And just like that, it was over. After going 1-1-1 in the group stage, the Seattle Sounders were bounced from the MLS is Back Tournament in the Round of 16 by LAFC. The 4-1 scoreline may have been a little flattering even as the Sounders were thoroughly outplayed. Disappointing as that loss was, neither Jeremiah nor Aaron were quite ready to freak out about it or about the state of the roster in general. They were happy that no one seems to have gotten sick while they were there, though. This we...
Jul 29, 2020•1 hr•Ep 319•Transcript available on Metacast The Seattle Sounders return from an unplanned four-month break tonight. Unfortunately, it's hardly under the best of circumstances. While there was reason to hope that this might feel a bit more celebratory when the plans were first announced, the reality is that the pandemic that caused the break only seems to be getting worse in the United States. As nice as it would be to focus on the soccer, Jeremiah and Aaron spend the first segment lamenting the lack of leadership that has gotten us to thi...
Jul 10, 2020•1 hr•Ep 318•Transcript available on Metacast There were plenty of times when it seemed like the 2020 season was completely lost, but last week MLS announced that their long-rumored summer tournament would happen. On Thursday, they even released the draw. So, yeah, this is really happening. Aaron and Jeremiah spend most of the first segment discussing the pros and cons of going forward with the tournament. While both still have significant reservations, they also admit that they’ll almost certainly be very interested in watching it. Live so...
Jun 13, 2020•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Spencer Richey came up in the Seattle soccer scene just before the Seattle Sounders launched their academy. The goalkeeper played for Crossfire then moved to the United States residency program in Bradenton before coming back to Seattle to play for the University of Washington. His time there coincided with the Huskies’ hiring of Jamie Clark and their subsequent rise to national prominence. During his five years with UW — he added a year due to a medical red shirt — he helped the Huskies become ...
May 29, 2020•44 min•Ep 316•Transcript available on Metacast Time has lost all meaning so it’s perfectly understandable that you might have missed that this was supposed to be the week that the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers met for the first time this year. You may have even noticed that the two teams’ websites have been doing all sorts of content about it, including an oral history of their first-ever meeting of the all-MLS era. We figured that was a reasonably good excuse to invite our good friend Richard Farley back onto the show. We talked abo...
May 22, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep 315•Transcript available on Metacast The days and weeks are running into one another, but that hasn’t stopped us from recording another one of our patented “podcasts.” It’s now been about six weeks since the Seattle Sounders last played a game, and amazingly we still have things to talk about. Among the topics of discussion this week were a call from ECS not to play any games until it was safe enough for not only players, but also fans to be in attendance. We also discussed the Seattle Times’ story that looked back on the decision-...
Apr 24, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Ep 314•Transcript available on Metacast All of us are handling this “stay home, stay safe” order in different ways. Some are getting house work done. Others are binging TV shows. A lot of us are simply trying to stay sane with a house full of people all the time. Will Bruin, like the rest of the soccer world, is trying to balance staying in game shape with all of this stuff. It’s understandably wearing on him a bit. That’s where we come in! In the latest episode of Bear With Us, we provided a list of six different houses full of six p...
Apr 13, 2020•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Seattle Sounders haven’t played a match since March 7 and we have absolutely no idea when they might start playing again. Thus is the new world we’re living in. Of course, that doesn’t mean you don’t have lots of questions. Jeremiah and Aaron do their best to answer them and hopefully provide you with a bit of a distraction. This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (...
Mar 19, 2020•35 min•Ep 313•Transcript available on Metacast We’ve only played on league game and this season already seems to be taking us on a roller-coaster. The Seattle Sounders were in prime position to come home with a lead in the Concacaf Champions League series with Olimpia, only to be forced to settle for a 2-2 tie. They then fell behind in their home leg, only to find themselves seemingly cruising to advancement only to fall in penalties. The MLS home opener saw them fall behind the Chicago Fire, then storm back to win 2-1 on a 93rd minute goal....
Mar 04, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Ep 312•Transcript available on Metacast For the fifth time, we've hosted something we lovingly dubbed YachtCon. Frankly, this one is going to be tough to top (which won't stop us from trying). Not only did we have an absolutely stellar panel of guests -- Brian Schmetzer, Jess Fishlock, Bethany Balcer, Bill Predmore, Brad Evans, Will Bruin and Garth Lagerwey -- but we finally had a venue that was all ours. Hale's Palladium felt just about perfect and we have some amazing ideas that we think at least have the potential to smooth out any...
