Angela: Ooh.
Sorry, I got excited.
I forgot we had a box of
Capri-Suns on the couch.
This is the first Capri-Sun
appearance of the season
Mario: Welcome to Casual FC, an
Angel City match recap pod today,
and Footy Therapy pod featuring
two certified footy therapists.
I'm your host, Mario Salazar, with
my uber gay co-host, Angela Morales.
And happy Pride Month, everyone.
So right before we started recording,
I was trying to figure out an intro,
and I thought I had one, and then I
started walking it back because I was
like, "I think the meaning of what
I thought it was was not exactly it.
It might be a bad meaning.
I need to maybe not say it."
We talked it out.
It's not that bad, but, I mean,
it, it caused some hilarity.
and I told her to expect one of the
intros that we talked about, but
not know which one we were gonna do.
So here you go.
Happy Pride, everyone
Angela: Happy Pride.
Also, happy Election Day.
K- sure.
swear to God, if I find out any of you
voted for Spencer Pratt, I'll kick you out
Mario: Cut
Angela: I,
Mario: Oh, God.
Angela: will on
Mario: There's,
Angela: principle
Mario: there's a
Angela: even vote for LA mayor,
which apparently people didn't
know they couldn't if they
don't live in the city of LA.
Jesus Christ, like
Mario: I, I saw, I saw a report of,
some woman having a fit trying to go to
a polling place because she's like, "I
couldn't vote for Spencer Pratt in, in
Santa Monica, so I need to just go to-"
Angela: I
Mario: You know, the education
system sometimes fails us
Angela: sometimes.
There's like a whole joke of No
Child Left Behind, like all the
bullshit from the Bush administration.
It's like that, that child
have been left behind.
hi guys, we're here to talk about soccer
Mario: Oh, well, okay.
So today is our, today we're recapping
because we are about to hit a really
long break, in our footy lives here.
so we're, we- you know, we're gonna
do a little, a little footy therapy,
a little bit of dissecting about what
just happened in our last match, what
was happening in this as Angela being
super reporter and getting to ask
questions during the press conference,
Angela: I was
so stressed.
I justâ¦
Really quick
Mario: was cor- was corrected by coach.
Yeah, go ahead.
Angela: I was so stressed.
I was like, "I'm gonna have the
courage to ask a question today.
I'm gonna have big cojones
and I'm gonna do it."
And then I was like, "Why
did I raise my hand?"
also sitting in the front row.
Stupid.
oh my God.
But I'm glad I did it,
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: and
Mario: I will say,
Angela: questions
Mario: I will say that when, when
I met Coach Straus, and I mean, we
both met him, but like individually,
Angela: Yeah
Mario: mentioned about the
podcast and he's "Oh, I know."
So
Angela: I know.
Yeah.
Mario: yeah,
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: yeah
Angela: when thisâ¦
Okay, so Straus has piercing blue
eyes that like bore into your soul.
They're like lasers.
And I don't know if you caught this, or
when he and I spoke at the Jersey event, I
was like, "Oh, I'm Angela from Casual FC."
He goes, "I know who you are."
And I was like, "Oh, God."
"Oh, no.
What have I done?"
But no, he, he's very fun and he's
very personable and very easy to
talk to even though he,
looks deep into your soul
Mario: Yeah, yeah.
Angela did get to ask two
questions, one to Sarah Gorden
and, o- one to, Coach Straus.
and I did kinda hear it in your maybe
a little bit of that nervousness
'cause you asked him aboutâ¦
Angela: me, you hear it.
Mario: Yeah,
Angela: you
Mario: you hear it.
Angela: you don't
Mario: No, it was, it
was fairly confident.
It was really good.
the question was, just
how is the season going?
What are we looking forward in, that we've
seen in the first half, and then what are
we looking forward for the second half?
He corrected her saying,
"It's only been a third."
Angela: He's "It's been one third."
I was like, "Okay, okay, okay.
Mario: Okay,
Angela: The
Mario: okay,
Angela: of the season."
And he had, the biggest, heh
heh grin, and I'm like, I'm,
like, trying to breathe normal.
Mario: And then the funny part is that
I don't know if you listened back to
it, he, 'cause he corrected you midway
and you're like, "Oh yeah, a third.
Okay.
yeah, a third."
And then you ask the rest of the
question, and then in the second part of
your question you also repeat yourself
saying, "The other half of the season."
Angela: Of course, that tracks.
Mario: Yeah.
but yes.
Angela: gone from my brain
Mario: So our Angela has gone from,
writing, writing silly thoughts
of soccer in a Slack channel for a
supporters group to hosting a podcast,
to going to events where she's being
recognized as a host of a podcast, to
being in the press box as, a regular,
and now asking questions at the, at the
press event, at a post-game presser.
this girl's moving on up, man
Angela: I was so scared.
Thank- I- just thank you everybody,
'cause I was really nervous
and I, I love what we're doing.
It doesn't mean I'm not, shitting
my pants halfway through.
it's, it's not even like a
fake it till you make it.
It's just pretend you're fine and
then see what happens, and just
grateful that enough people listen
to us and people, want us to keep
doing this 'cause I'd be really sad
if they were like, "You guys suck."
Mario: I mean, if you think
that too, that's fine.
Angela: yourself.
