WEBVTT - Episode 19: Super-Sized Listener Mailbag Edition 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:08.920 Welcome to the Way, and I Danielle Alarcon. 0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:11.800 I'm John Green and today we're joined by the invisible 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:16.079 puppet master behind our entire operation, our producer Sean Titone. 0:00:16.160 --> 0:00:16.320 Hi. 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:19.000 Sean, Hey, John, Hey Daniel. 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:22.120 Good to see you guys, as always good to see 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:22.520 you man. 0:00:22.840 --> 0:00:25.880 So we're waiting on a mail bag show and I 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:28.400 think that's very important, and that's why we've got Sean today. 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:31.400 He's going to ask us questions and help us through 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:33.839 the mail bag. Thank you for all your questions at 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:37.800 awayndpod at gmail dot com. But today we need to 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:43.320 do something first, which is congratulate our friend Daniel on 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:46.040 his big winning of the Premier League. 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:51.680 It's huge. It's huge for me personally. It's also I 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:53.680 want to take full I want it all by myself. 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:58.080 Is an accomplishment for me. No, I want to say 0:00:58.080 --> 0:01:00.800 this like m the You know, there's been a bunch 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:05.839 of content that has been produced after this this win. Eliseo, 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:09.119 my son, who was on the show a couple months ago, 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:14.160 was quick to remind me, as adolescents will, that he 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:17.680 was right and I was wrong. Because if the listeners 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:20.880 will recall, after I went to London and saw the 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:25.319 worst game of the season. I was bereft, I was despondent. 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:30.000 I was mired in a kind of existential funk, thinking 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:34.120 that it was over. Alisa came on the show and uh, 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:40.160 and he basically was like, no, Bobby, you're wrong. And 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:42.720 so who's your favorite team. 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:48.520 Like national team or both the Columbia national team, okay, 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:50.760 or the Arsenal. 0:01:50.560 --> 0:01:52.080 Thank you, thank you. It's the right answer. 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:54.680 That's great, Aliso, You're gonna win the Premier League. Don't 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:55.440 listen to your dad. 0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:56.680 No, I'm confident. 0:01:57.560 --> 0:01:59.200 I love the confidence. He's confident. 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:03.280 It's they have to play against Villa, our toughest opponents, Newcastle. 0:02:03.640 --> 0:02:06.680 Yeah, Newcastle's tough, but it's. 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:09.680 Not Villas fourteenth Daniel. 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:14.320 Yeah, but yeah okay. Edisale speaks with the confidence of 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:19.640 a young man whose heart has not been broken, and 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:22.680 so immediately after the win, in like sort of like 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:26.160 twinned with his happiness and his sort of feeling of 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:30.440 satisfaction as a fan. Was his feeling of satisfaction, happiness 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:32.880 that he was able to say to his father, I 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:35.119 was right and you were wrong, which was like almost 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:41.120 as I think pleasurable for him as winning was. It 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:43.600 was it was as great. It's been great, it's been beautiful. 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:48.160 I wasn't expecting to be so emotional about it, but 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:51.200 it really does feel like a like something, something really 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.120 lovely and special, and it doesn't happen every year. It 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:58.440 won't happen every year, and for that very reason, it's 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:00.600 it's something to really save her. Now. If the Knicks 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.680 end up winning, then this will be my greatest sports 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:06.880 year ever. And if Columbia wins the World Cup, then 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:09.600 I should just retire from sports because there's nothing more 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:12.440 that I could ever ask for in a single calendar year. 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:16.760 You know, you've had this experience down I never have, so. 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:19.280 Yeah, it's pretty special though. I mean, it really does 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:23.560 feel like I remember when Liverpool won the Premier League 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:25.519 in twenty twenty. I just felt like a huge weight 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:30.680 had been lifted. I felt excited and happy, but I 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:37.680 also felt relieved because you know, all those times that 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:41.160 Manchester United fans for the last thirty years had sung 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:43.640 you'll never win the league instead of you'll never walk alone. 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:47.240 I just felt like, well, that should shut them up 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:48.600 for a bit, and it has. 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:52.560 Yeah, it has. Yeah, so there's that feeling. 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:55.680 But you've also got to feel a measure of joy 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:59.160 in the camaraderie of it, in the other Arsenal fans 0:03:59.240 --> 0:04:01.920 you know, of who's getten through the last twenty two 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:02.520 years with you. 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:08.240 Absolutely, I mean I got texts from friends in Lima, 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:13.480 in London, in New York, in Oakland, in Kenya, you know, like, 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:16.840 I heard from fans from all over and then and 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:18.880 I posted. I don't post much on Instagram, but I 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:20.839 posted like a couple of pictures and just sort of 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:23.359 like a little thing about how happy I was, and 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:26.839 got so many nice comments. And my friends who hate 0:04:27.080 --> 0:04:31.800 Arsenal were dignified enough to not post like comments on 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:35.119 my post. And generally it's been it's been really lovely 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:35.960 to hear from friends. 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:36.760 You know. 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:38.279 When I was in London, I went with two clumbing 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:41.560 friends to the game, and I remember walking around and 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:43.400 we talked about it on the show walking around after 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:47.000 the game, and how everyone was just like cars would 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:48.720 pass by and people would hang out of the cars 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:51.320 and make fun of us, you know, calling us, you know, 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:54.560 cause we were wearing our like sad kits, you know, 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:56.480 our little our red jerseys, and we were walking around 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:58.800 London looking for a place to eat and just feeling 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:02.480 kind of sad, and people were like bottlers, bottlers, you know, 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:05.120 like everything. We were getting all this hate and we 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:06.920 couldn't do anything about You couldn't say anything because we 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:09.520 hadn't won anything, you know, and now we have and 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:12.840 you know, kind of feels different, you know. 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:17.120 So, yeah, it's great, Well you're a champion. There is 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:20.159 a key here, though, which is then winning the Premier 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:24.040 League does not make you a better person. The Great 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:27.680 podcast host Michael Davies have pointed this out. Yeah, it 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:29.760 does not make you a better person, and if you're 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:31.240 not careful, it makes you a worse one. 