Latest / Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football / Way too early NWSL preview with Mike Watts

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Way too early NWSL preview with Mike Watts · Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football

0:03
OK, welcome to a very special way, way, way, way, way too
0:09
early NW Cell 2025 season preview edition of Into the
0:11
Channel, a podcast primarily about wins football.
0:13
Before we hit the pitch. If you enjoy the show or love
0:15
wins football as much as your boys do, come kick it with us
0:18
already. Subscribe follow YouTube,
0:19
Spotify, Apple podcast wherever you'd like to watch or listen.
0:22
Leave us a review over your favorite podcast app, links to
0:25
all of our socials and the show notes of this episode.
0:27
I am your host Dino de Suspicus and today we're joined by a
0:30
special guest as well as my Co host Mr. Grant Ingle.
0:33
What is up man? I'm feeling fantastic, buddy,
0:35
and that's because our guest today is a broadcaster, radio
0:38
host, public address announcer and all around phenomenal
0:41
communicator. His broadcasting journey started
0:44
at Saint Ignatius High School in Northeast Ohio in alma mater he
0:47
shares with the legendary Cleveland baseball play by play
0:50
man Jack Corrigan. And if that wasn't enough
0:52
pedigree, he took his talents to the Bronx at Fordham University,
0:55
where every aspiring journalist walks in the shadow of the
0:58
greatest sports broadcaster of all time time, Vince Scully.
1:01
Maybe you've heard him on the call during USL matches or
1:03
collegiate soccer matches. You may have heard him calling
1:06
Cincinnati Bengals games in the NFL.
1:08
Or perhaps you've been lucky enough to hear him as the public
1:10
address announcer at the World's Most Famous arena, Madison
1:13
Square Garden. For the purposes of this show,
1:15
we're focusing on his deep ties to the NWSL, where he's been an
1:18
announcer for more than a decade, spending his time with
1:20
Sky Blue FC to his ascent as one of the league's leading voices
1:24
across multiple networks. It is an honor and a privilege
1:27
to welcome to the program Mike Watts.
1:29
Grant, you said you go, you guys do extensive sort of
1:33
announcements of guests. I mean, that was extensive.
1:37
That was everything. Grant, Dino, good to be with you
1:39
guys. Welcome to the show, Mike.
1:41
All right, so I want to I want to get into it here.
1:43
Is there a pregame playlist you use to kind of get into the zone
1:46
before calling a match? I mean, I when I think about it,
1:48
you know, I I picture you with like the big red beats
1:51
headphones shades. What are you jamming?
1:54
How do you get into the zone before you get ready to call one
1:56
of these huge matches? You're making me out to be way
1:59
cooler than I am. There are no sunglasses and I'm
2:03
more of a Bose guy than a beats guy.
2:05
But but that came with time that that's maturity look from from a
2:11
musical thing. It's funny.
2:13
I don't want to say I hold the aux cord, but I basically do I I
2:16
don't love Ubers Lyfts. Like I'd rather just rent a car
2:21
and drive to the to the stadium myself and bring the rest of the
2:25
announce crew with me. So basically they've been stuck
2:28
with my musical taste the entire season, to their detriment of
2:32
course. But my wife says I'm an early
2:35
2000s full album listener. So Darius Rucker, Red Hot Chili
2:40
Peppers play Zac Brown, a lot of Zac Brown with Heather O'Reilly.
2:46
We we've we've got a deep spiritual connection on that on
2:49
that plane. The killers.
2:52
I mean that that was, it was like my 24 vibes.
2:56
Jill Leyden's trying to get me into Chapel Roan.
2:58
We'll see how that goes. Maybe that's 25.
3:01
There we go. All right, so we talk about what
3:03
you're, what you're listening to on the way to these matches.
3:07
Let's get into the football a little bit here.
3:09
So as Dino said, we're talking about our way too early 2025
3:13
preview. Here we are in mid January.
3:16
A lot of moving and shaking in the league already roster wise.
3:20
When I think about this moving and shaking, I think it's going
3:23
to impact the top four of the league.
3:26
So as you've been watching this happen, how are you viewing
3:30
Orlando Pride, Washington Spirit, Kansas City, current
3:33
Gotham FC? What's what's jumped out to you
3:35
as those four really monster clubs heading into 2025?
3:40
Yeah, and you say Monster Club. I mean, like those four ran away
3:43
from the rest of the pack. I mean, we got to the last four
3:46
weeks of the season and there was no more discussion about who
3:49
would be hosting playoff games. So they've clearly established
3:52
themselves in that tier. The, the really interesting part
3:55
of that, however, is we're into year 2 of Kansas City with
3:59
Flacco. We're into year 1 1/2 with Jonah
4:04
Geraldes in Washington. So you've got more sort of
4:08
established and even Gotham, it's only been together for for
4:11
a year and a half to this point with Juan Carlos.
4:13
And they've made so many changes in terms of the Super team and
4:18
that's somewhat disassembled. And then you've got Orlando
4:22
where it feels like this thing has been together for 2 1/2
4:25
years and it was a build to get to this point.
4:27
My point in saying that is I'm not surprised the amount of
4:31
change that that we're seeing in part because it's the beginning
4:35
of free agency. Great teams tend to get picked
4:38
apart. You look at like Delaney
4:40
Sheehan, underrated part of that Gotham team.
4:43
Houston has the money to spend. They've brought in a new coach.
4:47
Like of course they're going to go try and grab Sheehan, Yasmine
4:51
Ryan and and try and take from teams that that were at the top.
4:54
So there's that natural regression that comes with
4:58
everyone wants to get a piece of the champion, whether that's
5:02
Orlando or it was Gotham the year before that.
5:05
That's just part of the game. But Orlando's basically intact,
5:09
like they are basically the same team.
5:12
So the question is, can they maintain the same level of
5:16
intensity that was really there North Star last year for another
5:21
12 months? And I think they can.
5:24
They're built like they can. Their culture says that they
5:27
can, but it's always easier said than done.
5:30
And within that, they did a really good job of tempering
5:33
minutes for players coming out of the World Cup or or out of
5:37
the Olympics and finding ways to get the entire roster involved
5:41
and developed players. So they're ready for this.
5:45
Washington, they were so injury bit last year.
5:49
And it's way too soon to say, you know, is it a training
5:52
thing? Is it?
5:53
It's been one year with with Adrian and then eventually Jonah
5:58
at the helm. I'm not convinced that they have
6:01
long term systemic injury issues there, more so than they were
6:06
super unlucky to lose Kroy Bethune the way that they did to
6:09
lose Andy Sullivan. So they got their center back
6:12
position settled at the end of last year.