Mario: Keep it to yourself.
Angela: I have
Mario: there'sâ¦
Angela: too.
Mario: Yeah, yeah.
All right.
like I said, Oh, and I forgot,
within that tier we also have, panel,
panelist and panel host, moderator.
So this, this woman, this
lady got everything going on
Angela: I feel like we went from
"Ha ha, let's make a podcast.
This is fun," and be like,
"Oh, let's try something new."
And then this year we're like,
"Let's shoot it through the ceiling."
O- okay.
Mario: Okay
Angela: feel very much like we're
in the Wonkavator, like the glass
elevator in Willy Wonka at the end,
and we're just like in the sky.
That, at least I am.
I don't know about you, but
that's what it feels like.
Controlled chaos
Mario: Oh yeah.
Oh, I mean, that's just the M.O.
of my life is controlled chaos.
yeah, it's the only, it's the only way.
You just white-knuckle it through
life and then see how it's gonna end.
all right.
So we had a match
Angela: We
Mario: against North Carolina at home.
I unfortunately continued to be sick,
and was originally not planning to
go to the game 'cause we were gonna
actually hang out with, an old family
friend that we haven't seen in a while.
Yet, because the entire family stayed
sick all week, we had to cancel that and
we just, we just stayed home, completely
Angela: were, you were sick
for your birthday, or you got
sick after d- during, and then
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: sick for her birthday?
Mario: Yep.
Angela: I hate that
Mario: Well, so we at least both got
to do our planned birthday events.
Angela: Oh, that's
Mario: we went--
Angela: early
Mario: It was
it was the weekend before we,
took Maddie to go, rock climbing.
It's a really cool rock climbing gym near
LAX that has a really cool kids section.
and she had a blast.
the number one, indicator that it was a
good birthday was the fact that a lot of
her friends were telling their parents,
"Can I have my party here next year?"
And so
Angela: one upped everyone's
birthday this year, dude.
Good job.
Dad of the
Mario: it was really, it
was a really fun event.
I think they all had fun.
and then the following day
I did my annual, beer crawl,
this time on the Metro.
Took the Metro from Pasadena all the
way to BMO Stadium to see the LAFC
game, and then, subsequently woke up
the next day, my daughter was sick.
And then towards the end of the day, on
my actual birthday on Tuesday, I wake
up sick and I'm like, "Ah, damn it."
And it was the entire family, so
all four of us sick for the entire
week, all the way through Sunday.
You can probably still hear it in, in my
voice a little bit, or when I'm likeâ¦
I'm gonna be having to dip the audio
levels a bunch because of my throat.
but yes, a lot of our footy therapy
was trying to look at the bright side of
Angela: Yeah
Mario: what we have come through
in this first third of the year.
we did not end well, in the last couple
of matches, so it, it always leaves
a bad taste in your mouth, right?
To get to this point and to be
like, we were doing so well.
we went from top to the, from the
top of the rollercoaster and we hit
the bottom, seemingly basically.
And then we're like
Angela: like you know how you
like, chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk
and then you go foomp?
Like that, we're in that
Mario: Yeah
Angela: valley that
slingshots you forward.
We're in that valley and it's, are
we on a cool rollercoaster that
shoots up again or are we like a
little kid one that's ooh, and just
Mario: Wee!
Angela: till the
Mario: And then it gets
back to the beginning.
Angela: Exactly
Mario: yeah, we need to find out in
the, next, part of the season what
kind of rollercoaster we're on.
but it's gonna be a rollercoaster.
We're gonna be, going
through it, with this team.
i- if, if nothing, they're on brand.
They're, they're giving us the chaos.
They're giving us
Angela: Yeah
Mario: the heartburn.
so yeah, we ended up with a loss.
heartbreaking
Angela: loss too, which is I think at this
point the bane of everyone, everyone's
existence is a 2-1 loss, 'cause that means
it was likely a 2-1 loss with a goal in
the last 15 minutes to lose the game.
Mario: Yeah, yeah.
So
Angela: that
Mario: it's theâ¦
We've definitely hit, an 80th minute
curse, and I thought for a while we were
past that, but we are not past that.
so we'll start our, recap
with a little bit of a haiku.
Ethan dropped us, our haiku.
I know we've missed a couple of 'em,
mainly because we've been running the gun
in on these recordings and then haven't
always been able to grab them in time.
But seeing potential, news success
then heartbreak, pause and horizon.
Really we need to be,
like, what's done is done.
The games thatâ¦
We- we're not gonna
replay any of these games.
some of the, some of the teams
we've already played twi- we've
already played, Houston twice,
so we're not seeing them at all.
Angela: twice, Portland twice
Mario: Yeah.
We're not seeing them at all
for the rest of the season.
it is what it is.
The only thing we can do is,
go, go forward from here.
and I mean, tell us what you saw.
You saw it from the press box, so
Angela: Yeah.
And first of all, being in the press
box, I've gotten to meet a lot of
really cool people, but I reallyâ¦
And I doubt he'll end up hearing this,
but I was able to meet Rico Cabrera Sr.,
who started the East LA Sports Scene.
If you are in Los Angeles and you
follow any sports, give them a follow.
Give themâ¦
go to their website, them out.
He started this in 1991 all by himself.
he is a local LA kid.