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:36.080 Yeah. Yeah, that's that's fair. That's fair. I haven't noticed 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:42.320 a steep decline in my like moral compass since last Tuesday, 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:48.120 but I'll keep an eye out. Yeah, well, thank you. 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:49.480 Got to look out for it, Sean, and I will 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:52.120 let you know. Yeah I did. I did appreciate the 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:55.640 text that you guys sent and the congratulations and it 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:57.920 felt nice. It felt nice. I got, you know, and 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:00.440 I started off by saying, how you know, like that 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:03.520 it felt like a huge accomplishment, as if I had 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:07.640 accomplished anything, but the way people were congratulating me and 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:11.240 genuinely happy for me. It felt almost as if I 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:14.200 had done something. And I guess what I did do 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:19.120 is watch you know, ninety percent of Arsenal games over 0:06:19.160 --> 0:06:22.440 the last you know, two decades or a decade and 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:26.520 a half basically, and follow the team and know the players, 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:29.640 and follow the stories and cheer for them and hope 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:31.440 for them and think about the team. And I guess 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:35.440 that that helps. You know, when I've been in the stadium, 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:37.760 I've cheered my heart out and sang the songs and 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:42.760 you know, and I've been with friends. You know, I 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:45.560 remember seeing a guy when we beat Chelsea. We scored 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:48.520 the season, we scored a goal in like the last minute, 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:50.480 and there was a guy in the bar next to me. 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:53.400 There's an Arsenal bar here in Bouta, And at the 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:57.000 end of the game he was weeping and his girlfriend 0:06:57.160 --> 0:06:59.760 was like like rubbing his face like this like it's 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:03.880 gonna it's going to be okay. And I and you know, 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:06.640 as much as it as silly as it is to 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:13.120 get invested in the fortunes of a team that plays 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:17.520 eight thousand kilometers from where you currently call home, you know, 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:21.360 try explaining that to that guy. You know, like, that's 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:24.640 what this means. And it was very special and I 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:30.360 also wondered about his home life. But it's a lovely thing. 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:32.760 It's a lovely thing. Yeah. 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:35.320 I mean, look, a football club is not the players 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:37.640 who play for it, right, because those players change. And 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:40.120 it's not the manager because that person changes. And it's 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:42.600 not the kit man because that person changes. A football 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:44.440 club is the people who love it, and of course 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:48.360 that also changes, but there's continuity there between the people 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:50.240 who love it, among the people who love it, and 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:52.760 that's what the football club is. 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:54.480 So like you did win the Premier League. 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:56.560 I don't think that, you know, I don't want to 0:07:56.600 --> 0:08:00.520 minimize that accomplishment, because it is an accomplishment that you 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:03.920 are the football club in many ways, and so the 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:08.680 club being bigger than anyone within the institution is precisely 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:11.320 what makes football so magical to me. It's not the 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:14.840 person who owns it. It's not the players who play 0:08:14.880 --> 0:08:16.560 on the pitch. It's all of us together. 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:22.720 Yeah. Yeah, and still mckel won't answer my texts. It's strange. 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:25.600 I mean, there is that. There is that. Yeah. 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:28.160 One day, a glossy magazine will offer you a three 0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:32.320 day adventure with mikel Arteta, that'll turn into a one hour, 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:35.360 really bad interview. But not today. Today, we're going to 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:39.560 answer some questions in our mail bag Sean, let's dive 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:40.160 right into it. 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:41.000 Let's do it. 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:45.840 Yeah, I mean this is I think you know, it's 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:48.600 our long awaited mail bag show. I will say with 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:51.720 both of you guys that some of our listeners will 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:55.040 remember we did do a mail bag show earlier. In 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:57.640 the away end it was just me and Daniel very 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:01.000 last minute when John was unable to join. 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:06.959 But uh, when John was testifying in a federal case. Sean, well, yes, yes, 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:12.800 allegedly allegedly. Yeah, I just say, just to draw parallel 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:15.120 from what John just said, the away end is not 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:17.839 our show, it's your show. And you guys, right, this 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:20.640 is great that Charles and and and it really feels 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:23.440 special to be able to to to answer them, and 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:25.280 and it's also cool. We got emails from all over 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:29.960 the world, which is really exciting. So let's do it. 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:32.760 So yeah, uh, you know, next week we'll be back 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:37.199 to our usual uh banter deep dive story. 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:37.640 Uh. 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:38.719 But yeah, we've got so. 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:41.120 Many good emails, so we're gonna we're gonna jump in, 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:48.120 all right, This one is from Alan. Alan says, Hello, 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:52.440 John and Daniel. As a football novice but fervent supporter 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:56.920 of Bergamo uh it leaves Adelanta b C. I have 0:09:57.040 --> 0:10:00.440 been thoroughly enjoying the podcast. Just yesterday I gave the 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:04.240 salutorian speech my high school graduation, a speech that I 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:06.640 built around a quote from the show, though I admittedly 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:10.280 heard it first on a VLOGG Brothers episode. That quote 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:14.080 is of all the unimportant things, football is the most important, 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:17.559 by Pope John Paul. I. Like I said, though I'm 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:19.720 a novice, so I chose to talk about an unimportant 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:22.240 thing I am more of an expert on, and that's 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:23.880 being a lacrosse goalie. 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:24.400 Hmm. 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:26.840 This brings me to my question. I've been teased a 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:29.160 few times by my friends who are more familiar with 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:31.160 football than I am because I've said that my favorite 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:36.680 player is Marco Keannaseki, the superstar keeper for Atalanta. They 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:39.840 seem to say that no one considers goalies their favorite players, 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:43.040 and as a goalie, this hurts and I would love 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:47.720 to know what you think about this keeper slander. Great question, 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:50.000 yeah all, and nobody has keepers as their favorite player. 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:53.920 That's weird. Oh I love David Rya. 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:56.240 Yeah, I know you love David Rya, but not like 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:59.080 you love Soaka. Look, I'm going to say this. 