Red Cards and Questions

Summary

Garage Logic – "Red Cards and Questions"

Date: July 6, 2026
Host: Joe Soucheray ("The Mayor")
Guest: Pete Arnold (and occasional mentions of others)

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Episode Overview

This episode of Garage Logic captures a lively back-and-forth between host Joe Soucheray and recurring guest Pete Arnold, exploring the intersection of sports, common sense, and skepticism—especially regarding soccer (football), the World Cup, Major League Baseball, and the WNBA. The central topics include the oddities of soccer culture, the controversy over a World Cup red card, U.S. birthright citizenship, MLB updates, and discussions on WNBA star Caitlin Clark. The typical GL banter is seasoned with humor, incredulity, and nostalgia for Minnesota sports.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Major League Baseball Talk (00:32–07:52)

• Minnesota Twins' Season

  • Pete lauds Cody Clemens—unexpected MVP candidate and versatile infielder:
    “Now he's not only hitting home runs about every other day, but he solved their second base problem...” (02:06)
  • Ongoing challenges with injured star Byron Buxton:
    “He does not have a strong body.” (03:17)
  • Twins’ offensive turnaround:
    “This team—Joe—they lead the American League in run scored.” (04:26)
  • Commentary on Josh Bell and the rotation; trade speculations about pitcher Ryan.

• AL Central State

  • Both note the mediocrity of the division:
    “Everybody's under 500 except like two teams.” (05:13)

• Yankees' Struggles

  • Joe: “The Yankees look like a disinterested club.” (01:48)
  • Pete shares stat: “First time in the history of the franchise they played four games with three hits or less in a row.” (06:05)

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2. The Great Soccer Debate (07:52–38:55)

Joe's Soccer Skepticism (08:00+)

• Joe attempts to appreciate soccer, expressing persistent confusion and frustration with its rules and low scores:
  • “I have some observations... I'll never figure out the clock that goes backwards.” (08:03)
  • “The net is so big, they should score...they don’t have any guys who can do stuff.” (08:23)
  • “How do you tell if you're great?” (08:48)
  • “I want to see something. I'm not seeing a damn thing.” (11:24)

Pete’s Challenges with Watching Soccer

• Agrees with Joe but notes universal passion; shares firsthand outrage at recent World Cup drama:
  • “France was supposed to win...biggest cluster of nonsense I've ever seen.” (09:01)
  • “Supposedly they were going to start penalizing [diving].” (09:29)

The Red Card Controversy (13:29+)

• Extended discussion of a U.S. player (of Nigerian birth, British upbringing, and U.S. citizenship) who received a red card, which was overturned under odd circumstances:

  • Joe: “He gets a red card because he stepped on somebody’s foot. Did he do it on purpose?” (15:53)
  • Pete: “No, but that didn’t make any difference.” (16:03)

• Satirical take on political interference:

  • Joe: “Do you think this whole BS with Trump intervening was to improve the ratings tonight?” (12:10)
  • Pete: “There’s no other reason... [the U.S.] wanted that birthright citizen back in the lineup.” (13:07)
  • Joe: “Which is ironic considering he was petitioning the Supreme Court to end birthright citizenship.” (13:13)
  • “If it wasn't for Amy Coney Barrett...that guy wouldn't be playing.” (13:15)

• Belgium’s Protest

  • Pete: “They protested this morning. Well, they might not show.” (16:34)
  • Later, news breaks that Belgium's appeal is rejected:
    “I can announce that the appeal of Belgium has been turned down.” (30:09)

• Frustrations with the Game’s Rules and Flow

  • Timekeeping, substitutions, extra time, and lack of player flair are repeatedly questioned:
    • “I don't like that they don't have any players who can do stuff. Michael Jordan stuff.” (11:14)
    • Pete: “They kill a lot of time too...walk up the waves.” (30:55)
    • Joe: “Look at the size of the net. Somebody kicked the bleeping ball into the net. It's huge.” (31:21)

• Historic Soccer Moments & Anecdotes

  • Hand of God goal: “Maradona...the hand of God. He reached out and won the World Cup by reaching out.” (15:12)
  • Nostalgia for original Minnesota Kicks games and Pele’s visit:
    “I was stoned out of my mind just from the secondhand smoke.” (21:58)

• Birthright Citizenship as a Central Theme

  • Joe: “It’s a great triumph for birthright citizenship. That’s what this is.” (39:20)
  • Pete: “Let’s go with it. All right. All right.” (39:35)

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3. WNBA and Caitlin Clark Debates (24:19–27:40)

• Caitlin Clark’s Treatment in WNBA

  • Joe asks: “What’s going to be done about this? Nothing.” (24:46)
  • Pete: “They don’t know what to do...she’s been mugged a few times.” (24:57)
  • Discussion of rising league attention, jealousy over pay, need for increased protection, and league’s leadership struggles.

