Coming to you live from Orelliot Avenue Studios of Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM. This is Sounders Weekly with your host Jackson Felts. Good evening, everybody, Welcome into Sounders Weekly. Jackson Feltz here, good to be with you on this Wednesday evening, coming at you right after cracking Weekly. Plas shit you sticking around tonight and spending the evening here with us here on ninety
three point three KJRFM Sounders. Coming off of a unusual last week. We did last week's show looking a lot ahead to the Philadelphia Union match on the road, which was set for Saturday evening for thirty kickoffs. The match kicked off at four forty and at four forty five and I believe forty nine seconds, so after five minutes and forty nine seconds of play, there was enough rain coming down at Subaru Park in Philadelphia where the referee said stop, stop,
We're not going to do this. We need to suspend the game. The game was suspended after five minutes and forty nine seconds and about an hour later, yes, it took an hour. About an hour later they finally said, all right, we need to reschedule this thing. Why an hour. That is a good question one that we're gonna chat with Ari Lillenwall from
MLS Soccer dot com about in a little bit. We'll talk about in that entire situation with him, and including the fact that this was a game now of course all games that right now have replacement referees a situation, so you
know, it's a frustrating ordeal. The fact that it took an hour to finally solve as we continued to see rain coming down, there was nothing that the five people who were out there squeeging the field trying to brush off all the water, even though it was coming down even harder than they could brush it away, there was nothing that they could do. So it did take an hour, and finally the game was going to be hostponed, but that is a date to be decided. We do not have full information on when
that is. We do know a couple things about the situation is that whenever the game does get played, whether it's played in late April, before or after the DC United road match, whether it's played later in the summer, depending on the Philadelphia Union Conker calf run, all of that TBD. But we do know that when that game is finally resumed, it will resume with four minutes excuse me, with five minutes and forty nine seconds on the clock.
We know that the players on the field or players available that include starters and bench will be the players involved in that game. There's gonna be no other outside players allowed to come back in. So Albert Russnak injured, Stephen Fry injured, Jul Polo injured, Pedro de la Vega injured, The list goes on and on. Those players who were not involved in the match day lineup, starting lineup in band, they will not be able to take part
in that rescheduled game. Now, if there is an injury to a starter who was let's just say and knock on what that doesn't happen. But let's say that Josh Atensio was starting in that game against Philadelphia. If he gets hurt and he is not able to play in the rescheduled game, the next player up of that must then go in for him. Has to be a player on the bench. So you'd look to a Dylan Tevez or a Paul
Rothrock or somebody like that who was on the bench for the Sounders. So again, nobody who is out for that game will be able to come in, so the Sounders won't have a competitive advantage by getting players back who were injured. Also for Philadelphia, they had some a little bit of rotated squad, of course, because they're dealing with a CONCA CAFF game they played last
night down in Pachuca. So because they had Conca CAFF games the previous Tuesday and the next Tuesday yesterday, then they also had to rotate their squad. Those players who were unavailed bull and or even on the bench, they will also then start on the bench, of course, barring an injury. So it's unfortunate, but it's fair that the Sounders then have to follow this rule. Game again starts with five minutes and forty nine seconds on the clock,
and we will resume that at a later date. That's the story of what happened there Sounders at Philadelphia. A frustrating situation. Frustrating the Sounders had to fly cross country for all of you know, six minutes of action. But it is what it is, and we move forward. Sounders are going to be hosting the Colorado Rapids coming up. Details on that match, which we will talk about also with Ari in a little bit as well. We're gonna
be chatting with Jordan Morris. We're gonna be chatting with James Riley. James Riley is going to be on the pregame, halftime postgame this coming Saturday for Sounders Colorado. And James Riley is the head coach of ballad f C, who one week from right now will be playing in the United States Open Cup. The US Open Cup will be starting. They are in the first against
Spokane Velocity. James Riley is the head coach of Ballot FC. He will join us later on tonight for our kind of expanded edition of Around the Sound Now for Sounders Colorado coming up. It is going to be a twelve thirty Provident Swedish premat show and kickoff coming a little bit after that. You're gonna be an Emerald Queen Casino pitch at Luminfield. You're gonna watch the match for
free on the Apple TV app or on Fox. Should be noted every single Major League Soccer match this week is free on the Apple TV app there on MLS Season Pass. You can also listen in Spanish language on LRA thirteen sixty, but I encourage you to listen over on our sister station where I will be alongside James alongside Pete viewing alongside Danny Jackson. We will have the call for Sounders and Colorado Rapids over on nine to fifty kjar Am nine to fifty
am the iHeartRadio app nine to fifty KGr dot Com slash Listen. That is how you will be able to access our radio call for Sounders and Rapids twelve thirty Providence prematch show coming up this Saturday. We'll talk about that throughout the show here tonight on Sounders Weekly. But before we really get going tonight, and one quick note, by the way, Sounders FC Socker is presented by Providence, Swedish official healthcare partner of Sounders FC. So before we get going,