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:00.920 I think there's a strong case to be made that 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:05.120 David Raya is this season's most valuable player for Arsenal. 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:10.360 I think he's you know, the certainty and the assuredness 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:14.840 that he brings to the team is remarkable. The confidence 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:17.800 that the defenders have to play the way they do 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:20.880 knowing that he's behind them, The way he organizes the defense, 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:23.760 the way he dominates his box, the big saves that 0:11:23.800 --> 0:11:29.040 he's made that are just you know, he's a catlike. Yeah, 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:31.400 but generally, you know, like you won't see a goalie, 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:35.240 uh in the in the discussion for ballond or you know, 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:39.920 the kind of the biggest prize for individual players. But 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:43.920 you know who was a goalie. Albert Camu was a goalie. 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:47.440 You know, like goalies are freaking crazy. 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:50.680 Yeah, they're kind of they're a different stock. They god, 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:54.280 they they're they're fearless. They put their body in the 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:56.640 line in ways that other players don't. You see them 0:11:56.679 --> 0:11:59.160 diving into the scrum to grab the ball. I mean, 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:04.160 you know, that's a dangerous games, that's arguably the most 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:08.960 dangerous position, and their bravery and fearlessness, you know, not 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:12.760 to call it recklessness, is something to be admired or 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:14.000 at the very least respected. 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:14.920 I agree. 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:18.480 I also think that some of the goalie slander, and 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:21.640 you're right alan that it is unfair, dates back to 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:25.520 the age when all goalies did was catch the ball 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:28.000 with their hands or try to stop the ball from 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:30.200 going in the net. Now, the position of goalie is 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:32.520 vastly more complicated because you have to be a brilliant 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:34.880 distributor of the ball, you have to have an understanding 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:37.680 of space, you have to be able to use all 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:41.200 four of your limbs with incredible dexterity. You know, in 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:45.000 many ways, it's become the most challenging position on the field, 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:49.360 and a lot of the you know, goalies are just 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:54.560 sort of brave people with quick reaction times. Way of 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:58.120 thinking about the position I think is outdated. And that's 0:12:58.120 --> 0:13:01.200 true of lacross too, by the way, right, lacrosse goalie 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:03.760 is not just about how how many shots you stop. 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:06.400 It's also about how well you distribute the ball after 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:10.360 you stop a shot. So yeah, I think that with 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:14.280 that emergence of of of the role of goalkeeper. We 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:16.360 need to be more respectful of the position. 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:19.680 Yeah. Yeah, so the goalkeeper is not just your last 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:22.040 line of defense but also your first line of attack, you. 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:26.359 Know, right, And the best goalkeepers get assists. 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:27.839 Yeah. 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:31.760 Do you guys think that keepers feel the most pressure 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.400 of all of the positions on the team because they 0:13:35.440 --> 0:13:39.120 are that last line of defense in some way, It's like. 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:42.400 I do Sewan in this one unique way, which is 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:44.160 that if you if you, if you make a mistake 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:47.640 in the midfield or up front, it doesn't always lead 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:49.000 to a goal, but if you make a mistake as 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:52.560 a as a goalie, it leads to a goal nine 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:55.200 times out of ten. So that you're you're there's like 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:59.679 a bigger spotlight trained on your errors, and no one 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:01.880 is error free over the course of a game or 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:04.439 over the course of a season. But you know, midfielders 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:08.360 will lose a duel all the time, and you know, 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:10.959 then something happens and event you know, eventually a goal 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:14.440 get scored. And generally people don't point the finger at 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:16.640 someone who lost the ball in ninety seconds earlier, you know. 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:20.200 Yeah, but for god, yeah, I think the cost of 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:24.080 mistakes is higher, and then also the benefit of doing 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:28.640 your job is lower, you know, like, very rarely are 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:31.960 saved celebrated like goals. Occasionally they are. I remember there 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:33.800 was one save the Jersey du Deck made in two 0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:37.960 thousand and five during the Champions League Final against Schifchenko 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:40.080 that was the most amazing save I've ever seen in 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:42.080 my life, and that was celebrated a little bit like 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:44.240 a goal. But you've got to have a really special 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:46.680 save for it to be celebrated like an ordinary goal. 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:49.600 Yeah, I mean, I think I think of the West 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:52.840 Ham game Matteos Fernandez is in on goal one on 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:57.960 one and and uh that I just stood stayed big, 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:00.960 stayed big for as long as possible and forced them 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:03.240 to go in near post and saved with a kicksabe 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:08.400 And that arguably one is you know, one is the title. 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:12.280 So yeah, I think I have in my head when 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:15.400 I think of the highlights of this season, there's five 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:21.400 or six game saving, point winning saves that the David 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:23.760 Reyah made that deserve as much credit as a as 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:24.800 a goal here or there. You know. 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:28.400 All right, well you guys ready to move on to 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:30.200 the next Yeah, Yeah, let's do it. 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:30.800 Let's do it. 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:34.840 Hello, John and Daniel, I'm not a big sports fan, 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:38.360 but I enjoy your perspectives on soccer, especially the personal 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:41.520 or historical stories. I have a question, is there such 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:47.360 a thing as a compelling pre or postgame interview? Whenever 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:49.320 I catch an interview on the radio, it seems to 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:52.040 me that coaches and players use the same old, vague 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:55.360 and diplomatic phrases. But I'm also at a loss as 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:58.160 to what they're supposed to say that's more interesting than 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:01.800 we gave it, are all or our opponent proved to 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:04.840 be the better team. I'm looking forward to following the 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:07.720 Men's World Cup exclusively through the lens of your podcast. 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:12.440 Cheers. Moretz love this question. I love this question. Yeah, 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:15.560 don what do you want from a postgame interview? 