Ep. 163 – World Cup Countdown: Hopes and Hurdles

Rob (00:00) Two things. Number one, I have yet to see a whole lot of activity or marketing or things around the city. I'm just talking like outdoor or otherwise. I haven't seen a lot. Don (00:00) Yeah, quarterfinal. Hmm. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Rob (00:13) What I can tell you is that people are excited. everyone's talking about it. So everyone's super excited and maybe FIFA feels like, we don't have to do a whole lot because it's the World Don (00:18) fired up and ready to go. Yeah. Alright, episode 163. We're back, Rob. As you were humming our intro music on the way in. Yeah, it's good times. Good times. Alright, episode 163. Oh, go ahead. Rob (00:50) 163. All right. did you watch the before we get started, before we get started, did you watch the, ⁓ us men's soccer match last night? Don (01:09) I am not ashamed to admit that I watched every minute of both games. Rob (01:15) There's no shame in that. You're a proud American. You're a patriot. You're a patriot of nothing else. Don (01:19) I'm a proud American. I'm a fan of soccer. I love the World Cup ⁓ and I watched every minute of both games. ⁓ And I think I think my takeaway is not that you're asking, but my takeaway is. Did we learn anything or you know, did we beat either of the two top 10 teams in the world? No, right? Did we learn anything about our team watching them? No, you know. Rob (01:27) Yeah. Don (01:49) Do we have any hope or do we feel better about heading into the World Cup or have any rhythm or have any understanding of what we're doing? I would say the answer to that is no. ⁓ nor. And lastly, did I have fun watching those games? Absolutely not. Those games were not those games were not good. So I mean, I get it. It's friendlies. We have the ability to change players and inordinate amount. And he's trying to figure out which players to pick. for the for the cup for the for the World Cup, right? I mean, I understand that. ⁓ But there is something to be said for if you just change seven or eight players every single game for an entire year, you build no continuity. So I don't I don't you know, it's tough. It's tough. It's a tough one as a fan, you know. So I mean, are we going to make it out of group? We will make it out of group. I think but yeah, I think because we are there may be a tiebreaker involved. Rob (02:17) Right. Are we going to make it out of the... You think so? I don't think it's going to be easy. Don (02:46) I think I have to be positive that we're going to make it out of group. But this whole so so called golden generation of US men's national team players, I don't think it is it. I Pulisic hasn't scored a goal in like over well over a year, you know? Yeah. Rob (03:00) He's struggling. Well, and they moved him around again last night and that does not help him build any confidence putting a 10 up there. Don (03:05) Exactly. Yeah, do you play him on the wing? Do you play him central? You know, I mean, we did the false nine, all the different things, right? And it's like, our buildup was great until it got to Pulisic and he takes 15 touches and doesn't make a decision. And the team wholeheartedly is allergic to shooting. They just don't shoot ever, you know? And then they get frustrated and they shoot from way outside the box. It's maddening to watch. Rob (03:20) Yeah. Yeah. It would have been really nice for him to get a goal in one of these two friendlies, just to get some momentum going in, because you're right, he hasn't scored in over a year and it's just like. Don (03:38) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. He's a great club player. mean, he's a good player, you know. ⁓ Yeah, I mean, did you okay, so back at you, did you watch any of the ⁓ matches? Rob (03:49) He's a very good player. I don't know, man. Yeah, I watched both of them. Yeah, I watched both of them. We don't have, we don't have anyone, if anyone gets injured, we're in trouble. I mean, we don't have a whole lot of depth. You know, I need to see Miles Robinson out there. no, and if he doesn't make the squad and start, I'm gonna be bothered by that. Yeah. Don (03:57) Okay. Okay. What was your Yeah. Yeah. Really? Yeah, he didn't play at all, which I thought was interesting. ⁓ Really? Okay, our center backs these last two games were not good and they were totally out of position nor it was embarrassingly bad on that first turnover that we had in the in the in the second game against Portugal that neither center back even remotely made an attempt to track back and then the body language