we're gonna hear from Jordan Morris in a minute. And there's a very specific reason why we're gonna hear from Jordan Morris. Obviously, he started in the game against Philadelphia. He's a likely Canada to start here coming up this
Saturday against Colorado, of course. But there was a post on the Sounders Reddit page and I scrolled there frequently, and I saw this the morning after the game on Sunday morning, there was a post by a father who is a Philadelphia Union fan, and I want to read this post and you'll see why we're gonna be talking to Jordan Morris here. So the post is titled Jordan Morris dash best dude says, Hey, y'all Union fan here, coming in total peace. I'm sure you all know, but I want to briefly
mention to you guys how amazing Jordan is. After the washout of the game, Jordan spent thirty minutes talking with my daughter, who is a fellow type one diabetic. She's currently going through a period of being embarrassed about her condition, and he spent a while empathizing and validating her feelings while also telling her how important it is she not feel that way. He also talked about how he manages the condition type one diabetes and encouraging her to chase her dreams wherever
they are now or evolve into being He made her year. He was the nicest, most genuine guy. Also important to note it wouldn't have happened without the sounders and incredible PR teams work together to make this incredible meeting happy, and they are incredible people who are incredible at their jobs, best of luck the rest of the year to you guys, except when you play offs. So that is from the father who is a Philadelphia Union fan who's a daughter
as he mentions there as a type one diabetic. Jordan Morris obviously has type one diabetes. He has an outstanding foundation, Morris Foundation. He has a program Playmakers, where for every single Sounder game home and road, he meets
with a kid. And I've talked about this before. He met with our own Ian Furness's kid back a while a few years ago now, and he has touched so many lives across not only our city of kids who have you know, type one, but also around the entire country because he does this for road games. And a major shout out to Katie Pendleton with the Seattle
Sounders who helps arrange these meetings. She does an amazing job alongside Jordan making this happen for every single game of touching lives and making real differences as Jordan
clearly made at Philadelphia after the rain out there on Saturday. So obviously, after this incredible story and I posted it and a lot of people on social media, sod I wanted to talk to Jordan about exactly what happened at Philadelphia about his whole program here, the Playmaker's program, about his foundation and all the great work he does for kids with Type one. So I had a chance to chat with Jordan Morris after training yesterday down at Long Acres. Here
was our great conversation. I did open it up by simply asking him, you know about the rain out and saying, have you ever, even going back to your youth days here in Seattle, played in a game that rainy. I'm sure as a kid we played in something like that. Well, we had a training session actually in preseason where we were still at Starfire and the turf got a little flooded like that. Not quite as bad, but we were saying before the game we were used to it a little bit because
we had that training session. I'm sure as a kid I was playing out
in the rain like that. But nothing in a long time. Well after the game and the day after, there was a person who posted on social media on Reddit about you meeting with their kid Type one divs, and he was talking about how much of an impact you made just take us through that situation and what it means for you to be able to you know, go back out there and do that when you know in a situation where team has a flight, it's raining cats and dogs, you didn't have to go out,
but you made sure to go do that. Yeah, definitely, I think. You know, it's a program that I started back in twenty seventeen and through through my foundation. Originally it was just home games, so we would bring a T and D kid in their family. We bring them on the field after every home game, give them a jersey and just kind of talk to them and answer their questions and just give them a cool experience of
getting to go to a Sounders game. And it's been definitely the favorite program that I've done with the foundation, and it's something I look forward to after
every single game, you know, win, loser, draw. I think it puts things into perspective a little bit that sports are bigger than what's on the field, and I'm grateful that I'm able to, you know, hopefully have an impact on these kids because I know as a kid growing up, how impactful was me to look at people living out their dreams with T one
D. So yeah, it was a really cool experience in Philly. Fortunately, I think in maybe twenty after COVID or maybe twenty nineteen actually, and then after COVID we started back up, we were able to do away games as well, and so meeting kids from all over the country. And yeah, the dad and the daughter were super kind, really special, and it's a special moment for me. I mean, these kids are inspiring to me
as well. I know what they've been through and what they're going through, and it's just a special moment for me after every game to be able to do that. And I saw the post. It was super nice of the dad. It was you know, obviously meant a lot to me. So yeah, I'm just grateful I'm able to to hopefully have that impact and every
time I can meet with these kids, it's awesome. And in the post too, you know, he mentioned I'm sure you talk with other kids who are you know, self conscious about about going through type one diabetes and what they are and aren't able to do. And I'm sure you know you can just hear right now, people listening to this, you know, they may have a kid, they may know a kid who's going through similar things. I mean, so take us into those conversations, you know, kids who