• League Tipping Point

  • Pete: “Maybe the last...video of the last thing when that Thomas hit her in the throat is going to be the tipping point.” (26:21)

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4. Local Life & Nostalgia (27:32–36:55)

• Garage Floor Upgrades

  • Joe extols the virtues of new polyurea coatings over traditional epoxy:
    “This new stuff...drop a tool on there, it's not going to break it...the current technology for the best garage floors possible.” (29:20)

• Generational Sports Tastes

  • Joe and Pete share family anecdotes about kids and grandkids shifting from soccer to hockey, and the cultural rituals of youth sports:
    “It was a very happy day for me when both the grandkids gave up soccer when they were about seven, went to hockey.” (31:40)
    • Water bottle as all-important piece of equipment for little leaguers:
      “She calls it a drum. It's like a 50-gallon drum water.” (32:30)

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5. More Minnesota Sports Talk (Late Segment, 33:35–35:53)

• Minnesota Wild Trades

  • Discussion of recent hockey trades involving Matt Boldy, Zuccarello, Capricev.
  • Previewing the next NHL season:
    Joe: “The excitement is there for next season.” (34:15)

• AHL's 7-foot Goaltender

  • Jokes about applying size rules from hockey to soccer goalkeepers for more entertaining play.
    “That's what soccer needs. They've got to be a cubic inch limit on goalies, don't you think?” (35:27)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “How do you tell if you're great? ...They don’t do stuff. They don’t flip around or suddenly levitate or do some damn thing.” — Joe (08:48)
• “France was supposed to win...it was the biggest cluster of nonsense I’ve ever seen.” — Pete (09:01)
• “There’s no other reason [for the red card reversal] than Trump in the United States wanted that birthright citizen back in the lineup.” — Pete (13:07)
• “It’s a great triumph for birthright citizenship. That’s what this is.” — Joe (39:20)
• “I was stoned out of my mind just from the secondhand smoke.” — Joe on Kicks soccer games (21:58)
• “If hockey had a net like that, man, we'd have a lot of goal[s].” — Pete (31:27)
• “Maybe the last...video of the last thing when that Thomas hit her in the throat is going to be the tipping point. And they’re going to have to watch their acts now, don’t you think?” — Pete on Caitlin Clark & WNBA (26:21)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Twins/Yankees/Baseball Chat: 01:48–07:52
• Soccer Critiques & World Cup Red Card: 07:52–30:32
• Birthright Citizenship Theme: 13:07, 39:20
• WNBA/Caitlin Clark Discussion: 24:19–27:40
• Family & Youth Sports Anecdotes: 31:40–33:35
• Minnesota Wild/NHL Talk: 33:35–35:53

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Tone and Style

The dialogue is humorous, conversational, and irreverent—full of Midwestern sarcasm and skepticism, especially toward soccer and bureaucracy. Joe maintains the "common man" persona, suspicious of trends and easily exasperated by anything that doesn't fit "garage logic" standards. Both hosts balance nostalgia with sharp commentary, making this episode an authentic slice of Minnesota sports culture.

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For Listeners/Newcomers

Even if you’ve never watched a Twins game or a World Cup, this episode is a delightful—and sometimes curmudgeonly—exploration of sports’ place in American culture, nostalgia, and the ever-present search for “guys who can do stuff.”

Transcript

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[Pete Arnold]

76 trombones.

[Joe]

Rugged. The big Parade. That's about all I know.

[Pete Arnold]

Hell of a scene in a movie, though, when Robert Preston's leading him down the street in Mason City, Iowa. Right. Mason City, Iowa was where the music man was. I believe it was Pat.

[Joe]

The Yankees look like a disinterested club.

[Pete Arnold]

Oh, man alive, our boy. Another series victory, Another one in New York.

[Joe]

By the time they're done with Cleveland, they could be a game out of first.

[Pete Arnold]

I know, I know. And this Cody, Roger's kid?

[Joe]

Yep.

[Pete Arnold]

They give us Roger's kid, right? Philly said we don't need it, you know, and he shows up here and he hits a few home runs last year, but he's, you know, now he's not only hitting home runs about every other day, but he solved their second base problem that he can catch the ball and throw it the first. And, you know, he wasn't even supposed to be an infielder. He's supposed to be a first baseman and an Outfielder. And he's there, you know, Buxton, when he. He's hurt again. So if. If Buxton keeps getting hurt, Cody Clemens is your MVP of this.

[Joe]

Wait a minute. Bucks is not hurt again.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah, he left yesterday. Stole. He was. He got on first. He played yesterday, and then he stole second and he was out. First time he's been out in two years.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Pete Arnold]

And he banged up the hip a little, he said, but, you know, they probably won't play him this week, but they probably won't deal him because if they him, then he can't play, then he can't start in the All Star Game. And I'm sure he wants to. So, you know, at his age, I mean, he's. He's been phenomenal. But he got a bad hip now, man.

[Joe]

He does not have a strong body.

[Pete Arnold]

A bad skeleton.

[Joe]

Bad skeleton.

[Pete Arnold]

Bad skeleton. He's, you know, he's. You know what is phenomenal.

[Joe]

Well, you got a hell of a haircut, didn't you?

[Pete Arnold]

Oh, yeah. My guy downstairs. I brat. Go get a. Go get it, Brett.

[Joe]

They just shave it off?

[Pete Arnold]

Pretty much, yeah. And then when it really gets fluzzard, Fluffy and flu, then I go see Brett again. So anyway, the thing about him, Joe, is with all these skeleton problems, he's as fast as he ever was. When you see him run, it's a triple. It's like 12 steps. He takes these long things. I mean, he's a. I think he really has. You know, people love to, you know, rip him because for all the injuries and stuff, and he was never going to be what he was supposed to be. But the last three years have kind of changed his image, you know, with the public, so. And he's a good guy. Doesn't insist on a trade or anything like that. So anyway, he's a. You know, this team is Joe, they lead the American League. And run scored.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Pete Arnold]

How. How is that possible?