He went to Loyola High.
he and I, texted Mario, "Oh my God,
this viejo next to me, I love him."
But, very really truly, he is an
elder in the, the Mexican community
in LA that, needs to be cherished.
I wanna protect him
and, hug him constantly.
I love him.
so yeah, East LA Sports Scene,
we follow them on Instagram now.
So we'll likely be reposting some of their
stuff that they post about Angel City,
all that good, good stuff and good vibes.
I will cry if I talk about him
anymore because we had, the
most beautiful conversation.
But I'm not crying today.
It's Pride, and if you make me cry during
Pride, I hate you, and that's homophobic.
So including myself, I
cannot make myself cry.
Mario: The ultra gay co-host
is homophobic because she
Angela: make me cry.
Mario: Oh, so many clips from this episode
Angela: It's true.
so I was in the press box
and it's a different view.
It's about feet up from my normal
seat, so it's like the same angle,
but the vibe is a lot different.
it, itâ¦
there's two rows and it's really fun
'cause, when I'm in the second row I have
to stand up to see corners in, in that
corner, like right by 127, 126, thatâ¦
like my corner essentially.
Mario: Y- yeah, yeah.
You're
Angela: standing up, like looking over at
people trying to see down on the pitch.
the biggest thing is that like we're
fine, and it's really hard to say that
and like sound like I'm not on a bender
because like it's really difficult
to watch the same thing happen in
different ways in every loss we've had.
So I think it was Expected Own Goals
posted that every game we've lost,
we've given up a goal in the last 15
minutes of the game, like 15 regulation
minutes, so 75th minute forward, and
all of them have been one-goal losses
with a 2-1 score, which is maddening.
And like the team knows it's an issue,
and they're trying to figure it out
because when I asked the question to,
Coach Straus in the presser, I was
like, what are we looking for toâ¦
or what are we looking at
the younger and the rookieâ¦
the younger players and
the rookies to seeâ¦
What are we looking to see in
the second half of the season
that's gonna push us forward?"
And he made a really interesting comment
that kind of stuck with me 'cause
he's "I'm gonna say something and it's
gonna sound pathetic because it's the
same thing, because we're trying to
figure out why this keeps happening."
And that's the thing I think
a lot of people forget when it
comes to sports as a whole, not
just soccer, not just Angel City.
When something keeps repeating in, inâ¦
it's a habit or like something like
this where we're getting scored
on in the last 15 minutes, why?
Because you can see that it's
like different, different reasons.
How do we lock it in?
you might lock in one and then that
opens up another valve for, for some- or
like a loophole for something to happen.
Mario: Yeah
Angela: And he said, "It soundâ¦
I feel crazy because we look
at the numbers and we win.
paper, we're winning.
Why is this not transferring
Mario: the, a lot of these ma- a
lot of these matches have been like
on paper we've had the possession.
Angela: Yeah.
had the possession,
we've had the shots, we've had the,
Mario: yeah, the shots on goal,
the chances, the things beingâ¦
Like in this game particular,
Suarez like that would've been such
an, like it's one of those where
Angela: This woman, I told youâ¦
Sorry, I'm showing trading cards
for anybody who's listening
because I have a lot of them.
But I'm working on the captain's line
from the last Pacific drop that Parkside
had, and I just pulled Kailen Sheridan.
I was like, "Ah, this woman!"
But it's what I told you.
saying this literally since the first
season that we started this podcast.
Kailen Sheridan shows up in big moments
Mario: That was a huge moment.
That was, that was a-
Angela: Yeah
Mario: robbed, she robbed Taylor
Suarez of such a beautiful, a
beautiful tap-in, a, a beautifulâ¦
she was just in the right spot.
She was where she needed to be.
She did what she needed to do.
So honestly, no notes
for Suarez on that one.
I- it- everything went the
way it was supposed to go.
It's just, the, the hard thing
about when you play a game, you're
playing against another person,
and they don't want you to score
Angela: And that variable is an unknown.
tendencies and you can understand,
oh, so-and-so goes to the left
because they're left-footed.
So-and-so goes up the middle
because they're ambidextrous.
you, all this that you can play
with, but at the end of the day,
sometimes soccer is gonna soccer.
Sometimes baseball is gonna baseball,
and there's things you can't control.
But it's what Sarah said in, in her
part of the presser is we need to
score more and score earlier because
we shouldn't be trying to scramble at
the end of the game to fix a mistake
or, to fix a goal that we let up.
If we're scoring earlier and we take
control earlier, which is what you
and I have been saying too, is we
need to play our game from the jump
and not let the other team dictate.
Mario: Yeah.
This,
Angela: it'sâ¦
Mario: started off on a really good foot.
I was watching it from home and I
remember messaging everybody on the
Discord like, "I'm liking what I see."
We're moving, we were
moving really fluidly.
The passes that for the last couple
games have always been off by a touch,
off by an inch, off by whatever, wereâ¦
A lot of them were spot on.
A lot of them looked
like they were spot on.
Angela: Yeah
Mario: things were gelling and,
and that's where you getâ¦
I think you get more frustrated
when things are going right,
yet you can't convert, right?
Angela: Yes.
And
Mario: When
Angela: what Straus was saying is
that we're doing things correctly.
