so after about 10 years tim and everton you eventually came back to mls right to colorado what do you think was most calling to you about how much the league had changed from the time that you were abroad to when you came back to mls how much it had developed since you'd left

Oh, so much.

It was crazy.

So Denver was, it was, was so great for me.

So many things in life are about timing and I was ready to come back.

And, you know, there were, there were, you know, there were smaller market team and, you know, the fans of, of the Colorado Rapids sort of, understood this moniker of like, no one chooses us.

People, people go to New York and LA and I was a big, a bigger name player.

But you you also do a lot of advocating for off the field issues, right? And obviously Tourette syndrome and your ability to grow up and then just be an inspiration to so many kids, so many families that maybe are dealing with something like that, right? What does that mean to you and to be able to have the platform that you have to be able to talk to kids, talk to families and continue to inspire so many years after playing?

What are we expecting on Sunday?

Well, I picked Spain at the beginning of the tournament.

I just thought they were young, they're brash, and they were hungry.

And then France made me wobble a little bit.

But they put France to bed.

And, look, Argentina seemed destined to win this for Messi.

And that seems to be their rallying cry.

I mean, as we look at it, is it the type of sport, like football, where you can kind of

But my editor, Tim, who was sitting next to me in that interview, was faster.

What sort of circumstance? What was your issue? What was happening?

How would you describe the difference in popularity of soccer, U.S. relative to internationally?

You know, I think the trouble with American soccer is it's not soccer itself.

It's such a big country.

You know, you're talking about a sport that's relatively in its infancy.

I know we've played it a while, and the league is 20 years old now, which is crazy to think, or something like that.

But these other sports have been around for forever.

And...

So how do you get... you know, some of the other best athletes, you know, as they're growing up, how do you encourage them to pick

A- as a result of that, you know, w- how far does the team have to go for it to be considered a success? I mean, obviously, you don't wanna go out early, but how far do they need to go for, for the public, for the hot take artists, for everybody to sort of feel like this whole entire experiment this summer was a success?

Well, [clears throat] I was, I was talking to, yeah, great question.

I, I was talking to, uh, both Landon and I were in Chicago, and, uh, um, a women's national team player who I'm friends with, I had a long chat, eh, chat with.

And I said, like, the, the difficult thing for our women is that they have to get to a, a gold medal match and win, and they have to get to a World Cup final and win.

That's the only moment anyone cares about.

And, and they have so many of those that we, we, we can pinpoint them.

On the men's side, the likelihood is we're not gonna win the tournament.

Yeah.

But how has maybe podcasting influenced some of your TV work, or vice versa so far?

The knowledge.

You know, you, you're having to, you're having to be across everything, all the Premier League games, all the international games, and so that's obviously helped.

Sort of cadence and finding your own voice, which are like the logistics of it, um, are important and helpful, and I think they both feed off of one another.

You know, sort of having that stage to be in front of the camera, um, having an opinion, w- not that people agree with that all the time.

That's actually what makes for really good discourse is that you can, you can have conversations and put a point across based on your experience, and someone can disagree or agree.

And that's where I think Landon and I have the most fun is being able to really talk intimately about topics and giving it to the people and then allowing them to go, "Amazing, I agree," or, "I don't agree with that at all." And, and, and we're totally okay with that.

But what sort of legacy do you think that this event can actually leave on the sport in the United States in particular?

What does that mean in the grand global game of soccer? Is it just because it's him that it's brought attention or just kind of like the MLS is solidified and it's like, hey, that's a pretty good accomplishment.

Well, the MLS is on the up and up, you know, and part of it is basically the whole story, right? Like that Messi comes to the MLS, wants to be here, invests in it in terms of sweat equity and brings people along with him for the ride.

And then, oh, by the way, they win.

less superstars than him have come and just failed.

He came and he cared.

They want to support his shield.

They want an MLS Cup.

A lot of hip flexor action,

Uh.

We, we got a really good team, really talented team.

Um, World Cup is about talent, and momentum, and luck, and y- you sort of- it's hard to predict.

But I like this team.

I think they're in- supremely talented.

If and when they put it all together, you ride that momentum of the home crowd, and we've seen it over the years, the home, the home nation just gets a boost and a lift.

So, uh, we're hoping that we can push those boys over the edge.

Um, how long could you make a field goal?