me, it's not been as good and. And Cody played great last year. I'm okay if it's Clodi the whole way. I also think it's great if Paz is here and fighting for a job. You know, my general philosophy is when you have a player that's has a really good value as a backup, that you should try to maximize that asset and move him somewhere and get something in return for him. But if their philosophy is if Quill's. Quill's definitely a guy who likes to keep the open battle going and if they want to keep Pause, who's got a decent contract while colonies dirt cheap, you know, great, that's cool. Go to war. See what happens. [00:25:18] Speaker A: All right, well, cocktails and cleats or whatever they call that party. When is that officially? Because that. Because I think the. I'm gonna bring something else up tied to this. That's why I'm asking. Do you know what it is? [00:25:30] Speaker B: I don't know what it is because. [00:25:31] Speaker A: I can't remember if we mentioned it last week or two weeks ago. [00:25:35] Speaker B: I mean, usually it's like a couple weeks for the season because they. They introduce the team to the fans. Go, here's the team. So it's after cut downs usually, you know, so it's. [00:25:42] Speaker A: Well, with the season starting so early, it just made me wonder because they're obviously. That's the date they off. They reveal the new jersey. [00:25:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:50] Speaker A: And I'm assuming it won't leak before then. And the reason why I bring that up is I'm just going to bust into kit talk here real quick. Sorry, Dan, that you're not here for this footy Headlines threw out an article the other day that I think had nine of the different MLS new shirts for this year of the teams getting new shirts, whether it be a home or away. [00:26:12] Speaker B: Okay. [00:26:13] Speaker A: And I'm all kinds of pissed that was that. Well, because essentially the design we've been hoping for and hoping that Dallas was going to get for this season is now inhabited by the Colorway of one Real Salt Lake. Have you not seen that yet? [00:26:33] Speaker B: I have. It's very thick and chunky. [00:26:35] Speaker A: Well, that's the design we're kind of hoping for. [00:26:38] Speaker B: Well, I was hoping for more. A little more hoopy and little less like big gigantic waves like that. But this is just too. [00:26:45] Speaker A: This is like the classic. That real Salt Lake design looks almost identical to Dan's design that we came up. Or he, you, you and he came up with a couple of years ago is this is our dream kit. [00:26:59] Speaker B: Yeah. February 12th, by the way, is the date. Yeah. I guess what I would say is that the only difference between RSL and FC Dallas kits is that RSL has yellow trim and Dallas has white trim. That's it. [00:27:12] Speaker A: Well, and. And the, and their red is more. [00:27:15] Speaker B: Of a maroon versus a red slightly. But the thing is, is that the teams all make their kits in a vacuum independent from each other. They don't, they don't communicate. So, like, you can have teams come up with basically the same kit like that. [00:27:29] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm telling you, there's zero way Adidas league is ever going to have two teams with essentially the same home kit like that. [00:27:37] Speaker B: Well, they let them do it all time. Who? The league. I mean, you basically get solid white and solid black kits all over the place. [00:27:44] Speaker A: That's different than a, than an identifiable design. Like hoops. [00:27:51] Speaker B: Maybe. I don't know. Maybe. We'll see. [00:27:55] Speaker A: I mean, I'm not saying Dallas won't end up with some sort of hoopy design this year. I just don't think it'll be a straightforward, simplistic, traditionally hoop design if, if real Salt Lake is already getting that. What I'm worried this indicates to me is that if Dallas is reverting to some sort of hoopy design for next year for their home kit, it's going to have some sort of stylization to it. Like it'll be paint swoops or, you know, paint swipes in the form of hoops or some sort of gradient or vibey thing that we've seen before. [00:28:30] Speaker B: So two questions. Would it bother you if it was very, very similar to Salt Lakes? And two is like, would it bother you if it had some sort of gradient? Would you. Would you be happy enough to get red and blue hoops that you wouldn't mind some styles? [00:28:44] Speaker A: If it was the correct color, red and blue with the white trim and it looked almost identical to Salt Lakes, I would be over the moon excited about it. I would just be pissed that they also let Salt Lake do The same thing. [00:28:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:57] Speaker A: Because Salt Lake has no hoops in their tradition whatsoever. Salt Lake, historically, if they've ever done anything, has been stripes, not hoops. [00:29:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:06] Speaker A: So that's the weird twist in this, is that they are letting Salt Lake do something. So I would much rather it be a more traditional, straightforward hoop design for Dallas and have it be similar to another team shirt than have it be some sort of weirdo, stylized vibe version of hoops, if that makes any sense. [00:29:25] Speaker B: Yeah, that's totally fair. I'm with you. It would annoy me if it was exactly the same as ourselves, except for, of course, the trim. [00:29:32] Speaker A: Right. And if RSL pairs that with the same color blue shorts and Dallas gets their version, but they wear it with white shorts. Right. Super excited. I would be. [00:29:44] Speaker B: I would be wildly. Dallas have wear white shorts. [00:29:50] Speaker A: I know, I know. [00:29:51] Speaker B: I. I agree with you 100% that they look way better in the white kits, but white shorts. Excuse me, but, you know, the league sort of doesn't like that, and FC Dallas sort of doesn't like that, apparently, because they keep choosing red or mostly blue these days shorts, you know, leaving you sort of in a solid, dark, fudgy mess. I mean, that's the main reason why I don't like it for FC announcement particular, because the dark blue and dark red, it's not. It's not like a deep burgundy red, but it's a darkish red. Most of the time you end up with sort of a muddled dark thing. And, you know, you don't get that. That's why the white trim is so important and why, to me, white shorts would make it really, really good, because it would. It would make everything sort of pop off, and that would be really exciting. [00:30:38] Speaker A: Well, it does mean that we're probably six weeks away from getting the new kit revealed, which means Dan's got a lot of work to do and fast. [00:30:50] Speaker B: He can get. He probably already has it done. We just got to beat him and. [00:30:53] Speaker A: We got to post it. [00:30:54] Speaker B: Usually want to see a few leaks or like a little noise or a little hint so you can kind of lock it in. But we just found out with the. The kit model is. And that really does a lot in terms of firming up what we think it's going to look like. [00:31:05] Speaker A: So the return of the collar is featured predominantly in a lot of these shirts, by the way. [00:31:13] Speaker B: Oh, is it? Oh, yeah, yeah. [00:31:15] Speaker A: A lot of the collar has returned. Okay. Yeah, me too. Very good. Okay. Anything else, Football Club Dallas Burn you'd like to discuss, sir? [00:31:27] Speaker B: Just that they. They had a. They did a super draft and they came out with six players. [00:31:32] Speaker A: Did we not talk about the draft? [00:31:34] Speaker B: No, the draft was between then. [00:31:37] Speaker A: Oh, shoot. Sorry. [00:31:39] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I don't think we need to talk about it a lot because there's only a couple players that we need to worry about. The. The first three picks are the ones that, for FC Dallas people are going to care about. The last three were basically picked by John Gall. Overall. Here's a problem. Like, three of the six picks are internationals, which is not a good idea when you're already over the international limit by 2. [00:32:01] Speaker A: Does MLS Next Pro have international slot restrictions? [00:32:05] Speaker B: Yeah, they do, but it's not nearly as big a deal, you know, because it's not. It's a lot more. [00:32:10] Speaker A: Yeah, because as I was watching this play out, I kept thinking, this is not an FC Dallas draft. This is a North Texas soccer club. Hey, we got a new stadium. We need better players and season tickets to sell during. [00:32:22] Speaker B: 100. Yeah, we gotta win some games. Yeah. 100. They. They drafted veteran international guys that they played in college, but they're like 23, 24. These are not kids. In the later rounds, some talented guys, interesting guys, but they're clearly for North Texas. The. The third pick is confusing the goalkeeper. Now they needed a goalkeeper, there's no question. They got the guy that's often talked about as the best one in college or maybe the best two. Again, though international. He's German. So while you think, oh, they. They. They for sure need a third keeper because the, the Jackson's not coming back. But again, we already talked about them being. I don't mean when they say I'm over the limit. They're not. They're. They're way over the eight. They already have two extra slots and they're over that already before they drafted this kid. So I don't know how you get him in the roster. I assume that you either sign him to North Texas until you need him, or you'd sign up, sign bestie Dallas and then loan him out, I guess, or something. Anyway, it's really confusing. He's also a sophomore, so he doesn't have to show up. He could stay in school if he wanted to. You know, you only get drafted once, but he can go back as much as you want to. So it's. That's all weird. [00:33:30] Speaker A: Dallas is more enter than Miami at this