Dummy: Interviews With Smart People About Soccer

James Dorsey joins to discuss the ways that soccer fans and administrators play a role in Turkey’s complex and tumultuous political realm. Then Sam Patterson explains why roughly 50 members of La Familia, Beitar Jerusalem’s ultra right-wing hooligan group, were taken off the streets in a recent sting operation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Dummy’s second installment of 1v1 we bring you Carli Lloyd. You’ve probably heard of her, but here are the basics anyway: current FIFA World Player of the Year, the second person ever to score a hat trick in a World Cup final, and all around badass. Oh yeah—she was also on the cover of Howler. Twice. Somehow her Wikipedia page fails to mention that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robbie Rogers played for the Columbus Crew and the U.S. national team before going abroad and joining Leeds United. Soon after, he abruptly quit the game and announced that he was gay. When he came out of retirement, with the LA Galaxy, Rogers became the first and only gay male athlete in any of the the big American sports leagues. He also wrote a book about growing up with such a big secret, keeping it from family, friends, teammates, coaches—everybody. This is the first in a Dummy companion series we’re calling 1v1. The idea is to talk to some of the leading players, managers, businesspeople, journalists—and not just about the usual stuff, but to really go deep on the experiences and points of view that make them unique. In this interview, Robbie talks about what it was like in the U.S. residency program in Bradenton as a teenager—he only stayed for a little while because it was such an unwelcoming environment. He speaks about locker room culture here in the U.S. and in England. He spoke about his interns

This week in the New York Times Magazine, Jay Caspian Kang published a confused mish-mash of a story claiming, among other things, that “crowds who gather in M.L.S. stadiums and bars and sing songs inspired by groups who shove black men off subway trains and travel to foreign cities to taunt Muslim immigrants” are the reason “why so many Mexican-Americans choose not to root for the United States.” What? We’re using the occasion to speak with Simon Evans (Washington Post, Reuters), who has actual knowledge of English and Italian supporter traditions and is also familiar with the Americans trying to adopt them. He joins George and Bobby for a more informed discussion of American fan culture. Simon, who traveled to France for the knock-out rounds, also helps George convince Bobby that Euro 16 wasn’t boring. Next, Wes Burdine talks about the $700,000 transfer of Poku from NYCFC to Miami FC and what purchases like this reveal about the NASL. The country’s second division is struggling to keep pace with MLS and

Jorge Arangure of Vice Sports joins to discuss his reporting on the case, filed Friday in Texas, that could upend everything from pay-to-play to MLS’s single entity status. Plus: Abkhazia, world champs? George and Bobby talk to Max Seddon, Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times, who reported on the CONIFA World Football Cup. And in Tiki Talka, George answers a listener’s questions about how we make the magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re having a live show with special guest Anatol Yusef! Thursday July 7th in Brooklyn. It’s an intimate venue and we can only accommodate 30 guests, so please check out shop.howlermagazine.com and get a ticket soon! Today on Dummy: Messi’s retirement and the shenanigans/crimes of the Argentine FA that may have prompted it. Ivan Lopez-Muniz lays out the backstory: Messi will probably come back because he now has the opportunity to remake the Argentine federation LeBron-style. (Argentina’s contract negotiation with Adidas also comes into it.) Then, Megan Rapinoe talks about her new role as an ambassador with Street Football World, the dumb questions people ask female athletes, how her twin sister helped her become an elite soccer player, and why there seems to be some tension between the male and female U.S. internationals over the pay question. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/

Plus: David survived France. How ’bout that Iceland!? Bobby makes his friend Kelley O’Hara deeply uncomfortable. George’s tiki-talka gets even grosser than Joachim Löw. And Dummy’s lone listener in Greenland wrote us an email. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David joins on the eve of his trip to Marseille to talk about the unrest rocking France and the sky-high ticket prices at the Copa Centenario with George. Then George and Bobby speak with Chris Billig, the man behind @gay4soccer, to talk about how soccer communities can be more inclusive and try, even in small ways, to combat the bigotry that leads to unspeakable crimes like the one that recently took place in Orlando. In Tiki Talka, Bobby suggests a new look at hand balls and George talks about a man who can't seem to keep his hands off his balls even when he knows he on TV. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George and Bobby welcome Amos Barshad, who wrote in The Fader about the murders that have ripped apart the mafia-style barra brava of Newell’s Old Boys in Rosario, Argentina. George and Bobby also discuss the U.S. performance against Costa Rica—in particular, how the U.S. improved on its lack of movement versus Colombia, which was the topic of discussion in this week’s episode of The Play. Check out howlermagazine.com/podcasts and click on this week’s episode to see a gif of Bobby’s absolute golazo from the weekend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

