Speaker 1: See the problem with this bump is you can't step
Speaker 1: over it. You have to let it play. Did you
Speaker 1: pick this, Chris? This is James Penn approved.
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, a little Phil Collins on a Wednesday afternoon,
Speaker 2: Chris Camaradie live in STUDIOK happy Wednesday.
Speaker 1: How are you?
Speaker 3: I'm good man. How are you?
Speaker 1: I'm good? You look a little weathered.
Speaker 3: It's been it's been a while since I've been in studios.
Speaker 3: We had we had kind of had a gap where
Speaker 3: everybody was going every which way the last month or so. Indeed,
Speaker 3: I thank.
Speaker 2: You, but I'm gonna get there. I'm gonna get there.
Speaker 2: I was out of town. We had big twelve media days.
Speaker 2: Then I did the Portland thing, Love Portland, and then
Speaker 2: officiated the wedding.
Speaker 1: You have been well.
Speaker 2: Last time we had you on the show, you were
Speaker 2: starting the eight day journey of keeping a young person
Speaker 2: alive by yourself, which is why maybe the sleep pattern
Speaker 2: has been a little disrupted. So now that you've been
Speaker 2: a single father for eight days, what sort of lessons
Speaker 2: can you bestow upon the people?
Speaker 3: Well, if you when in doubt, if you are feeling
Speaker 3: like the world is crushing you at the moment. Remember
Speaker 3: that we have the luxury of for the most part,
Speaker 3: this thing called streaming, and if you need to breather,
Speaker 3: turn on some very annoying cartoon, which I tried not
Speaker 3: to do, but there were times where you just needed
Speaker 3: to do the the woosaw, you know, and just relax,
Speaker 3: walk away and never have You can never have too
Speaker 3: many bars or snacks, fruit bars, Z bar, kids z bars,
Speaker 3: you know, the breakfast bars. It goes a very long way,
Speaker 3: so bars and television.
Speaker 1: Basically Amanda has arrived home, so you have been rescued. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's.
Speaker 2: A different I can remember the first time I had
Speaker 2: solo duty when Connor was about Leo's age. There's some anxiety,
Speaker 2: you know, like there's like, okay, we got we gotta
Speaker 2: make sure this goes well. I always get a kick
Speaker 2: out of, you know, because you reference the screens yep,
Speaker 2: and look, it's just inevitable. Every parent uses it and
Speaker 2: the only people that complain about it are people without children.
Speaker 1: I always got a kick out of like I was.
Speaker 2: I think I was the first person in my friend
Speaker 2: group to become a parent, And I always get a
Speaker 2: kick out of, like advice I would get for my
Speaker 2: single friends that have never had children. It's like, you
Speaker 2: don't know, so cut it out. So the people that
Speaker 2: clutch their pearls over screens simply do not have children.
Speaker 3: I was. I mean, the most humbling life experience, without
Speaker 3: a doubt, is becoming a parent, one hundred percent on
Speaker 3: a multitude of levels. And I had all of my
Speaker 3: preconceived notions squashed into the ground, like the bottom of
Speaker 3: a you know, a shoe at a rusted root concert,
Speaker 3: like just going boom squishing a bug. I guess they
Speaker 3: would they wouldn't squish.
Speaker 2: And there are no shoes allowed. Yeah, sorry, we're all
Speaker 2: in bare feet.
Speaker 3: Maybe I'll just go something more basic like pearl jam. So, yes,
Speaker 3: there was once upon a time that was me. And then,
Speaker 3: of course you you get thrust into it and then
Speaker 3: you realize, oh, I just have to make sure that
Speaker 3: I can get through the day, and maybe not even
Speaker 3: the day at the next hour, right, maybe not even
Speaker 3: the next hour, the next ten minutes.
Speaker 1: It's moment by moment at times.
Speaker 2: Yeah, now there's this great Louis Louis c K bid
Speaker 2: saw Louis c K and Ogett called, oh so you
Speaker 2: didn't end up phenomenal? I know that we've got to
Speaker 2: be like, hey, the stuff he did isn't okay. All right,
Speaker 2: He's still very funny. Yeah, but he has this great
Speaker 2: bid where it's like, yeah, before you become a parent,
Speaker 2: you're like, I will show my child the wonders of
Speaker 2: the world and we will always be doing. And then
Speaker 2: you become a parent, You're like, oh my gosh, how
Speaker 2: do I keep it alive? Like that's that's the day
Speaker 2: to day goal, to make sure you're not.
Speaker 1: Screwed it up.
Speaker 3: Yeah, breakfast parts and television.
Speaker 1: I'm happy for you, and I'm proud of you. Thank you.
Speaker 2: And the weather thing was a bit. I just know
Speaker 2: you're coming off the eight day stretch where you had to,
Speaker 2: you know, kind of hang out with Leo and make
Speaker 2: sure everything went well. So welcome home, Amanda. Glad you survived,
Speaker 2: all right, c K. Tomorrow is the opening of the
Speaker 2: summer transfer window in the world of Major League Soccer.
Speaker 1: We'll get to some college football. Everybody. It's okay.
Speaker 3: The Score Act. Please don't ask me, because I have
Speaker 3: no idea.
Speaker 2: You don't want to talk about the Score Act. You
Speaker 2: want to talk about collective collective bargaining and unionizing and such.
Speaker 2: All right, that is stuck in Washington. It is probably
Speaker 2: not going to go through. Matt Brown joined us. Last
Speaker 2: segment we covered all that we're gonna do, thank you.
