Pod Report

Our man with the Sentences has recommended some excellent podcastery over the past several months, and I'm certain I would've learned something had I listened to anything he singled out. I'm still mad that The Test went off the air, so I ignored him.

I hope the rest of you will give this shout a bit more consideration.

I've long been a fan of Men in Blazers. Hell, I'm basically a cast member, as you'll recall. And while Rog and Davo remain the most entertaining U.S.-based soccer podcast, they've branched out in recent years. In particular Roger Bennett has established himself as an accomplished interviewer. There are those that may criticize his ever-enthusiastic appreciation for his guests, but to my mind, it's less obsequious than a measure of his authentic joy.

In November, Rog interviewed Warriors coach Steve Kerr. The roughly 25-minute interview covered everything from Kerr's upbringing in foreign locales from Egypt to Tunisia to his father Malcolm's assassination during Steve's freshman year at Arizona, to his time with Michael Jordan's Bulls, to his current run as three-time NBA Champion coach.

In the interview, Kerr touches on so many of the things that are foundational to my worldview as a leader that I found it uncanny and reassuring. Kerr speaks of the importance of empathy, of the extreme value of joy in personal and team health and success, saying, "I love the concept of joy in sports. It's one of the most important values to me and the Warriors. Steph Curry, you watch him play, there's so much joy. It's a powerful emotion. A powerful factor for any team in any sport."

The interview closes with a discussion of perspective and priority. Kerr told a story about his father, who would tell him, "Steve, you're a modest fellow, with plenty to be modest about." Coaches Greg Popovich and Phil Jackson both offered Kerr similar lessons, Jackson saying, "Treat every practice, every play as if the fate of the world rests on your effort, with full awareness that this is a frickin' basketball game and nobody cares." Popovich's favorite phrase was "Get over yourself", according to Kerr. Kinda like, "take everything you like seriously, except yourself".

Pretty Gheorghie, that Steve Kerr.

Men In Blazers · Men in Blazers 11/18/19: Steve Kerr Pod Special

From the Crap Part of LoCo

My daughter has played travel soccer for the past five years. Over that time, she's been a part of some decidedly mediocre sides, playing at the lower levels of the DMV soccer pyramid. She's a decently-skilled kid, but she's small, and she's lazy as hell, so she's been surpassed by kids who've worked much harder to get better. I'd like to say that there's a life lesson in there, but I never learned it, and I'm afraid I've passed on my work ethic in addition to my size.

We hired coaches based on height.

It's possible that she's played her final game in Loudoun Soccer's red and black - tryouts just ended, and hers is a competitive age group. I'll be bummed for her if she doesn't make a team, because she claims to love the game, but we'll both get over it.

If this is, in fact, her swan song, I think I sent her (and her teammates) out on a high note.

Last November at the Club's annual gala, I won an auction for a customized message from Michael Davies and Roger Bennett, better known in soccer circles as Men in Blazers. I had no idea what I was going to do with the message, but I was drunk, and I thought it was a cool thing to have in my back pocket.

During the Fall soccer season, my daughter's team proved to be hard-working (most of them), highly coachable, and rapidly improved as a group. They finished that campaign with a 3-3-2 record, narrowly missing promotion to the first division of the Old Dominion Soccer League (ODSL), which is itself the lowest of leagues in the byzantine local landscape.

My blog, my kid.

In the Spring, they continued to improve, gaining confidence as their results became incrementally better. They started with a 1-3 performance in a tournament against teams from much higher divisions and leagues, though they were in each of those matches until the late stages. They got out to a 4-1 start during regular season play before running into a physical and talented squad and falling, 7-1. They bounced back from that drubbing, learning a lot of lessons about intensity and effort, and went 2-0-2 in a Memorial Day tournament, again against ostensibly much better competition. They tied the team that ultimately won the event, giving that team its only blemish. They scored seven goals and allowed one across the event's four matches. And my lazy daughter scored her team's only goal in a 1-1 tie, on nothing more than sheer effort. It might've been her finest moment, save a sick slide tackle she pulled off in the game in which she's pictured above.

In their final regular season match, with promotion to the first division assured, they faced the same team that bullied them a short month ago. In the movies, this is where the plucky underdogs complete their narrative arc, punch Biff in the mouth, and ride off into the sunset. In reality, the girls played their asses off, fighting back from a 1-0 deficit to tie the game, only to yield a late goal on a fluky bounce to lose, 2-1.

They won't remember that part, most likely. They will, I hope, remember  the video that Davo and Rog made for them. I wasn't sure if they'd like it, or even get it, but the feedback I've received has been amazing. Hell, I was happy enough to do this just for me. To know that it made a great group of kids happy (and made them thing I have some serious juice) is serious icing on the cake.

Wisdom of the Crowd

Last night at the Second Annual Loudoun Soccer Ball (Soccer Ball, get it?), abetted by copious amounts of alcohol, I spent way too much money on the auction item described in the video below:



Now, to figure out what to do with it. I could have Rog and Davo fete my daughter's soccer team. Or they could record a G:TB theme. Maybe I go selfish, and have them tout me as a generous and remarkable human being. Or do a shoutout to TR's friend who hates them.

I've got options. What Would GTB Do?

G:TB Blows Up

Dave mocked it, because he couldn't understand it. To be fair, Dave has a mental disorder that makes him unable to comprehend normal human emotional range, but he still mocked it.

Davo and Rog understood it, though.

A few short days ago, in celebration of the news that Bob Bradley had been tabbed as the first American manager of an English Premier League side, I tweeted a decidedly mixed message.

The point of this hyperbolic sentiment was that Bradley's tenure as Swansea manager will have an outsized impact on the future of American soccer. If he succeeds, doors open for American coaches and players. If he fails, if the pressure, or the media, or the fans, or the fact that he doesn't have great players at the moment conspire to see Swansea relegated this Spring, then doors close to Americans for a  long time. Bob Bradley carries a lot of weight on his American shoulders.

Men in Blazers' Twitter feed retweeted my take, which earned me fleeting internet fame, as well as Dave's derision when I mentioned it in the GTB comments.

But yesterday, America's leading soccer podcast doubled down on my genius. Check out the most recent Men in Blazers podcast, and skip ahead to 22:15. Check in a few minutes earlier if you want context.



If you're too lazy to go to the audio, here's the transcript: "@batogato tweeted us beautifully," said Roger Bennett, before reading the tweet. "You couldn't have put it better. Starting October 15, the whole of this country will be cheering for Bob. Godspeed."

I'm a pretty big deal.