point. [00:33:33] Speaker B: Yeah, they do not like domestics at all. And we'll show you as we go forward why that's true. The first two Picks too. But the keeper on paper, okay, I like it. But the German part is very confusing in terms of how you fit that in the roster. As things are right now. The first two picks, they, they traded up and they got two picks at the top of the round. Both of them are phenomenal talents, some of the best attackers in the game. The third overall pick is a big number nine from Virginia. He's from America. He's American, but he has an international. He's been a Jamaican U17, U20. So again American but also Jamaican. So they, they like these players. Likes like this, this guy is. I had a couple people message me that he's super talented, 19 years old. Everyone's real excited. He's a pure nine. The other dude, the number two overall pick for in the in the draft is again, also American, but not. He's Haitian, but he's born in the United States, but he's Haitian descent. He's a forward, he's a winger, has some really great numbers, a really exciting player. But here's the thing. What's a winger going to do in a 352? He ain't a wing back, he's a wing. He's very similar, if you will, in Bernie to profile. So are they converting him and they already have. I don't know how he's going to have how many impact. Yeah, what are they going to do with Deon, how much impacts he can have as a rookie when they don't play a formation that has a wing. And if you're a 9, you have Peter Musa and Logan version on this team. How much is he going to play as a nine? You know, because you've also got Sam Sarver kicking around. You got, you got Anderson Julio kicking around. So like the, the chances of a 19 year old and a. What's the other guy, 20 and a 20 year old cracking into like you're starting 11 this season are very slim and your game, maybe your game day roster. But even then like who are you dropping? Anderson Julio is getting paid almost a million bucks. Are you dropping Bernie? I mean like no. [00:35:27] Speaker A: The answer is exactly what we said at the beginning of this is these are all guys they are bringing in to fill out the North Texas roster who they had to essentially evacuate at the end of last season. Yeah. Don't forget next season the club, the family, the organization is opening a brand new stadium in a brand new market. Make no mistake, Mansfield is a new market and they are very excited about this. I've met enough people from Mansfield who have all unsolicited come to me and said man, I'm kind of excited about getting tickets to go to games. There's, you know, it's not like they're going to throw out a U19 FC Dallas Academy team on that thing. They got to put a team out there that's going to entertain and get people to want to buy tickets for that deal. [00:36:10] Speaker B: As we go forward, we're going to talk about how that's going to impact the pipeline. But you know, to think of to look at any of these picks and think oh that is really going to help in 2026. No, no, these picks are about North Texas in 2026 and FC Dallas in two to three years or maybe even in 2027 if they're really good when maybe you're going back to a back four someday eventually and need another nine because Moose has been sold or need a wing because Logan Farrington's gone to Europe. I mean you don't know Anderson. Julio may have moved on by then. His contract's been about to be up. So the top three picks, I like all three of them. They're all great picks. They're not great picks for today, they're great picks for at some point in the future and that's why we want to talk about them and explain that. Like don't watch camp thinking I can't wait for this new number nine to take Moose's spot. [00:36:59] Speaker A: No, no, that kid isn't going to be in a Dallas shirt unless Peter Musa makes the Croatian national team and hits a couple of worldies in the World cup and gets sold for 25 million bucks in July. [00:37:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean that's when if Musa's gone, if next season Julio's gone, if if Farrington come to offer comes. I mean who knows right? But you know, if are we talking about league cup games post World Cup Musa needs a break now we're going to leaves cup. Oh here you go. Put that kid in. You know what I mean? Like so you'll see them but like the impact is going to be slim and that's okay. Like I, I love the picks from the talent basis and like the opportunity potential going forward basis. These guys are both outstanding players that are some of the best players in the game. Herman Trophy, Seminole finals, all that crap but they ain't gonna help you in 2026. [00:37:44] Speaker A: Yeah I please I hope nobody takes any of my comments as quick critical. I think these I agree they're great picks but we also shouldn't in any Way shape or form paint these as players for Dallas's 26 season. This was, you know, this all very much has a vibe of oh, we've got an actual use for these guys