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From causal and seasoned fans to fresh new fans to the game, Casual FC is your Angel City FC podcast previewing all upcoming matches, highlighting what to look for as the casual football fan.
Angela: I just, man, I'm so proud
of the community we've built.
Like.
Our friends showed up.
It was cool.
Mario: It was
Angela: I'm also I want us to
get sponsored by Capri Sun,
Mario: Welcome to Casual FC,
an Angel City Preview Pod.
I'm your host Mario Salazar with my
fully stress relieved, no more Sunday
scaries co host Angela Morales.
Angela: Hello, everyone.
Mario: Angela has gotten some
great news last week, and it just
making her life so much better
that I am so happy for her.
I think everybody that
knows, the situation
that she
was in, yeah, um, it's a
professional thing, so we're
not really gonna, delve into
it, but,
Angela: if you want to
know, you can DM me.
Mario: yeah.
Angela: I'm just not
going to say it out loud.
I just,
Mario: Not in a recorded format.
Angela: Yeah.
A very difficult situation for me
was resolved and I didn't have to do
anything about it, which is even better.
So I got three fantastic
nights of sleep in a row.
I have taken multiple deep breaths.
Eva and I have gotten some pretty
good news last things are on the
come up right now, and it's great.
Mario: Everything's coming up, Angela.
Angela: yeah, a little bit, and
I'm okay with that right now.
It's been, it's been a year,
a couple years, honestly.
But, I but I'm just so thankful for
this little community we've built.
Mario: yes.
yeah,
Angela: say more later and I
can break it up and I won't cry.
Mario: We'll see.
All right.
so this is our Okay, before I start
this Let me preface all of this
with, we've got, we're probably
going to have a little bit more
cursing in this episode than usual.
The explicit tag is on all the
time just to cover ourselves.
This time we might have a little
bit more, just fair warning.
Also, we've got a couple
of soap boxes lined up.
We'll stand on one, give it our all.
Stand on the
Angela: Move over to the other.
Not
even take a step down,
just step to the right.
Mario: so this episode is
going to be a long one.
we appreciate if you
listen to the whole thing.
If you skip all the way to
the preview, that's cool too,
Angela: There's so much to talk about.
Mario: is, there's,
Angela: There's so much.
Mario: We don't have the
time and bandwidth to do it,
like when things come out.
we got to do some recaps here and
there, but All right, this is our
match preview for our home match at
BMO Stadium on Sunday, September 1st,
Angel City versus the Chicago Red Stars.
The match will be at 1 p.
m., but at least this time,
there's shade somewhat.
1 p.
m.
right now, it's still, you're
still gonna be in some sun.
Angela: There's going to be some
sun, it's going to be hot, but
it's not going to be Snapdragon hot.
Mario: yeah.
one
Angela: quick, can we
talk about the pitch?
Mario: That pitch was horrible.
Snapdragon pitch is always horrible.
Angela: don't understand.
I, okay, we'll get to that later,
but
Yeah.
BMO with the good grass.
Mario: The game is going to be
streaming on CBS and Paramount Plus,
probably, most likely, that's what
they tell us because we're about to,
Angela: We'll get into
Mario: yeah.
And also it will be on iHeartRadio
listening to Isaac and Tracy.
We just love them and honestly I would
listen to that over the broadcast.
Sorry, people on the broadcast.
Okay.
Angela: The CBS team is great.
They're like actual soccer people,
women's soccer people, too.
Mario: Okay.
I appreciate that.
although I honestly will say at the times
that I listen at home, I have synced it up
with Isaac and Chasey.
So
Angela: we're biased because we know them
now and they're just the best people.
So it's like, can I give the TV
ratings and also radio ratings?
Like, how do I, how do I do both?
Mario: This is also a special
match because it is Kids Day.
there will be a special giveaway.
It's a shoelace charm.
I tried looking for an image on it
because I thought I saw it online
somewhere, but I can't find it anymore.
But it's, it's a cool little thing.
Kids can put it on their shoelaces,
put it through their shoelaces.
It's on their sho it'll say ACFC on one.
I believe the other one has
the Angel City crest on it.
Awesome giveaway.
I believe that's going
to be a gate giveaway.
So
come early, make sure you get one.
If you don't get one, ask around.
You might have to go to a different
gate, but you'll, just come early.
It's a good reason to.
Also, it is the
Salvadorian Heritage Night.
It's being hosted by a group
called Salvi's Who Lunch.
And if you look at our Instagram stories,
we've been reposting stuff all about it.
we, they have a special ticket.
it's one of those you buy that
ticket and you get the, special t
shirt that they have for the event.
So yeah, go check that out.
Buy a ticket from them if you don't
already have a ticket for the game.
You can support their, mission and
kind of really great, just a really
great organization that's going to be
there.
so
Angela: Who Lunch is fantastic.
They have a fantastic
community they're building.
it's really cool
what they're doing.
Mario: yes.
And Angela's best friends
and family are coming.
Angela: Yeah.
So my best friend and his family
are coming up from San Diego.
My nephew, his oldest, has been
asking me probably since May,
when can we come to a game?
We finally found a day that worked with
school schedules, his soccer schedule.
All kinds of stuff.
So I'm super, super excited that
this is the game they picked.
It's gonna be, it's gonna be a good one.
Mario: Nice.
Nice.
so yeah, we're going to
have all of that going on.
Get there early.
There's probably, I don't know if
there's a fan fest, but if there's
not, there's usually some type of
street fair with like food trucks.
The SGs are going to be
out there starting at 10 a.
m.
just go out there, hang out, meet
some people, find some friends.
It's going to be an awesome time.
So yeah, that's what we're going to be
talking about today, among other things,
but to start off on a high note, before
we have to get to some of the other
stuff, we had our first watch party
at
Angela: Man,
Mario: and that,
Angela: y'all are so cool.
Mario: I kid you not, we worried up
until Friday, we were texting, Angela
Angela: Uh, I would honestly say until 12.
07 on Saturday at
Mario: Cause we
were there.
Angela: are like, what if nobody shows up?
just after multiple confirmations
from friends, family, Folks who
listen still just what if they don't
come?
Just so much stress.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: Y'all showed out.
Mario: we put out the Instagram,
do you plan on being there?
And then five people like
responded, which is great.
It's the people that we like.
Always listen to, we always hear from and
Angela: We're talking to constantly.
Yeah.
Mario: but then, it's just I know
this thing is getting traction.
I keep getting Instagram pings of
500 people have seen your thing.
A
thousand people have seen, I'm like,
this is awesome because, WatchMe has
been a great partner with all of this
and they were really pushing out that
it was going to be an AFCFC watch party.
But the entire time I was dead scared that
we were gonna be like, we were telling
Jacksepticeye, watch me, hey we're gonna
have this thing, there's a bunch of
people coming, and then nobody is there.
Or it might have been full but
nobody was there for us, you know?
Angela: working out perfectly.
We had gotten confirmed RSVPs from
like 20, 25 people, not including
ourselves, which, it doesn't sound
like a lot, but it's a lot when you
haven't been doing this for forever
and you have a very limited audience.
it's not like we're just talking about
WOSO as a whole or something like that.
Mario: yeah.
We're like
super niche, super micro.
Angela: and I just, man, I'm so
proud of the community we've built.
Like.
Our friends showed up.
It was cool.
Mario: It was
Angela: I'm also I want us to
get sponsored by Capri Sun,
Mario: Just drinking your Capri Sun.
it was an awesome, event.
We had, friends come through.
We met new people.
I handed out a ton of stickers.
Unfortunately, all the cool stickers
that, we did make, which is in my book
right here, didn't arrive on time.
they will
Angela: They literally arrived
today, so find us this weekend.