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:19.760 Occasionally you'll see a postgame interview that is really honest 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:24.080 and it's always shocking, or when somebody's able to penetrate 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:29.040 the morass of sport related cliche and find a way 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:32.880 to express something that's fresh or original or exciting. But 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:35.960 it's very occasional. The only thing I'll say is that 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:40.440 there is something worse than the bland, boring press conference, 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:44.800 which is Mohammed Salah going to the press every time 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:47.960 Mohammed Sala like went out into the press area. 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:49.760 In his entire. 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:53.160 Liverpool career, it was to deliver an absolute bomb. That 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:56.240 was like, I have no confidence in the manager or 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:59.920 my teammates are not playing with the fire that I 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:05.360 would appreciate. Like, it was always to deliver an attack. 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:10.800 So yeah, I'd rather you be bland than that. I 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:14.879 was thinking about this question a lot, actually, and I 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:19.480 remembered there was a guy at NBA's you know, leaving 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:21.040 the world of football for a moment. There was an 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:24.359 NBA sideline report named Craig Sager who was known for 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:31.000 wearing these wild suits, right yeah, And in the playoffs, 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:32.960 I can remember what season it was, like, first seed 0:17:33.080 --> 0:17:35.680 was LA and last seed was the Timberwolves, and the 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:42.639 Timberwolves won the game one surprised everybody, and Kevin Garnett 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:46.320 gave a you know, immediately after the whistle gave us 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:49.919 gave an interview to Craig Sager, and of course everyone 0:17:49.920 --> 0:17:53.600 had counted out the t Wolves, and Garnett says to 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:56.480 Craig Sager, he goes like, we're like you in that suit. 0:17:56.640 --> 0:18:04.800 We don't care what people say. And I just remember thinking, man, 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:09.159 I love KG I love him. Yeah, you know. Also, 0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:13.359 I think these guys are it's so rare. Yeah. Have 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:17.000 you seen John or Sean? Have you seen interviews with 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:20.879 Cole Palmer? Yes, man, I don't think so. 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:26.600 I feel bad watching them. I feel guilty, like I 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:28.359 feel like I'm watching footballer. 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:32.560 Yeah, it's uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable. I don't know what to 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:36.240 say about it. But if anyone here is listening, I 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:39.400 don't want to use any adjectives or make any long 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:44.480 distance diagnoses. But uh, man, wow. 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:47.240 He does seem disengaged with the world of the press, 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:48.679 is what I would say about it. 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:52.560 Yeah, it seems like the media training didn't take. 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:57.560 Yeah, it's possible he's disengaged in a larger way, like with. 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:00.520 It reality. 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:05.159 Yeah, I think with Cole Palmer, I do wonder. I 0:19:05.240 --> 0:19:07.960 know this, this person has an interior life that is 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:12.800 as complex and rich as my own. But he doesn't 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:15.560 seem to want to share with the media. 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:20.320 That's for sure. Yes, and that's possibly a generous interpretation. 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:22.840 I'm not going to say anymore because I don't want 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:24.960 to slander someone that I've never met, who I'm sure 0:19:25.040 --> 0:19:28.680 is a nice person despite playing for Chelsea. But yeah, 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:31.800 I think I think more. It's two things. I think 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:34.240 you should also watch the games, not just listen to 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:36.320 our pod. And I think you just have to learn 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:42.919 to live with bland postgame interviews, because that's how elite 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:44.960 athletes now are trained to engage with the media. 0:19:45.320 --> 0:19:48.240 You know, well, I have to say I've had a 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:53.000 lot of media training, and the main thing media training 0:19:53.000 --> 0:19:55.760 attempts to do is make it so that you don't 0:19:55.920 --> 0:20:01.359 end your career by saying something stupid. And when the 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:04.560 prospect of like ending your career by saying something stupid 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:07.960 is sitting on one of your shoulders, the other shoulder 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:11.720 is like, be bland, Be bland at all costs. 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:17.760 Right, Wow, I haven't had any media training. You never 0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:21.600 had media training? No, oh, man, I've had. 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:25.439 I've had a lot of it. Really really beat the 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:27.199 individuality out of me. 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:32.000 But and yet your career continues. So here you are, and. 0:20:32.000 --> 0:20:33.920 Yet like, if you watch me in an interview, you'll 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:37.080 be like, now, there's a guy who is looking to 0:20:37.119 --> 0:20:39.399 deflect every question that he's asked and return it to 0:20:39.440 --> 0:20:42.680 the issue of at hand, which is that His new novel, 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:45.480 Hollywood Ending, comes out on September twenty second, is available 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:46.040 for pre order. 0:20:46.080 --> 0:20:49.120 Now there's a guy who has two kids to put 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:54.320 through college. Yeah, exactly, all right. 0:20:54.560 --> 0:20:57.120 I will say I've been on the other really quick. 0:20:57.160 --> 0:20:59.240 I've been on the other side of it, where I've 0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:01.840 been the inner viewer, not on camera, but where I've 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:04.520 interviewed people after a sporting event and tried to get 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:09.119 those answers. And there is nothing worse than talking to 0:21:09.680 --> 0:21:12.879 an athlete or whomever you're talking to who is either 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:15.800 giving you one word answers or very bland answers, and 0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:19.760 it will make a two minute interview feel like an 0:21:19.800 --> 0:21:23.960 eternity and you're just like ready to be done with 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:26.560 it as quickly as possible. But you know, in your 0:21:26.560 --> 0:21:29.880 back of your mind, you're like, I have to if 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:32.240 it's live or not live, I'm going to have to 0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:34.000 edit this later, so I need to get some kind 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:36.480 of good answers out of this person, hopefully to use 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:38.560 for whatever I'm going to be editing. 0:21:39.320 --> 0:21:40.560 So I don't know. 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:43.159 I'm always thankful. I was always thankful for people that 0:21:43.359 --> 0:21:47.560 had a really good answer to certain questions. And maybe 0:21:47.560 --> 0:21:52.359 the bland answers just make the more unconventional answers all 0:21:52.400 --> 0:21:55.080 the more enjoyable when they do have. 0:21:55.280 --> 0:21:57.639 That's more you'll shine through, sure, true, like watching a 0:21:57.680 --> 0:22:01.680 boring game of football makes football richer and more exciting 0:22:01.720 --> 0:22:04.920 when it's good. Yeah, all right, we're going to take 0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:06.359 a break and we'll be back with more of your 0:22:06.440 --> 0:22:07.199 questions shortly. 0:22:18.520 --> 0:22:20.600 All right, we're back on your way in Sean. What 0:22:20.640 --> 0:22:22.200 do we got? All right? 0:22:22.359 --> 0:22:25.159 Dear Daniel and John, Is there a particular way that 0:22:25.240 --> 0:22:28.680 you feel sport has shaped your perspectives, helped in your 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:33.040 career or in your personal life? Perhaps his parents Love 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:38.359 from London, North London Forever Jess, Hmmm, Yes, it's a 0:22:38.400 --> 0:22:39.440 deep one. 0:22:39.720 --> 0:22:43.120 Yeah. There was a time when my boys were younger 0:22:43.600 --> 0:22:50.720 when I kept in my pocket red cards and yellow cards, uh, 0:22:49.080 --> 0:22:52.840 and and they would do something annoying and I would 0:22:52.920 --> 0:22:56.719 just you know, put up with the yellow card. And 0:22:56.760 --> 0:23:00.159 this really worked, you know, and like you know, you 0:23:00.160 --> 0:23:02.440 didn't want to get a double yellow at a playdate, 0:23:02.560 --> 0:23:09.399 you know, And this was actually a really good parenting technique. 