of just whoo like ho hum, you know, it was like, my god, that is just not that's not it, you know. Rob (04:38) Yeah. Don (04:46) But there are some players I love. Like I love Anthony Robinson. mean there are a lot, know, McKinney looked great. I mean we have like these little bits of like, good things are happening. But we just can't, we can't do anything in the final third. Like we have these 20 minutes where man we look really awesome. But we played out at the back. But it's like, but we didn't get a single shot during those 20 minutes. Like nothing happened. You know what I mean? Like so it's. Rob (04:50) Yeah. I I think it's 50-50 that we make it out of the ⁓ group front stage. mean, Turkey, they beat us. Like, Turkey's no slouch. Don (05:19) Wow. I know Turkey beat us in the last World Cup didn't they or was it the one before? can't remember. You know, we got Paraguay, right? Do we have Paraguay in our group? Right? Okay. ⁓ Rob (05:26) Yeah. I think it was the, I think it was the loud. Yeah. Yeah. We have Paraguay. Yeah. Yeah. So it's, I don't know, man. It's going to be tough. Don (05:36) it. Let me say this, I 100 % agree with you, it is not a guarantee whatsoever that we get out. You know, we don't score. I mean, we just don't score. And then the minute we give up a bad transitional goal or turnover goal, ⁓ we just crater, you know, and we don't have that fire, that sense of urgency, it just doesn't seem like right. So I mean, I agree with you, there's no chance. But man, dude, I got a hope. mean, come on, dude, we've got to get out of group like, yeah, I mean, you know, there were Rob (05:59) I mean, yeah, I mean, just you got to believe that we're going to we're going to make it. Don (06:06) You know, there were fits there. You know, we were up against Belgium one to nothing, you know, and those first, the first half was awesome. Yeah, they got the equalizer right before half. And that is classic US men's national team. We're awesome. then one minute left to go in the half and we give up a crappy ass goal. You know, like, mean, ⁓ come on, you ⁓ So yeah, I mean, we had, there were moments against Portugal, man, we looked awesome, you know. So, I mean, I have to believe that these guys can put it together. Rob (06:12) Yeah, well, our first half was great until they got the equalizer at the end, but we played great. We looked great. Yeah. Don (06:35) He can pick the starting 11, you know, with with the key rotational squad, they're going to get more practice time before the World Cup starts. It's not like World Cup starts tomorrow, you know, ⁓ they're going to get they're going to get time, you know, is that what it is in 60 days? Okay, wow. Yeah, okay. Yeah, it's amazing that all these guys go back and now play for their club teams. I mean, they're still club, you know, there's club matches and stuff. I know, I know. That's you know. So yeah, I mean, Rob (06:44) Correct. Got two months, 60 days. Well, it starts at what? June 15th, I think is the first, either the 12th or the 15th, yeah. No one get hurt. No one get hurt. No one get hurt. Don (07:04) ⁓ man. Rob (07:05) Here's the great news. They were able to pick kits that did not look exactly alike. So that was good news. Don (07:10) my thank God. Thank God. It looked it did look a lot better. It's like I can tell who who were passing to you know. Yeah that was that was interesting. Do you remember that reminds me I mean from a from a if we want to pivot to a design perspective when the NFL launched the color rush uniforms to remember that like several years ago I think it coincided with some Thursday night and there was a big hubbub of the Internet's going to fact check me here but I believe it was the bills and Rob (07:17) I could tell who who was who? Yeah. Yeah. Don (07:40) the Jets played a divisional game and the Bills were all red and the Jets were all green. And the report was, man, if you're colorblind, you can't tell who is who. Because that's the most common color blindness, right? Is the red green aspect, right? They're both wearing white helmets, you know, and obviously one team's going left to right and one team's going right. You can't tell what the hell's going on, you know? And it's like, man, the NFL. So even if the NFL who Rob (07:44) Yeah, it was the Christmas mole. You can't tell anything. Don (08:08) who tests everything under the sun, who picks venues years ahead of time, who has all of their graphics locked in low, you know, like, I mean, they, you know, that shield man, they test everything under the sun, you know, like, so even if they can have