Ryveann: (00:49)
let’s go. Hi and welcome to the first half podcast. This is episode five. I am Ryveann Elizabeth and you are.

Paul: (00:56)
Pauly D

Ryveann: (00:59)
today’s episode we will have goalkeeper extraordinaire mr Evan Bush. Yeah. How excited are we?

Paul: (01:09)
Very cool. Very, very cool to have him here. I’m very excited.

Ryveann: (01:12)
So how are you doing Paul?

Paul: (01:13)
I’m very well, I’m very well, it’s after the new year’s. So it’s a, it’s sort of an odd time in, in everybody’s schedule where they’re, you know, gearing up for the new year yet totally exhausted from the ending of 2019. So you’re geared up and you’re pumped up about what’s about to come. And then the same time all you want to do is just get in bed and sleep.

Ryveann: (01:39)
Yeah. And I’ve spoken to, and I’m also living through the fact that the last weekend that everybody had off, pretty much everybody was sick. So I am coming to you today with a, uh, a little bit of a stranger….my voice is a bit stranger than usual and I’m full of full of cold meds guys.

Paul: (01:55)
So you know wipes, don’t touch me ….distance.

Ryveann: (01:59)
We’re going to have to be a mouth breather.

Paul: (02:06)
Okay. Well anyways, so the transfer window opened. A FA cup was going on this weekend, which around the 16 super exciting stuff. It’s, uh, again, I’ve, I’ve mentioned just before, I think the FAA cup is just one of those fantastic tournaments that brings, you know, the real grittiness of football and football culture and fandom altogether in England. Um, Wayne Rooney became the permanent captain of, of Derby County, which is super cool. And I have a connection to Derby, um, because of Lampard and because he was there, he, he did what he did with them last June the championship and now he’s the Chelsea co, you know, he’s a, he’s a Chelsea legend who’s now coaching in the premier league. So I started to follow a little bit of Derby. I know some guys that are Derby fans, so that’s super cool. But him getting the permanent captaincy at least for, you know, the rest of this season is a big statement.

Paul: (03:01)
I mean, he just got there, you know, like he really, he’s been hanging around but he knew he just started to play and he got that. So that’s very cool.

Ryveann: (03:07)
It is. It is really cool. I like him a lot as a player actually. Um, and, uh, what I thought was really great about this weekend was, well actually the Derby took it over crystal palace over one of the EPL league. Pretty amazing, right? Yeah. It’s pretty amazing when, when everybody else either had a draw or you know, the big names one.

Paul: (03:24)
That’s the beautiful thing about the game and specifically during the FAA cup is that you, you get to see these lower well the championships, not that far off because there’s the whole relegation thing, you know, top three, bottom three. So you’re never, you know, the competition and the level is about the same if you get what I mean versus the money. But you can get some teams, you know, that have like, you know, 12,000 seats, you know, rough and they’re playing like immense city or a, you know, or a crystal palace, you know, like a large, a large team with big money, big stadiums. And that look and that feel and that sort of, you know, David and Goliath sort of battle is, again, I think the FA cup is just a fantastic tournament. And so I’m very excited about that and I’m excited about the next round cause a lot of things, a lot of draws, arsenal won today against leads. So basically all the teams have figured out where they’re gonna play, uh, at the end of the month for the, that, that weekend generate 25th, um, hurricane, uh, speaking of premier league, uh, Mr. Kane himself, Mr. Kane, uh, that’s, that’s a mouth talker too. He’s a mouth. He say, yeah, I’m Harry, you know, and all that stuff. And so he’s injured and.

Ryveann: (04:37)
uh, according to the guardian, uh, he’s out until March. It’s pretty bad. A hamstring tear. And so we’re going to have to see what that brings. I mean, I know the Spurs have won without him, but it’s a completely different coach now.