Mario: So we got that cool stuff.
And then for those
listening, there's a pride sticker.
There's our normal sticker.
There's a footy therapy sticker.
And yes, I do have a sticker book.
I'm very indecisive of where stickers go.
Angela: You and your no name
jerseys and your sticker books.
Mario: And then we have the Thompson
Time sticker, the Support Women's
Podcast sticker, Iron Casual, Y'all
Don't Piss Off the Moms sticker,
and finally, the VELOROUX sticker.
So
all of that.
Angela: shirt.
Mario: Yeah.
So all of that we were supposed
to have at the watch party didn't
show up, but I still had it all
our logo ones and it was awesome.
We got to meet so many people
for everybody that showed out.
and anybody that was there that
we didn't get to talk to, there
was a whole mess of people inside
watch me that we didn't, I was a
little too nervous to walk in there and
start like hawking, podcast stickers.
But anybody that showed up.
Whether it was from our Instagram, from
theirs, saw that they were gonna be doing
it, saw that they're an official, official
bar partner now for ACFC, everyone, you
guys just packed that place out, and it
was amazing, and to be able to talk to Jax
about, like, how it Great it was, like,
she felt bad that there was a big group
that came in that had to be turned away
because there was absolutely no room,
Angela: that showed up probably 30 minutes
before the game ended and they
were like, why is there no space?
And people were like,
there's a soccer game.
Like, everybody is dressed.
In similar clothes upstairs.
There's a group watch like a
an organized group like a party
watching the game downstairs.
There's a birthday party.
That's an Angel City
themed birthday party.
We're out on the patio.
Like it was just Angel
City from top to bottom.
It was so cool.
We had folks from other parties coming
over and introducing themselves going,
Oh my God, I listen to your podcast.
I didn't know you guys were doing this.
Or like, Oh my gosh, I was
already going to be here.
So I'm here with my friends.
this is so amazing.
And then people who are
like, what are you doing?
And we're like, we have a podcast.
And just,
it was so cool.
And I didn't
cry, which, oh yeah, we played bingo.
which, shocker.
Mario: I think we were too,
Angela: Stressed.
Mario: and, adrenaline filled
Angela: Oh,
Mario: because, believe me, guys,
when, oh, geez, we were beat.
The
Angela: Wrecked.
Mario: each other, does it feel
like you just ran, a marathon?
you're just tired?
Angela: but I did something.
but I, I just, I can't say
thank you enough, honestly.
Mario: Yeah, honestly, from the bottom
of our hearts, it was, amazing, if two
people showed up, if fifty people showed
up, it's all the same, just people
liking what we do.
okay, that is where we're gonna be on
our high, and, we'll get back up here,
Angela: Yeah.
We'll get back
Mario: but we've got a couple
things that we need to talk about.
First
Cap, dear Cap, has been
placed on the SEI list.
Angela: is a good thing given the type
of injury that she's alluded to having.
she mentioned, or the New Zealand
national team mentioned that there
was a nerve issue going on in her leg.
If you have dealt with any
level of nerve issues, it sucks.
when I initially hurt my hip, my,
everything was all out of whack
and wonky, and I was having nerve
issues in my legs, and it's awful.
And I didn't run as a job.
I threw heavy things far and away, but
nerves control how your body works, what
your body does, how things communicate.
there's so many intricacies that
come with your nervous system.
So if something is off or something
is aggravated, there's literally
nothing you can do but stop.
You can try and train through it.
You can try and alleviate
it at some point.
You legitimately just have to stop.
Mario: yeah.
Angela: And it sucks.
And this is that moment for Cap.
And as, heartbreaking as it is for
her and for all of us, this literally
is the best option right now.
It'll give her time for her body to
calm down, for her body to, de escalate
the situation, and then hopefully
get her back on the road to recovery
where she can build up and build up
like need for a return date the way
you do when like the way you are when
you're like you have a knock and you're
just like I'll be back in two weeks
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: so yeah it's a bummer but
she'll be back I have faith in that
Mario: Yeah.
like you said, nerve issues
can be, they can, they, they
can be far and wide reaching.
I have the tiniest, tiny type of,
nerve issue where, I, in my right
hand, I got, stepped on when I was,
Playing soccer as a kid, right?
my thumb, I don't have, as far as range
of motion that I have in my other hand,
and every now and then when, working
with my hands a lot, this one, my right
hand will start getting, so I know
in a very miniscule level, like, how
that can easily just inflame or be an
issue and, and the thing is that, it's not
like I work with my hands for a living.
It's like I'm not, if I was,
because like when I end up doing
manual labor, like that's when like
it gets inflamed really quickly.
then I'm like, if this was
my job, this would suck.
and Cap having this when it's her job,
when it's what she does, it sucks.
So hopefully it's something that's
recoverable, something that's, can be
managed with, the proper amounts of
rest and the proper, physical therapy,
without this constant, part of things
that probably didn't let it fully
heal or get back to where it needs
to be was, I'm sure Cap had a drive
Angela: Oh,
Mario: get back on the field, right?
So she.
She might not have been, like,
she wasn't 100 percent to be,
in the 18 or to be starting, but
she was working towards that.
And that kind of also meant, she might
have not been giving that enough rest, And
sad that she's on the SEI silver lining is
that this will give her a proper amount of
time to Work on it and, work through it.
yeah,
all wishing, yes, best wishes
to our captain, Ali Riley.
yeah.
So onto the next thing.
Angela: at this turning point for
a lot of us who came in as fans in
2015, 2019, after the World Cups,
and those teams and following those
players, and it sucks, let me tell you.
Because all of the people That got me
into watching women's soccer or retiring.
And that's not, that's no shade
on younger players, like at all.
But like, uh, like,
it's that kind of thing where
you're like, dang, I'm going to
miss watching that person play.
Like, oh, I'm not going
to see that anymore.
this sucks.
But also, they push the game so far
forward, like light years forward
in such a short amount of time.
Which, another update to that coming a
little bit later, but for Gotham, they've
had two announcements of retirement.
Sinead Farrelly, who, there's
a lot of Portland Thorns talk
happening, was involved with
teams that were really shitty.
Coaches who are really shitty, left
the league, said I'm never coming
back, this is unsafe, this is
terrible, really bad things happened.
Um,
played, like, is an Irish national
team player, just, she's fantastic.
She announced her retirement at the end of
the season, which, I'm so glad she gets to
walk away from this on her terms now, and
not feeling like she can't, play because
it's an unsafe environment or whatever.
this is on her terms.
She was able to come back to the
game and the game is better for it.
the NWSL is better for
it, all kinds of stuff.
she put her entire career on the
line, basically, to save the league.
And then Kelly O'Hara, who, if you've
watched 2015 or watched 2019, there's a
quote from someone who shall not be named.
Because I don't like this person, but is
just, if you need a bitch, call Kelly.
Kelly is that girl.
Kelly will come and body
somebody on the pitch.
She's going to fight for the ball.
She's going to give you the audacity
and the tenacity you need to win when
you're that, like everybody, if you
need fresh legs, call Kelly, like
that kind of super sub where you need
the momentum to shift, get your girl.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: she's ready to fight.
She's ready to throw
Mario: Definitely a game
Angela: so physical, but she's so good.
And she's hysterical.
There's, oh shoot, I don't remember,
I don't remember when it was from,
but there's like a historic gif of
her just swinging a miss at a ball.
falling over and on the pitch just like
laughing like what, what just happened?
It's so good.
I'll have to find it and send
it to you so we can post it.
clip it in the video.
It's great.
It's great.
But more and more of the American
players who pushed for equal pay for the
national team are starting to retire.
And it's just a bummer.
because they're roughly around my age.
And I can't retire, so I'm a little mad.
