Latest / Austin Signal / Sandy Creek residents remember lives lost to 2025 flood

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Sandy Creek residents remember lives lost to 2025 flood · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  School's out for the summer, but
• 0:10
  when Austin ISD students return in
• 0:12
  the fall, they'll be navigating some
• 0:14
  big changes in how they get to
• 0:16
  school.
• 0:17
  KUT's education reporter Greta
• 0:18
  Diaz-Gonzalez-Basquez will help
• 0:20
  get us up to speed.
• 0:22
  And it's been one year since deadly
• 0:24
  floods tore through the Texas Hill
• 0:26
  Country.
• 0:27
  Residents of the Sandy Creek
• 0:28
  neighborhood in Travis County are
• 0:30
  honoring the neighbors they lost.
• 0:33
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:34
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:37
  Syeda Carrillo.
• 0:38
  Country music with a Filipino
• 0:40
  twist? Love the sound of that.
• 0:42
  We've got a conversation with Austin
• 0:44
  Music Adobro.
• 0:45
  And the FIFA World Cup is in full
• 0:47
  swing.
• 0:48
  KUT's Jimmy Moss joins us to
• 0:50
  talk about tonight's match between
• 0:51
  the U.S. And Belgium, which has
• 0:53
  suddenly gotten a lot more
• 0:55
  interesting.
• 0:56
  That's all coming up today on Austin
• 0:58
  Signal.
• 1:07
  It's Monday, July 6th.
• 1:09
  This is Austin Signal.
• 1:10
  I'm Syeda Carrillo.
• 1:12
  A few headlines to start you off.
• 1:14
  Two overnight shootings in Austin
• 1:16
  left three people dead this Fourth
• 1:17
  of July weekend.
• 1:19
  The separate incidents happened in
• 1:20
  North Austin outside of a sports
• 1:22
  bar and Northeast Austin in
• 1:24
  the parking lot of a strip club.
• 1:26
  The shootings are still under
• 1:27
  investigation.
• 1:28
  We've got more on this at KUT.org.
• 1:32
  And the City of Austin visited 127
• 1:34
  different homeless encampments
• 1:36
  between May 11 and June
• 1:38
  5.
• 1:39
  That's according to a memo to
• 1:41
  the City Council from the Austin
• 1:43
  Homeless Strategies and Operations
• 1:45
  Director.
• 1:46
  That covers the first month of
• 1:48
  the city's enhanced efforts to
• 1:50
  clear these camps.
• 1:51
  According to the memo, 303
• 1:53
  tons of debris were removed
• 1:55
  by homeless encamps management teams
• 1:57
  and 35 people were connected
• 2:00
  to shelter services.
• 2:02
  The Austin Independent School
• 2:03
  District is scaling back its
• 2:05
  transportation services for next
• 2:07
  school year. The biggest change
• 2:08
  includes middle schools and high
• 2:10
  schools moving into what's called a
• 2:12
  hub model.
• 2:13
  KUT's education reporter Greta
• 2:15
  Diaz-Gonzalez-Fazquez is here now
• 2:17
  to tell us more about it.
• 2:18
  Hey, Greta. Hi, Syeda.
• 2:20
  So, Grete, we know that AISD
• 2:22
  has these major changes coming to
• 2:24
  its transportation system.
• 2:25
  Why is that happening?
• 2:27
  Yeah, so you might remember in
• 2:29
  June, the district
• 2:31
  passed a budget and that budget
• 2:33
  included 205 millions
• 2:35
  worth in cuts.
• 2:36
  And those cuts impacted classrooms,
• 2:39
  they impacted the central offices,
• 2:41
  they impacted 508 positions
• 2:43
  at least.
• 2:44
  And part of it also was cutting back
• 2:46
  on transportation and that
• 2:48
  will impact thousands of families
• 2:50
  across the district.
• 2:51
  Absolutely.
• 2:53
  You've reported on many of
• 2:55
  the other changes that are coming to
• 2:56
  the district and things that have
• 2:57
  been proposed as a result of
• 2:59
  this budget deficit.
