3rd Degree the Podcast #346

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Well, hello there, DFW area soccer fan. Welcome to Third Degree, the podcast on the panel today, the Normal Trio, Dan Crook. Howdy, Dan. [00:00:09] Speaker B: Hey. That was the least curious introduction ever. [00:00:13] Speaker A: Was it very businesslike? Matter of fact, it just was. [00:00:16] Speaker B: Just absent of the word curious. I was confused for a moment. [00:00:19] Speaker A: I said. Did I not say curious? I'm gonna start over. [00:00:22] Speaker B: Oh, no. [00:00:23] Speaker A: Three, two, one, one. Yeah. [00:00:36] Speaker C: Third Degree, the Third Degree near podcast. Third Degree the Third Degree N podcast. Third Degree the Third Degree N Podcast. Third Degree the Third Degree Never cast. [00:00:52] Speaker D: Third Degree, the podcast is brought to you by our wonderful listeners as we enter our 29th season of coverage of FC Dallas and now the greater pro soccer scene in North Texas. Perhaps you would think about joining us here and give us Some [email protected] thirddegree if you like what we do on the Internet, both podcast and website, and our general news coverage of soccer, why don't you join us patreon.com third degree. Thanks again for your support. [00:01:20] Speaker A: Well, hello there, DFW soccer curious person. You welcome to another episode of third degree, the podcast on the panel today, myself and of course, as always, well, mostly always, Dan Crook. Howdy, Dan. [00:01:34] Speaker B: Hey, just. Just want to make it known to Andy that I still have about nine months left of my 30s. Thank you very much. [00:01:44] Speaker A: I stuck up for you, brother. [00:01:46] Speaker B: I appreciate that. [00:01:48] Speaker A: Yes, I. That was a great. I was glad we got to do that. For those who don't know, on the kicker out last weekend, I got to talk about man versus fat, and Dan was kind enough to give me some insight into the league since he participates and plays and is a captain of a team and all of that. And as I got into doing it live on the radio, Dan, as I literally am starting the segment, it dawns on me that I didn't ask you permission if I could identify you as somebody playing in the league, and I didn't know if you'd want that or not, so I aborted at the last second and just referred to you as an anonymous person. But Andy, knowing who you were, insisted that you were closer to our age than your actual age. And I was like, dude, so offended by that. [00:02:34] Speaker B: No, I mean, I would have been fine with that anyway, but you're old. [00:02:37] Speaker A: And he's practically old enough to be your dad. [00:02:41] Speaker B: Only 39. Leave me alone. [00:02:45] Speaker A: It was a great conversation. It's such a cool idea. [00:02:48] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:02:48] Speaker A: So thanks for helping me out on that. And your hero, my hero, everybody's hero. Editor, founder of third degree.net and the original soccer influencer himself and all around troublemaker Buzz Carrick. Come in, Buzz. [00:03:02] Speaker D: I feel like one of those memes were on the last panel going, you guys get to talk to Andy. I haven't talked to him in a long time. [00:03:12] Speaker A: And you can call him. [00:03:13] Speaker D: I. I got his number. Yeah. Last time I tried to call him, he was super busy, you know. [00:03:19] Speaker A: Yeah, okay. Andy loves busy. Andy loves to pretend he's really busy. And I'm not saying he's not, but I'm just saying it's this permanent state of busy because he just always wants you to assume he's busy and not bother him. I'm really suspect how busy he actually is. [00:03:35] Speaker D: Well, it seems like it's worse with the World cup around the corner. [00:03:38] Speaker A: Well, no, yeah, no, know I. Let me say this. The guy has got a lot of stuff going on. He's a part of the, you know, local organizing committee and he's on the board and he's got a lot of responsibilities and stuff. And I'm dragging his ass into doing the kick around nightly wrap up show again this year. [00:03:52] Speaker D: So I think the last time I saw him was when I got invited to the Netherlands when the, when the World cup committee was trying to get the Netherlands to make this, Dallas, their camp. Um, they did a presentation and I got invited to watch the presentation and Andy was at that. And this is the last one. Last time that happened. That was a couple years ago. Even though it's last my scene. [00:04:14] Speaker A: Yeah, crazy man. I can't believe we're so close to the World cup being here. It's ridiculous. All right, well, it is officially preseason as the team, since we last talked have all departed on jets to Portugal. Those guys being football club Dallas and a little bit to discuss here and there. Have we known if the. If the Swede has joined them yet? Do we know? [00:04:41] Speaker D: Yes, indeed he has. Yep. So has been Yaman. [00:04:45] Speaker A: Okay, so they are over in Portugal doing their stuff. Started training. Any particular. Well, let's do this this way because Dan, you actually went to training before they left. So let's catch up. Catch up on some of notes and observations and thoughts that you could supply us, please. [00:05:04] Speaker B: Well, Fresco, as always, is bloody freezing. So, you know, my eyes were kind of shaking, kind of, you know, chattering all the, all the fun stuff. But it was really nice to see Paxton Palmer Cole having full participation. This was the second of a two a day, which was. Was great. They had a small field game like 10 aside. Good to see him in the, in the center midfield in that Ricky Lewis, the draft pick, we didn't know where he was going to fall. He's a forward but I think there's, you know, a little bit of talk about oh well, you know, he could be the, the fullback transition. And sure enough there he was right wing back and he looked really comfortable. Not like the traditional winger playing a wing back that doesn't really know when to go and stay. He was just getting stuck in. He had a great running battle with, with Shaq Moore who was playing on left wing back on the opposite team with him that was with Herman Johansson, not with the team and just the numbers different with that short field. Alvaro Augusto looks like a professional center back. He, that's helpful imagining it. But he, he looks like he's filled out a good bit. He, he looks like just a, a huge Virgil Van Dyke like human being. [00:06:29] Speaker D: Is he a grown ass man? [00:06:30] Speaker B: He is a grown ass man. He may actually supersede Tanner Testman in that now. Other nice thing was Giovanni J. Zeus. He, he's. At least when I went he was partial participation. They weren't going to drag him through a full two a day. But I believe he was a full participation that morning. And you know, he was sitting on the ball by the side of the field, kind of raring to go. So it's good to see that after all the setbacks he had last year. [00:06:59] Speaker A: Good times. Okay, well, happy practice everybody. So over in Portugal, any. I know there's been some B roll and footage and photos and stuff. They've got a game coming up on Wednesday. Do we know if that's going to be streamed anywhere for us to, for the nerds to catch? [00:07:16] Speaker D: Well, we're waiting to hear the time frame on the game and I'm, I've been told that it's pretty unlikely that there's going to be a stream. But if you remember last year they were told flat out there were no streams and some stealthy ninja type people managed to find some on the Internet. Anyway, so officially I don't think there's going to be a stream, but maybe we'll see. They are, they are playing these games in this unofficial. No, it is official. But this Atlantic Cup, I'm putting air quotes around Atlanta cup. It's kind of a series of games kind of like with the LA Manga cup or really it's just sort of actually having refs and stuff on. [00:07:48] Speaker A: Right. [00:07:49] Speaker D: So those, maybe those will get streamed like they were last year when we're officially. So we might get better access to those perhaps. But as of now, we don't know of any yet. In terms of who's there, we. This is where we have to begin to play the spy game of, you know, they don't want to put out a roster, you know, whatever. I don't know why. Well, and everybody that's going to be on the team will either be signed or not signed eventually. We wonder who they are, I guess. So playing the spy game, everyone's there that you would expect to be. Johansson and Binyamin have both showed up and they're there and they're training. You can spot them on the tape. Giovanni J. Zeus is there in terms of anyone unusual. Caleb Swan, who's a new homegrown, was taken along Nico Mantoya, who's the North Texas goalkeeper. Not even on a hybrid deal. He's on a straight North Texas deal. He's there as the third keeper in camp. And then things like people like Diego Garcia, Josh Torcato, Ricky Lewis, Nick Simmons, the two draft picks, they're all those guys that were at national team camp are now back. There's one extra keeper there. There's a fourth keeper there. His name is Mitch Butler and he went to Akron. He's a senior from Akron. So they're bringing in an undrafted keeper to be maybe get a chance to be the third keeper on the FC Dallas roster because they're missing a keeper on the FC Dallas roster. So that's in play. The most important person that was not seen is Ennis Soli, who not only is in not in any of the SC Dallas stuff, is not in any of the North Texas stuff. So red flag on Ennis Solly potential. [00:09:29] Speaker A: Shove him in a suitcase and put him on underneath the plane and send him to some unknown location in the world. [00:09:35] Speaker D: I mean, maybe alone, something. [00:09:37] Speaker B: I got a little bit ahead of myself and got really excited when I saw him standing by the side of the field talking to Andre on Wednesday. And then it just turned out he'd rotated out of the game at the time. [00:09:50] Speaker D: Well, some of the other homegrowns, Contreras, Scaben, Molina, Baron, those guys are all with North Texas. As is Enzo Newman, last year's highly regarded draft pick. Just not in Spain. He's in camp in North Texas, but he is coming off the acl, so that's, you know, he's behind Jesus in terms of that development. [00:10:08] Speaker A: So when does MLS next pro start? [00:10:11] Speaker D: Their camp open this week too. They posted some clips of their camps. [00:10:15] Speaker A: When does the season start? Is it starting? Is it in parallel to The MLS. [00:10:18] Speaker D: Season, it's about a month later. That hasn't actually been announced yet in terms of his schedule. So. [00:10:25] Speaker B: Okay. [00:10:25] Speaker D: It's probably usually about a month later than the MLS stuff. And if you. If you looked at the little clip they posted of North Texas at Sea training, there's a couple of academy guys that are. That are interesting, but we won't get into that right here. But I do want to mention that Benji Flowers was there. Now, have you guys heard me say the name Benji Flowers? Dan has. Yeah. Yeah. He's 14 and he's now in North Texas camp. Now, is he going to play a lot? I don't know. It doesn't matter. The point is, is that if people have been asking me for years, where's the next Pepe? Where's the next Pepe? Benji Flowers is the next Pepe. [00:11:02] Speaker A: Why don't you talk about him a little bit? [00:11:03] Speaker D: Well, he's 14 and he's a. He's got everything. Like, if you. If you watched Oregon play in the. In the. In the playoffs and college football playoffs, there was a freshman named Flowers making picks for Oregon. That's his older brother. So this is the level of athleticism we're talking about. This is the quintessential. One of our best athletes played soccer. This is that guy. He's super high in the national team pool. Way up on the list. He's decent. Not. I mean, his brother's a corner, so he's not like, he's a middle linebacker. You know, he's not 6 3, but he is the complete package at 14. So the fact that they've got him at North Texas camp will tell you that they agree with that assessment. He's got a ways to go, but European scouts and agents are already coming hard at this kid. That's how highly regarded he is. So he's on that Pepe track. Will he get there? We'll see. You know, but you a name to watch over the next three or four seasons. You know, if he's not signed by 16, 17, 18, I will be stunned. If someone doesn't. It may not be FC out. He may be your next Weston McKen that they miss on. So they better get that done quickish, man. [00:12:13] Speaker A: You can already see the headlines. Give him his flowers. [00:12:17] Speaker D: I know. Yeah, the name is great, too. Benji Flowers. I mean, that's awesome, but phenomenal talent. Yeah. Now, between him and the first team, there's lots of talent in the academy, but this is the guy that's up there with the next Pepe. [00:12:33] Speaker A: So what, at 14, what is his standout trait? Is he a finisher, is he fast, is he a ball handler? Like play back to goal, target, forward? Yep, all of that. [00:12:45] Speaker D: Yeah, everything. Well, essentially that's a goal, but he plays more of as a wing. Ah. Scores all the goals, runs by everybody, dribbles by everybody. He's the complete package. You know, the guy's got every tool that you could want in a 14 year old. [00:12:59] Speaker A: Is he more Ricardo Pepe or Jesus Ferreira? [00:13:05] Speaker D: Probably more Jesus Ferreira because they don't play him. He doesn't play as a nine. He can play as a nine, but he's not a nine. He's more of a wing slasher kind of guy. But you know, in terms of pure talent, he's the most exciting guy that we've seen. You know, there's lots of pro caliber players between him and the thing, but he's the one where people are already lining up to watch him play and more. Yeah, yeah. [00:13:30] Speaker A: Is he one of these 14 year olds these days that look like they're 22 kind of 14? [00:13:35] Speaker D: No, no, no, no, he's not like that. [00:13:37] Speaker A: Okay, all right. [00:13:38] Speaker D: No, not an early bloomer. Just pure talent, pure athlete. Phenomenal. Yeah, it's got everything you'd want out of a kid that age. In terms of upside and prior to. [00:13:47] Speaker A: This, which age group was he playing with? [00:13:50] Speaker D: Was he playing the U15s? He's in the U15 team. [00:13:53] Speaker A: Okay. [00:13:53] Speaker D: Yeah. So within, within a year he'll be the right age for FC Dallas to try and sign him to a homegrown deal. So like he was going to be on my. I'm just going to put him on my next homegrown list. I already had planned out that he would be on there this next one for the summer, but you know, he fact he was in North Texas camp out to tell you something. [00:14:10] Speaker B: He also stepped up an extra year for MLS next fest earlier in the year. He went to the 16s for that one. [00:14:17] Speaker D: Yeah, he often plays up as he demonstrated by him being in North Texas camp. [00:14:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:22] Speaker D: So. [00:14:22] Speaker A: All right, cool. That's groovy stuff. Okay, so who are they playing on Wednesday? Do we know the name of the. [00:14:34] Speaker B: Can we pronounce it? [00:14:36] Speaker A: We'll leave that to Dan since he's the continental. [00:14:39] Speaker B: The city is Portimao. That's. That's as far as I'm going. [00:14:44] Speaker A: Where are they from? Portimao. What country, guys? [00:14:49] Speaker B: Portugal. [00:14:50] Speaker A: Oh, thank you. [00:14:51] Speaker B: They're in the Algarve. [00:14:52] Speaker A: Okay. [00:14:53] Speaker B: But it's Portimonense. So they're gonna play at their first team stadium. [00:14:58] Speaker A: All right. [00:15:00] Speaker B: And then on Monday they get to play at the stadium. That Cristiano Ronaldo set the record for the most international goal goals by a man for any national team. [00:15:14] Speaker D: So on the 26th, that's when they're playing Bronby. And that last year that game was streamed as part of the cup thing. So that's the game cross your fingers we might actually get access to. And then the one against Rias Lake is the same way. We might get to see that one too, possibly. I'm not making any promises because no one will confirm it for me yet. So the one on the 21st, which is two days from now or two days from when we're recording Brndby seems. [00:15:40] Speaker B: Most likely because I mean one, it's, it is a true top tier pro stadium. You know, it hosted Euro 2004, it's hosted Portugal and Gibraltar national teams. It's, you know, had all this stuff and Brndby are the most likely to actually take a production. It seems like the Marbella Football center that puts together all the, all the games and that they're not really that interested themselves. [00:16:08] Speaker D: That sounds. What happened last time is we were all able to watch the Brian VP feed basically. [00:16:13] Speaker A: All right, well, our access is limited. We're pretty much reliant on whatever the club supplies. I don't know what else to talk about there. [00:16:21] Speaker D: Well, until we get to see some games, it's hard to talk about anything else. The only thing left to talk about is their search for a 10. [00:16:28] Speaker A: Yes, and that does appear it. Did that heat up buzz or is this like leftover old news? Somebody regurgitated? [00:16:35] Speaker D: It's old news plus new news. So the old news is this player was linked to FC Dallas last summer window. His name is Rafael Vega or Vega. One of the other is the Portuguese pronunciation. I tried to Google it and it just says Vega. So he's a 10 for Palmeiras and this is the key. So a new report came out a couple days ago that says that he's one is going to leave the club or wants to leave the club, but doesn't want to play for somebody in Brazil, so that limits his options. And if somebody from MLS was interested. Okay, that's kind of vague, but we know Dallas was linked to him before. We know they need a 10. We know that Zenoda's has a relationship with Palmeris. Right. So like all these, all these connections are there nothing specifically this window links him to FC Dallas, but mls, the Relationship, previous linkage, it all just kind of lined up with their needs for attend. His stated asking price is high, it's 12 million. But the report which came out from a group that just covers Palmeiras, says that they're willing to negotiate at a point below that stated previously stated price. So that's not the real price. The real price is going to be lower. So maybe this is a guy for FC Dallas is the kind of guy that look at, he's 30, so it's the kind of guy that they could actually afford. Maybe so. Just takes a lot of boxes in the watch alert for Dallas trying to get a 10. So there you go. [00:18:09] Speaker A: So the obvious question, guys, is this somebody the curious should be excited about. Just because he's a South American 10 doesn't mean we should all automatically just assume he's Morrow Diaz Jr. Well, the. [00:18:24] Speaker D: The profile looks like it's a match. It looks pretty good. You know, he does. You know, the things I saw where they talked about his play, said that, you know, he can play a little deeper, which implies that he has the ability to go box to box. He also could play higher as like a second striker, which is again, what Zenoda just talked about, about to be able to make these penetrating runs into the box and that kind of thing. So, you know, there's some profile alignment with what would work for what Dallas wants out of that particular position. It's the kind of player that, like the tape that we, we could find on it, where we would be able to find him on YouTube is not going to help us very much. [00:19:01] Speaker B: Right. [00:19:01] Speaker D: You know, because it's going to be against all kinds of different levels of Brazilian participation. And this is where you have to decide whether you trust the eye of Zenota or Sandra, more likely, or their. Or Dan, what's the name of the head scout? Is it Baldo? [00:19:16] Speaker B: Leo Baldo, yeah. [00:19:17] Speaker D: Leo Baldo. Yeah. Thank you. You know, those guys have done a decent job of late, it seems on scouting. Maybe Deon's a little off the mark, but bunch of the other signs seem right on point. So I'm not saying this is the guy. I'm not, I'm not trying to tell you some secret that I know that I'm trying to hint. I'm just a lot of the things lined up with the kind of player they're looking for and it. So it was worth bringing up, I. [00:19:39] Speaker A: Thought, okay, no fair. You know, I think as we all have come to learn, it would be beneficial for them to sign somebody sooner than later. Instead of waiting till the, you know, season starts. But sometimes it just happens to go until the very end and it. It's possible they'll start a season without one, you know. [00:19:56] Speaker D: Yeah. Because the MLS window doesn't even open for another four days and then runs till late March, like March 23rd, 24th, something like that. So, you know, they got plenty of. Plenty of time in terms of. [00:20:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:15] Speaker D: March 26th. Thursday, March 26th. So, you know, the season will be a month over by that point. So. So plenty of time to move, but maybe you would want to get done sooner rather than later. [00:20:25] Speaker B: All right. [00:20:26] Speaker A: And the last thing before we move on to other stuff. Nolan Norris, contract extended. [00:20:33] Speaker D: Yeah. Why wouldn't you like this? This is a player that has German teams looking at him all the time. A couple of them keep calling and asking. So Dallas is going to re up him, obviously. I think a new deal shows where they value him in terms of moving forward. This probably, if you're a roster nerd, this will move him probably up into the top half of the senior roster and out of the supplemental roster. That's bound to happen eventually anyway, if you're going to keep a guy around. So hopefully this means that he's going to be looked at pretty heavily to be the. The guy at left center back. I think it's time. [00:21:00] Speaker B: Okay. Interestingly, he. He also went to U20 camp a little bit late, so I don't know if that was to, you know, just kind of get his. Get his foot in the door a little bit and in the start of preseason or if that was to. To finish up the contract. [00:21:19] Speaker A: All right. And Dan, I'm not even going to ask you about the new kit. I'm just figured it's not worth even bothering to ask you about. [00:21:27] Speaker B: Yeah, still. Still trying to find out a few things on that, but we're seeing. We're seeing a couple of bits around the league which help shape it all. [00:21:36] Speaker A: Did you guys see the new Atlanta away kit? [00:21:38] Speaker D: No. [00:21:39] Speaker A: Yeah, it's got my favorite design jersey design, which is the offset racing stripe down the left hand side. [00:21:48] Speaker D: Yes. Yeah. [00:21:50] Speaker B: It just breaks my heart that they put a break in it though. [00:21:52] Speaker A: Would they put the break in it for the badge? [00:21:55] Speaker B: For the sponsor. [00:21:56] Speaker A: For the sponsor? Yeah, they did do that. That's right. Yeah. So it's a kind of an. Is it off white again? That's like all the rage is off white. And it's a dark. It's kind of a kelly green stripe. [00:22:08] Speaker B: That's the color of the metal ribbon from the 96 Olympics. [00:22:13] Speaker A: So there you