RootsPod

With Luis De Guzman. We discuss some news surrounding the World Cup and some other news surrounding the Coliseum deal. (Some of our speculation is, incredibly, potentially already out of date, but that’s not about to stop us.) We also praise the Roots’ performance against Orange County, and ask what is needed for the record … More RootsPod Episode 114: A Fiduciary Obligation to Their Shareholders

6 minutes of Shambolic Defense, a welcome red card, and Tucker Freaking Lepley. The El Paso match had it all.* We discuss, plus muse about the appropriate approach to the USL Cup, and ponder the musical guest for small business night.

Meh? A 2-2 draw on the east coast has us in a holding pattern, still encouraged by the quality of the play, but wary of the quality of results. Peter expresses some concern about the Oak-ness Monster tie-in. Jon drinks Decoy.

Luis De Guzman makes his pod debut! We talk about Peter Wilson, back line depth, and exactly how one should deploy Neveal Hackshaw, if at all. Peter teaches us about obselete characters in the English language.

We are joined by special guest Q from Hooligan Soccer, who offers his insights on the Roots season so far, and provides a referee’s perspective on the Spiegel Incident. Broad optimism about the direction of the team is tempered somewhat by a growing injury list. Onways and upwards, regardless.

The topic du jour is, of course, Raphael Spiegel’s moment of madness, a truly glorious addition to Roots soccer lore. We also talk formations, CBA negotiations, and the World Cup, and stray further into geopolitics than we normally do. Aaron calls him “Brian Jacquesson” instead of “Bertin Jacquesson”.

With special guest Dan Poulter. An unusually philosophical episode. Things are still good, but its only natural to focus on the 20 minutes during which the Roots lost their unblemished season. But things still look really good for the Roots. Maybe not so much for the world, though.

We’re never losing again! But more importantly, Jon talks to the Voice of the Oakland Roots, Joe Malfa, in a fantastically interesting interview. (Skip to 28:43 if you’re just here for Joe.)

The Bloggers are hyped by Roots opening week 1-0 win over Monterey Bay. The midfield and defense receive glowing reviews. The attack receives an optimistic incomplete. Such is the excitement surrounding the win that for one week, world events go unmentioned. It won’t happen again, probably.

The season is here! Probably! If the labor stuff can get worked out! But if it does, the Roots might be pretty good this year!