Speaker 2: So it's been interesting. Pablo a couple weeks ago, hops
Speaker 2: on the show. He's like, we're going to sign for
Speaker 2: four players, so we're expecting four players. Kurt's a little
Speaker 2: more tempered, Jason's like everybody's dad. It's hard to exactly
Speaker 2: understand exactly how this is going to go.
Speaker 1: What are you expecting once the window opens?
Speaker 2: Multiple players, what positions, and what do you think it
Speaker 2: means for RSL?
Speaker 3: So, based on reports internationally and based off what I've
Speaker 3: been told, rsel's planning on bringing in two number nine
Speaker 3: one out and out number nine old school throwback center
Speaker 3: forward yep, doesn't necessarily need to beat guys one on one,
Speaker 3: but is there for uh service from the wide area. Indeed,
Speaker 3: Alex Catron swingers exactly. And then another guy, Ruwan Cruz
Speaker 3: who's been at Botafogo, a club that RSL is too
Speaker 3: familiar with because they moved for since Avarino there and
Speaker 3: then your guy uh Elias what was it Ilias manuel Man, Yeah,
Speaker 3: ended up going there after saying he didn't want to
Speaker 3: come here. So it sounds like those two are either
Speaker 3: done or close to being done. And then if that's
Speaker 3: the case, it's a fascinating decision because clearly that means
Speaker 3: that the club is not satisfied with what your guy,
Speaker 3: and you have many guys, Big Willie goals, Big Willy
Speaker 3: goals has been has been able to to add to
Speaker 3: the mix. I think he has two goals to okay,
Speaker 3: but he has the ability to hold up he does
Speaker 3: but this, but this, but this new guy apparently who
Speaker 3: I think you pronounced his name last week correctly, Victor Olatunji. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 3: younger twenty five years old, had a decent year at
Speaker 3: Sparta Prague, which is, you know, one of the better
Speaker 3: lower level clubs at a lower level in Europe. But yeah,
Speaker 3: it's an interesting move. I wonder if it changes how
Speaker 3: Pablo wants to play. I wonder if one of those
Speaker 3: guys will be more tactfully tactically sorry ambiguous, meaning like
Speaker 3: they can play different spots or or if you know,
Speaker 3: Pablo has to change formation. Basically, they're not They're not
Speaker 3: a good offensive team. They haven't been all year. Their
Speaker 3: best offensive player was gone for five weeks and they
Speaker 3: as we saw last week against Cincinnati, they were the
Speaker 3: better team against one of the better teams in MLS,
Speaker 3: but they weren't able to score any goals.
Speaker 2: So go ahead, No, No, I was gonna say, I'm
Speaker 2: just looking for this secondary story because we talked about
Speaker 2: the old Tony kid.
Speaker 1: Is the only Tunji kid the true strike? Yes, oh
Speaker 1: he is? Yeah, okay, yep.
Speaker 2: So what I was going to say is, yesterday on
Speaker 2: the show, Pablo referred to the two attacking players as
Speaker 2: a nine and a nine and a half.
Speaker 3: So yeah, so yeah, there's your there's your there's your tactical,
Speaker 3: ambiguous player who can probably step in on the wing
Speaker 3: or play the ten. Because I think while a lot
Speaker 3: of people have fallen in love with the idea that
Speaker 3: Diego is a ten, I think he is another guy
Speaker 3: that can just float because of the amount of hard
Speaker 3: work rate that he puts in nice you know, track
Speaker 3: back on defense exactly, and Diego Gonzalbez, outside of his
Speaker 3: winner against Portland just hasn't cut it. Last week, he
Speaker 3: was very bad. He brought a lot of promising attacking
Speaker 3: plays to a screeching hall against Cincinnati. Yes, by you know,
Speaker 3: due to his indecision. So yeah, and nine and nine
Speaker 3: and a half makes sense. But you know, oursel once
Speaker 3: again is banking on the summer transfer window in order
Speaker 3: to put wind in their sales. And I think that's
Speaker 3: a very dubious ass considering international players who come over
Speaker 3: in the summer do not exactly hit the ground running
Speaker 3: in this league. We talked about that ad nausea.
Speaker 2: And we've seen it here. Yeah, like multiple times. The
Speaker 2: Mark Souit stuff is weird.
Speaker 3: Man, Like, they bet on a bunch of guys after
Speaker 3: the sale of Andrescomaz. They didn't pan out. I mean,
Speaker 3: it's it's a bunch of swings and misses.
Speaker 1: But I did feel like there were moments with There.
Speaker 3: Were moments, Yeah, but it hasn't been for a very
Speaker 3: long time.
Speaker 2: No, And Jason, when I get honest, Jay, excuse me,
Speaker 2: when I get honest, Jason's it's a good time. He
Speaker 2: essentially said he's been horrible since he came back from Poland.
Speaker 1: I wonder if it's homesickness.
Speaker 2: It's just another example of a guy that signed in
Speaker 2: a summer window and you're like, wait a second, he's
Speaker 2: got some stuff and it just hasn't panned.
