WEBVTT - Kelley O'Hara / Sergio Mora 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:05.880 Welcome to the Sports Bubble, a production of I Heart 0:00:05.960 --> 0:00:14.120 Radio Entree Fork Media. My name is Jensen carp and 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:16.599 I'm a sports fan. And yes, it appears our wildest 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:18.799 dreams have come true. And by some grace of God 0:00:18.840 --> 0:00:20.680 and the protection of forcing grown adults to stay in 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:22.520 a hotel room with little to no contact with their 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:25.800 loved ones, we are about to see major professional sports return. 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:29.080 We've lost some big names to personal decisions and positive tests, 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:32.080 and we've already seen home run balls just slowly trickled 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:34.159 down the stands without anyone trying to take it home. 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:37.480 So it's all happening. But I still wonder, just because 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:39.640 they're playing, is it the sport we know and love. 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:41.760 I'm not sure. I've spoken to one person on this 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:43.879 podcast who knows what they're in for and how this 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:46.800 will all play out. Only time will tell, and for once, 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:49.879 I'm going to stay optimistic. But I'm still interviewing athletes 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:52.360 and sports industry professionals to find out what they're doing 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:55.600 during this very weird time because someone has to. This 0:00:55.640 --> 0:01:01.320 is the Sports Bubble with Jensen Carton. The first sport 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:05.319 to return to quote unquote normalcy was NWSL, the national 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:07.760 Women's Soccer League like a test balloon sent out to 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:10.760 check win conditions. The sporting world watched intensely as the 0:01:10.840 --> 0:01:13.520 league began the Challenge Cup, a tournament in Utah, not 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:16.039 only signaling a restart, but also a way to test 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:18.840 plans for other sports to avoid a total COVID breakdown. 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:21.399 Things may have started off rocky with the Orlando Pride 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:24.000 dropping out due to positive tests, but things do seem 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:26.320 back on track with the semi final team set earlier 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:28.440 this week. But much has been said about the mental 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:31.000 toll of the nws L bubble and the women who 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:33.840 first experienced it. So I spoke to Kelly O'Hara of 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:36.240 the Utah Royals just as the tournament started to see 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:38.920 how everything was being handled. The two thousand nine Herman 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:42.000 Trophy winner signaling college soccer's top player, is also a 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:44.600 two time FIFA World Cup champion in two thousand fifteen 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:47.680 and two thousand nineteen and a two thousand twelve gold medalist, 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:50.240 angling to do it again in Tokyo whenever those games 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:53.040 actually take place. But for this interview we focus on 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:55.800 her summer camp, the bubble of the Challenge Cup, and 0:01:55.840 --> 0:01:58.080 what the return has felt. Like for her. We also 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:00.480 touch on the social landscape of America and if the 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:02.960 internet rolls she faced after kissing her girlfriend after a 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:05.400 World Cup victory still allow her to think this world 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:07.600 can be saved, and we get into some kind of 0:02:07.600 --> 0:02:10.960 bad soccer movies. Then, in another installment of Pandemic, I 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:14.000 talked to former w BC Super Welterweight champion and current 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:17.679 Zone boxing analysts Sergio Mora about his upcoming return to 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:20.359 the mic amongst sweat and blood and other things I've 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:23.320 been wildly terrified of since March. It's that time again, 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:36.079 so let's follow some pros into the sports bubble. All 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:43.400 from Kelly O'Hara to accept Press one. Hello Kelly, Hi Junan, 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:46.760 how are you. I'm good. This is a first for 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:48.639 the show. I don't even know what to do with myself. 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:50.880 You're You're the first athlete I'm talking to who is 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:53.480 back at their sport. This seems like I should have 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:57.280 confetti and streamers for you. Wow, that's exciting. I know, well, 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:01.639 first first moved back. It's pretty crazy. You are currently 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:03.880 in Utah, which is the hometown of your Royal club, 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:06.799 partaking in the Challenge Cup. You were the first league 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:08.920 to pick playback up. Tell me. I know this is 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:11.200 a loaded question, but how has it been so far? 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:16.040 It's definitely been interesting. It's a you're you're kind of 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:21.120 an uncharted territory, so interesting would be the way I woulds. 