Hello, everybody and welcome to the Total Soccer Show.

My name is Taylor Rockwell.

On today's episode, we're talking a little more Dosaceto.

We're talking angry Columbus fans, happy and wet Red Bull supporters, and good times for L.A.F.C.

Here with me to do all of those things is a man who rewatch the U.S. has another hour of thoughts to share. It's Joe Lowry. Joe, a pleasant Tyler Adams to you, my friend. The crazy thing is I probably do have another hour of thoughts to share. I am encouraged that I won't have to do that because we are joined by another lovely gentleman. Taylor, I just, I'm just so glad that I know if there was a rainstorm, you would give me your jacket. That's what I'm. Of course I would, of course I would, Joe. I think you might, it might be that awkward situation of the, the mascots being taller than the player that is standing in front of them, but yeah, yeah, I would share my jacket with you all the same. The third individual, Joe mentioned, a man who no longer has to entertain the possibility

of being a replacement referee. It's David Goss. Hello, David. No getting screamed at

by MLS players for making the wrong call for you. Congratulations. I would be the worst ref because

I'd yell back more. I'd be like, my mistake, do you just dribble out? Was that you? Okay? Can we get some level of

quality in this game? Would you, I feel like you'd be the sarcastic, like, bemused official? I feel like

you'd go a different route. Would you, would you be the agro ref, or would you be the like,

I'm just assuming I treat players the way I treat reps sometimes. Okay. So, also can I go back to, have you guys seen Wet Hot American Summer? It's been a while, but yes. There's like a great scene because it's a bad movie where, yeah, I know Joe. I didn't even have to guess on that. That was kind of question for Taylor. It's nice of you to include me, gosh, but yeah, let's keep. We're like, they're like out at night and the guy gives the woman his jacket because she's cold and then he gets cold. So then she gives him her sweatshirt. And that's how I would picture you guys just trading jackets in the rain. Because Taylor's cold and he doesn't want to get wet. So he's stuck in the middle.

That works well.

That works well.

Thank you for that, David. Joe, no wet hot American summer for you. I am shocked. But we do have the end of replacement officials in Major League Soccer. Joe, that solves all the problems. Everything's good again? I mean, it's helpful. When we're talking about some of the PR hits that MLS has taken this year and there have been several, let's not get it twisted, the refereeing issues are towards the top of that list.

And so the fact that the union and pro could come together and finally find a deal after we have not had the actual, you know, qualified, fully qualified referees on the field in an MLS game in 2024, that is literally only a good thing. It seems like the referees got a lot of what they wanted, which is encouraging. It seems like

they're going to be compensated at a noticeably higher level. That was the big thing that they

were obviously looking for. And as a spectator of Major League Soccer, I am looking forward to seeing more folks out there on the field who have control of the game, who have respect of the players. And that is one of the main things you talk to players, you talk to other referees, and I have done both of those things during this time when we haven't seen the refs on the field. The biggest thing is not so much the call, so we'll talk about that later, maybe a bit, but is more the respect, like the ability to control a game, to keep it moving, to keep it flowing in the way that we all sort of know the sport should flow. And these referees who have been drafted or who have scabbed their way into service, they don't have that.

So it is a good thing for me,

sitting on my couch, watching a lot of MLS every weekend,

to see games that actually feel more like real soccer games.

Scabbed their way into service is quite the phrase.

Well done, Joe.

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