0:23:10.200 --> 0:23:12.760 And I think in my career, I think I spoke 0:23:13.040 --> 0:23:15.760 about this on the way and but I've gotten to 0:23:15.800 --> 0:23:20.200 play soccer in some pretty crazy places and it's always 0:23:20.200 --> 0:23:23.800 helped me make friends when I've moved to new places, 0:23:23.920 --> 0:23:28.240 new towns, or make friends in the context of reporting, 0:23:28.280 --> 0:23:32.760 and have sort of a baseline set of shared knowledge 0:23:32.760 --> 0:23:35.639 that I can draw upon with almost anybody that I 0:23:35.880 --> 0:23:38.600 that I meet around the world. So that's been super helpful. 0:23:39.880 --> 0:23:43.040 What about you, John, Yeah, I would say that part 0:23:43.080 --> 0:23:45.520 of it for sure is true for me as well, 0:23:45.600 --> 0:23:48.639 that you know, anywhere I travel, football is a common 0:23:48.720 --> 0:23:53.200 language and we can talk about that. You know, it's 0:23:53.240 --> 0:23:55.679 not universal. Of course, not everybody's a football fan, but 0:23:55.720 --> 0:23:58.160 a lot of people are, and that's a good point 0:23:58.160 --> 0:24:02.000 of connection, shared side of interest. The other thing I 0:24:02.040 --> 0:24:04.000 would say, though, is something else we've talked about a 0:24:04.040 --> 0:24:07.080 lot on the pod, which is that soccer players at 0:24:07.080 --> 0:24:10.680 a really elite level have an unbelievable amount of self belief. 0:24:11.040 --> 0:24:14.560 They really think that they can do things that are 0:24:14.760 --> 0:24:20.359 exceptional and hard. And that's true not only for you know, 0:24:20.520 --> 0:24:23.560 players for Arsenal who just lifted the Premier League trophy. 0:24:23.600 --> 0:24:25.919 It's also true for players in the third and fourth 0:24:26.000 --> 0:24:31.000 divisions of English football. They have to believe that they 0:24:31.040 --> 0:24:34.399 are really, really good and that they are capable of 0:24:34.400 --> 0:24:37.640 extraordinary things, and that when they stick together they can, 0:24:37.800 --> 0:24:40.880 for instance, if they get an FA Cup tie against Liverpool, 0:24:40.920 --> 0:24:43.000 that they can beat Liverpool. They have to believe that. 0:24:44.119 --> 0:24:50.960 And I've learned in my career that that ability to 0:24:51.080 --> 0:24:58.760 tell yourself that you belong and you are good is 0:24:58.920 --> 0:25:02.240 really useful. Y'all knew me when I was fifteen years old. 0:25:02.520 --> 0:25:04.400 I am not somebody who has a lot of inborn 0:25:04.480 --> 0:25:06.680 built in confidence. I didn't grow up with a ton 0:25:06.720 --> 0:25:10.720 of confidence. I grew up nerdy and bullied and uncomfortable. 0:25:11.640 --> 0:25:18.679 And I learned, partly from watching sports, that you just 0:25:19.320 --> 0:25:22.960 have to believe in yourself. It's really really important no 0:25:23.040 --> 0:25:24.120 matter what you do in life. 0:25:24.760 --> 0:25:29.119 Absolutely love that. Thank you, Jess. That was a great question. 0:25:29.280 --> 0:25:31.680 North London Forever. Okay, what's next, Jean. 0:25:32.119 --> 0:25:35.439 Hello, John and Daniel. In your episode with Simon Cooper, 0:25:35.640 --> 0:25:38.640 it was mentioned that Team USA would be playing quote 0:25:38.680 --> 0:25:42.760 practical soccer while other countries will play quote beautiful soccer 0:25:43.240 --> 0:25:45.600 in the upcoming World Cup. I do not know what 0:25:45.640 --> 0:25:49.560 this means. I've tried to understand the difference between MLS 0:25:49.560 --> 0:25:52.159 and Premier League play styles, but I just do not 0:25:52.359 --> 0:25:56.360 know what to look for between these leagues regardless. Does 0:25:56.440 --> 0:26:00.679 quote beautiful football mean better football or is considered a 0:26:00.720 --> 0:26:03.960 specific style of play. There's any insight either of you 0:26:04.000 --> 0:26:06.639 would be able to provide, I would appreciate it. Brand 0:26:07.359 --> 0:26:09.879 And he's referencing, you know, Simon Cooper. We had the 0:26:09.880 --> 0:26:13.280 great Simon Cooper, author of the most recent book World 0:26:13.320 --> 0:26:17.160 Cup Fever, on a previous episode of The Away End. 0:26:17.880 --> 0:26:20.480 You guys had a great conversation with him. If you 0:26:20.880 --> 0:26:23.040 haven't listened to that episode, go check that one out 0:26:23.080 --> 0:26:23.560 as well. 0:26:23.920 --> 0:26:27.280 Yeah, I think this is a really great question. You 0:26:27.280 --> 0:26:30.040 want to go Tom, sure. I think part of it 0:26:30.080 --> 0:26:33.159 is how you set up to play. You know, so 0:26:33.240 --> 0:26:35.240 you set up one way usually to play when you 0:26:35.280 --> 0:26:37.040 have the ball, in one way when you don't have 0:26:37.119 --> 0:26:41.120 the ball, and a lot of teams that are playing 0:26:41.480 --> 0:26:44.440 sort of practical football that don't have the talent level 0:26:44.480 --> 0:26:47.480 of their opponents are going to set up with what 0:26:47.600 --> 0:26:49.679 sometimes called a low block. They're going to set up 0:26:49.680 --> 0:26:52.800 in a really defensive position and try to kind of 0:26:52.840 --> 0:26:56.160 withstand pressure. And then when they have the ball, which 0:26:56.160 --> 0:26:58.159 they know will be for a minority of the game, 0:26:58.560 --> 0:27:03.000 they you know, organize themselves differently or they try to 0:27:03.040 --> 0:27:05.879 focus on counterattacking, so getting the ball back and then 0:27:05.920 --> 0:27:08.159 moving very very quickly up the field. And trying to 0:27:08.200 --> 0:27:12.520 make something happen that way. That way of playing football 0:27:12.560 --> 0:27:18.760 is generally considered, although perhaps unfairly, less beautiful, less moving, 0:27:18.960 --> 0:27:24.399 less like visually exciting and interesting and intricate than you know, 0:27:24.760 --> 0:27:27.359 like the way Brazil or the Netherlands play football, where 0:27:27.520 --> 0:27:32.480 everybody is touching the ball all the time, and you know, 0:27:32.600 --> 0:27:34.800 the sort of total football of the Dutch from the 0:27:34.840 --> 0:27:39.159 nineteen seventies where you know, your your your defenders can 0:27:39.200 --> 0:27:43.639 become attackers and your attackers can become defenders, and everybody 0:27:43.720 --> 0:27:48.280 is moving in a very flowing, coordinated, open way. 0:27:48.440 --> 0:27:50.760 Is that fair to say, Daniel, Or have I missed something? Yeah? No, 0:27:50.800 --> 0:27:52.800 I think that's that's exactly right. I think you know, 0:27:55.280 --> 0:27:58.600 this season Arsenal one. I'm sorry I keep referencing this 0:27:58.640 --> 0:28:01.399 thing that happened because it's prettympore to me. But you know, 0:28:01.440 --> 0:28:04.000 a lot of the critique I think was fairly lobbed 0:28:04.000 --> 0:28:07.320 at Arsenal was that it wasn't a particularly beautiful game 0:28:07.359 --> 0:28:09.480 to watch. They scored a lot of goals from corner kicks, 0:28:09.560 --> 0:28:13.720 they from set pieces. Uh, pretty turgid offensively and just 0:28:13.880 --> 0:28:20.359 impenetrable defensively. Uh, you know, Titanic defenders. So I think, 0:28:20.480 --> 0:28:26.199 you know, next weekend, uh Arsenal's playing PSG in the 0:28:26.240 --> 0:28:28.639 Champions League Final. PSG is a team that has played 0:28:28.720 --> 0:28:31.879 much less football than Arsenal because of the way the 0:28:31.960 --> 0:28:35.720 league League league is set up, and they save their best, 0:28:35.840 --> 0:28:39.680 very best players to for for for Europe, and they 0:28:39.720 --> 0:28:43.560 play an incredible attacking I mean, they're just irresistible to watch, 0:28:43.720 --> 0:28:45.240 and it's really gonna be a clash of styles. And 0:28:45.280 --> 0:28:48.280 I would say to Brandt, you know, watch that game, 0:28:48.760 --> 0:28:51.840 or even just watch the highlights of you know, uh 0:28:52.120 --> 0:28:56.320 Arsenal Atletico and then watched the highlights of uh PSG 0:28:56.440 --> 0:28:59.440 Byron of the first leg of either of those games. 0:28:59.560 --> 0:29:02.240 Both that were very entertaining games in their own way, 0:29:03.600 --> 0:29:08.880 but for the untrained eye, you know, the PSD Byron 0:29:08.920 --> 0:29:11.480 game was box office. I mean that was incredible. You know, 0:29:11.520 --> 0:29:14.800 it had everything. It was just attacking, attacking, attacking, two 0:29:14.880 --> 0:29:21.160 teams of incredible attacking talent who seemed not that interested 0:29:21.160 --> 0:29:23.080 in playing defense, just seeing who could you know, it 0:29:23.120 --> 0:29:25.040 was like a basketball game, who can who can score more? 0:29:25.360 --> 0:29:30.040 The Arsenal game was attritional, was very tactical, both teams 0:29:30.120 --> 0:29:35.040 sort of playing within themselves, and you know ended up 0:29:35.120 --> 0:29:37.480 in a draw one one. It's totally different and you 0:29:37.720 --> 0:29:40.320 could you know, that's probably the starkest difference. And then 0:29:40.360 --> 0:29:42.920 you'll see a huge difference on Saturday in the Champions 0:29:42.960 --> 0:29:45.480 League Final because Arsenal's not going to go out there 0:29:46.440 --> 0:29:51.080 to try to play expansive, free flowing you know, front 0:29:51.120 --> 0:29:53.960 to back and in like six intricate one touch passes 0:29:54.320 --> 0:29:57.560 through the midfield of PSD. It would be it would 0:29:57.600 --> 0:29:59.800 be silly to do that. What they're going to do 0:30:00.400 --> 0:30:02.400 is try to narrow the game and hit them on 0:30:02.400 --> 0:30:04.080 the counter or hit them on a set piece, you know, 0:30:04.080 --> 0:30:07.360 and that's what's gonna happen, because it just doesn't make sense, 0:30:07.480 --> 0:30:09.800 you know. I think both are great once you know, 0:30:10.000 --> 0:30:13.920 I understand why Arsenal got so much criticism this season 0:30:14.640 --> 0:30:16.800 for playing that way. I also think that if you 0:30:16.840 --> 0:30:19.040 look at you know, there's reasons why you end up 0:30:19.040 --> 0:30:21.840 playing that way. Injuries, you know, playing against the low 0:30:21.840 --> 0:30:24.680 block all the time forces you to try different things, 0:30:24.720 --> 0:30:26.960 including set pieces, to try to you know, break the 0:30:26.960 --> 0:30:29.640 dead luck. I don't know's it's I find it all 0:30:29.760 --> 0:30:32.920 kind of fun. I've definitely seen boring games in my life, 0:30:33.120 --> 0:30:35.720 but a really kind of Cagy tactical game can be 0:30:35.800 --> 0:30:36.640 fun to watch as well. 0:30:37.000 --> 0:30:39.200 Yeah, And as for the difference between MLS and the 0:30:39.240 --> 0:30:42.720 Premier League, I think that you're right to not be 0:30:42.800 --> 0:30:44.320 able to see a visual difference. 