Paul: (04:53)
Yeah. Tottenham, Tottenham I think will be fine without Harry Kane. I mean, he is, he’s prolific. He’s, he does, you know, he’s their guy. Uh, but they have a Mourinho. This will be interesting. Mourinho’s definitely going to have, it’s going to be a very exciting next couple of months to see what he’s going to pull off with the players that he has with the team, with him being who he is. I mean, anyway, the, the truth of the matter, it is more about Harry Kane if he’s out till March, maybe April, then may, June comes around, we’re now talking the euros. England, what does that mean? Um, you know, when somebody is out for that many months and it’s a hamstring. So yeah, that’s something that can be a very, very, very tricky. So, you know, we’ll see. Um, something else that’s very based on, on, on North American, obviously this is a lot about what our show is about is the MLS will be celebrating its 25th year, 25. So that’s, that’s pretty big. And obviously the league itself has changed a lot. There’s, the teams have changed. The look has changed. Um, the marketing, the, you know, all the aspects of it, um, very exciting is um, the debut of FC Cincinnati and, and, and last year when, when they came into the league, they had, you know, something like 20, between 25 and 27,000 fans per game in Minnesota. Like, I mean, that’s amazing.

Ryveann: (06:28)
That’s, that’s a big number right, to be attending or I guess for MLS too.

Paul: (06:33)
Yeah. And a soccer specific stadium. I think it was the 20th, uh, the 20th soccer specific stadium, uh, built in the US which again is interesting cause a lot of these teams play in, in, in, in American football stadiums or baseball. They’re not specific to the game. So that’s a big deal when 27,000, I mean, that’s, that’s a lot. That’s a lot of people. And we’re talking, we’re talking Cincinnati, which is super cool.

Ryveann: (06:56)
Do you think that we should be continuing to add on extra teams or should we be really focusing on maybe filling all the stadiums first?

Paul: (07:05)
It’s not, I think the MLS has its goal. They want a certain amount of teams in the league. There’s not really, you know, Don Garber, the commissioner has a plan. He has a plan to bring in a certain amount of teams, you know, spread the game as much as he possibly can in North America. I don’t think we’ll ever see any more Canadian teams. Definitely in America there, you know, aand MLS franchise is a fortune. Uh, the expansion clubs, uh, Austin, st Louis, Sacramento and Charlotte are all to come the, so that’s already another four teams, Miami and Nashville are debuting this year. So you know that David Beckham’s team and the national team, I think Tim Howard’s involved in the Nashville team, ex, Everton, and he was with the rapid and a bunch of other guys in the MLS. So the expansion plans for the MLS I mean, they have their, I think they really, you know, they want to do what they want to do, but I, I do agree with what you’re saying. I think there, you gotta be careful, you know, as you expand your, your pool gets diluted. Right. So,

Ryveann: (08:07)
and I also think that one thing that could change that’d be really great on the MLS is maybe their salaries. I mean their minimum salaries in comparison to most other, I mean especially EEO. Like there’s nobody, we’re not going, we’re never going to hit that.

Paul: (08:19)
Cause there’s sponsorship. Money’s not the same. TV’s not the same, it just, it’s just not the same.

Ryveann: (08:24)
It’s pretty low. And honestly I think that it’d be a great time for them to start. Like we were talking about on another episode, maybe even giving, um, the women’s an MLS chance and they wouldn’t be starting with a huge pay gap I guess. Cause you can’t really pay them much lower than what the MLS guys are already being paid.

Paul: (08:43)
Yeah. It’s a very interesting thing. It’s with the salary caps and sort of the DPs and everything and how they can, you know, they want to be a, they want to be financially viable. They don’t want a lot of the clubs in the UK or in Europe and a lot of, they get into some trouble because there is no end. It just spending Willy nilly. Like there’s, there’s other rules like on, on, on transfers and how you can approach players. But there’s, you know, the spending caps not sort of the same thing and, but, but what you just mentioned, which brings up another point about, we were thinking, you know, the MLS, why hasn’t it created a women’s league?

Paul: (09:21)
Um, could it, and um, the reason I bring that up is because there’s a national women’s soccer league. We were looking into that there’s nine teams, there’s going to be a 10 team, but it’s very small. It doesn’t get the love, like you look and see what they’re doing in Europe. Like there are fans and it is, it is rabid for All the, all the premier clubs have, have women’s teams full.

Ryveann: (09:49)
Yeah. And they’ve got a lot of support from, from their clubs. Yeah.