a weird blunder like that, it's funny how, yeah, FIFA can have the uniform blunder or other things can happen, you know, from a design perspective that, yeah, yeah, I know, I know. And secondly, like, Rob (08:27) Yeah, just something that seems so really nobody. Nobody checked that like. Don (08:37) You traveled and no one has you don't have the other Jersey like you flew around and once. Yeah, where's the equipment? Yeah, I mean, I don't know anything about equipment managers, you know, but like I have to imagine there there's backups something must have like it's so bizarre so. Rob (08:41) Yeah, you didn't bring the, didn't bring the backup jersey? Like, yeah. Well, did you see the, while we're on it, did you see the US kit that they put out? Don (08:58) the the stripe one or yeah, the new wave you're great. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I like it. I mean, how do you do you like it? Do you feel do you feel good about it? Rob (08:59) The new wavy gravy, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it looks American. It looks like a flag. don't, you know, like Don (09:10) Yeah, mean, pair it with pair it with blue shorts and you're good to go. I'm a you know, the designer and me hates that they just it just cuts abruptly on the back for the numbers. And I understand you have to be able to see the numbers. I mean, I absolutely get it. But you look at the players on the back and oftentimes you're seeing the back of the jerseys. I mean, players are running around in all different directions. You know, this isn't a left to right game. I mean, this is all over the place, you know. And so Rob (09:25) Yeah. Yeah. Don (09:39) It's just a white jersey from behind with a number on it. You know what I mean? It's like, ⁓ I kind of wish there was something back there, you know? Rob (09:43) Yeah, you would think that. I have to look at it again, but you would think that they could. Because right, it just is a hard because I was looking at the jerseys to potentially buy one. I just was curious to see how the. How much they cost, how it works, what you know there so. Don (09:53) Yeah, yeah, yeah. How much are they? Let me guess, let me guess, like 185. Rob (10:03) That's a good guess, 180. 180. Now, I didn't go far enough to recognize if that is if you customize yours, or if you're buying Adams or something. Yeah, the one that's not official, I guess, is like 130 for the unofficial version and like 180 for the... Don (10:05) Okay. Okay. that was close. All right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And there's the authentic one and the second tier like all the different. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ Jesus. Yeah. Dude, can't go to the stadium wearing the unofficial. Come on, you know? Yeah. That's funny. Rob (10:32) No, you can't do that. Are you gonna buy one? Let's ask ourselves that question. Don (10:37) Would you buy one? ⁓ I have I actually have a US men's national team jersey. I have an old one. I have an old one. I don't have the new one or whatever. ⁓ So I am I am not going to buy this year's ⁓ one I've got mine is boring as shit. It is just white. It is literally just a white jersey with a with the thing on there and whatever that so ⁓ the full story the full backstory of it was Rob (10:38) Are you going to buy one? Do you have any interest in buying one? You do. Not going to buy it. white. Don (11:05) family vacation in New York City. ⁓ And we decided, this is such a dumb story, I can't even believe I'm gonna tell this out loud, but like, yeah, go for it. Yeah, absolutely. Rob (11:13) Can I guess? Can I guess what led to it? Okay, let me, ⁓ what month was the vacation in? Don (11:21) it was was raging summer is the middle of summer summer in New York City. Yeah, yeah. Rob (11:23) Okay, let me guess. You needed an outfit change at some point because we were walking blocks and blocks and blocks all around New York City and we were drenched in sweat. And we need to, so we popped into the FIFA store and grabbed the jersey. Don (11:33) Absolutely. Drenched. 