6:15
If they can get SAR and Rodman and Hatch going and some
6:18
combination, if they can get that midfield back together as
6:22
it was mid season, then a full year with Joni, you go like, OK,
6:25
they're still a monster. Kansas City never felt they were
6:28
as good as people thought they were when they were blowing
6:31
people out the first four months of the year.
6:34
And it turns out to an extent they were right.
6:37
But you also lost Gabby Robinson, who was enormous for
6:41
that team. And I don't think I've talked
6:43
about nearly enough in in the impact that they lost when she
6:47
left. There's no reason to think Temla
6:49
slows down because everywhere she's been, she scored like
6:52
this. This is no one hit wonder.
6:54
It's just can she break the league scoring record every
6:57
year? I don't know.
6:59
I love adding Rocky Rodriguez to that midfield.
7:02
And then you got Gotham where it's it's another year where
7:05
there's a ton of change and maybe they're just used to that
7:10
and that's okay. But you lose Yasmine Ryan, who
7:13
you built up Delaney, she and I mentioned, obviously Lynn
7:18
Williams goes, there's a lot of change there and it took him
7:22
what, 3-4 months of hanging around and then they figured it
7:26
out. Is that going to be the, the
7:28
rate at which they start next year?
7:31
If so, you, you sit there at the end and go, OK, they sacrificed
7:35
the shield to be the best team in October.
7:37
And it's possible that they go that route with with the amount
7:40
of change that they had. Mike, we got into it a little
7:44
bit before we hit record, but can you talk a little bit?
7:48
I mean, you, you get a special look, a unique look into some of
7:51
the teams and some of the organizational, you know, kind
7:54
of factoids and norms. How big a difference is it when
7:59
you think about from like a culture standpoint, a leadership
8:01
standpoint, organizational standpoint between the teams
8:04
that are doing it really well and the teams that still have
8:07
some room for improvement? Yeah, everyone acknowledges that
8:11
it is cliche to talk about culture because every single
8:16
conversation that you have with a coach, with a player is about
8:21
the locker room, about the culture.
8:23
Everyone can say it. It's easy to do Idlib service,
8:26
it's very difficult to actually do it.
8:29
And there's been some instances obviously within the league
8:34
where it's not even a culture thing so much as it's a genuine
8:39
workplace dysfunction. But in terms of sporting
8:43
culture, we're getting to the point now, I think where the
8:46
league is matured to the point where the sporting cultures that
8:50
are best are performing better now than the other teams.
8:54
You used to be able to paper over those kinds of problems and
9:00
it's not really doable anymore. So taking out all of the
9:05
scandalous culture problems that certainly have existed in the
9:09
league and it really across sports that that's been an
9:14
issue. And just look at sporting
9:16
culture and how they've developed their organizational
9:21
culture to evade those past problems, to improve upon those
9:25
issues. Look at Orlando like there's a
9:28
reason they were the best last year.
9:30
Everyone was bought in. Everyone felt like they were
9:33
getting better individually and as a collective.
9:37
People forget the draws at the beginning of last year, like
9:40
that was their problem the year prior his death by 1000 paper
9:44
cuts and it was not sealing games at the end.
9:48
And starting what, four games in and getting Barbara Banda helps,
9:52
Don't get me wrong. Right.
9:54
You can point to that or you can point to they started finishing
9:59
off games and finishing off teams and it stopped being one
10:04
point. It started being three points
10:06
more consistently. And it carried throughout the
10:09
season. And even at the beginning of of
10:11
last year, they didn't have enough center backs to start a
10:15
game and move someone back. Like that's where we were at
10:18
with Orlando three weeks in. Yep, I called that game and I
10:21
remember going, all right, I guess Kylie Strom is a center
10:24
back now and ends up being one of the better center backs
10:28
arguably in the league last year.
10:30
So my point in in saying that is Orlando no doubt has got it
10:35
right. I think Kansas City has it
10:38
right. And everyone's going to point to
10:39
the stadium, but it's not about the stadium.
10:41
I told this anecdote during a game last year, but Vlacco
10:45
Aninovsky first team meeting, everyone does a slideshow or a
10:49
video or a presentation of some kind about what we're going to
10:53
be and who we want to be. And Vlaco sits with his
10:57
assistants and Freya Kum, the former coach at Angel City, is
11:00
with him. And Vlaco says, what do I say to
11:03
the team? And Freya sort of goes cut
11:06
through everything. And just what's the one thing
11:09
that you will not accept in the team?
11:12
And he goes into the room and he says the one thing I can't
11:15
accept is a lack of decency. If you can't say thank you to
11:19
the person who made your meal, if you can't say thank you to
11:22
the athletic trainer that taped you up, if you can't say thank
11:26
you to the equipment manager, if you can't be decent to your
11:30
teammates and everyone in the organization, I can't stand for
11:34
that. That's culture building.
11:36
That's why players love playing for Vlaco.
11:40
That's why cities. I understand how the national
11:43
team thing went. So does he, for that matter.
11:46
But there's a reason the players coalesced around to him when it
11:50
was a really stormy time. It totally underrated the level
11:55
of decency that that man has. I think BAE can get there.
11:59
I'm interested to see what Houston is now that they've done
12:01
a total reboot. Like the people there make me
12:05
think that it is possible. But until it happens there, I'm
12:08
always going to be a little OK and like, next, like, is it
12:13
going to get there? But, you know, those are teams
12:16
off the top of my head where I sort of go like, hey, either the
12:18
culture's there already or here's a couple teams I think
12:22
might be on that on that path. But you know, you could argue
12:24
North Carolina, Washington seems to have it, Gotham seems to have
12:28
it. And I'm going to leave teams
12:29
out. But there is an element of
12:32
culture wins, and it didn't always turn out that way in this
12:36
league, as we all know. That's a great point and I think
12:39
it it dovetails into something we wanted to talk to you about
12:41
is when you establish, when a franchise or a club establishes
12:45
that culture, they start to just make better decisions in general
12:50
because people are kind of moving in the same direction.
12:52
There's an established vision and people kind of know what
12:55
they want the roster to look like.
12:56
They know how they want to play. So if you think about some of
12:59
these free agency moves, some of these trades this offseason,
13:03
obviously we've had some bangers in the last like week or so.
13:06
What are you pointing to in terms of the free agency move,
13:09
the roster move that you would look at and say I cannot wait to
13:13
get the season started to watch that player in that squad?