Paul: (09:54)
That’s it. And um, the women’s game is extremely strong internationally. Even team Canada, like the women’s national team gangsters, they kill it. And yet there’s not even, you know, like the Canadian players or some are playing in the U S and some are, some are in Europe, so the like, but it’s, there’s nothing there.

Ryveann: (10:17)
I mean the women’s game is kind of, it’s a game that I like to watch anyways because it’s so, it’s, it’s, there’s less theatrics to it and they just, and they, they’re, it’s Savage. They, they play, they run, they get hit, they keep going. It’s an amazing game to watch and I don’t think it would be any different from it being either the Olympics or it being an actual MLS crew of amazing women playing. I mean, I feel like you could introduce a whole new audience, honestly.

Paul: (10:43)
Well, it also might be, I, I would assume that the MLS has already looked into this, but this is whole new market, right? And you’re, what you’re talking about here is you’re not, you, you do a lot of what the EPLs already doing so Montreal Impact the TFC, the red bull, New York, like LA, I mean, all these teams, same stadium, same kits, everything’s the same. It’s just, it’s, it’s the women’s teams. So aren’t they just improving all around sales for inside the stadium for gear, for marketing purposes? Like I, I’m, I’m, I’m sort of confused why that hasn’t, I, I’m sure it’s being supposed spoken about and they don’t know how to get it done and all that, but it doesn’t make sense. Like this shouldn’t be that complicated. And it’s something that I think definitely North America could be able to be pulled, pulled off cause the university game is strong. The national teams again are strong. Like there’s, it just seems that it’s what’s either taking so long or really what’s the major issue, why it won’t work and it can’t possibly be just because of the national women’s soccer league and, and you know, they don’t want to, you know, eat that up. It’s only there’s 9 teams there.

Ryveann: (11:52)
Exactly. There’s only only a few teams. I mean, this would only really just push, um, the football falter even further in North America. Honestly. People would be kids. Parents would be pushing their kids to, to try and to play more into and to train more. And then there’d be just more girls picked up and more opportunity for more people and it would be, and the community then the communities get involved when there’s more opportunity for more people to communities, get more involved in, guess what we’re going to fill up the stadium more and,

Paul: (12:21)
and the truth of matter is if, if you have a your son or daughter and they’re both into the same team and you’re absolutely right, you get a lot more people involved, you get teams involved in cities involved in communities, involved in parents involved in schools involved because everybody’s involved. It’s not just my son or my daughter. It could be both. Right. The both cheering for the same team. I mean there’s, there’s, there’s so many things why that that’s a bonus and there’s obviously there’s a reason and it works in Europe. So I’m wondering where that’s at and why there hasn’t been like, I’m very curious. That’s all I’ve looked around. I haven’t seen that much on it. And uh, so if anybody has an answer, let us know. But that’s, uh,

Ryveann: (13:04)
I’m going to, I’m going to stop you and say sensors talking women’s soccer that I need to shut out mademoiselle Christines Sinclair cause she was named Canada, Canada soccer player of the decade.

Paul: (13:15)
Pretty impressive.

Ryveann: (13:17)
Super impressive. I mean the girl over the last, I mean she’s been playing for what, 20, but I mean, over the last 10 years she’s been, she’s changed the game completely. She’s changed the game completely. She’s won so many different trophies. torn up the pitch, just torn it up. It’s been phenomenal.

Paul: (13:32)
So she’s still going right?

Ryveann: (13:34)
Yep, yep. She’s still going. She’s still going. Um, apparently, uh, something that I didn’t realize is when she scored the hat-trick, uh, in the Canada U S in 2012, it was a 2.4 million viewer watched that moment on TSN. That’s a pretty big deal.