We're doing things the
way we want to do them.
What the heck?
What is the missing
piece that I can't find?
And
Mario: Yeah
Angela: that I also think
that people overlook.
Very rarely do players, coaches,
team officials, whatever,
to not knowing the answer.
They'll dance around it, but he straight
up was like, "I don't know what this is."
"Ugh," "What is this piece?"
you could see it.
he looked at me, 'cause we were like,
locked in and it very much felt like
I was the only other person in that
room and we were just, having a very
stressful conversation, but it was veryâ¦
I could feel the frustration of
like, why can't I figure this out?
Why can't we as a team figure this out?
what is this thing?
And I think, I honestly, I
think it's youth to some degree.
I think it's, the lack of
experience in, in big professional
moments where you're justâ¦
It's, it's the kind of thing, I think M.A.
said it, when she scored
her first Thorns goal.
She's "I just kind of blacked out."
And Svenda said it when she
scored that left foot goal.
it just happens.
I don't know.
And that'sâ¦
It's and for different reasons, but, Abby
Wambach, she would head a goal, it would
go in, and she's "Yeah, I blacked out."
That was a concussion,
but that's different.
But, you ha- this thing happens,
'cause it would happen to me in big
moments, is that I don't remember them.
I don'tâ¦
just, hit a
Mario: The adrenaline, the, the
adrenaline hits you and you're just
Angela: and you're like,
"I don't know what I did.
It just happened.
I can't recreate that."
And that's, it's one of those
intangible things that you can w-
you can build around, you can't
manufacture outside of those moments.
I think it's really interesting
'cause he talked a lot about the,
the robbing of Taylor Suarez.
this, this moment that
should have been a goal.
On intents and purposes, it was a goal,
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah
Angela: Sheridan.
And with another keeper, maybe it is.
Five seconds earlier, five
seconds later, maybe it is.
But that's not s- it doesn't mean
Mario: That's, yeah,
that's just the way it
Angela: Yeah
Mario: They, they, the, the thing thatâ¦
And this was, I haven't
gone back to look at it.
it was very much like the game was over.
I was trying to, clean up.
It was like middle of the afternoon
and, we were getting the kids ready
to go do other stuff or whatever.
or yeah, whatever time it was.
I was cleaning up and the TV was still
on, and then they were showing the, replay
of the game, like highlights and stuff.
And I took a glance, and to me, honestly,
it looked like the exact same play.
They scored on us the exact same way.
it was the same buildup, the same
crossover, the same, three-point touch.
Angela: Mm-hmm.
Mario: A- it was just a new set
of players, and it's just it'sâ¦
We were having such success with, Again,
something else that we also need to
realize is, hey, we, we do have injuries.
I mean, that's just been our M.O.
since the beginning, is we-
That's why we're so good on paper.
On paper, we do have some amazing talent.
We have the legs.
We have the speed.
we have the talent.
Angela: Yeah
Mario: But is that talent
on the pitch all the time?
Are they together in
the right combination?
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: star defenders, but then
at the moment, some of those
star defenders aren't there.
We might have star attackers.
At the moment, they're not there.
the, itâ¦
I don't, I don't envy the coach.
I don't envy the, the coaching staff
Angela: that need to figure
out these, these gaps.
And someone brought it up in the Discord,
I don't remember who it was, but they
said, it feels like our defenders,
our defenders, are playing super high.
as I was typing a response like, "Yeah,
I agree," but I don't really know
why, like I was thinking about it.
I'm like, oh, our experience, our
veterans are in our back line right now.
And like our, our, our midfield, like
our attacking midfield and our attack is
so young, our defensive midfielders and
our defense is where the experience lies.
It's Ary, it's Nilly, it's Sarah, it's
Emily, and even it's Giselle, which is
wild.
But I, I mentioned it there, it's like
saying Olivia Moultrie is a vet because
she's been in the league for six years.
It's
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: But, but it's true.
And so it almost seems like
they end up leading the attack
because they're pushing.
They're like, "Go, go, go," which causes
congestion and then this hesitation.
And coach talked about that
hesitation too, of just what is that?
Why are we doing that?
Whoâ¦
We, we're thinking too much.
I think a lot of that, one, is the
youth, and two, is the we need to win.
when you're, you try too hard, it's weird.
It'sâ¦
And it happens in
Mario: the yips
Angela: at every level, it's not,
'cause the yips is different.
It's, it's you're too in your head, so
you're overthinking what you're doing when
you just need to play free and play fluid.
The yips is more like a,
"Oh shit, am I good enough?
Am Iâ¦"
like where am I on the pitch?
You kind of lose the, the
connection, at least for me.
And
Mario: I, I, I
Angela: yeah
Mario: as, as a, as an, an outsider to
a lot of the sport and, the competitive
play, I mean, like we've, we've mentioned
this like way, way, way, way back.
Go listen to some of the first episodes.
my extensive soccer career was youth
soccer, playing up until about high
school, and then I stopped playing.
so that's where my extensive
s- knowledge comes from.
but as a fanâ¦
Angela: You don't play to
hurt people's feelings.
I
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: people's feelings
Mario: That, that was another thing.
the, the, to me, the yips are reallyâ¦
It's, it's, the, the yips are literally
just being in your own head, and however
that manifests, whether it's, Whether it's
the kind of overcom- compensation, right?