Speaker 3: Out, hasn't panned out. Yeah, Diogo, Lachlan Brook your guy,
Speaker 3: you gotta I'll take I'll take Lachlan, my guy, Lachlan Brook,
Speaker 3: who I would imagine it's not long for RSL on
Speaker 3: the crest of the shirt. And Dominic Marxi, who they
Speaker 3: believed the cell of originally was. Look what we just
Speaker 3: did with Andres. This can be your path and conceivably
Speaker 3: it works if you're able to I don't know, put
Speaker 3: everything that you're asked to put in training sessions and
Speaker 3: style of play into into into purpose. But we know
Speaker 3: that it took Andres over a year with Pablo to
Speaker 3: to have everything click. But not every player has the
Speaker 3: pace that Andres has, or like the finishing ability he was,
Speaker 3: you know, one of the top assist makers in the
Speaker 3: league last year before he moved. So three swings and
Speaker 3: misses last summer on the wake of in the wake
Speaker 3: of Andres sales, So now you have to wonder you're
Speaker 3: bringing in two guys from from overseas. Can they step
Speaker 3: in and alleviate the pressure from Diego Luna because outside
Speaker 3: of Diego there just isn't much and Xavier Gozo it's
Speaker 3: been good, but he's you watch him, he's still a
Speaker 3: very young kid. You can still tell that he's maybe
Speaker 3: trying to do it all on his own way too often,
Speaker 3: which you know is part of the learning curve. Diego
Speaker 3: was like that a few years ago, which is why
Speaker 3: you know fans were up up in arms because you know,
Speaker 3: they were mad that Pablo was starting. I can't even
Speaker 3: remember guys that weren't that aren't even on the team anymore.
Speaker 3: Over over Diego, and you know, it takes some time.
Speaker 3: So if if RSL can find a way to get
Speaker 3: these guys in the mix, understanding how Pablo wants to
Speaker 3: play and acclimate it quickly, then they have a chance.
Speaker 3: But like you asked me last week, if if you
Speaker 3: know that that decent run of form, the four games,
Speaker 3: unbeaten or whatever has me changing my thoughts about the
Speaker 3: ceiling of this team. The Cincinnati game was kind of
Speaker 3: a perfect encapsulation of of who the team is this year.
Speaker 1: Pablo.
Speaker 2: Also, I'm trying, I'm trying to think because you brought
Speaker 2: up Pablo not starting Diego because there was chi Cho,
Speaker 2: there was Andres, there was Matt Crooks, and then there
Speaker 2: was a spot that Diego did fill, but it wasn't consistent.
Speaker 2: Pablo also referenced the potential of adding to the back line,
Speaker 2: which I thought was interesting because defensively they have been
Speaker 2: pretty stout. Rafa has been the best player probably outside
Speaker 2: of Diego on the roster.
Speaker 1: So if if if we say.
Speaker 2: They're bringing in the nine, the nine and a half,
Speaker 2: we'll use my guy, Pobs, he's my guy.
Speaker 1: We'll use his language.
Speaker 2: Uh, And then they're gonna make an addition to the
Speaker 2: back line. Let's say it's three editions. What do you
Speaker 2: think that total spend will be? Because we talked about
Speaker 2: this yesterday, I think the Millers have an opportunity to
Speaker 2: really gain some brownie points with the fan base that
Speaker 2: is understandably skeptical, skeptical about ownership and their unwillingness to spend.
Speaker 2: For all the promises of the Blitzer Smith group, they
Speaker 2: didn't spend. You know, they did a little here or there,
Speaker 2: but then they ended up selling for a premium and
Speaker 2: didn't reinvest the money into the team.
Speaker 1: And I don't think that sits well with fans.
Speaker 2: So what do you think the spend looks like and
Speaker 2: what do you think the Millers could do during this
Speaker 2: window to maybe endear themselves to RSL fans that are waiting.
Speaker 3: Right it looks to be on the surface right now,
Speaker 3: pretty similar to standard RSL spending practices reports out of Europe.
Speaker 3: Is you know two and a half I think for
Speaker 3: all atun Gi. I don't know if our guy Tommy
Speaker 3: Scoops has has been able to confirm that or not.
Speaker 1: I haven't seen anything, but that is kind.
Speaker 3: Of on part with what RSEL you know buys players
Speaker 3: for like I think Mark Zuk was one five Ish
Speaker 3: Diogo was three, I think, and you know when you
Speaker 3: get for the for the cruise guy coming from Boda Fogo,
Speaker 3: it's a little different because the loan option you don't
Speaker 3: really have to pay all that much, but then you
Speaker 3: can loan with an intent to potentially buy, so they'll
Speaker 3: they'll get a player on loan and then Botafogo his
Speaker 3: club will say if you like him enough, this is
Speaker 3: our price point, and if you want to buy him
Speaker 3: at the end of his loan spell, this is how
Speaker 3: much you have to pay Now. I would imagine that
Speaker 3: will be much higher because of you know, Botafogo is
Speaker 3: one of the best teams in Brazil. This kid, by
Speaker 3: all accounts, has promise young player, big stout guy. But
Speaker 3: if they bring in the third player, I would imagine
Speaker 3: it could be within the league, maybe through a trade
Speaker 3: mechanism or if they are going to add a right
Speaker 3: back or whatever. You're not going to necessarily break the
Speaker 3: bank at that position. But all in all, if you're
Speaker 3: if you're talking about money spent, I would be stunned
Speaker 3: if oursel goes over five million this summer transfer window total?
Speaker 1: Is it Rwan Cruise?
Speaker 3: I believe It'swan Cruiser.
Speaker 2: Okay, our guy Tommy has nothing on it, but I
Speaker 2: have some info on him in front of me. Yeah,
Speaker 2: big kid twenty four and I think the old Atanja
Speaker 2: kid is twenty five.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 2: So Jason and Kurt and Pablo have been pretty consistent
Speaker 2: that they're not looking for some quick fix. They want
Speaker 2: to add to the group that could essentially grow together
Speaker 2: because it is a young core.