Feb 27, 2020•3 hr 31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Back in July, the Seattle Sounders hired their first ever President of Business Operations. At the same time, Peter Tomazawa also became a part owner of the team. We first got to know Tomazawa during a conversation with reporters back in August . But we figured it would be good to check in with him again now that he’s been on the job for a few months. Tomazawa is clearly enjoying his new role. At MLS Cup, he related a story where he told MLS Commissioner Don Garber that he should get used to com...
Jan 29, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep 310•Transcript available on Metacast While the Seattle Sounders have not been particularly active this offseason, Will Bruin has been doing his best to get ready as close to the start of the season as possible. The good news is that he says he should be back in full training in less than a month and could plausibly be ready to start by the end of March. Of course, all work and no play makes a bear go wild. Will found some time to visit family, as well as visit Hawaii while doing his best to keep up on the training regimen passed al...
Jan 11, 2020•59 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast We recorded before today’s SuperDraft, but that didn’t stop us from talking about how we don’t have very high expectations for it anyway. We also answered a ton of your questions. This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0) Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS...
Jan 09, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're now a few weeks into the offseason and we have to admit that it's been pretty slow. The Seattle Sounders have mostly been checking the required boxes by declining options, protecting players from the expansion draft and the like. Aside from the 18 players they have on roster, most of last year's players remain in a sort of purgatory with only backup goalkeeper Bryan Meredith officially leaving to Inter Miami and only backup goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland newly joining the team in a trade. Sti...
Dec 03, 2019•2 hr 35 min•Transcript available on Metacast We won MLS Cup. Again. This time at home. It was an almost magical experience, all the way from the pregame scene at Occidental Square to the mood inside the stadium to the play on the field. Don’t listen to what anyone else says, the Sounders absolutely deserved this. They’ve been the best team in the postseason and showed it again against Toronto FC. Jeremiah and Aaron get into that as well as looking ahead to what this offseason might have in store. (audio file replaced 11-14-19) This week's ...
Nov 12, 2019•2 hr 32 min•Ep 307•Transcript available on Metacast Just about the entire American soccer world is in town for MLS Cup and boy did we take advantage. Among the guests on our triple cast of the Will Bruin Podcast: Bear With Us, Nos Audietis and the Sounder at Heart podcasts were Brad Evans, Taylor Twellman, Jimmy Conrad, Bobby Warshaw, Mike Chabala and Erik Friberg. We hung out at Hellbent Brewing, drank some beers, talked soccer, Impossible burgers, mattresses and Brian Schmetzer’s genius. Enjoy!
Nov 09, 2019•2 hr 47 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast While there were definitely moments of brilliance for the Seattle Sounders, their First Round encounter with FC Dallas was more about simply moving on in the MLS Playoffs. Jeremiah and Aaron discuss how blowing leads is probably not a repeatable path to success, but they do marvel at how well the Sounders seem to have mastered the art of doing just that and still managing to pull out a victory. In order to squeeze in an episode before Wednesday’s Western Conference semifinals while Jeremiah is i...
Oct 22, 2019•26 min•Ep 306•Transcript available on Metacast It took us three episodes to finally get here, but we finally have a name for Will Bruin’s podcast. From henceforth it shall be dubbed “Bear with us.” We liked the double-entendre and thought it was playful enough without being overly punny. Anyway, we talked about the Sounders’ chances in the playoffs, Will’s experience in the broadcast booth and did our best to avoid talking about Jonathan Campbell’s Instagram feed (we failed). We also brought back one of our favorite segments: #AskWillBruin. ...
Oct 18, 2019•58 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast For all the ups and downs this season has endured, the Sounders head into the final week of the regular season knowing that a win will secure the No. 2 seed in the West. The path to this point definitely hasn’t been as enjoyable as any of us would have liked, but I also suspect we’d have accepted this fate if it had been offered to us before the season began. Their latest win was a reasonably impressive 1-0 decision at San Jose in which Jordan Morris scored in the 94th minute. That was fourth ti...
Oct 03, 2019•1 hr 15 min•Ep 305•Transcript available on Metacast At least once a year, we try to sit down with Seattle Sounders majority owner Adrian Hanauer to basically get a state of the franchise. This year’s interview comes at a particularly interesting time, as the Sounders are embroiled in a rough season both on and off the field. Our interview last Thursday was mostly focused on off-the-field issues, but we opened with the idea that the Sounders’ place among the elite’s is being questioned. “I’m sort of a slow and steady guy,” Hanauer said. “I like co...