• 3:01
  What are the major changes coming to
• 3:03
  transportation system
• 3:05
  specifically?
• 3:06
  Yeah, so you mentioned one of them,
• 3:07
  which is the biggest one, which is
• 3:09
  the hub system.
• 3:10
  Um, right now the bus goes
• 3:12
  or the busses go through
• 3:14
  neighborhoods and have more
• 3:16
  stops, they will move to have a
• 3:17
  hub system for middle schools and
• 3:19
  high schools, and the district
• 3:21
  has says that this will increase
• 3:23
  their route efficiency and ride
• 3:25
  times for students.
• 3:26
  And these hubs will be
• 3:28
  Austin libraries, elementary
• 3:30
  schools, um, post
• 3:32
  office offices, transit centers.
• 3:34
  Are right now looking into what will
• 3:35
  be safe for students.
• 3:36
  And so instead of having
• 3:38
  neighborhood stops, they will have
• 3:39
  these hubs, the speak hubs,
• 3:41
  where students will be picked up and
• 3:43
  dropped off.
• 3:44
  This already, the system has already
• 3:46
  been in place for some schools, for
• 3:47
  magnet schools, like Keeling, Lively
• 3:49
  and Richards, Lhasa,
• 3:51
  for example.
• 3:53
  And another change
• 3:55
  is that we'll stop providing after
• 3:56
  school transportation.
• 3:57
  So that will be for like
• 3:59
  extracurricular activities, field
• 4:00
  trips, sporting events, or
• 4:02
  maybe even competitions.
• 4:04
  Also, students are eligible
• 4:06
  for transportation if they live more
• 4:08
  than two miles from their assigned
• 4:09
  campus.
• 4:11
  There are 19 schools that have
• 4:13
  transportation even though kids live
• 4:15
  closer than those two miles.
• 4:17
  So like the closest is 0.4 miles.
• 4:19
  Those 19 schools will go back to
• 4:21
  the rule of like
• 4:23
  two mile rule.
• 4:24
  You have to live that close or that
• 4:26
  far. They will also discontinue
• 4:27
  transportation for the alternative
• 4:29
  learning center.
• 4:31
  So those are the biggest ones that
• 4:32
  will have more impact.
• 4:34
  These are really s-
• 4:34
  changes that are going to touch
• 4:36
  a lot of different areas of the
• 4:38
  district.
• 4:39
  Can the district just decide
• 4:41
  to make this kind of move to
• 4:43
  pull back on these transportation
• 4:44
  services? Is that something that is
• 4:46
  allowed by state law?
• 4:47
  Yeah, yeah, the state does a lot of
• 4:49
  it because really transportation
• 4:50
  requirements for school districts
• 4:52
  are not that demanding.
• 4:54
  The TA only requires districts to
• 4:56
  provide transportation for certain
• 4:57
  students with either receiving
• 4:58
  special education or certain
• 5:00
  students with disabilities who
• 5:01
  wouldn't be able to attend school.
• 5:03
  So those are the only requirements.
• 5:05
  And also, AISD officials had said
• 5:07
  that for every mile that there
• 5:08
  were every dollar that They know
• 5:10
  for every mile the TA gives
• 5:12
  them or the state gives them $1
• 5:14
  and they spent they spend
• 5:16
  $7.22.
• 5:18
  So there's a big budget gap.
• 5:19
  And so they're like, if we don't
• 5:20
  have money for this, then we're
• 5:22
  scaling back if it's not required.
• 5:23
  Right, that makes sense.
• 5:24
  Well I know Greta, you've been
• 5:26
  talking with families in the Austin
• 5:28
  ISD community and getting their
• 5:30
  responses to these changes.
• 5:31
  What have you heard from them?
• 5:33
  Yeah, some people have told me that
• 5:34
  they worry that this will impact
• 5:35
  attendance rates and of course,
• 5:37
  which students it will impact, which
• 5:39
  students won't be able to get there.
• 5:41
  Others have told me that they are
• 5:42
  worried about which students will
• 5:43
  have access to after school
• 5:44
  activities that are also part of the
• 5:46
  students development.
