You're Smarter Than Us

Before Friday night's kickoff to the 2021 USL L2 season, Tim gets the chance to sit down with Coach Mick Giordano to discuss what the most significant changes are in the move to L2, what he thinks of each of the other clubs in the Deep South Division, and how recruitment was impacted by the pandemic. 

Taking the podcast to the moon, Tim welcomes Colton Coreschi and Jim Hicks on to discuss whether they would buy, sell, or short the stocks of the professional soccer leagues in the US. After some surprising choices, a lightning round of questions are answered. This episode gleefully contains adult language.

Exploring the potential of a lower league in the women’s game, Tim speaks with @toeswiggle to discuss the recent news from USL, UWS/NISA, and how a successful club in one of these leagues would need to operate. Give Danielle a follow and read her work on Protagonist Soccer.

In a unique episode, Tim chats with Nathan Phillips about the general civic health of Asheville and cover topics such as the Memorial Stadium Bond Project and the Tourism and Development Authority, if Asheville a sports town, and does the city government practice what it preaches?

As the rest of the country is giving thanks, Tim and @chattagooner engage in an annual "airing of grivences," because they have a lot of problems with you people and now you're going to hear about them. Touching on fans at games during a pandemic, territory rights in the lower leagues, and viewing women's soccer through the lens of the men's game, the pair let loose their grievences so they may bound into the new year lighter and with a clearer heart and head. 

For this episode, Tim had the chance to have a conversation with the new commissioner of the First Flight League, Zac Hines, and member of the league, Yocuba Aide, owner-coach of the Goldsboro Strike Eagles. Zac lays out the ambitious plans for the league and Yocuba details what makes Goldsboro and other First Flight clubs unique in comparison to other amateur men’s clubs across the state.

Covering a year in their fandom, Tim speaks with Jim Hicks (@chattagooner) and Ben Goshorn (@thesoccergoose) about their three concurrent experiences as supporters of three unique clubs in the same soccer ecosystem. Only in this country could Chattanooga FC's first year as a pro cub, the trials off-of and success on-the-pitch of the Charlotte Independence, and the complete cancellation of Asheville City's season all happen. Settle in, it's a long and extremely thoughtful conversation where all three fans try to work through their emotions and expectations. 

In this episode Tim sits down with the brillant Darbi Lockridge (@sonchyenne) of the Switch The Pitch outlet to discuss her opinion on NWSL expansion, how a women's minor league would help advance the game, and what the Fare Report on diversity and inclusion in the game at all levels meant to her and what needs to be done to address the findings. 

Picking right up where they left off, Tim welcomes Warren Wilson Coach Mathes Mennell to discuss a litany of topics ranging from bubble tournaments, the upward mobility of second divison coaches, the true talent level of MLS players, and how COVID will impact summer league soccer.  

For this edpisode, we reconnect with @chattagooner, Jim Hicks, to catch up on NISA and their successes and challenges as an independent league. Jim peaks on how feels Chattanooga FC's first year as a professional club has gone, what Detroit City selling fan shares means, and how NISA is faring in terms of expansion.  

In this episode Tim speaks with Asheville City legend and professional womens footballer Jennider Cudjoe about her ascension from an open tryout with Sky Blue FC to regular starter in the NWSL Challenge Cup. Together they discuss what life is like inside a sporting bubble, the speed of the professional game, and why Jennifer was so successful so quickly. 

For the second Rewind, Tim has the chance to chat with a wide variety of stakeholders and personalities connected to ACSC. He speaks with captain Molly Dwyer, color comentary Josh Blake, PA announcer Bobby Somerville, and owers Meghann Burke, Stacey Enos, and Lydia Vandenberg.

In the audio version of an ambitious project, Tim talks to seven different lower league stakeholders about the third Carolina Clasico of the 2019 NPSL Season - ACSC v GVLFC in the NPSL SE Semifinals. 

In a somber episode with some audio issues, Tim speaks with club president Ryan Kelley on the decision to cancel all three Asheville City SC seasons, how sponsor hardships played into that decision, what happens with contracts, and what you can expect from the club during this extended hiatus. 

In a free-wheeling conversation, Tim discusses the progress of the women's game with @meghannburke, Asheville City SC owner and general counsel for the @nwsl_players. Together they touch on the growth of the league and the importance of the Players Association becoming officially recognized in an effort to affect change. They also discuss barriers to a professional second division, the Equal Pay debate, and the current USWNT lawsuit against the Federation. 

With new competitions on the horizon, Tim speaks with Chris Madden of USL HQ about the misconseptions of being a franchise, what Asheville City's men can expect in the Deep South divison of League 2, what comes along with the support of a centralized league office, how the league attempts to streamline scouting, and the advent of the USL Academy competition.

MLS is coming to Charlotte and fans have thoughts... Tim chats with Ben - The Soccer Goose, Charlotte resident and Independence supporter, about the long history of MLS4CLT, the boots-on-the-ground response to MLS' announcement, the positioning of the Independence as a "minor league" option in town, and if he believes MLS will be successful. 

In by far the longest pod we have recorded, Tim sits down with Mathes Mennell, former UNCA men's coach, and discusses a wide range of topics including promotion-relegation in America, how the MLS is like land speculation, which needs to change first for the USMNT to improve - players or coaching, how the pay-to-play system has created participation trophies, and if MLS will succeed in Charlotte. 

After the episode earlier this week that said goodbye to NPSL,  Tim chats on this pod with @CardinalRAL member Zac Hines and Tobacco Road fan @_Zackkkk about the South Atlantic and Deep South Divisons in USL L2, one of which Asheville City's men will end up in. Connections to academies, in-state rivaliries, talent pools, and gameday atmospheres are all discussed. 

In this episode, Tim speaks again with Jim of the 423 Soccer Pod about CFC's season and transition into a new league, then they say goodbye to the NPSL and wrestle with expectations for NISA. Jim can be found at @chattagooner on Twitter and the 423 Soccer Pod on all major podcast platforms.