Which is what's, what's kind
of happening at the moment.
It's, it's this slight
overcompensation of, we haven't won.
We've lost four in a row.
we, we need to win, and we're pushing.
We have to do something.
And then it becomesâ¦
And we can see it too at times where
it's like they all have the same
playbook, and they're all going in
the same direction, and we're gelling,
and that was the, the first half.
We were, we were working.
We were passing.
Second half, we're like,
"Okay, we haven't scored yet.
We need to get this win.
We really need to push."
And now instead of the gelling
and the, the clean passes, we're
starting, everybody's starting to
look for those individual moments of
brilliance when we don't need that.
We still need the team.
And then it starts to break down.
Then we start to get
people out of position.
Then we start to get, the entire line,
back line pushing up a little too
high because they're trying to make up
for, yeah, make up for other things.
And to me, that, that's still the yips.
That's still, it's, it's, yeah, it's
totally in your head, and it can manifest
in overcompensation, and then it can
manifest in the am I good enough to,
am I good enough, or am I the hype?
Am I worth what I'm supposed to be doing
here, and that affecting your game.
But yeah, I, I think there's,
there's always been this thing
where, we, we look cohesive, and
then it starts to slowly deteriorate.
And, and we can't seem to
rally it back around, right?
There, there's-
Angela: think a lot of that from a lot
of good happening and then injuries.
And then with, this scramble,
Mario: this progress being,
and confidence being built up,
and then you lose one of those
Angela: Oh, yeah."
the bottom falls out, and it's "Shit."
And I think that's really what is
happening in this moment because
Savvy's injury, nobody wasâ¦
It, it was an accident that happened
at training, and that sucks.
So we don't, we don't have a timeline,
at least publicly, that I've seen.
same thing.
That was an in-game,
multiple in-game injury.
a, overuse injury
essentially, but ankle issues.
and I think the combination of that,
of those two injuries, like two
key energy pieces on the team, not
just like obvious, like physical
energy, but like personality energy.
They both bring so much.
But that combined right as we were,
like, righting the ship and things
were going forward, it was so good.
That combined with three games in
a week where we have to play with
lineups and move things around, and
we've talked about it a bunch, where
the second you change three people,
it's a completely different-- like
the system is completely different.
Mario: Yeah
Angela: that's exactly what happened.
So now everybody's we're starting over?
Okay."
And, and that's the thing that
sucks because this team isn't bad.
We're just in a moment,
and I really feel that.
And Iâ¦
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah.
Angela: if you think I sound crazy.
I understand trends.
I see the trend in the sport.
I see the trend in the team.
The-- They have
Mario: we're all a littleâ¦
We've said it and we're
not shying away from it.
We're homers.
We are here for the team.
we will criticize when we need to
criticize, which is, I mean, that's
kind of what we're doing, but
Angela: Yeah
Mario: we're still also not, throwing
the baby out with the bathwater.
it's not,
Angela: will hold you
accountable, but I won't
tell you that you're shit
Mario: Yeah
Angela: shit person or you shouldn't
be playing professional soccer 'cause
that is a whole different category of
person that I would like to talk about
Mario: Speaking of a little
bit of accountability though
Angela: Yes, go for
it
Mario: need to, we need to, and by we
I mean the collective we and us putting
our energy into the team and the players.
The playersâ¦
It's r- it's Ary.
Ary needs to, she needs to calm down.
She gets a little hotheaded
during the game, and then
Angela: Oh, it
Mario: there's a,
Angela: out so
Mario: it's str-
Angela: this
game.
Mario: there's, a point where, there's
a point where you got a foul because
you did a bad tackle or, a rough
tackle or whatever in the heat of the
moment, yeah, cool, understandable,
and cool, just be careful now.
If you get a card because you, they're
not moving fast enough for you, or
someone's in your way and you're just
a little bit upset and you're like,
"Get out of my way," and you physically
start pushing people after the whistle,
after the ball is dead, you are, you're,
Angela: Even when,
Mario: the
Angela: when they're time-wasting and
not giving you the ball and it's all
a thing, I understand the frustration
completely, but I don't want you to
get in trouble for card accumulation.
Mario: That's a thing.
Remember, it's a thing.
Angela: It's
Mario: Remember, you, you
can, you can get rid of
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: through good behavior
Angela: behavior.
Oh, God, th- that's so silly,
but But no, I, I think weâ¦
A big, accountability moment, I
think as a fan base, we have to
remember that yes, we're frustrated
right now with the results, but we
are not frustrated more than them.
We're not frustrated
more than the coaches.
We're not frustrated more than
the team because they know.
They're not blind.
They know what happened.
They know what theyâ¦
they're the ones doing the thing.
And, my biggest issue with everything
right now is how people are talking
about it because, like I said earlier,
there are intangibles you cannot
control no matter how much you prepare.
It's how you react and how you recover,
but it's also how much time left is,
how much time is left on the clock?
How much, how much momentum?
Do we have any more subs?
Like, all these other variables
that factor into those things.
I know, I know so many people are so
frustrated, but, the things I have
seen people write and say, I justâ¦
Can we
Mario: The
Angela: shame?
be embarrassed 'cause what the hell?