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:24.480 I'm not going to lie to you. I'm going to 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:26.240 tell you I've spoken to athletes I don't know now 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:29.120 three times a week for months. You are much further 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:31.200 along the line than most that I speak to. But 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:33.640 I cannot tell you I have talked to one athlete 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:37.080 who is enthusiastic. I can't. I would be a lie. 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:39.840 Everyone everyone feels I'm gonna listen, I'm gonna be the 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:43.240 most pestimistic interviewer you've you've had. I I'm weirded out 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:45.080 by all you guys doing sports. I'm not gonna lie, 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:48.520 but I I don't know. Everyone's sort of like, yeah, 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:53.400 we're doing it. Yeah, I mean, people are assets. I 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:56.600 think it probably stems from, well, first of all, you 0:03:56.600 --> 0:03:59.360 haven't talked to any athletes that's been that. They don't 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:02.280 have their perspect stive of like being back playing, having 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:07.040 that enjoyment of actually participating. They're just like grinding alone 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:11.080 um by themselves. So that I can. I can understand 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:14.600 that because I wouldn't say that I wasn't I wasn't 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:20.440 enthusiastic like back in Quarantine, because I actually found Quarantine 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:25.160 to be quite nice. Yes, but but I've really I've 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:28.800 also really enjoying thing back. I I mean, I love 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:30.920 playing offer, so um, it's nice to be back on 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:33.080 the field and like there's a lot of hoops you 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:34.680 have to jump through and things you have to do, 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:38.040 and and it's not normal in anything, but when you're 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:42.000 on the field, it feels like you're back, it's normal. 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:43.800 You know that is that is the one thing that 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:48.240 is consistent with before COVID, which is like playing the 0:04:48.279 --> 0:04:51.840 sport isn't different. And I finally joined that, So yeah, 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:55.159 I kind'm enthusiastic. I know, I understand that the setup 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:57.880 is obviously not the fun part of playing sports. No one, 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:00.680 no one gets excited for the p's and ques of 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:02.520 how you're going to stay safe, which which I wanted 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:04.640 to get into. Is there a way you could run 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:07.520 down how traveling there took place, making sure you stayed 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:10.000 safe and travel to the hotel, getting to where you 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:12.240 players are staying. Did did they go out of their way? 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:14.400 To make sure you're kind of in a bit of 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:17.880 the bubble. Yeah, So the way it worked was there 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:20.800 we was slez um and I'll get to the travel, 0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:24.240 but there's phases of how teams could get back to 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:27.000 team training. So they had individual training and then small 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:29.520 group training, and then I could start team training after 0:05:29.600 --> 0:05:32.680 people had been tested were negative and you could move 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:34.600 into the team training. And so I was in DC 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:37.240 because that's where I to my off season and or 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:41.800 like live outside of playing for Utah. So I flew 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:44.880 back to Utah because the tournament is being held here 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:49.800 um beginning of June, and I flew alone because I 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:52.359 was just coming by myself and I was coming into market, 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:54.880 not necessarily at the tournament, so it was kind of 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:57.000 it's kind of like coming back into So I flew 0:05:57.480 --> 0:06:00.960 the national team flew me back because we're paid by 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:04.120 the Master team, so they have control over that. And 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:07.400 it was weird because you're just you're on a flight, 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:11.120 you're wearing a mask, and people are socially distant on 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:14.920 the plane, which is great. I actually felt fine traveling 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:18.640 and felt pretty safe and comfortable and wasn't that worried. 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:21.520 But obviously you go out into the world. You explored yourself. 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:23.800 But in my in my opinion, if you go to 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:26.160 the grocery store, you could expose yourself the same way 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:28.560 if you um, you know, are an airport, that sort 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:30.760 of thing, and as long as you take your expressions 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:35.000 to fine. And so, yeah, I flew back the beginning 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:37.120 of June, and so we've been here, we've been training. 