13:15
Yeah, look, it's going to be super cliche.
13:19
I don't think I was surprised by this, but Jaden Shaw, it's got
13:23
to be. Of course Jaden Shaw.
13:25
You're talking about the 20 year old wunderkind who's probably
13:29
more established on the national team than she is in the league
13:33
at this point. Like I give Casey Stoney a lot
13:37
of credit. There is no coach I dealt with
13:40
more often over the last few years who made it clear not just
13:45
I'm not going to throw a player under the bus.
13:47
Like all the all the coaches tend to sort of understand how
13:50
to stay on message, but sort of explain the development pathway
13:54
of a player even when it was uncomfortable to do so.
13:57
So you bring a player from club ball in Texas to the NWSL and
14:05
she blows everybody away. I mean, great football player
14:09
growing up. And like you, you can see it
14:11
like the technical ability is out of this world and Sky's the
14:16
limit. And the national team takes
14:18
notice and in major tournament years takes notice.
14:22
And there was still room to grow within that team in terms of the
14:27
physical conditioning of going from high school to the pro
14:30
level. And I think she was tough on
14:33
her, but also knew that like, she could be one of, if not the
14:39
best player in the world at some point in her life and pushed her
14:42
to get to that point. All that said, clearly, I think
14:45
if your ear was to the ground, you knew something was a bit of
14:48
a miss there. It it it's San Diego, not only
14:52
with with Casey, it turns out, but with Jayden.
14:55
And I'm reading what you're reading in terms of trade
14:57
requests. And so be it.
14:59
You go to North Carolina. I think Shawn Nahas is going to
15:03
push the same buttons, but it's going to come from a from a
15:06
different voice. And I'm not saying a better
15:09
voice or a worse voice. I'm just saying a different
15:11
voice and with a different style of play.
15:14
I'm, I think intrigued to see how she responds to a different
15:19
voice, a different style, one that I think she can be really
15:22
successful in, then try and take the next step within the league.
15:27
Cuz it's not to say she's been bad in the league.
15:30
That's not the point. But I think there's another
15:33
step, a more consistent step that's like right there.
15:36
And I I wouldn't be shocked at all if she finds it in North
15:40
Carolina. Yeah, I think, I think people
15:42
know Nejas's pedigree. They know what he's been able to
15:46
accomplish. I mean, I think he is a highly
15:48
regarded coach. I'm glad you point out like
15:51
Jaden Shaw kind of fitting in in the NWSL.
15:54
How do you envision, and this is going to be a pretty football Y
15:57
question, but how do you envision Shaw fitting into that
16:00
like possession based attack that they have?
16:05
They hold the ball a lot. Narumanura moves to Washington
16:08
Spirit. You bring in Shaw.
16:10
I know Dino and I have talked about this, too.
16:12
Sometimes Shaw, I know she said that she likes to play as a
16:14
number 10. Sometimes she feels like kind of
16:16
like a nine and a half where it's like, maybe you should push
16:18
forward like a little more, like you could be a great striker,
16:21
too. How's she going to fit in there,
16:23
you think? You look at last year, I think
16:26
North Carolina really could have used an extra 9 1/2.
16:30
Probably. So there's an element of there's
16:33
probably a good stylistic fit to her traits.
16:36
I think there's an element of a lot of coaches have sort of
16:41
positional checklists. This is what I look for in an
16:44
outside back. This is what I look for in a
16:46
center back, so on. And there's certain players that
16:48
just don't fit a proper 10, 7-11, nine, whatever checklist.
16:57
And Jayden Shaw has enough of the unique traits and talents
17:01
that she could be a really effective wide player.
17:04
She could be really effective Withdrawn 9.
17:08
She could also be a really effective ten in a single or a
17:13
double 10 situation, which is where you get into Ashley
17:17
Sanchez. So it's gonna be fun for Sean.
17:23
Earlier this year, we were in North Carolina in May with
17:27
Amazon, and I desperately wished we could take what he did on the
17:32
whiteboard and put it on TV because people would have so
17:36
much more respect. I think there's a certain number
17:38
of people in any sport where you take a whiteboard and it goes
17:43
over their head. The, you know, ball screen
17:46
defense in the NBA, passing patterns in midfield in soccer,
17:51
the value of two polling lineman in the NFL.
17:54
Like some people honestly don't really care, but there are
17:58
people that do. And I wish people could see
18:00
those moments because Sean's 100 miles an hour up there
18:04
tactically, he's, I mean, really, it doesn't take long to
18:09
go. This guy gets it go a step
18:11
further. What he had to do to try and
18:13
revamp everything at the courage on the fly was an extraordinary
18:19
position to be put into. But he's also clearly got the VA
18:23
game up top. So I don't know.
18:27
I, I think they're going to, I don't know that Sean totally
18:29
knows. I think three seasons gonna do a
18:32
lot of good for them. And then I think they need to go
18:34
see some live ammo in real games and find out how that works
18:38
because they've got a couple of talents there that do not fit
18:42
the exact standard boilerplate style.
18:46
And obviously Sanchez and Shaw, but other players too it.
18:50
It's not going to be cookie cutter, I know that.
18:52
That's a great point. Definitely excited to see what
18:55
happens in North Carolina. We talked about that top four up
18:58
top. Do you have a team that you're
19:00
going to be excited to see that you think can crack that top
19:03
four? We talked about a couple.
19:04
Obviously North Carolina, Houston's interesting Bay,
19:07
Chicago makes the playoffs last year, but who do you think's got
19:10
the best shot cracking the top 4?
19:12
Yeah, not, not totally sold on Utah yet because I, I don't know
19:17
that we know what, what Jimmy Coonrats is doing, but I think
19:20
they've had a great offseason. So I, I think that could make
19:24
them a potential playoff team. I'm not sure that I'm ready to
19:27
say top 4. Chicago.
19:29
Similarly, I'm not not convinced at this point.
19:33
And I think the playoff game pretty adequately showed how far
19:37
apart they are right now. They also need to perform better
19:40
at home like that. That that's something that we
19:43
spent all last year. I want to say puzzled at things.
19:45
Stylistically you go, it's easier to bait A-Team into
19:49
playing against you in a certain way when you're at their place.
19:52
And that was beneficial to Chicago.
19:55
But look at how Bay finished this season once they brought in
19:59
Abby Dahlkemper and once they sort of got some pieces the way
20:03
they wanted them, especially in the attack and you kind.
20:06
Of go. They're going to be really
20:08
interesting in in part because they don't I give them a lot of
20:13
credit. They don't want your one point.
