The Mane Land PawedCast

Orlando City was nearly perfect in the preseason but a couple of late goals against the New England Revolution on Saturday night at Exploria Stadium gave the Lions their only loss in the buildup to the 2023 MLS season. In this week’s show, we discussed that loss and the win over Stetson University in the final two friendly contests before things get real. We also talked about the update on rookie Duncan McGuire, putting all three of the Lions’ first-round picks from the 2023 MLS SuperDraft under contract for 2023 and potentially well beyond.

The club also unveiled some stuff in the last week, including the sharp new home “The Wall” kit on Saturday and a plethora of new (local) food offerings within the stadium on Tuesday evening. We also touched on Major League Soccer’s new playoff format and how weird it is (and why).

Orlando City SC President of Business Operations Jarrod Dillon returned to the PawedCast this week to discuss the lessons he’s learned in his first year on the job, some of the adjustments that have been made, some more that could soon be made, and we grilled him on the topics of how to maximize the acquired land adjacent to the stadium and a potential throwback third kit. Big thanks to Mr. Dillon for speaking with us in the middle of his evening job as taxi driver for his kids.

After the chat with our guest, we dropped some news of our own as to the future of this show and our coverage of the Orlando Pride. We feel like we can do a better job and give the club the respect it deserves with our decision and we can’t wait to turn that into a reality as soon as possible.

The Orlando Pride got their preseason friendlies underway with a 2-0 win over Gotham, which is still a club with a name that works best when abbreviated. Other topics included Seb Hines officially naming a couple of new staff members, Haley Bugeja leading Malta to victory, Adriana and Marta playing a competitive match at Exploria Stadium with Brazil in the SheBelieves Cup, and the U.S. Women’s National Team winning the event.

Finally, we looked in our mailbag, in which our listeners asked us about what road stadiums we want to visit (and why), which Eastern Conference teams will give Orlando City trouble, and more. If there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the next show, just ask by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC.

Stay safe and enjoy the show!

Here’s how No. 327 went down:

0:15 - Preseason Orlando City results, all rookies are signed, a new kit, new food, and a dumb playoff format.

33:14 - Jarrod Dillon entertains and informs us (and possibly you, too!).

56:32 - A plethora of Pride news, our mailbagbox responses, and our key match-ups and score predictions for the Lions vs. the Red Bulls.

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We’ve come down from the high of our 200th episode with two outstanding guests just in time to bring you...whatever this week’s show is. We did make inquiries about guests this week but they didn’t pan out, although we’ve likely only kicked the can down the road on that front. So...this show will be short, right? Well...that was the intention and we simply don’t seem capable at this point, so just listen in whatever increments you can.

We’ve got more discussion on both the MLS is Back Tournament and the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup as more details have emerged about both since we last spoke. We know who Orlando City will play and some details about the tourney itself, and we know when the Orlando Pride will play and how to watch them. We also discuss a pretty cool 50th birthday gift that Alexi Lalas was given this week.

Our listener mail this week inquired about burritos and the zombie apocalypse. We love you guys and your variety of questions. Keep them coming. If there’s anything — and we do mean anything —you want us to address on our next show, just ask by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC.

If the show ended there, it would have been a nice, crisp show. However...we continued to discuss our Marvel Cinematic Universe rewatch with Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange. Neither movie is perfect, but we let you know what we liked about them and some of the things that were bothersome.

Stay safe and enjoy the show.

Here’s how show our supersized No. 201 extravaganza went down:

0:15 - Details! We now know more about both the MLS and NWSL tournaments that are going to bring soccer joy (and pain) back into our lives. Oh, and happy birthday to Alexi.

35:25 - The mailbag inquires about burrito places and burrito bowls and we like talking about burritos almost as much as eating them. Oh, and which Orlando players are your zombie apocalypse squad? We discuss!

49:15 - We turn this question thing around on our listeners and ask one of our own (send us your answers either below or on Twitter. And this week we delve into the most recent Captain America flick and the debut of Doctor Strange.

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Strange things are afoot as Orlando could soon become the center of the MLS world. We discuss the hottest rumor of the week that MLS is planning to put all 26 teams in the City Beautiful for soccer matches at Disney without fans. This thing could start happening in a matter of weeks, depending on how things go, so there’s lots to talk about and many pros and cons of such a setup.

We welcome back Paul Tenorio from The Athletic to discuss what this might look like when put into practice and some of the pitfalls that the league must negotiate before even attempting it. Paul also gives us his views on going to five substitutes for this season, the toll that games might take on players in this climate without much preparation time, and more.

Alex Morgan became a mom right before Mother’s Day and we’re hoping that Charlie Carrasco grows up and becomes an Orlando Pride star alongside Sydney Leroux’ daughter. Pride goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris has a boo boo and new keeper Erin McLeod has arrived in Orlando. We also discuss Orlando City’s struggles in eMLS competitions and whether it means a change in personnel is necessary or if FIFA Abe is handicapped by his team. Honestly, we know so little about eSports (and care even less) but that doesn’t mean we won’t talk about it.