• 5:47
  Some families have concerns about
• 5:49
  how this will
• 5:51
  change their morning or their
• 5:52
  afternoon.
• 5:53
  Somebody I talked to was Katrina
• 5:54
  Kincaid who has three kids,
• 5:56
  one in elementary, one in middle
• 5:57
  school and one in high school.
• 6:00
  And yeah, this is what she told us.
• 6:02
  It does not work for
• 6:04
  families that have
• 6:06
  parents that are both working or
• 6:09
  single parents or
• 6:11
  even families that might not have
• 6:12
  their own transportation to get
• 6:14
  their child to
• 6:17
  one of these hubs.
• 6:18
  Well, Greta, I know you're going to
• 6:19
  continue to follow this issue
• 6:21
  closely. We've been speaking with
• 6:22
  KUT's education reporter Greta
• 6:24
  Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez.
• 6:26
  Greta thank you again for talking
• 6:27
  with us about this issue on Austin
• 6:29
  Signal.
• 6:29
  Thank you, Saeeda.
• 6:41
  Born in the Philippines and
• 6:43
  growing up in Texas, the
• 6:45
  Austin-based musician Adobro
• 6:47
  is blending his two cultures in his
• 6:49
  new album Right Here, Right Now.
• 6:51
  Austin Signal host Jerry Quijano
• 6:53
  spoke with Adobo about his music
• 6:55
  and what's at the record.
• 6:58
  So tell us a little bit about
• 6:59
  yourself. How did you get into
• 7:01
  Austin and how did you get into
• 7:02
  country music?
• 7:03
  Yeah. So I originally
• 7:06
  moved to Texas in
• 7:08
  2001.
• 7:11
  Brought here from my parents.
• 7:12
  They're both nurses.
• 7:13
  So obviously Houston has the biggest
• 7:15
  medical center.
• 7:16
  And I
• 7:18
  basically went and
• 7:20
  lived there for about 17 years
• 7:22
  in Houston area, and then
• 7:24
  moved down to Austin, trying to
• 7:25
  find my own place in music.
• 7:28
  Growing up, I am a, I'd
• 7:30
  like to think I'm a songwriter
• 7:31
  first.
• 7:32
  And some of my favorite songwriters,
• 7:35
  unbeknownst to me, when I looked at
• 7:36
  their discography, are all country
• 7:39
  songwriters.
• 7:39
  Who are some of those songwriters?
• 7:41
  I'll name my favorite,
• 7:43
  actually, even since the MySpace
• 7:45
  days when I was 15 and found him.
• 7:46
  His name is Dave Barnes,
• 7:49
  and to me, songwriters
• 7:51
  like him, I just
• 7:52
  think it's great music.
• 7:54
  And then, little did I know, he has
• 7:55
  people like Blake Shelton cutting
• 7:57
  his songs.
• 7:59
  For me, the storytelling
• 8:01
  of country music has always been
• 8:03
  inside, and as I get older
• 8:04
  and the more I play music, because
• 8:06
  I've been playing it awesome for
• 8:08
  about over decade now.
• 8:10
  Doing all different sorts of things,
• 8:12
  it's kinda cool that I'm kinda
• 8:14
  going back full circle to be like,
• 8:16
  hey, I like
• 8:18
  sitting down playing my guitar and I
• 8:19
  like playing these songs and why
• 8:21
  not, you know?
• 8:24
  Now I'm smiling like I
• 8:26
  stole the sun, trying to play it
• 8:28
  cool but I'm coming under
• 8:44
  Oh, dang, I'm in love
• 8:47
  And it's all your
• 8:48
  Oh
• 8:50
  Yeah, I feel you on that because I
• 8:53
  grew up here in Texas as well and
• 8:55
  country music is a huge part of my
• 8:56
  life growing up.
• 8:58
  Funny enough though, I think there
• 8:59
  are times where people lampoon
• 9:02
  country lyrics because they can
• 9:04
  be like, oh, you just put a truck
• 9:06
  and you put a beer and you'd put
• 9:07
  church on Sundays.
• 9:08
  But like the country music that I
• 9:10
  grew up with in the 90s, which your
• 9:12
  music kind of reminds me of, it's
• 9:14
  deeper than that.