[Joe]

How can that happen?

[Pete Arnold]

I don't know. We got. We got guys.

[Joe]

You know, Josh Bell's been a great.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah, he has.

[Joe]

Great teammate.

[Pete Arnold]

Looks like a character, too. And they got him at the right position now, DH because, you know, they got. Royce is doing okay at first. You know, he's. He's not great, but he's okay.

[Joe]

I wish he had another Ryan or two.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He was good yesterday.

[Joe]

Yes, he was.

[Pete Arnold]

He's a little goofy, isn't he? When he's on the mountain, he does like that. But I think they. Because of their image, if they trade him at the deadline, they're Killing everything they got going. If you're going to trade him, trade him in December, you know, trade him and start all over.

[Joe]

You're in a division where you got a chance.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah. In the league. You got a chance. The league. Everybody's under 500 except like two teams. Tampa, how about you? You say The Yankees lost nine out of 10. So I have this deal that allows me to listen the. Both broadcast. Yeah. And Michael K. Who used to longtime sports writer, but he's been a Yankee guy now for 25 years. He's great. But he'll throw those bad Yankee stats right out there. Bad. He said, I heard him on last week, on Thursday, on Thursday. First time in the history of the franchise they played four games with three hits or less in a row. Four games with three hits or less. And he gave it. He just. There was no sugar coating.

[Joe]

Well, and there was no sugar coating in the ballpark. They'll get the booze going.

[Pete Arnold]

Oh yeah, yeah. Well, they all say, well, the Twins are coming to town. We'll be healed here.

[Joe]

12 years for the Twins to win a series.

[Pete Arnold]

And, and you know what I thought yesterday watching. Did you watch much of it? I did the seventh. Remember Guardy in the seventh inning when grad key was pitching that great playoff game and they brought out the Italian guy to sing the God Bless America or whatever the hell it was America the Beautiful. And it was like a nine minute delay and Garthy went nuts because Radke had been pitching and then they scored and rallied Yesterday they threw 10 minutes out there and Ryan came back out and then his thing didn't work and he took about a 12 minute break and ended up pitching good anyway. So it's. But I don't think they have. You know, everybody still loves rap Cheap Pole as blah blah blah, sell the team. But there they have been entertaining enough that they don't have to hear that constantly. So if you're going to do, if you're going to break her up, break it up at the end of the year.

[Joe]

Now you got more great weather for this Cleveland series.

[Pete Arnold]

Is it going to be good?

[Joe]

It'll be nice.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah.

[Joe]

And then who's. Then, then who's coming to town?

[Pete Arnold]

The Los Angeles Angels. I got a stat for you. Yeah. The Los Angeles Angels who had the end of Albert Pools and then they had Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani as teammates for five or six years. Six years have not have been under. Have had 11 straight losing seasons.

[Joe]

Isn't that so?

[Pete Arnold]

And this year they're like they've got the worst record in the American League. It's unbelievable.

[Joe]

Can we get to something important?

[Pete Arnold]

Yes.

[Joe]

I tried to watch soccer.

[Pete Arnold]

Okay.

[Joe]

And I have some observations.

[Pete Arnold]

I tried to, but go ahead.

[Joe]

I watched some of the England vs Mexico match last night. One thing is I'll never figure out the clock that goes backwards.

[Pete Arnold]

Yes. And now we take a water break so we can get more ads on in the middle of it then.

[Joe]

And the net is so big, they should score. Here's the deal. They don't have a. No player can do stuff. I know they can move the ball around, but I kept thinking they need a Quinn Hughes type guy. They need guys who can do stuff. They don't have any guys who can do stuff.

[Pete Arnold]

Well, the trouble is you can be great like France and you get one goal.

[Joe]

How do you tell if you're great?

[Pete Arnold]

You get one go.

[Joe]

Well, they don't do stuff. They don't flip around or suddenly levitate or do some damn thing. They don't do anything.

[Pete Arnold]

But now I. I was outraged. I have watched 15 minutes. Okay, yeah. Since it started. But I happened on the France Paraguay game the other night, near five minutes to go. And Francaise was supposed to win is up 1 to nothing. And it was the biggest cluster of nonsense I've ever seen.

[Joe]

I didn't see any of that.

[Pete Arnold]

You got guys from Paraguay, you know, falling, falling and diving. And supposedly they were going to start penalizing. And then they were screaming. Then they'd run over and yell in the referee's face. And then the two coaches were out on the field yelling at the referee. And then the guy from France, the good player, Mbappe or something, who, by the way, probably wasn't. You know, he's. You know these. Mbappe is probably a birthright citizen and in France. Right, right, sure. So. But he's just sitting there grinning at these guys and they all want to punch him. And it was just chaos. Nothing was happening. And.

[Joe]

Okay, how long is a soccer game?

[Pete Arnold]

90 minutes. But extra time they are now. What is it, Gabe? Adding automatically nine minutes.

[Joe]

He doesn't swallow sports.

[Pete Arnold]

You don't watch it at all?

[Joe]

Doesn't watch sports.

[Pete Arnold]

No sports?

[Joe]

None.

[Pete Arnold]

So, yes, perfect host for Monday night Sports talk. But

[Joe]

yeah, I think it's 90 minutes and how time is added.

[Pete Arnold]

I think they're automatically adding like seven minutes to these games. And then if there's. I don't know. I don't know what it is, but the other night I was watching and they're in the 93 or four minutes and the guys keep saying, well, we got six more minutes to go here.