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:40.520 And then other teams that flew into the bubble to 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:44.800 start um tournament mode, they all took starter flights from 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:49.400 their market um because they all had tests negative before 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:51.679 they got on the flight and then they were tested 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:55.320 they brought here. So there were a lot of precautions 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:59.080 taken and like making sure that whoever was coming into 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:04.839 the bubble was negative and healthy and wasn't bringing anything 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:07.840 in right. And then for us as a you Talk team, 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:09.840 we're not actually staying in a hotel. We were put 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:13.080 up in an apartment by our club and we thankfully 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:15.440 get to stay and then during the tournament, but we 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:20.160 are only so when bubble mode started, which is when 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:23.880 teams got here. We are only allowed to be at 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:26.720 our apartment or at the facility UM or at you know, 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:30.679 the stadium playing. So that's been that's been a little 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:34.600 weird because prior to the tournament, bubble mode starting, you 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:36.440 could go out and get a coffee, you know, to go, 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.520 you could go grocery shopping. Obviously you're all very cautious 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:41.560 and larning masks and trying to pick all the cautions. 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:45.000 But yeah, that's kind of the rundown on that. Yeah, 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:47.320 I mean, I hear that makes sense. Does it feel 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:49.920 like adult summer camp? I mean, do you guys all 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:52.080 hang out in the bubble? I mean, it's so weird 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:56.080 to be a grown athlete, a well paid grown athlete. 0:07:56.560 --> 0:07:59.480 You're an Olympian gold medalist, you're a World Cup winner, 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:01.480 and now I of not letting you go get coffee. 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:04.360 I mean, I was one of the people when we 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:07.920 were harming, all the conversations of what is it gonna 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:10.440 look like? How are we going to ensure safety for everyone? 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:12.920 I was when people was like, if people go and 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:15.280 get groceries and the ring the mask, so they don't 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:16.720 you know, they go get a coffee to go, and 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:18.400 they do purpose I pick up with stuff. I'm like, 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:20.680 that should be fine to staying in your car um 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.240 you know, interacting and my understanding of the virus is 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:26.640 like you're at the most risk if you're an intimate 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:29.920 conversation for a long period of time without a mask, 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:32.520 so you can obed to get it other ways, but 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:34.680 that's the highest risk. So for me, I was like, 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:35.960 I think we should be able to do this thing. 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:39.840 It obviously got shut down and so it is a 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:41.640 bit weird, but you kind of just had to like 0:08:41.720 --> 0:08:45.280 mentally prepare yourself for that. UM as a team. The 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:47.440 way our protocols are set up, because I know some leaks, 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:51.400 they're different. You're not allowed to interact with other teams, 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:55.440 so we'll be in passing UM, but you're not really 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:58.600 supposed to like stop chat. That's the thing obviously people 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:01.640 do from like a distance, so it's no interaction between 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:04.280 team Dave like hanging out. But within your team you're 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:06.880 allowed to take some time. So it does kind of 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:09.600 feel like summer camp because we have a food delivered 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:12.920 to UM to our apartment, so we go to a 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:15.600 specific place to pick it up every evening or like 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:18.960 lunch days off opert thing. So I bought a tide 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:21.000 Ee kit um, so I plan on having a tide 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:23.000 I party at trum point. Yes, I like to hear 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:25.800 that um, we got we got cornhole. We got corn holes. 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:28.679 That's kind of be fun. This is Camp Kelly. This 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:31.560 is Camp Kelly. I've been doing enough Jewish sleepaway camps. 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:34.360 You're you're living at Camp has Kramer. This is You're 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:37.920 You're basically my childhood. Yeah no, and I mean I'm 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:40.640 a kid at heart, So I'm fine, Like I'm just 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:42.559 you know, I get split soccer, I get to hang 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:45.160 out with my teammates and yeah, so it is what 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:47.920 it is. You make the best every situation, right, Yes, well, 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:49.920 I'm very excited to hear about the Utah movie Night. 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:55.480 How much you guys being tested? So during um, the 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:58.920 preseason bit, when everyone was in their respective market, we 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:01.480 were getting tested once and we and one would probably 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:03.920 argue like we probably should have gotten tested more often 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:07.400 than that, but once a week, and then once the 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:12.280 tournament started, we get tested after every single game day. 