are conscious of I'm not able to do. So I'm not able to do that. What do you tell these kids? Yeah, I think for me, you know, I put myself back and obviously I've been in their shoes before back. And when you're when you're growing up and you're a young kid with Type one, I think kids are curious they see you know, for me, I was pricking my finger giving myself shots and it's not necessarily normal
for kids that agued to be seeing that kind of stuff. So kids get curious ask questions, can you know at that age potentially say not the nicest things. And so I know that there were different points where you know, this young girl said she was embarrassed about having in There were different points through my life where I felt the same way. But I just told her to be super proud of herself. And on top of whenever a kid kind of says they're embarrassed, I just say, you know, we were giving type
one because we're strong enough to handle it. And on top of everything else you have growing in your life, you're doing such a great job dealing with this as well. And just to be super proud of yourself and and never feel ashamed of living with Type one and I know that that can be challenging, and this girl expressed the challenges, but I know that I've been there before and that that passes and just it becomes part of your life. And
just to be super proud of yourself. And in terms of you know, accomplishing your goals or feeling like you can't do stuff, I always tell them Type one is not going to hold you back from getting to where you want to be. You know, it's difficult to provide just challenges at points, but it's not going to stop you from accomplishing your goals, you know. So I just try to give them encouragement. I know how important that was for me as a kid, and I just try to, you know,
give that back in a way. It's beautiful. You know. Obviously your foundation too, Jordan Morris Foundation. Obviously every single year you have the camp and to update people and what you got going with on your foundation and how's that rocking and rolling? Yeah, it's great. I mean for us, I think the main programs are the you know, the playmaker programs after every game and then yeah, we scheduled our camp date. I think it's in June, and so that's an awesome event. We kind of planned that year
round and kids. It's been cool with having kids flying from all over the country to come come to that. It's just a day where one hundred and fifty young kids that are are better Type one come out and get a kid,
you know, play together and interact and I think it's cool. A lot of times kids maybe go to school where there's no one that has Type one, or they play on a soccer team or a sports team where no one has Type one, But on this day, they're out there playing and when there's a break, all one hundred and fifty kids go over and check their but sugar and they just get to feel that like sense of community with each other. So foundation's going great. Those are our big events, and
yeah, we're excited for the campus summer. That's fantastic. Last thing here for you, Jordan here with Jordan Morris. Season overall starting obviously didn't play in Philadelphia, but wanted one to start the year. Looks like you got Albert Russna coming back soon. How are you feeling about just the overall starts the season. Yeah, it's been kind of a weird start of the year.
Obviously, going to LA and tough result there, and then you know, we felt like we played obviously really well against Austin and obviously couldn't put the ball in the back of the net. So that's a big focus of ours of course. And then to kind of have this big break now between games. I think when you go out and play a game like that against Austin, you felt like you deserve the win. You just want to get back out there and pla again. And so for us to go all the
way to Philly and not be able to play was frustrating. But I think guys are just really excited to get back out on the weekend, be back at home, put things right again, get things rolling and and get a win under on our belts. So it's been a little bit of a weird start of the year, but again we're just excited to play again on Saturday. Well got that first one on Saturday. Yes, thank you, appreciate
it. Great stuff there by Jordan Morris and and just you know, hats off to the work that Jordan does there and the lives that he touches for kids and parents of kids with pipe one diabetes. It's it's incredible the work he does. And and once again you know that the parent and the daughter that the lives that he touched out there in Philadelphia. It's inspiring. Well done to Jordan Morris, you know, pretty cool w to come out of
that game against Philadelphia. You know, even though the game didn't get played even six minutes, a big w was recorded there at Subu Park over the weekend. Well, we'll take a break in here in Sounders Weekly and we'll talk some soccer ball. We'll get Ari Lullianwall for around the league, and then we'll go around the sound with Ballard FC head coach and former Sounder James Riley. A lot coming up here in Sounders Weekly on Sports Radio ninety three
point three kjr FM. Now back to Sounders Weekly on your home for Sounders FC Civil's Sports Radio ninety three point three kjr FM. Welcome back Sounders Weekly, Jackson Feltz here, thanks for joining us here on this Wednesday evening getting late now, so we appreciate you staying with us here on ninety three point three kjr FM. And as always, it's time now for us to go around the league with our good friend Ari Lillienwall, writer and editor for MLS
Soccer dot Com, podcast host of lobbing Scorches. There is a new episode out this week, aptly named It's Always Sonny in Philadelphia after what happened last weekend. Joining us right now here is the host, writer editor. He does it all Ari, Lillianwall Ari, how you doing, my friend? I'm good, Jackson. You know that was That was a great Sounders game, one of the best Sounders games I've ever watched. I thought there was a lot to take away from it, so excited to talk about it.
Okay, yeah, what did you take away from the five minutes and forty nine seconds that we saw them actually play in a pool? Yeah? No, And I mean, in all seriousness, you take absolutely nothing away from that. I guess it was mildly entertaining, and it was kind of interesting to see, you know, when they all came out on the field, like there was just this vibe of are we gonna play? This? Is
this really happening? Okay, We're doing it? And then they get out there and that was about as much of abject chaos ball as you're gonna see. I mean, when the field is that wet, you can't pass like you normally would, you can't combine with any other players, you had guys just hoofing it and kicking it as far as they could and then slipping like Charlie Brown on the field, and it became apparent pretty quick that this it
was physically impossible to play this game. So I think they ultimately came through the right conclusion and calling that match off, even though if I would argue that it took slightly too long for them to come to that conclusion in the moment, Well, let's dive into that, and once again, Ari Leon was our guest MS soccer dot Com. I'm sure his new podcast, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, certainly goes into a lot of what we're gonna be
talking about here. But Ari, I mean, like listen, in this situation, and we know what's gonna happen is that, you know, they have a new date for the game, and they're gonna have to resume at the five forty nine mark, they'll have a throw in. The players on the field or the bench have to be the ones that play in the next game, so you know there won't be you know, an Albert Russknacker,
a Stephen Frye in the rescheduled game. We know all that if one of the players say, you know what, Josh Attensi gets injured, you have to go to the bench. So that would put in a Tevez or a Leava or your guy Paul Rothrock. So we know that's the situation. But let's talk about exactly how Saturday shook out. And I mean, you obviously right for the league, So I know there's a little bit of delicateness we have to have here, but I think it does need to be talked about
the fact that A these were replacement referees. B A decision took an hour to be made from the time the game was put on pause to when we actually learned, okay, this thing is going to be suspended. The whole recipe together, it just seems like, I mean, listen, it should not take sixty minutes for somebody to look at a weather app like we were doing on the you know, the mid game show here over on nine to fifty KJR, to realize, oh, the rain isn't going to stop you
we're looking at it. It's only continuing to come down. You're not, you know, squeegeeing the water off the field fast enough. There's no way this game could actually be played and yet it still took an hour to actually have happened. Yeah. No, it was weird to watch, was it? Because there was just that like ten to fifteen minute period where everyone was just standing around, and the rest seemed to be asking everyone, like the
player's opinions on if the game role throwing up the ball. It seemed like he was getting some conflicting answers and then didn't really know what to do, so everyone was just standing there. And then you had the guys that the mocks come out on the field and they're doing their best, but it's, like you said, it's still pouring rain, so the field is just immediately
getting just as wet again as it just was. So I don't know if the notion there was that they were mopping it off to maybe try and actually play the game. I assume that that's what they were trying to do, but there was just no way. So, you know, I think replacement referees in this situation. I don't know how the normal refs would have handled it, but I certainly I don't think it helps matters to have any inexperienced ref who has likely never been in a situation like this before to be handling
it. It didn't really seem like he knew what to do, and the end result was it just took way too long to make the decision, and you had this period of time where everyone was just standing there kind of talking
to each other. That was, you know, amusing to watch, I guess on the broadcast, but just it all felt very elongated and unnecessary, and like I wouldn't have, say, the guys with the mops out there, because with it when it's raining that hard, it's just you're you have the same amount of moisture immediately after the mopping has taken place as you did before. So I just didn't I felt like I was taking crazy pills watching
that as well. That same absolutely so uh, you know, And it was funny about the whole thing is how Rollery Diaz is kind of taking the center stage, not only afterwards, but also in the five minutes and forty nine seconds where I think the third minute, roller Rydz has an amazing chance at goal and he comes down with the ball. I mean like he Rollerdaz could have very easily made that game won nothing if the ball didn't just like
stop in a puddle. And then here he is you know, in that kind of fifteen minute discussion period whereverybody's standing around and he's just continuously throwing the ball up in the air and letting it stick into the grass, as if to say, like, are you kidding me? Are you really still debating this? I mean, the final question I have on this ari is just
the element. And you mentioned the officiating right there in the that these were replacement referees, and who knows what would happen if they were actual referees, But I guess I would just wonder. I mean, the conditions at kickoff before the five minutes and forty nine seconds was not much better, and it was easy to look at A. This field is grass. B. The rain's going to be continuing for three consecutive hours leading up to seven thirty Eastern
time was when they anticipated the rain was going to stop in Philadelphia. So the quest, the final question I have is why the heck did the referees or league let this start at all? Yeah, you know, it does seem like this outcome could have been predicted by looking at the forecast. You know, I didn't even know the elements were going to be that much into
play until shortly before the game. But then, you know, and when I looked at the forecast after seeing what was going on on the broadcast and saw precipitation one hundred percent for the rest of the night and into the next day, I was thinking the same thing, you know, like I understand the desperation to play every last game because you don't. You really don't want
these situations where you have to reschedule them. But at the same time, I think you have to be realistic about the type of elements that we're talking
about here and just maybe lesson learned on this. If it's that bad, if you can't play the game, you can't play the game, that you're better served to just acknowledge that then to insist on playing it and then have a situation where a team flies across the country, by the way, like from Seattle to Philadelphia for ultimately no reason, and just has to turn around and fly back without after playing five minutes of the game that don't even qualify
really as a soccer game, just a wild situation. Wild Wild Ariolino was our guest mlscoccer dot Com and of course Loving scorches Are speaking of a podcast and speaking of officiating, one other thing that's of course currently ongoing, of course, is the labor dispute between PSRA and MLS slash Pro And a really cool thing happened on your podcast last week, No Way, your producer was able to catch up with the Professional Soccer Referee Association president Peter Manikowski. Really
interesting conversation. What did you and what did we learn from that? Yeah, thanks for that plug, Jackson. No it did a good job with that interview. Peter was very generous with his time and he kind of gave us a little window into the professional referee a professional referees take on the whole dispute that's going on. You know, I'm not a labor expert or a
lawyer, so I don't pretend to be an expert on it. But my biggest takeaway from it was that I don't the referees are not making outrageous demands here. They just want good working conditions, good benefits, ways to to
make a living and feel comfortable in what they're doing. And the you know, the way he lays it out, it seems it seems just strain credibility to me that these demands can't be accommodated and they can't reach an agreement on this, and he talked a lot about what he and the people he's working with see as the motivation behind this dispute, and it was, like you
said, it was a very interesting conversation. So I definitely encourage everyone listening to tune into episode twenty two of Lobbing's Scorches where Noah does that interview, because if you don't know a lot about that dispute that's going on, it's pretty illuminating. Yeah, it certainly is. We won't spoil too much of it, but it's absolutely worth a listen for folks looking for insight into that
entire situation. Ari, let's continue our and really kind of dig into our around the league section here, and the first place we're going to go around the league is the team that the Sounders are facing coming up this Saturday at lumin Field, which by the way is ME twelve thirty. There will air
the matchover on nine to fifty k am. But Ari, this is a Colorado Rapids team coming to Seattle here coming up this Saturday, where I think this first three games of the season where they're one to one and one. We've seen the very bad from Colorado the week one four to one blowout loss against Portland. But then this last week we see the good of Colorado beating
Real salt Lake. In Salt Lake, We've seen two different Colorado teams and it's sort of the classic, you know, Twilight his own question, will the Real Colorado Rapids please stand up? Who do you see that come into town this Saturday? Yeah? I mean it's hard to say this early in the season, but what I can tell you is that Colorado was a pretty popular pick in the off season to be a bounce back and proved team. This year, they had one of the more active off seasons in the league.
They made a lot of they brought in, had a lot of players going out, a lot of new guys coming in. I think the two biggest signings they made were George Mihailovich, who they brought back from the Air Divisa. I mean, this is this homegrown guy from Chicago Fire who before he left for the Air Divisa had became an upper tier playmaker for CF Montreal in MLS. So he's a very very good player in a big sign for
them. And then they also signed Zach Stephan, who is a US men's national team goalkeeper who was about to be the US goalkeeper at the World Cup and then some injuries and spotty form and meant that he ended up not getting that role. But he's still a very good, uh international caliber goalkeeper.
So and that's just two of the big signings that they made. So this is a team that I don't know, you know, where they fall in between those two games, like you talked about, but there's certainly a team where I think, uh, their fans and their club have a lot of reason to believe that they're going to be improved this year from last year when
they were one of the worst teams in the league. Well, Zach Stefan was the big question for me, because you know, I think we all saw him, you know, especially when he was, you know, excelled in his first run in MLS before going overseas as kind of you know, one of these you know, great goalkeepers, and all right, he is United States, you know, one a goalkeeper, and he's definitely slipped in that regard to Matt Turner. But you know, I think Zach Stephan now
returning to MLS, the question is what his quality is. But it does sound like you still think he is a quality keeper. Would you say he's what top half, top ten, top five keeper in this league right now? Well, when he was on the Columbus Crew, he was one of the best goalkeepers in the league. I don't know how much his skills has eroded since then, but he's it's not like he's that old. So I
don't think that much. Yeah, I mean, I think there's well, we'll see what happens, but I think there's a lot of reason to believe that he's still an upper tier goalkeeper in the league. Yeah, certainly, really good. So that Gin Colorado Rapids that's going to be coming up this Saturday, twelve thirty Sports Radio nine to fifty KJR AM and tonight's opponent, Alec was presented by Sharp Vision, Modern Lasik and Lens, the official Lasik
provider of Sounders FC. All right, let's continue around the league here, let's talk about Atlanta. We haven't really spent too much time on our around the league segments yet talking about Atlanta United. They get a four to one win, and in that Yakumaki's the star Greek four they call him the Greek Freak and the quarter to Garth Loggerway their broadcast goes boom Yaku Makis when he scores, and that happened three times in a hat trick. Apparently there's contract
and extension negotiations happening. Atlanta is looking good to start this year and Yaku Maki's after you know, being an outstanding player last year, just continuing to roll with that team. Yeah, I mean, he's one of the best strikers in the league. That was a hit of a signing for them. And I mean I agree with you Atlanta United, their team that has had a high powered attack, and their issues seem to be on midfield and defense a lot. And you know, with Garth loger Ay running point there,
I trust that guy to fix whatever issues that they might have. And certainly in that game against New England, who New England is balancing conk CAFT Champions Cup right now. So I don't know how much that had to do with them being depleted or fatigued from that, but like that's not the takeaway from
anything that Atlanta did. A four to one victory is a four to one victory, and really just you know, with Jockomachis, like you said, and Iago Almada and a lot of the other pieces that they have this in Atlanta team that's probably gonna score a lot of goals this year, and they definitely look like it in that game. Off to a hot start as Atlanta United. All this comes to the point of the program where I'm going to
quickly throw up and then come back on the air. But the Portland Timbers, Uh, they are starting the year very strong right now, top of the Western Conference with seven points. Uh. They've got a win to start the season, as we mentioned over Colorado a Dragons DC where they had a two goal lead then gave it up, and then what a win for them in New York City there over the weekend where it takes a game winning goal in the ninety seventh minute. But you know, I did not think that
Neville was gonna have this kind of a start with Portland. I was kind of laughing. I mean, I think off the air, we joked at the start of the year, and I joked and I'm definitely regretting that now about Portland's not gonna be any better with Neville. I mean, you know, really, is this team gonna you know, Timber is really gonna take off? Man, I don't just watching that game against City on Saturday morning. That team's looking really good, Ari, and it pains me to say
that. What do you sing out of the Timbers? Yeah, I mean, they definitely had one of the best wins out of any team in this match day for Slate. New York City FC is reeling right now to begin the season, but that's still one of the hardest places in the league to go get a road win, and to go get one in the way that they did that was certainly impressive. And you know, I think two other positive signs for them are Anthony scoring again, so that's looking like a good
signing so far, and then Evander getting the game winner. That was just a ridiculous goal and he seems to pull those out a lot. You know, he scored one against Seattle last year. Every time that he scores one, it seems to be a crazy banger like that. So for him to do that in New York City, for them to get a road win in that field where it's so hard to play with those narrow dimensions, impressive win
for them, no doubt it, Absolutely it was. Ari. We were out of time today and I will quickly mention the one thing that was left on my list was Miami losing without Messy and how they appeared to be kind of dependent on him, but we'll kind of watch that he was out via injury, so we'll see what happens with Lionel Messi and Miami going forward this week, as well as CONCACAF action, of course we didn't get to talk too much about. And then Sounders again Colorado. We'll talk about that next
week whatever happens on Saturday, assuming that game doesn't get rained out. But the Sounders play on turf as we know, so it will not be an issue here at Luminfield this weekend. It's also supposed to be absolutely beautiful, ready for the weather to turn, Ready for sunny skies and beautiful weather there for Sounders home games. Ari, great stuff. I'll see you at at lumin on Saturday and have a good rest of the week, my friend,
I'm good. Thanks, Jack, appreciate it. Great stuff there from arilllionwallmlssucker dot com and the host of the podcast Lobbing Scorcheres. Check it out wherever you get your podcasts coming up next year in Sounders Weekly from around the league, It's time to go around the sound We'll talk some Sounders and his Ballard FC team. It's former Sounders defender and Ballard FC head coach James Riley on an extended edition of Around the Sound. That's next on Sports Radio ninety three
point three KJRFM. Now back to Sounders Weekly on your home for Sounders FC. Settle's Sports Radio ninety three point three kjr FM. Welcome back Sounders Weekly. Good to have you with us on this Wednesday evening. Thanks to both Jordan Morris and Ari Lillianwall for giving their time to Sounders Weekly. They're in
the previous segments. Check out the podcast in case you missed it, but coming up right now from Around the League the previous segment, we now are turned to Around the Sound and joining us right now for a little bit extended Around the Sound where of course we always talk about the USL two sides around our region as well as Seattle RAINFC. But the head coach, the new
head coach of Ballard FC, is a good friend of ours. He is actually gonna be on the Sounders broadcast for Sounders Rapids coming up this Saturday, and then his attention will turn to one week from right now, James Riley, you will be coaching Ballard FC in the US Open Cup one week from right now, Man, how does that feel? It's exciting. I mean,
just an exciting time for soccer on the Pacific Northwest. So I'm just excited for the players and excited to play at Memorial Stadium against a fantastic Spokanevelossity team. Yeah, let's talk all about that. The US Open Cup game and the squad that you have prepared for the USL two season coming off of the championship last year. We'll talk all about that here in just a couple minutes. But because you're on the broadcast for Sounders Rapids this Saturday, quickly
got to start with a little bit of Sounders First. Have you ever played in a game as rainy as the Sounders played in for five minutes and forty nine seconds there in Philadelphia on Saturday. You know what's crazy? If it's turf, then the game probably continues to go on. So maybe, But in my eleven years in MLS, I have never had a game postponed due
due to or canceled to have to be rescheduled due to weather. So, you know, unfortunate the guys had to make that trip, but it's part of the process and part of you know, the job description, and so you know they were ready to play. I'm sure both teams are ready to play, but that's the difference, the biggest difference between grass and turf. So unfortunate, but you know part of the territory. Yeah, it's just a wild situation there. And don't know when the game will get rescheduled too,
but we'll of course be following that, James, really quick. Just overall Sounders oh one and one to start the year. I know you'll have more on the pregame show, but just give us a few seconds on your impressions of the Sounders so far this year. To be honest, I think they've been good, you know, for the early season. I think that the home game against Austin, I mean I think Austin's holding on for dear life had plenty of chances to score. And you know, you and I
both know scoring is not easy. That's why you know, top goalscorers, you know, get compensated the most. And I thought they put themselves in good spots to have a result and get a result at home, you know, got the shutout, which was a testament, and I think a big part of last year, just defensively, it was a very good team.
You know, we were a very good team. So you can continue that and continue to put guys in good spots at full confidence in you know, Ruy Diaz, Jordan Morris, the guys that are been brought into score goals and create goal. So I thought from the home opener, I thought it was a very good showing and even the opening of the season I thought was a good showing. Could have gotten a result there as well. So for
me at my my, my thoughts are very high. For the group, I thought it was a good total performance, especially when you're missing so many key guys in the starting lineup. To have that type of performance at home,
you know, kudos to the guys for that. James Riley is our guest, of course, former Sounders defender as well as the head coach of ballad f C. Aarrat James, let's talk about this Ballard FC situation because as you mentioned there, week from tonight, week from right now, you'll be coaching Ballade f C in the first game in twenty twenty four in the US Open Cup against Spokane Velocity, and as you mentioned, it's happening at
Memorial before the Memorial Stadium renovation happens. I mean it's conceivable that a ballad FC game is the final actual event at Memorial before it gets renovated. And I mean for you guys to be playing up at that location. You spend a bunch of time in that stadium obviously looking ahead to the season. So much soccer history in that in that building. What's it going to be like, you know, to bring your team into that place for this season.
Certainly, I just got nervous and just got goosebumps. I just think, you know, it's a great opportunity, as you say, you know, first and foremost for the players to play in a cup game like that in you know, a competition with so much historical significance. Then to play in a stadium like Memorial Stadium with so much historical significant in the Pacific Northwest against a fantastic you know team in Spokane Velocity Home, Like, it can't get
any better than that. So you know certainly that you know, we'll be as prepared as we can be for that group, and you know, when it's time to play, we'll go out and compete. For sure, people will get their tickets at Go Ballard FC dot com. That's Go Ballard FC dot com once again. Open Cup matchup Memorial Stadium a week from tonight seven
thirty kickoff. I'll be here doing this show right now, so I don't know if I'll be able to get up there, but rooting you guys on hashtag up the bridges from right down the hill here on our Elliott Avenue studios. And then of course your regular season starts on May nineteenth, so you know, for the most part, you won't have to deal with a lot
of fixture congestion here in the first few rounds of the Open Cup. But James obviously a little bit of a divide there where you have Open Cup and then it's a while before the regular season starts where you have all these new teams around the region. Now you now have Tacomas Stars with a USL two team, You have Midlakes United over on the east side, you have FC Olympia who have changed their name. You have West Seattle Junction. Now there's
a lot of teams in the region who've suddenly joined USL too. It's amazing, honestly, absolutely amazing. And I say that that you know, the number one benefactor is the player, so the player in the Pacific Northwest or any player coming in to be a part of you know, this league here USL two in this region. And then the fans. I mean, you have a lot of micro opportunities for fans to engage locally in their communities,
see some top level talent. And then obviously then you have the Sounders as a tip of that pyramid to come with defiance in the middle of that pyramid. So for me, the amount of richness of soccer in this region is just immense and I'm very happy to be a part of it and continue to be a part of it. So, you know, very excited for this upcoming summer and all those teams that you mentioned, you know, have friends and a lot of them and wish everyone a wonderful and competitive season. Yeah.
And I think the cool thing about the situation, James, and once again James Riley is our guest former sounder of course head coach of Ballard FC as well, is the fact that the players who who you know, coming primarily from college are not only from the Seattle area, but you know stas last year of course with Penn and you're bringing guys in from around the nation. You know, you mentioned the players there. Talk to us a little bit about your roster, because we know Stoss is gone, but we still
have a really good roster. You know, from what we've seen the social media announcements of this guy's are turning this guy's are turning me out of this guy. Talk to us a little bit about but the names that are going to anger your squad here in twenty twenty four. It's a great question. I think with the roster composition, Balas always wanted to kind of have a primarily local kind of talent pool, and with so much talent in this region, it makes it very easy. So we obviously you bring in your key
returners. But you talk about a guy like Stass who I saw him in the championship game, the final last year, and I said he was he
was pro level quality for sure. I mean, a big nine like that with that can that can press, hold up the ball, score goals like you know, and that he is at testament to him because he was drafted by the Philadelphia Union this year, and so I think they'll stay and continue and get his degree at Penn. But again I would say close to seventy percent, if not more, of our roster is still local, and I think that's a big testament not only to our you know, our ideas on
the roster composition, but just a testament to the amount of talent in this region. And you know, we have big partners as far as you know. I had meetings and calls with you know, you dubbed Seattle University, you know SPU, you know, just to get a feel of how we can benefit them as well. We've been able to give their players homes and competitive games in the summer, and so for me, it's a win win. But again back here original question, certainly some key starters return of spirit.
Kingston's a fantastic player. Had an opportunity to watch him his youth playing career, you know, before he went to Seattle University and then now at you dub so he's a top player, top versatile player. I really kind of the player profile that he fits and people will be amazed that this is
like a Steve Zakawani. He can play on the less side, but he has an ability to just grace and glide by people, technical ability of finishing, ability from the wing of being gold dangerous from the wing is great. And then also we have a six that's anchoring for me. Bailey Leatherman is
a fantastic players graduated. So it's those types of players where you can kind of bridge kind of the players that are still really trying to get a professional opportunity and then those are in college that are you know, on that verge with a trajectory to get a possible professional opportunity. So to have players like that as well where they can say, hey, this is what was successful for me, but still be able to play at a high level and earn
the respect of the guys around them, I think is critical. But I think a large majority of our roster I would say eighty percent plus it's going to be collegiate level guys that really want to possibly play at the next level. You talk about, you know, our defensive core and bringing back Damian and you know from Seattle University. Just a very polished, mature, championship
level roster that have been very fortunate to inherit. And that is a testament to you know, the coaches prior to me and you know Stances and that whole group and constructing the roster. So there wasn't a lot of movement for me to do. It's essentially these are the core guys and we can add a couple pieces here and there, but you have a championship pedigree group returning, which makes it, you know, advantageous to me because yeah, a
lot of these guys will then go on. I mean you mentioned Stass, you know, being drafted by Philly, and then you know Lars Heller and the goalkeeper you know, he eventually that I think just a few days ago, signs a contract with the Coment Defiance. So a lot of these kids are going to end up getting contracts. And whether it's draft picks, I mean Peter Kingston, I think we both agree he his future is ridiculously bright
wherever it may be. So well, James, good luck next Wednesday there in the Open Cup, So good luck up there at Memorial Stadium and I will see on Saturday at Luminfield. I appreciate up the bridges and go Sounders. Great weeks ahead. Thank you as always Jackson. Great stuff there from James Riley, former Seattle Sounders defender as well as head coach of Ballard f C. Awesome stuff there. As we say, up the bridges, go Ballard f C in next week's US Open Cup. The intro game there for
them facing Spokane Velocity. Goballardfc dot com for tickets. Well, as we quickly continue here on around the sound I'll once again mention that the Seattle Rain, they have the finally the season starting, is coming up this Sunday, March seventeenth, three o'clock against the Washington Spirit. So that game is being played at Lumenfield this coming Sunday at three. You can head to Seattle Rain's website to get your tickets and go Rain and that will do it for tonight's
show. Before the Rain play at Lumen on Sunday at three. The Sounders will play at Lumen on Saturday is going to be a twelve thirty Providence,
Swedish premat show kickoff shore after. You can listen to that match over on our sister station of Sports Radio nine fifty KJR AM nine to fifty am, the iHeartRadio app nine fifty KJR dot com slash listen once again twelve thirty prematch show kickoff shortly after you know, so watch the match for free on the Apple TV app or on Fox and listen in Spanish language on Lray thirteen sixty and of course get your tickets today by visiting soundersfc dot com slash tickets.
So we will talk to you on Saturday for Sounders and Colorado Rapids. We'll see if the Sounders can get back. Albert Russnak Yamar Gomez Onrade. We know that they are going to be available for minutes, but we not sure yet if they will be starting. We will find that out on Saturday late morning. We'll talk to you over on nine fifty KGr AM for that on Saturday, But for right now, Fox Sports Radio is up next. Have a good week, everybody,