20:15
They don't care about single point.
20:17
They're not interested and I love that like it is it is guns
20:21
blazing. They they're going to go down
20:23
with the ship if they have to. I love that.
20:26
I I really do. They definitely North Carolina
20:30
as you go into this coming season, they were right there.
20:35
I, I know we, we talk about how the the final four, the top 4
20:40
was decided long before it was over.
20:42
North Carolina didn't totally get going until mid season.
20:46
They're always great at home, so that'll keep them around and
20:49
then, you know, take, take the next step.
20:52
You know, if if you see it all come together, I would not be
20:55
shocked at all to see them in the top 4.
20:57
Quick follow up there, you mentioned you know Chicago's
21:00
play style at home. You mentioned Kansas City
21:02
current, their stadium not being the sole source of, you know,
21:07
their culture or the vibe that's going on there.
21:09
What was the single best environment that you experienced
21:12
last year? I love that you said vibes, like
21:18
there's some stadiums that had a vibe look.
21:21
Let's go which ones? Yeah, Kansas City, Angel City
21:25
and Portland are the three that like immediately pop to mind
21:30
where it's like, whoa, now, I've never done a game in the venue
21:34
at Audi Field. I'm excited to see that at some
21:37
point. Hopefully we we get a Friday
21:39
night there and, you know, turn the lights on and really get
21:42
after it. But you know what you're getting
21:45
at Angel City and Portland, it's these big sort of expansive
21:49
stadiums and they pack them. Kansas City's just unique
21:52
because you feel like you're right on top of everybody and
21:54
everybody's right on top of you and everyone's right on top of
21:57
the field. It's not the most people.
21:59
It's not the biggest. I understand a lot of people are
22:02
like, I see seats over there. It's not totally sold out.
22:05
They had a waiting list. If tickets were available, they
22:07
would have been sold. Also because due respect to
22:11
Portland, Angel City, they didn't have a lot of those
22:13
moments last year where like the crowd got on top of you.
22:15
The momentum went nuts. Kansas City, when they scored
22:18
two goals in 5 minutes at that venue, you felt like the place
22:22
was going to fall over. I'll admit that one's really
22:25
Kansas City was really cool. But yeah, Angel City, Portland
22:28
that that some of the venues Bay.
22:30
We were there in May and and had a great experience there.
22:33
You talk about like, you know, the crowd gets into it, the the
22:36
vibes kind of build up, the momentum starts to starts to get
22:40
in favor of 1 squad these matches.
22:43
What I love about the NWSL is it seems like the match can turn by
22:47
one of the superstar players just like kicking it into super
22:51
high gear. So I'm going to put you on the
22:52
spot again. Do you know asks you about the
22:54
best vibes, the best environment that you've encountered.
22:56
So you mentioned teams like Kansas City with Tamwa Chewinga,
22:59
Rachel Kundanagi over in Bay FC, Trinity Rodman over at
23:02
Washington Spirit, obviously Barbara Benda in Orlando.
23:06
If Mike Watts had to pick who is the best player in the NWSL
23:12
pound for pound, who would you choose?
23:17
Oh wow. We asked the hard hitting
23:18
questions here man. You always do.
23:20
I know the best player pound for pound in the NWSL is actually
23:26
still Naomi Germa. If I were building a team right
23:28
now, it is. Build it around Naomi.
23:31
Let's go. When you talk about an attacking
23:33
player and there's an element of you can get a passable center
23:37
back and it's not at all the same, but you can still win with
23:43
a passable center back. You really can't win without
23:47
like, a consistent top goal scorer.
23:49
Historically, more often than not, that's a delineator between
23:52
a champion and a A-Team that's really competitive and has a
23:56
chance, you know. Yeah.
23:57
So in that sense, I'm still probably building around Sophia
24:01
Smith. But yeah, Temla, Banda, even
24:05
Kundananji, maybe to a lesser extent based on what I've seen
24:08
in the league. Can't, can't go wrong with any
24:11
of them. But the MVP last year was Temla.
24:14
Like, I'm not saying she she wasn't the MVP.
24:16
I'm just saying if I'm building a franchise, I've build it
24:19
around the potential $1,000,000 transfer, Naomi Garma.
24:23
Because again, I'm reading everything you're reading and
24:25
nothing of. Course.
24:26
Yeah. Quick follow up to that, Mike,
24:29
you get to see Garma from a unique vantage point.
24:33
What is it that she does that makes her such a standout
24:36
player? It's one thing to be talented
24:39
enough physically to do the job and she is at at a world class
24:43
level. Yep.
24:44
Everyone you talk to says her positioning is exquisite.
24:50
And you're talking about a 24 year old, right?
24:52
I mean, the the whole game is still out in front of her.
24:56
She, she's got another based on the center backs, we've seen
25:00
another 10 to 12 years of potentially hanging around the,
25:04
the national team or being the face of it.
25:06
So everyone tells me it, it, it's, it's up here.
25:10
It's multiple steps ahead in a way that, you know, I, I tell
25:14
analysts I work with to play at this level, you, you have to be
25:19
a genius at the sport or so supremely talented that it makes
25:23
up for the fact that you're not not quite a genius in saying
25:26
that Naomi has both. And that's the delineator.
25:32
I mean you're, you're literally talking about the best defender
25:35
on the planet potentially. I could see that definitely the
25:38
top two. I'm a I'm a big Emily Sam's guy,
25:41
but obviously Germa incredible player and I think maybe was a
25:44
little bit of a victim of a, you know, a little bit of
25:47
disorganization in San Diego. But you know, Naomi Germa
25:50
officially in the pre prime category.
25:52
Who would you say 22 and under, 23 and under?
25:56
Who is the best or maybe most exciting young player?
25:59
If you said, hey, I want to build my franchise, I want to
26:02
sign this player to a 10 year contract, who's in that category
26:05
for you? I don't want to maybe just limit
26:07
it to just one player. Yeah, it's really hard not to
26:10
immediately say Trinity Rodman, who unbelievably, is still only
26:15
20. What, 22?
26:17
Sorry. Or Jaden Shaw, who's just 20.
26:22
I mean, I think trend definitely.