Speaker 1: I guess these moves would indicate that that's the direction.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but it's again, it's it's asking a lot, and
Speaker 3: I would argue too much for two brand new players
Speaker 3: and to come in to gel with guys that they've
Speaker 3: never met, to play in a new country that they've
Speaker 3: never met, to get on those you know flights and
Speaker 3: fly all over the country and get used to the
Speaker 3: the the weather conditions and all those various dynamics that
Speaker 3: you face here versus everywhere. I guess Brazil, you're you're
Speaker 3: you're hauling quite a bit. It's a huge country. But
Speaker 3: like my point is is that more often than not,
Speaker 3: you need all types of international players to be in
Speaker 3: if you're going to bring them in in the in
Speaker 3: the true off season in order for them to have
Speaker 3: a full off season with the team. But that doesn't
Speaker 3: always work out, as we've seen in previous years. Sometimes
Speaker 3: you just kind of have to take take what you get.
Speaker 3: But yeah, oursel is they're put they're putting their chips
Speaker 3: in on the attack, which they knew that they had
Speaker 3: to do, so time will tell if it pays off.
Speaker 1: What was your highlight from the MLS Skills Challenge last night?
Speaker 1: What was your favorite moment?
Speaker 3: Oh, Diego hitting, hitting the hitting the targets.
Speaker 1: Did you watch it?
Speaker 3: I saw a clip on the internet.
Speaker 1: I didn't watch it.
Speaker 3: No, No, Messy though, MESSI was like, I'm not doing
Speaker 3: this and.
Speaker 1: He's not playing tonight either. I mean, I guess, very.
Speaker 3: Very you don't blame him, but it's hilarious that this dude,
Speaker 3: basically and we knew this was going to be the case.
Speaker 3: He gets to call his own shots like at a
Speaker 3: level that no other professional player maybe in the history
Speaker 3: of sports, has been able to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I know this is a false equivalency, but
Speaker 2: I do harken back to the Beckham experiment. Shout out
Speaker 2: ground Wall, Rest in Peace ye great book, by the way, yep.
Speaker 2: And I was tremendously impressed at how much Beckham got it.
Speaker 2: He knew why he was there, right, and so he
Speaker 2: showed up wherever they asked him to show up.
Speaker 1: He showed up.
Speaker 2: You're playing in the All Star Game, you're making this
Speaker 2: road trip. And did he get hurt?
Speaker 1: Of course.
Speaker 2: But and again I know it's a false equivalency because
Speaker 2: Beckham is not messy, because nobody's messy. But you think
Speaker 2: MLS is recouping what they hoped to recoup based off
Speaker 2: of the investment.
Speaker 3: That's a great question, I wonder, And this will come
Speaker 3: out probably in the coming years, like what the Apple
Speaker 3: deal really was able to accomplish, if, if anything at all.
Speaker 1: I don't I don't think the returns have been great.
Speaker 3: I don't. By all accounts, probably not. But the reality
Speaker 3: is is you're able to sign the best player of
Speaker 3: all time and bring him in. But we talk about this,
Speaker 3: We talked about this damn topic all the time. Is
Speaker 3: soccer going to change in this country because of A
Speaker 3: B C or D? No, it's not. It's awesome. If
Speaker 3: Messi came here, you and I would be like, how
Speaker 3: do we get on the train and go to aff
Speaker 3: and maybe go get some Costa Vita and you know,
Speaker 3: enjoy the night question. Yeah that's right, Yeah, yeah, I
Speaker 3: like it. But it's outside of him making a few
Speaker 3: appearances on PTI every once in a while. Like it
Speaker 3: just it. It was awesome. It is awesome, But it's not.
Speaker 3: It's not going to ever it's going to pale in
Speaker 3: comparison to what Beckham did. I think, just because where
Speaker 3: the league was at the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Beckham's continued investment in the league and continued
Speaker 2: involvement in the league and desire to spend time here.
Speaker 1: It it really was.
Speaker 2: As much as the Beckham thing could have worked as
Speaker 2: a game changer, it actually did. I don't know that
Speaker 2: the league could have milked anything else out of that
Speaker 2: whole situation because he was such an ambassador and he
Speaker 2: was so nice. It was the wildest thing to talk
Speaker 2: to David Beckham, this global superstar, global celebrity.
Speaker 1: His celebrity at the time may have out taste his
Speaker 1: soccer So handsome, good looking dude.
Speaker 2: Yep, weird, high pitched voice, but so nice like when
Speaker 2: he when we had him here, every time he was here,
Speaker 2: he could not have been better the league really better.
Speaker 3: Fact, I told you my story right about at the story.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and ic these stores by the.
Speaker 3: Way, shout out Virgin Megastore at the Gateway for sure.
Speaker 3: Great great location. I mean, the Gateways making a comeback
Speaker 3: a little bit, is it. I'm gonna give it. I'm
Speaker 3: gonna give it to too. They got a cool little
Speaker 3: food cord down there. But yeah, me and David Beckham
Speaker 3: the only people in the Virgin Megastore on like a
Speaker 3: Tuesday and just me just being like hey man, and
Speaker 3: he was like, hey, how's it going on?
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, cool, No, that's rad.
Speaker 2: The kids will never understand the era in life where
Speaker 2: you heard one good song and then had to go
Speaker 2: pay seventeen ninety nine for a CD. It mostly sucked
Speaker 2: that Sadur of Born good song. Spotify would have saved
Speaker 2: me so much money.