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah.
These, we, and I think this is something,
and unfortunately this is a topic that
we've hit before, last year especially
with all of the Syd, conversation.
Angela: Yeah
Mario: Y- these keyboard warriors,
you need to, you, you need to ⦠Do
you kiss your mother with that mouth?
do you ⦠It, it's a more like do you,
do you hug your mother with, those hands?
Angela: Yeah, like
Mario: you know those ⦠Y- okay.
Okay, everyone.
Remember, remember we love this game.
We have fun.
We watch it.
We're frustrated.
It's, it's, it's like the people
running a race, like running a
marathon, and you see the sign that
says, "Remember, you paid to do this."
you paid to be this
miserable in the morning.
yeah.
Angela: And,
Mario: You
Angela: just wanna remind people,
yes, it's five years, and this
is the most consistency we
have had in that entire time.
And on top of that, it's not 100 years.
We're not the Cubs.
We're not the Red Sox of
just shit for a century.
been years.
And granted, it's been a beacon
of hope at the same time,
just in the shit of the world.
Mario: Yeah
Angela: just take a deep breath
because, loudly talking shit
is not gonna help anything.
The players are gonna see it.
The players are gonna hear it.
They live it.
They internalize it.
They are dealing with it.
And, I get it 'cause I'm frustrated, too.
I wanna see them win.
This is my money.
I have season tickets, too.
But, guys,
Mario: I,
Angela: Jesus
Mario: also s- I will also say this,
and, and this is true for, I will say,
a, probably a good majority of them.
Not all of them.
Some people take, This is a job, right?
This is work for them.
They are frustrated at
work, basically, right?
some people take that
frustration home, right?
And it sits with them.
Angela: Yeah
Mario: Other people can
leave it alone, right?
They, a lot of them can compartmentalize,
can be like, "Look, when I'm on
the field, when I'm at the prac-
when I'm on practice, when I'm,
in the stadium, it's game time.
We're losing at practice.
We're working on it.
We're frustrated.
We're running the drills.
When I go home, I don't need
to be thinking about that.
I don't need to be bringing
that negativity with me or,
or that intensity with me."
Being intense 100% of the time is,
Angela: not good for
you
Mario: it's not good.
You're just gonna age really, really fast.
it's not a good thing.
and then on top of that-
It's a game, people.
We're fans of a game.
just put that little bit of perspective
in your head again, when before
you're about to type some stupid ass
comment, some stupid ass tirade about
Angela: Yeah
Mario: what, and then everybody
else looking at you like, "Ew."
Angela: Yeah, and
Mario: think about it
Angela: too because, I look at this Ag-
at the community that Angel City has
built around the team, women's soccer as
a whole, and I know, the friends I have
made, the people I consider family, like,
all, hundreds of thousands of people
that have rallied around this team.
are you right now?
it-- just, I have so much to
say about it, but, it'sâ¦
One, I know for the most part
I'm preaching to the choir.
Two, there's gonna be assholes.
I get it.
I have, I have been one.
Sometimes I am one.
I, like you said, I know what it feels
like to be frustrated at work and not
be able to figure out how to fix it.
I get it.
On a cellular level, I get it.
And-- Or in competition, knowing that
you can't figure something out and
you're losing because of it, and it
sucks, and it's ass, and you go home and
you're like, "That was the worst fill
in the blank I've ever done, game I've
played, worst meet I've had," whatever.
You don't need to have, a, a
dump truck then dump a pile
of extra shit on top of you.
And I think just generally as a
whole, one, people need to be kinder
because humanity is important, and
two, we need to kinda bring back
shame and bring back being embarrassed
because guys, chill the fuck out.
That'sâ¦
Okay, that's myâ¦
I'm gonna justâ¦
That's my soapbox.
It's put away
Mario: We're,
Angela: this part of
Mario: we- As,
Angela: you.
Mario: as, as we've been
saying, we're here for the team.
We're ride or die.
But
In a figurative way, like there is a
way where I'm like, "I'm gonna step
off this before you go a little crazy."
right?
so
Angela: Mm-hmm.
Mario: just, always in anything you
do in life, anything, work, family,
home, being at the game, working on a
model, a Lego model, whatever you're
doing, if you're getting frustrated and
you're hitting that point of it's not
bringing you joy anymore, take a second.
Right?
Do everything that you do with
intention, and if, unfortunately, if your
intention is that, then fuck you, but
Angela: Is it rethink something?
Mario: yeah, yeah.
But, we get it.
Everybody gets frustrated.
Everybody, everybody wants to vent.
Sports gets you that way.
And yes, be upset.
Be- have those feelings.
That's what footy therapy is for.
we're all here to, to vent.
The beginning of footy therapy
ends up being a venting session.
Towards the end of it,
we're all cracking jokes.
Angela: Yeah
Mario: was singing, Baby Vets as a
Baby Shark song in our, in our Discord.
So I mean,
Angela: Yep
Mario: that's where we get to
the point of like you expressed
it and you are okay now.
You're not bottling it in.
All right.
My mini soapbox off, out of the way
Angela: my other really quick side note
soapbox, if it gets any louder in BMO
Mario: I'm so sorry
Angela: I'm in the press box
and my chair is vibrating.
Why?
