PawedCast Episode 197: MLS Cancels Stuff, Bundesliga’s Back, NWSL Tourney, and More

05/21/20 • 127 min

Soccer is back (in some places) and yet the MLS keeps canceling things. We are here to talk about some of those things that are now not going to happen in 2020 and the return of the Bundesliga (behind closed doors), with one eye firmly glued to any updates of MLS potentially bringing all teams to Orlando for some games. Friend of the PawedCast Patrick Murphy of Massive Report jumped on with us this week to tell us what the pandemic has been like in one of the other MLS Eastern Conference cities — Columbus — and to give an outsider’s perspective of the MLS-to-Orlando plan, along with other thoughts in this weird and awful time. Big thanks to Patrick for joining us. Again. We answer our listeners’ questions, which includes some discussion of beer as well as what pizza ingredients are represented by Orlando City players, among other topics. 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. We continued our rewatch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe this week, discussing both Captain America: The First Avenger and Marvel’s The Avengers. Needless to say, the quality improved this week and it is reflected in our updated power rankings. Be sure to give us yours! Finally, we get to some NWSL news, as the entire league could be headed to Utah to play in a tournament from late June to late July. Basically it’s the MLS-to-Orlando plan, except in Utah and with fewer teams. But soccer is good, so we hope that if the teams can’t play in their home stadiums, that they can finally get the season underway somewhere. Stay safe and enjoy the show. Here’s how show No. 197 went down: 0:15 - Everything is canceled! Well, not the full MLS season (yet) but the league did nix three high-profile events. Oh, and there’s soccer in Germany going on in empty stadiums. It’s pretty great to see, even if VAR still sucks (but I have a fix for that!). 28:57 - Patrick Murphy brings a Columbus-centric view of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent sports stoppage to the show. Plus, we get the outsider’s opinion on the entire league coming to Orlando. Oh, and he hasn’t watched Tiger King yet. 54:27 - Questions about pizza, beer, and soccer. Plus our MCU rewatch continues as we discuss Captain America: The First Avenger and Marvel’s The Avengers. Oh, and the NWSL might all get together in Utah and play a tournament or something, so that’s cool. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Previous Episode

PawedCast Episode 196: How MLS Might Return, Morgan’s a Mom, eSports, and More

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Next Episode

PawedCast Episode 198: Group Training Returns, Piped-In Crowd Noise, MLS Leaks, and More

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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