Speaker 3: That's a good way. That's a good point. We should
Speaker 3: rank our top five underwhelming album purchases of all time
Speaker 3: next week. I will come back. That's a good one.
Speaker 1: I'll have to think about that one.
Speaker 3: That's a good one. We can even put in a
Speaker 3: little breakout graphic. Top five, you know, top five spans
Speaker 3: top five. Chris, I like it. Let's do top Let's
Speaker 3: do it on Wednesday.
Speaker 2: I I have one answer right off the top of
Speaker 2: my head. Okay, I was in high school and h
Speaker 2: driving home basketball practice. I believe and hold my hand
Speaker 2: from Hooty and the Blowfish came on the radio. Don't
Speaker 2: look at me that way. I'm being vulnerable and honest here,
Speaker 2: my guy. I'm like, I like this song. I'm gonna
Speaker 2: go buy a Hoodie in the Blowfish CD.
Speaker 1: And it sucked. It was a bad, bad move.
Speaker 3: Is Hoody and the Blowfish the worst jam band of
Speaker 3: the nineties?
Speaker 1: Don't call them a jam band, please, They're not.
Speaker 3: How about the most the biggest failed attempt at a jam?
Speaker 2: Yes, that's yeah, that's accurate. String cheese incident maybe on
Speaker 2: the list as well. See this is what you do now,
Speaker 2: it's all I'm thinking about the top five most underwhelming
Speaker 2: albums of all time.
Speaker 1: All right, final RSL thing.
Speaker 2: We'll do some college football coming up on the other side,
Speaker 2: because you reference, you know, last year summer transfer window,
Speaker 2: three pretty big swings and three pretty big misses. And maybe,
Speaker 2: like we have to be fair, Diego has been better.
Speaker 2: But he could not have been worse. Like if it
Speaker 2: was worse, he probably already would be on his way
Speaker 2: somewhere else.
Speaker 1: See, that's how bad it was for a while.
Speaker 3: Or they can't get anybody to take him.
Speaker 1: Also a possibility.
Speaker 2: Do you think it deserves a little more credit for
Speaker 2: the I think it was three years, four years on
Speaker 2: the job as the g.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I mean we listen. He was there when
Speaker 3: they were basically being run by the league during the
Speaker 3: Deloitte fiasco. He facilitated bringing in guys like even though
Speaker 3: he would eventually become a locker room headache, like Sinceavno
Speaker 3: is one of the most talented players that's ever played.
Speaker 3: For sure, like I think right now, I know, I
Speaker 3: know your guy Jason is all about vibes in the crest.
Speaker 3: RSL would take a Sava Reno, right now like, it's not,
Speaker 3: there's no question so and I know they had a
Speaker 3: pass with him because he left, then came back and
Speaker 3: left again. But yes, Elliott deserves some flowers.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and the results bear it out. And we'll see
Speaker 2: what this new window brings the club. Right now, they're
Speaker 2: still on the outside looking in, but have a chance
Speaker 2: to make the postseason.
Speaker 1: If you can make the playoffs, you never know what
Speaker 1: could happen.
Speaker 2: Getting weird on a Wednesday with little George Michael. I
Speaker 2: don't hate it, Chris Camaraddi live in studio, any motivations
Speaker 2: with you landing on this George Michael track and you're
Speaker 2: talking to a George Michael fan.
Speaker 1: I don't apologize.
Speaker 3: You asked for eighties music. It's a good one, it is,
Speaker 3: and it is part of lots of silly, bad nineties
Speaker 3: comedy movies. The first one that comes to mind this
Speaker 3: night at the Roxberry, the Roxbury, Like, yeah, it's it's
Speaker 3: and it's a good I mean, it works.
Speaker 2: I don't have to tell you this, Chris, but we
Speaker 2: are thirty eight days away from kickoff from the top Fall.
Speaker 3: Where did the summer a go? I'm depressed?
Speaker 2: I know, man, we blink and it's here. We still
Speaker 2: have a good few months of warm No, yeah, for.
Speaker 3: Sure, but there's I don't know. The summer I feel
Speaker 3: like is getting shorter as we get older.
Speaker 1: That's fair, okay, But you're going to be on assignment soon.
Speaker 2: Any exciting athletic college football endeavorage you'd like to inform
Speaker 2: us about.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, I'm going to be going to the air
Speaker 3: Lingis Classic or whatever it's called in Dublin, Ireland for
Speaker 3: week zero of college football Iowa State Kansas State, which
Speaker 3: is known in some circles as the Pharmageddon Rivalry never been.
Speaker 3: My assignment is to go over and figure out how
Speaker 3: college football is landing in the homeland, even though I
Speaker 3: might not look like it. I'm fifty percent Irish.
Speaker 1: Are Irish?
Speaker 3: Yeah okay, yeah, so might have to go find my
Speaker 3: ancestry somewhere. I'll get to be there for I mean,
Speaker 3: it's cool, but it's also like going international for three
Speaker 3: and a half days. My brain and body will be
Speaker 3: not in a great place.
Speaker 1: Takes a minute to recalibrate, correct.
Speaker 3: So yeah, that's that's on the horizon. So yeah, you
Speaker 3: talked about thirty eight days. So Utah kicks off I'm
Speaker 3: going to be on a flight across the pond much
Speaker 3: earlier than that.
Speaker 2: That sounds exciting. I have an aunt who is very
Speaker 2: adapted geneology. If you get me to put you in.
