Sam's Army

Sam and Mikey discuss the ridiculous circumstances surrounding a twitter mob (led by cornball-in-chief Grant Wahl) coming after Sam this week. Weekly hypothetical: if you could clone one player 11 times, who would make the best team? Thoughts on CBS's coverage. Corona silver linings. Champions and Europa League previews + predictions. Thoughts on MLS is Back final.

Larry Nance Jr. & Mikey Fowler join Sam to put the finishing touches on the 2019-20 season, featuring the biggest highlights and lowlights. We also take a way-way-way-too-early look at what to expect in 2020-21 and close the segment with a preview of Arsenal vs Chelsea in this weekend's FA Cup final and MLSisBack knockouts. Next up, [[45:40]] newly minted 2020 Challenge Cup champion Bri Visalli of Houston Dash stops by to discuss drug arrests inside the NWSL bubble, NARPs, Dash’s journey from powdered eggs to avocado toast, the power of the twerk, the surprising secret about Utah’s Bud Heavy’s, taking the Challenge Cup trophy to Magic Mike, her time playing for West Ham and Birmingham City, if teams party harder in the US or UK and contemplating a name change to Brinedict Arnoldsalli (among many other topics).

Toronto FC's Alex Bono offers an update on what life is like after a month in the including 'snitch line' gossip and the inside scoop on the brewing rivalry with DC United. MLSisBack group stage recap and preview of the knockout stage. Recap of a crazy week in the Premier League and especially Championship -- Swansea! Nottingham Forest :( -- and setting the stage for the massive weekend ahead. Next, Sam chats with Watford's Daniel Bachmann [one hour mark] about his evolution from athlete (downhill skier) to GK, making jump from Austria to UK, what cold rainy nights are *really* like in Stoke, his agent "love triangle" and messy breakup, mall-hopping in Dubai with Peter Crouch, what life in the midst of Watford's relegation fight is like and whether the USA or Austria will win a World Cup first [plus Daniel's thoughts on The Babyjesus].

Sam chats with Max Bretos and Mikey Fowler to discuss the fallout from CAS decision to overturn Man City's two-year Champions League ban. Also, some thoughts on Tottenham's "historic" win in the North London Dangly Dærby and a preview (and some predictions) for the games and teams to watch this week, featuring top FOUR/relegation battles, FA Cup, Atalanta, MLS and finally the NWSL playoffs. Finally, the latest "Profiles in Bubble Courage" with Matt Freese of the Philadelphia Union [[47 minutes]] in which we come up with a plan for MLS to wrestle back the spotlight from the NBA, dig a little deeper into the newly ascendent Union and debut a new "Media Training 101" segment. (ps: Matt also comes clean on the REAL reason there was a 0.0000% chance the Union were going to lose to Inter Miami this week.)

The MLSisBack tourney is just getting underway so Sam sat down with another group of embedded bubble spies to find out what the anxiety level is among players, the lowdown on the "MLS is Back Insider" twitter account that has been taking potshots at Don Garber, whether comfort sex dolls have been considered and comparisons with the NBA bubble. Big thanks to Chicago's Brandt Bronico [00:01:40], FCC's Spencer Richey [00:17:41], Portland's Steve Clark and Colorado's Keegan Rosenberry [00:40:24]. ALSO, free of charge, we are throwing in a quick and dirty weekend preview [01:09:30] wherein Sam and Mikey Fowler discuss the North London Dangly Dærby -- aka Arsenal and Tottenham's Super Bowl -- as well as the other games to watch around Europe, and a breakdown of the Champions League draw.

On the eve of the start of the MLSisBack tournament, Sam sat down one-by-one with a bunch of players -- this episode features RBNY's Tim Parker, SJ's JT Marcinkowski, DC's Julian Gressel and NE's Matt Turner -- to find out what life is like in the bubble, and get a better sense of anxiety levels, if the Fyre Fest sandwiches are really that bad and what the plan is for when horniness levels surpass critical. They also gave an assessment of lessons learned about their respective teams' in the first two (pre-corona) games, plus an inside preview of how they see the groups shaping up.

Larry Nance Jr. and Mikey Fowler drop by to discuss this week's headlines, notably Liverpool's long-awaited title and the rebirth of The Babyjesus, as well as to break down the notable results and what's what in the battle for Top 5 and relegation pillow fight. We also look forward to the big games this weekend, including two with massive Champions League implications (Wolves/Arsenal and Lester/Palace), and close out with a rapid rundown on what's going on in La Liga, Serie A, MLS and NWSL.

Max Bretos & Mikey Fowler join to delve into this week's biggest storylines, including the Premier League's battle for top 5 and relegation, VAR controversy in La Liga, the must-watch game of the week in Serie A, and what's up for grabs in the Bundesliga's final matchday. In addition, Sarah Gorden of the Chicago Red Stars [31:00] discusses life in the NWSL, misconceptions and the most annoying thing people say to female athletes [note: do NOT do this], creepiest DMs and an inside preview of the Challenge Cup that kicks off in Utah this weekend.

Folks, we made it. The Premier League kicks back off this week so Mikey Fowler (Arsenal) and the Cavs' Larry Nance Jr. (Chelsea) joined Sam (completely neutral and totally unbiased) to give everyone a quick refresher on the biggest storylines so far this season, who benefited most/least from the pandemic, teams/games to watch going forward plus plenty of predictions you can laugh at us about later. Also, quick shoutouts for Sam's Soccer 'Stablishment of the week, Serie A (back this week) and QPR (keep an eye on Geoff Cameron and QPR... just sayin).

In preparation for this week's return of La Liga, Max Bretos and Mikey Fowler join Sam to help get everybody up to speed on what has happened so far this season and what to watch for in the coming weeks. Everything you need to know about the two-horse title race, the five/six-way battle for Top 4 (including what's at stake for Atletico and which clubs bring the sexy) and relegation dogfight. Come for the soccer talk, stay for someone saying "spot of bother" and getting mocked relentlessly [not naming names].