• 9:15
  So tell us a little bit about how
• 9:16
  you approach songwriting in your
• 9:18
  country music.
• 9:19
  Sure, yeah, I mean, it's kind of
• 9:20
  like, um...
• 9:23
  I grew up with country
• 9:25
  music always around.
• 9:28
  The new love I have for country
• 9:29
  music is more me now going deeper
• 9:31
  in discography, but it's always kind
• 9:33
  of like you said, I've always heard
• 9:35
  like 90s type of
• 9:37
  music like, and don't get me
• 9:39
  wrong, in the album
• 9:41
  that I have, the new album, it's a
• 9:43
  kind of touch base on all of my
• 9:44
  favorite genres,
• 9:47
  or I guess what they, I hate that
• 9:49
  word, but like genres of like
• 9:52
  country music like one will
• 9:54
  sound like a straight up like the
• 9:55
  fireman like like a shuffle
• 9:57
  just straight george straight and
• 9:59
  then the next one you're like yo is
• 10:00
  that a zack brown jimmy buffett tune
• 10:02
  yes it is because i come from
• 10:04
  island roots so i also really
• 10:07
  tend to go lean on that direction
• 10:08
  too because that's something natural
• 10:10
  for me
• 10:10
  So how are you blending your Texas
• 10:12
  roots and your Filipino heritage?
• 10:14
  How are you blending all of that up
• 10:15
  into something that nobody else is
• 10:17
  doing out there?
• 10:17
  Oh man.
• 10:19
  So, you know, it actually came
• 10:21
  a lot easier than I
• 10:23
  thought it was going to when I sat
• 10:24
  down and said, hey, how am I going
• 10:26
  to combine like
• 10:28
  the two cultures that help shape who
• 10:30
  I am, right?
• 10:31
  So the more I thought about it,
• 10:33
  like Filipino folk songs, right.
• 10:35
  I mean, that's probably a
• 10:37
  first to a lot of people, but
• 10:39
  there's different types of
• 10:41
  folk songs, but it's almost
• 10:43
  the same where those both worlds
• 10:45
  like. Country music and Filipino
• 10:47
  folk music, kind of, when you
• 10:49
  really look at it, I mean, you were
• 10:50
  like describing the Tejano and
• 10:52
  country music, it kind of shares
• 10:54
  the same core values.
• 10:55
  If I were to translate Filipino
• 10:56
  songs, it talks about
• 10:58
  tradition, it talk about family,
• 11:00
  it talks of pride for one's
• 11:02
  community, you know?
• 11:03
  It gathers people together.
• 11:07
  It kind of goes hand in hand.
• 11:09
  And so when I put those
• 11:11
  songs, especially the storytelling
• 11:12
  part of the music together, it was
• 11:14
  like, whoa, this isn't that actually
• 11:15
  hard. I'm just basically singing
• 11:17
  what both of these kind of
• 11:19
  cultures love to talk about.
• 11:21
  Now, the cool part is though, I did
• 11:22
  bring a lot of different Filipino
• 11:23
  traditional instruments in there.
• 11:26
  So you'll hear it sprinkle.
• 11:27
  And I also like to
• 11:29
  sing a little bit of words in
• 11:31
  Tagalog, which is the Filipino
• 11:32
  language, into some of
• 11:34
  the songs. So you will be like, You
• 11:36
  hear a little spring like, what does
• 11:37
  that mean? Oh, okay, that's kind of
• 11:38
  cool.
• 11:39
  And what are some of the instruments
• 11:40
  people might be hearing?
• 11:41
  Uh, one of my favorite is a
• 11:43
  jaw harp.
• 11:46
  It's basically made of wood,
• 11:49
  but it's basically like, doink,
• 11:50
  doink doink.
• 11:52
  It's like one of the traditional
• 11:54
  Filipino instruments and you'll
• 11:56
  hear it like, maybe
• 11:58
  instead of where I would have put a
• 11:59
  banjo in a tune, you'll here that
• 12:00
  and you're like, yo, that's sick.