100 % drenched. We walked from what, like, you know, Battery Park or whatever, all the way up to like Times Square, because my son wanted to see Times Square and do things and, you know, like whatever, right? And I'm like, ⁓ man, I am roasting, just like, ⁓ I'm like, you know what, ⁓ there's like the FIFA store or what I like. I'm gonna go pop in there and get myself a US man's, you know, and I'm like, all right, know, wardrobe change, know, yeah, full blown, you know. ⁓ Rob (12:06) wardrobe change. Now did we throw Don (12:09) Yeah, I mean, I got the backpack Rob (12:09) away the other shirt? Don (12:11) on with all the supplies. I mean, I'm just sweating buckets, you know, so. Rob (12:14) Okay, so then you took the sweaty shirt and put it in the backpack. You re-tossed it. Tossed it. Gone. Don (12:16) Yeah, I threw it away. Yeah, yeah, I'm not. Yeah, I mean it's it's yeah, it's a T shirt man. I got so many T shirts I don't even have time to wear, you know, so it's yeah that baby. I think I mean I think I've literally walked out of the store full on. I mean, it's New York City who gives a rat's ass. You know, I mean just shirt off. Yeah, yeah, it is in Times Square for crying out loud. You know, like shirt off new shirt on who God I feel like a million bucks. Let me go stand in the CBS for five minutes to. Rob (12:34) I'm sure you weren't the only half-naked person on the street in Times Square. Right. Don (12:46) get a power aid and some air conditioning and then we're back at it. Rob (12:50) Well, I am interested to see since we're, since this podcast is about the world cup and soccer. Don (12:55) Not what our topic is supposed to be. Yeah. Rob (12:57) Now we pivoted, yeah, but I'm fine. This is a good one. Because we're in Atlanta, one of the host cities obviously, ⁓ and a major host city at that. Two things. Number one, I have yet to see ⁓ a whole lot of activity or marketing or things around the city. I'm just talking like outdoor or otherwise. I haven't seen a lot. Don (13:09) Yeah, quarterfinal. Hmm. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Rob (13:25) What I can tell you is that people are excited. Like people are talking about it. mean, everywhere I go, everyone's talking about it. So everyone's super excited and maybe FIFA feels like, we don't have to do a whole lot because it's the World Cup, you know, ⁓ I guess. But I am very excited now that we're 60 days out roughly to see stuff start popping up. Don (13:29) Fired up, man. fired up and ready to go. Yeah. Yeah. What I find interesting is that, you know, I mean, it dwarfs the Super Bowl, right? In terms of global viewership and the Super Bowl gets what, like 120 million people or 120 million households or some of that. And like the World Cup will be like well over a billion. Well, well over a billion. Yeah. But yet we don't talk about the advertorial aspect of the World Cup, you know, like we do the Super Bowl, at least domestically, right? ⁓ You know, and it's, Rob (13:57) Global, yeah, sure. A billion. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Don (14:18) You know, for those that know and love soccer, you know, we don't have commercial breaks. We don't stop. You know what mean? The clock rolls and it's going right. So television broadcasters have figured out and I don't know if you noticed this during some of these recent, you know, where they will like they shrink the box, you know, they box and box and then put ads around the side while the action is still going. And then you got you, of course, have, you know, digitally imposed logos on outside of the field. And you got the, you know, the side the sideline. I mean, there's advertising. Rob (14:23) Run a clock. Right. Don (14:48) hidden all over the damn place, you know? But it'll be really interesting to see during the World Cup itself, like what additional avenues of media placement and advertising do they do? And who are gonna be the big advertisers? You know, I mean, is it, you know, like your traditional Olympic style advertisers, like we had talked about Pokemon, like I was shocked that Pokemon was advertising so heavily during the Olympics, right? I mean, this is an Olympic level event. Who are those giant advertisers gonna be outside of Rob (15:02) Yeah. Don (15:18) Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble and the obvious ones, you know, so. ⁓ Rob (15:19) Right, right. Well, and it's I mean, the beauty of of of the beloved game is the running clock, right? And it's like it's interesting to think about. And we've talked about this before, but the difference between going to a soccer match versus going to a football match or a football game is a an eight hour process is time. It's all timeouts and very, very little game, right? Soccer is the opposite, ⁓ which is why we love it so much. And yeah, it used to be, hey, this half is Don (15:26) Yeah, that's great. Yeah, totally. Yeah, exactly. Rob (15:49) brought to you commercial free by Coca-Cola. But yeah, now we just move the screen over. Cause they're like, we're getting our ads in there. Don (15:51) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Or