Um, secondly, and I, thank
goodness I didn't see this last
week before we recorded because I
would have soapboxed extra hard.
But, I forgot that Landon Donovan also was
against equal pay for the women's team.
I'm extra glad we won this weekend.
he straight up got booed at WatchMe.
we were all, nobody was,
nobody, everyone's what is this?
Go away.
Nobody wants you here.
yeah, but I'm so Happy to be part of a
generation of fans who got to experience,
I'm going to cry, players who shifted
the game forward and pushed it so hard.
Oh crap, we're on video and now
people are going to see me cry.
Oh no.
Oh no.
Oh no.
Okay, cool guys.
This is what I look like when I cry.
but yeah, it's a bummer to see
people retire because you just
want them to play forever.
But that's impossible.
It hurts.
Mario: but yeah, and we just had Rapinoe,
Angela: Yeah, Pino's
Jersey just got retired.
Mario: we took our, Rapinoe picture,
Angela: I forgot to post
Mario: posted it up.
Angela: I was so tired.
Mario: so yes, seeing.
So I'm part of this newer, NWSL
group of like, watching this crop of
players is my in, my starting point.
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: but I completely understand
the and It's the players that you're
growing up with that it's the same
thing with like actors or like
it's anyone you're seeing on TV.
They might be your age, they might
be younger, they might be older,
doesn't matter, but you feel
like you're growing up with them.
And then, and then like
they're done, right?
Like their body's done or they're just
done with the league or they're done
with the team or whatever it may be.
Reasons why
I don't buy jerseys with names on them.
But then you start seeing
like the new crop of
people.
And like we said, not a knock
on any of the new players.
Angela: Oh, not at fantastic.
Mario: we've got our own, like Alyssa
Thompson, we've got, Gisele, we've, CRO,
uh, is freaking amazing for the league.
like all of these young players that are
coming in are doing such a great job, but.
Angela: Speaking of Kroy, she just
broke Tobin's record for, single season
assists with, how, eight more, eight
more games, nine more games to go?
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: That's another one that I
have questions about, and I want to
know what Tobin Heath is gonna do.
Because Tobin Heath has not fully
actually come out and said that she has
retired, and I don't think she's planning.
I think there is a comeback.
Anyway, sorry, go ahead.
Mario: but yeah, I think it's great
to see, it's great to be able to see
these players retire on their own terms
and retire in ways that they feel like
they are, or hopefully that they feel
that they've accomplished something and
that they're leaving on that high note.
they're not crashing out and burning
or, Leaving or retiring because
of, shitty working conditions
and whatnot.
yeah.
Angela: like to see so many of
these women retire and into like
broadcasting or coaching or like they
have this second life of a career.
Mario: but the fact that there is this
second
Angela: Yeah,
Mario: there is the broadcasting career
that you can have now because of
how widespread everything is now.
And
that's amazing.
so
Angela: it's great
Mario: great on them.
Good luck for them, for, their future.
Next part of their journey,
the next part of their career.
and then two not so great things.
Paul
Angela: I kind of mentioned it,
yeah, so Sinead experienced some of
this, Paul Riley is like notorious
in the league for being a not
fantastic person to work under.
Um, the Yates report that came
out, he was included in that.
Like it's that kind of stuff where you're
he has like a vendetta against Alex Morgan
and has for years, partially because
of the fact that Alex Morgan
very, she moves quietly.
And I don't know if you know this, like
Alex Morgan does the background work.
She knows she has power.
She knows she street cred.
She like, she's coming in like, stature.
So she uses that privilege like, I'm Alex
Morgan who this and this and this and this
and this and this and this and says, and
you're not going to treat us that way.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: And this is unacceptable.
And why doesn't this team
have a training facility?
Like, it's that kind of stuff where it's
background work that's quietly known
but not talked Like, it, it, there's
no real attention drawn to it because
no, we're doing this for the team.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: She's not doing it for the credit.
She's doing it to, like, make it better.
Um, and FIFA posted on Twitter
like, throwback post of Alex Morgan
scoring bazillion know, like,
one of those kind of highlights.
This
my notes literally say, keep Alex
Morgan's name out your mouth.
Because at this point, now you're
just this like old dude who's going
out of your way, like a washed up
old dude going out of your way to
talk shit because you're still mad
this person helped get your
grimy ass banned from the league.
Mario: mean,
Angela: I Like, it's one of those
things if you're gonna do shitty things,
you're gonna get caught eventually.
It all catches up to you.
Mario: do shitty things win shitty prizes.
Angela: Yeah, F around
and find out, my guy.
that's what you very really
if you're going to be awful,
expect it to come back to you.
At some point.
At some that's all I'm gonna say
about that, because I don't need
to give him more of your time
than he already gets, but Yeah.
The second thing is an update.
I mean, current fans know this happened.
A lot of Oso fans know this has happened
over the weekend, but Co owner, co
investor, I don't know their actual roles
for their team, but Brittany Mahomes,
Patrick Mahomes wife, player, ex soccer
player Brittany liked a post outlining,
Trump's policies and, like, all that.
One of the, like, Project 2025 or
whatever, and people whoa, whoa.
Mario: Oh Okay, see I'm but
I'm this is I'm learning this
Angela: Yes.
Yeah, like, he saw my notes
and was like, I will find out
what happens when we record.
So it's one of those where
internet sleuths found,
Mario: but
okay,
Angela: right.
And it's one of those things if you
like something, do you double tap?
People can see what you've double tapped.
see who's liked a post.
And she liked that.
And people were like, what the hell?
You own a women's soccer team.
Like you played soccer,
you're a female athlete.
My friend, what is this?
And she then posted a story on her
Instagram that was like, haters gonna
if you're, if you're that upset,
like maybe find something else to do.
Your brain's fully developed.
like, whoa, hold on.
See, one of those things said that you
want to keep men out of women's sports.
And if that's what you're trying to
say, and you're trying to go down
the transphobic road, tell your
husband to shell, sell his shares
to actually keep men out of sports.
Cuz.
I will soapbox, I will stand on this.
Trans women are women.
Trans men are men.
Get over it.
Like, we've, we've come
so far in this fight.
I'm not gonna cry about this again on
this podcast because I'm just gonna get
mad that I'm crying about it again, nah.
Kansas City fans hold her accountable.
I hope those supporter groups hold her
accountable because this is the community
around this team that's now going to
be impacted because of her doing this.
Mario: yeah,
Angela: And whether or not she thinks
it's important or not, like, oh,
like, girl, you're a rich white girl.
We know.
It's implied.
Like, you might be married to a black
man who plays in the NFL, but guess what?
That's also implied.
It's implied that you don't go past that
circle and you're owner of a team who
supports a community that now you're
vocally not which part of this are you on?
And there's a big hullabaloo like, I
can't believe she would like this post.
She's best friends with Taylor Swift.
Doesn't matter, girl.
They're all billionaires.
Sorry, I'm about to get my, I'm about
to get on my ether rich soapbox.
Mario: I
mean is
Angela: Either way, it's
a stupid ass argument.
Yeah, like,
Mario: best friends, with
Taylor Swift, she's just
I ain't got time for you, I'm
doing this shit over here.
no,
Angela: oh, I'm touring.
Mario: exactly.
That's, that's some bullshit.
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: again, back to the,
Angela: And I'm gonna
Mario: of opinions
Angela: it.
Don't.
Mario: a thing.
Angela: It's to human rights.
It's not a thing.
Mario: alright, so fuck that.
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: news.
The NWSL,
Angela: P.
Mario: sorry for the hard pivot, but
Angela: I know It tough topic right now.
Mario: it is,
Angela: close to an election.
We're too close to like life
changing things happening to us.