Paul: (13:50)
I mean it was Canada US and it was no way that wasn’t going to be a big deal. Yeah,

Ryveann: (13:55)
no, I know. But for female soccer in 2012, those are big numbers,

Paul: (14:00)
the women, the women’s game is super strong. It’s super strong. And so that’s the, again, that brings back to that point, right? Yeah, that’s a very good shutout. Um, a part of a, a part of this, this podcast and something we like to do and is do, um, sort of a showcase and a shout out to stuff that we follow. We look at, we check out stuff that’s interesting on, on, on different social platforms and this year and this week, something that I’ve been following for a while, it just happens to fit within the theme is this fan girl and I followed them on Instagram. Um, I started following them I guess. Um, once I had my daughter and there was, I was just, you know, just getting a little more in tune to certain things. And I saw a photo the other day when I was, I was going through it, um, with the, with the, with the girl wearing a good, like a, an arsenal kit for the, for the women’s team, but she had sort of a, a bandana with, with a unicorn horn on it. And I think we have one of those at home. And I just thought of my daughter and I just thought it was super cool. Just what a brilliant photo. Like what a great picture.

Ryveann: (15:13)
It got a lot of, got a lot of traction and people did talk about it. Um, I was looking through it and it was really great. It was, is very much like, it’s really nice to see that it’s, it’s, it’s great to show people that you can be a sports fan, uh, player, keep your girly side or your unique side or be whoever you want to be all at the same time. Right. Um, and when I looked, uh, when I looked through their stuff, I especially thought it’s, uh, especially the unicorn post. Obviously. It really made me think of a few different campaigns that have been going on. So like, whether it’s Nike’s, what, uh, what girls are made of or, um, like a girl. But it also made me think of the Goldie box toys, the engineering toys that challenged gender stereotype. So like pink engineering toys for the girls who want to, you know, want to play games and play sports, but just like the boys are allowed to do.

Paul: (16:01)
It’s very cool. And it’s, I’m now going to check out what you were bringing up there. But it is funny that those stereotypes in the, those gender divides and things that it’s still today, like it’s hard to find. Yeah. You know, pajamas that aren’t so drastically male or female. And the same with the toy. Uh, it’s, it’s sort of ridiculous now that we’re 20, 20, uh, but it, it’s, it’s there and it needs to be addressed. And so something like, uh, like GoldieBlox toys is doing it and that’s super cool. And it fits in within sort of the, the, this whole, the whole context of everything we’re kind of talking about today. So it’s very cool. Um, a quick connection, uh, to what we were saying also about the MLS is potentially, maybe it’s the CPL that needs to do the move, uh, for, for this women’s league. You know, if they’re going to make this big push, if they’re going to be, you know, this big national Canadian premier soccer league and they’re going to be going, you know, end to end of this country, maybe it’s for them to take the reins and to put that in play and to get that going a lot sooner and a lot faster. Don’t wait, you know, 10 years like get it going now it’s a baby, right. If they’re an infancy and if the CPL as at the beginning of what they’re going to be, cause they’re at the beginning, nobody’s going to pretend they’re not sitting there figuring it out in the freaking out, their marketing and their look and sponsors and you know, there’s just how it’s all going to go down. Maybe they need to take the reins, CPL needs to implement this, try it out, do some tests the same way they’re testing everything else in the same markets in these, you know, smaller venues and see where it goes. They could be the ones that champion it and everybody can follow their lead.

Ryveann: (17:50)
Yeah. Having one league and just championing both sides at the same time, the same amount, really pushing it could make a huge difference in the culture.

Paul: (18:01)
Also with with, with, with fees, you mean what.

Ryveann: (18:04)
with fees, but also just like at this point, like you said, there’s just, they’re in their infancy, so why not do it where it’s equal? Both like immediately … marketing wise and trying to get it right

Paul: (18:16)
on the marketing standpoint, 100% I think there’s, I’m sure there’s a lot of hiccups. I know everybody’s looking into this stuff, but they could be the perfect opportunity to kickstart something like that since if they’re doing things differently, go ahead and do it even bigger. Right.

