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A hearty welcome to American Soccer Man Alexi Lalas. He’s sometimes discussed as “controversial” in sports media, but is he? We get into how and why he expresses his views, how the culture is shifting, and how athletes are different from us. We also look back at his and Carli Lloyd’s viral 2023 World Cup commentary. Enjoy topics that include but are not limited to…

* How does Alexi feel now about suddenly becoming a famous Gen Xer in 1994?

* Alexi’s problem with soccer fans who “gate keep” soccer fandom

* America’s the only nation where soccer fan can be coded as “well educated snob”

* Why Lalas posted a 1993 photo of himself with the caption:

Yup, in 1993 you would have seen this dude was flying down the 5 freeway into the warm golden California sun, with the windows down cranking Rush Limbaugh....and Ratt

* Are athletes, including soccer players, more small “c” conservative than media?

* How the NBA (cynically) stopped involving itself in politics

* That time Alexi tweeted, “'Don’t kill the messenger. This #USWNT is polarizing”

* Looking back on Bill Walton

* Alexi thinks society would heal if all group chats were made public

* His view on Megan Rapinoe

* “Not everyone is wired like Carli Lloyd”