Dummy: Interviews With Smart People About Soccer

Qatar recently announced that it will begin to reform the Kafala labor system that keeps migrant workers essentially powerless in the face of abuse. James Dorsey joins the pod to discuss what this means, why it came about, and the role of geopolitics and the World Cup in sparking this change.For the first time, you can now support Dummy directly. Many people have asked us if this is possible (thank you). If you would like to support Dummy for as little as $3 per month, please visit fifa.wtf/supportdummy. (And seriously, thank you.)Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, two very emotional interviews about the prospect (possibility? probability?) that Anthony Precourt, owner of the Columbus Crew since 2013, will move the team to Austin, Texas. First, George speaks with lifelong Crew supporter Morgan Hughes. Then he discusses the possible relocation with Josh Jackson, a member of MLS to Austin.Enter our annual full kit wanker contest to win a free jersey from SoccerPro.com. Send a picture of yourself wearing the socks, shorts, and shirt of any team. You must be holding a copy of Howler and use the hashtag #fullkithowler. (Here are some of our submissions from last year.)Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Howler editor George Quraishi is joined by Bobby Warshaw and Cole Grossman (former player for Real Salt Lake and Stabaek) to work through the USMNT’s loss to Trinidad and failure to make the World Cup. They discuss the short- and long-term failings of the US Soccer Federation and how they could be fixed. There is some foul language in this episode. You've been warned.George’s more considered take for Quartz is here. It begins like this:“With one half of the United States on fire and the other under water, I’m trying to avoid the use of words like “catastrophe” and “disaster” to describe what is going on in the realm of American soccer right now. But the United States men’s national team failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986, and every fan is currently coping with some degree of cognitive and emotional meltdown.”Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clarence Goodson was a center back for the U.S. men’s national team during two World Cup qualifying cycles. He joins to discuss his compatriots trying to make it to Russia, his career, his work with the MLS players union, and why he built a 5-aside soccer court at his old elementary school.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. Soccer Federation recently demoted the North American Soccer League from division two to division three status, and now the NASL is suing the USSF not only over this designation but over the governing body’s right to designate pro leagues at all. UCLA law professor Steven Bank joins to discuss the suit.Save 15% on your Howler subscription with code PODSUB15 at fifa.wtf/gethowler.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How did a Columbia econ professor become the most powerful American in world soccer? Noah Davis discusses his profile of Sunil Gulati from the new issue of Howler. Then, La Familia is possibly the most hateful and violent ultras group in the world. They have been known to attack fans and even members of their own club, Beitar Jerusalem, and they are proud to call their team Israel’s “most racist.” And in July of last year, 64 members were arrested in a massive sting operation by Israeli police. Sam Patters joins to discuss his feature on La Familia.Please consider supporting the magazine by becoming a subscriber. Right now, save 15% on a subscription with the code PODSUB15 at fifa.wtf/gethowler.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Martin Jacobson became the coach of soccer team at Martin Luther King Jr. High in Manhattan just over 20 years ago, the program was a disaster. So how has he won 15 city-wide championships in that time? Actually, that's the least interesting question you can put to the recovered heroin addict, Hepatitis C survivor, and man who has taken in transformed the lives of hundreds of kids from the U.S., Africa, the Caribbean, and South America. It’s really a remarkable story—and it’s subject of a new documentary film that will be premiering at a festival in New York. More information.The audio from the beginning of the episode is with Keith Rados, owner of Cinco Soccer in Tampa.Subscribe to Howler using code PODSUB15 and you’ll save 15% PLUS we’ll send you a very cool patch featuring the new issue’s cover art.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First up, Mapate Diop discusses his article on Red Bull, PSG, MLS and the phenomenon of soccer as branded content, a simultaneously simple and profound way of viewing modern soccer.Then, Michael Krumholtz on Costa Rica and Vancouver Whitecaps winger Christian Bolaños, who at 33 has enjoyed a late-career resurgence. Costa Rica plays the US tonight in an important World Cup qualifier.Subscribe to Howler with code FIFANATOR15 to save 15% AND get a free Fifanator patch!Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode, four 10-minute interviews on four stories from whatahowler.com this week:1. How Target’s switch from NASCAR to soccer sponsorships could help transform the American game (with Amadi Thiam)2. Why ultras from Bayern Munich and many other Bundesliga clubs have declared “war” on the German football federation (with Travis Timmons)3. Chelsea and England striker Eni Aluko claims she has been blackballed from international soccer after complaining about treatment by the Three Lions coaching staff (with James Bridget Gordon)4. Morocco’s bid for the 2026 World Cup may lead to increased scrutiny of the country’s decades-long occupation of Western Sahara (with Aubrey Bloomfield)Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Tuesday, Top Drawer Soccer staff writer and Howler contributor announced that he’s leaving the industry altogether. So George called him up to talk about why he got into sportswriting, the forces that are shaping the industry, and why the lack of investment by major outlets is bad for all soccer fans.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George thought that Kevin McCauley’s season preview for SB Nation, titled “How to Enjoy the Premier League without Worrying About the Money,” was the most provocative and enjoyable piece he’s read ahead of the new English season. So he called him up to discuss the ideas in his argument and maybe even become a convert to Kevin’s way of thinking.