Ryveann: (18:30)
Be real Canadian about it. Be inclusive,

Paul: (18:37)
uh, VAR ah bum bum Bummmmmmm

Paul: (18:41)
we’ll make this, that on itself can be a whole show and I am sure it’s fantastic. It’s terrible. It’s like the, it’s like that evil cousin that’s now lurking around like it doesn’t, it’s amazing. It’s like, you know, and like

Ryveann: (18:59)
it’s there, but nobody wants to ask, wants to ask them for help. But it’s right, but it comes with a cost. Johnny, if I asked Johnny,

Paul: (19:08)
it’s changed the game. Yeah, it’s definitely changing the game. I know they’re going to make revisions. They’ll fix it up for next season. Everybody saying the same stuff. This is not original stuff coming out of my mouth, but the truth of the matter is I was watching a game this weekend. It went in my team’s favor, this offsite thing. It was like a little hair on the tip of his nose just over the line and it was like, it’s ridiculous. It’s just ridiculous and players don’t know how to celebrate. Fans don’t know how to celebrate. People just sit there and wait. A goal goes in and you literally watch everybody now like make a turn and check on, you know

Ryveann: (19:45)
It’s a little devastating for the human experience of the entire thing.

Paul: (19:48)
It’s in one full swoop is whipping out and just taking away the thrill of the. Yeaaaaaaah. I’ve, I screamed the, the like the raw madness.

Paul: (20:02)
because nobody really knows when the ref makes a call.

Paul: (20:06)
w ridiculous are you’re going to look, you’re going to rip your shirt, you’re going to, you’re going to cheer, you’re going to slide and then people are saying, Oh yeah, well then you can celebrate a second time if they give it to you. That’s ridiculous.

Ryveann: (20:17)
It’s not the same thing. You’re not in the moment anymore? Not in the moment. I, I, I’m on the fence because I get it for certain things when it comes to like giving a red card, something violent, something that happened that the ref didn’t see and we like kicked him. It’s just like I, I, I understand a little bit on the sportsmanship side of things, but then it’s like opening a door and then everything else trickles in. So I don’t really know because I know it just at the end of the day, it just changes the game. It changes the feeling, it changes the atmosphere and it changes the live.

Paul: (20:47)
There’s pros and cons to it. It’s there, it’s not going anywhere, but I’m sure they can just make some more tweaks. So for next, Oh, you can’t change it mid season obviously. Cause then everything would fall apart. They would do it for next year. But my God is that bad. Well, so that’s, so that brings us to a very exciting guest. I’m, I’m very, you know, I’m much looking forward to having this conversation with the super B mr Mr. Bush.

Ryveann: (21:17)
Let’s bring him on… Talk to you guys next week. Byyyyye.

Second Half 

Paul: (21:25)
All right. Guess what? Second part of the first half podcast we have Evan Bush right in front of us. This is a huge honor, especially with the debut of this sexy new hair. Uh, it’s no, but in all seriousness, happy new year. And I’m really glad to have you here. And I’m going to talk a little football and a little bit about you and the new year. Yeah. So welcome to you as well.

Evan: (21:52)
I’m happy to be here. Cool. My first stop back in Montreal in the new year.

Paul: (21:55)
So amazing. Like right back into Montreal. Straight here.

Evan: (21:58)
That’s it.

Paul: (21:59)
So there’s obviously we have a little pull in our infancy. That’s cool. So look, uh, in this part of the show, we like to talk to our guests about all sorts of things, but also get to know them a little bit. So can you tell me, tell everybody who’s listening a little bit about yourself and where you’re from and how you got into football.

Evan: (22:18)
Yeah, I’m from Cleveland, Ohio or a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. Um, you know, I grew up in a household that didn’t know anything about the sport. So, you know, I started playing at four years old cause it was pretty much the first thing you can do. Um, in terms of sports. You know, you couldn’t play American football that age. Baseball is still a couple of years away. Basketball, you’re not strong enough to throw a ball up into a hoop. So soccer was naturally the first thing you do. And you run around with a group of kids and you know, it’s, it’s not necessarily, um, you know, proper game. But, um, you know, so I started at that age and you know, just kind of fell in love with it along with other sports. And, um, eventually I had to make a decision going into college, whether I wanted to do that or put basketball and, you know, given my stature, um, I think I chose the right one. Yeah. You know, I’m not a six foot six and flying through the air.

Paul: (23:13)
So what was what was the sport at home? Was there, was there one that like the family really gravitated to that wasn’t obviously football as you just mentioned?

Evan: (23:22)
Yeah, I think it was American football. My dad played it, so, you know, just in high school. Um, you know, but from the start it was, um, you know, something that we understood the rules of. Uh, we, we enjoyed watching our hometown team, kind of, they’re not very good, but we enjoyed watching them still. Um, so, you know, you just gravitate towards whatever it is that you’re, you grow up with that your parents are with. And uh, so I had a deep understanding of all the American sports. I played basketball nonstop in my driveway.

Paul: (23:51)
Amazing.

Evan: (23:52)
Yeah. So the culture of, you know, and the football in, uh, in Ohio at that time, it was non-existent. And you’re starting to see, you know, develop a little bit, but you still don’t see enough of it.

Paul: (24:03)
Are you talking about, now or back then, when you were a kid.

Evan: (24:06)
Then and now I still don’t think you see enough kids, you know, outside just knocking the ball around and you know, playing pickup, you know, football on the streets or anything like that.

Paul: (24:16)
Right. Like you would, let’s say in Europe or Latin America and.

Evan: (24:19)
I’m not sure if that’ll ever happen to be fair.

Paul: (24:21)
Huh. Um, you know, they’re jumping along. You’re, you’re jumping ahead and all those questions all in, in conversation. No, no, but that’s amazing. I, no, no, but you know what, the truth of matter will, we’ll get back in to you in a moment, but with that subject and where you’re going with that is what this show is about. And that’s something that is very important… Will North Americans ingest football the way we see around the world. Will kids just pick up a football and go play in the street, in the park, in an alley, uh, anywhere where they see space in a pool that has no, you know, like a waiting pool that doesn’t have any water. Like that’s, that’s a great point that you bring up and you bring it up. Who’s a pro a pro football

Evan: (25:04)
to be fair. Yeah. I think you’re seeing the decline of that all over the world too. Not just in North America. You know, the, the stories of Brazilian superstars, you know, playing pickup soccer and being found in the ghettos of Brazil. It’s, it’s doesn’t exist really anymore. Sure. There’s kids playing. Absolutely. There’s kids playing, but you’re not finding your superstars in there anymore. Those kids are pulled out of there at the age of five, six years old and put into academies now immediately. Yeah.

Paul: (25:31)
So there’s no more, they’re not developing like street skills developing straight. Like they’re being molded immediately. Nobody’s taking, nobody wants to wait any, any time. They want to get there directly.

Evan: (25:45)
There’s just too much money involved in the game now that if you can find these kids at a younger age and develop them, um, you know, I’m being a little bit, you know, probably extreme. You know, there’s, there’s certainly kids still playing outside and um, you know, within North America, I think the shift is, is more now that kids don’t play anything outside anymore When I was a kid I would go and play, you know, flag football, I would play basketball, baseball, whatever it was a neighborhood. Now kids don’t do that, you know, there’s not the interest in doing it first of all. And I think there’s more concerns from parents about

Paul: (26:22)
letting kids out loose with nobody watching them sort of thing. Right. So the society in its own sort of way is affecting free play and then free play, which leads to kids, boys and girls just playing football randomly and developing a whole set of skills that academies will never teach never.

Evan: (26:44)
Right, right. Yeah, that’s a good point. You lose a lot of the creativity. I had this conversation actually, uh, either yesterday or the day before about, um, yeah, it was, it was a couple of days ago. I was having breakfast with the head coach of Cleveland state university who actually used to play in Montreal. Um, but he was talking about how there is, there’s no creative players in the U S and if there are, they’re at the highest level. They don’t go to college anymore. So there’s not a,

Paul: (27:13)
okay. So if they don’t go to college, they’re going from what they’re going from high school directly to a semi-pro or pro. Like what do you mean they’re not going to college?

Evan: (27:23)
So the few of them are being swapped up early, which is how it should be. But that just shows that there’s not an abundance of them and without an abundance of them that points directly to the fact that everything is so focused on, you know, building it into a system or building the player into the model that that particular club wants them to be in. That you lose the ability to have creative one B, one players that are running at players and you know, making things, you know, out of nothing basically.