26:24
I think Jaden can be around the national team for 10 years
26:30
moving forward at least. And so anytime you can get a
26:33
hold of one of those generational, and I think
26:36
sometimes we ignore the true actual definition of
26:40
generational, it means a key figure of a generation of a team
26:46
or a franchise. The generational players of the
26:49
US women's national team right now include Trinity Rodman and
26:53
probably Jaden Shaw. The one that I think is about to
26:57
get there. And again, it this is me zigging
27:00
when everyone else is zagging. Claire Hutton in Kansas City,
27:05
We've spent a minute looking for the next Great American 6,
27:10
whether it be through injuries, retirement, we, you know, we
27:14
sort of got depleted there. We've got a couple right now
27:18
that are going to go fight tooth and nail for it for the next
27:22
decade plus. And that that's pretty cool.
27:24
Like we went to a major tournament and went like, let's
27:27
get Julie Hertz out of retirement like that.
27:30
That's where we were at at that juncture.
27:32
And like honest to God, we figured it out like immediately
27:37
after Claire Hutton in Kansas City to lead the league in in
27:41
tackles at the point, at the mid season point, she went away for
27:45
the Youth World Cup. And one thing leads to another
27:48
and the numbers don't end up quite that way at eighteen.
27:52
That is grown woman stuff. I am super excited to see her
27:58
development and she could be that player and that's that's
28:01
why I throw her in there. The other part of it is the
28:03
college game is changing so uniquely.
28:06
We're going to see more and more 1718 year old youth
28:08
international players that get scooped up through the under 18
28:12
initiative or now that there's not draft choosing their destiny
28:16
moving forward. So there's a high likelihood we
28:20
may not even know who the best under 23 player is in this
28:23
country right now because they're about to get there.
28:25
Totally fair answer. I I would be remiss if I didn't
28:28
mention. So to give you a little back
28:29
story on this podcast, Dino and I started it last year
28:33
specifically to cover the UEFA Women's Champions League.
28:36
And obviously one of the players who jumped out to us right away
28:39
covering that tournament once it got to the group stage last
28:42
year, Lily Johanna said Iax. And so you talk about I, I don't
28:46
know, is Lily a six and eight A10?
28:49
Could you just put her anywhere? Could you just close your eyes
28:51
and point to anywhere on the field?
28:52
And she would be incredible. I think she is one of those
28:55
players where you think about the depth of talent in the
28:57
midfield now and you have Emma Hayes picking the players.
29:02
So I have a feeling that you give her that kind of
29:05
ammunition. There's really no way for her to
29:07
go wrong. Yeah.
29:08
And the the problem is, is we can sit here and say there's no
29:11
way to go wrong, and yet this sport is naturally meant to go
29:17
wrong. That's true.
29:19
You are naturally meant to see Sweden somewhere between the
29:22
round of 16 and the quarterfinals of every major
29:25
tournament. So, like, it is an unbelievable
29:29
wealth of talent. It's true that everyone else is
29:32
getting better because the resources are better everywhere
29:35
else, that they're able to find and develop players more ably
29:38
than ever before outside the United States.
29:41
But they had to suffer a little bit through that last cycle to
29:45
get where they are now. There are a lot of players that
29:48
had to earn their first cap to earn their first medal.
29:51
And that's an uncomfortable truth and it is.
29:54
You see it in every walk of life.
29:56
The generational shifts are uncomfortable and someone's
30:01
going to be angry and it's not going to be pleasant.
30:04
And the US had to suffer through it.
30:06
And on the back end, Emma obviously clearly played a role.
30:10
Squad selection, getting the right group, getting everyone
30:13
bought in on a play style, going out and attacking it, not taking
30:17
a lick away from that. But you know, they definitely
30:19
had to. They had to get to that point.
30:22
You know, it, it wasn't an overnight sensation.
30:25
But yeah, Lily is going to be great.
30:27
Sam Coffee is going to be great. I think Claire Hutton could be
30:29
great. Yeah.
30:30
There's no lack of depth. Switching gears back to NWSL
30:34
and, and your coverage of it, like, so I went back and
30:37
replayed some of the the moments of the year.
30:40
I think my favorite call of yours was the Anna Tejada goal.
30:43
You know, you hit us with a double Tejada, which I don't
30:45
know if that's the the equivalent of the Mike Breen
30:48
double bang, but I always said that Mike Watts can hit 11 with
30:51
the best of them. Do you have a call from last
30:53
year that you're like, just like, I crushed that, that that
30:56
was me in my bag? I I yeah, you're the first
31:06
person to ever say I was in my bag, so I appreciate it.
31:09
Thanks. Let's go.
31:11
Yeah, there was some some great goals that the hotto one does
31:14
stand out. I don't know that I ever go back
31:15
and go like, wow, really nailed that one.
31:19
Like the river goal? Sure.
31:22
I know it's not an actual goal like that.
31:25
That's me at my aspiration in the sense that like no holds
31:29
barred, just went for it. Glad people appreciated it.
31:33
Sort of complete luck. Did not think about it going in.
31:37
Remembered that we've been there a couple weeks prior and
31:39
everyone's talking about when are we going to get the river
31:41
goal and when's the ball going to hit the river and who's going
31:44
to do it. And knew it didn't happen since
31:47
because I had watched the games. And so it never crossed my mind
31:51
until the ball sailed over the concourse, which is why Lori was
31:55
laughing so hard about, I think, because neither of us were
31:58
thinking about it. That's one where I kind of look
32:00
back and go like, yeah, that's me.
32:03
This guy that's that's me at my best.
32:10
So yeah, the the NWSL league M Eckies Cup, the solorcino game
32:17
is 1 where you're kind of like, wow, this is really cool because
32:20
the occasion, the double the back-to-back goals from I think
32:24
it was Stevens in Bay with Gotham.
32:27
Really like that in hindsight we had a couple late, late, late
32:32
equalizing or game winners with Amazon the first six weeks last
32:36
year that you know a couple of those just felt really pure felt
32:40
really good but for every listener that tuned into this
32:45
podcast, regrettably because my name was on it an equal number
32:48
did not TuneIn because they saw my name on it so I.
32:54
Don't believe that for a second. There's an element of like.
32:58
What's good to me is is not good to most or some SO.
33:01
Fair enough. You're a modest guy.
33:03
We appreciate that on on the show here speak.
33:06
Speaking of those, kind of, you know, the Amazon telecast,
33:09
obviously you you were across multiple networks.
33:12
There's a couple things that jumped out to me.
33:14
So Dino mentioned he's in Orlando.
33:15
I'm up here in Seattle. The bit you did with Leanne
33:18
following around the rain city riot, the the marching band who
33:21
plays at rain home matches. I think about, I can't remember
33:24
exactly what match it was, but there was a match where you and
33:27
Lori Lindsay are like wearing lab coats, like breaking down
33:31
something. Do you have like a favorite bit
33:35
either, you know, halftime, pre match, anything that you did
33:39
with Leanne or Lori or Heather O'Reilly that kind of jumps out?