[Joe]

It's like two 45 minute halves.

[Pete Arnold]

Yes, but they all.

[Joe]

Only time is only added to the second half.

[Pete Arnold]

I believe that's true. Yes. Yes. Time is only.

[Joe]

Okay. I don't like that.

[Pete Arnold]

I don't either.

[Joe]

I don't like the fact that they don't have any players who can do stuff.

[Pete Arnold]

Okay.

[Joe]

Michael Jordan stuff.

[Pete Arnold]

Well, it's a little easier to move on Ice Gretzky stuff. Yeah, yeah. Right.

[Joe]

I mean, I want to see something. Yeah. I'm not seeing a damn thing. The net is so huge. It should be scoring 15 to 14. The Nets, the side. You could park a truck in there.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah. But I have. I watched two minutes of Paraguay in England last. No, Mexico in England.

[Joe]

Mexico and England happened to turn it

[Pete Arnold]

on when the great Harry Kane, who doesn't look like that much of an athlete, does he? He looks like just a guy that should be in the House of Commons.

[Joe]

Right.

[Pete Arnold]

Something.

[Joe]

Right.

[Pete Arnold]

Well, I got him when he got his penalty kick. Yeah. You know, so you go.

[Joe]

I don't think I saw that.

[Pete Arnold]

You go like this and the goalie goes the other way and then you kick it in.

[Joe]

They're pretty exciting, aren't they?

[Pete Arnold]

And you make about 85% of them. And if you miss one, like, they want to run you out of the country.

[Joe]

Now, here, given that I'm, I don't want to be this cynical, but I am. Do you think this whole BS with Trump intervening was to improve the ratings tonight? No, I think Belgium and the US

[Pete Arnold]

I think it was the guy from FIFA as he's a Trump's pocket.

[Joe]

He's a.

[Pete Arnold]

Gave Trump the World Peace Prize. Right. You know, FIFA, World Peace Prize. And he also is a grafter. They. Grafter, grifter, grafter. Yeah. He receives a lot of kickbacks.

[Joe]

Okay.

[Pete Arnold]

And he's, you know, and he likes, you know, he like, he likes dictators because he's a dictator. So. Yes, they. There's no other reason than that you then Trump in the United States wanted that birthright citizen back in the lineup,

[Joe]

which is ironic considering he was petitioning the Supreme Court to end birthright citizenship

[Pete Arnold]

if it wasn't for Amy Coney Barrett.

[Joe]

Yep.

[Pete Arnold]

That guy wouldn't be playing. We would have arrested him and taken him out of the country.

[Joe]

Amy Coney Barrett, who has two Haitian adopted children. Who's going to send Haitians back.

[Pete Arnold]

Yes.

[Joe]

Right.

[Pete Arnold]

Yes.

[Joe]

Now get back to this red card deal. So this FIFA guy, this phony gooning baloney guy, supposedly, what's his.

[Pete Arnold]

I don't know what his name.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Pete Arnold]

I don't even know where he's from. But he's a.

[Joe]

Well, he's American. Birthright American. No, the. The player.

[Pete Arnold]

The player is a.

[Joe]

Is bologna.

[Pete Arnold]

Okay.

[Joe]

Whatever. His name is.

[Pete Arnold]

His family. Yeah. When his parents came to visit from Nigeria when she was seven months pregnant

[Joe]

and he was born, they were in New York.

[Pete Arnold]

Right. And Mama popped early.

[Joe]

Yep.

[Pete Arnold]

And then they went back and he grew up in.

[Joe]

Right.

[Pete Arnold]

I know. He was here like a month. Right.

[Joe]

Okay.

[Pete Arnold]

You could tell a baby was doing good. Then they went to England.

[Joe]

That's all good.

[Pete Arnold]

England. Last of his life. So.

[Joe]

Yes.

[Pete Arnold]

Then he. Because mom and dad are from Nigeria and he was born here and he was in England. He had his choice of which team to play for, and England allegedly didn't really want him as good as he is. But he might have preferred. He was very smart to play here, too. You know, there'll be a lot of advertisements.

[Joe]

I'm not being facetious when I say, how do you tell if they're good? I'm not trying to start trouble. None of. They all look the same to me.

[Pete Arnold]

No, they all look the same. There are guys who can. There's so much.

[Joe]

I want to see that guy. Call me when you see that guy. Call me and say, are you watching? Now look for number 12. Watch number 12.

[Pete Arnold]

You know what the most famous goal in soccer Somebody something.

[Joe]

Pele did?

[Pete Arnold]

Maradona.

[Joe]

Maradono.

[Pete Arnold]

The hand of God. Yeah, the hand of God. He reached out and won the World cup by reaching out. And I think. I don't know if it was a writer who called it or he said it was the. Hey, you hit that ball with your hand. It was the hand of God. Somebody said.

[Joe]

So now back to our American player who's from Nigeria.

[Pete Arnold]

Yes.

[Joe]

He got a rent. Huh?

[Pete Arnold]

He grew up in England.

[Joe]

He grew up in England, but he's Nigerian by birth.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah. Mom and dad.

[Joe]

Mom and dad were.

[Pete Arnold]

I don't think mom and dad had established English citizenship when they were here.

[Joe]

But now he's playing for us.

[Pete Arnold]

Yes.