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the U.S. beat Jamaica to win the Gold Cup trophy, Bobby and George revisit their discussion on fringe USMNT players and who seems likely to make the 2018 World Cup roster. (Hint: Jordan Morris helped his case, Matt Hedges not so much.) Then Brad Friedel joins to discuss the Gold Cup and answer some questions specifically about the goalkeeping position—should Arena settle on a clear starter (and how did that work with Friedel and Kasey Keller?), and what sort of special challenges does a former goalkeeper face when transitioning to become the head coach of a team? (Warning: There is at least one instance of adult language in this episode when Bobby drops an F bomb to describe Jordan Morris’s speed.)Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George Best was one of the game’s greatest players and also one of its most confounding. He had the dribbling skills to rival Leo Messi, a public image that paved the for David Beckham, and an addiction to alcohol that was allowed to go unchecked in the 1960s and ’70s and ultimately led to his early death. This week, George interviews Daniel Gordon, the director of a 30 for 30 documentary that premieres tonight on ESPN at 8:30 pm. Gordon also made the 30 for 30 about the Hillsborough disaster and “The Game of Their Lives,” about the North Korean soccer team at the 1966 World Cup. Note: There is a bit of offensive language toward the end when George recounts his dad’s own George Best story.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the U.S. and Mexico taking B teams into the Gold Cup, we’re thinking that the most interesting way to watch the tournament might be as a way to project next summer’s World Cup fringe roster spots. So today, Bobby, Jeb, and George select the players they think are most likely to make the team, dividing them into three categories: locks, probablies, and maybes. They agree on 20 names, and then each chooses a different set of three players for the final spots.We want to see what you think of our choices, and who your picks would be—let us know by filling out this form: fifa.wtf/2sLJACz.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George and David discuss the Garcia Report. Even though it contained no revelations that will stop the World Cup from taking place in Russia and Qatar, it still revealed plenty of bad behavior by soccer officials, and it provides quite a few clues about FIFA’s immediate future.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we released a short parody called “The Soccer Ball Phone” starring Sarah Silverman, Jack Black, Will Arnett, Alexi Lalas, and a few other very funny people. (We’re been promoting it pretty hard, but if you haven’t seen it, or want to ready George’s note about how it came together, go here.) This week on Dummy, George talks to Kovert Creative partner Joe Assad, who wrote and directed the short and also happens to be a new partner in Howler. We often get requests to talk about the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes into running the mag, so if you’re interested about Howler as a business and where it’s headed, this episode is for you.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George and Bobby discuss last night’s game between the U.S. national team and Trinidad and try to answer a few questions:-Which players are emerging as Bruce Arena’s automatic picks?-Who should be playing between Altidore, Dempsey, and Wood?-Michael Bradley or Kellyn Acosta?-How will Mexico attack the U.S. back line of Yedlin, Cameron, Brooks, and Villafaña?-Why is Villafaña only getting his first caps now, at the age of 27?Bobby was running out to catch a plane to Mexico City, so they taped a short segment near the end in which they analyze the build-up to the first U.S. goal. This is for Bobby’s podcast “The Play” but you’ll probably enjoy it too.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

*If you have Dummy set to autodownload, listen to this version and delete the previous one—we had a few audio issues that have now been corrected.This week, Hartlepool United unveiled a new crest, and the designer of that crest, Mick Watson, joins the pod to discuss what makes for good (and bad) soccer badge design. He also explains the grotesque reason that the club’s mascot is named H’Angus the Monkey (readers of the mag may recall that the man who played H’Angus was elected—and then reelected—mayor of Hartlepool in the 1990s).The excellent Kicking and Screening Film Festival is June 6-9 in Manhattan. Use the code KS2017 to save on tickets at kickingandscreening.com. And thanks to today’s sponsor, soccerpro.com, where you can save 10% on gear with the code HOWLER20.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a pair of matches, the US U-20s currently lead Group E at the world championship in South Korea, and they've already played their two toughest opponents. Today I speak with Brian Dunseth, who called the match for Fox Sports this morning and was himself a prominent member of the US U-20 team back in the day (many, many years ago, as in not quite before the internet but almost). We evaluate the first two games (a 3–3 draw with Ecuador and the 1–0 victory over Senegal; follow those links for highlights), and look ahead to the final group match against Saudi Arabia and a likely knockout-round match-up with New Zealand. We also talk about what we can really learn from players at this age—Josh Sargent, 17, is tied for the tournament's top scorer—and what it means for the team and American soccer than some of our best eligible internationals, like Christian Pulisic, aren't on the squad.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Fainaru’s new feature for ESPN on the Syrian national team reveals how the Syrian government has targeted athletes for murder (38 soccer players and counting) and turned Team Syria into a mouthpiece in support of Bashar al-Assad. Steve joins Dummy to discuss the peril faced by players who choose to speak out and boycott the team and FIFA’s cowardly response to the crisis. You can read Steve’s story here.This week’s sponsor is SoccerPro. Save 10% on your order with the code HOWLER19.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices