Speaker 1: Eight Gardener's here, what is up?
Speaker 2: You're you got the uh, you got the the high
Speaker 2: Leo Franco kind of batting stance going here, you're ready
Speaker 2: to go?
Speaker 3: Man. I I used to switch batting stances up year
Speaker 3: by year. Uh just I mean sometimes I would go
Speaker 3: Ryan Klesco and I'd be wide open. Sometimes I'd close
Speaker 3: it up a little more. I kind of was a
Speaker 3: little bit like Ricky Henderson. I didn't really use my
Speaker 3: power a ton in in Little league and youth ball.
Speaker 3: But I mean just know that if I was on first,
Speaker 3: I may as well have been on third. Like I
Speaker 3: was going. I mean, I was taking second, and as
Speaker 3: soon as you overthrow the bag, I'm taking third. So
Speaker 3: I was aggressive on the basis.
Speaker 1: M h mm.
Speaker 2: Color me shocked, nothing like, nothing like, yeah, yeah, I was.
Speaker 2: I was the same way I was, you know, lefty batter,
Speaker 2: and so I would be like I was the third,
Speaker 2: fourth or fifth in the order, and so uh, I
Speaker 2: was the I was the kid that actually had the foresight.
Speaker 2: Because I don't know if this ever happened to you,
Speaker 2: but this is very opening kickoff you by the way.
Speaker 2: I don't know if when you were in Little league
Speaker 2: there was always that team that had the overage kids,
Speaker 2: and they like paid the league off so they could
Speaker 2: have the overage kids so they could.
Speaker 1: Win the league.
Speaker 2: And so this was like probably you know, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen.
Speaker 2: You always had that team that was paying off the league,
Speaker 2: and then you'd have like the thirteen fourteen, fifteen year
Speaker 2: old kids that were playing in the U twelve and
Speaker 2: they tried to win the league. So I was the
Speaker 2: kid that would go to the super fast batting cage
Speaker 2: knowing that that team was coming up and I was
Speaker 2: going to have a fifteen year old throwing at me,
Speaker 2: and I would be the only guy on my team
Speaker 2: to get a hit or much less contact with the
Speaker 2: ball because I'm to the super fast batting cage is
Speaker 2: in preparation. That's how hard too I was. When I
Speaker 2: was in middle school getting ready to play baseball.
Speaker 3: I spent the whole season of Little League just bunting
Speaker 3: what like like just bunting? What like just bunting?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I heard, I'm like, what right down?
Speaker 3: Just boo right down the third baseline. I'd reach every time.
Speaker 3: I was incredibly fast. They would never throw me out.
Speaker 3: I think I batted like nine to ninety three that year. Wow,
Speaker 3: And like I said, like, if I'm on first, I'm
Speaker 3: I'm I may as well be on third. And so
Speaker 3: I just I would just take first base on a
Speaker 3: perfect bunt. I mean I could put it right between
Speaker 3: the grass and the foul line. I mean, I was,
Speaker 3: I was, I put it right on the path and uh,
Speaker 3: even when the third baseman knew it was coming, just
Speaker 3: too good, man, it's too good.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 3: So the speed of the picture never really was a
Speaker 3: problem because I was just bunting one year. So it's
Speaker 3: like a.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's that is a revelation. I mean I was.
Speaker 2: I was a guy that would swing and I'd probably
Speaker 2: hit like three ninety seven or something. I was never
Speaker 2: a bunter, but I would always be the first guy
Speaker 2: to piss folks off.
Speaker 1: Man, always button in that baton nine ninety three.
Speaker 3: I only did it one year. I only did it
Speaker 3: one year. The next year, I let off the first
Speaker 3: game with like an over the fence home run, and
Speaker 3: then everyone's like, why the fuck were you button last year?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I mean I got on base, man, what do you
Speaker 3: want from me? I got on base?
Speaker 2: Oh wow, Oh that's fantastic. All right, So opening kickoff
Speaker 2: other question, how are you when it comes to Mondays?
Speaker 2: Because this morning, I mean I went to bed after
Speaker 2: watching that hyper painful American football game last night where
Speaker 2: I finally got to see what I need in my
Speaker 2: fantasy game tonight to try to get a win. And
Speaker 2: then everything was fine. Watched the wrap up show. But
Speaker 2: then my body is like up and running at like
Speaker 2: five five thirty just for no good reason. It's like
Speaker 2: it's up at like one thirty, three thirty and five
Speaker 2: thirty and it's ready to go.
Speaker 1: On a Monday.
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter how much sleep you do or don't get.
Speaker 2: Bodies just like yep, all right, time to go.
Speaker 3: It kind of depends on the day. Now. Yesterday I
Speaker 3: had a headache all day from a lack of sleep
Speaker 3: over the weekend. So like Sunday night, last night, I
Speaker 3: went to bed pretty early. I took some bio emblems
Speaker 3: sleeping or whoever, whatever thing I got there that's got
Speaker 3: melotonin and magnesium and all sorts of other nonsense. So
Speaker 3: I popped one of those and I went to bed.
Speaker 3: I was asleep by like nine p thirty. I pretty
Speaker 3: much slept all the way through till till seven am.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 3: And then I kind of just laid there for ten
Speaker 3: minutes till my alarm went off. But normally I'm I'm
Speaker 3: okay because and I didn't do it this morning because
Speaker 3: I know, I'm I'm going out for a run later today.
Speaker 3: But normally, like the first thing I do in the
Speaker 3: morning is like put the harness on, chipper the pump,
Speaker 3: and go for a run. So like, even if I
Speaker 3: kind of wake up struggling a little bit, like three
Speaker 3: miles kind of gets your body pumping a especially now
Speaker 3: as we get to Hey at seven am and it's
Speaker 3: still kind of cold outside, Like that'll that'll wake you up.
Speaker 3: So I'm pretty good in the mornings, I'm I'm. My
Speaker 3: issue was like the mid day, Like I'm the rare
Speaker 3: like early bird and night owl. Wow, that like that
Speaker 3: like chunk of time between like two thirty and like
Speaker 3: six thirty. Though, that's the toughest part of the day
Speaker 3: for me because the sports haven't really started on TV. Yet.
Speaker 3: But uh, you know, if I'm into a show, maybe
Speaker 3: that's that's why I spend that time. But yeah, that's
Speaker 3: what I get in trouble.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, for me, it's usually about four thirty
Speaker 2: or five o'clock when I start to kind of fade
Speaker 2: and I've got to put either push through it or
Speaker 2: just sit there and not do anything because I know
Speaker 2: that my productivity would go in the dumper. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm comparing notes on Mondays for everybody in the twitch
Speaker 2: pitch and abe and everybody that comes by this morning.
Speaker 2: So that's opening Kickoff brought to his buy our friends
Speaker 2: at Kickoff Coffee and Kickoff Coffeeco dot com. All Right,
Speaker 2: it is the last week of the regular season and
Speaker 2: made Juliue Soccer and it's math. It's math down here
Speaker 2: basically as we get closer to Friday and Saturday where
Speaker 2: it Landy United goes to Middle Florida takes on the
Speaker 2: Purple team, and there's got to be some work there
Speaker 2: that's got to get done. There's some math that's got
Speaker 2: to get figured out. If Atlanta United's going to get
Speaker 2: into be the nine and to go on the road,
Speaker 2: they could be the aid if things fall a certain way.
Speaker 2: Where are you and the conversations that you've had outside
Speaker 2: of ninety two nine, just casual and otherwise on social media,
Speaker 2: Where are you when it comes to this weekend? Where
Speaker 2: are those that you interact with coming into this weekend
Speaker 2: facing the purple team in the last week of the
Speaker 2: regular season.
Speaker 3: I'll be honest, I'm more worried about at Lanti United
Speaker 3: getting the own result that's necessary than the other teams.
Speaker 3: Like I think if at Landy United can get the
Speaker 3: three points they need, it will fall to them like
Speaker 3: they got. You know, obviously, it's it was huge that
Speaker 3: you're playing for two spots and not one spot, and
Speaker 3: so to me, it's more about Landy United and taking
Speaker 3: care of their own business. And look, last week they
Speaker 3: did take care of their own business, but there have
Speaker 3: been what three or four games before that where they
Speaker 3: had an opportunity to put themselves in better position by
Speaker 3: handling what was in front of them, not scoreboard watching,
Speaker 3: and they didn't do it. Now they looked out because
Speaker 3: for three straight weeks now they've had results for large
Speaker 3: most part go in their favor. There's been a result
Speaker 3: here or there that made it slightly different, but you know,
Speaker 3: four or five results that same weekend that kind of
Speaker 3: played in their advantage. So it's been more about themselves
Speaker 3: and finding the right opportunity to get points, and they've
Speaker 3: kind of kicked the can down the road. I know,
Speaker 3: I had called it point procrastination just kind of stayed
Speaker 3: alive in terms of their playoff hunt. But it's been
Speaker 3: more about them not finding their own points than about
Speaker 3: other teams, you know, hurting them in the playoff free
Speaker 3: So I feel pretty good about the other games that
Speaker 3: we're keeping attention to, But to me, it's about Atlanti
Speaker 3: and iighted like they've got to find a way to
Speaker 3: get their three points and at that point, if they
Speaker 3: get in, great, If they don't get in, because the
Speaker 3: other results don't fall away, you can't look at the
Speaker 3: other teams and what happened. You had so many opportunities
Speaker 3: in this last month of you know, mid September into
Speaker 3: now here mid in late October, you had opportunities to
Speaker 3: get points and for whatever reason, couldn't do it. So
Speaker 3: nobody else to blame but yourselves. And that's kind of
Speaker 3: the microcosmic going into this final game. You've got to
Speaker 3: do it yourselves, you know. It's kind of, you know,
Speaker 3: forget you, Joe, bu I'll do it myself. It's kind
Speaker 3: of it's kind of along those lines, like it's it's
Speaker 3: time to just you know, face the facts, look in
Speaker 3: the mirror, and go find three points. And you know,
Speaker 3: if the one thing that you were looking at, potentially
Speaker 3: result wise, was that there was an opportunity that all
Speaker 3: City would not have anything to play for Nashville, who
Speaker 3: was eliminated, couldn't help you out and take points from NYCFC,
Speaker 3: and so Orlando City. They've got a fight for their
Speaker 3: seating and their positioning in the standings, and so they're
Speaker 3: gonna be going after it too, and to an extent
Speaker 3: that might help you, right, it might open some things
Speaker 3: up that maybe wouldn't have been open. But obviously there's
Speaker 3: the other side that they're looking to score and potentially
Speaker 3: could threaten you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and this could be one where since both teams
Speaker 2: are chasing after something, you could have it where the
Speaker 2: governor has been pulled out of the golf cart and
Speaker 2: you're gonna end up with ninety minutes of like you know,
Speaker 2: looking at the US Open and one of these kind
Speaker 2: of things with Bolly's back and forth, the way things
Speaker 2: stand out, everybody's up to thirty three matches. We had
Speaker 2: the two matches this past weekend the makeups, and in
Speaker 2: the Eastern Conference, Columbus pretty much just wiped the floor
Speaker 2: with New England four nail the final there and Maton
Speaker 2: had a hat trick. Jason has been very very high
Speaker 2: on Alexandrama. So right now, Miami's locked into the one,
Speaker 2: Columbus is locked into the two, Cincinnati's locked into the three.
Speaker 2: So those three teams they can just kind of sit
Speaker 2: there and do whatever the heck they want. When it
Speaker 2: comes to the last game with the regular season, Miami
Speaker 2: is chasing after a points record, so their lineup might
Speaker 2: be a little different than say Columbus or Cincinnati coming
Speaker 2: up this weekend Orlando, as you say, right now, they
Speaker 2: are in the last home advantage spot. They are right
Speaker 2: now two points clear in the four. But once again
Speaker 2: NYC is going to be breathing down their neck because
Speaker 2: they're at fifty. That's the situation that is staring at Orlando.
Speaker 2: But then you end up with that trickle down. NYC's
Speaker 2: at fifty, Charlotte's at forty eight, Red Bulls at forty seven.
Speaker 2: So Red Bulls with a win and some help, could
Speaker 2: get to to you know, they could get to six
Speaker 2: because they would lose the tiebreaker with NYC because of
Speaker 2: straight wins fourteen to twelve.
Speaker 1: At that point, Charlotte could get up to five.
Speaker 2: You know that math is there for that DC and
Speaker 2: Montreal and Toronto who is out because they're done. Philly's
Speaker 2: at thirty seven, Atlanta's at thirty seven, DC, Montreal at
Speaker 2: forty four, teams two spot one win, separating a boatload
Speaker 2: of folks. Everybody else is out the door, and that's
Speaker 2: the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 1: It will be interesting watching.
Speaker 2: But I think to your point, this could be a
Speaker 2: game where, you know, if Orlando plays for a point,
Speaker 2: then they could be boring everybody the tears. But there's
Speaker 2: a danger in playing for just a point because then
Speaker 2: that point can turn into zero points just as quickly.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you kind of lost to me pretty early
Speaker 3: on in running through that, which is and that's a
Speaker 3: good thing and a bad thing. And I don't mean
Speaker 3: to disrespectfully, but like that's why I'm just focused on
Speaker 3: this game. And like, obviously, if you're a player, if
Speaker 3: you're Rob Valentino, you can't even try and look at
Speaker 3: the permittations and all that stuff. You just got to
Speaker 3: deal with yourselves. But you're right. The other thing about
Speaker 3: Orlando's in this one is it also might be like
Speaker 3: a modified push for points, right, Like they may try
Speaker 3: and be like all right, let's see what we can
Speaker 3: get in the first forty five, maybe the first sixty,
Speaker 3: But we do have this other season that we need
Speaker 3: to approach with the right mindset. Maybe we pulled back,
Speaker 3: and so it also might be a situation where if
Speaker 3: you can either have a lead into the sixtieth or
Speaker 3: seventieth minute, maybe even be in position for one point
Speaker 3: that Orlando City kind of pulls off, and they also
Speaker 3: will be schoolboard watching and seeing what the teams around
Speaker 3: them we're doing. So I don't think Atlanta United can
Speaker 3: get caught scoreboard watching and seeing how they need to
Speaker 3: or don't need to change their style of play. Or
Speaker 3: Orlando City will, though, and I think there is a
Speaker 3: situation where they they might kind of step off the
Speaker 3: gas the back third of this match. And if you're
Speaker 3: in the right position situation for Atlanta United, it may
Speaker 3: not be to your advantage the first forty five minutes,
Speaker 3: the first sixty minutes with Orlando pushing, but they might
Speaker 3: pull off. And so there's also an opportunity that you
Speaker 3: could play that game right where you play them even
Speaker 3: and then as they dial it down and prepare themselves
Speaker 3: for their own playoff race, maybe you could take advantage
Speaker 3: in the last twenty thirty minutes. So it's gonna be
Speaker 3: very interesting from that perspective to see how Orlando City
Speaker 3: does choose to manage this match. There's also I mean, look,
Speaker 3: they've got to be incredibly careful with any soft tissue,
Speaker 3: muscle injuries, stuff like that, So calf, groin, hamstring, quad,
Speaker 3: anything minor that maybe you would see guys try and
Speaker 3: fight through that. Maybe you would risk something that Lady
Speaker 3: United will have to do, risk those sorts of injuries
Speaker 3: to get the max points. Orlando City would would certainly
Speaker 3: play a little bit more careful there. They'd certainly rather
Speaker 3: give up whatever seeding they have than to exacerbate any
Speaker 3: injuries ahead of the playoffs. So certainly some benefits of
Speaker 3: this situation. But again it's just about Atlanta United finding
Speaker 3: the opportunities and you saw it, and this is what
Speaker 3: maybe is exciting. But at the same time, John, we
Speaker 3: haven't seen anything carry over game to game or any
Speaker 3: any sort of momentum or discussion like that. But Atlanti
Speaker 3: United came out last time with energy right from the start,
Speaker 3: and they looked really good in the first half. They
Speaker 3: did not score in the first half, but they looked
Speaker 3: really good, and you obviously need to get out on
Speaker 3: the front foot and look aggressive early, look like you're
Speaker 3: into the game a little bit. Don't play yourselves into it,
Speaker 3: like be into it when the first whistle goes. I
Speaker 3: thought they did that very well last week. It showed
Speaker 3: up in the stats and eventually in the second half
Speaker 3: showed up on the scoreboard as well.
Speaker 2: So then what are you looking at just a from
Speaker 2: a lineup perspective? I guess where are your concerns and
Speaker 2: or questions when it comes to the starting eleven And
Speaker 2: how would you if we're playing football man, how would
Speaker 2: you line things up?
Speaker 3: Well? Obviously, I think despite what Ronald Hernandez did, you
Speaker 3: certainly are bringing Brooks Lennon back into the starting lineup.
Speaker 3: I think that's obvious. I'm probably keeping most Scarra right
Speaker 3: from the start up on that left side, uh toront
Speaker 3: with Saba and then uh if Tra is good to go,
Speaker 3: I would I would run him out there as well,
Speaker 3: and and and continue. I know Rios has been very good,
Speaker 3: but I do like the most scare Tiray dynamic up front.
Speaker 3: Two guys who are very fast. They could both dribble
Speaker 3: a little bit. But but the speed just has to
Speaker 3: be contained, and so that's how I would probably start
Speaker 3: out there, and then you got your regular stuff, uh
Speaker 3: in the midfield. I mean, I guess there's maybe a
Speaker 3: discussion what you're doing. I would keep Moyaba on the bench.
Speaker 3: I think Jay Fortune has been outstanding there and you
Speaker 3: run him with with schleish And and morn Chuck in
Speaker 3: the midfield and and go about it that way. But
Speaker 3: there's gonna come a time where you have to get
Speaker 3: reckless in this game, and so I think you have
Speaker 3: to make your initial eleven man lineup set with the
Speaker 3: idea that you might have to make these certain switches
Speaker 3: at some point in the game. And so could you
Speaker 3: end up seeing Tira and Rios combined up top with
Speaker 3: this or that? And where does everyone else play into that?
Speaker 3: Could you eventually go to just three in the back
Speaker 3: instead of the four man back. I mean, there's all
Speaker 3: sorts of considerations Valentino has to think about ahead of
Speaker 3: time before you get desperate in real time, and then
Speaker 3: those adjustments have to be planned as necessary. So it
Speaker 3: is going to be interesting to see who he has.
Speaker 3: Like would it surprised me if Luke Brennan and I
Speaker 3: don't even know if he's available after his stop with
Speaker 3: the youth national team, if he's going to be bad,
Speaker 3: But it wouldn't surprise me to see him off the
Speaker 3: bench and in a situation where you need a goal late,
Speaker 3: like you just bring Brennan in, you bring Rios in,
Speaker 3: and you just you just try and overload, and to
Speaker 3: the detriment of like Stea Gregorson and Derek Williams, you're like, hey,
Speaker 3: you guys are you guys are on your own back there.
Speaker 3: We're just gonna do what we can and put eight
Speaker 3: in the box here pretty much the rest of the game. So, uh,
Speaker 3: it will be interesting to see both from the starting eleven,
Speaker 3: but also from who's available, you know, off the bench,
Speaker 3: and and and kind of those considerations that you have
Speaker 3: to consider ahead of time before and hope you don't
Speaker 3: actually have to face that situation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, it's a there's a there's a key to
Speaker 2: being in the rhythm of the game from the absolute
Speaker 2: beginning and then getting the advantage and then trying to
Speaker 2: sit on it as best you can, but making sure
Speaker 2: that if the game turns chaotic that at least you
Speaker 2: can you can control your version of the chaos and
Speaker 2: hopefully turn the other folks, uh chaos into even more
Speaker 2: chaos with what you can do.