Mario: and we don't want to, we don't
want to give, try to the time this
needs and the conversation this needs
super brief little portion of the
podcast where we're trying to run
down a bunch of different things
that just have that have happened.
It wouldn't be fair to the situation and
it wouldn't be fair to, everybody that is
Angela: And the
Mario: going through that
in the Kansas City.
so with that,
if we do come back to this, which it's
an important topic, but also, One that,
I know Angela is tired of having to go
back to the same well over and over.
and as we did with the K.
A.
situation,
with the national team, we
gave that a fair amount of
breathing space to talk about.
Angela: yeah.
Mario: And when the time
comes, we will give this
or not her cause fuck her, but we'll
Angela: but the situation
Mario: situation
Angela: Yeah, but my genuinely my
heart goes out to Kansas City fans
and players and staff and anybody
else who was deeply alarmed by this.
Because now some place that
they thought was safe may not
be as safe as they thought.
especially in a state that is
not as conducive to keeping
marginalized communities safe
and protected and all that.
So don't be a bigot and
uh, get your shit together.
Mario: but
Angela: Anyway, the Players
Association did some really cool
shit that has literally never been
done before and people didn't think
would happen and basically took
an already like astronomically
progressive CBA and pushed it.
Like when I say that these
players are players who push.
Leagues and sport forward.
What these women just did will resonate
through American sports and worldwide
sports for the rest of forever, for the
rest of organized sports across the board.
Men's men's sports, women's
sports, soccer, basketball,
baseball, football, like this big.
Mario: so they got this
new CBA ratified two years
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: their current
one was set to expire.
So they got this shit done quick.
not, I mean it took a long time,
but still, they got it done without
having to go into some crazy,
Angela: Arbitration.
Mario: out or arbitration, whatever.
Angela: on the league for opening
that door and keeping it open
and allowing this conversation to
happen when it needed to happen.
Dun
Mario: that the NWSLPA also put
out, if you want to go read the
full CBA and what's going into
it, check out the NWSLPlayers.
com website.
They've got their own fact sheet that
kind of dives deep into other things.
We'll give you the quick highlights
and if you guys really want us to do a
deep dive on it, we'll totally do it.
Just let us know.
send us a DM or let us know.
And here we go.
quick few top things.
The elimination of the draft.
No more stupid
ass draft.
I personally think the draft
has always been stupid in the
NFL, in baseball, in basketball.
But American sports, the
draft has been a stupid thing.
not only was it just stupid because
it's this big, giant televised
thing to be like, Oh, we picked that
college age kid to come play with us.
but once I more recently actually
dug into what the draft means and
who gets their rights and everything
that entails, It's bullshit.
It's
Angela: Yeah, It's
Mario: and just to recap
real quick, you're stuck.
Yeah.
So if you get selected by a team, the team
has your rights for up to three years.
So you cannot play in with any
other team for three years.
If they don't give you an offer, they
still technically hold your rights.
So most recently we had this
thing with Felicia Knox.
She was actually our top
pick in, in the draft.
She was not actually selected to
keep moving forward out of the draft.
We got Madison Curry, which
has been a freaking amazing
pick yet.
The thing with Felicia though, is that.
She couldn't leave to say Oh, okay,
I'm gonna go try out with San Diego,
or I'm gonna go try out with Gotham.
that can't happen because
Angel City has her rights.
So she's screwed, essentially, right?
and Which, good for her, she found
a team with Fort Lauderdale in the,
in the USL Super League, the women's
league that just started, and she's
playing with their team there.
Completely different league.
You can go wherever you want.
that's what leads a lot of players
to head to Europe because of
this stupid antiquated system.
it's one of the things that I wish
the MLS would get rid of also.
Like they also have this stupid
thing called discovery rights, right?
And,
That's a big mess.
They also have I forgot what the term
is, but it's something like, basically
like the team has like this whole
lower West side of California, the LA
Galaxy and like LAFC.
Yeah.
They get regional dibs on players.
And then the team in Minnesota
has regional dibs for
people in the like midway.
And it's just
wild because if they wanted
to go sign with someone else,
they have to get permission
from that team and that's complete BS.
no, so
Angela: you should have the agency
to like, play where you want to play
and who wants you to play with them.
Mario: exactly.
So I was supposed to only do one
bullet point on this, but I went off.
so elimination of the draft means
anyone can sign anywhere they want.
No more stupid team, right?
Shenanigans, with the whole draft thing.
Second
Angela: feels super crazy
that I was at the last NWSL
Mario: Now, everybody that was at
that
Angela: Everybody's just like, what?
Mario: that's, that was the last
draft
Angela: Where were you when this happened?
Mario: the second thing that came up,
which is huge, free agency for all.
No more, it goes along with
the whole elimination draft.
Nobody has this oh, you're
in your rookie year.
the team has your rights for five years
before you're a free
Angela: restricted, unrestricted,
like, what does this mean?
Mario: all of that BS.
So, um, no more rights issues.
Um, players can sign with whoever they
feel like, at the end of their contract.
Now, of course, this doesn't mean that
they can sign with them whenever they
want in the middle of their contract.
They're still going to
have to get, permission.
They're still to get traded or anything
like that, because while the team has
your contract, they do have your rights.
But.
That goes into the next point.
Guaranteed contracts.
There's no general, in, the gist
of it is they cannot be dropped or
dismissed for any reason, At all.
So they're guaranteed contract means
you sign them for a two year deal.
They're going to get paid for
that two year deal, right?
there's no Hey, we don't
have any cap space anymore.
We're going to let you go.
that's not a thing anymore.
another huge thing, no trades
without the player's consent.
So going back to the free agency thing,
you're a free agent.
You can sign with whoever you want, right?
Like you can make a deal
with Gotham and with.
San Diego and let them fight over you,
and then you get to decide where you go.
But now once they have your
contract, they're allowed to
trade you if they wanted to.
Yet, on the previous one was,
hey, sorry, peace out, tomorrow
you're heading off to wherever.
it's the page of it all, right?
Hope,
Angela: it's the page of
it all, um, oh, who was it?
There was a player who negotiated
free agency, moved, and then
two days later got traded again.
that's unnecessary.
That's just shady.
Why are you negotiating with
a player knowing that you're
just going to trade them?
Develop a three way trade.
Like, that's
Mario: that's some BS.
players, it's pretty straightforward.
Players have to consent to the trade.
That basically happens in a
lot of European countries too.
It's like, when a player is being traded,
they can ask to be traded, then the
team starts looking around or whatever.
it's advantageous for the team to
trade them before their contract
is up because then that means
they have their rights, they get a
transfer fee, all of that good stuff.
But as soon as their contract is up,
they are free to sign with whoever else.
So when you hear the term, in Europe
or wherever, maybe so and so joined
this team on a free, It basically means
there was no transfer fee or anything
because nobody had their contract.
Nobody had their rights.
Okay, workload management.
Angela: Woo.
Mario: There are more and more
games happening, especially when
they make up stupid tournaments
that we absolutely did not care
for and did not, were not invested
in.
Angela: We had big feelings
about not liking it.
Mario: But there's more and more games
and there's more being demanded from
these players and as more teams enter
the league there's gonna be more games,
so Very straightforward of like you gotta
allow for the proper amount of rest and
take account how far people travel, right?
In the big thing again, I'm gonna
keep going back to this European
comparison, but in like in
Angela: Europe's also a lot smaller.
Mario: Yeah,
yeah,
Angela: Substantially smaller.