like where the where the score is up in the little corner like a little box will open and we'll get some logos and yeah, yeah. Yeah. So I don't you know, go ahead. Rob (15:58) Yeah, you'll get a little whoop and then go back in. Yeah, yeah. Well, I did see the other day that, you know, they can't, because it's all FIFA stuff, they can't call it, for those who don't know, it's Mercedes-Benz Stadium here and they can't call it that. They can't call it Mercedes-Benz Stadium. And so as part of the deal, they have to, and if you haven't seen the stadium, go look at it. It's a remarkable. of engineering and it's absolutely beautiful, but there are giant, giant Mercedes logos on the building. They have to cover those up for the... they're massive. They're massive. So they have to cover those up during the World Cup. But FIFA gave them an exception because the top is a retractable top. And again, if you haven't seen it, go see it. it opens, it's circular and it kind of opens like that. An oculus. Don (16:32) Humongous. Yeah. Yeah, they're like bigger than people's houses. I mean, the logos are gigantic. How are they gonna do this? Okay. Yeah, the Oculus, I think they call it, right? Rob (16:55) It is an Oculus, Oculus Prime. Don (16:55) Yeah. Yeah. Rob (17:01) But the whole thing is that the whole top is a logo, is the Mercedes logo. Well, they couldn't figure out any way to cover that. So FIFA granted them an exception. And they said, fine, you don't have to cover that. Don (17:04) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So So are we getting an are we getting an exemption? Wow. Okay. Well, Mercedes is, you know, dare I say, right? ⁓ A gigantic global brand. Okay, it isn't like ⁓ American Family Insurance Stadium, you know, like, or something that's so just domestic or regional specific, you know, it's like, Rob (17:27) No. No. Don (17:34) freaking Mercedes man, there's cards everywhere. You know, all over the world, their cars are so ⁓ if you are going to grant an exception, I would say that Mercedes is probably a good brand to align yourself with, you know. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I think I did find it interesting, at least on the Portugal broadcast that they were talking about how many of the players from Portugal were excited to play in that building specifically ⁓ because I think. Rob (17:43) Yeah, and not a whole lot you can do about that. mean, you can drape a tarp over the, uh, drape a jazzy tarp. I believe it. mean, it's... Don (18:02) One of the guys, Bruno Fernandes, was, I think he played in the Club World Cup there. ⁓ I could be wrong, but it was like, there are a few Portugal players that had been there before, but then were super excited and just like, hey, there's nothing like this really anywhere else in the world. And it is kind of insane that Atlanta, of all places, is like, I mean, if you're talking about, I mean, he is the assist leader in the Premier League for Manchester United this season. I mean, this isn't I mean, this is like you're on one of the top five clubs in the world, leading category statistically in the club, and you're saying, man, this is amazing. There isn't anything else like this in the world. And of all places, that's in Atlanta. Like it kind of gives you goosebumps in a weird way, you know, like. Rob (18:47) Well, and we take it for granted because we go there all the time, but it is, and I will tell you, you know, because so, so again, for those who don't know it's turf on the inside of typically, well, obviously that doesn't work for the world cup. So they've come in and they've put down the grass and they've had the grass for a little while. And so Atlanta United has been playing on the grass. It is awesome. mean, it is, it is awesome. And it's, and it is very noticeable, the difference when you're there watching it, like it's noticeably different. Don (18:49) Yeah. Yeah, it looks great. Rob (19:16) Guys are sliding all over the place. it's just, ⁓ I wish they would keep it that way afterwards, but ⁓ they can't. Don (19:17) It's better with grass, Yeah. It's better with grass. I mean, they can't. I mean, the reason why they can't is it's a multipurpose venue and like so many other events happen there. I mean, you build a billion dollar or how many many billion, two billion dollars? How big how many it doesn't even matter. Yeah, you spend all the money on this thing. You need to lease that thing out every day of the week. I mean, I get it, you know. ⁓ But man, it's so nice with the crack. Yeah, it's a pretty it's a pretty special