0:30:44.400 --> 0:30:49.080 Like they both cross the ball really well. 0:30:49.200 --> 0:30:52.080 I mean they're probably a little more somewhat more crosses 0:30:52.080 --> 0:30:54.160 into the box in MLS, but like they both cross 0:30:54.200 --> 0:30:56.960 the ball well, they both switch fields of play well. 0:30:57.600 --> 0:31:00.600 MLS is a little slower pace of it is a 0:31:00.640 --> 0:31:02.920 little slower, and you can you can tell that difference. 0:31:03.000 --> 0:31:05.720 The players are more likely to be walking, which is 0:31:05.720 --> 0:31:08.040 why it's also a great league if you're thirty eight 0:31:08.120 --> 0:31:12.479 year old li at all MESSI but I think they're 0:31:13.360 --> 0:31:18.120 you know, technically very good and the level of you know, 0:31:18.200 --> 0:31:21.800 like that basic technical stuff is pretty high. Where you 0:31:21.840 --> 0:31:23.920 will really see the difference is if you come watch 0:31:23.920 --> 0:31:27.040 an AFC Wimbledon game with me, then you'll be like, oh, 0:31:27.120 --> 0:31:29.160 I get it. Like these are like you know, these 0:31:29.160 --> 0:31:33.600 are long passes where lots of people are heading it 0:31:33.640 --> 0:31:35.600 and then they're heading it and then they're heading it 0:31:35.640 --> 0:31:37.880 and nobody really has the ball forty minutes of the 0:31:37.960 --> 0:31:41.720 ninety minutes, and there you can see the difference. 0:31:42.240 --> 0:31:44.160 I want to say one more thing about this In Spanish, 0:31:44.200 --> 0:31:47.880 In Spanish announcers, you know, proven announcers, I'll say this, Well, 0:31:47.920 --> 0:31:51.200 when someone kicks the ball high, they'll say dividel ballogne. 0:31:52.040 --> 0:31:54.720 You know, like when someone just clears the ball away, 0:31:54.720 --> 0:31:57.600 they're like, he just divided the ball. And it's basically like, 0:31:58.320 --> 0:31:59.960 you know, he didn't say like he cleared it, he spang, 0:32:00.080 --> 0:32:03.360 did he you know, defensive clear? No, it's like divided ballone, 0:32:03.360 --> 0:32:05.120 meaning he got the ball away and now we don't 0:32:05.120 --> 0:32:06.960 know who's going to get it. And there's it's a 0:32:07.000 --> 0:32:10.360 bit of a pejorative because like you should be you know, 0:32:10.520 --> 0:32:14.000 even defensively building right, And I think that that, you know, 0:32:14.080 --> 0:32:16.640 that's one of the things that if you have a 0:32:16.680 --> 0:32:19.360 high level of technical play, then you're more likely to 0:32:19.360 --> 0:32:20.560 be able to do that successfully. 0:32:20.680 --> 0:32:22.720 But you have to have the quality to build, and 0:32:22.840 --> 0:32:24.760 a lot of exacts don't have the quality to build. 0:32:25.080 --> 0:32:27.600 I have a good friend, my friend Luke Dempsey, who 0:32:27.640 --> 0:32:29.120 told me that when he was growing up at England 0:32:29.120 --> 0:32:31.080 he's a little bit older than us, you put the 0:32:31.120 --> 0:32:35.640 worst players in the midfield because basically you would kick it, 0:32:35.960 --> 0:32:38.040 you know, as hard as you could as high as 0:32:38.080 --> 0:32:40.959 you could over the midfield. It was equivalent of being 0:32:41.000 --> 0:32:43.280 like playing softball as a kid and you suck, so 0:32:43.320 --> 0:32:46.160 they put you in the outfield. So the midfield players 0:32:46.160 --> 0:32:49.080 barely ever touched the ball. You go straight from defense 0:32:49.120 --> 0:32:54.280 to attack, and often with the you know ballon DVD deal, 0:32:54.360 --> 0:32:57.160 you know, the ball was divided between two teams and 0:32:57.240 --> 0:32:59.120 then it would just bounce around until someone would get 0:32:59.120 --> 0:33:03.960 a shove. You know. That's obviously changed, you know, tremendously, 0:33:04.840 --> 0:33:06.440 and now you put your best players in the midfield, 0:33:06.440 --> 0:33:09.240 your most technical players, your players who were most assured 0:33:09.720 --> 0:33:13.040 or two footed, you know, and put them in the 0:33:13.080 --> 0:33:14.800 field because they can distribute and they can do things 0:33:14.800 --> 0:33:16.280 that you otherwise would be able to do. 0:33:16.520 --> 0:33:20.280 All right, let's go to our next question. Hi, Daniel, 0:33:20.400 --> 0:33:24.200 John and Sean. My question is specifically for Daniel, can 0:33:24.240 --> 0:33:26.600 you please explain to me the allure of the North 0:33:26.680 --> 0:33:30.080 London Derby. I've been following soccer for a long time, 0:33:30.120 --> 0:33:31.840 but as an American, it took me a while to 0:33:31.960 --> 0:33:36.080 choose a European team to support. However, a few years ago, 0:33:36.120 --> 0:33:39.200 after many years of waffling, I made the highly dubious 0:33:39.240 --> 0:33:42.760 decision to support Tottenham in part having been romance by 0:33:42.800 --> 0:33:46.120 the beautiful play and gleeful smile of the now departed 0:33:46.280 --> 0:33:50.120 sun hung men. Now a few years in, I still 0:33:50.120 --> 0:33:53.000 don't get the allure of the North London Derby. That is, 0:33:53.120 --> 0:33:55.960 I don't get why I'm supposed to dislike Arsenal. As 0:33:55.960 --> 0:33:59.040 a longtime Arsenal supporter yourself, I'd be interested. I'd be 0:33:59.120 --> 0:34:02.000 interested to hear any insight into this matter. You may 0:34:02.040 --> 0:34:05.480 have thanks and keep up the great work, Evan god 0:34:05.520 --> 0:34:08.720 I love this question, John, I love this question. Okay, 0:34:09.040 --> 0:34:11.520 So there's there are historical reasons, and there's also the 0:34:11.520 --> 0:34:13.919 most important reason, which is like, the reason you buy 0:34:13.920 --> 0:34:18.000 into rivalry is because it's part of belonging, you know. 0:34:19.440 --> 0:34:23.040 And I think as a as a Spurs fan, Evan, 0:34:23.120 --> 0:34:27.080 you should hate Arsenal because that's part of the kind 0:34:27.160 --> 0:34:31.040 of contract, you know, that's part of what you signed 0:34:31.080 --> 0:34:35.160 on for. And so the historical reasons, I'll just jump 0:34:35.160 --> 0:34:38.080 into these, because Arsenal is a team that was originally 0:34:38.080 --> 0:34:41.600 formed in South London fifteen workers at this munitions factory 0:34:41.640 --> 0:34:44.680 that was called Woolwich, and that club was founded in 0:34:44.760 --> 0:34:48.400 the late eighteen hundreds, originally called Dial Square, then Royal 0:34:48.480 --> 0:34:51.440 Arsenal and Woolwich Arsenal eventually just Arsenal. 0:34:51.960 --> 0:34:56.880 In nineteen thirteen, Arsenal moved from South London to Highbury 0:34:57.320 --> 0:34:59.560 and this was just four miles down the road from 0:34:59.600 --> 0:35:02.880 Whitehart Lane, which was Tottenham Stadium, and that's where the 0:35:02.920 --> 0:35:06.240 beef begins. They played before, but it wasn't a Darby, 0:35:06.320 --> 0:35:09.200 it wasn't a rivalry because they were just two teams 0:35:09.200 --> 0:35:11.760 from London, from different parts of London. When Arsenal moved 0:35:11.800 --> 0:35:17.840 in and encroached upon Tottenham's territory, that's when the rivalry began, 0:35:18.200 --> 0:35:20.920 and it's basically just a neighborhood beef, like who's the 0:35:21.000 --> 0:35:24.640 king of North London is the thing. The rivalry escalated 0:35:24.640 --> 0:35:27.800 a few years later, and this is I think Tottenham 0:35:27.920 --> 0:35:31.200 fans and Tottenham historians have a legitimate beef here because 0:35:31.520 --> 0:35:35.080 the English top flight expanded to twenty two teams and 0:35:35.320 --> 0:35:37.600 Tottenham was one of the teams that had been relegated. 0:35:37.600 --> 0:35:39.000 So one of the options was just to keep the 0:35:39.000 --> 0:35:40.880 teams that have been relegated and then add a few more. 0:35:41.680 --> 0:35:45.680 But the Powers would be skipped over Tottenham and grabbed 0:35:46.080 --> 0:35:49.080 Arsenal from the league below. They'd finished like sixth in 0:35:49.080 --> 0:35:51.880 the league below and brought them up to expand the league. 0:35:52.360 --> 0:35:57.279 And you know what, that's super unfair and that sort 0:35:57.320 --> 0:36:00.040 of cemented sort of the historical reasons why Tottenham and 0:36:00.200 --> 0:36:03.160 Arsenal do not get along. But you know, I mean, 0:36:05.640 --> 0:36:09.279 Darby's are just rivalries just mean more. And so you 0:36:09.280 --> 0:36:13.160 can have a shit season if you're an Everton fan, 0:36:13.200 --> 0:36:15.280 if you have a bad season, but you beat Liverpool, 0:36:16.520 --> 0:36:18.360 you know, and if you do the unthinkable, which is 0:36:18.400 --> 0:36:20.719 like be Liverpool at Anfield, that's a great season. That's 0:36:20.880 --> 0:36:26.080 that's one of the moments that you have. And winning 0:36:26.160 --> 0:36:30.480 at white Hart Lane or winning at Tottenham Stadium is 0:36:30.680 --> 0:36:35.839 better than winning at Brighton. You know. It's just it's 0:36:35.920 --> 0:36:40.040 just more pleasurable, you know. And I would just encourage you, Evan, 0:36:40.120 --> 0:36:44.759 just to lean into it, man, lean into it and 0:36:44.960 --> 0:36:46.520 enjoy it. One day you're gonna beat us and it's 0:36:46.520 --> 0:36:48.560 going to be great. Could happen next season? Yeah. 0:36:48.719 --> 0:36:52.200 I think about this in the context of whether it's 0:36:52.239 --> 0:36:56.640 possible to create an US that doesn't also create a them. 0:36:57.040 --> 0:36:59.960 You know, to what extent can we create strong communities 0:37:00.160 --> 0:37:04.760 that don't have others? And I think it's really hard. 0:37:05.440 --> 0:37:08.560 It's a lot easier to make that US affairs of them, 0:37:08.920 --> 0:37:11.759 and this is a relatively healthy way to do it, 0:37:11.760 --> 0:37:14.239 as long as you remember that it's just a construct 0:37:14.280 --> 0:37:17.080 and it's not real, and like you know, Tottenham fans 0:37:17.080 --> 0:37:19.880 are not like inherently better or worse than Arsenal fans. 0:37:20.280 --> 0:37:23.440 It's just, uh, it's just a way of strengthening the 0:37:23.560 --> 0:37:24.839 sense of us. 0:37:25.360 --> 0:37:28.400 Yeah. Yeah, and I use I use hate in air quotes, 0:37:28.680 --> 0:37:31.520 you know, like the rival recourse. I know is it's 0:37:31.640 --> 0:37:33.960 it's all it's all fun and games, and it's not. 0:37:34.200 --> 0:37:36.640 It's not and nor should it be anything more than that, 0:37:36.760 --> 0:37:41.000 you know, uh and yeah, and there's it's really hard 0:37:41.040 --> 0:37:45.400 sometimes because there's so much furvor and emotion around these games, 0:37:45.480 --> 0:37:49.520 and you see it all over the world where fandom 0:37:49.800 --> 0:37:53.000 becomes something else that it shouldn't be. You know, that 0:37:53.160 --> 0:37:57.000 is not it's not about belonging. It's about you know, 0:37:58.000 --> 0:38:03.440 it's about violence and anger and and rancor. And that 0:38:03.560 --> 0:38:07.000 isn't any fun for anybody. So don't lean into that, evan, 0:38:07.120 --> 0:38:10.960 lean into the fun parts of a rivalry and celebrate 0:38:11.400 --> 0:38:15.200 your team and congratulations for staying up. All right, So 0:38:15.280 --> 0:38:17.719 let's take a quick break, guys, and we'll come back 0:38:17.760 --> 0:38:21.000 with a few more questions and then a story from 0:38:21.040 --> 0:38:21.680 a listener. 