and that's what the whole North Texas is here for anyway. Right. Yeah, it just happens to be. They're opening a new stadium and they need season tickets to sell. They've got season tickets to sell. [00:38:14] Speaker B: While we're talking draft, let me throw out that I did. I tweeted that Slade Starnes, who's the former academy player went to Furman then was this SME this last year signing as a homegrown senior center back. He was a first team all American Herman semifinalist center back. He has. He is signing a homegrown deal. Everything I said here from all my sources that's still on track. That's still happening. It just hasn't been announced because probably because the offices have been closed for a week and they're closed this week too. FC Dallas's front office will be basically. I'm sure the TDs in the front. There's your other center back working but the PR types that would announce the signing are not working so. And it's just a homegrown player so it's not like it's a big rush but. [00:38:53] Speaker A: Yes, but now that you said this out loud, Buzz, there's your other center back for this team. Yeah, I mean that feels like the. [00:39:00] Speaker B: What was the. [00:39:01] Speaker A: What was the Eastern European kid that used to be in the academy they that was on the roster for a couple years that we never saw play. [00:39:07] Speaker B: Oh, Matt Corcha. Yeah, it wasn't an academy but yeah. [00:39:10] Speaker A: Yeah, you get it. Same thing. Just, you know, he's an emergency player. [00:39:15] Speaker B: Alvaro's still around. You know this kid will probably. It's a homegrown deal so he'll be on the FCL's roster. He'll probably play a lot in North Texas. Maybe you'll see him come get a cup game. You know he's one for down the line too. You know remember that at the end of this next season Ibiaga and Lawson Boubacar both out of contract or on an option. So they could both be parted with both in their mid young to mid 30s at that point maybe will be 35 at that point. I'll also be 32 I think at that point. So it's perfect time to see some of those young center backs start to come through when maybe you're not a back three. That's a conversation for a year from now. [00:39:47] Speaker A: Well, there you have it. The finality of our discussion of the somewhat forgettable 2025 FC Dallas season. [00:39:56] Speaker B: Yep. [00:39:56] Speaker A: Don't let it hit you on the ass on the way out. All right, Trinity. I don't know what to make of this team. I feel bad for them because I see pictures of the turnout for these games at the Cotton Bowl Buzz and I'm. Oh, I. I don't know what the. I don't know. [00:40:15] Speaker B: It's not good. [00:40:15] Speaker A: No, I mean, is there even. I mean, is there 500 people at that last game? [00:40:21] Speaker B: Maybe, maybe. I mean, you know, at the end of last year, they were trending up and then the beginning of this season, they had like one home game and then they had a bunch of road games and a. In a big Cotton bowl break, you know, and they were losing games on the road and they've had like one or two home games at the end and the attendance has been terrible. They just lost all their momentum. I don't know how they get it back. You know, they've. They've hit the winner, right? They tied the last game, 1:1. They are in fourth place. So they are in the top half of the league. They're playing pretty well now. They got Misimo back, but they're about to lose tomorrow. Bolt back to her. Her loan ended, so she's going back to her NWSL club. That's a problem because the success of the last three or four games or so, they had shifted her to the nine so they could play very vertical. She's very pacing, plays over the top. If she's gone, that ability goes away. And now you have to go back to probably Thornton, the nine, and more of a build out kind of team. Well, as part of that, they've been using the captain, Amber Wisner, as a center back. Basically the back of the first. The back end of this first part of the season. But, you know, really you want her in the midfield. So either you need to find a center back and move her up, but even if you do, at the end of this next spring, which is, you know, half a season away, she's retiring. She said flat out, this is it, I'm done. She just got married. She wants to move on with her life. Right. So she's leaving. So whatever position it is sitting back or six or both, you better start working quick on getting a replacement because she's not gonna be around. So you know that. McCutcheon started a little rough, but has looked better in the middle of the field lately. But blot, is not doing good enough. The center back is a real problem because they're having to use amber back there instead of whatever bodies they have been sticking in there. So they got some work to do this winter. And Petrocelli is, as we talked about, is still doesn't want to coach. So I think it's entirely likely they're going to come into this spring with a new coach, too. So