Mario: in England, the furthest I
think the team, a team has to travel
to go to another team is like a two
hour bus ride, we, in order to play
Gotham, it's a five hour flight
across multiple time
Angela: It's a three day
Mario: yeah, for them, it's a two hour
bus ride in the same time zone, so
workload management, taking it into
account, flights and travel, taking
into account, Rests between games,
things like that's going to be huge.
and then the last, one of the
last big ones is revenue sharing.
they're going to have more revenue
sharing on top of the base salary caps
that are going to be happening, that are
going to be increasing year over year.
There's also going to be a minimum spend.
So there's, even though you have
the cap space, you're You can't
be like, oh, but we're paying
all our players like dirt cheap.
There's going to be like you're going
to have to be between the minimum and
maximum of the cap in order to be, viable.
And then there's also revenue
sharing from, sponsorship deals
and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah, all of that stuff.
honestly, more money,
more problems, maybe.
But, for some teams, yeah.
And the great thing about all
of this too is that the NWSL
PA, the Players Association, has
secured audit rights to make sure
that players are getting paid
and teams are behaving like
they're supposed to behave.
So, the great thing about all
of this is the base salary cap,
the salary cap for each team.
Starting next year, it's moving
up, this year it moved up to 2.
5 mil, next year it's going to 3.
3 million, which, someone in our Discord
actually, pointed out to us, if you
break it down to a 26 person roster,
that's 127, 000 minimum per player,
Angela: that's doubling
some salaries, honestly.
Mario: yeah.
Exactly, yeah.
And that's if you split it evenly, right?
you get, you're, of course,
you're gonna get on a team
where, you've got Christen Press.
Christen Press, she's gonna get paid a lot
more than, Maddie Curry is getting paid.
But
Rising Rising Tide,
Floats, Brings All Ships, Floats, Floats
Your Boat, whatever the phrase is.
And then, it's going to increase
year over year, this CBA goes
up until 2030, in 2030 it's a 5.
1 million cap, which is just under 197K.
For each player on a 26
player roster, that's great.
That's insane all for them.
and
Angela: don't be surprised if
they renegotiate this
in a couple years again.
Like, gotta, we gotta get
it Like, this is an if.
Mario: just like teams renegotiate
Angela: Mhmm
Mario: they hit free agency so that they
can trade them and actually get money, the
players association gotta be doing this.
They know that they're
going to be doing this.
So if it gets a fixed,
but either way, this is a.
contract that's going to go
till 2030, which is amazing.
and with all of that, like I said,
if you want us to do a deeper dive
and not speed run through the whole
thing, let us know and we will.
I'll spend the time
reading the whole document.
but the big thing that got announced
today was the free agency list.
And from that free agency list,
it basically means everybody who
has a contract ending this year.
is an automatic free agent.
we have eight players
on
that
Angela: As of right now.
Mario: As of right now.
Yes, we have Madison Curry,
Meggie Maggie Dougherty Howard?
Daughtry Howard?
I,
Angela: if I think about
it, I can't say it.
Mario: All I think is,
Angela: MDH.
Mario: okay, MDH.
I'm thinking King of the Hill, Mr.
Dougherty.
So I'm like, okay, MDH, Claire
Emslie, June Endo, Katie Johnson,
Sydney Leroux, Merritt Mathias,
and Christen Press all have free
agencies starting on September 1st.
Now.
Angela: I looked at the NWSL free agency
list and I was like, who is Kaitlyn Like,
we don't have a Kaitlyn on this team.
I was like, Oh,
Mario: Oh, yeah.
So they are allowed to start.
Basically soliciting offers or anything
like that from other teams or from whoever
they want to starting September 1st.
That's when, basically that's
like the grace period to
the end of their contract in
December that they're allowed.
Angel City could give them an offer and
sign them and secure them before that.
So we might be getting news.
Christen Press is on that list.
she's gonna, she's
definitely gonna be extended.
Endo was on a SEI, but
she was huge for the team.
be extended.
Madison Curry, if they let her go,
Angela: Honestly, I, there's
an argument to re sign every
single one of these players.
Mario: exactly.
Yes.
so that's just the deal.
September 1st, all of them are allowed to
start looking elsewhere if they wanted to.
the team can offer them
something before September 1st.
so it is what it is.
It's probably going to cost them
more if they wait till after,
so Angel City get on it.
and then, so that's the
official list from the NWSL.
players with options, those options can be
Activated, exercise, there we go, that's
the word, starting on the first also.
So the list might actually grow,
starting the first, but from my
list, so this is the unofficial Mario
list of what I was keeping track of
player contracts and all of that.
The ones that I was like, I believe
their contracts were ending,
but, again, unofficial list,
I could be wrong, definitely.
DeeDee?
Both, I thought, were contracts
that were ending that don't have
options, or at least they weren't
announced that they have options.
And then Hannah, Stembaugh
has an option for 2025.
So those are the three additional
ones that I don't know what's going
to happen if they get added or not.
yeah.
Alright, that was a lot to
go over and we're barely
Angela: just getting to
the
yeah, we're just getting to
the Chaos Award, there was,
there's been a lot to talk about.
Mario: Okay, alright, thank
you for everyone that's been
hanging
Angela: if you've, if you've
stayed this long already,
Mario: if you listen to this
whole episode, DM us, I will
mail you a stack of those
stickers that we got.
Angela: All right, so Chaos Award
absolutely goes to the CBS Broadcasting
Network for essentially screwing over
all Angel City fans in Los Angeles,
outside Los Angeles, many different
places from what I saw on Twitter.
At the nth hour.
CBS announced, like this is like legit
Friday night is when I saw it, or
maybe like Friday afternoon, like very
close to the game actually starting.
It was quietly announced that CBS
was moving the game from a national
broadcast to KCAL, which if you're from
LA, it's KCAL 9, like it's channel nine.
It's a local, it's a local broadcast.
It's not mean, it was picked up by other
local networks in the CBS family, bruh,
for some, for some preseason football?
A game that doesn't count versus
a game that is for playoff Like,
oh, because it's Well, guess what?
So is and this is
actually, we use our feet.
Um, but yeah, everybody was mad
and people were like, oh yeah.
If Ali frickin Riley cannot
watch the game because of some
bullshit, that's some bullshit.
Like, why was it so difficult?
And granted, there's also a little
bit like, Angel City for not
Like, it got switched over here.
This is how you can stream it.
much you can do.
Mario: I'm sure it got it was
so last minute, the change.
they did post up, on
Angela: you watch have TV?
Or cable or whatever.
Mario: cause the, that's the thing
is that if you have, if your only
local channel access is through
your cable provider, right?
Because you have cable,
um,
you're assed out because you, your
cable provider doesn't give you
all of the over the air channels.
They'll give you the over the
air feed of a national broadcast,
but you won't have the
literal over the air channel.
So you won't have like
channel nine, channel 13.
Angela: Right.
UPN.
Sorry.
A little channel 13 throwback.
But yeah, you don't get access to
Mario: you don't get those.
So then the game's not on CBS anymore.
How the hell are you supposed to watch it?
You're going to run to your local
radio shack that doesn't exist anymore.
I'm so sad.
The big circuit city in, in,
In Burbank that I used to go
to is now in Ashley Furniture.
But when you look at it it
still looks like a circuit city.
Angela: Like the Circuit City buildings,
like, yeah, but it was a plug.
I didn't know this literally
until like five or six years
ago, like, you know how it was
like the little thing that came out?
Mario: yeah.
Angela: Like it's a
plug?
Yeah.
It's a
circuit.
Like, Yeah, I was like, Oh my
God, that's beautiful marketing.
Mario: That nobody knew.
Okay.
Angela: Yeah, exactly.
But the game was had.
We found it.
Like, literally, Jax came up to me
before the game and was like, Angela,
can't find, like, it's streaming.
Like, I don't know what's going on.
I was like, it's on KCAL 9.
She was like, what?