33:42
It was like, yeah, that was fun. Maybe a little silly but but we
33:45
enjoyed getting that one off. Yeah, that that was one of the
33:49
really cool parts of this was that there's a big, there's no
33:52
stupid ideas, I think ethos to how we went about that coverage
33:57
this year. Obviously Leanne, like dancing
34:01
with the Rain City riot was awesome.
34:04
I regret that in the back of my head was shown in the roll out
34:09
of me dancing with the rain city riot, because I think it it
34:13
showed everyone what TV typically doesn't only seeing
34:16
from the front, which is disappointing in its own way.
34:20
The lab code thing was funny because Lori and I, I don't know
34:22
that we really vibed with it, to be honest, and it was it was
34:26
baby delic camera the following week who's just like out of
34:29
nowhere. It just goes the lab code thing.
34:32
That was hilarious and OK, glad that stuck.
34:38
Yeah, the the two things that I would add to that, the TST bit
34:44
that we did, you know, Lori didn't invite me to be on her
34:48
TST team. The faculty, Anne and Kaylea so
34:52
perfectly played the Yeah, Mike, you tried really hard and we
34:56
appreciate it. Like they offered analysis and
34:59
they hadn't seen the tape yet. So it was just like, imagine me
35:03
playing soccer and then record 10 seconds of you saying I can't
35:07
be on your team. And they played that
35:10
beautifully. Lori arrived at like, I don't
35:13
know, 10:30 or 11:00 in the morning in Raleigh for this game
35:16
in North Carolina. The TST tournament is a couple
35:20
weeks away. Lori obviously playing with the
35:23
US national team alumni. So my director, Eric Faulkner, I
35:28
go, hey, can you bring your your camera ahead of time and can we
35:32
just record my reel of why I should be on Lori's team?
35:37
Lori did not know until we aired it that that had ever happened.
35:41
She didn't know it existed. And so that's one of the
35:44
funniest things to me is that like, we were able to sort of
35:47
like, keep the bit alive within our group long enough that we
35:51
could surprise Lori with it so that she could say I sucked at
35:54
soccer and, and really mean it and really mean it.
36:00
Yeah, that was cool. And the cooler bit.
36:01
The cooler bit, because we had obviously Casey Stoney and Laura
36:06
Harvey in a game, the two coaches who sit on coolers.
36:10
The fact Laurie and I got to do that so early in the year, I
36:13
think was like one of those tempo setters.
36:15
And The funny thing is I had a bit in mind and I pitched it.
36:19
And Betsy Riley, who was producing that week was like, I,
36:23
I don't want to say she said I could do it better, but she she
36:26
made a script. She made an honest to God script
36:29
and it was so much better than anything I had imagined.
36:33
And so, yeah, I appreciate it's all hands on deck with this
36:38
stuff. Like Scott Carpen thought of the
36:40
lab coat bit. Like, OK, let's get in the lab
36:42
and talk about what the US national team is thinking about
36:45
ahead of the Olympics. All right, you've got the cooler
36:47
bit. But I can do it this way.
36:49
We also sent a cooler in Seattle to the fish market to catch a
36:53
fish, and no one made a comment. We ran it out of break in
36:56
Seattle one week because everyone does it.
36:58
Oh, we sent Ken Griffey to catch a fish.
37:01
Like, no, we sent the cooler and no one commented on it.
37:06
And that killed me. We, we some are, we actually had
37:11
to expense someone's shoes because we sent them in
37:14
Louisville to a farm to go watch horses kick a ball.
37:19
And in Orlando, we sent a a person out in the mud to bring a
37:27
soccer ball to two goats because we had Alex Morgan and Marta.
37:30
Like it's the little things. Love that.
37:33
That's inspiring stuff. Yeah.
37:34
You know, you got my my wheels turning.
37:35
I think, you know, Grant and I are just here talking to each
37:37
other like a couple of basics. Is it Mike?
37:43
Is it, is it too early? Have you, have you started to
37:45
think about your official 2025 season predictions, you know,
37:50
for the shield or I mean, it's super early, but at what point
37:55
do you kind of start wrapping your head around that and say,
37:57
I'm gonna put my name on this prediction?
37:59
So I'm pulling the curtain back on everybody here.
38:03
We are recording this on January 17th, the year of our Lord.
38:08
In 2025, most teams still don't even have a full roster pre
38:13
season hasn't started, haven't spoken to coaches yet.
38:16
I mean, everyone just sort of decompresses, especially, you
38:19
know, you've got the futures camp that sort of drags people
38:23
away for a little while and I'm working on other stuff in the
38:26
offseason. You guys sending me the link to
38:30
this was my trigger to go start working on boards for next
38:33
season. So, you know, I like, I sort of
38:37
got a peek at the format yesterday and I sort of went
38:39
like, all right, I've seen everything, but I haven't
38:42
amalgamated everything. So like that process starts, you
38:46
know, really now the the top four, top five, I think will
38:52
probably still in some form or fashion will make up at least
38:56
the top three at the end of the year in some order would be my
39:00
guess. I don't want to say I saw
39:02
Orlando winning a double coming or being unbeaten for 24 games.
39:06
That's a lie. But I I did see something of
39:09
this ilk coming. There's also a reason, Grant,
39:13
you were like, hey, let's get you on the pod.
39:15
This is was it September that you reached out?
39:17
Like, you know, we could talk about like awards and like, I'm
39:22
not a hot take artist at all. That's not my gig.
39:25
Like names, numbers, stats, like I watch enough film.
39:30
I don't think I'm ignorant, but like I hate that this is like
39:34
part of players contracts and a bonus for this.
39:37
Like most of the people who vote don't know.
39:40
And if they know one team, it's because they don't know the
39:42
other 29 because they're covering the one team.
39:45
And that that's totally fine. But like I don't love award
39:48
voting. I don't none.
39:50
None of that really does it for the only time I like it is when
39:52
the players vote because they know they saw it won the home
39:56
and road. And maybe you throw up two
39:58
stinkers against a team and and everyone goes and not as good as
40:01
we thought. But on the whole, if you're that
40:02
good enough people saw it, you'll get the votes.
40:05
So no, I'm, I'm not. I haven't really prognosticated
40:08
yet, but I'm sure I will. And then I'm sure I will shut my
40:12
mouth and keep it to myself. That's fair enough.