Sep 23, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep 304•Transcript available on Metacast Sure, the Sounders lost last week, but that was with a roster that was missing 13 players due to international call-up, injury or suspension. Both the left back and defensive midfield positions featured starters who had yet to start at those positions this year, Luis Silva was playing as a No. 10 for the first time since 2017 and the centerback duo had played together just once before. The resulting 2-0 loss was hard to watch, but also a rather pointless exercise in terms of trying to learn much...
Sep 12, 2019•1 hr 20 min•Ep 303•Transcript available on Metacast Believe it or not, we’ve actually made it to Episode 2 of the “Sooner to be named Will Bruin Podcast.” Nope, still don’t have an official name. Yes, we’re still listening to your suggestions. If you have any, please feel free to share and apparently Will has softened his stance on “no puns” (but please send us some that aren’t bear or Will puns). Anyway, we talked about a lot of things this week. The new Sounders owners, MLS expanding to Will’s hometown of St. Louis, the upcoming Timbers game......
Aug 23, 2019•55 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast Normally, you’d think coming out of a week in which the Sounders secured a point at LA we’d be feeling pretty good about things. Instead, I suspect that the lingering emotions over what is now a four-match winless run, coupled with Saturday’s 2-2 tie leave us not feeling so hot. That’s made even more acute by the way the circumstances surrounding that point, as the Sounders played up a man for 85+ minutes and needed an own-goal to even secure that point. This is all leading up to what could turn...
Aug 22, 2019•1 hr 16 min•Ep 302•Transcript available on Metacast We come to you feeling not quite as good as the last time we were gathered. The Sounders are coming off a very disappointing loss which came at the end of a very tumultuous week in which the Sounders felt compelled to apologize to supporters and Roman Torres was given a 10-game ban for testing positive for PEDs. Buy Nos Audietis Merchandise The game was frustrating on many levels, not the least of which was falling behind 2-0 at home to a team that wasn’t much healthier than the Sounders were an...
Aug 08, 2019•1 hr 22 min•Ep 301•Transcript available on Metacast Way back in February, Will Bruin off-handedly mentioned to me that he’d like to do a podcast. I didn’t think much of it. But he was serious, or at least he seemed serious. He even announced it on Twitter . Well, I think he may have underestimated just how hard it is to find time for things like recording a new podcast when you are also becoming a first-time father. Six months later, though, we’re finally here. Somehow, we managed to not settle on a name yet, bu this is the first of what I hope i...
Aug 02, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast All things considered, this seems to be a good time to be doing a live show. After a bit of a rough patch, the Sounders have now won 3 of 4, and find themselves second in the west and second in the Supporters’ Shield standings by points per game. Their latest win was probably their best of the season, beating the defending MLS Cup champs 2-1 at home. The scoreline doesn’t quite do the performance justice. The Sounders had the far superior chances on the whole -- only giving up two shots on goal ...
Jul 17, 2019•56 min•Ep 300•Transcript available on Metacast We finally have something nice to talk about, even if the Sounders made us sweat through 96 minutes before giving it to us. Kelvin Leerdam delivered the winner in the 6th minute of stoppage time, giving the Sounders their first win in six weeks and ending a four-game all-competition losing streak and pulling them within two points of second-place LA Galaxy. Almost as impressive as the, was the way they got it. The Sounders tied a season-high with 24 shots, including 14 from inside the penalty ar...
Jul 02, 2019•1 hr 25 min•Ep 299•Transcript available on Metacast It’s been almost a month since we last recorded, so apologies for that. We haven’t missed talking about anything good, though. The Sounders have not won since our last show, and are now riding a four-game losing streak across all competitions as they prepare for their next game on June 29. We don’t have much good news to discuss. The latest gut punch is news from Miki Turner that Will Bruin suffered a “serious” ACL injury, which means he’s at least out for the forseeable future and probably the ...
Jun 19, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Ep 298•Transcript available on Metacast It’s been three weeks since we last record and, wow, has a lot happened. The Sounders have played four matches, going 1-0-3, made two huge signings and, most recently, suffered one particularly painful loss. By now, you’ve surely heard that Chad Marshall has decided to retire, effective immediately. The decision, best we can tell, was a bit sudden, but also somewhat forced by the knowledge that there was some degredation going on in his surgically repaired knee. Marshall was one of just two play...
May 23, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Ep 297•Transcript available on Metacast This promised to be an important stretch for the Sounders in terms of determing just how good of a team they are. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I know too much more about them than we did at the start of this recent three-game stretch. In a vacuum, claiming two points in three games when two of those games were at home is underwhelming, even if you consider that two of those games were against top of the table LAFC. But when you zoom out and recognize that they were playing short-handed and on sho...
May 02, 2019•1 hr 22 min•Ep 296•Transcript available on Metacast 