Found it, thankfully.
Like, it switched over all
the TVs before kickoff.
Mario: I didn't know she came
up to
you.
I
Angela: yeah, the game
before was running long.
It was like a whole thing.
Nobody knew what to do.
It was just crisis.
But the game was had.
The game was had.
So quick roundabout across the league.
This is restart weekend.
A lot of the Olympians sat games
you know, rested as they deserved.
But scores across the league,
Orlando still unbeaten.
Mario: Insane.
Angela: Uh, beat Houston 1 0.
Utah
Mario: Insane.
Angela: 2 1.
Gotham beat Portland 2 0.
Racing beat Chicago 3 1.
The Spirit beat Kansas City 4 1.
That's what happens when you bring
bad karma on your team, but whatever.
Seattle 1 1 0.
This is, okay, hold on.
I have to talk about this.
This So, Pino took a picture with
the girl who scored, whose name I
can't remember, like 10 years ago?
Mario: Yeah, when she was a little girl.
Angela: yeah, it's
like the, it's like the Barcenas, um,
Alex Morgan picture, another together.
Like, this is the same kind of thing.
So Pino takes this picture
with this and is like, yay!
After a game, this girl goes on a run.
Her last name starts with an E
and I can't think of what it is.
But she goes on a run, shoots,
it gets tipped by the keeper.
I think it's Aubrey
Kingsbury for North Carolina.
I don't know, but gets tipped, goes and
like squeaks in to then, and this is like,
or this is after Pino's jersey retirement,
like runs over to the corner, pulls
the Pino, and like the crowd goes wild.
It was at the nth hours in
stoppage time to win the game.
It, it was perfect.
Perfect storybook ending on
a perfect night in Seattle.
That's all.
Emery Adams?
At Adames?
Yes.
Mario: Yeah, but it's
Angela: like, she has a weird, like, a
weird handle that has a lot of E's in it.
Mario: but it was scored.
it was scored as an own goal
on Casey Murphy,
but
either way.
Angela: Oh, Murphy, that's who it
Mario: I saw the picture.
it was great.
I'll see
if I can
get it
Angela: perfect, perfect weekend.
tell us, tell us about the
Angel City game, Mario.
Mario: Angel City.
So we went down to Snappy where it
was hot as, and, I hope everybody
remembered to put on the sunscreen.
I hope everybody remembered to hydrate.
I didn't hear any horror
stories as people came back,
but
Angela: I know a certain listener
whose name rhymes with schmritchie
definitely had sunscreen because I got a
text message about it
Mario: well,
Angela: were looking like
Landon's hairline but there was
some shit talking happening in a
group text and it was fantastic.
Mario: went down there and
we took care of business.
The result was 2 1, ACFC winning.
we had the yips are gone, people.
We we had a brace.
Angela: Aids ripped off.
Mario: Beautiful.
brace by Alyssa Thompson, first one in
the 20th minute, second one in the 29th
minute, that one on the 20th minute,
that
run and that like that juke,
that a little bit to
the left, a little bit
to the
right.
Angela: Just kidding,
Mario: so
Angela: it was, it was peak.
I'm a rookie.
You can't stop me.
You can't tell me nothing,
Alyssa Thompson, before all the
Mario: I still have the cartilage in
my knees.
Angela: Like, I have
the audacity, as Eva it.
She's like, oh no, she found it.
She
found the
Mario: found it.
So hopefully this solidifies
that the yips are gone.
And we're gonna see more of this.
We're gonna see Alyssa.
And like we mentioned last episode,
the San Diego match, where M.
A.
scored, was the kickoff
to going und going undetweeted.
at this point, we're unofficially
two games, on a two game
undetweeted streak, right?
so let's keep this going.
we held them 2 0 for the
entirety of the match.
there were 6 minutes of stoppage
time, and then, Dahlkemper ended up
scoring
Angela: Abby D.
Mario: in, the 90 plus 7.
did that ref, lost the, their
whistle for some reason?
I don't
know.
Angela: and she that was not reviewed
and offside and the crazy thing is
that yesterday morning this morning.
It was announced that Abby D.
Is going to
Bay FC has
left and it's being framed as she's
going back home because she's from
NorCal and I hope that's what it is.
TBH kind of feels like I've lived through
this shit with Jill, I'm not doing it
Mario: yeah,
Angela: That's what it felt like, and
I texted Eva, I wonder how many more
people are going to be leaving San Diego.
Mario: yeah.
Angela: Which sucks.
Mario: Which sucks because
they did build such a great
roster and a great team that
they were doing so well and
it all started coming down.
But,
Angela: We'll find out.
There's lawsuits.
Mario: happy for, Abby Dahlkemper.
She's heading up to the Bay and she's,
hopefully going to be closer to family,
be more comfortable where she's at.
But.
Angela: there was also scandal.
Mario: Huh?
More
scandal?
Angela: saw one
of our supporter groups had a flag
that said Believe Brittany Alvarado,
the photographer that started the
claim and had another flag that
said Protect Players that were
confiscated by San Diego Security.
Mario: San Diego Security sucks.
they were the,
Angela: Balloon Gate
Mario: Balloon Gate Yeah, exactly.
Angela: Yeah.
Yeah.
So what is
Mario: I didn't know that
but that
Angela: Not even a Protect Players flag?
Lame.
Mario: They get, they get stupid
restrictive when, Angel City comes down.
it's,
Angela: Yeah, I mean, I get it
rivalry don't give us reason to
Mario: Yeah.
but, um, We did not have a share your
feelings footy therapy session after
that amazing seven to nothing win,
mainly because we were taking a break.
Thankfully, we have another high
to come off of like how we feeling.
So that was the prompt.
How we feeling?
Angela: How are we feeling?
So good.
So a lot of us were coming off
the high of the watch Like, it
was so have, like, our community
who lives through Instagram
DMs, the discord, like, very
async.
Asynchronous messaging
systems, like in person.
ah, having these conversations
in real time, all of that.
So on the Discord, Ethan, Haiku Master,
who the second he showed up and we
explained that this is the haiku man,
everybody was like, I need to talk to him.
I need to have conversation.
Like, how are you so good at
Mario: I think Vero, when Vero
showed up, she's Is Ethan
here, the haiku guy?
And
Angela: do we get haikus or what?
But Ethan said, Alyssa broke yips, offense
starts to find pace, tweed to get funky.
I love it.
And then in the Discord, Katie
also said, how am I Well, I think
that game cured my situational
depression, which in parentheses,
not caused by soccer, but certainly
healed by it, which is relatable.
Absolutely relatable.
And then on Instagram, Jeff sent three,
um, sunglass face emojis, said, AT is
back, Angel City is back, and a big
time win, ready for a playoff push.
woo!
woo!
woo!
Our buddy Max just said, yes.
Uh, Richie, who is actually down
in San Diego at the game, said, we
own the city now, question mark?
Feelin good!
With a whole bunch of O's.
Woo!
Yeah, he was also at Balloon Gate 2023,
so we have like intel coming from,
Mario: From inside the
Angela: during the
game.
Yeah, the call is coming
from inside the house.
Zach said he is stoked for the
win, annoyed by the like under two
minute score against us, which.
Yeah, and then what the hell,
Paramount, and go Thompson with
a little heart hands emoji.
I don't know.
Mario: No, don't do that.
no.
Angela: It's like this.
Mario: don't give me,
don't give me this thing.
Angela: What is that?
What?
I don't under how?
I have too much arthritis.
Mario: It's like
Angela: it's heart hands.
Anyway, uh, we met Yessi, which was great.
She is fantastic.
She said, so great.
Um, yeah.
And then Vero, freaking Vero,
with like a little cheeky smiley
emoji, like, girl, shut up.
We're officially like real
life friends now, what now?
Uh, Kay, who was hoping to come to
the watch party, but couldn't, um,
which I will forgive her because.
I will, but she said that Curry
has been a GD revelation this
season, which yeah, this is like
a house of Curry house as well.
Just fantastic.
Also, just yay.
Yay!
Which I everybody kind of felt
that, just like, ooh, the relief.
Shay sent three little confetti
party horn emojis and said
Thompson and then sent three more.
And Erin, which, first of all, thank
you for bringing Parkside cards,
Mario: amazing.
Angela: conversations and trades
and just letting people pick cards.
Do you know how many
cards, new cards, I have?
Mario: I
Angela: Like, I'm so excited.
Mario: Every single person
that I went that I was handing
out like stickers to and
being like, hey, we're
doing the thing over there.
I was like, and did you know
the NWSL has player cards?
We've got a whole stash of them over
there for free that Erin was providing.
so awesome.
So glad that happened.
And it
was
Angela: it was awesome.
Yeah.
But just said, so so hopeful.
And I think that's everybody
right now is we are so happy.
So Like, there's life back in this team.
And I said, like, Becky
never lost the locker room.
The team never lost each other.
They never fractured.
All they did was dig deeper.
And this is where.
The sauce this is, this
is where the good stuff
comes from.
It's through
the adversity, through through
the times when you don't know
why things aren't clicking,
but you keep grinding, you
keep trying, you keep pushing,
and then next thing you know,
Mario: I mean, from
Angela: thing you know, you
finish the day above the playoff
Mario: yeah, uh, from, from what
I was able to watch during the
watch party, cause we were having a
party,
so
Angela: around.
Mario: the team looked great.
So it was, remember we said, let's get
weird during the summer cup and As long
as we learned something, I don't care
if we lost every single game, right?
let's learn something.
Let's use it because it didn't count
towards our actual final standings.
And it looks like we did.
And that's been amazing.
So
Angela: not on the like questionable
list or out list, you know, like
the availability report right
now is just cap in June and maybe
Merritt depending on what's her her leg.
But
yeah.
Mario: with being in person, was
like, Hey, let's do, Audio recordings
because we got people here and then
guess what I completely forgot to ask
anybody as everybody left And so I did
end up getting three from Doug, Eva,
and Josie, I don't know what order
they're in because all it says is,
Long Beach Marketplace on my phone,
so I'm going to be playing these into
the mic for, so that we can react.
I will actually replace the
audio, but yes, here we go.
Ready?
Okay, go ahead.
how did Alyssa's scoring make you feel?
It made me feel really good.
I love
that she scored two goals.
I felt like this season she didn't have
as many goals as she did in previous
seasons, so I'm very happy for her.
Perfect.
So that was Josie.
Angela: so much.
Mario: and then we've got, this next one.
Alright, here's, here we go.
Alright, felt good about, Alyssa
getting two goals and getting
that monkey off her back.
And, we should have finished 2 0.
I think that was offsides
the last play there.
feel good overall about the
team and hopefully we keep
that going the whole season.
Angela: Yeah, I
agree with Doug.
Mario: Thank you, Doug.
And last but not least, we've got, Eva.
And I think this is Eva.
Now I see there's another
Long Beach marketplace.
So let's
Angela: Oh, Dustin.
Mario: Dustin.
Yes.
Okay.
So this is Eva or Dustin.
All right.
We just won.
How do you feel?
I feel great.
I feel like this was a season saving game.
Alyssa is back.
She has found her audacity.
Didi was on fire.
Everyone looked great.
I think we've got a great end
of the season coming our way.
Alright.
Alright, yes.
That was Eva.
And then, last but not
least, we've got Dustin.
Alright, this is Dustin.
Yo, what's up Casual FC fam?
We're down here in Long
Beach, we just got the win.
Go ACFC.
This is the start of a
beautiful second half.
There we go.
There we
So with all of that, all that hopefulness
and everything like that, we can check the
standings, which, at the end of that match
on Saturday, we were in the playoffs.
It was amazing because we said we were
only three points out of the playoff line.
and then, the rest of
the weekend happened and
whatever.
that's okay.
We are in ninth place.
We are currently at 18
points, but guess what?
We are one point.
Out of the playoff line.
That is huge.
if we go on this undetweeted streak again,
we can definitely move up a bit higher.
but right now we are only one point away
from breaking that, playoff barrier.
So that's all we need.
That's all we need.
one point we're doing good and,
that's all I got to say about that.
All right.
So let's talk, again, sorry
everyone, really long episode.
We're finally getting
to the match preview.
Let's talk about the
match against Chicago.
This is going to be another,
could potentially be another big
six point game for us, right?
Another big jump that we can probably get.
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: let Angela let you all know.
Angela: Yeah, so currently Chicago
is in seventh place with 23 points,
and we're in ninth place with 18.
So, we could make a good, substantial
jump in points, should we take this win.
that's what, that's what we're hoping for.
Um, in this Olympic window, trade
window, international many many open
windows right now, including mine, in
my Um, but, the Red Stars have picked
up two players that are, Fantastic.
Genuinely.
Um, Julia Grosso, they just picked up
from the Canadian National Team, and
Juventus, Juventus, I have it spelled
phonetically because it doesn't work in
my brain, like, mm, I'mma make it up.
Like, phonetically, it's spelled out
in my notes.
That's embarrassing.
Ugh.
Um, but Has been playing internationally.
This is a big signing for them.
She's number 21 in the midfield.
She can also play left back, so
she's more versatile defensively.
Mario: can also fly a drone,
Angela: oof.
I wasn't going to talk
Mario: I'm sorry, Juliette.
It's the Canadian joke, it's not a you
joke.
One
Angela: a you joke.
It's the Federation joke.
Which is unfortunate because I
know we've said it before, but
legitimately the Federation just
made a joke out of fantastic.
Wonderful professional athletes.
And it's stupid.
It's embarrassing I, I hate but I just
want to say her middle name is woo!
We love that.
Um, and then Ludmilla came in from
the Brazilian national team, which is
exciting, who I know it's just cool.
I know it's a lot of the reason
is because people don't know
how to pronounce Portuguese.
And like, don't mispronounce my name.
Well, they're also that cool.
Yeah.
Like it's also that, but I mean, it's the
same across like volleyball, basketball.
It's one name.
I don't know if it's, I, I just love it.
It's so dope.
But she's a forward, Brazilian national
team, like just won a silver medal.
Um, she's number zero, which having
her and Mal on the same team.
Like I'm.
I'm happy for them, not excited for that.
Because I really think this is going
to be a very different matchup than
when we saw them earlier this season.
Genuinely.
we're coming floodgates opening.
Mario: Yeah,
you know, if we, if we planned things
better, we could have had M back on,
Angela: I know!
Mario: next time.
Angela: I'll text her and be like,
we totally should have done a part,
like, part one, home, part two, away.
But no, I really think this is going
to be a very fantastic matchup.
I don't expect a clean
sheet on either side.
Genuinely.
Because you have prolific scorers
on Chicago, and now you have balls
to the wall, pedal to the metal.
Teenagers, who are like, I'm here
like, fuck up, you know, it's not
like, I'm here to, it's, it's the My
Romance, like, teenagers scare the
living out of me, like, it's that.
That's exactly what where it's
like, oh, the children are here.
So, I'm I'm very curious how this
matchup is gonna go, it's gonna
be fantastic regardless, I think
we're in for a hell of a game.
Bye.
I picked two of our players to talk
about because they have both stepped
into their own and found the confidence
that has been a little lacking.
Mario: they hit both.
I would say they both
have been underperformers
for.
What everybody expects.