Why do I feel like I need to wear
earplugs and noise-canceling headphones?
Why do I have a migraine the next day?
Why do I have a headache
for two days after a game?
Mario: This is, this is probably
gonna be clipped a- again, but
Angela: I don't understand.
Mario: when I can
Angela: people outside of our podcast
community, I'm-- no, I'm dead serious,
being like, "Were you at the game?
Is it always that loud?
Why is it that loud?
is this happening?
Why does it
Mario: I
Angela: louder?"
Mario: So I, I, a lot of this is okay,
look, if I can hear and I can say watching
from home, hearing through the broadcast,
"Damn, that's really loud in the stadium."
and it's not really loud
because everybody's cheering.
It's really loud 'cause they're
playing like some EDM Christina
Aguilera song or whatever it is.
they're just
it's, it's stupid loud.
It is.
And then us experiencing recently
going to the, the Portland match,
that was a very respectable volume.
And we're not saying this, we're
not saying this because we are
podcasters of a certain age.
This is definitely a it's too
goddamn loud in there, dude.
seriously.
Angela: so bad.
And I don't know, I
filled out the surveys.
I know people are filling out sur- I know
people who aren't coming to games anymore,
because it's triggering migraines.
It's triggering, tinnitus.
guys, w- there's gonna was joking
that there's gonna be a class action
lawsuit against BMO for all of us
losing our hearing in three years, and
Mario: And
Angela: me up
Mario: so I, and I don't know if
it's a different crew or why it
seems louder, but it's, it's notâ¦
It's loud during the LAFC games.
It's not that loud though.
Angel City games areâ¦
I, personally, it feels like it's
not as loud as an Angel City game.
those speakers are set to 11.
it's stupid loud.
Angela: It's, it's so bad.
And yeah, I have multiple friends that
aren't coming to games as much anymore.
They're only coming to the
matches that they wanna see the
matchup because of how loud it is.
Multiple people have told me
that they've had headaches
after the games, like for days.
triggering migraines in people.
It's overstimulating literally everyone.
And it's like where our seats are,
we're directly under a speaker.
So cool.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: You can't have a conversation with
the person sitting next to you anymore.
That's how loud it is.
And it's honestly such a reprieve
the second the game starts because
it's just people yelling and talking
and it's a normal loud volume.
Mario: Yeah
Angela: not ear-piercing loud.
You can't understand anything
people are saying in the stadium.
You can't understand the lyrics to
the songs that you know the words to.
And then to have people talking
into microphones and then
yelling when the whole point of a
microphone is to amplify your voice.
Mario: So I,
Angela: just
Mario: I, I get, I get the, the on-field
announcers and stuff like that when
they're, like, yelling into the mics
'cause wherever they're at is loud.
Angela: away.
Mario: Wherever they're at is loud,
but they just need to, one, turn down
the gain on the mic, two, turn down the
speakers, and you will balance things out.
you're just
Angela: You're just screamy
Mario: yell, having someone yell
into a mic while the speakers
are turned up to 11 is just gonna
make everything unintelligible.
you can't understand anything.
It's
Angela: It's so frustrating
Mario: Okay.
Angela: That's away.
soapbox away.
Tell us
Mario: All right.
Angela: Mario
Mario: So as we going into the break,
you know, there were other games
that happened over the weekend.
let's see.
Denver beat Racing, 1-0.
Orlando beat Bay 3-1.
KC beat, Boston 1-0.
Utah and Portland tied in aâ¦
Well, I was just watching the,
the, what happened on that, and
it was due to the goalkeeper rule
that finally got enforced, and
Angela: it was wild
Mario: which led to, a corner
kick that equalized for Portland.
They were about to lose, at home,
which apparently they've been on a
winning streak at home since last year.
So yeah, that, that was a wild one.
Spirit beat, Seattle 2-1.
San Diego beat Chicago 2 to nothing.
Gotham beat, Houston 1 to nothing.
And then our match was, one of
the last ones of the weekend.
we do have a little bit of a Chaos Award,
and it's for our first weather delay.
Angela: Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo.
And it, it was either
Houston or Orlando because
Mario: Yeah
Angela: where they are.
And it was Orlando this time.
There was lightning.
Mario: Yeesh.
Angela: Yeah, no thanks
Mario: no.
No, no, no.
I, I, I'll take our
Southern California weather.
It's fine.
Angela: Any day
Mario: So, uh, really quick, on screen
I will bring up the, uh, standings.
I'm only doing the standings check.
I, I told myself, I even have it
in the script, where that it's the
second half of the season where
Permutation Primo's gonna come out
and start talking about standings.
But because we are a third of
the way and we're going to ba-
be taking this big, month-long
break, it's a good time to check.
Now, it's not ideal.
We are down in 12th place.
We have a total of 13 points.
top place right now is San Diego at 25.
it's not as tight as it has been
in past years, although I think the
schedule, because of this month-long,
break, the schedule is really
weird, for, for a number of teams.
we still have two games in hand,
which means, yes, we are at 14, 13
points, but we have played two less
games than most of the other teams.
I would say about half of the other teams.
so the Washington Spirit, Gotham,
who are both high up there, the North
Carolina Courage, Denver, Seattle,
us, and Bay FC, and Racing Louisville
are all on 11 matches played out
of a total of 13 so far possible.