We answer our listeners’ questions and they range from this MLS-to-Orlando rumor and whether that will negate a summer swoon by the Lions, to eMLS. If there’s anything — and we do mean anything —you want us to address on our next show, just ask by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC.

Finally, we wrapped things up with our continued discussion of our Marvel Cinematic Universe rewatch (so far). Dave and I are rewatching all of the MCU movies in order of release date, so we’re sharing our thoughts on Iron Man 2 and Thor this week. We liked both of them, although they were far from perfect, and we added them into our rankings so far.

Stay safe and enjoy the show.

Here’s how show No. 196 went down:

0:16 - Way too much info about our return to work and then we dive into our main topic of how, when, where, and why all of the MLS teams coming to Orlando to restart soccer in 2020.

42:16 - Paul Tenorio jumps on with us to discuss what he’s been hearing in regards to the proposed restart of MLS in Orlando, what that might mean for TV rights holders, how the entire thing will certainly be difficult (at best) to get going, and much more.

1:06:20 - Alex Morgan is a mom! We offer our congrats, try to talk about how the female body recovers from childbirth — something neither of us know much about — and then dive into our dissatisfaction with Orlando City in eMLS (although we both still think it’s dumb).

1:51:45 - Our MCU rewatch continues as we discuss Iron Man 2 and Thor.

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Major League Soccer avoided an insanely stupid lockout this week when the league and the MSLPA came to an agreement. This paves the way for the long-rumored Orlando tournament to take place and we’re pretty psyched that cooler heads prevailed in this situation. The NWSL is also holding a tournament and the Orlando Pride got just about the worst draw they could have gotten for their four matches in the first stage of the event. We discuss yet another brutal schedule for the Pride, plus the addition of former OCSC defender Seb Hines to the coaching staff, pushing back the jersey reveal and more.

Speaking of Seb, he stopped by to discuss his role on the Pride’s technical staff, how the team is preparing for the tournament, and what we can look forward to when the NWSL teams converge on Utah to begin play. Big thanks to Seb for stopping by and talking with us.

We wanswered our listeners’ questions about books, the outdoors, movies, and even soccer. If there’s anything — and we do mean anything —you want us to address on our next show, just ask by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC.

Finally, we spent an enjoyable (and long) amount of time discussing the next two movies in our Marvel Cinematic Universe rewatch — Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Stay safe and enjoy the show.

Here’s how show No. 199 went down:

0:15 - MLS avoided a silly work stoppage which could have been catastrophic for the league, and the NWSL held its Challenge Cup draw. Things could have gone better for Orlando.

26:11 - Seb Hines stops by and we learn more about his role with the Orlando Pride as well as his favorite moments from his Orlando City days and what he did during the pandemic lockdown.

45:49 - We answer listeners’ questions and dive back into the MCU as we discuss the two best movies of Phase 2.

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Small group training has returned to the NWSL and the Orlando Pride are among the teams that have already implemented that and will soon be able to train as a full team. There’s still a lot of discussion about the reported NWSL tournament in Utah and with players able to train together now, we ramp up some of those discussions here. We’re not sure if USWNT players will take part or boycott this and a lot of other things remain up in the air as well at this point.

England’s men will return to complete the 2019-2020 season but the women won’t. That doesn’t sit well with me and obviously money plays a role.

The Bundesliga came under fire on social media for piping in crowd noise. I defend the move and we discuss whether canned crowd is better than no noise at all. Either way, VAR is still a mess in Germany.

And then there’s MLS Leaks. People aren’t happy that news keeps finding its way out of the MLS offices and into the virtual pages of The Athletic. But things get funnier when the memo about the leak to The Athletic is subsequently leaked to The Athletic. It’s all very meta and we talk about how/why there are news leaks and how spending money to hire leaks of which you already are aware is kinda dumb.

I also gave in and watched an Orlando City Classic this week and it was delightful. I’m not typically a dude who rewatches soccer games but this one was well worth it. (Check out the 2016 game vs. Portland here.)

We would have answered our listeners’ questions after that but this week we surprisingly had none. If there’s anything — and we do mean anything —you want us to address on our next show, just ask by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC.

Finally, we spent more time rambling than we should during discussion of our continued rewatch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This week, we broke down two of the lower rungs on the MCU ladder — Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World. Better films (and better villains) are ahead but we still have to talk about what didn’t work (and what did).

Stay safe and enjoy the show.

Here’s how show No. 198 went down:

0:16 - The Orlando Pride are training together and full team training isn’t far away. Plus, what’s going on in England and Germany, along with the MLS battle to keep info quiet.

39:30 - I rave about this week’s Orlando City Classic match between the Lions and the Portland Timbers in 2016 at the Citrus Bowl.

50:17 - We dive into this week’s MCU movies: Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World. Not two of the best but definitely two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films that exist.

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