0:38:36.480 --> 0:38:38.359 All right, we're back on the away and Sean, what's 0:38:38.400 --> 0:38:39.160 our next question? 0:38:39.719 --> 0:38:43.040 Hello, John and Daniel. In my life, I have deeply 0:38:43.080 --> 0:38:47.040 loved two football teams, the US women's national team and Liverpool. 0:38:47.640 --> 0:38:49.800 They have both given me so much over the years, 0:38:49.800 --> 0:38:52.880 from epic highs to devastating lows and some of the 0:38:52.880 --> 0:38:55.920 best people in the world. But as happens with the 0:38:55.920 --> 0:39:00.160 all professionals sports teams, they change over time. Players retire 0:39:00.320 --> 0:39:03.840 or get traded, managers rotate through and the team that 0:39:03.880 --> 0:39:07.520 you fell in love with doesn't really exist anymore. To me, 0:39:07.800 --> 0:39:11.160 this feeling is like a prolonged, excruciating breakup that you 0:39:11.239 --> 0:39:13.120 have no control over it, and I can't seem to 0:39:13.120 --> 0:39:16.000 figure out how to get over it. As season team 0:39:16.040 --> 0:39:18.720 supporters who have seen many, many versions of the teams 0:39:18.760 --> 0:39:22.320 you love, do you get this feeling too, and if so, how. 0:39:22.160 --> 0:39:24.560 Do you deal with it? Jamie? 0:39:25.320 --> 0:39:29.120 I am devastated when a player I really love leaves 0:39:29.200 --> 0:39:32.520 the football club, like I remember when Roberto Fromino left Liverpool. 0:39:33.320 --> 0:39:36.760 It was like a not like a close family member 0:39:37.560 --> 0:39:41.880 had abandoned me, but like a first cousin or something 0:39:42.080 --> 0:39:43.760 was like, I don't want you in my life anymore. 0:39:43.800 --> 0:39:44.840 I want to go to Saudi. 0:39:44.640 --> 0:39:49.440 Arabia now, and I was really actively sad, which I 0:39:49.480 --> 0:39:52.920 know is ludicrous. Roberta Formo doesn't think about me, and 0:39:53.840 --> 0:39:55.960 nor should he when he's making his decisions about his 0:39:56.000 --> 0:40:00.239 footballing career. But I guess the benefit of having been 0:40:00.239 --> 0:40:02.239 a long term fan is that you see all those 0:40:02.280 --> 0:40:06.319 people come back. You know, you see that. You just 0:40:06.440 --> 0:40:08.760 know that Roberta Fermino is going to return to anfield 0:40:08.800 --> 0:40:10.560 twenty years from now, and he's going to hear those 0:40:10.600 --> 0:40:13.440 same songs that we sung for him when he was 0:40:13.480 --> 0:40:15.440 a player, and he's gonna cry, and he's gonna have 0:40:15.480 --> 0:40:17.000 his kids with him, and his kids are going to 0:40:17.080 --> 0:40:21.120 be twenty years old and playing for Barcelona's youth team 0:40:21.200 --> 0:40:23.920 or something. You just you're able to zoom out and 0:40:23.960 --> 0:40:27.080 see that in the context of this being part of 0:40:27.120 --> 0:40:30.600 Liverpool or the US women's national team will always have 0:40:30.640 --> 0:40:33.359 been an important part of these people's lives, and so 0:40:33.440 --> 0:40:36.680 they aren't really all the way gone just because they've 0:40:36.800 --> 0:40:38.239 they've moved on or retired. 0:40:40.000 --> 0:40:43.279 Yeah. Absolutely, that's a great answer. I also think that 0:40:43.320 --> 0:40:48.359 the the trajectories of teams and the fallow periods are 0:40:48.360 --> 0:40:54.520 what make the Swede moments all the all the sweeters. 0:40:54.520 --> 0:40:59.480 So you see a player go and your heartbroken, especially 0:40:59.520 --> 0:41:02.600 when players go to a bigger club or for more 0:41:02.640 --> 0:41:05.719 money or for the chances to win the trophies that 0:41:05.800 --> 0:41:10.000 your particular club can't offer at the moment. And then 0:41:10.440 --> 0:41:14.399 you know, some kid from the academy shows up and 0:41:15.600 --> 0:41:18.440 embodies the values of the club or the values that 0:41:18.440 --> 0:41:22.239 you associate with your club, and loves the shirt and 0:41:22.280 --> 0:41:25.160 just loves playing for the team and brings new energy, 0:41:25.200 --> 0:41:26.640 and then you fall in love all over again. And 0:41:26.680 --> 0:41:30.719 that's part of the process of loving a team and 0:41:30.719 --> 0:41:34.960 supporting a team. And with the national team it's the same, 0:41:35.320 --> 0:41:38.800 you know. You know there are good there are players 0:41:38.840 --> 0:41:42.319 that we have not really heard of yet who in 0:41:42.920 --> 0:41:47.200 six weeks time will be household names across the world 0:41:47.719 --> 0:41:50.400 who are going to make their mark on this tournament 0:41:50.640 --> 0:41:53.880 and do beautiful, amazing things for their national teams and 0:41:53.920 --> 0:41:57.080 become heroes, you know, And that's a really exciting thing 0:41:57.160 --> 0:41:59.719 to not yet know who those players are. 0:42:00.480 --> 0:42:04.160 Can I just note that when Jamie said, as seasoned 0:42:04.160 --> 0:42:07.360 team supporters who have seen many, many versions of the 0:42:07.400 --> 0:42:11.520 teams you love. I felt that I felt that a 0:42:11.520 --> 0:42:14.640 little bit. It do a little bit like an attack. 0:42:14.920 --> 0:42:17.640 They could have just said one mini would have sufficed, 0:42:17.920 --> 0:42:19.759 but yeah, two many. 0:42:20.320 --> 0:42:22.960 Yeah. I was asked to when I was playing in 0:42:23.000 --> 0:42:24.600 New York a few years ago. I was asked to 0:42:24.680 --> 0:42:27.439 join a team and I was like, guys, I'm pretty old, 0:42:27.760 --> 0:42:29.320 and he's like, yeah, but the club has lots of 0:42:29.320 --> 0:42:31.759 different age levels, and the age level that I was 0:42:31.800 --> 0:42:38.160 asked to play in was the age level was Legends. 0:42:39.120 --> 0:42:46.480 It was like deceased, you know. I was like, oh wow, 0:42:46.719 --> 0:42:48.440 And then I want to play with Legends and I couldn't. 0:42:48.480 --> 0:42:50.799 I couldn't hang. They were in such good shape. These 0:42:50.800 --> 0:42:53.360 were all like fifty five year old guys, who could, 0:42:53.600 --> 0:42:56.000 you know, run for days. I was like, nah, I 0:42:56.040 --> 0:42:59.680 can't do it. I can't do it anyway, all right. 0:43:00.160 --> 0:43:04.399 Next question, Hello Daniel and John. What do you think 0:43:04.480 --> 0:43:07.160 of the straight red card rumored to be a new 0:43:07.239 --> 0:43:10.080 rule in this Men's World Cup for any player who 0:43:10.120 --> 0:43:12.920 covers his mouth during a dispute with an opposing player. 0:43:13.480 --> 0:43:17.120 It feels kind of bonkers, but maybe it's grounded in 0:43:17.200 --> 0:43:20.439 something that I'm not getting with Giant appreciation for all 0:43:20.719 --> 0:43:24.280 you were doing in your pod. Liz from Washington State, Liz, 0:43:24.400 --> 0:43:26.880 there is an unfortunate reason that this has to be 0:43:26.920 --> 0:43:31.920 a rule, And the reason, I'm sorry is that people 0:43:32.440 --> 0:43:39.120 around the world are racist. And there have been multiple 0:43:39.160 --> 0:43:43.800 incidents of people players covering their mouths and then saying 0:43:44.000 --> 0:43:50.920 something racist, and then a player reporting it and not 0:43:51.000 --> 0:43:54.440 either not being believed or being dismissed or being booed 0:43:54.440 --> 0:43:58.440 by opposing fans and some teams who are also racist, 0:43:59.080 --> 0:44:03.200 and the whole thing is ann fortunate, just reality of 0:44:03.280 --> 0:44:07.080 the world that we live in. I wonder how closely 0:44:07.120 --> 0:44:09.960 this rule is going to be enforced. I think so 0:44:10.000 --> 0:44:14.839 many yeah, so many players just have the habit of 0:44:14.880 --> 0:44:17.920 doing this because you don't want the cameras to pick 0:44:18.000 --> 0:44:20.040 up if you're having a conversation about tactics or who's 0:44:20.040 --> 0:44:21.960 going to take the free kick or whatever. And it's 0:44:21.960 --> 0:44:24.880 just becomes such a habit that some player is going 0:44:24.920 --> 0:44:30.200 to accidentally cover their mouth not say something racist, you know, 0:44:30.280 --> 0:44:34.799 but just to have a conversation with another player on 0:44:34.840 --> 0:44:37.319 the pitch, and they might get a red card. 0:44:37.360 --> 0:44:40.080 And I'm worried about that. But there is a reason, 0:44:40.120 --> 0:44:42.360 and that's the reason there is a good reason. 0:44:42.400 --> 0:44:45.640 I'm worried that it will be enforced haphazardly, or that 0:44:46.040 --> 0:44:50.600 it'll be somebody who accidentally covers their mouth while saying 0:44:51.520 --> 0:44:54.640 something totally innocuous and gets a red card, and that's 0:44:54.680 --> 0:44:57.080 such a huge shift in the overall vibe of a 0:44:57.120 --> 0:45:00.719 game that it would be a catastrophic mistake player to make. 0:45:00.760 --> 0:45:02.880 And so I just I worry about that. But I 0:45:02.920 --> 0:45:07.080 absolutely understand that you know, this is this has been 0:45:07.120 --> 0:45:10.360 a problem over and over and over again, and every 0:45:10.400 --> 0:45:13.360 time the offending player says, well, I didn't say anything, 0:45:14.000 --> 0:45:16.680 and they're they always set it behind their hand so 0:45:16.719 --> 0:45:19.440 that you can't read their lips or and the referee 0:45:19.520 --> 0:45:21.920 might not hear it, and so you know. 0:45:21.920 --> 0:45:23.520 It's it. 0:45:23.520 --> 0:45:27.319 It comes from an important place. We'll see how it's 0:45:27.360 --> 0:45:28.239 actually implemented. 0:45:29.120 --> 0:45:33.279 Yeah, absolutely, it's going to be curious. It's going to 0:45:33.320 --> 0:45:33.720 be curious. 0:45:33.920 --> 0:45:36.919 And I'm reminded of something in Simon Cooper's book where 0:45:36.920 --> 0:45:41.520 he talks about the way referees for World Cups are chosen, 0:45:41.680 --> 0:45:45.480 and it's not necessarily because they're the best referees, you know, 0:45:45.960 --> 0:45:50.400 because FIFA and all the federations that are beneath FIFA 0:45:50.520 --> 0:45:54.759 the national organizations sort of suffer from the same level 0:45:54.760 --> 0:45:58.840 of corruption. You're not going to necessarily get the greatest 0:46:00.200 --> 0:46:02.960 refs around. You're just going to get someone who is 0:46:03.719 --> 0:46:06.960 you know, plucked from their national league and thrown into 0:46:06.960 --> 0:46:10.480 the mixer, and they either don't have the training, they 0:46:10.560 --> 0:46:12.839 might not have the expertise, or they might not have 0:46:12.920 --> 0:46:17.080 the cohonis to make you know, the right calls at 0:46:17.080 --> 0:46:20.920 the right moments. So adding this kind of rule, although 0:46:20.960 --> 0:46:24.239 I support anything that we can do to sort of 0:46:24.239 --> 0:46:26.120 stamp out racism in the game and in the world. 