place and it's a pretty. ⁓ Rob (19:35) All the money. Yeah. It really is. It's awesome. It's awesome. Don (19:53) A lot of good memories in that place, and a lot of good events there. Not the best for concerts, I will say that. The hard surfaces, it's not a great concert venue, but it is big, so lot of concerts occur there. But ⁓ for sporting, man, it's legit. And I will say this, they did, now this has turned into a podcast all about Mercedes-Benz Stadium and how amazing they are, but it is local to us. ⁓ Rob (20:00) Now! Don (20:19) I remember reading a million years ago that they had hired all of these people from Disney, from the theme park specifically, right? To talk about ingress and egress when they were designing that building. Do you remember this? Does this ring a bell or whatever? Oh, it was, yeah, they were talking, you know, the biggest problem with events like this is you get 70,000 people in at once and then they all, even worse, they all have to leave at the same time. Cause those 70,000 will trickle in over, you know, an hour or two, right? So, Rob (20:31) I don't remember that. Right. And then it's just, yeah. Don (20:49) There's nothing worse from a fan perspective, right? Or from an engagement perspective of waiting in lines, right? I mean, like I'm waiting in line, I'm waiting in line, I'm waiting in line, I'm waiting in line to leave, I'm waiting in line to get in, you know, whatever the case may be. Whether you got there late or not, that's what kills those events is fans bitch and moan and complain about waiting in lines. So yeah, they hired like theme park specialists on like, do you get... you know, hundreds of thousands of people through Disney every day and still have that customer service experience that everybody loves. You know, it's the happiest place on earth, right? ⁓ And they designed a lot of the wayfinding and a lot of the ingress and egress and how the ticketing works and all these different things, you know, with kind of like a theme park in mind. And you don't really think about that until you go somewhere else. Like to your point about being being spoiled, like the place is incredible. The way that they handle everything is amazing. Rob (21:41) Yeah. Don (21:43) And then you go to a concert somewhere else and you're sitting in the parking lot for 45 minutes after the concert ended trying to get out. And you're like, dude, this sucks. know, like they haven't figured out there, man. They really, really do. Rob (21:53) Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I'll tell you to that end, I will say shout out to all of the folks who work there because their customer service is, I you go to a match there and you are literally like greeted, like individually greeted by no less than 10 people walking through that place. And everyone is smiling and everyone is, I mean, the whole experience all the way around is, is pretty much. Don (22:13) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, people are shouting out like, welcome home and all this. I mean, like full on, like they got their catchphrases, like how Chick-fil-A has, you my pleasure or what, you know, like, it's pretty impressive, you know, so Rob (22:23) Yeah, it's nuts. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's an amazing. Well, I for one can't wait. It's going to be awesome. And I also to just love stating the obvious, but just the international flair of the of of what happens during the World Cup and everyone is out and just going bonkers and it's going to be awesome. I'm psyched. Don (22:40) dude, totally. Yeah, yeah. I read an article in the paper about this guy that's been to like every World Cup, you know, you know, for the last however many, you know, the guys like 50 or 60 and he freaking it's gotten so expensive, right is the whole is was kind of the part of the article or whatever. And he's an English guy and he fucking he sold his house so that he could buy tickets and go to the World Cup, you know, and take the like six weeks off or whatever. It's like, dude, that that is nuts, you know, my opinion. So Rob (23:04) Hey man, football is life. Well, I can vouch for that. The ticket prices are insane. You know, and I was thinking back to it. I talking about somebody about this the other day. You know, the last time it was in the US was in 94, right? And I remember back then watching it and how crazy it was and how, and I mean, that was a long time ago. And so think about it now. I mean, it's the place is just going to be absolutely. Don (23:21) 94, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. 