Paul: (27:51)
Does that model, so a question for you, if you’re doing that, if club’s doing that with a player that young is, is sort of implementing what they’re hoping in seeing to get out of that particular player in that particular position. Right. And I mean they’re going to build models around each position. Does that disservice to the player now mean if it doesn’t work out with that club, they’re no longer viable for other clubs because they’ve been molded specifically for a role in a position for that club, but another club doesn’t see that role the same way and now all of a sudden this kid, because he or she hasn’t been allowed to be creative or become their own person first as a player and then move into, you know, a certain sort of guidelines and teaching and coaching, you know, coaching’s yeah. Does that be almost null and void, like your potential career?

Evan: (28:46)
I know in a lot of ways it depends on what the identity of the club is. And the Academy, you know, you have some academies that, you know, develop each player in, in the position that their first teams playing. And you know, you look at, you know, clubs like Barcelona, they do a great job of that. Um, you know, any club that has a real identity, the red bull system now is doing that really well with each of their clubs. Um, you know, there’s a lot of clubs that don’t really have an identity of the first team. So there’s no real identity of the Academy of either. So in those academies, you know, you might be developing players just to be very good players without really having a certain, you know, position in mind for the player or you know, a certain system or format or of the way you guys want to play. Um, and because of that they might have a little bit more advantage of being able to switch clubs. So it depends a little bit about what club you’re in, what Academy in. Um, but you certainly can’t say the players that, you know, Barcelona developed have, have not done well elsewhere either,

Paul: (29:44)
obviously, but we’re, I mean we’re, we’re looking at like the top of the top. Yeah. When we’re talking, I, I’m, I’m curious because I’m trying to bring it back to the game in North America and will kids, you know, really be down and are they going to, are they going to grow up fans the game because they play the game and then they’re going to grow up to be, you know, supporting their local team and then they’re going to be growing up to support their national team and then they’re going to follow other European teams or Latin American teams or, you know, like, it’s that big. It’s the big picture. It’s not, so it’s not very, it can’t be narrow. I don’t think if society’s going to totally ingest the sport, it’s, you got to get it from all angles. Right?

Evan: (30:25)
Well, listen, it’s a big country, right? There’s a lot of people, so a lot of people can like a lot of different things. And, um, you know, I think North America’s unique in the sense that it has a lot of different sports that people latch onto. Um, it goes back a little bit to the history and the culture of, of, you know, what North America is. And if you look at the U K and you know, the history of the football teams there, and if you try to put an NBA team there, it’s not going to take off right away. People might like it, but it’s not going to overtake football there. I think Northside.

Paul: (30:54)
Like what they’re doing right now with the NFL, NFL, you man, like they’re really there. They’re making a push to play at Wembley. They’re there, they’re marketing. It’s actually pretty good market. Like really cool stuff. Right? But it’s taking you, it’s taken years and we’ll take here.

Evan: (31:09)
Yeah, sure, sure. Um, I think, you know, MLS for their part, they’ve done a really good job of, um, having like a direct and focused marketing approach towards millennials. And that’s not just, uh, to get that specific demographic involved in the game, but that’s building a longterm loyalty from the millennials and then the eventual kids that they’ll have,

Paul: (31:32)
which is key.

Evan: (31:33)
Yeah. And then that’s how you build the culture within North America. So the kids have these millennials who, you know, are, are totally invested in, uh, you know, going to the game, the March to the match and all these things that MLS and the individual clubs have, you know, kind of pushing their stuff around. You know, that’s going to develop into something bigger, you know, 15, 20, 30 years down the line. And that’s when you’ll really see, I think football takeover.

Paul: (31:56)
Right. And so I’m saying like, would you literally just it 20, 30, 40, 50 years down the line? You can’t supercharge this, you can’t fake it. You can’t speed it up. It has to constantly be. done season after season, year after year off season. Not like off season is as important now as season. Like it’s just, it’s gotta be constantly wrapped in the fabric of everything. So that 20, whatever, 10 15, 20, 30 years down the road, those kids, kids, kids are like, well, of course I support the club, or of course I’m into football like this. It’s not even a discussion the way it is still now. Like, yeah, right.