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:14.400 So basically it's the way so that you can know 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:17.920 going into the next game is everybody negative. So I've 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:22.280 probably had Svenary test fun fun. That's that that that 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.280 definitely that that definitely ruins the summer camp analogy. You 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:27.800 had me right till then have Yeah, have you had 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:32.720 it done. I had the mouth swab, not you guys 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:35.400 are probably having a more intense one or a blood test. Yeah, 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:38.760 so when you came into market, you bought the nose 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:42.520 swab for being if you actively had the virus, and 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:45.599 then the blood test week for the antibody. So you 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:48.320 got both in the beginning um and then moving forward 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:50.400 and just had no slob. And the nose swob is 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:54.400 they can if you have an incum swab, it can 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:59.320 is genuinely the worst feeling I've ever felt. And somebody 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:01.760 told me before and they were like, oh, it's just uncomfortable. 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:03.760 So I went My worst one was the first one 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:07.280 that I got, and I I couldn't believe it. I 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:10.520 was I was shocked. I thought my nose was ding. Unreal. 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:14.400 This is not you're you're not selling the pessimistic interviewer here. Uh. 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:17.280 Your teammate Kristen Press opted out of playing, as did 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:20.000 some of your World Cup years. Did you ever contemplate 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:24.160 staying home? Um, I was live, I said, I didn't 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:26.400 think about it. I mean, I think everyone when I 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:31.959 first heard of the of this idea basically what that 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:36.040 was just in shocked because in that time, during that moment, 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:38.199 we were all at home, no one. You know, you're 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.320 training on your own. You have no idea what the 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:43.000 world is going to look like in a month to 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:45.600 two months. So this idea of trying to put together 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:49.720 a tournament just seems very crazy. But then once I, 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:53.520 you know, started to understand how much thought they had 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:57.400 put into it, I felt more comfortable. And for me, 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:00.640 I I want to play soccer like I I you know, 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:02.520 I probably only have a couple of years left in 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:07.160 my career, and I felt confident in knowing that they 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:09.160 were going to ensure as much as they possibly could 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:12.000 for my safety. And then also it's on me to 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:14.880 do that as well. Um, and that you know, just 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:18.160 being being in DC on my own, I could be 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:20.720 at risk as well. So you know, it would be 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:22.520 lying to say that I didn't think, oh, like, it 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:24.960 would be so much easier you stay home. But but 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:28.520 then in my in my mind that we didn't. Right now, obviously, 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:31.720 is it difficult to adjust to someone like Christen setting 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:33.840 it out because you guys aren't able to really have 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:37.000 your traditional practices before to get acquainted to the team 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:39.240 without her, like you know, with people missing like was 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:42.280 it is it hard to adjust well, you know, because 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:45.720 we had the brand new we have a brand new staff. Um. 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:49.720 One of our coaches, she was more she wasn't an 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:51.679 officially in assistant coach. I don't know about the next 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:54.120 year or last year. But so we have a brand new, 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:58.000 basically brandw coaching staff, and we had a lot of 0:12:58.000 --> 0:13:00.800 new players come in. We have rookies, were people we 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:04.760 picked out, picked up from overseas that your Americans playing 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:07.000 overseas and that you know, are now playing a reach. 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:08.480 And we had a lot of players. We had a 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:11.320 couple of players retired, so we kind of came into 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:14.079 this and as like a brand new team in one 0:13:14.120 --> 0:13:17.520 of which person hadn't been here yet. So in terms 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:20.520 of for um, you know, not coming I don't think 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:22.680 it affected us in a way of like it has 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:24.640 been very different if it was the middle of the season. 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:29.720 You know we've been working together, um and then this happened. 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:31.960 But we kind of all walked into this brand new. 