0:46:27.520 --> 0:46:30.239 You know, let's see how it works. It could really backfire, 0:46:31.400 --> 0:46:35.719 but it remains to be seen. But that is the reason. Liz, 0:46:36.400 --> 0:46:39.600 all right, Sean, what have we got? All Right? 0:46:39.640 --> 0:46:44.240 We have a pretty epic story here from listener William. 0:46:45.080 --> 0:46:47.239 You know, as a way and listeners know, you know, 0:46:47.239 --> 0:46:50.640 we usually end the podcast with a story from one 0:46:50.680 --> 0:46:54.920 of you guys, but when we got this email from William, 0:46:55.760 --> 0:47:02.040 we felt like it deserved to end today's episod. So yeah, 0:47:02.120 --> 0:47:06.480 we will dive in here to his story. William. It's 0:47:06.520 --> 0:47:10.320 a great story. Dear John and Daniel. I was sixteen, 0:47:10.600 --> 0:47:13.600 the brain of the Vuvazela dominated the halls of my 0:47:13.680 --> 0:47:16.359 Long Island High School, and all of my friends and 0:47:16.400 --> 0:47:18.840 I followed along with the games as best as we could. 0:47:19.120 --> 0:47:21.520 I grew more and more excited as the tournament progressed. 0:47:22.040 --> 0:47:24.920 That year, the school's foreign language class trip was to 0:47:25.000 --> 0:47:27.200 Spain and we would be there during the semi final 0:47:27.280 --> 0:47:30.479 and final matches. Fast forward to the trip and twenty 0:47:30.560 --> 0:47:32.880 five high schoolers are going from city to city in 0:47:32.960 --> 0:47:37.120 Spain with some teachers as chaperones. We watched the semifinal 0:47:37.160 --> 0:47:39.880 match while we're there, and we celebrate with the country 0:47:39.920 --> 0:47:43.200 that they're going to the final. The whole country was electric. 0:47:43.680 --> 0:47:46.240 I had never felt anything like it in the United States, 0:47:46.560 --> 0:47:49.160 and to this day, I still have not. We were 0:47:49.160 --> 0:47:51.840 going to watch Spain play for the World Cup while 0:47:51.960 --> 0:47:56.600 actually in Spain. It was going to be amazing. My 0:47:56.640 --> 0:47:58.880 friends and I immediately went to our teachers, who we 0:47:58.880 --> 0:48:01.000 were on great terms with, and tried to figure out 0:48:01.040 --> 0:48:03.560 where we would be watching the final. We thought that 0:48:03.600 --> 0:48:05.960 this was a dream come true for us and them. 0:48:06.600 --> 0:48:09.799 What better cultural immersion for a foreign language class than this. 0:48:11.120 --> 0:48:12.040 Well, as it. 0:48:12.000 --> 0:48:15.120 Turned out, our itinerary was already set for that time. 0:48:15.640 --> 0:48:20.360 Our teachers had months beforehand scheduled a party cruise for 0:48:20.520 --> 0:48:23.359 all of us. It was meant to be a river 0:48:23.440 --> 0:48:25.799 cruise in Sevilla, where we'd get the chance to hang 0:48:25.840 --> 0:48:29.120 out with other people our age. I had never in 0:48:29.160 --> 0:48:31.719 my life argued to get out of a party more 0:48:31.719 --> 0:48:36.440 than I did for us to skip that cruise. My 0:48:36.480 --> 0:48:38.920 friends and I desperately tried to explain that there was 0:48:39.000 --> 0:48:41.279 no way that anyone would be on that boat during 0:48:41.280 --> 0:48:43.960 the final I honestly wasn't even sure it would be 0:48:44.000 --> 0:48:45.040 manned with a crew. 0:48:48.000 --> 0:48:48.439 In the way. 0:48:48.560 --> 0:48:51.400 Only Americans who don't understand that football is the world's 0:48:51.400 --> 0:48:55.200 sport could be. My teachers confidently asserted that plenty of 0:48:55.200 --> 0:48:59.960 people would be there, regardless of the game listeners they were. 0:49:05.520 --> 0:49:08.120 The total population of this river cruise turned out to 0:49:08.160 --> 0:49:12.960 be twenty five American high schoolers, three American high school teachers, 0:49:13.480 --> 0:49:19.560 one young American couple, two very upset bartenders. It was 0:49:19.600 --> 0:49:26.120 a dry cruise, and presumably the captain of this fine vessel. 0:49:26.680 --> 0:49:28.840 My friends and I spent the entirety of the cruise 0:49:28.920 --> 0:49:33.160 with the bartenders huddled around a radio, desperately trying to 0:49:33.200 --> 0:49:36.600 follow along with the game. We floated along the river 0:49:37.239 --> 0:49:41.120 seeing watch parties at beautiful luxury riverside homes go by. 0:49:42.000 --> 0:49:44.879 At one point, the captain slowed down as much as 0:49:44.920 --> 0:49:48.160 possible because one of these parties was projecting the game 0:49:48.280 --> 0:49:55.680 onto the side of a building. Those few minutes were 0:49:55.680 --> 0:49:58.200 the only part of the final that I ever got 0:49:58.239 --> 0:50:04.640 to watch. Then, of course, Spain won in the country erupted. 0:50:05.520 --> 0:50:08.600 If I thought the tournament was electric, this was something else. 0:50:08.760 --> 0:50:09.200 Entirely. 0:50:10.080 --> 0:50:12.440 We watched from our hotel rooms that night, as the 0:50:12.480 --> 0:50:16.480 partying never stopped on the streets below. Our tour guide 0:50:16.480 --> 0:50:19.439 and bus driver told us how they celebrated all night 0:50:19.840 --> 0:50:23.719 running through the fountains in the city. Since then, all 0:50:23.760 --> 0:50:26.279 I've wanted was for the US to experience that kind 0:50:26.320 --> 0:50:29.480 of energy. The love and excitement that can come from 0:50:29.480 --> 0:50:32.640 the sport is something I've truly never seen replicated elsewhere. 0:50:33.440 --> 0:50:35.960 I hope fervently that hosting this World Cup would do it, 0:50:36.200 --> 0:50:38.680 but I have to say I am not confident that 0:50:38.719 --> 0:50:40.640 it will. Maybe one day. 0:50:41.520 --> 0:50:50.640 Best William, amazing, amazing, that's so such a great way 0:50:50.680 --> 0:50:51.560 to watch slash. 0:50:51.640 --> 0:50:56.080 Listen to the final. Oh god, this is the absence 0:50:56.120 --> 0:50:59.640 of it, just like the longing. You know you can 0:50:59.680 --> 0:51:02.279 see from the boat, but you're just like that far 0:51:02.400 --> 0:51:04.960 offshore and you can't leave, and you're a kid too, 0:51:05.080 --> 0:51:10.560 you know. And the bartenders with the dry cruise, Oh god, 0:51:10.600 --> 0:51:14.120 those poor guys. It's a fundamental and he's right. I 0:51:14.160 --> 0:51:16.319 feel bad for the teachers, but he's right to call 0:51:16.400 --> 0:51:20.680 him out because it's a fundamental misunderstanding of how this 0:51:20.719 --> 0:51:23.919 stuff works, you know. Yeah, yeah. 0:51:24.640 --> 0:51:28.160 I remember when the US women's national team won the 0:51:28.200 --> 0:51:35.319 World Cup back in nineteen ninety six, I think maybe 0:51:35.400 --> 0:51:37.960 ninety eight. I can't remember for sure, but in the 0:51:38.040 --> 0:51:43.000 nineties I was working at a ice cream shop outside 0:51:43.000 --> 0:51:47.480 of Moose Pass, Alaska, and when the final penalty kick 0:51:47.520 --> 0:51:51.160 went in and Brandy Chastain ripped off her shirt to celebrate, 0:51:51.920 --> 0:51:55.319 I went outside and I heard one horn honking, and 0:51:55.360 --> 0:51:59.759 then after a long moment of silence, I heard fuck yeah, America. 0:52:00.719 --> 0:52:02.760 And that was as close as I've ever come to that, William, 0:52:02.840 --> 0:52:04.240 That's as close as I've ever come. 0:52:04.120 --> 0:52:08.840 To that feeling. Wow. Yeah, I gotta say I'm very 0:52:08.880 --> 0:52:12.960 excited to watch the World Cup mostly from Boruta, mostly 0:52:13.000 --> 0:52:16.680 here in Columbia, because everyone's gonna be watching the World Cup, 0:52:16.680 --> 0:52:19.239 and it is different. It is different. I think the 0:52:19.360 --> 0:52:21.680 United States is so big and so vast and contain 0:52:21.800 --> 0:52:24.840 so many multitudes. There's in any monoculture anymore, and certainly 0:52:24.960 --> 0:52:29.320 none that embraces football and puts it at its very center, 0:52:30.120 --> 0:52:34.200 as often happens in other parts of the world. So yeah, 0:52:34.200 --> 0:52:36.880 it's a different experience. It's gonna be a different experience. 0:52:36.880 --> 0:52:39.160 I don't think we'll have that level. But maybe in 0:52:39.200 --> 0:52:41.520 New York, maybe in Philly, maybe in the cities that 0:52:41.560 --> 0:52:45.000 are hosting World Cup games, in Miami, in Atlanta. You know, 0:52:47.040 --> 0:52:51.040 you know, I I think if you just you need 0:52:51.080 --> 0:52:53.520 to seek out those places where people are going to 0:52:53.680 --> 0:52:56.040 watch the games. I remember I can remember which World 0:52:56.080 --> 0:52:58.360 Cup it was. It must have been twenty ten, watching 0:52:58.360 --> 0:53:01.400 the game in in a big plaza in front of 0:53:01.440 --> 0:53:06.120 City Hall in San Francisco, packed with people. It was 0:53:06.120 --> 0:53:08.120 a USA England game. Do you remember the game where 0:53:09.000 --> 0:53:13.960 Rob Green? Rob Green let the ball between his legs. Yeah, yeah, 0:53:14.000 --> 0:53:16.960 we watched that. Yah, yeah, yeah, that was rough. I 0:53:17.000 --> 0:53:18.560 watched that in a bar with some buddies. That was 0:53:18.560 --> 0:53:22.840 a fun game. It was a fun game. So, William, 0:53:22.880 --> 0:53:26.560 I think you are obviously now an adult who can 0:53:26.600 --> 0:53:28.200 make your own decisions abou where to watch the games 0:53:28.200 --> 0:53:30.120 and I would just do everything possible to watch them 0:53:30.640 --> 0:53:35.440 with friends and family or with people who have kind of, 0:53:36.320 --> 0:53:38.680 you know, emotional stake in the outcome of the games, 0:53:38.800 --> 0:53:41.359 you know, with different communities of folks, and that's going 0:53:41.440 --> 0:53:43.640 to be great. Just it's gonna be a great experience. 0:53:43.800 --> 0:53:46.400 I loved your story, William, Thank you so much for 0:53:46.400 --> 0:53:47.120 sharing that with us. 0:53:47.200 --> 0:53:49.239 Yeah, and thanks to everybody who writes in at away 0:53:49.320 --> 0:53:51.720 ndpod at gmail dot com. We love reading your emails. 0:53:51.960 --> 0:53:54.600 We'll be sure to read more of them on the 0:53:54.640 --> 0:53:57.400 air in the future. In the meantime, thank you to 0:53:57.560 --> 0:53:59.759 Daniel and Sean and Kurt. 0:53:59.520 --> 0:54:01.759 Are edited and producers for. 0:54:02.320 --> 0:54:02.959 All their work. 0:54:03.200 --> 0:54:10.720 And we'll see you next week. See you guys, MHM.