[Joe]

He gets a red card because he stepped on somebody's foot. Now, did you see that?

[Pete Arnold]

I've seen it since. I didn't see it.

[Joe]

Did he do it on purpose?

[Pete Arnold]

No, but that didn't make any difference.

[Joe]

Well, that. You're right, so. Because that happens all the time.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah.

[Joe]

The red card means what?

[Pete Arnold]

Means you can't play the next game. You're out. You're out.

[Joe]

You're out of the current game. You're in and you can't play the next game. But miraculously, FIFA calls Trump, or Trump calls FIFA. He calls the guy and said, we. We got to have this guy.

[Pete Arnold]

People are mad.

[Joe]

Well, oh, how does Belgium react to this?

[Pete Arnold]

They protested this morning. Well, they might not show.

[Joe]

What if they show.

[Pete Arnold]

What if show up? They have to show up. But they're. They have no chance to win the protest. But they just want people to know

[Joe]

what a bunch of bs.

[Pete Arnold]

And here it is. Now a lot. All the US Fans are saying that they've. They did not. They weren't supposed to use slow motion to make their decisions on the replay or some stupid thing like that. But once the decision has been made, it's never previously been overturned in the World Cup.

[Joe]

Maurice Richard, my man.

[Pete Arnold]

Yes.

[Joe]

In 1955. I looked it up this morning in Boston. He took out a player with a stick.

[Pete Arnold]

Yes.

[Joe]

And he took out the ref. He punched the ref twice. So Clarence Campbell suspended him through that season, including the playoffs.

[Pete Arnold]

Through the rest of the season, I

[Joe]

couldn't play in the playoffs.

[Pete Arnold]

I know he couldn't.

[Joe]

Stanley cup playoffs. So they get back to Montreal in 1955. This was in March 1st game back in Montreal after this happened in Boston. Clarence Campbell attends the game. Riots break out in the stadium and in the city. In the city, yes. All that ever happened was Maurice had to go out in public and say, calm down. I accept my punishment. Do not riot. It's not the same. I know, but do you think anyone would have called the premier of Canada and said to Clarence Campbell, can you just let him at least play in the playoffs?

[Pete Arnold]

Maybe.

[Joe]

I don't think it happened. I don't think it happened.

[Pete Arnold]

Remember, there were only six teams then. Yeah.

[Joe]

And you had the whole French, English. You had the French, English, French rooting

[Pete Arnold]

for Montreal, the rest of the country rooting for the Maple Leafs. My point, Annie Sault Ste. Marie, Maple Leafs.

[Joe]

Okay. My point is that you didn't call the president of the country and say, hey, can you fix this?

[Pete Arnold]

Meanwhile.

[Joe]

No.

[Pete Arnold]

Meanwhile, this guy's buddy, Putin. Yeah. Just. Just to set up a nice situation for NATO sent all the artillery had to blow up Kyiv, Kiev. Today.

[Joe]

Today.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah. God Almighty. It's unbelievable.

[Joe]

I just don't. Trump doesn't know a red card from a white card. He doesn't know what. He admits it. Trump admits it. I don't even know what that means,

[Pete Arnold]

but he going to. If this team even gets to the final eight, they're going to be at the White House. They're at the White House. This is his. This guy winning the World cup for the US Is his only chance to not get slaughtered in the. In the midterms.

[Joe]

Oh, God. Where are they playing this game tonight?

[Pete Arnold]

Seattle.

[Joe]

I know Seattle. Yeah, they are. Don't. You can't ask him anything. He doesn't know sports at the. But where are we playing? At the ballpark where the Mariners play Seahawks. Seahawks play.

[Pete Arnold]

All right.

[Joe]

All right.

[Pete Arnold]

Because they, you know, they're outside, and they probably had them put grass down. They don't like. They don't play on turf. Oh, you know, in. That's. That's the reason St. Paul's got the. You know, Ziggy wanted the. The soccer team. Yeah, but they didn't want to play.

[Joe]

You know why they don't want turf? Because then they can't do that knee slide. They like to slide on their knees.

[Pete Arnold]

That's right. But you gotta have real grass, like the Dome. Atlanta plays inside, and some of them do play inside.

[Joe]

Is Belgium a good club?

[Pete Arnold]

Do we know they're rated number nine in the world? Somebody told.

[Joe]

What is the US rated in the world?

[Pete Arnold]

Right around there. 11 or something. I don't know. But, hey, we beat. Oh, you already beat both Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[Joe]

So they play together as one team?

[Pete Arnold]

Yes, we beat them both.

[Joe]

Bosnia and Herzogena.

[Pete Arnold]

As I said, Herzegovina looked pretty good, but Bosnia sucked. And that was. That was the problem. Well, I think the. It's. It's. It's. I'm having fun on Twitter just with the. The Birthright citizen. Yeah, the Birthright Citizen angle on this guy, and people are screaming at me.

[Joe]

I could be more interested if the games were 22 to 21 or even

[Pete Arnold]

6 to 5, like a hockey game

[Joe]

with an empty netter. Okay, but. And then I'd be far more interested if somebody could do something. Somebody could do something magical. All right, now, maybe there are players who do that. I don't. I've never seen it.

[Pete Arnold]

Now, listen, you were a sports columnist at the Tribune.

[Joe]

Yep.

[Pete Arnold]

When the kicks drew 50,000, none of

[Joe]

who went to the game, they were in the parking lot when Pele was here. They went inside.

[Pete Arnold]

They went inside. Yeah. And the good thing about that is if they had a tie, they didn't have any of this nonsense. They had a shootout right away. But you were there the night that Pele was there, weren't you? Right. What did you think of soccer then? It was a little more wide open.

[Joe]

I was stoned out of my mind just from the secondhand smoke.

[Pete Arnold]

Oh, yeah. It was great.

[Joe]

Just from the parking lot.

[Pete Arnold]

It was great. I. I've written through the years about three or four columns about the parking lot, you know, about the kick, looking back at the kicks. And I always get this great responses from these guys saying, Yeah, I was 16 and the biggest thing coming home was to know who they played and what the score was. He says, I could run up the steps, but my parents were sitting there watching tv. But they'd say who won? I had to know.

[Joe]

You had to know who won. Who was it? Was it Freddie Goodwin?

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah, Freddie coach. Yeah.

[Joe]

And then I remember Allen Willie. Well, that's all I remember.

[Pete Arnold]

But they had 12 of these guys that played all the time in World Cups. Yeah, these now, but they also were the same guys year after year after year. I told you this 100 times, but I'll tell you again. Steve Pasante from Channel 11. Yeah. And his great photographer. We were out drinking in Winter park of all places. And luckily the vigilantes didn't pull us over. Coming back from Winter park and we were at the hotel, the Kaler there downtown and my room at about 2:30 in the morning. And Richie Nestle, who was a. One of my favorite crazy best photographers. Yeah, he was crazier. Now and Richie Pacenti did this fantastic imitation of Freddy, right? So like 2:30, 3 in the morning, he calls Reither, he calls Bob Bruce, he calls Rosen, he calls all these guys to bitch about the kicks. Not getting enough publicity in his Freddy voice. It was unbelievable.

[Joe]

That's wonderful.

[Pete Arnold]

It wonderful. And Nestle, Richie, you know, was a Vietnam guy and he had, he had long term, but he was a great guy, man. But he, he did like the liquor a little too much, but God, he was great.

[Joe]

Okay, now there's no ball game tonight.

[Pete Arnold]

No, we get a day off.

[Joe]

We got a watch US vs Belgium.

[Pete Arnold]

I am going to the links game, okay. Where Coach Reeve, if she wins, will be the winningest coach in WNBA history.

[Joe]

All right.

[Pete Arnold]

And I think there's a possibility, I haven't checked, but their superstar from last year, Nafisa Collier, has been practicing and she might make her season debut, which would put her with the phenom Olivia Miles for the first time, which would be.

[Joe]

We haven't seen each other since Caitlin Clark was slugged in the throat by one of these thugs that plays in the NBA. Professional. What's going to be done about this? Nothing.

[Pete Arnold]

They don't know what to do. They don't know what to do.

[Joe]

Well, she's crazy. Go to Europe and make your Money.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah.

[Joe]

Why? Why support this league?

[Pete Arnold]

Maybe this was the tipping point. I think that everybody's gonna have to watch their act here. And then, you know, she's not responsible solely for this. Boom. But she started it last year, get the attention for the league and now.

[Joe]

And her protector is Sophie Cunningham, in theory is Caitlyn's protector, but Sophie Cunningham is as light as a feather. She's not going to take on these street thugs.

[Pete Arnold]

Well, I'm not sure how many of those there are, but.

[Joe]

Well, there's one on each team that goes after her. It's ridiculous.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah. She has been mugged a few times. I don't know what it is. It's really ridiculous because, you know, it could have been a year ago. Jealousy.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Pete Arnold]

Because she was making money and they weren't. But now they're all making Courtney Williams, who I love. She's the one who said, you an old school SOB man, get yourself a phone. When I was interviewing her because I was writing, you know, she's great, but. And she's from Atlanta and she's, you know, really street kid, but. But she's also a lesbian. And one of these sites got her, you know, this week there's a story how much more luck she's having with the ladies since she got rich. It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. She's crazier, dude, but she's a really good player. And this Olivia was coming in and I talked to Courtney like two days before the season started. I said, tell me about this kid. And she says she's going to be a problem meeting for the rest of the league. So, yeah, it's. I think maybe the last. With. With that video of the last thing when that Thomas hit her in the throat is going to be the tipping point. And they're going to have to watch their acts now, don't you think?

[Joe]

Well, they could be riding buses if it wasn't for her.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah, well, she's helped, that's for sure. But. But the commissioner's wimp, you know, it's terrible. It's just ridiculous. It was the greatest negotiate.

[Joe]

I'm surprised Trump didn't call.

[Pete Arnold]

Oh, I'm serious.

[Joe]

I'm surprised.

[Pete Arnold]

I was probably wanting him to, so. Because he's, He's. He's got other things. So we gave up on the pond, huh? We gave up on the pool.

[Joe]

Now you're bringing back the same contractor to redo it.

[Pete Arnold]

Oh, I thought we were gonna. I thought we told him not to.

[Joe]

I guess the latest today is they're bringing back the same guy that looks like an extra for the Sopranos. Got that little funny suit on.

[Pete Arnold]

Paul. Looks like Paulie. Well, so it was a 350 yards, 350 foot slash in there.

[Joe]

No, that's not, that's a lie.

[Pete Arnold]

I know, but who got in the pool and made that?

[Joe]

Oh, they're arresting people for vandalism.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah, right. If you reach down and some guy who was an Olympian or something reached out and took a piece of that floating crap.

[Joe]

It's just.

[Pete Arnold]

What are we spending money on that for? Why do we care? What do we care?

[Joe]

It worked for a long time.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah. Yeah, right. Yeah, it was unbelievable. I did love Fox this weekend though. I don't know about your home front, but in my place I watch a lot of videos in the afternoon that don't treat the president kindly. And there was a lot of shots of the great state fair with about 14 people walking around. I was particularly impressed with. I think it was the state of Washington that had two chairs and a tv. Oh man. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

[Joe]

You know what else is unbelievable? The way garage floors have improved because of installed building solutions. I'm ready to roll because I have the first generation epoxy. Yeah, it's had flaws. It's, it's not holding up. They do a polyurea garage floor, IBS coating. They handle, they don't fade, they don't crack. It's the current technology for the best garage floors possible. IBS coating can do most floors in just one day. Get your garage back quickly. And like all good epoxy floors, easy to clean, easy to maintain. But this stuff, this new stuff, drop a tool on there, it's not going to break it. Your trucks will handle it. It's just going to be fantastic. And a coated garage floor just looks better. It's cleaner, brighter, more finished. Garages are an important part of the house. And every time you walk into this new floor, you'll, you'll be happy you did it. You'll be happy you got a hold of installed building solutions. Get ahold of them at ibscoating. One word. C O A T I N G I B S Coating dot com.

[Pete Arnold]

I can announce that the appeal of Belgium has been turned down. Oh, really?

[Joe]

What a shock.

[Pete Arnold]

That is a shock. That is a shock. But.

[Joe]

And then nothing can come of that during the game. Essentially. It's just, they're just gonna play tonight. Even though. And this guy apparently is so good that we had to have the presidential interference.

[Pete Arnold]

Yes, well, he's been good in this one, I think he's got three goals. Which is tied for the. Which is what kind of makes your point. I think that's tied for the most goals in this World Cup. The ball is massive. That's right. It's massive. Yes, but you can't catch it.

[Joe]

I get it. But you can hit it off your head. You can.

[Pete Arnold]

Do you know what they do? They kill a lot of time too. This idea of fitness and we got to be fit. They walk up the. Up the waves.

[Joe]

I tried to watch this thing last night. I just kept thinking, well, a, I'm not seeing a lot of activity, B, I don't see anybody doing any twirling around or flipping over upside down and kicking it with his.

[Pete Arnold]

And then.

[Joe]

And look at boys. Look at the size of the net. Somebody kicked the bleeping ball into the net. It's huge.

[Pete Arnold]

If hockey had a net like that, man, we'd have a lot of goal.

[Joe]

And the goalie has no equipment on. He's not huge.

[Pete Arnold]

No, no.

[Joe]

I don't get it.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah, it was a very happy day for me when both the grandkids gave up soccer when they were about seven, went to hockey.

[Joe]

Honest to God, it just.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah, I just. Do you have any grand soccer playing grandkids? No, no, no. Wow, that's pretty. Among 10 of them now.

[Joe]

You got 10, so 11.

[Pete Arnold]

11, but the one's too little. Did you have made a decision? You know? No.

[Joe]

A couple of them play the little league stuff, you know, t ball and no coach now. Coach pitching.

[Pete Arnold]

Coach pitching is a big one.

[Joe]

Doing that.

[Pete Arnold]

Coach pitching is a big leap from. From just hitting it off a tee. That's a big. That's when the games can dddle a little bit.

[Joe]

I told you this. You know what the most important piece of equipment is if you're a little girl playing horse pitch?

[Pete Arnold]

What?

[Joe]

The water bottle. One kid has a water bottle. It's a. She calls it a drum. It's like a 50 gallon drum water. She has to hold.

[Pete Arnold]

She's a thirsty kid. What does she do about then going to the girls room halfway through the game?

[Joe]

I don't think it's so hot. They don't wow. They don't worry about it. And it's just amazing how much they place emphasis on that. They've all been schooled in hydration.

[Pete Arnold]

Two of my nieces, Ellie and Andy, are now college graduates and out working. But one of my favorite moments ever was when Andy was about a six year old and she was on the bases and she just walked she ran to third and then ran over to the bench because she was just too damn hot. She just said I needed water. The heck was scoring the run that might have won the game. I said, what are you doing over there? She. She said I was too hot.

[Joe]

Well, Pat, I'll tell you what. Yeah, we got a good ball.

[Pete Arnold]

Twins are doing okay.

[Joe]

We got Billy Garrett making trades. You got Ollie Matten from Calgary and he got. We got rid of Jake Middleton though, and Zuccarella.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah, Zuki was. Zuki wanted more money and we wanted to give him money.

[Joe]

He went to the Kings.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah.

[Joe]

What's Middleton gonna do?

[Pete Arnold]

I want not this old Caprice off and Zukare. Let's get Caprice off with Boldy and at between them and have the best line in the NHL and hell with the rest of it. Right.

[Joe]

I have to.

[Pete Arnold]

And then tell those boys they're all making money and they're going to play 27 minutes a game.

[Joe]

You know, I. I have. I have to admit they're. They're. The excitement is. Is there for next season.

[Pete Arnold]

Oh God, it's there. When you see that who can win the cup. You thought Colorado was infallible and they. You might be better than them, you know. So. So I see. I see that Makar is going to be a little tough to sign too, I think.