go. [00:22:15] Speaker D: Before you run on, I should have, when we did academy talk, I should have brought up you guys remember the name Steel Cook? [00:22:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:21] Speaker D: He's left the FCLS academy. Apparently he's got a couple of other academies that want to buy him from Dallas. So he's moving on. [00:22:28] Speaker A: And why would Dallas sell him? [00:22:30] Speaker D: Well, if the other team offers enough money to make it worthwhile. Because you can't just move from Academy Academy without payment. The other reason would be that, you know, perhaps the kid just doesn't want to be here anymore. I mean they don't have complete control. Definitely the house doesn't start a position. [00:22:48] Speaker B: And like a senior player with a contract, you know, if you don't want to play, they're not going to play. [00:22:52] Speaker D: He is a pure attacking 10 too. So like that's a space Dallas is about to spend. I don't know, 5, 10 million, whatever they're going to spend. Not, not bringing an academy kids. [00:23:01] Speaker B: Right. [00:23:02] Speaker D: Tough. And other academies are thin on talent. Sometimes people will pay to bring in a guy like that because their team stinks. You know, they need some, some talents. [00:23:09] Speaker A: I hate losing kids with cool name names, but yeah, yeah, good thing Dallas has plenty of those. [00:23:14] Speaker D: They do. [00:23:15] Speaker A: All right, well, more on FC Dallas in the next episode of Third Degree, the podcast. Let's move on to Dallas Trinity, who buzz stuff's a brewing. [00:23:26] Speaker D: Yeah, it sounds like from the back door channels that we're, we're hearing that the coach is hired. They got a guy. I think by the time you're hearing this. [00:23:36] Speaker A: Is it a guy? [00:23:37] Speaker D: It is a guy. It is a man. That's why I said guy. By the time you're listening to this podcast or maybe, maybe depending on when you listen, maybe the day after. So maybe Tuesday or Wednesday you might hear an announcement, you know, so it's, it's in line with what they've been talking about where Chris didn't want to. Chris Petrocelli didn't want to be the coach. He wanted to be the gm. He was looking for a guy that would coach in a. The way he wanted things to go. And so they seem to have found their man and hopefully we'll hear about officially done over the next couple days. So I can't say who it is, but it's pretty exciting. [00:24:10] Speaker A: Is his name Kenny? [00:24:13] Speaker D: It's Dan Crook. [00:24:16] Speaker B: Whoa, that escalated quick. [00:24:17] Speaker D: Different Dan Crook. Different. [00:24:22] Speaker A: That would be quite the progressive coaching progression going from being the captain of the Husky Hive to manager of Dallas Trinity. That would Be a massive leap. [00:24:35] Speaker D: They wanted a career. [00:24:36] Speaker A: Right? [00:24:36] Speaker D: Connection. [00:24:39] Speaker B: Terrible. [00:24:41] Speaker A: That would be awesome. All right. And then now we also know, we talked about last week that they parted ways with a whole list of players. I think we talked about that last week. I assume they're going to restock with new players. [00:24:55] Speaker B: They. They certainly are. We. We have what, three now that we know of? Yep. Is this the part where we talk about them? [00:25:03] Speaker D: Yes. Yeah. [00:25:04] Speaker B: Oh no. Terrible. Okay, so the confusing one when they kind of announced the departures was Riley Foster, your starting goalkeeper. You know, if you remember, she's the one with the really cool story unfortunately because she broke her neck in like seven places. Got ejected through the windshield of car after winning a penalty shootout with Liverpool. And by all really, you know, all laws of averages should not be here, let alone still playing professional soccer. She in her last game saved a penalty, kind of, kind of came out the blue to agree that mutual termination. So Tyler McCamey, another one who has a kind of cool name, not FC Dallas though. 24 year old goalkeeper, she came out of Princeton. She has been with Gotham and Casey Current as an injury replacement on both. Hasn't actually played in nwsl but she made the bench a couple of times for both teams. And she actually just played in the World Football Sevens for KC last month. Actually making a save and a penalty shootout for a game against. I want to say it was Flamingo, but I could be wrong on that one. In that tournament. Technically she's been on the the teams that have won the NWSL Shield, NWSL Championship and the CONCACAF W Champions Cup. So that's a pretty cool resume. But it'll be interesting to see if she comes in to start or if she's gonna split time with Sam Estrada or what's really going to happen there. I think when you had Maddie White, it was clearly, you know, she'd come in online. She was one for the future to start in nwsl. So she was gonna get the minutes. Riley had played wsl, played a little bit of nwsl I think, you know, played for Canada. She was clearly going to get the minutes. Right now you've got more of an open discussion there. The one I'm really excited about is we've talked about the need for a center back so that we can see. So we can see Amber Wisner control the game in midfield a little bit. Lauren Flynn, 23 year old center back who most recently played for Utah. She was a two time NCAA champ with Florida State University. She actually won best defender of the tournament and was in the best 11, their tournament in 2023, they conceded one goal the whole way. She was drafted 16th overall by Utah Royals in 2024. Had this really promising rookie season. But then she had. You may remember this from Christ, I'm forgetting his name now. One of the homegrowns who went to Toronto, I'm forgetting she had bilateral compartment syndrome where you kind of like the muscle shoots through in. In your lower legs and it's just constant pain. She had surgery to alleviate that after trying to play for it for a while, it kind of took her. Her out of the. [00:28:22] Speaker A: That's the Marco Farfan injury right In Sylvania. [00:28:26] Speaker B: So you were looking for in Sylvania. Yeah, Farfan might have had it too. He did. But yeah, she had it in both legs, which is, you know, terrible. Rookie season was going so well to that point. She'd led the league, led the team in combined tackles and interceptions out for 292 days before making a triumphant return. She ended up with only 21 appearances. Made four appearances for the US under 23s as recently as just a couple months ago. She was actually part of the U20 cycle of Lexi Massimo and Samir Guidry, plus Jaden Shaw and Trinity Byers. So she's got familiarity with some people in the team. She was kind of key to that. That team that I think actually the U20 CONCACAF championship, they did not concede a single goal. She played in six of the seven games. So really good player. She. Her option year was this year and very surprisingly walked away from Utah. It seems like their fans are rather pissed with GM for letting her go and they all expected her to pop up at Kansas City or Gotham or somewhere. So it may be a case of. I don't know if there's an injury hangover or a potential for it lingering, but could be a good place to kind of regroup and. And you know, just kind of get herself together. But seems really to be a non no nonsense defender. Really tidy in possession. Something that the Dallas has definitely needed. And then the final one is a young Prospect, Heather Stainbrook, 23 or 24 center, mid. She's already. She made 100 appearances for Utah Valley, took them to the NCAA tournament for the third and fourth time in their program history. So that's. That's kind of impressive. She did not get drafted but I mean from a kind of a less popular school. That's not a great shock. She was a preseason invitee for the Washington Spirit who Dallas Trinity obviously have a really great relationship with and she impressed so much that she signed a three year contract. Not the usual, you know, one or one on one that we often see. She has 22 appearances in the league and a goal, 31 appearances in total across all the various cups and friendlies and everything. She was on the bench for the NWSL championship game. So, you know, we're not talking about someone that's a spare. And if you ever see any of the social media content, she apparently is best friends with Dallas Trinity. Loney of the past, Deb Abiadun. [00:31:26] Speaker A: All right, that sounds like a good wrap up of all the new additions. I'm assuming there will be more players to come as they get into the season or is there a window that closes here soon? [00:31:36] Speaker D: Well, I mean, they're gonna start playing again soon. I don't, I don't know if it's actually a window or not, but they, they need at least one more player in my opinion because they, they lost Tamara Bolt, you know, who got her loan, and she was a humongous part of the way they play. Really, really fast player, impact player, mostly a flank player, although she's been playing some nine of late. So like that's a, that's a profile they need to replace, whether it be as a winger or a nine. That kind of verticality, that kind of speed is going to be missing. So I would, I'd anticipate them keep on the eye, eye out for another. They got two more weeks left till they play. So for another wing maybe coming in, if they can give. Find somebody. [00:32:13] Speaker B: I think even if you kind of look at it as like one out, one in, you've got Tamara as a wing. All right, you've got to replace that Lucy, who's the one for getting Shepherd. It doesn't, you know, she wasn't playing. I'm not sure necessarily if, if that's going to be a one out, one in. Riley getting replaced by Tyler McKamey. Lauren Flynn comes in, that helps push Amber back to midfield, which kind of makes up for not Winnie Balata. Yeah, yeah, Nankia. That's the one. And then, yeah, I'm trying to think who else actually departed now. [00:32:58] Speaker D: The, the young winger on the other side went back to California. [00:33:02] Speaker B: Oh, Raymond. [00:33:03] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. Another winger. So again, maybe this is a different winger. Yeah. [00:33:09] Speaker A: All right. The next game or the restart of the pick back up of the second half of the season is when. [00:33:15] Speaker D: The 31st. [00:33:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:33:17] Speaker A: And is that a home game? [00:33:18] Speaker D: It is. Against Brooklyn. [00:33:20] Speaker A: All right, everybody go to the Cotton Ball, hang out, check that out. All right, let's move on. The only other thing happening around here is Rodeo Soccer Club. [00:33:30] Speaker D: Yeah, just a little shout out. They're having a event so they call it a brand building event. And it's a premier league watch party pier. You'll love that part. [00:33:40] Speaker A: I think anytime we talk about Rodeo Soccer Club we have to do it like this. [00:33:44] Speaker D: Why? Are you from California? [00:33:46] Speaker A: No, because it's a rodeo. [00:33:48] Speaker D: Well, you said Rodeo. Rodeo is California. [00:33:51] Speaker A: Oh, that's right. Rodeo around there. Rodeo. [00:33:53] Speaker D: Anyway, Nowhere bar in Salina. So if you're into that club and into that scene up in Salina and you want to check it out the 31st, it's kind of a little big event. [00:34:01] Speaker A: All right. Just to re establish and reset the table. [00:34:04] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:34:04] Speaker A: Tacoma, I did it wrong again. Son of a Texoma self relegated to USL2 and they will start this upcoming USL2 season. [00:34:24] Speaker D: Yeah, they got a coaching in GM and they'll have the college kids just like the other team. Like McKinney does and like Denton does. Yep. [00:34:30] Speaker A: And I'm assuming that roster will turn over quite a bit too. [00:34:33] Speaker D: I mean I imagine there'll be only people that'll hold over. Probably will be the couple of academy signings they made from their own academy. There were like two of them. [00:34:40] Speaker A: I think while they're in USL 2. Will I remember how to say their name correctly? No, I agree. But the USL 1 license that the ownership group holds the rights to still. [00:34:54] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:34:54] Speaker A: Is being shifted to Rodeo as. Yeah. Rodeo sc and they will play in Salina. But they don't start playing until the 27th season. [00:35:05] Speaker D: Yes, correct. [00:35:07] Speaker A: Which is also the same period of time that in theory, at the very least. [00:35:12] Speaker D: Yep. [00:35:14] Speaker A: Atletico Dallas is also launching. [00:35:16] Speaker D: Well, not in theory, but yeah, that's when. That's their play. And he was a championship 2027. [00:35:20] Speaker A: Yeah. Again, until a lot of this stuff goes in theory. But yes. And also potentially. Now is there any chance the Fort Worth team also that is yet to be announced will launch in 27? [00:35:35] Speaker B: Dan, I would imagine that they're going to try and go straight in on 28 on the premiere one season in the championship. [00:35:43] Speaker A: Say that one more time. Wait, so you do think they'll start in the 27 season? [00:35:47] Speaker B: No, no, I think they'll skip the 27 season so that they can start when the USL Premier starts in 28. [00:35:55] Speaker A: Okay. [00:35:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:56] Speaker D: Because the. [00:35:56] Speaker B: The year in the championship just seems a. A money drain for nothing, you know? [00:36:01] Speaker A: Yeah, I understand. [00:36:02] Speaker D: Yeah. I almost think. I almost think that Athletic Dallas wouldn't be doing it if they hadn't announced with that the day before the Premier League was announced. Put it out there in Garland. [00:36:16] Speaker A: It definitely put a crimp in there or kink in the plan for sure. Okay, interesting. I just want to make sure everybody understands what's going on there because it's super confusing that Texoma is going away. Only kind of. I mean, they. You know what I'm saying? [00:36:31] Speaker D: So then go away. Just change the visions. [00:36:34] Speaker B: They're also changing stadium. So, you know, they're kind of going away a little bit. [00:36:37] Speaker A: There has. But they're still going to be called Texoma. Like the branding and everything will stay the same. [00:36:43] Speaker D: It's in. I guess it's a Dennison instead of Sherman or whatever. It's the same thing. Yeah. [00:36:48] Speaker A: Has a team ever self relegated before in England? [00:36:53] Speaker B: It's a very common thing. [00:36:54] Speaker A: Is it? Okay. Is it a common thing in the usl? [00:36:58] Speaker B: North Carolina just did it. Tucson did it a few years ago. [00:37:04] Speaker D: The Dallas Burn did it. When 2003. The South Lake. Okay. [00:37:14] Speaker A: Burn taking. Catching strays stab. All right, well, we'll keep up with that. And then I guess there's really not much else to get into, is there? [00:37:28] Speaker D: No, that's it. Yeah. [00:37:30] Speaker A: The thing, the thing that happened that I saw, that I am still reeling from. Have you guys seen the news that Sporting Kansas City is getting sold for 700 million doll hairs? [00:37:43] Speaker D: Yeah. In general, like if you, if you look, somebody, just somebody who does this kind of thing, like this world franchise valuation thing, just put out their new list. And MLS has like the most teams in the top 50. Like in the world. [00:38:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:38:01] Speaker D: Because MLS franchises