• 12:02
  Or I got two huge
• 12:04
  bamboo sticks in the Philippines.
• 12:06
  We call it tinikling. It's what you
• 12:07
  do with the dance and you hit them
• 12:09
  together.
• 12:15
  That's a really cool clap sound,
• 12:17
  you know?
• 12:20
  Well, it's been great meeting you.
• 12:21
  I also got to meet your wife and
• 12:23
  your daughter today.
• 12:25
  Since you've become a father, how
• 12:26
  has that changed the way that you
• 12:27
  look at music or you make your
• 12:29
  music? How have things changed
• 12:31
  since becoming a father?
• 12:31
  This is a great question.
• 12:33
  I thought about this this morning
• 12:34
  when I was making coffee.
• 12:36
  Alright, well I'm expecting a great
• 12:37
  answer then.
• 12:38
  Well, now you got me in my head.
• 12:40
  Well, no, it's definitely
• 12:42
  It's definitely changed the way I've
• 12:44
  looked not just at music but in life
• 12:45
  But if we're talking about music
• 12:46
  wise, I mean, I'm constantly
• 12:49
  still writing So
• 12:50
  I have learned to not overthink
• 12:52
  and that is a very big thing that's
• 12:54
  happened since I've become a family
• 12:56
  man Because you don't really have
• 12:57
  enough time if my baby goes starts
• 12:59
  crying. I'm like, alright, I gotta
• 13:00
  get up I gotta make sure if
• 13:02
  I got a feeder if I gotta changer,
• 13:04
  you know, same thing with now an
• 13:06
  idea in music If I have
• 13:08
  an idea, I just immediately put it
• 13:10
  down, not overthink it.
• 13:11
  I don't think of like crazy words
• 13:13
  or I don't think, I just, this is
• 13:14
  what my feeling is and that's what I
• 13:16
  gotta do.
• 13:17
  And that's, it's kind of awesome.
• 13:19
  It's kind almost like what the
• 13:20
  album's about. It's like all about
• 13:21
  right here, right now.
• 13:23
  It's being present.
• 13:24
  Sun on my shoulders,
• 13:28
  boots in the grass
• 13:30
  Radio's playing,
• 13:33
  the day's moving fast
• 13:35
  No use chasing,
• 13:38
  what's going on ahead
• 13:41
  I got it all,
• 13:44
  right here instead
• 13:46
  We've been talking about the album.
• 13:47
  You have an album release party
• 13:49
  coming up.
• 13:49
  Tell us the details
• 13:51
  Yes, my album release party is
• 13:53
  going to be at Antone's on July
• 13:54
  12th, from 6 to 10.
• 13:56
  It's gonna be more than just a
• 13:58
  release party.
• 13:59
  I wanted to share trying
• 14:02
  in a way not where you can just hear
• 14:03
  it but maybe somehow physically feel
• 14:05
  what this album is about because it
• 14:07
  is about not just
• 14:09
  me falling in love,
• 14:11
  getting married and having my child
• 14:12
  but it's also my history of
• 14:14
  like my Filipina culture, how I
• 14:16
  learned to love and be with
• 14:18
  Texas culture too.
• 14:19
  So. It's almost like this community
• 14:21
  event. I have a lot of Filipino
• 14:23
  nonprofits coming in.
• 14:25
  Shout out FYPATX.
• 14:27
  I have not just
• 14:29
  Texas style food
• 14:31
  and barbecue, but I also have
• 14:32
  Filipino food vendors coming in,
• 14:35
  there's traditional dance groups
• 14:37
  doing teeny cling.
• 14:39
  There's just a whole bunch, a
• 14:41
  plethora of artists.
• 14:41
  There's gonna be custom cowboy hats.
• 14:44
  Shout out if you guys like that kind
• 14:45
  of stuff, you know?
• 14:47
  And it's kind of like a Filipino
• 14:48
  fiesta meets Texas dance hall kind
• 14:50
  of thing going on.
• 14:52
  Fantastic. Alright, we have been
• 14:53
  speaking with Austin-based country
• 14:54
  artist Adobro.
• 14:55
  We're gonna have a link to that
• 14:57
  event in today's podcast, Show
• 14:59
  Notes. Thank you again for your
• 15:00
  time. Oh, thank you guys.
• 15:03
  Life shines brightest,
• 15:06
  bright in right now
• 15:09
  We don't need to
• 15:12
  This is Austin Signal, we'll be
• 15:14
  right back.
• 15:15
  Love like this is what we
• 15:21
  This is Austin Signal, welcome back.
• 15:24
  Yesterday marked one year since
• 15:26
  deadly floodwaters tore through the
• 15:27
  neighborhood of Sandy Creek in
• 15:29
  Northwest Travis County.
• 15:31
  A new memorial aims to honor and
• 15:33
  remember the lives that were lost.
• 15:35
  KUT's Kaylee Hunt reports.
• 15:37
  Dozens of people gathered at the
• 15:39
  historic Round Mountain School and
• 15:41
  Community Center along Big Sandy
• 15:43
  Creek on Sunday.
• 15:44
  They were there to honor and
• 15:46
  remember the nine people who died in
• 15:48
  last year's flood.
• 15:49
  What that horrible disaster took
• 15:51
  was not fair and will
• 15:53
  never be forgotten.
• 15:55
  Linda Hambrick is president of the
• 15:57
  Friends of Round Mountain School.
• 15:59
  The memorial took place at the
• 16:01
  restored one-room schoolhouse west
• 16:02
  of Leander.
• 16:04
  And even through our tears
• 16:05
  we have all come together
• 16:08
  to find a community
• 16:10
  that has been here for
• 16:11
  all these years,
• 16:14
  unformed.
• 16:15
  We mourn what we've lost
• 16:17
  and are now embracing
• 16:19
  what we have found.
• 16:23
  After a performance from a choir,
• 16:25
  a group of Boy Scouts unveiled a
• 16:27
  monument in front of the
• 16:28
  schoolhouse.
• 16:29
  The simple structure resembles a
• 16:31
  cross and was created using steel
• 16:33
  recovered from flood debris.
• 16:35
  At its base are bricks engraved with
• 16:37
  the names of the people who died.
• 16:39
  For Georgia Bishop, one name in
• 16:41
  particular stood out, Felicity
• 16:43
  Jarmon.
• 16:45
  You know, I mean she was quiet,
• 16:47
  you know, she acted all sweet and
• 16:48
  quiet at first before you got to
• 16:50
  know her, you know and
• 16:53
  You know we just started talking and
• 16:54
  we
• 16:55
  became close friends.
• 16:57
  Felicity, her brother Braxton, and
• 16:59
  her stepmother, Alyssa Martin,
• 17:01
  died after their home collapsed and
• 17:02
  was swept away by floodwaters.
• 17:04
  Bishop says she still remembers the
• 17:06
  sinking feeling that overcame her
• 17:08
  when she realized her 16-year-old
• 17:10
  best friend was missing.
• 17:12
  One of my friends.
• 17:14
  I asked her, I was like, hey,
• 17:15
  she's not answering any of my calls,
• 17:17
  like what's...
• 17:18
  And she was like Georgia,
• 17:20
  the house is gone, their house is
• 17:22
  gone, everything down the road is
• 17:24
  gone and they're missing.
• 17:26
  And it's just, I'll never forget
• 17:28
  like that feeling that
• 17:31
  I instantly got after I heard.
• 17:33
  Those words come out of her mouth.
• 17:35
  Bishop, who graduated from Glenn
• 17:37
  High School in Leander in May,
• 17:39
  carried a portrait of Felicity with
• 17:41
  her as she accepted her diploma and
• 17:43
  walked the stage.
• 17:45
  She says before the flood, the pair
• 17:46
  talked about traveling the world
• 17:48
  together after graduation.
• 17:50
  Instead, last month, Bishop traveled
• 17:52
  to Washington, D.C.
• 17:53
  With a group called Extreme Weather
• 17:55
  Survivors to advocate for
• 17:57
  disaster relief.
• 17:59
  Like many others in the community.
• 18:00
  Bishop and her mother remain
• 18:02
  displaced as a result of home damage
• 18:04
  from the flood.
• 18:05
  There's a lot of uncertainty right
• 18:07
  now for Bishop, but one thing she
• 18:09
  won't stop doing any time soon is
• 18:11
  talking about Felicity and
• 18:13
  Felicity's brother Braxton.
• 18:14
  Like any time I've thought of them,
• 18:16
  or if they've even popped up in my
• 18:18
  mind, I bring them up, you know
• 18:20
  what I mean?
• 18:21
  Because I believe no
• 18:23
  one is
• 18:25
  ever truly gone, if we all
• 18:27
  just remember them and
• 18:29
  talk about them and
• 18:31
  speak about them, you know?
• 18:33
  Sunday's memorial was the first step
• 18:35
  in keeping their names alive.
• 18:37
  Dan Daly, Virginia Daly.
• 18:40
  Betty West, August Panning,
• 18:43
  Alyssa Martin, George West,
• 18:46
  Braxton Jarman, Felicity
• 18:48
  Jarman and Gary Troge.
• 18:50
  I'm Kaylee Hunt and Leander.
• 18:59
  The U.S.
• 19:00
  Soccer team is the only
• 19:02
  host nation left competing in this
• 19:04
  year's World Cup, and they've got a
• 19:05
  big match against Belgium tonight.
• 19:08
  They'll have an extra pair of boots
• 19:09
  available after a sudden reversal.
• 19:12
  Here to tell us more is KUT's
• 19:13
  Jimmy Maas, one of the hosts of the
• 19:15
  Vamos Verde podcast.
• 19:17
  Welcome Jimmy!
• 19:17
  And don't forget World Cup today,
• 19:19
  national updates for your public
• 19:21
  radio station heard right here on
• 19:22
  QUT.
• 19:23
  Hey, couldn't do it without you, our
• 19:24
  resident sports expert, Jimmy Moss.
• 19:27
  Jimmy, everyone is talking about
• 19:29
  a guy named Flo Balligan.
• 19:31
  Who is he and why are we hearing
• 19:33
  so much about him?
• 19:34
  So Phalarin Baligan is
• 19:36
  the US's, sometimes known as Flo,
• 19:38
  is the U.S.
• 19:40
  Team's top scorer.
• 19:42
  And he is, for this tournament
• 19:44
  at least, he is a havoc
• 19:46
  creator. He gets in the box and he
• 19:48
  probably, like anyone
• 19:50
  with a child, everyone
• 19:52
  suddenly has to figure out what to
• 19:54
  do about Flo Baligan in the box.
• 19:56
  And when that happens,
• 19:58
  he can either score.
• 20:00
  He can draw attention from the
• 20:01
  defense and create opportunities for
• 20:03
  other players to do things score
• 20:05
  create passes Whatever the case
• 20:07
  might be he is he draws attention
• 20:09
  You can't take your eye off of them
• 20:10
  when you are a defender or
• 20:12
  for that matter a us team fan
• 20:15
  And and so he received a
• 20:17
  red card last match and which
• 20:19
  normally means You have to sit out
• 20:21
  the next game. Right you leave
• 20:23
  immediately and you're Uh,
• 20:25
  you have to go sit in your apartment
• 20:26
  or wherever they are For the next
• 20:28
  game and they this time
• 20:30
  around there was a reversal
• 20:32
  which almost Like
• 20:34
  never happens.
• 20:35
  I mean that the rules of the rules
• 20:37
  and even if the card was unjust you
• 20:39
  can debate that all day but the
• 20:41
  Basically, this is the first time
• 20:43
  since maybe 1962 that
• 20:45
  a red card was reversed Wow,
• 20:47
  and that involved the leader
• 20:49
  of Brazil talking with
• 20:51
  FIFA way back then to get
• 20:53
  a Brazilian player reinstated
• 20:55
  And so as it happens, and this was
• 20:57
  claimed yesterday, but not proven
• 20:59
  until today, that
• 21:01
  Donald Trump apparently
• 21:03
  lobbied with Gianni Infantino,
• 21:05
  who is the head of FIFA,
• 21:07
  he claims, Infantinos claims that
• 21:10
  they went through the normal
• 21:11
  channels and this is how it
• 21:13
  happened. This is just the way the
• 21:14
  coin flipped, but, um, you know,
• 21:16
  there is a lot of clamoring from
• 21:18
  Belgium and other, other, uh,
• 21:20
  officials that maybe Trump
• 21:22
  had his thumb on the scale.
• 21:23
  And as we just heard on NPR,
• 21:25
  Belgium tried to appeal that
• 21:27
  reversal and that was not
• 21:29
  successful. Do we have that right?
• 21:30
  That is correct.
• 21:31
  And what's interesting about this is
• 21:33
  like Flo Balligan is a
• 21:35
  birthright citizen of the United
• 21:37
  States. He is only playing on this
• 21:39
  team because his mother was not
• 21:40
  allowed to board a plane and go have
• 21:42
  her son somewhere else in
• 21:44
  London where she was headed.
• 21:45
  So this is a group of people
• 21:47
  that this administration has not
• 21:48
  really gone to bat for before.
• 21:50
  So it's interesting that like the
• 21:51
  timing of all of this is,
• 21:54
  you know, it's
• 21:56
  good for the US team.
• 21:57
  Is it good for the sport, I don't
• 21:59
  know.
• 21:59
  Yeah, that's some unexpected
• 22:01
  political intrigue in this FIFA
• 22:03
  World Cup conversation.
• 22:05
  So how much better are the U.S.
• 22:07
  Team's chances with him in the
• 22:09
  lineup?
• 22:09
  Uh, you, you might
• 22:11
  say that they, they stand an
• 22:13
  even chance of beating them without
• 22:15
  him. They stand a better chance of
• 22:16
  meeting them with him.
• 22:17
  So he is a, he is,
• 22:19
  uh, creator. Like I said earlier,
• 22:20
  he, he gets in there and he draws
• 22:22
  attention, which allows Christian
• 22:24
  Polisic and these other players to
• 22:26
  sort of shine.
• 22:27
  And, um, that is, that
• 22:29
  his magic sauce.
• 22:31
  Do other players have that?
• 22:32
  Maybe, but just not at the
• 22:34
  level that, uh.
• 22:36
  Callum or Balligan does.
• 22:37
  All right. Well, all eyes are going
• 22:39
  to be on flow tonight.
• 22:40
  Heading into these final matches,
• 22:42
  Jimmy, what has surprised you most
• 22:43
  about most about this year's
• 22:44
  tournament?
• 22:45
  Well, this this development
• 22:47
  is actually the most surprising
• 22:48
  thing. Normally in soccer, the rules
• 22:50
  are the rules. We have these
• 22:51
  technologies. We have video review.
• 22:53
  We have laser lines
• 22:55
  to tell whether somebody is offside
• 22:57
  by a toenail.
• 22:58
  And this is the one time when they
• 23:00
  were like, we like the
• 23:02
  feel of this one without necessarily
• 23:04
  following the letter of the law.
• 23:06
  Well, we'll be looking out for your
• 23:07
  analysis after tonight's match.
• 23:09
  Jimmy Moss is one of the hosts of
• 23:10
  Vamos Verde, a podcast all
• 23:12
  about Austin FC.
• 23:14
  Thank you, Jimmy. Thank you.
• 23:16
  And don't forget, you can keep up
• 23:18
  with each and every episode of
• 23:19
  Austin Signal and listen to the show
• 23:21
  anytime over at KUT.org
• 23:24
  on the KUT app and
• 23:26
  wherever you get your podcasts.
• 23:28
  That's it for us today on Austin
• 23:30
  Signal. Rayna Sevilla is our
• 23:32
  technical director.
• 23:34
  Alexandra Hart is our producer.
• 23:36
  Kristin Cabrera is our managing
• 23:37
  producer, and I'm Syeda Carrillo.
• 23:40
  Jerry Quijano will be back in the
• 23:42
  host chair tomorrow.
• 23:43
  You're listening to Austin Signal on
• 23:45
  KUT 90.5.
• 23:47
  Thanks for being with us.