[Joe]

No, we signed him.

[Pete Arnold]

No, Makar in. Out in Colorado. Carrie. Kale McCarthy.

[Joe]

Okay. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was thinking that from Tennessee.

[Pete Arnold]

Oh no.

[Joe]

Who am I thinking of? McMahon.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah, the big guy. The big six foot six guy they signed. Yeah, he was. They gave him a four year deal. Not much money, but four years. Well, they brought him in as he never really got a chance to play.

[Joe]

No. But he. He played very well in the playoffs.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah. You got to come over and watch practice someday.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Pete Arnold]

See him out there with all these guys. It's like he's. He's taller than 6. 6. He gets on skates. He's 6 10.

[Joe]

Didn't an AHL team draft a 7 foot goaltender? That I read.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah. Big. Big. Yeah.

[Joe]

How can that.

[Pete Arnold]

I don't know. We gotta, we gotta.

[Joe]

That's what soccer needs.

[Pete Arnold]

They gotta be a cubic inch limit.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Pete Arnold]

On goalies, don't you think?

[Joe]

You can't even see.

[Pete Arnold]

What are you gonna get if he get like a 6 foot 10, 400 pound?

[Joe]

Why is he not a wide guy?

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah. Yeah. What are you gonna do? What if he was seven foot and fat? What were you gonna do? Geez Louise. When I look at now that unlike Soccer, it's hard. You know, you're shooting at holes like this, you know.

[Joe]

Yeah. And these soccer guys are shooting at a side of a barn. Shoot the ball.

[Pete Arnold]

Hey, you know, by the way, I was clicking channels this morning.

[Joe]

How many players on a team?

[Pete Arnold]

11, counting the goalie, unless they decide to send somebody off.

[Joe]

How long is the field?

[Pete Arnold]

110, I think.

[Joe]

How wide is it?

[Pete Arnold]

It's wider. I don't know.

[Joe]

You can go out, you can go off sides, clock keeps running.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah.

[Joe]

Which I'm grateful for.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah. If I was gonna watch it. Yeah, right. But then you got the extra time and you know what?

[Joe]

The extra time, that's the term in that ref swim.

[Pete Arnold]

Refs win, makes them decide. I don't know.

[Joe]

I think we should have a little more.

[Pete Arnold]

When they kick the ball out and they, you know, that's not being played, but. But we're supposed to get the excited about these corner kicks. Oh, they got a corner kick. They score about once every 75 corner kicks, but hey, they got a corner kick.

[Joe]

Okay, tell me this, is there a limit to the amount of extra time?

[Pete Arnold]

I.

[Joe]

What if it was an evil ref and he just said, you're gonna keep playing, keep going?

[Pete Arnold]

I don't know. I don't know. Like the time. I think they do have a. Don't they have a. If they're tied, don't they play 30 minutes in the first round? They don't, but I think now they do. When I went to the championship game in the rose bowl in 94, which one of the most boring games ever, because Italia knew they were overmatched against Brazil, right. And they didn't try to do anything. They just kicked the ball back and forth and got to. They got to overtime and then they played 30 minutes. But you know what, what is really stupid? They play 90. Yeah. There's overtime now in the. In the. In the knockout round, there's overtime. But you know what's really stupid? In this 30 minute overtime, if you score, the game's not over. They play the full 30 minutes.

[Joe]

So you go ahead two to one

[Pete Arnold]

and you can jump around, but there might be 18 minutes left and they might tie you. Then. I don't know what. Then you go to the penalty kicks, which is absolutely a stupid way to tell me this.

[Joe]

What does the loser tonight is the loser tonight Done.

[Pete Arnold]

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. This is the knockout round. In the knockout round, traditionally, well, for years has been 16, because it was 16 teams. Now it was 32.

[Joe]

32 teams started the World Cup 48

[Pete Arnold]

started this year, but before this it was 32. But they went to 48 to make damn sure the US didn't get beat by Trinidad Tobago and not make it like they didn't in 2000.

[Joe]

You know what I thought of the Haiti team?

[Pete Arnold]

What?

[Joe]

Where did they find enough guys in Haiti that even have food?

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah. Yeah. Feisty guy. And then we didn't want to let him in the country.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Pete Arnold]

What are we mad at Haiti for?

[Joe]

They're making Iran stay in Mexico.

[Pete Arnold]

Yeah. What are we mad at Haiti for? For God's sakes. They got the worst living conditions in the world.

[Joe]

I know where they found the guys that were fit.

[Pete Arnold]

Somebody might steal something. Well, because. Yeah. The option is death. Yeah. You know. Unbelievable.

[Joe]

Well, I don't know.

[Pete Arnold]

Anyway, it's a great triumph for. For birthright citizenship. That's what this is.

[Joe]

It should quiet the conversation about.

[Pete Arnold]

Yes, it should. Yeah.

[Joe]

If you're going to hook your wagon to this guy, then. All birthrights.

[Pete Arnold]

Oh, yeah. Let's. Let's. Let's go with it. All right. All right.

[Joe]

Thank you.

[Pete Arnold]

Hey, Twink, you going any? I got the relatives in.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Pete Arnold]

From Washington, D.C. this week, and I think the whole crew's going to a Saturday baseball.

[Joe]

Oh. Afternooner. Afternooner.

[Pete Arnold]

I think it's an afternoon.

[Joe]

That'd be fun.

[Pete Arnold]

Okay. See y.