94 was the fabled US Brazil game, right? Where Brazil got a red card and we were holding on, holding on, holding on, holding on. And I think we lost that one to nothing. ⁓ But man, it was like we had a chance. could have, you know, like, you know, that was the old Alexi Lollith. ⁓ dude. Rob (23:41) Yeah. Yeah. mean, was over 30 years ago. Think about that. That was over 30 years ago. Don (23:53) Yeah, that that sucks right there. But yeah, that I mean, I don't think 30 years ago, I really understood the the significance of the world. You know what mean? It was kind of like, it's just this kind of weird, wacky thing, kind of like the Olympics happens every so often. But you know, so yeah. Rob (23:55) Yeah, no, no, no. I think save to saves, you know, football here in the United States or soccer here in the United States has had a meteoric rise over the past 30 years. Don (24:19) Totally. Yeah, I just look at the value. Rob (24:21) So it'll be awesome. And I wanna go down and do the whole FIFA, they're doing like a whole FIFA fan zone, variants and all this kind of crazy stuff. It's gonna be a circus. Don (24:32) Yeah, it's going to be awesome. Well, I mean, just look at the meteoric rise of is MLS going to make it? Are they going to go bankrupt to like now every franchise is worth $500 million? You know, like, mean, you know, yeah, it's it's Rob (24:45) Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're filling the the the bends with 70,000 people sometimes watching these matches. It's crazy. For a club match. Don (24:52) I know, I know for just a club match for a club match, know, so it's, it's, it's pretty awesome, man. Yeah, this here's what happened. This was not supposed to be today's topic. We'll save it for we'll save it for next time. ⁓ But this has been a fun chit chat. I will be interested to see how two things I love ⁓ being surprised by the kits of all the different countries and somebody's going to come out with a badass like Rob (25:04) Yeah. Don (25:18) Was it Kenya one year? was a Zimbabwe, some African nation had like the most amazing whole soccer kit that was like the talk of the World Cup last time, right? Like the Flores and Zigzag or something. So somebody's gonna bring the thunder and have some super cool design jerseys. And then I'm very curious to see what happens with the advertising and how they try to cram more advertising in. You know what I mean? Rob (25:28) Yeah. I'm gonna predict that there is a, back to your Pokemon, I'm gonna predict that there's a Pokemon inspired jersey somewhere. Yeah, how about that? It's the 30th anniversary. Don (25:49) What? Okay, I'll take it. Well, it is the 30th anniversary. ⁓ Did Japan qualify? I don't even know. Call me an idiot. As much as I sang here, I love it. don't know all 64 teams, know, so. Rob (26:03) I don't know. Well, if they don't allow Iran to play, then Japan can slot into Iran's slot. Don (26:09) There you go. There you go. Yeah. Well, I mean, we've been staying away from all the other the other aspect of the World Cup and it being here for sure. So focus on the positive, you know. Rob (26:18) Hey, soccer brings everybody together. Brings all the people together. ⁓ All right, well, I'm sure it won't be the last time that we talk about Don (26:21) Let's hope so. Let's hope so. Let's hope so. Now, no, we'll do a recap. We'll do a recap, you know, at the end of summer or afterwards. You know what I mean? If there were any interesting takeaways, because I do remember on one of our previous podcasts, too, you told the great famous story of the launch of Puma, right? The Puma versus Adidas, you know, and the tying of the shoe. Yeah, exactly. yeah, there's a lot of good. mean, advertising and the World Cup, you know, go hand in hand, just like the Super Bowl does. So there's always. Rob (26:46) Yes, the midfield shoe tie. Yeah. I would love to know the prices on some of those things. Cause we always get the Super Bowl prize. it costs $10 million for 30 seconds or whatever. I would love to know some of the pricing. I've got a friend at FIFA. Maybe I can get some intel. ⁓ We'll see. We'll see. We'll see. All right, folks. Don (27:02) Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. There you go. All right. Yeah. All right. In the meantime, right, everybody can find us at mocktheagency.com. Anywhere else? Find us in the stands and the nosebleeds. Yeah. yeah. All right. We'll see you next time. Rob (27:17) That's right. And on all the socials. us in the streets, find us in the stands. We're everywhere. All right, everybody, we'll tune in next time.