there's going to be lots of things afoot over there with Dallas Trinity, and I don't know what's going to come out of it. It's going to be a little bit chaotic. It might be a new coach, it might be three or four new players. You know, they try and take advantage of the NWSL season ending because young ladies will come off of contracts or deals, maybe they'll get some new loans. It's going to be interesting how they may look a little bit different spring. [00:42:37] Speaker A: I, and I understand all of the stuff that you're talking about in the micro. I'm just, I'm concerned about this in the macro because no matter how the team, whatever the players are, no matter what formation they play or style or who the coach or how many games they're winning or losing, man, if they can't get people to come out in any sort of numbers on a regular basis, you know, they got a problem. And, and, and it. And I also. And we'll talk about them here in a little bit. I have to think the Atletico Dallas guys see this and they go, man, our work is cut out for us. [00:43:13] Speaker B: Yeah, the. We'll come back to Athletico. The, the Trinity question is, I'm sure the business model is not made for 500 fans. I'm sure it's made no 3 to 5,000 fans. And I don't know, for whatever reason right now, this fall section, they're not reaching the audience. Last spring, they were reaching the audience. Is there a fall spring problem in terms of, like, what kids are doing? I don't know. I don't know the answer to that question, but it really. I'm with you, Peter. Like, the fall attendance, it's not like it fell off a little bit. It fell off like 90%. It went from three grand at its worst to 300 at its worst. You know, it's, it's not. [00:43:53] Speaker A: Well, is that, is that reflective of the fact that the team kind of got crummy for a period of time? And is. Is turnout dependent on how good the team is playing? Again, it's all about expectation setting. I Never. I never expect them to have 10,000 or 15 or 20,000 people show up, but let's say 5,000 is at the top level of what they can genuinely expect in terms of a successful turnout. If that's really dependent on them being a good team and getting, you know, and being successful on the field. [00:44:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I didn't look it up, but that break they're gone on the road was almost like two months. And I really think that did a lot to really kill their momentum. [00:44:35] Speaker A: Oh, I think it probably. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:44:37] Speaker B: It was hard to be on the forefront of the mind of their audience when they're gone all the time. It's like, I don't know when they're coming back. You know, that can't. That can't have helped because the season opener was decent attendance, but then it was like they had a couple of games, then they left, and when they came back, it was awful. And I think that had to do a lot of it, and I just think they need to. That. That problem is not going to go away. They and Athletico are both going to have that state fair problem forever. You know, that's always going to be there. You know, them not being able to have games in there. They're gonna have to negotiate some different way to do that other than just this big one, national friendly. They do. Which I don't think I will say that this time had a better attendance than last time. But it was Tigress who is a great local draw, you know. Was that who it was? It was Club America. [00:45:24] Speaker A: I can't remember. [00:45:25] Speaker B: One of the big. [00:45:25] Speaker A: Club America. [00:45:26] Speaker B: Club America. Yeah. That's not as good as Tigress is in this market, but still, obviously it's quite good. So strangely better than Barcelona, which is weird, but it just shows you how Hispanic the market is here. But that's the bottom line, is they got to figure out how to reach the audience, as you say. [00:45:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, for those who are Trinity fans listening to this, I don't. I. I'm. They're probably frustrated or disappointed that I started off with that comment. But that's the thing is somebody. You and I have been following this sport in this market for a very long time, and we're all very hopeful that this works and succeeds. We want professional women's soccer to be a thing here in Dallas. I just worry that the indicators so far is they've got a real struggle on their hand. And I. And. And I personally feel like, you know, the answers to their problems is going to come at Great expense in terms of marketing, advertising, budget and how they move forward with that stuff in getting the word out. Because you can't just rely on cool merch and social media to, to get, to make ticket sales when, especially when you're trying to get people to go down to Fair Park. And then that's a big part of this conversation, you know, Dan, I think is the one that said, you know, what solves Trinity