…But that doesn't mean U.S. fans should be happy. Note: The new iTunes feed is not ready, so we’re publishing the second episode of the Double Pivot here. The next one should have it’s own feed… Okay, onto the podcast. In this episode, Mike Goodman and Michael Caley discuss the first weekend of the Copa Centenario, but first they preview Euro 16: why France deserves to be the favorite; how Germany weird brand of soccer is even weirder than you thought; and good but boring Spain. Also, El Tri’s oddly struggled with a man advantage against Uruguay plus DON’T WORRY: the USMNT isn’t that bad, and Klinsmann isn't necessarily wrong when he points that out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing The Double Pivot, hosted by Mike Goodman and Michael Caley. The Double Pivot is for people who want smart commentary with a healthy dose of analytics to back it up. First up: the Copa América, and why Argentina’s 2 to 1 odds to win it is a tad, shall we say, crazy. Mike and Mike also discuss what they’ll be watching for in the early matches, what to make of the USMNT right now, and touch on a few predictions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Wednesday in the Guardian, Les Carpenter published a story about the ways poor and marginalized youths are excluded from playing soccer and the implications for the professional game. Les joins Bobby, George, and Greg Howard of the New York Times, who has written extensively about race and sports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George and Bobby are joined by Nando Vila and Bécquer Seguín to recap the Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid seasons as the capital city rivals head into the Champions League Final. We then hear from Lawrence Cann, founder and CEO of Street Soccer USA, an organization that uses the sport to empower underserved communities across the United States. Finally, the hosts Tika-Talka about possible mutiny in Manchester, and three dads involved in a 1970s Cosmos v. Rowdies game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George and Bobby talk about the excitement of the US Open Cup with thecup.us editor Josh Hakala. Then George talks to Ben Grossman who explains that companies want to sell to millennials and millennials like soccer, so... $$$. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on the podcast, Bobby tells George about getting his first red card as a pro, for accidentally kicking another guy in the face. Then Kristan Heneage joins discusses Newcastle’s relegation and George shares a short interview he did over the weekend in Trinidad. Finally, in Tiki Talka, the founder of Four Square proposes a new path to pro/rel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's show George talks to Juan Villoro about his book, God is Round. Then, Bobby joins George to interview Yael Averbuch about her favorite number 10. Finally, George speaks with Duncan Revie about SoccerEx. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danny takes questions from Twitter (and George) covering topics like the first things he looks for as a scout, why even perfectly healthy Arsenal reserves find it hard to build their careers after leaving the club, and how do players communicate with each other when the stadium is too loud for them to hear what their teammates are saying. Also: we apologize for the relatively poor state of Danny‘s audio quality, but it’s definitely worth listening! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George and Bobby are joined by Danny Karbassiyoon and Zito Madu who share their diverse experiences in pursuing soccer careers abroad. Danny also gives us an inside glimpse of being in the practice sessions during one of the greatest eras of Arsenal’s history as he discusses his new book, “The Arsenal Yankee,” while Zito talks about his personal development as both a player in Turkey and a writer online. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jen and George are in Orlando for Dash vs. Pride, and they have an announcement: As of this week, the Mixxed Zone has its very own podcast feed! Please go to iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts and subscribe to it. All you have to do is search for The Mixxed Zone. Thanks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George and Bobby are joined by James Appell to discuss his understanding of the strange, yet fascinating aspects of Russian football. He also shares his direct experiences with FC Krasnodor’s owner Sergey Galitskiy when he wrote his recent piece, “Oligarch Angel.” Finally, the hosts Tika-Talka about what kind of coach George would be, Leeds United’s new ticket-purchasing policy, and the unfortunate creep of racism into North American soccer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices