Little yacht Rock.
On a Wednesday, I told porder to watch the yacht Rock documentary on HBO Max because my next guest told me to watch it.
I've got to say, you have pretty phenomenal taste all of your I'm glad you know.
That's how we're starting Chris Camaradie Liven Studio log on YouTube.
Right now, We've got seven viewers.
You can seek in sunglasses and a shirt that I'm legitimately envious of, which is a T shirt with a picture of Aaron Falk on it. Oh in the Goat Adam Mikholitch and Aaron is trying to fix his ear piece before he goes on television.
It's an excellent T shirt.
Thank you.
How'd you get that done?
Uh? There's a website called Tea Public okay, where you can upload high resolution photos and make them look weird and then they'll print a T shirt for you.
Okay.
So there was a time for a good four or five year stretch. We were making really stupid T shirts as like a side Joe Kusseles as a group of friends.
Have any other falk teas or is that your only one?
I have one? Falk made a once in a lifetime one that I lost that I of you, not of me, of the real goat Gordon Monson, no way correct. I haven't seen it since. The reason why I lost it is because, long story short, my bachelor party was in Moab, and for some insane reason, there was a bachelorette party in Moab as well, and we met at one of two bars in Moab and the groups got together and they started dancing to country music. Somebody liked my shirt and they asked for it and I gave it to him.
Very nice of you.
It's now no longer a bar, it's gone, so now there's only one official bar in Moab. This was This was called the Rio, and it was a great time. So you'll have to ask Aaron about the shirt that I don't know if he even has it. It's an amazing one.
Falk has impressive Moab knowledge. By the way, I went down to Moab with Falk, our guy Nade bench and Trap and we played golf. And I don't think I had been to Moab since I was in college. I just have not been that down south very much. And Aaron knew where to eat, he knew where to go, He knew where to stay.
A lot of his guys at school at Utah State were moab room amazing stuff.
Okay, yeah, without him, I would have been lost. But otherwise we had a great time.
Great place.
We need to get you down there. Hey, let's go.
I was thinking about I think the last time, one of the last times I went golfing was when we were at Wassatch Mountain State Park and I wore my Antonio Daniel's.
Jersey, yes, and your garden gloves.
And my garden gloves. And the sheriff what do we call him, the ward, the marshall, the marshall, sorry, you know, aggressive. The marshall was none too pleased.
Yeah, so, yeah, that's right. Did he ask you to stop playing? Did he kick you off the course?
No, he he asked me to I think he asked me to put shoes on.
Oh that's right.
You also didn't have shoes. Yeah, yeah, I remember, uh yeah, I remember that. In time scenario, you also teed off for a par three with your driver and it was a great shot and it actually worked out.
Yeah, I think I landed on the green.
It's very impressive. So we need to get you down involve it's a good time.
Man.
We had a good time. And when you get bench and fall together, you never know how it's going to go down, all right, Christopher. Big news of the week this week, Craig Smith has been encouraged to find more constructive things to do with his time. He's no longer the head coach at the University of you Top, So let's just get your reaction to that news, and then we'll kind of dig in a couple of dynamics here.
Like everyone else thinks, somewhat odd timing, But if you are a smart person who can read the tea leaves, you are getting a jumpstart potentially on a coaching search now as opposed to three or four weeks from now. I understand the argument of wanting to retain players for the next potential coaching staff, but I think one thing we can say is the next potential coaching staff needs to make wholesale upgrades on this roster if they're going to be competit. And there are some pieces I think
you can say on this team. But Craig Smith is a good coach. But looking at his track record, even going back to Utah State, he generally performed really well with guys he inherited. Namish Kita is the one that I can really think of that he brought in. Difference Maker went pro is in. I think he's in the Celtics rotation. But you know, Sam Merrill, he inherited. Sam Merrill is so old our guy. Sam's twenty eight now, which makes me feel very old. Sam committed to Stu Moral,
that's how That's how long ago. He came back and played for Tim Durrea, who was Stu's an assistant. And then when Tim got fired, you know, Craig gired and so on and so forth. So long winded way of saying, if Utah is going to be good, I understand the fan base's desire to get a somewhat exciting new head coach. You gotta get plenty of very exciting talent, that's s bottom line.
Yeah, you're not wrong, And I do believe this was more of a talent issue than a coaching issue. I mean, let's keep in mind, Utah Basketball was picked to finish last in the Big Twelve this year, and when you look at the expectation for who most people thought they would be and the fact that they're mid table with a chance to still win ten conference games. I actually think Craig did a good job this year coaching the roster. The problem, Chris, as you know, is this isn't the NBA.
Will Hardy did not draft these players. Will hard you to not acquire these players. That's Danny, that's justin. That's the jazz front office in college if you don't have talent.
It also comes back to the head coach.
Now in the new day and age of college of basketball, it's not as on the coach as it used to be because you have to have a healthy economic structure behind you to pay these players in a way you didn't used to. And I still have questions about where Utah's collective is. I honestly don't know. Mark Carlin releases a statement. You hear things about where they're at now,
the excitement for where they could be moving forward. But from a basketball standpoint, it's pretty clear that economically you taught this point, has just elected not to lean into the basketball financing the way that Brigham Young has. How much of the consternation around Craig and Utah basketball do you think it's tied to what Kevin is doing down south?
I think it plays a role in it. I think you'd be a fool if you didn't say that out loud. Either you're up in the night or you're just lying to yourself, and you could potentially be doing both. But the same way, BYU was gritting their teeth for ten years, while Kyle, you know, was kind of running the table over them with that, with that win streat you can't be shown up in such dramatic fashion by your rival, be so boring, be so irrelevant, and just not have
the fan base get apathetic. The fan base has been apathetic for a long time. Let's be honest. I mean we've talked about I think the last time they had a really good team, that Sweet sixteen team with Kuzma, Yeah, Delon Wright, yaka Perl. They haven't made an NCAA tournament almost ten years. It's so wild, that is insane. Haven't had a player drafted since Kyle Kuzma in twenty seventeen. And I know, and I know the draft thing.
You know, like you need pros, you need a fair point.
Yeah, not only do you need pros, but you need guys who can go over and play at Barcelona Real, just like Utah hasn't had it right. And I know who is the dude who wants Saint John's that everyone was mad about.
Davon Smith.
Is he a difference make around?
Yeah? Yeah, he's good. Okay, he's really good.
But does he make them a top six team in the Big twelve?
Probably not, But he gets them a lot closer because he's exactly what they're missing this year.
Okay, he's exactly what they're missing this year.
My argument would be, you need at least one or two guys better than a guy like that in order to really turn this thing around. And I don't think Utah has come close to developing anybody like that in house for a very long time.
It's very fair and it's a simple exercise, and you can do it with both the local stuff and nationally. I mean, whoever wins the national championship this year, whoever is in the final four, they will have more than two or three high level pros NBA guys, fringe rotation players, and then maybe a couple of players that can go over to Europe. And we have examples of that that
we can look at with the University of Utah. The best teams Rick ever had had Andre pro Alex Jensen, European pro Britton Johnson NBA and europe Mike Doliak made money playing pro basketball.
Hanald Metzla like they. I mean, yes, probably the best example.
So all of these teams that we all watched in the nineties that didn't just make the tournament but made runs. One of them came within a red bull of winning a national championship. They're up ten at halftime with Kentucky and then I'll never forget man. They come out of the locker room in the second half within five minutes and like their gas. Because Rick was essentially playing seven guys. He wanted his top shelf players playing. And it's not
just Utah. I mean right now, Kevin Young down at BYU has two pros for Shore, two NBA guys for sure in Yegor Demon and Cannon Catchings, and a guy in Richie Saunders who's playing his way onto the radars and scouts. He's really good. He is a European guy, for sure. I think that's probably it. I know Dallen Hall talks about wanting to play pro basketball, but as John Kalipari used to say when somebody asked him, Ani prosy yat he said, I have twelve go ask him, right,
they all think they can play. But no, to your point, like, if you want to win championships, if you want to compete for championships, if you want to make the tournament in advance, this is a player's game at the end of the day. Luke Walton took over the Warriors from Steve Kerr and won like thirty seven or thirty nine games. Luke Walton couldn't get a job. He just had that group of players. So the unfortunate reality is the coach
is the one who falls on the sword. He's the one that loses his job because you can't fire the players. This to me is a talent issue, period, and not a coaching issue in my opinion.
Oh, it's been an issue for a long time. I mean Larry, Larry inherited, I mean our guy Bill. Next time you have Bill on, you should ask Bill about his first year on the be He covered that first Larry team that arm Yeah, that won like five games back in the PAC twelve era.
Idea, Bill Arm, Let's get Bill on this week.
Larry built it into something that was tangible and it worked. Chris Hill was a huge Larry guy made him a top ten paid coach in the nation, which you can make an argument is is a reach, but Larry proved to be able to get to the NCAA tournament and did it a few times. It's interesting in retrospect that fans were frustrated with Larry when you know Mark Carlin decides to fire Larry. I think they were on the hook for about seven million of dead contract money with him,
and then I think it's about four with Craig. So in three and a half years, the athletic Department has had to pay essentially eleven million dollars of dead money to coaches that have been released from their contract. For a school like you taught, that's a lot. It's it's a lot. We're not talking about a blue blood program that has cash rolling in. And to your point, I think one of the main reasons why this move was made was because the apathy within the donor booster supporter
base reached a level that was untenable. And what is next is people going to try to live in the past, which I think is a very dangerous game, especially a thirty years ago type past. But if those are the people that are cutting in checks, all these years later, you kind of have to listen to them. So how this thing shakes out will see, But safe to say you have to nail the higher man. But you have to nail the higher and.
Before we get to what's next, because that's ultimately where I want to go to. In just a moment, there's a little bit of pressure on Mark to kind of get this thing right.
Yeah.
You know one of the things that we talked about, and you and I discussed this Tom Homo after he announced that he's stepping down after twenty years, and look for people that are upset. I know there are other sports outside of basketball and football, but these are the revenue generators, and these are what people watch more than anything and are interested in more than anything. Shout out to the other coaching hires you know that were made outside of it. But Tom essentially went five for five.
You know when you look at Dave Rose and Bronco Menenhall and Mark Pope and Kline Satake and now the early returns on Kevin Jung seemed to be positive. And Mark's only hires Craig that didn't work. He's only outside higher, Yeah, he's only outside higher. Yeah, And he gave Gavin Peterson the job after Lynn Leu. Yeah yeah, right right, And so ultimately the plan was in place, I believe for more Goan to take over for Kyle before Mark took
his job. So we have Mark Harlin, who, if we're honest, had a bit of a rough year A little bit here there, some rough looks. The press conference after the BYU game took a lot of heat, was reprimanded from the conference, they had to pay a fine, and the one main major higher he made is now over. I don't know how much of it was his call. I
don't know how much of it was boosters. I don't how much of it was Taylor Randalls, one of the Taylor Randall's like an underrated figure and all this stuff, because that dude is sharp, he's very smart, and he's run.
He's a sports guy too.
He's a sports guy, but he's a wicked smart businessman, like he understands the bottom line. So were these boosters going to Taylor and then Taylor going to Mark and saying, look, we got to do something here. Is there something with player retention that they were worried about, which is why the timing was right? Now, like do they want Ezra usr back, and are there players that feel like they're
underutilized that they want to keep. I don't fully know how it all went down at the end of the day, but it does sound like a lot of this was booster driven, and so the reasons could be varied. We could reduce it to the fact that he didn't win enough. We could reduce it to the fact that the attendance continues to dwindle. And it's a basketball community that I do think needs a little shot of juice, needs a little shot of life. And that's why let's move over
to what's next. When you look at the direction that Mark could take here, there's a list of young coaches at smaller schools that have done a great job and kind of the college basketball ecosystem has always worked like this. You take a small school from a smaller conference, you get an auto bid to the NCAA Tournament because you won your conference. You win a couple of games, and your life changes. Craig did it right, and so Mark has already followed that model. You have names like Eric
Olsen from UC San Diego. You have Nico Medved from Colorado State, you have Eric Henderson, from South Dakota State. You have Leon Rice from Boise, Russell Turner from UC Irvine. This is a list put together by Jeff Borzello. So that's one at the young college coach that's done well at a small school and you're gonna make him rich to coach in the Big twelve. The other avenue, as you outline just now, is the Johnny Bryant, the Alex Jensen, de Andre Miller, the former utes to sit on the bench.
Let's start here. Do you think in our state it is over sold to need a BYU guy, need a Utah guy, need a guy that understands the community. Do you think that's inn Do you think it's Do you think it's overrated, because every time one of these jobs comes comes open, Chris, this is what we do. As soon as Bronco left, it was Kilane right. Kevin's different, you know, but LDS b Yu it's kind of a different thing. Do you think you have to understand Utah to take this job?
Urban didn't, Urban didn't. I don't think so. But if we're talking about the power brokers behind the scenes, they are the folks who presumably were involved during the Heyday, and they lived it, and if they're going to have a say, they're going to trend in that direction. They do not want to see the bleachers covered up anymore in the upper deck. They shouldn't be covered up. They shouldn't be I mean, like it's been like that for
so long it's insane. I personally think the Utah fan base as a whole doesn't show out the same way some of the other fan bases in this stay tue for basketball. They they just don't and they haven't for a long time. And maybe it is just being fed up with being so average or below average. But I can tell you the one time I was at the Huntsman Center where I felt like it was at the Marriott Center or up at up in Logan. I can't And I've covered a bunch of games there for fifteen years.
I can't remember it.
Yeah, So.
There is a lot that goes into this. Like I said, are you willing to go out and pay and Alex Jensen five to seven million dollars a year to leave the NBA lifestyle to take over at his alma mater, knowing that the nil landscape at the alma mater might be on shaky ground, I mean, nobody's ever going to come out and talk about what numbers they have because they're afraid of looking bad. But I think the Frand
for Scilla tweet caught fire a little bit. And I don't think Frand was wrong in putting that out there either. There are many layers into what constitutes building a winning program in college basketball in college football in twenty twenty five now, and you mentioning the talent, looking at the talent, is there a indispensable player on this roster that absolutely has to come back next year? There's not. No, there's not.
No, there's not there's not.
I mean, like, can't you can't be a power for conference team in a market that is growing, at a school that presumably is in a decent spot that should be in a better spot when it comes to nil and not have a single indispensable player.
It's a really, really fair point because if you look at the roster, so these are the players, there would be candidates to come back, and I think you'd like Ezra Sarback is at the end of the world if you don't get him back, it's not But he said he's had some real bride moments. He was the best player on the floor in that byu Win. So, I think you would like Ezra back, but it's not the end of the world. Keanu Daz is a sophomore. He
has shown Spurts got the same deal. Think you'd like him back, Not a big deal if you don't have him. Hunter Erickson's gone. He's a senior. Of course, when you look down the roster, so is lost in lovering and Gabe Mattson, as is Gabe's brother Mason Shrob Jamps is a junior. Jake Wallen might be the answer. Jakes's sophomore. He was a pretty good player. But no, to your point, none of these players leaving would kill your program.
Yeah, and that is pretty damning. I think it is. And the fact that we have to go back to twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen, seventeen to really talk about the last time a Utah team had a potentially a potential NBA player on its roster is pretty wild.
It's fair, No, it's very fair. What So let me get your thoughts on.
So, let me ask you, let me interrupt you. Yeah, is going back in the time machine? Is that the right move for a guy who if we're talking theoretically. And Alex, who's been a head coach in the G League only hasn't coached college basketball. I don't think since he was an assistant for Rick at Saint Louis in like twenty eleven, almost fifteen years. Yeah, you know, taking Andre Miller out of Grand Rapids or wherever he is.
Yep.
I just I can understand the draw, the desire for, you know, the legacy to come back, but I honestly just don't know what the right move is.
Well, and you also touched on this earlier. Whoever Mark calls, the first thing they're going to ask is what's your nil deal? What's the collective? What's the economics, what's the foundation? The financial foundation around your basketball program?
Looks like, what what is it now?
And what are you willing to promise me in writing that it will be if I take this job, Because it doesn't matter if you resurrect Rick Majaris. If you don't have your NIL in order, you cannot compete. Kyle talks about it every time he has a mic, like he leans from him Yes, like this is what we need from you as our community if you want our
football team to be good? There are wild reports, mostly on the football side, that top shelf football recruits won't even answer the phone until they get like fifty k and then they'll talk to you.
I have no idea if these are true.
I think you were Sharif Shaw, who gave a nice coach Shaw pep talk last year and shared some anecdotes about players that he wanted to get on campus to visit Utah football for like Texas, right, and he's like, I couldn't even get them to talk to me unless I was willing to like hit their venmo for.
Fifty k or whatever.
Shout out Kevin Reynolds.
Shout out Kevin. Yes he is killing and we'll get to that in a moment. BYU's football andil situation and BYU fans who like to use the internet to be brave and killing our guy, Kevin. But it doesn't matter if it's Alex Jensen or if it's pat Riley or fitz Brad Stevens. If your nil isn't in order, you're behind the eight ball. But to answer your question, I've changed my view on this, and here's why I do
think this basketball community needs a lifeline. I think they need an injection of energy and you know, just something to jumpstart the basketball community interest that we haven't had here to your point, if we're honest, in a very long time, consistently outside of moments Jacko Letti, Boge Boilin Dertcha Neville.
Luca Dertscha, how tournament dare Yeah, Yeah.
The five seat. They lost Arizona first round, but they were a top five seed in the tournament. You outline some of Larry's teams. We've had moments, but nothing's been consistent, if rous since Rick was on the sideline.
That's just the bottom line.
And because of that, I just think a Alex Jensen head coach, Andre Miller lead assistant would win the press conference in Jet Life, and I believe the basketball facility would be in in date with calls for season ticket deposits. That doesn't answer the question of what it looks like long term, and I can't speak to that. I know Alex better than I know Andre, and I think Alex is a very very smart basketball mind, and he is credited with a lot of development of very good players,
namely Rudy Gobert. Five years ago, when Mark decided to move on from Larry and Alex's name came up. I said, I don't think so, because I just think he's going to be an NBA head coach at some point five years later. I'm not sure he's at an interview back in the day. He had one interview with Eveland before they hired bickerstaff up, and he was Quinn's lead assistant, and that was such a successful run here in Saal Lake Uner Quinn Snyder. If I'm an owner, I'm looking
at his lead assistant. But at this point Alex himself might be resigned to the fact that the NBA has labeled me as a lifetime assistant. And if I ever want to be a head coach is probably going to be in college, and this would be an opportunity that I think at this point he would lean into in a way that I didn't think five years ago. So I think it makes more sense in my mind that I thought it did a number of years ago.
So that we're going to bottom line it here before we go to break because I know you're ready. You're going to have to hire the right coach who will bring in the nil money, who has to go get the right players. Yep, it's as simple as that. And whether that's Alex Jensen or the dude from UC Riverside or Irvine or Richard Patino at New Mexico, that's how it works, period, end of story. Yep. You have to hire a guy that people want to give money to to go out and sign and pay players. Now that's it.
That's how it works. So if it is a guy that has ties to the program, and it works great. And if it's a guy that doesn't have ties to the program and it works great too. Yeah, and right now it is an absolute crapshoot.
And to your original point, if the Echos and the Huntsman's and whoever else, the Garfs, the garths, the Camaradies, you know, whoever else.
Is My other point was going to be. I just think BYU has a longer history of rich people who are willing to donate to the to the university. I think Utah in a sense is still young there in terms of significant athletic success overall. That is, it is a school that hasn't reached that echelon as say a BYU that's been swimming in that pool for fifty years, as opposed to you can talk about Majeris and then
Urban and Kyle. We're talking thirty years so there, and obviously with BYU, the reach globally with the church is much wider. And I'm not saying there aren't rich members of the church that went to the U. There are, but that is also a very big part of this as well. The really rich people who want to donate money, they are fewer and far between at the you as opposed.
To and I think the data indicates that. So if you're a ute fan and if you're listening, we need to start instantly creating MLMs and salt lake that can fool peaking companies into believing that a gel will cure cancer or a drink.
Have you watched the Netflix on the on the dude who wants to live forever?
No, but from Utah? Of course he is.
He went to BYU.
Of course he is. That doesn't My brother sent me his book. I'm not reading this and I haven't watched it either, because you know what, you just put me in a bad rude. But the data, so what I was told by somebody would know, is that BYU right now has nine seven figure donors. Utahs too, And I
think you can guess who the two are. But before we catch a break, to your point, if the Echos and the Huntsmen and the Garths and whoever or else up here is donating money at a large level, if they call Taylor President Randall and they say we want Alex, you gotta hire him, I think it's kind of that simple because the people with deep pocketbooks are running this
thing in a way they never had. I agree, Yeah, last thing because I wanted to ask you, what what's your opinion on kind of the pressure that Mark is under to get this thing right based off of the rough year he's had.
Well, when Mark was hired from UCF, he came in as a guy who was very very good at fundraising and wanted to prioritize facilities. That's talking to folks down in Tampa. They said that was his bread and butter, and he's done that. He got the you know, the garfend zone, whatever that's called. He got that across the finish line. After Chris Hill put in a lot of work on that. You know, they broke round on the gymnastics center. They're working on the baseball stadium wherever that's
going to be up on Sunnyside. But at the end of the day, Man, I've said this on the show ad nauseum. The product is all that matters. Fans want to pay to see their teams play an exciting style of sport, whatever it is, and you have to nail it otherwise. If you don't nail this higher, then people are going to start to get really, really frustrated.
I think, if we're honest, there are a lot of people in this community that have put some pressure on Mark and if this doesn't go well. I'm not making any sort of grand statement about what's next, but I think this is bigger for him than most people realize.
No, right, I wholeheartedly agree.
All right, ck Liven Studio. We got a special guest I think joined it us coming up next with Chris. He doesn't know who it is. I wanted it to be a surprise. It's brought to you by friends at Burt Brothers. With over thirty years of experience and nearly thirty locations. Burt Brothers, as certified technicians, bring expertise and professionalism to every interaction industry leading warranties and low price tire guarantees. One stop shop for reliable repairs and maintenance,
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Ck? Tommy scoops Tommy.
Tommy Scoops MLS parlance.
Now hold on a second. Okay, I'm gonna bring you in.
I'm gonna bring in courting to Tommy Scoops courting of sources where I all saw Lake looking both international and domestic for a center forward. Aim As Dablance signed before the end of the window.
Hopefully soon.
RSL's called around MLS about Duncan Maguire, Brian White, Willie a Jada and you know what not even taking a shot.
The last name Tanny is the first name. So there you go.
A little RSL news, which is apropos because Chris Comraddi live in studio on sitting across from me, very handsome haircut Trey Fitzgerald on a Wednesday, Hello Trey, good to be here, Thanks for coming to see.
You guys on Conker Calf home opener day.
Well, let's start with Tommy Scoops. We got we got a Ford on the way or what I mean. Look, Kurt all but admitted it on the show last week. Yeah, you guys are looking.
Yeah.
No, Kurt had a media breakfast that you did not RSVP for a few weeks ago.
That's irrelevant.
He shared.
Basically, this information is that RSL seeking a forward, maybe a DP nine, maybe a winger, maybe both, hopefully getting it done before the April twenty third close of the current window, because if you wait till the summer, there's only a seven or eight MLS games left by the end of August.
Who was at the media breakfast? Was it fucking Dens? Or who?
Uh? Dens has hung up the tape recorder's basically hung up his Twitter game too.
But shout out to Den's may the force be way of the originals? Oh yeah, love soccer and Star Wars.
David James there, DJ made Andy Larson was there?
Shout out to Andy? Okay several did you send me an email about this?
I send you every email.
I'm not it's the old well, I'm not going to give out your email on here. It's all right, the old st check one which you may not check.
You just gave it out and that's all right. Do I get a credential this year or.
What only if your hotmail accepted the application?
Do you want to tell email stories on the radio today track? No?
I don't have to.
Do you know what Trey's email was in two thousand and four?
I do not.
Okay, quick story, anecdotally real quick. So two thousand and four Trays one of the first people we hire for RSL. We hadn't had our RSL email set up yet, and I wanted to start a fantasy football league for the new employee, so we get to know each other. So I go to Todd Titus brook Bingham, John Kimball, so I got to try and try and need your email and he goes, I don't want to tell you what, dude, we're starting a fantasy football league. You got to tell
me what it is. And he looks at me and he goes, it's ll cool tray.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, at yes, at.
AOL dot I did that at AOL dot com.
LLAOL was still holding on at the time, No for sure, And instantly I'm like, I want to hang out with that guy, like that sounds awesome.
Spence just wanted to play fantasy football against soccer guys for his ego's sake.
I can't even tell you how much money I've made off that dumb league. I've wanted like thirteen times. If you want to feel good about your football knowledge, play fantasy football with soccer people. Matt Lennio is like my farm league. It is awesome.
How many how many folks are we expecting out at the Riot tonight?
I think we could see twelve to fourteen thousand out at America First Field in Sandy tonight. It's obviously clear day, beautiful day. It'll be a little chilly this evening to warm up even more this weekend for the two thirty kickoff Saturday against Seattle, which will be sold out very nicely. I know you just called it the riot, right, It's a riot, Okay, it's a right.
I never called it vivid. It was Delta Center.
It still is, you know, it always was, it is now it will always be the riot at America First Field. Let's get the online community angry today.
And refer to it. Referred to it as America First.
Field Credit Union.
I'm aware of it.
It's the same like if you get mad that coke is a soda because it's also a drug. You're an idiot. You can't hold two thoughts in your mind at once. It is a credit union. In addition to a statement that makes people upset, I'm here, RSL Striker Potential, what do you think necessary?
I think you saw last year what Pablo Masteroeni can do with a full deck of cards. And I'm not saying he doesn't have a full deck of cards, but I kind of am right, now, I think the off season went sideways for RSL at the most important position on the team, and that happens, and you brought in
some pieces that hopefully pan out. But as we saw over the weekend, Man and Trey knows this, like the teams that were winning and scoring goals, they were having goals scored by guys that came into this league and were paid five to ten million dollars. That's where we are now. You can't moneyball it anymore. You simply can't.
Yep.
And I think RSL knows that the bones around the number nine position is there, But without that, without an alpha, I don't know what the ceiling is for this team beyond scraping for seven eight, I don't know, Trey. Are we still top seven? Is top? Top nine?
Nineez?
There's an eight to nine play in game in each conference?
Yeah, that's right, top nine for the playoffs? Yeah, dumb league.
So point, there's fifteen teams in each conference.
That's still too many teams in the playoffs. You just want more content for your Apple viewers, and then you can lie about the number of viewers.
I understand, is it ilias Man? Well?
Because I said Elias and he corrected me. He said it was ilious. I've heard it three different ways, all right. Anyway, he didn't person on Mogrado, so helped me understand this. Right, So what happened because it felt like there was a little bit of buzz around him potentially coming. And when I looked at simply the release you sent, they'd had numbers that he had scored goals and it looked like he could be was somewhat of an answer.
So I think young young Anderson Julio was the thought there, you know, half the price five six years younger scored a hat trick in the playoffs two years ago. It was a pretty good player for New York. Pablo Kurt had a exciting in there in Kurt's terms, zoom call with this guy, and then after he was traded, and this happens, I think more often than not with foreign players. Is anywhere else in the world do you have a say in where.
You go when you leave a team?
In MLS, you're traded, much like in every American sports league. And this guy and his agent two days before training camp said hey, we're not going to show up until you triple my salary.
And we said it's not how we were.
It was a salary demand. Yeah.
Yeah.
And then he he and his agent, they wrote a big letter saying that they don't recognize Major League Soccers the contractual bylaws that allow you to be traded because MLS owns all the player comes. So it's a very unique thing. But so he never reported. He got suspended and fined and all these things. And I think now he's on the verge, according to Tom Bogert, on the verge of being sold to a very prominent team in Brazil.
So I think RSL will end up being made whole for the for the gam that we sent New York for him and a bunch of draft picks back on December twentieth. It's a little disappointing, right, Like, you know, he sounded like he wanted to come take Julio's place and maybe compete to take Chicho's place eventually, but he was viewed internally as a Anderson Julio replaced him.
Yeah, and if we're being honest, that's as a placeholder. He was a guy that could have helped stem the tide from January when they reported in camp through conquer Calf March April hopefully get somebody who's going to come in and be in Alpha. But he was not the guy that was going to be the person who was going to replace chi Cho Rongo. Is that that's just?
Is that fair to say?
Absolutely? Okay, yeah, all right, and and sorry to interrupt you please again to get back to where Ursel was last year, I understand deandrascomes sale had to happen, and you do that ten times out of ten, but you have to have somebody come in and take I don't know, bull by the horns, scruff of the neck. I don't know which RSL attacker right now instills fear in an opponent. I honestly don't. And there was a time last year where you had several and it's just part of it.
But for ours all to get back into contention in a league now that is spending a leap ton of money on attacking players, they got to nail these moves.
So the strikers on the roster now Ilius is on the website.
Well he's still technically our proper finalized the sales Forrester for ser A, Jago Peel, Ari Peel.
Are those the two best strikers on the rosters the two nines.
Right now, there is a first round draft pick named his sus Barea, who will officially sign his MLS deal shortly once his student visa goes to being a p one Visa.
You know what his middle name is, I don't hopefully starts with Jay JJ Brea.
There you go like it.
And then, as you said, Kurt is scouring the league and scouring the globe looking for more competition up top. I think, to Chris's point, like you've seen a vander go from Portland to Cincinnati for thirteen million. Cincinnati also signed an international striker named Kevin Danky for sixteen million.
I believe.
Lucha Acosta, who was the MVP two years ago, went from Cincinnati to Dallas for five million cash. So yes, the price of doing business is going up in this league. You remember we bought Chicho almost two years ago for six million. That's the biggest purchase in the history of RSL. As Pablo has taken a saying, before Chicho was Chicho, he was just a guy. Right now, Ripol and Forster Rajago are just guys and they got to perform to
become what everybody believes they will be. I think between Diego Luna, Diogo Gonsalvi, Dominic Marchuk, there is a belief that we can set these guys up for success, but clearly we've not seen that in the first one hundred and eighty minutes this season.
I think Forrester has had a couple of good breakaway.
Opportunities that didn't get finished, and I think tonight you'll see a different team that just plays a little better and more cohesively than what we saw Saturday.
Jason two weeks ago, Jason crist and shout out to John Paul, you guys have lost JP. We're trying to win JP back to becoming an RSL fan, So this is partly for him. Jason brought up the conversation that my father had with him when Jason went to him and said, I'm trading Jeff Cunningham, and my dad said, who's going to score our goals? And Jason said it'll be by committee, and ultimately that's what happened, right you trade, I'm gonna nail it Sturgis for Robbie Finley. Is that
Nate Sturgis Robbie Finley, Chris Klein. Yes, Jason went brutus e two on his best friend tredon Mela. But you know, Robbie shows up and then you know, you never know when a hobby air type. I know rself fans hate when I go back to two thousand and nine, But Chris, is there a chance that the way that two thousand and you know, seven eight nine team was able to make up for Cunningham's goals by committee, is there a chance this group can do that?
No, there's not.
I'm going to be with my guy here. I'm just where the league is now.
It is.
I don't even can I go beyond night and day. It is so starkly different that like it is wild. Trey just mentioned a team spend twenty nine million dollars on two players.
That's wild.
And they were a team, an expansion team a few years ago that were like the worse than the history of the league. So it turns out if you spend a lot of money, you're gonna be really good. And now they're winning Conker CAF matches because they're really good.
Yeah.
So the same thing we were talking about with with the running Newts. Spend money, nail it and you'll be okay. Yeah, But if you don't spend money and you don't nail it, you will not be okay.
So Trey, and if you need a pun on this, just pun on it, because I obviously am not going to ask you to speak poorly of your employer, and nor am I leading you with this question. But I'm just wondering if the rsl ethos of development right like I'm thinking of Andres. You know, and look, that's good economics. I understand the business decision, even though as a sports fan that wasn't raised with this model, I don't love it.
I never will.
Like if you sell Diego, I'm going to be bummed, but I understand that you kind of have to. But to Chris's point, with this money that's being spent, is there is it time to maybe take a look at the model and maybe adjusted a little bit as opposed to being a developmental club, Like we're in this game, we need to go spend some money to get some big dogs.
Yeah.
Look, I think if Kurt Pablo Jason, John Kimball went to David Blitzer and Ryan Smith tonight and said, look, we found our guy.
He fits in our locker room. He's the right guy.
He costs thirteen million dollars.
I think if Pablo Kurt made the case that they could get it done. I do believe our ownership is committed. Look, I think besides what you see on the MLS salary cap, I think it's probably not well known that this team spends I don't know, seven million a year on academy and monarchs for that developmental piece. We haven't sold a kid to Europe for twenty million like Dallas or Philadelphia
or the Red Bulls have started to do. The Andres Gomez sale was important not only because it was six times our previous highest sale, but because we are now a participant in that global market. We I'm sure that at some point we will have opportunities to sell Diego Luna for big money, and sell Dominic Marchuk for big money, and maybe now Kobe Henry for big money once you know, maybe we buy him from the team that is loaning
him to us now from France. This is the one silver lining, maybe of the rumored calendar change, is that then the biggest transfer market window in the world doesn't happen in the middle of our season. It will happen at the end of our season. But there's a lot of obvious problems trying to play games in fourteen fifteen
MLS markets in December, January, February. Yeah, so that's but that's the that's the trade off is that MLS could become an even more prominent economic player in the global marketplace.
So c k if let's let's let let's give our guy the benefit of doubt. Okay, So operate off a hypothetical that over the next couple of weeks we hear of a big time nine that is signed, a DP type nine that is signed. Because if you look up and down the roster, there's great depth in the midfield, right like holding mid and that they seems like they have four or five options there.
I don't know enough about.
The keeper to have some sort of that he gave up four, but the team gave up four against San Jose, some acquisitions of the back line. If they can solidify nine, what do you think they can be this year?
Well, I'll start by saying it matters who it is, and you have to look at the track record of the type of guy they're bringing in. Garth Fogerway and Chris Henderson brought in a guy from Middlesbrough for like twenty two million dollars. Who scores eight ton of goals and guess what he had two in his debut. Uh you know when when and Garth brought in Raul Rui Diaz for Mexico and Seattle. He was scoring a ton of goals in Mexico and guess what he was scoring
a ton of goals in Seattle. They won MLS Cup, they won Conca CAF. Find guys that do it, do it often, and do it at a high level, and you'll be okay. But you can't go out and give and give the fan base that is satiating for some star talent right now. Oh this is going to be a guy who can potentially develop and they already have
two those guys on the rostra. You need to go out and say, oh, this is a dude who was who has scored forty goals in Mexico in the last two or three years, or this is a guy who scored twenty five goals in Brazil the last two years, or a guy who scored fifty goals in the Netherlands
over the last four years. Bring in guys who have track records who can do it and as Trey mentioned, the earlier you do it, you don't have the lull that all of these guys hit when they come in the summer transfer window because they're dusting in real time in the middle of the dog days of summer. As we saw with Diego Gonzalveez last year. It takes a very long time, especially for attacking talent, to adapt to a league that will beat the crap out of its
attacking player. Still, it is a very physical league and that's part of that is part of the acclamation process.
Do you think they need more than one nine?
No, I wouldn't say they need more than one nine. I think depending on what they want to do with Diego Luna. If Diego does want to be sold to Mexico or Europe or South America, then we're having a much different conversation and that will be a very very difficult sell to the fan base because I think you can make an argument that Diego Luna is maybe the
most beloved RSO player hmm. I mean, I'm thinking like he's up there with like like maybe Demir Crylocker and even before that, kind of like the star.
Talent days, Rusty Pierce, Matt Banky.
Yeah, I think Chris is right though. I think you can put Diego in there with Demyr, with Kyle.
With Nick.
Absolutely, yeah, there's no doubt.
And you know him playing with a broken nose, a shatter nose, creating six big chances in the game, winning assist in that US game a couple months ago.
It's part of the legend. It went viral. It's massive.
This is his team right now, and it will be this year, I think, until maybe a bigger name comes in.
I've forgot to tell you, I had one of those nights where it's like sleep not an option tonight. Yeah, not too long ago, and I knew it's one of those things, you know. I'm like, all right, I've got to figure something out. And I pulled up the Apple TV, like quick dock they did on Diego.
I'm assuming you saw it. Yeah, it was really good. It was good.
It's great.
I mean, so he seems like such a sweet kid, but obviously it helps that he's awesome, right, Like, it's one thing to have a player that you love, but it helps that he's really really good.
And look, he just turned twenty one. Yeah, in September, he came to US when he was nineteen. He had a baby when he was nineteen. He lives apart from you know, his kid and his wife. He's trying to like build this career. And he's been talking for about a year now, very openly about when he was alone moving to Salt Lake City and didn't know anybody, taking a job at a coffee shop just to tone his
social skills cool. And then he's talked a lot, and I think the doc you're talking about hones in on this his dedication to his mental health and really trying to juggle the pressure and the expectation. He started talking about why he left his home, which was a very soccer centric home when he's fourteen in the Bay Area to start pursuing some of these academy opportunities, and he's just he truly is an inspiration when you hear him
kind of open up and talk about his challenges. And then we saw it last year in Chicago because he had been benched and Pablo is very much a father figure and a mentor to this young guy. And then he scored that fourth goal in Chicago, ran right over then had a nice embrace with Pablo, and those two have become very very close over last year.
Yeah, you move on from him, and you're not bringing in reinforcements. This fan base might riot at the riot.
Well, it matters that he's an attacking young player. To RSL has done a great job of producing young academy talent that our goalkeepers, defenders, holding midfielders, whatever. There's something about the position that with guys who score goals that have tantalizing plays, they endear themselves to a fan base on a different level and that matters. And you know, if and when Diego Luna does move, I think every RSL fan who understands the game will understand him. But
it will be heartbreaking. But at the same time, it is part of the sport that you didn't grow up with Spence and it will be cool for us in Salt Lake to see him at a different club potentially you know, hitting a different stride, making maybe more inroads with the national team. Because is the reality.
Yeah, and I understand the dynamic. I just am used to We have a good player. Let's hold on him as long as we can, unless Donhiman doesn't want to live in Salt Lake and then he leaves, right Like, I just want to hold on.
To the best players real quick.
I just got an update, a text from lifelong RSL super fan JP John Paul Chungker.
He says, I remain unconvinced.
So before I set you loose, make a plead to our guy, get him back on RSL side.
Twenty years of fandom out.
The win, out the window.
He's our guys out, let's win.
Let's tell JP to text me at eight thirty tonight after the forster a Jogo hat trick.
All right there, love it? Love it?
And then and then Saturday after ri E Peel's coming out party.
Okay, I love it. I like the confidence.
I look, I see these guys every day. I'm biased as well. I definitely see glass half full. But I really do think these guys are talented and they are surrounded by creativity, and sure can they fail, Yeah, but I don't think. I don't think they're going to look.
I want us all the stand on our feet and shout it out right. I want us all to believe, all right, lasting format tonight, you gotta win, right, Yeah, So.
No away goals in the first leg, so that tiebreaker sort of tips in favor of already Ono any scoring tie tonight is bad for us.
We got to win.
If it is tiede zero zero after ninety minutes, you go thirty minutes of extra time. Away goals in extra time have no value, do not count. Still tied after one hundred and twenty minutes, we go to penalty kicks. The good news is that RSL has won three straight elimination games on Utah soil. Tonight, hopefully Pablo can make it a fourth. Only five of eighteen elimination games under Pablo have have happened at home.
Almost all of them.
If you think about the PK shootout losses and all these other things in different competitions have been.
Away RSL dot Com for tickets k you think they get it done tonight.
Who's in the starting eleven tree? Lots of changes, eight changes from eight changes from the first legger from San Jose.
Well, that's good. To follow up a mecca with the armband again most likely good.
A mecca is an absolute stud shout.
Out in eight bench. That's right, all right, guys, great to see Okay, thanks.
For coming to you, Thanks for having us.
Trey Fitzgerald, Chris Comraddi. Brought to you by Prize Picks. It's the best place to get a real money sports action. With over ten million members, billions of dollars in awarded winnings make it a one stop shot for you. Download the Prize Picks up today, use the promo cod ESPN seven hundred and get fifty dollars when you just play five bucks