Speaker 3: Touch with her, is does she work for the company
Speaker 3: they got hacked?
Speaker 1: I don't believe.
Speaker 3: So.
Speaker 2: I feel like every extended LDS family has one or
Speaker 2: two family members that just crush genealogy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, do you have one? I don't, but maybe I'll
Speaker 3: get your aunt's contact info.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you put you in touch with the
Speaker 2: folk who you need to go say hello?
Speaker 3: Do they find them?
Speaker 1: I have no idea.
Speaker 3: See, like that's where I'm I understand the internet is
Speaker 3: awesome but also dark and scary. Indeed, how do you
Speaker 3: I guess I'll just have to entrust him. I mean,
Speaker 3: there is that one show where they have the celebrities
Speaker 3: on and they like they track their their ancestry, and
Speaker 3: it's been like, you know, they get celebrities on and
Speaker 3: do all that thing. But I just don't know, like,
Speaker 3: who's trying to care about me? But maybe the internet does.
Speaker 2: It's a good question. I honestly don't know the method
Speaker 2: behind the madness. But my aunt is insanely organized. Like
Speaker 2: every year at our reunion we do the thing.
Speaker 3: She based in Utah.
Speaker 2: She lives in Arizona, now okay, but she rolls up
Speaker 2: for the family reunion.
Speaker 1: Then we sit down and.
Speaker 3: We learn about I Will thank You.
Speaker 2: Are you as obsessed with this astronomer ceo cold Play
Speaker 2: story as I?
Speaker 3: Admittedly when I was in the throes of parenthood solo
Speaker 3: last week, I missed it originally, but I finally caught
Speaker 3: on and very funny. Apparently RCEL had a pretty good
Speaker 3: fangag did at their expense last week Listen man can't
Speaker 3: get caught Slipping and Chris Martin, I don't know. I
Speaker 3: don't know if if if if he had a if
Speaker 3: there's a vendetta in play here, or if he just
Speaker 3: saw somebody who looked really happy and was like, I'm
Speaker 3: happy for those guys, But I don't.
Speaker 2: Know that there was anything militious behind it looked like
Speaker 2: a lovely couple experiencing a Coldplay concert.
Speaker 3: For about point five seconds.
Speaker 2: There's so many incredible angles here, like the fact that
Speaker 2: the woman is the head of HR for the company
Speaker 2: just makes it. Yes, shout out John Paul Chef's kiss
Speaker 2: unless I've missed something because the other thing there was
Speaker 2: like a statement that was going around that turned out
Speaker 2: to be fake that the Astronomer CEO apparently released, but
Speaker 2: then it wasn't his statement, So I don't really know
Speaker 2: what the latest is. Apparently he's been fired. The board
Speaker 2: got together and was like, this is a bad look.
Speaker 2: My favorite part is the woman's husband has said nothing.
Speaker 2: I'm just kind of obsessed with this dude, Like I
Speaker 2: wonder if it's like a get out of jail free
Speaker 2: card for him, if he's like free last, free last.
Speaker 3: Or if he's like can I get free Coldplay tickets
Speaker 3: out of this?
Speaker 2: They're gonna get paid. The CEO's wife, she's gonna make
Speaker 2: some cash. Never heard is it astronomer astronomer?
Speaker 3: What is the company?
Speaker 2: I don't know see is this good for that company?
Speaker 2: In the day and age where currency is attention? Is
Speaker 2: it actually something that will benefit the company?
Speaker 3: Maybe maybe a blip, but I want to say it's
Speaker 3: like an AI thing, but maybe I'm wrong.
Speaker 1: The whole thing is just I don't know.
Speaker 2: It's sad in a way but also very comical in
Speaker 2: a way that that's how they were out it. I
Speaker 2: do not have a stomach for cheaters. But you know,
Speaker 2: anyway back to college football. So speaking of cheatings, yeah,
Speaker 2: talk about a segue where we go back to college football.
Speaker 2: We are right around the corner Big ten Media Days
Speaker 2: right now in Vegas at Mandalay Bay. Were you asked
Speaker 2: to go to any media days? You were not assigned
Speaker 2: any negative How do you get out of that stuff?
Speaker 2: Very carefully, I truly would like to know how you
Speaker 2: get out of this.
Speaker 3: Well, Luckily, our staff size is pretty decent, and I
Speaker 3: work with people who are a lot more famous in
Speaker 3: the world of college football reporting, and they know if
Speaker 3: they put me out there, I'm just going to draw
Speaker 3: some much attention to myself, you know.
Speaker 1: Because that's how you are.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, at Big twelve Media Days, there was a room
Speaker 2: allocated to the athletic Yeah.
Speaker 3: And Feldman, Yeah, Bruce was there, David Eban was there,
Speaker 3: Justin Williams was there. Chris Vanini, who is my guy,
Speaker 3: and for a multitude of reasons he for some reason,
Speaker 3: people at our company and readers confuse us all the
Speaker 3: time because of the slight similarities between the sounding of
Speaker 3: our last name, Camrodnie Vanini. So like, there's been multiple
Speaker 3: times where people have like sent me a slack and
Speaker 3: be like, hey, I have a question about your story.
Speaker 3: It's like, Nope, not me.
Speaker 1: It's Chris Interesting.
Speaker 3: So he's my Italian brother.
Speaker 2: Well let's get him on the show because I read
Speaker 2: what Chris so today. Matt Baker, you know, Matt.
Speaker 3: Good friend of the Good Friend of the program, a
Speaker 3: genius when it comes to open records requests, and just
Speaker 3: a very very good reporter. He was hired in the
Speaker 3: last year and he's been a terrific ad.