Speaker 3: What always concerns me is the other aspect to that,
Speaker 3: where let's say you do score a first half goal,
Speaker 3: and maybe you are sixty minutes in and you're like,
Speaker 3: all right, let's go a little bit more defensive. Let's
Speaker 3: try and hold on to this lead. And maybe you
Speaker 3: bring in Dax McCarty to try and hold on, maybe
Speaker 3: you bring in Luisa brom to try and hold on,
Speaker 3: and then you give up a goal, right, and then
Speaker 3: you can see, like, that's the one thing that's always
Speaker 3: scared me, is making the defensive substitution. And then you
Speaker 3: find yourself with all these defensive guys in the game,
Speaker 3: but now you actually have to go find that goal again.
Speaker 3: And that's the one that always concerns me. So look,
Speaker 3: you're gonna get nitpicked. However it works out, if you're
Speaker 3: Rob Valentino and it doesn't play, I would not make
Speaker 3: defensive substitutions if you're holding a lead. I would still,
Speaker 3: you know, play smart, play intelligent, but don't try and
Speaker 3: short up too early. I'm not saying don't make the moves,
Speaker 3: but don't do it in the sixty fifth minute, don't
Speaker 3: do it in the seventieth minute. If you want to
Speaker 3: make that move, maybe a little closer to eighty eighty five.
Speaker 3: I think you could play that game. But don't give
Speaker 3: yourself a situation where you've got to find a goal
Speaker 3: with fifteen to twenty twenty five minutes left and you
Speaker 3: don't have the subs available to do it.
Speaker 1: Because what's better than a one goalie to two goalie
Speaker 1: last time?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll take four or five if they.
Speaker 2: Have it right there with you, brother, all right, So
Speaker 2: broadcast plans it's an odd kick at six o'clock apparently, Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know the broadcast plans yet.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So we're going live as always an hour before
Speaker 3: the game. It's going to be myself. I'll be with
Speaker 3: Joe Patrick on this one. So five o'clock starts the
Speaker 3: five stripes countdown, and as always, we'll have a full
Speaker 3: reaction to the full time report after the game. Hopefully
Speaker 3: we're talking about who we're matching up with in the
Speaker 3: first round of the playoffs. But you know, if we
Speaker 3: have to discuss, that's it for the season. Here's why,
Speaker 3: here's what happened, and what is this offseason going to
Speaker 3: look like we'll have that tough discussion as well, but
Speaker 3: hopefully we're we're looking towards the extension of the Atlanta
Speaker 3: United season. But yes, early game Decision Day, all the
Speaker 3: Eastern cop it's games kicking off at six o'clock Eastern,
Speaker 3: including the one right there at Intern Coast Stadium, terrible name.
Speaker 3: That's all right, but we'll have full coverage for you
Speaker 3: leading up to an hour before kickoff, so we'll be ready,
Speaker 3: and we might even sneak in a little bit of
Speaker 3: college football updates just to keep everyone, you know, abreast
Speaker 3: of the situations across the landscape.
Speaker 2: Yeah, DKR, I think the get in price at DKR
Speaker 2: this week right now is three hundred and sixty one
Speaker 2: dollars for some game involving Georgia and Texas. As always,
Speaker 2: my friend, great to have you bat and lead off
Speaker 2: with us every single week, and we will catch up
Speaker 2: with you. Actually, we will be listening to you on
Speaker 2: the weekend. We'll catch up with you same time next week.
Speaker 2: Post mortem one way or the other, we'll see you soon,
Speaker 2: my friend.
Speaker 3: It sounds good, John. Thanks always.
Speaker 1: There we go. That's a Abe.
Speaker 2: Abe has smashed the home run or at least he's
Speaker 2: bunted and he's made its way all the way to third.
Speaker 2: He's gonna get ready to be knocked in by the
Speaker 2: easy single by me back in the second. Here, always
Speaker 2: great to catch up with with Abe at nine two
Speaker 2: nine the game, and at Abe Gordon, and Abe has
Speaker 2: gone to go and become properly hydrated and so he
Speaker 2: can get in his day work and his roadwork and
Speaker 2: all the other kind of work that he does.
Speaker 1: Okay,