attendance problems playing in Frisco. [00:46:38] Speaker B: Yeah, it does. Yeah. [00:46:40] Speaker A: I generally believe that if they were playing at Toyota Stadium, their, their attendance numbers would be exponentially better because I think that marketplace up there just fits this better. I think the atmosphere, the, the whole thing just fits better for it. [00:46:55] Speaker B: The, the question would be what monetarily would 10,000 at Toyota be better than 5,000 at the Cotton Bowl? [00:47:03] Speaker A: Because they've got to share revenue and stuff. Yeah, I'm just talking, I'm not talking about the revenue part of it. I'm just talking about getting people interested in attending games. If you take all the other business BS out of the. Out of the question. And where does this team succeed in terms of attracting an audience? I, you know, I, I'm just not. The Cotton Bolt just creates all sorts of weird problems at let. And clearly the, and not to. I mean, we're going to talk about them in a second, but Athletico is clearly trying to already two years in advance figure out those answers and, and, and kudos to them for doing that because I, you know, because I think their audience is different. They're clearly chasing a very different audience than what the Neil family is trying to chase with Trinity. [00:47:52] Speaker B: Yeah. You and I are old enough that we've seen a great many teams and leagues fail. What we care about most is financial health of these teams that come in to soccer. We've only seen FC Dallas succeed in terms of surviving. I don't mean succeed in terms of winning. I mean surviving. Right. We watched the death of the North American Soccer League. We watched the death of the 80s into 90s version of indoor soccer. We watched MLS come in with this crazy unique business plan that everybody ripped. And we, I talked about a million times at the time, like the business plan is the only thing that matters because you got to be able to survive. And then the USL is surviving, in my opinion, because MLS is propping up the whole thing in terms of making it function. And a lot of these leagues, and even in usl, the amount of survivable teams that are making money and lasting are not huge. And Dallas Athleticos talked about how they're the first team to try it in an MLS market and they're going into the new division. One thing we have no idea about, the viability of that. The Super League with. With Dallas Trinity is only in its second season. What's the viability of that league at all? All trying to be Division 1 when they really are the second tier. What's the viability of a women's team in the shadows of ES House in the Cotton Bowl? Like we have no idea the financial viability of either of those teams. The new Fort Worth team, the indoor teams are clearly collapsing. You know, both Sidekicks and Outlaws are gone. Hitchcock's coined some magic way to keep Division 4 teams afloat with these hyperlocal marketing. Good on him. The budgets of that thing are minuscule compared to the budgets of a Division 1 or USL championship or MLS side. Very, very different animal. So so far, no team but FC Dallas has made it work. And they're not necessarily doing it by making money that we know of. They might be breaking even well, a lot of ways. So we're gonna see with these other teams, the verdict is not still out on all this stuff. [00:49:50] Speaker A: Yeah. And. And you and I both know a significant rev. A significant percentage of all the revenue generated for the Hunts comes from the academy. Not the academy, the youth club. [00:50:04] Speaker B: Yeah. And everything they're doing with Toyota Stadium, don't kid yourself. Those are all revenue moves, including the $2 billion project around the thing that they now own that's going to make them money. And at that point, do you care if the team is losing money or breaking even? If the stadium's generating revenue and the two billion dollar project around it is generating revenue? That's the modern sports way is these rejuvenated areas and all the things around them, they're all making everybody money. It's always real estate guys are getting involved. These real estate tycoons are buying some of these teams and doing these projects. You know, the Hunts are not dumb. Look at what they're doing. [00:50:39] Speaker A: Not at all. [00:50:39] Speaker B: You know, and ask yourself, like, why are they doing this? Why do you think they're doing it? They're trying to make the team as a. As a. Not by itself, but in the collective, a financially viable thing. We've told people many times that FC Dallas is owned by just Clark and Dan. You know, and I can prove it to you because that the lawsuit where the kids sued the team, all the testimony, they brought in a guy from HSD to testify and the judge and the lawyers were Asking him, why are you here? He's like, I have no idea. We have nothing to do with SC Dallas. HSG has nothing to do with SC Dallas. No, we don't own it. We got nothing to do with