Nos Audietis

Let it be said that Cristian Roldan is a very good sport. The Seattle Sounders midfielder certainly did not have to agree to an interview that took close to an hour. He sure as heck didn’t have to then follow that up by going to YachtCon and participating in a panel. On top of all that, he did it with a smile.

Not only a smile, but he acted like he enjoyed the whole thing. When we told him that we wanted to ask him a bunch of questions about Jordan Morris and told him to get exacerbated at some point, he made it seem totally natural (it probably helped that the emotion likely came from a real place). When we suggested that he take a bite of pizza while answering another question about eating pizza during an interview, he proclaimed that he loved the idea.

Among the issues we touched on — aside from his friendship with Morris — were his upbringing in an immigrant family, what areas of his game he most wants to improve and his overall outlook on life.

I’ve enjoyed most of the interviews I’ve done over the years, but no one acted as if they enjoyed it quite as much as Cristian. Hopefully that comes across in this fuller version of the interview we first aired at YachtCon.

Opening training camp as the defending MLS Cup champions has a certain ring to it, doesn’t it? The Seattle Sounders did just that this week, and there were no shortage of storylines.

The most interesting was probably the health of Clint Dempsey. The Designated Player has been fully cleared to train and even participated in the beep test on Thursday. It’s looking very much like he’ll be ready to go for First Kick.

Among the host of trialists, was a familiar name: Steve Zakuani. While it’s not entirely clear if he’s actually on trial or just hanging around, he too did the beep test and is looking very much like a player who could potentially contend for a roster spot.

There’s also a host of rumors attaching players to the Sounders, perhaps most notably one Fredy Montero.

Jeremiah and Aaron talk all about this stuff, as well as find time to take your wonderful questions.

All things considered, waiting eight years to win a championship doesn’t seem that bad. Rather, it was the uncertain nature of when it would actually happen that made it so tough.

Now that we have the mildly elusive Philip Anschutz Trophy in our possession, though, it sure is nice, right? There’s a mild debate raging outside of the Sounders-phere as to how deserving we are. Aaron and Jeremiah essentially dismiss the discussion out of hand, pointing out that how you win the cup is an academic argument and takes nothing away from simply having won.

They also spend a fair amount of time discussing the Victory March, which was just about perfect.

In so many ways, 2016 has been the worst season in Seattle Sounders history. It started with one of the most tumultuous offseasons in their brief history as they lost several fan favorites, including Obafemi Martins. It continued with frustrating loss to Club America in CONCACAF Champions League and into the regular season with three straight losses, a 6-12-2 start and a week spent in last place. Even one of the biggest highlights — signing Nicolas Lodeiro — was preceded by nasty negotiations with Boca Juniors and followed by Clint Dempsey’s heart issues.

There were off-field issues as well, starting with the whole mobile-ticketing fiasco and several public disagreements between the front office and supporters groups.

Given all that, it’s not shocking that Adrian Hanauer still has mixed emotions heading into Saturday’s MLS Cup, as he admits that he takes each failure personally.

We talked to Hanauer in his Pioneer Square office above The Ninety on Thursday for what we feel is some interesting insight into a season that may well end on the highest high in Seattle soccer history.

We encountered several technical difficulties in attempting to get this week’s show into your earholes, but we like to think it was worth it. Richard Farley joined Jeremiah in the first segment and they basically broke down the Colorado Rapids series while looking head to the MLS Cup matchup with Toronto FC.

Both basically agreed that while TFC is scoring in bunches, their defense leaves plenty of room for question marks. Conversely, this is a Sounders defense that has allowed just three goals in five playoff games. The prospect of this being a bit of a shootout seem reasonably strong.

As usual, Jeremiah and Aaron close out the show with a question-and-answer segment. Enjoy.

Thanks to a rather long break in the MLS playoff schedule, it feels like quite a long time ago that the Seattle Sounders got past FC Dallas to qualify for the Western Conference finals. But here we are and the Sounders are actually looking like favorites against the Colorado Rapids.

Aaron and Jeremiah are actually feeling pretty good, too, especially as the Sounders are not playing the way we’re used to them playing in the postseason. This is feeling like it could be special.

We weren’t sure if we were going to record this week, especially since Aaron has a bit of a superstition about doing stuff like this in the middle of a series. But with Wednesday’s news that Brian Schmetzer was having the interim tag removed from his title, we felt we owed to all of you to focus on that especially since the next time we record that bit of news will likely be lost.

In order to relieve Aaron of his superstition, we brought on Richard Farley to discuss the hiring with Jeremiah. As usual, Richard gives us a bit more of a national perspective on the hiring.

One thing they focused on was how different the perception of the announcement was outside of Seattle. While here, it seemed to make a certain amount of sense to unveil Schmetzer in front of a massive group of fans, nationally it looked as if the Sounders buried the news by announcing on a weeknight while Game 7 of the World Series was being played.

Enjoy.

At one point in this week’s show we were asked “what one word would you use to describe this season?” Our best answer: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

It has been a wild season, and it’s going to continue for at least one more game. The Seattle Sounders have gone to depths they’ve never before experienced and managed to come out of it in reasonably good shape as they’ll be hosting a Knockout Round game.

To help Jeremiah and Aaron make sense of this crazy season, we brought back Richard Farley onto the show. They talk about the Sounders’ chances at making it all the way to MLS Cup, what Brian Schmetzer still needs to do in order to get the fulltime gig and they answer your questions. Enjoy.

Last time we recorded we were talking about the Seattle Sounders needing a win to secure their spot in the playoffs. Two matches later, they still need the same thing.

This isn’t an ideal position for the Sounders to find themselves in, but considering the situation a couple months ago it’s definitely progress.

To help us get a handle on what kind of opponent stands in their way, we enlisted the help of Real Salt Lake fan Jason Greenwood (@neaterguyonline). That may seem like a rather random guest, but you have probably seen Jason’s work on Twitter at some point. He’s the guy notorious for masquerading as various soccer journalists and spreading false rumors.

He’s a divisive figure, to be sure, but we also find him pretty funny. It’s not just the imitations themselves, it’s how mad “real” journalists get about it. The guy has been banned from Twitter at least three times.

With the short week, we weren't able to do a full episode. We did however get a chance to talk to Seattle U men's soccer coach and Sounders broadcast analyst Pete Fewing. We figured now would be as good a time as any to share that interview.

If you don't know, Fewing is a Seattle soccer original. He's been around the game here his whole life, playing against the likes of Brian Schmetzer as a youth, then playing at the University of Washington and for Seattle FC. He began coaching at Seattle U way back in 1988 and put together one of the strongest NAIA programs in the nation, winning a national title in 1997 and eventually moving up to NCAA Division II. There, he led the Redhawks to an undefeated campaign in 2004 that culminated with another national title. He left Seattle U in 2005 and spent a few years coaching the Kitsap Pumas, notably nearly leading them to an upset of the Sounders in the U.S. Open Cup in 2011.

He eventually returned to Seattle U and helped guide them to Division I in 2012. Last year he guided them to a Western Athletic Conference title and into the NCAA's Sweet 16. Over 18 seasons, he's won 220 games, registered a winning percentage of better than 60 percent and suffered through just three losing seasons.