are. Have really high value in part because of A, the market and B, there's no relegation. So like they have the most teams in the top 20. They have the most teams in the top 50. Their franchises are all worth crazy money. You know, like that's 700 million is like. Is that like that's like three or four times what Newcastle sold for years. [00:38:21] Speaker A: Oh, it's a ridiculous sum of money. And. And the other thing that it caused me to do is pause and ask the question, what did Lamar Hunt sell it for back in 06? [00:38:33] Speaker D: Did you look it up? [00:38:34] Speaker A: I did. I've looked everywhere and I can't find an amount anywhere. Andy and I talked about this and our agreement in remembering and this is just totally off the top of our heads and just trying to recall the number we had heard. [00:38:47] Speaker D: You're gonna say what I'm thinking. Go ahead. [00:38:48] Speaker A: The number that Andy and I agreed to was like 32 million? [00:38:54] Speaker D: Yeah. I was thinking it was down near 20, but I can. I'll buy 32. Yeah. It was nowhere near 700. [00:39:00] Speaker A: Here's the deal. If you told me it was 60 million in 06, I would have went. I would have been doubtful. But 30 or 20 totally tracks. But even if the number was 60 and here, 20 years later, they're selling it for $700 million. That's just. Now you know why everybody's into doing MLS clubs. [00:39:20] Speaker D: When you think. Think about what the most recent teams have gone for in terms of their franchise fee to the league. Right. There are no more franchise fees available in the short term. You now have to have the stadium. Kansas City's already got the franchise fee. They've already got the stadium. So in some ways, when you look at teams that are playing paying combined like a billion dollars, like Charlotte I think has, you know, 700 actually is a bargain in that sense. You know, considering there is. There's nothing a foreseeable future where there's going to be a new franchise available within the next couple of years anyways. [00:39:50] Speaker A: Yeah, I was trying to. I don't know the answer to this, and I could have looked it up. What is the stadium situation with Casey? Do they own the stadium or is that a deal with the city? Is that like a community fairgrounds kind of deal? [00:40:06] Speaker B: Yeah, kind of. [00:40:07] Speaker A: Okay. [00:40:07] Speaker D: It's a, It's a solid venue. It's that middle. [00:40:09] Speaker A: No, it's an awesome venue. I'm just. I'm wondering if the value is tied to the fact that they own the stadium and that really inflates the value of the club because they own the stadium kind of deal. [00:40:20] Speaker D: I'm pretty sure they don't own it. It's a good situation. You know, it's like they're the primary tenant, like, so they may not have full revenue control, but they have a. [00:40:27] Speaker A: Really good situation because somebody asked me if Kansas City sold for 700 million, what Dallas would sell for, and I wondered if there would be a difference in the, in how, how the stadium deals are lined up. Because, you know, Dallas's stadium deal is, you know, between three different entities and they have not as much control, etc. Etc. So I don't. I mean, somebody. So when I went to answer the question, I don't. I don't know. I don't know what Dallas would sell for. [00:40:54] Speaker D: The media market is bigger. [00:40:56] Speaker A: Yes. [00:40:57] Speaker D: Dallas has way more people around within that third mile radius, even though. [00:41:01] Speaker A: And the Academy. Academy, yeah. [00:41:04] Speaker B: But they do also have Some shared ownership, you know, it's not like they're just leasing it. [00:41:10] Speaker A: They. [00:41:10] Speaker B: They do have ownership in it. Yeah. [00:41:13] Speaker D: And complete revenue in the retail next door as well. [00:41:15] Speaker A: Yeah, fair enough. Fair enough. Yeah. [00:41:17] Speaker D: And the whole project around the stadium, that's. I don't know whether you could buy it with the team. That whole $2 billion thing that. [00:41:22] Speaker A: Hunter is FC Dallas, a billion dollar valuation club. [00:41:29] Speaker B: It might be by the end of that project. [00:41:31] Speaker D: Yeah. If you could buy it. Yes. But you can't buy it. It's not. [00:41:34] Speaker A: No, no. I'm just like you. Everything gets an evaluation. I'm just curious that. [00:41:40] Speaker D: Yeah, I think so. [00:41:41] Speaker B: So, obviously you mentioned the Newcastle deal. If you want something that kind of strips out, you know, recent inflation and global finance. Everything else. Ipswich Town last month just showed a big chunk or a big chunk of the club got sold and it valued the overall club at 350 million pounds, so about $450 million. So for an EFL championship team, the. I think they own their own stadium. Everything else about two thirds of the. The price of Sporting Kansas City. [00:42:20] Speaker A: Wow. Okay. [00:42:21] Speaker D: That's fascinating, by the way, why there'll never be relegation here. [00:42:25] Speaker A: Oh, 100. [00:42:26] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, preaching the choir. You guys know. [00:42:32] Speaker A: Yes. And I also want everybody to set their expectations that when the USL thing launches. Launches. That's not going to be the promotion relegation structure everybody wants it and romantically dreams of. It's going to be a sandbox up and down between two, maybe three divisions. [00:42:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, that's. That's the thing. Like, you know, when people talk about the USL one, everything I've heard is that the promotion, relegation will be between League one and the championship. They're going to leave the Premier Division to grow and to establish itself before it gets involved. [00:43:05] Speaker A: 100%. When they finally announce the structure of how the USL system is going to be set up, the outrage is going. I mean, people are going to. They're going to get. Caused so much controversy because it's not going to be what everybody thinks. They told everybody it was going to be. [00:43:23] Speaker B: Oh, well. [00:43:27] Speaker A: Chaos. [00:43:28] Speaker D: I love chaos. [00:43:29] Speaker B: Here's the thing. The people that, you know, I. I come from a country obviously, that everyone goes, oh, they do it. Yeah, they. They did it 88 years into the football league existing. [00:43:41] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, I know. And yeah, okay, I don't want to get into that. I just thought that was fascinating information. $700 million completely curled my toes. I couldn't believe. That number is just stunning. As somebody who remembers when I Used to go to Burn games at Arrowhead Stadium. And there was maybe 4, 000 people in the stands back then. [00:44:07] Speaker D: Up to a man that almost died on the ooey pooey football field. [00:44:11] Speaker A: Yes, I almost did. Yes, I did. Yeah, that's true. Tommy Sohn's brother almost crushed me. Yes. When. Yeah. Back to the Arrowhead Stadium when the evil Ron Newman and his remora like son used to throw water punchy. Yeah, yeah. Back at the. The Burn players when. God, that was a great rivalry back in the day. [00:44:32] Speaker D: Playing at Arrowhead was one of the first places where I remember sitting in the stands and thinking, man, there is nobody here. And they would announce like they would announce 25,000 people because it's such a huge stadium. It just seemed like nobody was there. [00:44:45] Speaker A: You know what's funny is that seating wise, it's. It. It wasn't then as big as the Cotton bowl, but for some reason it still felt like demonstrably larger than the Cotton Bowl. [00:44:57] Speaker D: I don't know why Open, like the Cotton Ball is pretty vertical. Like, but in Arrowhead's more like. [00:45:02] Speaker A: Yeah, like an open bowl. [00:45:04] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. [00:45:05] Speaker A: Ice cream bowl. Bowl versus salad bowl. [00:45:08] Speaker D: Yeah, I don't know. [00:45:09] Speaker A: I just made that up. All right, very good. Anything else you guys want to get into? [00:45:13] Speaker D: Yeah. Did you see that, Rocco? [00:45:19] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:45:21] Speaker D: The guy that owns Fiorentina and. And more interestingly for American fans is that he owns. He owned the New York Cosmos brand. He's the one that. [00:45:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:30] Speaker D: Has been trying to make that a brand and basically killed the nasl, the more recent version of it. [00:45:34] Speaker B: And he owned the nso. [00:45:36] Speaker D: Did they own the whole thing? He was the one that. [00:45:37] Speaker B: He owned it just to get Cosmos going. [00:45:40] Speaker D: Yeah. He was suing multiple people in US Soccer and alleging, you know, monopolistic stuff. I mean, I don't know what's going to happen with all that, but certainly a guy that made waves in soccer, for sure. [00:45:53] Speaker A: I was aware of him because I'm a Fantina fan. But two, all of the people on social media that hate MLS the most were the ones who were all mourning his passing. [00:46:03] Speaker D: Oh, yeah, they love that guy. Yeah, I have. By the way, I've been to if you game. [00:46:08] Speaker A: I have too. It's a great stadium, isn't it? [00:46:10] Speaker D: Yeah. When I was there, they had knocked down one whole end and looked like they were bringing the stands in and getting rid of the track. [00:46:15] Speaker A: Yeah, the track used to be around it. [00:46:17] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. [00:46:19] Speaker A: Cool joint. [00:46:20] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. [00:46:22] Speaker A: All right. What else? Is there anything else you guys want to talk about. [00:46:26] Speaker D: It's all good. [00:46:27] Speaker A: Okay. You want to hear my Fiona kit Fiorentina kit story? [00:46:32] Speaker B: Sure. [00:46:33] Speaker A: So when we went to Florence, I went to go get a jersey because I. Fiorentina kits are cool. They're purple and. [00:46:39] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:46:40] Speaker A: And this particular season, Lacox Sportif was the supplier and they had a really, really nice shirt. But when I walked into the shop, the sponsor wasn't on the shirt. Fetto across the shirt. And I was. I was like, oh. And they asked me, I said, I want a shirt. I want an authentic. And they said, what badges do you want on it? And I said, I want it all. And they went, you. You want the sponsor on there? I was like. And they kind of looked at me and like, shook their head like, no, you. You don't want the sponsor on there. So it turns out that the owner of. And I. Maybe this was commissioned. I don't remember if it's the same guy or not. Owned a company that was also the sponsor of the club that was on the shirt. Fellow. Well, Filetto upset the fans because it is essentially the Italian version of Hoover vacuums. And they didn't like fetto, meaning the alternate term, you know, like the sucks is essentially what they didn't like. That being across the shirts. [00:47:43] Speaker D: We know what fetto means. Thank you. [00:47:45] Speaker B: Right. [00:47:45] Speaker A: Well, so if I didn't think about that, but imagine an MLS team having Hoover as their shirt sponsor. [00:47:53] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:47:53] Speaker A: That's essentially what was going on over there. So they. The. [00:47:57] Speaker B: The. [00:47:57] Speaker A: The agreement was that you could buy the jersey without the. The sponsorship on it. [00:48:02] Speaker D: That reminds me of one of the top 10 lists I did 15, 20 years ago of like the top 10 worst sponsors to have on your kit. And it was. That kind of thing would be one of them. [00:48:12] Speaker B: So while we're all kit ned and the next time wanted any of these soccer jersey resellers like Dallas Tifo Market is around. Are we all going to go and kind of kit nerd together? I had a good kit nerd with Armand. [00:48:27] Speaker A: They did one last weekend, didn't they? Yeah, yeah. Was it. Did you go? [00:48:31] Speaker D: I didn't get invited. [00:48:32] Speaker B: Was it good? They had a 96. Was it 96? It was a Colorado Rapids. The green one with like the. The Kappa one with all the. All the rapid stuff down the side. [00:48:45] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, Yeah. I was like, you don't need an invite, Buzz. It's an open deal. [00:48:49] Speaker B: Yes. A coffee shop. [00:48:50] Speaker D: You need an invite to go with Dan and Armand. [00:48:52] Speaker A: Well, I didn't either. [00:48:53] Speaker D: All right. [00:48:54] Speaker A: Did our. How many things did Armand buy? Because you know he's rich, huh? [00:48:59] Speaker B: Just one, actually. John Arnold bought him something as a thank you. [00:49:03] Speaker A: What did he buy? [00:49:05] Speaker B: Long sleeve, Louisiana. Galaxy David Beckham from his first season away. [00:49:11] Speaker A: Nice. So what was the Holy Grail or the thing that was available that loved the most that you didn't buy or couldn't buy? [00:49:22] Speaker B: You know, I was kind of iffy on the selection. There was a couple of supposedly signed Rivaldo Barcelona shirts. Seemed a little bit iffy for them just to be on a rack in a coffee shop. But there was some old US national team gear that was pretty cool. That, that Colorado Rapids one I thought was great. It was a 90. There was a 96 burn jersey. There was a 98, 99. What I died wasn't in great condition. There was a Tampa Bay Mutiny one that was. That was some pretty cool stuff. A lot of England stuff. There was a little bit of memory lane. It made me realize that I need to bring all my old soccer jerseys over from the UK and just make a shitload of money. [00:50:06] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:50:07] Speaker D: Armand showed a picture of a 94 World cup jacket from here. [00:50:11] Speaker A: I did see that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:50:13] Speaker B: It had like the flag design on the front and back. It looked really cool. [00:50:16] Speaker A: Is that something where it's just their collection of stuff or do people bring things themselves so you can trade or sell? [00:50:23] Speaker B: It was like five different vendors. So it's kind of like flea market set up. [00:50:29] Speaker A: Okay. [00:50:30] Speaker B: And then they're going to have another one at petty colas on the first of February. [00:50:34] Speaker D: Peter, what's your most obscure or rarest piece of FC Dallas merch that you. [00:50:38] Speaker A: You have FC specifically? Yeah, well, I have the. [00:50:44] Speaker D: Or MLS. Or MLS. [00:50:45] Speaker A: The Red 90. The Red 97 with the big horse on it. Yeah, I've got. I obviously have both the home and away 96 jerseys. The red nine. I've got, I've got the. Actually I've got the home and away 96, 97, 98 and then some various ones like the black Athleta Atletica third jersey. I've got one of those. What else do I have? That would be rare. [00:51:13] Speaker D: I have, I have the. I have a game worn black third athletica. [00:51:18] Speaker A: I have no game worn stuff. [00:51:19] Speaker D: I have a game worn Bobby Ryan NASL throwback game in New York. They were one game. It's a team sign. Bobby Ryan wore it and then not jersey. But I have, I worked on the first ever MLS cup for ABC. So I have the ABC Crew sweatshirt which like there were like 20 of them in the world. And I have that from working. That. [00:51:38] Speaker A: That's cool. [00:51:39] Speaker D: That's. That's what I've. [00:51:40] Speaker B: The. [00:51:41] Speaker A: The