Nos Audietis

The Sounders got off to a pretty awesome start to their 2023 MLS regular season. The 4-0 win over the Colorado Rapids was every bit as convincing as the score suggested and we had a ton of impressive performances, highlighted for me by Jordan Morris brace and general involvement in just about every dangerous chance the sounders had.

It's obviously just one game and the Rapids might be bad -- and were at least missing a couple starters -- but this was a very positive performance either way. Suffice it to say, we were pretty excited to talk abou this one.

Of course, we also made time to take your questions.

Sponsors

Full Pull Wines

Watson's Counter

This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)

After an odd preseason that featured the FIFA Club World basically in the middle of it, the Seattle Sounders are finally just days away from their MLS regular season opener. To help preview the season, Aaron and Jeremiah welcomed Sounder at Heart colleagues Susie Rantz and Mark Kastner to the show to help us. We discussed our outlook for the season and explained some of the tactical tweaks the Sounders are implementing that they hope can help get them back to their rightful place atop MLS.

In the second segment, we discussed some of the developments in the Apple deal and the rule changes that were implemented just a few days before the start of the season.

This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)

The Seattle Sounders will be playing Louisville City in their final preseason game on Saturday. To help give us a sense of what kind of opponent the Sounders are facing, we reached out to Vince Irvin. Vince is better known as a contributor to the Scuffed Podcast where he opines on the United States national team, but he's also a Louisville season-ticket holder.

This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0) Sponsor read: James Woollard

The Club World Cup came at a particularly inopportune time for the Seattle Sounders. Despite being about midway through their preseason, however, the Sounders acquitted themselves well and actually looked like the better team for much of their loss to Al Ahly. We discussed this game, expressed some frustration with Brian Schmetzer's substitution patterns and looked ahead to the regular season while also taking a wide range of questions from listeners.

This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0) Sponsor read: James Woollard

Don't worry, we understand that almost no one really wants to be talking about things like sponsorships right now. But the Seattle Sounders' decision to join forces with Providence on a wide-ranging "partnership" that also happens to include the Catholic healthcare provider's name being prominently displayed on their jerseys has made completely moving on rather difficult. Fans remain upset and the Sounders are still seeking to calm those tensions.

In the last week, the Sounders have met with ECS, the Alliance Council and other supporters' groups to at least begin the process of coming to an understanding. Similarly, they asked to talk to us and, more importantly, our audience.

Jeremiah met with Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer Taylor Graham as well as COO Maya Mendoza-Exstrom at Longacres on Monday to sort of replicate some of those conversations. 

This much was clear: the individuals who run the Sounders remain as committed as ever to championing these causes. In fact, they gave the impression that they want to put those issues even more front and center. 

For some fans, we imagine this will come as comfort. For others, it's entirely fair to question the sincerity of that commitment given Providence's positions on those causes.

We hope this interview at least gives you some of the information you need to decide for yourself.

Note: This is the first of what will become a regular series of interviews. This is available to all subscribers, but we'll likely start releasing extended cuts for paid subscribers through Substack in the next few months. 

This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)

Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.

We caught up with Sam Rogers while he was with the United States national team in Los Angeles. It's been quite a couple years for Rogers, who turned disappointment over not making the Sounders first team into a journey that now has him poised to win his first senior national team cap. We talked about that journey and how he's enjoying life in Norway.

Note: This is the first of what will become a regular series of interviews. This is available to all subscribers, but we'll likely start releasing extended cuts for paid subscribers through Substack in the next few months. 

Garth Lagerwey is out as the Sounders GM and was very quickly replaced by Craig Waibel, who joined the team about 18 months ago. We feel like this is a solid move, but understand that a lot of fans would like to see some proof.

This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)

Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.

They clearly aren't the two most popular picks for the United States' World Cup roster, but we are thrilled for Cristian Roldan and Jordan Morris making the trip to Qatar. If you're inclined to defend those picks to anyone, we give you plenty of ammunition.

This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)

Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.

Will Bruin returns from a long time away from us to record what could be his final podcast with us. Will broke the news that his option was declined, but shared some thoughts on the highs and lows of 2022 and how a season with so much promise ultimately went off the rails. It's definitely worth a listen.

Thanks to Fast Fashion brewery for hosting our recording session!

Musics: "Bumped into Bigfoot" - Bedford; "Cutthroat" - prod. by Syndrome

The Seattle Sounders aren't quite dead, yet, but they are very much on life support after dropping two points at home against FC Cincinnati. We discuss how big of a deal it is that this 13-year of playoff qualification might now end.

This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)

Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.