40:17
That's. Yeah, that's great to you.
40:19
Go ahead, let me. I have a quick follow up.
40:21
Quick follow up, Mike, you mentioned Orlando's unbeaten
40:24
run. We talked a lot about that last
40:26
year. Obviously I'm I'm down here
40:27
covering the pride. How big an accomplishment was it
40:30
to raise the shield undefeated? I mean, it just seems
40:34
unfathomable even when you think, I mean, I was there, I
40:36
saw a lot of it first hand. But that level of accomplishment
40:40
in a league with this much parity, you raise the shield
40:43
undefeated, you then finish. You finish the mission taking
40:47
home the double. How big an accomplishment is
40:49
that? Was that?
40:51
We've seen it before, but the league has changed so much in
40:56
the last four years. The, you know, amount of
40:59
international talent, the overarching sort of improvement
41:03
in the league, the dissolution of allocated players.
41:08
You could argue it was even tighter back in the day when
41:12
Seattle ran away with the shield in 14 when North Carolina was
41:15
winning double s. You can also say Orlando just
41:18
pulled away from everybody and they did like it it once they
41:22
beat Washington with maybe 5 weeks left, the shield race is
41:26
over. It's just when they were going
41:27
to lift it. And that, that's pretty
41:29
remarkable. I had their game in Portland
41:32
that they lost their their first loss of the year.
41:35
And I went into it and, and I, I said to the production team
41:39
leading into it, Portland's going to win tonight.
41:41
Portland was more desperate. I didn't think Orlando was fat
41:45
and happy like that, that they'd eaten enough like that.
41:49
That's not their ethos. But Phoenix Rising in USL won 20
41:53
games in a row, not unbeaten. They won 20 games in a row.
41:57
And then they crashed out. And I spoke to their coach at
42:00
the time and he goes, everyone's running an average of a mile to
42:04
a mile and a half more per game than they did in past seasons.
42:09
Well, that's desire. That's understanding history.
42:13
That's also the weight of it. So I haven't spoken to Seb or
42:17
Haley or or, you know, Giles or anyone there about did you run
42:22
more? But I bet they did and I bet the
42:25
the way to that they had that lull and you saw the players go,
42:30
please give us a little bit of grace.
42:32
What you saw has never happened before.
42:34
It may never happen again. And that there's that everyone
42:38
took a breath and that's OK. But they did win the shield
42:41
while they were still undefeated.
42:42
That is extraordinary. I don't know that we'll ever see
42:46
that again. The league's too good that this
42:49
isn't Barcelona and and the other guys, this isn't Leon and
42:54
the other guys. You know, this is the NWSL.
42:56
It's literally built to not allow that to happen.
42:59
American sports are built for that not to happen.
43:02
And it did. So yeah, one-of-a-kind.
43:05
And. And we lucked out Amazon at the
43:08
beginning of the year, I'm like, all right, I I had the law, I
43:10
had the win the last day of last season that ultimately kept
43:15
Orlando out on goal difference. And I could have told you
43:18
they're going to come back even better.
43:20
Like this is a huge ascending curve.
43:23
Didn't know quite this much. We had seven of their games plus
43:27
their playoff games. We had eight of their what, 32
43:31
all competitions last year. Talk about like total luck of
43:35
the draw to an extent there. There was a reason why Orlando
43:39
was on prime as much as they were.
43:41
But talk about hitting a home run.
43:44
Like I feel like I got to watch that thing develop in real time.
43:47
Really cool. One of my favorite experiences
43:49
in the league was being around that team over the course of the
43:53
season and watching that happen. Yeah, we spoke to Corey Dyke
43:57
before the playoffs and she talked a lot about that culture.
44:01
Obviously, she talked about the accountability when you're
44:04
sharing the field with the greatest player, whoever lived,
44:06
Marta, things like that. I'm glad you mentioned that
44:09
match against Portland that you were on the call for.
44:12
That was one thing that I had flagged prior to this.
44:14
Haley Carter just had so many smart things to say after that
44:19
match. Like you said, just listening to
44:20
the players and saying, look, we got to we got to give you guys
44:23
some rest as we ramp up for this playoff run.
44:26
And as your fellow Ohioan would say, Brian Windhurst, in the
44:30
NBA, when you lift the trophy, you never have to apologize for
44:34
what you did. So yeah, they didn't have the
44:35
invincible season, but they win the double and that's on the
44:39
strength. We talked about culture at the
44:41
beginning of this show. That's on the strength of Seb
44:43
Hines, Haley Carter and all the players who bought into that
44:46
mentality. And I spoke to Haley on the
44:49
field in Portland after that game.
44:53
And here's a quick thing for broadcasters.
44:55
If you're there, maybe you have a flight to catch.
44:58
And I get that. I've I've been in that boat.
45:00
If you're physically able, go down to the field after the game
45:03
because one, it, it's, it's raw motion.
45:06
Second, everyone has a phone now.
45:09
I I don't ever want to be the one caught shrinking away from
45:12
something I say on air. If I'm going to say it on air,
45:14
I'll say it's your face. But that's the digression to
45:20
this point. Haley goes, we needed that.
45:23
Yeah, she knew it the the minute the game ended.
45:26
I saw her 5 minutes after that game.
45:28
We needed that. OK.
45:30
You know, like that one day they sat a bunch of key players on
45:35
turf late in the season when they had played so many minutes.
45:39
Most of their World Cup players did not sit.
45:42
When they came back, they said we want to finish the job and
45:45
they did and they sat the majority of that game.
45:49
You have to play the long game and they did.
45:51
And for the young players, they got the experience of playing in
45:54
a big time game with a big time environment, even if they lost.
45:57
And a loss always refocuses. Every coach I I talked to for
46:01
the most part will say you learn a lot more from a loss than a
46:04
win. And they did it it it did prove
46:07
valuable. That Portland game, I think was
46:10
a inflection point even in defeat.
46:13
Yeah, I believe it from Haley Carter.
46:15
That's a that's a great nugget that I don't know.
46:18
I don't know if you've shared that publicly, but that's that's
46:20
very cool for our audience to hear.
46:22
And I always, I always say about Haley Carter, I would follow her
46:26
into a foxhole. I I've never even spoken to her,
46:28
but she just seems like the apex leader.
46:30
But thinking of all true. It's all true.
46:33
Everything you know about her is true.
46:35
She is exactly the same in person as a way she's.
46:39
Fantastic. I believe it.