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:34.880 It's kind of nice, like it was a good I mean, 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:36.960 you could look at it both sides. You'd be like, oh, 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:39.120 it would be nice to have the history and the 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:42.920 chemistry plate stuff, but we don't have that. Some of 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:46.000 us do. So we're just all trying to learn as 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:49.680 quickly as possible and create that cocusion in in a 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:53.360 short couple of weeks, which crazy think about, but you know, again, 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:55.959 trying to do our best. You have done the unthinkable. 0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:59.839 You've played without fans. I assume you hear everyone for 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:03.760 mccough to a to a giggle. I mean, I I 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:06.240 am trying to wonder what is it like hearing everything 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:09.560 while you're playing. So I actually haven't played yet because 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:12.080 I have a little quad issue, but I've been in 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:15.520 the stadium and it is very odd because when you 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:19.600 watch it on TV or online, you and kind of 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:23.040 like the e p L games in the Bundesliga they 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:27.640 pump in on the stream, they have noise and I 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:30.480 don't know if they're pumping it in live in some 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:33.880 of the stadium in Europe, but like in ours, there's 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:37.040 no noise except for the benches hearing um, you know, 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:41.200 the people sitting out hearing. So it is very odd, 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:44.440 but it's actually quite helpful because you can get your 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:46.960 message across to other people. Like I feel like I 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:49.760 can scream from the from the stands and give some 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:52.320 instruction to somebody and they can't actually hearing me as 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:55.080 opposed to if there are stands that would be the case. Yeah. 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:57.280 I mean, I've never heard of a better job for 0:14:57.360 --> 0:14:59.640 jock jams than this. This is a this is the 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:04.040 time to I would love that. I love other than 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:06.040 the Gary Glitter song, which we have to cancel, but 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:10.000 everything else totally fine to play. Um. I asked this 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:11.960 of all the athletes going back, and it is a 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:14.400 very loaded question. That's your warning. But do you guys 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:16.160 want to win? This? Is? This? Is this a tournament 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:18.600 that's going to mean something. I am the type of 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:22.080 person who wants to win, even like Torondo's and practice 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:24.880 and little small by the game, So yeah, I want 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:27.440 to win. I enjoyed playing soccer, but at the end 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:30.080 of the day, I'm a competitor and I'm not going 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:32.320 out there just to like pick it. I'm going out 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:35.480 there to win. So I definitely do yeah, and I 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:37.800 think I think everybody does because people will look back there. 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:40.320 You want the maybe Built Challenge Cup like what a 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:43.160 wild time? But yeah, but you know it's a thing. 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:44.760 You're only as good as your last game, so might 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:47.400 as well win. Yeah. Well that leads U to the 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:49.720 Tokyo Olympics. You are a gold medalist in the past, 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:51.520 you've been to the games before, you were set to 0:15:51.520 --> 0:15:54.080 be a veteran on this team. Does the postponement throw 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:56.600 a total wrench into your training? Does it? You've been 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:58.960 there before, so you know what it's like to have 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:01.400 a set date and to to really work towards that 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:03.360 that data has been pushed, the goalposts have been moved. 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:05.960 What does it mean to you? To be honest, it 0:16:06.080 --> 0:16:09.840 was kind of a relief when they announced it finally 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:12.720 that it was going to get postponed. My stress was 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:15.760 over them choosing to cancel it all together because I 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:19.680 had heard that the way Olympics were allotted, you own, 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:24.640 the host city, only had the year too actually get 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:30.360 the game completed. Um. So I thought that they were 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:32.560 going to cancel um, which I would that would have 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:35.360 been a really big bummer because you know, there's only 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:37.360 been a couple of times, maybe one time in history 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:40.240 where they've been they've been canceled. So when I found 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:42.800 out that they were postponed, to me, it was a relief. One. 