it. Right there on the standard they were saying that. [00:51:13] Speaker A: Right. [00:51:13] Speaker B: The big stuff around Toyota is still hsg. FC Dallas is not. But all that other crap is. That's where the money is. Right. So just remember that at the end of the day, these are billionaires with money that they care about. So that's, you know, you can always track what they're doing that way. [00:51:31] Speaker A: Lamar knew exactly what he was doing when he initially tried to cut a deal with the city of McKinney. [00:51:36] Speaker B: Yep. [00:51:37] Speaker A: And that fell apart and said, you know what? We'll just go a little further to the west and cut a deal with Frisco. [00:51:43] Speaker B: And if you hate Frisco or don't never forget that they saved SC Dallas. There would not be a team here. [00:51:47] Speaker A: Oh, 100%. Yeah, we've. Yes, yes. By the way, I just. You know, the Wall Street Journal has an article that came out yesterday talking about how Dallas Fort Worth, as a Dallas is exploding, except it's downtown. And downtown is like one of the most. Least. It has the highest vacancy rates of commercial property in the United States. I think it's second in the country. [00:52:13] Speaker B: Well, you remember Frisco went from one high school to like 15 high schools and went from a town of a thousand people to like 100,000 with richer. Richer than everything. [00:52:21] Speaker A: And I will say the Morning News printed an article the other day that I guess a collective of architects who are desperate and as am I, to retain Dallas City Hall IM Pei building, which is too historic for anybody to even argue to be torn down. [00:52:38] Speaker B: I mean, RoboCop will be pissed. [00:52:41] Speaker A: Yeah, we've got other. We've got other places for you to go. And one of them is the Reunion arena site, which is where you and I have always wanted a soccer stadium to be built for 100 years. Right? [00:52:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:51] Speaker A: So they're talking about building a new Reunion arena for the basketball team there, which would totally make sense. [00:52:57] Speaker B: Good for them. Good for them. Yeah. [00:52:58] Speaker A: Yeah. 100. All right, so Trinity on vacation. When does the spring seasons kick back off? [00:53:07] Speaker B: Well, let me glance at the calendar. Let's see. It looks like January 21st. [00:53:14] Speaker A: Okay, back in action then. [00:53:17] Speaker B: Yeah. Versus Brooklyn at the Cotton Bowl. So everybody get out there. That's the. It's before FC Dallas starts by about four weeks, so plenty of time to catch yourself some Trinity Yep. Enjoy those games. They're fun. You should all go. [00:53:31] Speaker A: All right. We mentioned Atletico Dallas. I think we talked about their plans and announcements to build a bar, restaurant playing facility in Deep Ellum or at the edge of Deep Ellum. That's all great. [00:53:43] Speaker B: I think that's amazing. [00:53:45] Speaker A: Really cool idea. Really, really cool. They also announced that they, I guess they're trying to build their youth, their youth organization. [00:53:53] Speaker B: Yeah, they bought a UPSL side cleaned up. By the way, one of the most confusing names in the history of sport. Dallas fc, Dallas Dynamo. Got that cleaned up. That's good. That clothes been around for a long time. I think they predate Dynamo coming into mls. I'm not sure, but because they were the Dallas Dynamo for a long time, so that's. [00:54:11] Speaker A: See, I always assumed it was a collection of former academy kids from both Dallas and the Dynamo. [00:54:18] Speaker B: I don't know. I my. In the back of my brain, they predate the Houston Dynamo being a thing. The Dallas Dynamo. [00:54:23] Speaker A: I think we've been around a while. [00:54:25] Speaker B: In one form or another, so I give them a little credit. But the Athletico Dallas bought their UPSL side so they're going to be athletic Dallas in the upsell that which is good. The idea of course is that it provides a semi pro sort of environment to transition from academy to them. This is going to be their reserve team someday. Will there be a different kind of reserve team? Maybe. But this is a. This is completing the pathway. This is their North Texas for now. So we'll see how it all evolves. Well, someday they want a USL1 team which is like Texoma or. Or what North Texas he used to be in maybe Dallas FC. Dallas has a UPSL team also. They. They play academy kids in it. They play kids from their 18, 17s and even 16s that aren't getting enough playing time. They'll rotate them into that and go play. [00:55:14] Speaker A: That's the Zach Lloyd team. [00:55:18] Speaker B: Does Lloyd coach that? No, Lloyd coach the summer league team, the U23 team, which is like college kids. Ah, okay. This is a team that's run by the academy where they take, you know, if guys. If the academy played a weak team, they might move some of their better players over here and vice versa