Sam's Army

Michael Nsien explainshow soccer took him around the world then brought him right back to his hometown in Oklahoma where he is now the head coach of FC Tulsa in the USL Championship. He offers a unique perspective on the last few weeks, including the poignancy of marching through Black Wall Street (scene of a terrible but little known race-based massacre a century ago), and whether black squares on Instagram will have any impact. We also discuss his path as a player from Tulsa to Dayton to Nigeria to the Middle East to LA to Portland and how coaching brought him back to Tulsa, then finish up with his thoughts on how we can make sure there are a lot more Michael Nsien's in soccer's future.

Three American soccer legends -- John Harkes, Tab Ramos and Tony Meola -- join Sam and EG to discuss the new documentary "Soccertown USA" outlining their incredible journey from playing together for a club in a small New Jersey town to carrying the USMNT to not one but two World Cups, culminating with a win over tournament favorites Colombia and pushing eventual champion Brazil to the brink in 1994 on home soil. Behind the scenes stories of Tab nearly signing ill-fated contract with NY Cosmos, Meola's ridiculous coming out party with the NT, Harkes' motivation from watching US fall short in WC86 qualifying, *that* game/goal versus T&T, and basically what it was like -- the highs and lows -- laying the foundation for soccer in the US for generations to come.

Sam sits down with Geoff Cameron and Bobby Boswell to discuss Bobby's success in DC, Houston and DC (again); the time he left Turkey with a rash on his balls and a rearranged face; what life was like after being named Mr Virginia by Cosmo magazine; who wore the pants in Geoff/Bobby's CB marriage; and whether Bobby would prefer to be known as Patrick Ewing or Charles Barkley of MLS.

Sam and Richie discuss his insanely rapid ascent from Sunday league in Arizona to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands. We touch on what life is like for a 19yo living and playing abroad, his experience at last summer's U20 World Cup and what Tab Ramos told the team before they beat France, what playing for Ruud van Nistelrooy is like, who the best Fortnite/Call of Duty player is on USYNT, whether he's prefer a move to La Liga or Premiership, where he thinks Sergino Dest will end up playing next and (of course) Richie's latest thoughts on the all-important choice between representing the USA vs Mexico.

Bundesliga is BACK so it's time to prepare your body, mind and soul with a quick and dirty guide to the league and all 18 clubs (plus some 2nd division stragglers) via a discussion involving two bona fide German soccer experts in EG and DC United winger Julian Gressel plus resident numpty Sam. Who's good? Who's bad? Which clubs have the most rabid fans? Which owners suck? What clubs are hated most? Who has the best jerseys? Sit back, relax and let us answer these questions and several more.

USMNT legend Frankie Hejduk joins Sam and EG to discuss why he finally (begrudgingly) chose soccer over surfing, his UCLA and Mutiny days, Bayer Leverkusen adding an extra zero, the [shmershmortion-y] 1998 and [epic] 2002 World Cups, and his mutual romance with Columbus (among others). Incredible career, absolute animal, great guy, fun episode.

Sam and EG are joined by MLS vets Tim Parker and Spencer Richey to chat about their time in Vancouver (aka "Canadian Amsterdam" -- if only in Sam's mind), where they were drafted together and won silverware, and all roads apparently lead to Pierre's. Tim discusses his move back east to Red Bulls, which somehow began with an epic birthday/goodbye cake and ended with him being forced into an SUV by (armed?) dudes in Tijuana. Finally we discuss Tim's (luscious) hair, (crazy) eyes and (gargantuan) calves, Spencer's love of literal dumpster diving, and their relationship with the #DaddyGang. Oh, also, a very illuminating conversation about whether MLS players will be taking that 50% pay cut...

Sam and EG are joined by long-time contributors Mikey and Zah to offer some takes on listener voicemails. We start with the big questions of how the season(s) will play out and what clubs benefited most/least, touch on financial fallout and the impact of Saudi Arabia buying Newcastle, and finish up with some Coutinho talk and repurcussions from US Soccer's decision to kill the Development Academy.

Sam and recurring guest Matt Turner lure Kelyn Rowe onto the program to discuss his time at UCLA (lordy!), why a quick job interview in France/Germany led him to hate Canada, the highs and lows of his initial relationship with New England, sleeping around (*professionally*) last year, and a shockingly civil reconciliation for 2020. While giving him the old what-for, we also discuss Matt's obsession with Game of Thrones, Kelyn's unfortunate opinions on Pixar films, thoughts on a soccer-specific stadium in Boston, whether Robert Kraft knows them from Adam (or Sam) and we finally get to the bottom of Kelyn's LOVE for leathery wines. Also, used couches and possible crabs may have come up (maybe).

Sam and EG sit down with CJ Sapong to discuss his James Madison experience and the uncertainty/ecstasy of draft day; winning both ROY and MLS Cup with SKC, highs and lows of Philly, and shouldering the load during a tough season for the Fire. Amidst the soccer talk we dig into the first thing CJ is gonna do when we finally kill The Rona, his search for Xanadu and first pick for starting a new franchise, googling the meaning of life, plus everybody's favorite game: "Did you or an Instagram model post this caption?" (tbf CJ put on a damn clinic).