So it's 11 to 13 matches.
The stupid little cute quirk about
the season, beyond already playing
two teams twice and not seeing
them the rest of the season at
all, is we will be two matches down
Angela: Mm-hmm.
Mario: until September 16th.
And the way I found this out was
literally building an- building a
spreadsheet where I was, like, marking
off games per week and counting them,
at least counting them with a formula.
I didn't physically count them.
But September 16th is the day where all
teams are going to be equal finally.
So
Angela: That's
Mario: the 16th, onâ¦
It, it isn't gonna be till the
16th that all teams have played
the exact number of matches.
So it will be, like, the true
standings where nobody's "Oh, we still
got three more points in the bag.
We still got six."
No, September 16th.
So that's the big date of, let's
check the standings that day, and then
there's only a couple weeks till, the,
the end of the season from that point.
it really, it really will, will be
like a race to the finish from there.
whatever the standings are on
the 16th, it, it's gonna be
the mad dash towards the end.
So
Angela: And the crazy
thing is that if weâ¦
we come out in July, let's say
we win that first match against
Orlando, we move up to ninth place.
we go from 12th to ninth like that.
that's the other thing is that right
now because we have those points in the
bag because we're just kind of in this,
weird secret limbo, we can, we can hop.
Every game ends up being a six-pointer.
And the best part is that our record
isn't what we want it to be, but we
still have plus two goal differential.
Mario: We're still positive
in the goal differential
Angela: as a, as a tiebreaker
though, that's what's up.
Mario: too?
That, yeah.
Yeah, yeah
Angela: That's what's up.
Mario: Yeah.
So we
Angela: as it was posted today, we very
truly may be getting Syd back in July.
what it's alluding to.
It's nothing official.
I don't know, it's an assumption.
But like based on Instagram
posts, who's reposting them,
some investigative work
And if there is somebody who I know
who has the ability to come in a game
and essentially mollywhop a team's way
through to a win
Mario: that's a word.
I might have to, define
that for people underneath
Angela: It is Sydney effing Leroux I
don't know if you guys remember, one
of her first games back after her ankle
surgery, injury, all the things, she
scored, into the goal, grabbed the ball,
turned around and said, "Let's fucking
go," and took the ball back to midfield.
she is not one to waste time.
She is not one to rest on her laurels.
And with, with Claire being
back, we have that push again.
With Syd being back, we're
gonna have that push.
With Svends coming back and
being healthy, same thing.
Riley Tiernan is gonna find her way again.
We have the people, just
need them to be the pitch.
That's, minor things.
Just
a couple caveats here and there.
Mario: they, they say if you score more
than the other team, you end up winning.
Angela: What?
Oh my God
Mario: Little, little
unknown secret there.
Angela: Yeah, I have
faith in this team, guys.
They still have confidence.
They still feel very, proud
of what they've accomplished
and excited to do more.
So I think this month is gonna be
a good couple weeks to, recover,
physically recover, and then just balls
to the wall, figure this shit out.
throw spaghetti at the wall, see
what happens while you have time.
And then, yeah
That's all
Mario: All right.
Well, we're gonna be going, the NWSL's
gonna be going on break because of
the boys and international friendlies.
so that's gonna happen.
There were some cryptic posts
about the NWSL Road to Summer
or something like that.
Angela: Yeah,
Mario: They were making an announcement.
Yeah.
Yeah.
d- did w- did they release
any other info beyond that?
I might cut this out, but
Angela: doing a bunch of stuff for Pride.
like Angel City and the
NWSL, Pride matches.
Portland had their Pride match on Sunday.
Everybody else's are in July.
but the, whatchamacallit, they're
doing soccer camps, they're doing watch
parties, pickup games, random events,
all kinds of stuff all over the city.
So we'll post stuff as we see
it and as we find out about it.
But yeah,
Mario: Okay, that's what that was.
I--
Angela: Those,
Mario: when I saw that
Angela: are gonna be out and about
Mario: When, when I saw that I thought
this was, another one of those you know
what they did with the, the wor- the last
World Cup where they were like, "Hey, all
of our international players are gone,
but we're still gonna have a tournament."
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: A-
Angela: That
Mario: and thenâ¦
But then there was also injuries that
resulted out of that thing, and then
Angela: Yeah
Mario: So that's what I thought that was.
But if it's a whole thing of like
more just kind of soccer programming
around the, the, the international
game, I think I'm all for that.
And yeah, as, as all that info
comes out, we'll keep posting it.
You'll probably see it.
We'll repost it.
You'll probably see it
through us, so it's all good
Angela: Yeah.
But I hope you enjoyed this recap
and deep dive into, mentality
around sports in America.
you listened this far and got through this
episode, thank you so much for listening.
Thank you for s-so much for being here.
Do us a favor if you haven't already
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Mario: Yeah
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Last but not least, have a whole month
coming up to accumulate good luck going
into the second third of the season,
'cause I will not be wrong again.
Sorry, Coach.
not only do we have back passes
episodes coming up for you with some
very cool topics, we have all these
weeks to shore up our stockhold of
good luck and good vibes and healthy
bodies going forth for Angel City.
Send them our way.
We'll get them to the team.
And with that, guys.
See you in a couple weeks.