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:45.000 It's not canceled to pay there's still you know, there's 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:48.080 still possibility to win a gold medal next year and 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:50.840 too you kind of it kind of allowed you to 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:55.400 like take a breass and not stress over being quarantine 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:59.920 and trying to stay super fit and ready, because whenever 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:03.360 think first happened, I kind of looked at it as O, 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:05.720 we're gonna I was thinking we'll be back in like 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:07.560 a couple of weeks, and so I was hitting it 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:10.080 hard for two weeks straight, like training, trying to keep 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:13.520 games fit because we were going right into preseason and 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:16.280 I was kind of at a peaking point. So once 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:18.840 they were canceled and once I kind of fully crasped 0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:21.280 what was going on, um, I was able to take 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:23.280 a step back and kind of to a little bit 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:25.480 and and sort out how I wanted to approach my 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:28.280 training for the next couple of months, knowing that the 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:31.720 Olympics were no longer on the table. Yeah, and I 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:34.040 guess you've been to the Olympics before. As someone who 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:36.760 watches from his couch eating potato chips, I am always 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:40.240 nervous hearing those stories about like Olympic village and the 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:43.560 viruses and dating apps and all the things that happened 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:46.959 even in normal years. Do you we have to assume 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:48.600 that this thing is going to have locked doors. It's 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:53.240 gonna be even crazier than the apartment bubble you're living in. Yeah, 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:54.800 I mean it's only it's not even like a full 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:58.720 year away. Yeah, no, for sure. I mean I try 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:01.560 to be a hopeful person. So my hope is that 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:04.520 we have a complete handle. I mean, I don't think 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:08.520 the Olympics goes forward unless the entire world has a 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:12.800 handle on COVID. Yeah, So for me, it's definitely going 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:15.960 to be heightened precautions that probably didn't exist in the 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:19.159 last games that I went to. But I can't imagine 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:22.439 that they would actually have the games if what is 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:26.399 happening right now, you know, can trends upwards. But my 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.520 hope is that we could have under control those of vaccine, 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:34.159 and as a global community, we have this thing lockdown 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:37.439 and and then you can have the games and have 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:41.560 the village as it typically Yeah. No, I appreciate your hopefulness. 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:43.920 You would you you you should take over for my therapist. 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:48.959 I definitely want to have that more. I wanted to 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:51.320 touch on the worldwide awakening that has went on after 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:53.760 the murder of George Floyd and how it's shaping and 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:56.280 affecting the sports world. What changes have you seen in 0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:59.760 the tournament so far? Yeah, I mean, obviously, we've as 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:03.800 a league and the players Association has wanted to bring 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:07.000 a lot awareness to the Black Lives Matter movement and 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:10.720 just the racial injustice and systemic racism in this country 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:14.800 and the problems that the black community faces. So as players, 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:17.200 people have been kneeling, we've all been learning the Black 0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:20.639 Lives Matter shirts. R vans um. I would like to 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:24.600 see us as a play association figure out something together 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:28.119 across teams that we could do beyond the tournament. So 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:31.840 I'm hopeful that we can do something bigger. Yeah, and 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:34.440 you face your fair share of internet rolls and real 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:37.359 life discrimination clearly as a member of the LGBT community, 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:39.879 and after kissing your partner on television, do you do 0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:43.000 you think as someone who has seen the garbage that 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:45.800 is a lot of the response from people who aren't 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:47.080 like you and I do do you think we can 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:49.640 still turn this around? Do you think that these kind 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:51.880 of things in soccer, in the sports that we love 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:55.439 are are are helping the cause. I think that people 0:19:55.560 --> 0:19:58.560 who come from a genuine place are helping the cause. 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:02.280 I don't think internet roles help anything or anyone. But 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:06.200 you also I think that humans have to realize that 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:10.840 people behind computer screens you just can't you can't worry 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:13.439 about them. Yeah, I mean, especially with the things that 0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:15.720 have been going on these last few months with equal rights, 0:20:15.720 --> 0:20:18.080 which I spoke I spoke to Julie Foudy recently, and 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:20.480 I just can't get over the mind like, I can't 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:22.840 get over even the mind state that gets you to 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:25.200