We’re back! After a long delay due to COVID-19, nationwide protests for racial justice, and the attempted overthrow of one of our branches of government, we start off strong with Dave Clark, broadcast voice for the Tacoma Defiance and Sounder at Heart contributor, recapping the challenges faced by both the Defiance and the Sounders in 2020 during their respective seasons. Dave also writes about Dungeons & Dragons on his blog, Full Moon Storytelling, including a very interesting write-up on how to incorporate sports play into your D&D game. 

The MLS is Back Tournament (or the COVID Cup as we so lovingly dubbed it) was conducted in Orlando from July 8 – August 11 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. While overall the tournament can be viewed as a successful employment of the “bubble” format we saw throughout professional sports including the NWSL (first successful league to “bubble” in Herriman, UT) and the NBA (also in Orlando at the WWofS). MLS would also return to play post MLS is Back tournament in a regional format that was intended to minimize travel for teams due to the soaring COVID-19 infection rates nationwide. We discuss the challenges of the return to play, the things we missed the most, and how young player development was affected due to the difference in safety protocols between MLS and the USL Championship.

What are the teams’ needs as we head into 2021? The Sounders did not activate options on a lot of players that have been key components for the team over the past few seasons leaving some obvious, and maybe not so obvious, holes in the roster. We also discuss the success of the Sounders as an org in the following of COVID-19 procedures in comparison to other leagues and other teams in Washington. Also, Schmetz is staying put in Seattle and it appears Gonzo Pineda is as well after being on the short list to take over for DC United. We discuss the merits of Brian Schmetzer and his importance to the Sounders organization and their success since he took over as head coach. 

We close it out with our best/worst case scenarios in regard to the upcoming 2021 season.

Regular featured cast:

@muffintopmodel Tim Hamilton

@podfish Steve Ketelsen

@jm_murf John Murphy

@nate_bowling Nathan Bowling (emeritus & occasional)

@cm_peterson Cat Peterson (hiatus)

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Opening/closing theme is a parody of the opening theme from the A-Team (c)1984 Silva America.

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Thanks for listening, and see you in the terraces (hopefully!)!