Different reasons,
yes, and multiple reasons, but
they have both been considered
underperformers for the team this year
and
being able
to
Angela: is so weird.
Mario: Yeah, no, like I
mean knowing who they are
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: weird that this year
they've just been Not finding it,
right?
Angela: granted, this first
person was quietly injured the
whole first half of the season.
found out like a month ago,
which now everything in
hindsight Makes complete sense.
So
we were, we were at almost at the
point of putting Messiah Bright
on like a milk carton shirt.
Like, have you seen this girl?
But
Mario: Her and
Angela: has been found.
She well, that's Um, she full on took
that spotlight and said, girl, you see me.
Yeah.
She had a a hat trick against Juarez
in 17 minutes, something like that.
Like she was game.
20 minutes in
Mario: or something.
Yeah.
Angela: second fastest school.
Like it was just stupid like,
oh, Bright is, is still bright.
Like, she's, she's good.
She's healed, She's, she's like a.
What is it called?
Like a racehorse?
fresh out of like the second the
gate opens and they just took off.
That's what it was like watching her.
And it like at that Juarez game, I
looked at Eva and I was like, we're fine.
And she went, what?
I was like, we're fine.
And then she scored.
And I was like, we're fine.
Like,
because the best part is that she
immediately came out looking like
the rookie of the year candidate
that she was like, oh, okay.
There she is.
There she is.
There she is.
Cool.
And what happens with that is
whether or not she's on the
ball, she pulls the defense.
She's a
threat.
So the
defense will collapse on her, opening
up two to three other players.
Mario: has gravity to
her, like they will swarm
Angela: They mark her.
Mario: Yeah.
and it's one, it's she's a
healthy messiah has got the moves
to get past that swarm.
Also two, she's making
room for everybody else
and so it's like she's the
decoy, she's the distraction.
Angela: like, if she's a distraction,
or if, let's say she's scoring.
You, it's because you left her open
because you had to cover Alyssa,
Christen Press, Sydney Leroux, Claire
Emslie, like, you had to cover all
these other scorers, all these other
strikers that are, like, ready to go,
and now, with Alyssa, who's the next
person I'm gonna talk about, with her,
like, shedding the the funk, like,
ripping the Band Aid off, Throwing the
yips back to wherever, from where they
came, like, ugh, like, if Messiah has the
ball, Alyssa's still gonna pull defense.
Claire's still gonna pull defense.
If
Alyssa's got the ball, like, it,
now we're a little scarier than
we were a month and a half ago,
which is dope.
Mario: Yep.
Yep.
I think it's the, I think it's that, it's
the thing that's plagued Angel City from,
day one, which has been injuries.
we've had amazing rosters.
Angela: yeah.
But never at the
Mario: never at the same time.
we just made a point of it the
last one that like press and M.
A.
haven't played on the same pitch
Angela: Until like
Mario: until, yeah, until the last
two games or whatever the last game.
So that just goes to show that we've
just been unlucky with injuries and with.
Player health and one reason or another.
And, it is what it is and
we've gotten through it.
And, we're at that second half
of the year where maybe they were
able to nurse what they've had.
Messiah was, had a bunch of time off.
Like she wasn't on, the
starting lineup for a long time.
And it's, the things that we were saying
needed to gel are finally gelling, and
you're starting to see oh, there was
a reason why things weren't gelling.
there was this one missing piece
for this type of player formation.
I'm not saying I actually know
what those player formations are.
Angela: But it makes sense like
what the players were saying
of like we have it in training.
We haven't, we just haven't clicked
in the game situation, but that
makes sense you might be out for the
game, but you're still in training.
You're still getting ready
to like, the game again.
So you're there with the team day to day,
in and out of practice, running drills,
running plays, all that kind of stuff.
But you're not taking the
physical hits of the game.
And that's the part that's been missing,
I really think, is that we had enough
players who were out, who were still
at training, there for game days.
Mario: yeah.
Angela: And now
it's
vibes.
Mario: There's pieces missing on the field
when it came to game day.
So yeah, so we've got Chicago,
two wins, one draw, two losses.
so we're evened out
with
Chicago,
Angela: we evened, last, last
season, second half of the season,
we evened it out a little bit
with them, which was really nice.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: But, yeah, I'm
excited for this matchup.
We will be there with a
stupid amount of stickers.
Please come get some from us.
Mario: Yes!
Angela: There's a lot.
Mario: Please can get some.
we bought them as like fun
giveaways for the watch party and
as things go, they arrived today.
we will gladly give you stickers.
Angela: for, thanks for getting
to this part of the episode.
I'm so pumped for this game.
Come say hi.
I'll probably be there early with
a gaggle of small children and Eva
and my mom and my best friend, his
wife, we'll be, we'll be out there
somewhere.
Mario: I'll be there when I get there,
kid, never know, but we'll be there.
can't miss kid's night.
and, yeah, it'll be awesome.
so reminder of where to watch and listen.
Sunday, September 1st, Angel City vs.
Chicago Red Stars.
It will be a home match at BMO, 1pm.
it's gonna be streaming on CBS and
Paramount Honestly, just check the
freakin schedule, like the day of.
Angela: That
morning, two hours before.
Mario: Screw football, like for some
reason, but yeah, but it will be on
iHeartRadio and that will always be
on there with Isaac and Tracy, so
give them a listen, if you can, and if
you're not around a TV or do what I do
and sync them up, it's always awesome.
And it's also going to be
a special giveaway day.
So the kids day, there will be kids
shoelace charms that are going to be
given away at the gate, I believe.
it's also going to be Salvadoran
Heritage Night brought on by, the
Salvi's Who Lunch organization.
Follow them on Instagram, see
our reposting of their stories.
It's a great organization.
Super glad to have them and As
a Salvadoran myself, super glad
that this is, going to be a night,
super excited for all of that.
And was there anything else
that I was supposed to say?
oh yeah, no, Angela's
friends are coming, so
that's also a reason to celebrate.
And if you've gone to this point
so far, like I said, DM us.
I will mail you
stickers.
Angela: I'm so proud
of you if you've stuck
Mario: proud.
and if you like, you probably like
what you hear if you made it this far.
So hit
subscribe
button
Angela: do.
Mario: Check us out on
casualfc.Com for all the pod links.
If you're watching on YouTube, we're on
YouTube now and you can see our faces.
So
Angela: can see our faces on Spotify.
That's
Mario: you can also see our faces
on Spotify, which is a whole, yeah.
Cool.
There's multiple ways to see us.
Best ways to support the pod?
Share, or comment on any one
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also, comment or rate and review us on
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It helps.
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It's all about engagement, people.
that's the free way to help us out.
And if you would like, you can always
grab some merch@shop.casualfc.com
if you'd like to help us that way.
Bunch of fun and silly ideas.
That's a lot of where the
stickers actually came from.
So you can get a lot of
those things on shirts.
And if you see a sticker that you
want on a shirt, just let us know.
there.
Angela: A lot of those were prototypes
that we weren't sure what to do with.
Mario: and so there you go.
And if you feel so inclined and
don't need extra crap in your
house, you can always help support
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It, we barely have time.
So check out the link in our socials
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And last but not least,
tell a friend about the pod.
It brings us good luck.
We push that good luck to everybody.
All the people that were talking
about the pod, talking about
the watch party, talking about.
what was coming up for
the San Diego match.
We banked all of that.
We sent it
down on the surf liner.
It got to the team and we kicked ass.
So let's do that again.
Angela: by sharing the
posts for the watch party.
Ali at State Champs
and Soccer Moms Pod, M.
Woods, watch me, every single
person who I know thank you.
I
Mario: Um, and before
we both start crying,
we'll see you
later.
Angela: up.
Bye!
Mario: Bye.