46:41
Now, Speaking of apex leaders, Dino and I have this belief
46:44
about Lori Lindsay as well. So here, one question to get you
46:48
out of here on who chooses where the broadcast team goes for
46:52
dinner, whether it's the night before a match or maybe after a
46:55
match. And why is it always Lori
46:57
Lindsay? I wish it could always be Lori
47:01
Lindsay. I mean, I, I think we had her
47:03
with us like 18 times last year. There was a Taco joint in
47:08
Orlando, right? Gringo's Tacos that she brought
47:11
us into like she, she's done some, some good work there.
47:16
She always picks the coffee joint in the morning of of like
47:21
on match day if we're both in town and sometimes one or both
47:24
of us have to fly in day of, especially in the fall, we'll go
47:28
out and get coffee before our production meeting.
47:30
She always picks the coffee joint and it's never Starbucks.
47:33
It's always a local joint and that's awesome dinner.
47:37
I, I love relying on teams, PR people and coaches and players
47:42
asking them where to go. That's my favorite thing.
47:44
So either the producer picks, Lori's had some ideas, the teams
47:49
have offered some ideas. There was a coach that said, if
47:53
you go to this steakhouse, I will go with you.
47:55
And that did happen and that was an awesome dinner.
47:58
I'm not saying what city or what coach kind of, you know,
48:02
confidentiality and and such. Yeah.
48:06
But the only hard and fast rule is I do not pick there.
48:11
You go. Why is that?
48:13
Hasn't it been clear from this podcast I shouldn't be left in
48:15
charge of anything? That's a lot of pressure.
48:21
Gosh, no. Pass.
48:23
No, you decide. I'm good.
48:26
All right, Mike, huge thanks. You've been extremely gracious
48:28
with your time. I mean, you already know you're
48:30
welcome back on the on the ITC anytime the doors always open.
48:34
Maybe I know you're not a big prognosticator guy, but maybe a
48:37
next, next award season we'll get something on the calendar.
48:40
Hopefully we we've got enough advance notice for you, but we
48:43
really appreciate the time, the insights, you having a little
48:46
bit of fun with us and excited to see what you guys, what you
48:49
and the team were able to put together for 2025 bits calls.
48:53
You know, you guys are the best and again, very much appreciate
48:56
you coming onto the show and joining us.
48:58
Yeah. Appreciate you guys.
48:59
And yeah, just get your request and I'll get back to you in four
49:02
to five months. There we go.
49:04
That works. Now we now we got the calendar
49:06
situated. That'll work.
49:07
Yep. All right.
49:08
Thanks, Mike. Are you letting me out of the
49:10
channel? Is that how this works?
49:13
Nice. Nicely done.
49:15
I know you've dropped it, obviously, I, I, I'm just going
49:19
to be totally shameless. Do you know you can, you can
49:21
cringe as necessary. I mean, if a pass goes into the
49:26
channel during the season, and we know many will, you know
49:30
what? My feelings won't be hurt
49:31
whatever you decide. But I just want to say, when a
49:34
pass goes into the channel in the NWSL this year, maybe once
49:38
or twice if you want to mention this show, it wouldn't exactly
49:42
be bad for us. Twice now we're talking about
49:46
flights, grants over here, asking for multiple plugs.
49:52
This isn't payola. I mean, look, I will say good
49:59
friends with a number of attacking third folk.
50:01
There was a point earlier this year, I think it was in Kansas
50:04
City, where someone was just getting throttled by the
50:08
current. As so often happens, you're
50:11
always looking for unique ways to say certain things.
50:14
And so, you know, like just casually, the ball went back
50:17
into the attacking 3rd and I'm like it balls into the attacking
50:21
3rd. And I'm not talking about the
50:22
podcast like. Here we go.
50:24
I remember that. There's a way that there's a way
50:27
in which to potentially see the ball go into the channel and get
50:32
a similar setup. Happens all the time.
50:34
It it does for certain teams, in fact happen all the time.
50:40
And so maybe twice you're greedy, once you're aimless,
50:45
twice you're greedy, you know? We'll, we'll settle on once that
50:49
that, that seems like a fair, fair landing spot.
50:52
Mike, you're the best. We'll see.
50:54
We really appreciate the time, doors always open.
50:56
Happy to have you back on next season once once things get
50:59
rolling here. See you in five to six months
51:01
after you place your order. Can't wait.
51:04
Sounds good, Mike. Thanks for hanging out with us.
51:06
OK. Our guy Mike Watts, that was
51:10
fun. What'd you think about that?
51:12
Yeah, super good dude, really generous with his time,
51:15
knowledgeable on every team in the league.
51:17
I mean, there's a reason he's one of the voices of the NWL,
51:21
man. So super cool of him to hang out
51:22
with us. Big thanks to Mike Watts quick
51:25
programming reminder in the coming weeks, we'll be checking
51:26
in on our favorite Champions League teams over in Europe.
51:28
We're also going to be tracking all the player movement in the
51:31
NWSL, hopefully a little bit some more storylines to come as
51:35
well as any big European moves. And February 7th on YouTube,
51:38
your boys will be live immediately following the UEFA
51:40
Champions League quarterfinal draw.
51:41
Be sure to subscribe and mark your calendars for that.
51:44
All right man, anything else you want to hit for you get out of.
51:46
Here. Nah, man, I think that was it.
51:47
I would say that was an expansive interview and I'm
51:50
looking forward to the NWSL season even more after that.
51:53
Let's go. Yeah.
51:53
What is it 7-8 weeks away? Can't wait.
51:56
Almost there. All right, man, I think we did
51:57
it. It's been another episode into
51:58
the channel. Thank you, thank you, thank you
52:00
for watching, listening, following, liking, subscribing,
52:02
commenting, just played hanging out with your boys.
52:04
Remember to like if you liked, subscribe or follow into the
52:06
channel, YouTube, Spotify, Apple podcast, wherever you like to
52:08
watch or listen. Leave us a review over your
52:11
favorite podcast app links all of our socials in the show notes
52:13
of this episode. And I do mean all of our socials
52:15
X Twitter, Instagram, YouTube threads, Blue sky, your boys are
52:19
out here. So connect with us.
52:20
We want to hear from you. We love hearing from you.
52:23
And a big thank you Michael as well, Mr. Grant Angle for being
52:26
my favorite Ohio. God damn it go.
52:29
I appreciate you bro. Likewise, buddy, thanks for
52:32
being my favorite Florida man. Obviously, you know, no negative
52:36
connotations with that. Appreciate everybody for
52:38
watching, checking us out, always dropping knowledge in the
52:40
comments and we will see you all next time.