wherever they can get the best games. And they play UPSL is mostly guys in college that aren't college players. They're the guys that are elite high school or academy guys that didn't quite go off to Division 1 or they did and they maybe fell out of it or maybe they bounced me up between Indoors or this or that. I mean, you'd recognize a few of the names now and then if you've been around town long enough, if you look at their rosters. But it's pretty competitive. It's probably some of the most elite soccer in the Metroplex. Like, 4O is the best team in that league all time, and four is one of the great teams in town here at that level. So it's a great move in terms of, like, building the structure of their pipeline, even right now, because they already have an academy team. So this is going to help bridge guys along, and we'll see how it all fits in. You know, five, ten years from now, it might be a different sort of landscape, but for now, great move, great process of building it out. And even before they have a pro team, they're trying to offer you a pathway to move up and come through their system to be on their pro team next year, even, perhaps. So we'll see. [00:56:32] Speaker A: Good stuff. All right. I think we've covered it, and we got it in right ahead of. Look at us. [00:56:39] Speaker B: Yeah. North Texas SC is off. Off. They have some player announcements eventually. I've already reported what they all are going to be. Rodeo sc, nothing. Fort Worth. We haven't heard anything yet. So, you know, that's all we got. That's all the pro soccer. [00:56:51] Speaker A: The incredible mystery, the curious case of the Fort Worth USL team. Yeah, I think we've singularly hyped that thing way beyond. We probably should have. We're gonna. [00:57:02] Speaker B: Well, it's gonna end up blowing up. [00:57:03] Speaker A: In our face, isn't it? [00:57:04] Speaker B: Yeah, no, no, it's 100% happening. It's still 100% happening, but it's not. Remember, Dan said it's a year later. They're. They're not coming in the USL Championship. Right. Gna wait for the premier thing. [00:57:13] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:14] Speaker B: So I suppose it could fall apart. What. What we know is 100%. They're doing all the things you need to do to have the team be there. Like, they're going through the process. Athletico did it publicly. These guys are doing it privately, keeping it quiet, squashing it. So, you know, it is there, though. We know it's there, so we'll see. [00:57:31] Speaker A: Excellent. All right, Very good. Well, I hope everybody had a nice holiday, nice Christmas or whatever, and have a nice, safe new year, because that's happening between now and the time that this episode comes out. Hopefully people will hear it before then. [00:57:47] Speaker B: And the next episode will be start of season eight of the podcast and season 29 of third degree. [00:57:53] Speaker A: Yipes. That's crazy. [00:57:54] Speaker B: It's crazy. [00:57:55] Speaker A: All right. We're doing this again next season. [00:57:59] Speaker B: I mean, I thought we were. [00:58:01] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:58:02] Speaker B: Was it up for debate? I guess we could talk about it. [00:58:04] Speaker A: Have we signed our contracts yet? Our new deals? [00:58:07] Speaker B: Have a contract now. [00:58:09] Speaker A: Don't tell everybody that. [00:58:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm already doubling your salary for next year. [00:58:14] Speaker A: Thanks. I'm getting a bag of Kit Kats this year. Two bags of Kit Kats. Oh, we've switched sponsors from Kit Kat to Twix. Yeah, I dig it. Awesome. [00:58:34] Speaker B: This episode of Third Degree, the podcast has been brought to you by you and people like you, the listeners of this podcast who've joined us on patreon.com third degree. If you like our work in the soccer community, why not join us patreon.com third degree. [00:58:48] Speaker A: All right, buzzard. Well, good stuff. Hopefully Dan joins us again sometime soon. Yeah, we see dan. We'll see 2026 Dan. [00:58:56] Speaker B: Yeah, next O. Can't wait for the special shave of the. Wait till you guys see it. [00:59:03] Speaker A: That's right. Maybe he'll have gotten it bleached or. Or died. Something like that. Shave it down into some sort of goatee. [00:59:13] Speaker B: Yeah, some crazy little hook thing. It's been. [00:59:16] Speaker A: Hook thing. Dan with a handlebar mustache would be awesome. That would be so awesome. [00:59:22] Speaker B: And he could twirl it when he's mad. [00:59:24] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. All right, thank you, Buzzard, very much. And thank you, DFW Soccer Curious. We will speak to you next week. It is next week. Yeah. And next year and another episode of third degree, the podcast. [00:59:37] Speaker B: Somebody buy a 10? [00:59:41] Speaker A: The third degree ned podcast. Third degree. The third degree. Never. Third degree. Third degree. Nep. Sam.