Speaker 1: So really interesting piece today.
Speaker 2: Actually, I guess it came out yesterday because Sean was
Speaker 2: talking about it on his show. Because you know, this
Speaker 2: is the time of year where you start to read
Speaker 2: the college football previews, you start to listen to the
Speaker 2: college football pods, and you start to get ready for
Speaker 2: the season.
Speaker 1: And I'm always reminded how many idiots cover the sport
Speaker 1: and how many.
Speaker 3: Like idiots cover all sports.
Speaker 2: True, but I'm always reminded when I dig back in,
Speaker 2: like this media ecosystem actually contains a lot of people
Speaker 2: that clearly are pandering to the conference they cover or
Speaker 2: the school they cover, and their fans are not media members,
Speaker 2: and there's this kind of landscape of Big twelve media.
Speaker 2: That's starting to feel like the way PAC twelve media
Speaker 2: felt at the very end. Like John Canzano came on
Speaker 2: the show and he was basically outlining his side of things,
Speaker 2: and it was draped in this belief that the PAC
Speaker 2: twelve was going to make it, because of course he
Speaker 2: covers the PAC twelve. He wants the conference to survive.
Speaker 2: It's better for him, him and his business and his
Speaker 2: substack or whatever he's doing. And I push back on
Speaker 2: the things that he was bringing to the table because
Speaker 2: I just disagree with him. He started yelling at me
Speaker 2: that I wasn't listening. I'm like, I'm listening, but you're wrong.
Speaker 2: This thing is done. It's dead. You could tell with
Speaker 2: all of the horrible decision making that went back all
Speaker 2: the way to Larry Scott. And look the first four
Speaker 2: or five years of Utah on the PAC twelve. Larry
Speaker 2: Scott walked on water here because he was the commissioner
Speaker 2: that was part of the decision making process that landed
Speaker 2: Utah on the Big twelve. And then of course George
Speaker 2: klaiofkof they wait way too long to go to market
Speaker 2: with their rights. We know the deal and Gonzano's like
Speaker 2: yelling at me that I'm not listening to him. I'm like,
Speaker 2: I am listening to You're just wrong.
Speaker 1: This thing is cooked.
Speaker 2: And I keep hearing this like Big twelve media approach
Speaker 2: to try to spin it like the Big twelve was
Speaker 2: on par with a Big ten in the SEC, which
Speaker 2: it is not in any way, shape or form. Not competitive,
Speaker 2: not on a competitive level, not on a reven generating level,
Speaker 2: not on a national interest level. There's no world where
Speaker 2: the Big twelve is even close to the Big ten
Speaker 2: of the SEC. And Matt today with a really interesting
Speaker 2: exercise NCAA FBS program valuation projections, I r.
Speaker 3: Tied that for you. Thank you, I seriously did. I
Speaker 3: thought like this would be good for Spence.
Speaker 2: Well, that's exactly why it came up on my feet
Speaker 2: because I follow Mat now, but I didn't prior to
Speaker 2: your retweet. So of the top thirty schools, I already
Speaker 2: read the list. But of the top thirty schools, there
Speaker 2: are two Big twelve schools. One is Utah with a
Speaker 2: valuation of five hundred and thirty nine mil. One is
Speaker 2: TCU with a valuation of five hundred and twenty three mil. Okay,
Speaker 2: the top and you guys know which conferences they're in. Okay,
Speaker 2: all of these schools are either in the SEC or
Speaker 2: the Big Ten. Texas, Georgia, Ohio State, Notre Dame in Michigan, Bama, Oklahoma, USC, Tennessee, LSU,
Speaker 2: Penn State, Florida, Auburn, Oregon, Texas A and M Washington Nebraska.
Speaker 2: The first team on this list that's not in the
Speaker 2: Big Ten of the SEC is Florida State, who's in
Speaker 2: the AC Clemson, Miami, North Carolina all ranked ahead of
Speaker 2: any of the Big twelve schools, which is Utah TCU.
Speaker 2: I mean yeah, another piece of evidence as to where
Speaker 2: this conference exists in the ecosystem of college football, regardless
Speaker 2: of what people who shill for the conference want to
Speaker 2: tell you.
Speaker 3: A wise man once said, if you will it, it
Speaker 3: is no dream. Oh Walter subcheck. I like the Big Labaska.
Speaker 3: I like that.
Speaker 1: It's good.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I'm with you. It seemed like that
Speaker 3: that's kind of where the conference finds itself. And granted
Speaker 3: a couple of years of like astoundingly good football changes this.
Speaker 3: If the Big Twelve can get two or three teams
Speaker 3: in the playoff in the next three years, I think
Speaker 3: maybe you start to, you know, peel back the onion
Speaker 3: a little bit, maybe you can weasel your way into
Speaker 3: the conversation. But until you do that, ain't nobody going
Speaker 3: to be changing the status quo for you, no matter
Speaker 3: how much you no matter how much you talk about it,
Speaker 3: no matter how much the Shills want to just say, like,
Speaker 3: I promise this is going to happen. I promise. This
Speaker 3: is a big deal. No man, that the powers that
Speaker 3: be are the powers that be for a reason, and
Speaker 3: the Big Twelve has so much work to do. You know,
Speaker 3: they have good basketball programs, it's great. But other than that,
Speaker 3: the moneymakers football it is, always will be, and it
Speaker 3: does not bode this conference well that every off season
Speaker 3: you're going to be able to go in and be
Speaker 3: like throw a dart at the board and be like,
Speaker 3: who's going to win it this year? UCF Okay, Houston,
Speaker 3: all right, Utah, sure, b yu whatever, Like that's that's
Speaker 3: gonna wa That's the conference is going to be this
Speaker 3: way for a while. That's the reality they're facing.
Speaker 2: BYU's valuation comes in at fiftieth in the country and
Speaker 2: ninth in the Big Twelve, but three hundred and six
Speaker 2: million that felt low to me.
Speaker 3: Too many extenuating circumstances. It's such a unique place, as
Speaker 3: you know, it's a at school, so probably not everything
Speaker 3: is going to always be publicly divulged. They're not. They're
Speaker 3: not subject to public records requests or grammar requests. But
Speaker 3: I agree with you. My guess would be that that's
Speaker 3: part of the reason why.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and maybe it's a lack of understanding or you know,
Speaker 2: lack of information to your point, because I think what
Speaker 2: Matt did is really fascinating.
Speaker 1: Jake ratstath Lands are too lane.
Speaker 3: Yeah, are you stoked?
Speaker 1: Sure?
Speaker 2: Matt Brown, And Matt's funny guy. He had a funny line.
Speaker 2: He said, Jake just left the place where there are
Speaker 2: four Jews and hundreds of thousands of Mormons to go
Speaker 2: to a school where there's hundreds of thousands of Jews
Speaker 2: and probably four Mormons.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a little bit of a culture shock for our guy.
Speaker 3: I think. I mean, the manner in which Jake's b
Speaker 3: YU career ended is messy, and it's unique to the school,
Speaker 3: but it is it is somewhat like intriguing that we
Speaker 3: as a as a college football system are so fascinated
Speaker 3: where Jake Retzloth is going like Jake was a decent quarterback,
Speaker 3: but like he wasn't. This isn't Zach Wilson the year
Speaker 3: he went number two in the draft. Like Jake was
Speaker 3: good and Byu was, you know, in the mix for
Speaker 3: the conference title late into November. But it's I mean,
Speaker 3: Jake has to beat out a bunch of other guys
Speaker 3: that Tulane brought in as transfers. I mean, Jake's not
Speaker 3: even a transfer, He's a walk on because the portal's
Speaker 3: not open.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was kind of a weird dynamic, this whole thing.
Speaker 2: They weren't even allowed to contact him go they had
Speaker 2: to go through his reps Colorado three hundred and twenty
Speaker 2: eight mil.
Speaker 1: That's eleventh in the Big twelve. Found that kind of interesting.
Speaker 3: Ninety nine percent of that is due to Dion for sure.
Speaker 1: It is for actually, excuse me, that's seventh in the
Speaker 1: Big twelve. It's actually a couple of spots ahead of Byu.
Speaker 2: I'm stunned that we have not seen this actually come
Speaker 2: to fruition, where private equity has been infused into college football.
Speaker 1: Feels like it's just a matter of time.
Speaker 3: I think Greg Sinki was asked about this at SEC
Speaker 3: media days or one of the commissioners was recently and
Speaker 3: they said, right now, it just it doesn't make sense
Speaker 3: for their conference. So if you have somebody publicly saying that,
Speaker 3: I mean, I guess we're still a little ways away.
Speaker 3: But as we've seen that nothing matters. Everything is up
Speaker 3: subject to change. It's going to change. The CSC got,
Speaker 3: you know, sued into oblivion in just a matter of weeks,
Speaker 3: and now they're backtracking on all their stuff. Like at
Speaker 3: this point, I understand why some fans would want to
Speaker 3: understand the minutia of at all. But for a lot
Speaker 3: of fans, my guess is just like, let's just wait
Speaker 3: till we line up and kick the ball.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think most people, you know, I am interested in
Speaker 2: the mechanisms that makes the sport tick. How many regular
Speaker 2: sports fans consumers are interested in those things?
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think most people, to your point,
Speaker 1: just want Saturdays in the.
Speaker 3: Fall, Saturdays in the fall, and just less migraines. Oh
Speaker 3: how are you doing there? By the way, we're getting there.
Speaker 1: You're hanging in exceerin migraine, you got etc. You have
Speaker 1: it like in a holster, ready to ready, to access
Speaker 1: at any time.
Speaker 3: Just throw it out there.
Speaker 1: You know who will be the m v P of
Speaker 1: the MLS All Star Game tonight?
Speaker 3: Are we assuming it's an MLS player or Liga ms?
Speaker 1: I don't.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna say I couldn't name five players, man, no idea.
Speaker 3: Can you name one other player and that's not Diego
Speaker 3: Luna on the MLS All Star team?
Speaker 1: Hey, we got to get roosters in here. Did Chio
Speaker 1: make it?
Speaker 3: I don't.
Speaker 2: Yeah, don't ask me questions you can't answer. Put me
Speaker 2: on the spot like that. Man, Did Aaron Herrera make it?
Speaker 2: Do we exclude former rs L player?
Speaker 3: No? Just keep bringing up former RSL players?
Speaker 2: Dude, I don't watch MLS outside. I watch RSL the
Speaker 2: other night. Uh, nothing was going on, So I think
Speaker 2: I fired up El Classico.
Speaker 1: That was kind of fun. But no, I don't watch
Speaker 1: traffic co Bro.
Speaker 3: Come on, see how dare you? JP is offended.
Speaker 1: On several levels. C K will set you. It's good
Speaker 1: to see about things, man,