most. The most valuable shirt I have is I have the very, very hard to find and highly rare U.S. national team shirt, Don't Tread On Me Snake shirt that has the sash. It came out. They only wore it for one game, and somebody's offered me 500 bucks for it before. [00:52:02] Speaker D: Yeah. I have a Cooper and a Drew Moore game. Warren USA jerseys. [00:52:05] Speaker A: Yeah. Now, the crazy thing about that shirt with the sash is it is like asbestos. No, it's. It is like. [00:52:15] Speaker D: Oh, aesthetically cool. [00:52:16] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Yeah, it is. But it is the heaviest. It is like, the most ridiculously heavy material, and this is an authentic. They only made authentic versions of it. [00:52:26] Speaker D: Like the 97 burn one. Like that one. [00:52:28] Speaker A: No, no, no, no, no, no. It's not even like that. It's like this really weird when you look at it. It feels like it's light, and then you put it on, and it's like putting on a plastic bag. It's very strange. [00:52:38] Speaker D: That is very odd. [00:52:39] Speaker A: Yeah, it's real heavy, and it's kind of itchy. It's almost like wool. Yeah. [00:52:44] Speaker B: Do you remember man united in about 98? They had this blue, navy blue, with, like, silver pin hoops, and it felt like terry cloth. Is it kind of like. [00:52:56] Speaker A: I've never seen one in person, but I know what you're talking. [00:52:58] Speaker B: They actually had one at the. At the thing. Or was that. [00:53:00] Speaker A: Oh, really? Okay. Yeah, a friend of mine runs up there. Yeah, a friend of mine. My. A Norwegian friend of mine is a gift. Gave me a signed Norwegian national team. I think it's an Umbro jersey, long sleeve, but it's. No, it's not Lars. It's another Norwegian. [00:53:17] Speaker B: Two Norwegian friends. [00:53:18] Speaker A: I have two. This was. Yeah, this is Arna. Arna and he. And it's signed by. It's signed by what? I can't ever wear it out because it's got a big, giant signature on the chest. I can't remember who it is that's on it anyway. But it's. It's a cool jersey because it's designed to be worn in the winter, and it is like a thicker, like, winter dry fit. It's like, almost like a woolly. I'll have to show it to you someday, Dan. It's really, really cool, but it's designed for cold weather wear. Long sleeve, you. It's actually really pretty cool, but it's breathable. Like, it doesn't it's not like wearing a plastic bag like that US Jersey is. But that would be. Yeah, that US Jersey is probably the most rare thing that I own that. And I have one of those never sold or never worn by the team. Nike Chinese national team shirts they did with the Dragon. The black with the Dragon in it. They had. You know where they had them? They had him at the Nike store in North Park. [00:54:16] Speaker D: Yeah. Somebody grabbed one of the FC Dallas. The FC Dallas. When they would be doing a new kit, they would. The ones that were rejected, they would make three or four things like. What about these three or four you like? The three that were rejected would get sent prototype thinking. Would get sent to the Adidas thing. [00:54:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:54:33] Speaker D: And somehow I ended up with one or two of those one time from the early days of the hoops. So they picked them up for me. [00:54:38] Speaker A: That's the one that I have. That guy gave to me because his friend worked for Adidas is. I've got the never produced prototype. A long sleeve of the gray and blue. The gray and blue hoops from whatever year that was. [00:54:51] Speaker D: Must have gotten it from you. [00:54:52] Speaker A: Do you have a gray and blue hoop too? [00:54:54] Speaker D: Yeah. You must have shared it with me, I guess because I have the exact same or similar one. The gray and blue. [00:54:59] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:55:00] Speaker B: I need better hookups for jerseys, apparently. [00:55:02] Speaker A: You need what? [00:55:03] Speaker B: I need better hookups for jerseys, apparently. [00:55:06] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. I actually found that gray and blue hoop one the other day. It's funny about these shirt. These modern soccer shirts, they don't age well. Like, the materials get a little funky and if some of the. If they're not sewn on and they're, you know, adhesive, they start to fall off. And so have you. Have you taken to following any of the kit refurbisher guys on Instagram? Have you seen any of these, Buzz? Have you seen them, Dan? [00:55:37] Speaker B: Yeah, there's a guy whose stuff I always watch because I bought a 2003 DC United. It was Freddie Adu's first season jersey recently. And it's got. I want to remove the name set because it's all crumbly. But also the. It was when they did the printed stripes on the sleeves and they're a bit worse for wear, so I kind of wanted to look at. Nice. [00:56:01] Speaker A: So you send this, you send these dudes your shirt and he gives you a price for refurbishing them to make them look as new. And I guess, I guess he's printing these original name sets and stripes and stuff himself. And he's figured Out a way he'll like, shoots these videos of them scraping off the old sponsor logo, name, number, set, and then he completely. And then he cleans them, and then he completely represses them. And when he's done, I'm telling you, man, they look brand new. It's crazy. I don't know what he charges to do the work. You know, I don't know if you pay 100 bucks for the shirt and they cost you 400 bucks to get them refurbished or what, but it's. There's two. I think there's two different guys I've seen on Instagram that do that. [00:56:43] Speaker B: Very cool. [00:56:44] Speaker A: And I don't even know if Dan's one. If one of the two is the same one Dan's talking about. There could be tons of these people out there. [00:56:50] Speaker B: Some guy that. It's just some initials, like something Jay, I don't know. [00:56:55] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, something like that. And they always seem really enthusiastic because they're not from the States, they're over in the UK somewhere. And they always seem super excited when they get to do an mls. [00:57:04] Speaker B: Well, it seems like, as well, the one. The one I follow on on Facebook, he does, like a whatnot sale of all the, like, stuff that he picks up as well. [00:57:12] Speaker A: Well, cool. Yeah. Cool side business. Or maybe it's a full time. [00:57:17] Speaker D: I don't know. [00:57:17] Speaker A: Anyway. All right, all right, very good. Anything else? Nothing else. All right, very good. [00:57:26] Speaker D: Third Degree of the podcast is bright to you by our wonderful listeners as we enter our 29th season of coverage of FC Dallas and now the greater pro soccer scene in North Texas. Perhaps you would think about joining us here and give us Some [email protected] thirddegree if you like what we do on the Internet, both podcast and website, and our general news coverage of soccer, why don't you join us? Patreon.com 3rd Degree thanks again for your support, Dan. [00:57:54] Speaker A: Thank you, sir. [00:57:55] Speaker B: Thank you, Buzz. [00:57:57] Speaker A: Thank you, sir. [00:57:58] Speaker D: Oh, thanks, y', all for being here. And everybody stay safe with a big freeze this weekend between now and the next podcast, Big Freeze. [00:58:07] Speaker A: And thank you. DFW Soccer Area Curious. Wait. Thank you. DFW Soccer Curious. We'll speak to you next week or. Or whenever on the next episode of Third Degree, the podcast Stay Warm and Curious. [00:58:26] Speaker D: Yeah, that's totally staying in 3rd degree. [00:58:29] Speaker C: The 3rd degree NE podcast. 3rd degree. The 3rd Degree NE podcast. 3rd degree. The 3rd degree NEP podcast. 3rd degree. The third degree NEP podcast. Sam. [00:59:11] Speaker B: Sa.