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The next time. Hello, hello, everybody, and welcome to the Total Soccer Show.

My name is Taylor Rockwell, and it's Tuesday, which means it's time to do some MLS updating here with me to do the majority of that updating our two friends.

Up first, it's Joe, professional color commentator Lowry.

Joe, were you able to make a 1-0 home loss to Tulsa an enjoyable experience for the home viewers?

You know, I haven't been able to pull everyone. I also wasn't ready for that wound just to be re-exposed to everybody like that. Phoenix Rising did start their season on Saturday. Lots of fun. I had a good time. I would like to think that some other people either watching in person or via the TVs. I don't know why I made that so complicated on ESPN Plus or wherever else the game was shown. I'd like to think that they had some fun as well. But to be honest, Taylor, I really don't know. Yeah. Well, I'm sure you did your best. And I'm sure you did it wonderfully. And I'm sure were you in a suit? Were you in a blazer? How fancy were there? I was in a suit. Yes, although I actually put a sweater on for the open because the suit felt just a little too much for the circumstances, but the suit was on during the game also because it was cold. And I'm not going to back down from that, nor am I going to say anything more about the weather because that's lame. I appreciate that. Joining us today is Jeff, I don't know if he's done color commentary, but I assume we'd be good at it. Rooter Jeff, how you doing, my friend? I'm doing great. Joe, question for you. Is there a local blackout on ESPN Plus? Like, do you at least get the peace of mind that Phoenix fans who were watching were expats who were just happy to see the team again? So even if they lost, It's not like a miserable for the culture of Phoenix moment. It's a great way to frame a black hood as a positive.

No, I's not like a miserable for the, the culture of Phoenix moment. It's a great way to frame a blackout as a positive. No, I'm not aware of there being a blackout. I've always got to peel back the curtain. I've always got the ESPN Plus feed rolling during the game so I can toggle back myself and catch little things during stopages. Do you listen to yourself during a cold joke? No, no, no, no, no, no. That thing's on mute. I mean, I'm not trying to have the producers deal with my voice in real life. And then my voice coming back through the ESPN Plus feed into my mic, into the producers. I don't think I hate anybody that much, frankly. Good to know, because that's like competitive grade when your phone is echoing. Someone has you on speakerphone and you can hear yourself in the background and you're just like, I need to collect my thoughts again. If you were doing that for a full 90 minutes, you would be the consummate professional. Yeah, that's the next level. That's next level. So there you go. I've heard those stories about like Kanye listening to himself at his own house parties. And I do kind of picture Joe like, oh, that's such a good point, Joe. That's good. Great work. Wait till you hear this one, Seth Rogen. Yeah, for some reason, people whenever, whenever they come over to my place, don't love it when I just have my own voice rolling via the Total Soccer Show or Phoenix Rising Games on the TV. I don't know why. That just is never like as big of a hit as I feel like it should be. I don't know. I feel like I'm missing something. Underappreciated in your time, history will

look back fondly. Really is true, Jeff, really is true. Speaking of underappreciated in their time, that's my segue to talk about some of the teams we're going to talk about today, because we're going to kind of run around the league and do some of the big stories from this weekend or some of the

big trends thus far in the season.

And we're going to start with the Philadelphia Union, who I thought were going to be bad.

B.A.D. All caps. I was very concerned about the sacking of Jim Curtin. I thought it was a mistake.

Joe did not. Turns out Joe was right. So with the understanding that I don't know this team as well as I think I did, Joe, can you set the table for people? How many academy players are playing for the union right now? How many teenagers, designated players? What is the makeup of this union team for people who haven't been watching them?

Yeah, the union have designated players. They signed Bruno Damiani.

Bruno Damiani as a young designated player. They've got Mikhail Ura. They have some, some players who are at the top of this roster. They also, though, have a lot of teenagers.

And that is the Philadelphia Union thing, where Kevin Sullivan got minutes a couple of weekends

ago. And they're starting Frankie Westfield at right back for this team as a 19 year old. He made his professional debut on match day one and has been quite good for them as a right back. They're starting old Wethu, McCona. I'll admit that's the first time I've ever said his name out loud. I feel like it went pretty well. They're starting. They're starting McCona as the centerback and he's 20 years old. He started every single game next to Jakob Glezness so far. So it is, it's a young team, and that's what Ernst Tanner wants this team to be. They don't go out and spend a ton of money on flashy designated players. They didn't, frankly, in my mind, have a phenomenal offseason, where you look at them spending their real cash on Damiani coming in from South America. And I think I talked about this recently. I didn't see Stryker as being a real position of need for this team. They go out there and they add Yovanovon Lukic in Central Midfield and they move Jack McGlynn going the other way. They also lost, why is this name escaping me? Leon Flock. They also lost, Leon Flaq. They lost like 4,000 plus minutes in Central Midfield. And Lukic is kind of the guy earmarked to replace some of those minutes. And then they eventually trade for Indy Vasselet as well. Bradley Cornell's former player at St. Louis City. It's just all working right now. The union look cohesive in the early stages, even with this odd first team roster.

And this isn't new, right?

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