Evan: (32:37)
Well it has to be organic, like you said. Yeah. You can’t fake it. You know, I think the U S national team, what, 15, 20 years ago, set a goal to win the world cup, like right around this time period. So whether it was, you know, 2018 or 2022 so there’s something like that and you look back at it now and it’s, it’s a bit silly to think that, you know, and it’s not because you can’t get lucky in a tournament because you certainly can. Um, I mean, Croatia had a great run, no one expected them to do that. But I think the trick will be, I think the key will be to find out if that’s sustainable. You know, if you can make a semifinal and then the next time you go, you make a quarterfinal and then you make a semifinal. And a final, you know, always being in the mix. And then, you know, once you’re in the mix, that’s when the luck happens.

Paul: (33:23)
because if you’re not in the mix, you don’t have a chance as well. So it’s right. Cause that’s a lot of pressure. So that’s a lot of pressure on because there are teams around the world that don’t ever amount to much within their league or even in sort of nation’s plate, but they’re considered gods within the communities. Right, So that’s because it’s bedded in the fabric. Which is again, the key, right? Like if you’re a football, if you’re an American football team or baseball team or hockey team or you know, things that North Americans are very much a basketball team constantly doesn’t make the playeoffs or just makes the playoffs and never really gets to the final, you know. Yeah. You’re still a die hard. Oh yeah.

Evan: (34:04)
American fans are a bit, um, spoiled, I’d say in the sense that they want to be the best at everything. So they don’t understand the fact that, you know, you go to the world cup, you’re competing against every other country in the world, right? And uh, you know, basketball championships or baseball world championships, you know, there might be a handful of other teams that are decent in football. You know, you have different styles, you have different, you know, ways of approaching the game, which is why, you know, when you watch a team like Ghana play Croatia, you know, completely contrasting styles. But it’s beautiful to watch, right? There’s only one way.

Paul: (34:45)
That’s what sort of turns you on when you’re watching that football.

Evan: (34:48)
There’s only one way to win, you know, a basketball game or a baseball game or something like that, you know, so it’s always going to be the best teams in that sense. And in football it’s completely different and that’s the beauty of the game.

Paul: (34:58)
Are you in love with the sport? Like are you, are you happy that you became a football, like you made your decision to become, to become and became a pro football? Like is that, you know, it’s part of the big picture?

Evan: (35:11)
Yeah, I think so. You know, I, a lot of the guys, I think at the professional level, they enjoy the lifestyle of being a footballer. Um, and the things that comes with that. And um, there are certainly advantages to that, but I’ve always enjoyed the grind of, you know, preseason I’ve enjoyed the competition. I’ve enjoyed, um, you know, reviewing games and, you know, trying to figure out how we’re going to get better and individually, collectively, you know, how we’re going to, you know, approach the next game, things like that. Um, uh, I fall in love with the process of it for sure.

Paul: (35:44)
Did you, uh, were there a lot of hurdles along the way to becoming, you know, I won’t say who you are, but you know, I mean, you’re a pro football dude. That’s, it’s a big deal. I mean, you play sports as your job, you have family and um, you know, you’re good at what you do, but your job is sport. Right. And I know there’s a lot to it. It’s not just the 90 minutes on game day. I don’t know. And so that’s where this is the whole point of these sorts of shows. We talk about it, right.

Evan: (36:16)
If you want to talk about obstacles and hurdles to, to kind of get to where I am and we’d probably need longer than that, then the amount of time that we have. To make it a little bit shorter. Um, short and sweet. Yeah. You know, my first couple of years out of university, uh, you know, I was making peanuts, you know, less than I would make, uh, working at McDonald’s. And so when your, when your idea of what a professional footballer is and professional lifestyle and you see that and you, you feel that lifestyle for a little bit, um, it can put you in a little bit of a depressed state almost to, to see where you’re at. Um, so there was, you know, a number of times where, you know, I would look back and say, is this really worth it? You know, what am I doing? Um, you know, fortunately I wasn’t married yet, I didn’t have any kids yet, so it was easier to kind of take on those things and, you know, not really feel a whole lot of responsibility for anybody else. So I put myself in positions where, you know, I see, you know, people that I grew up with or graduated with, uh, out of high school in college and they’re off, you know, doing great jobs and, you know, accounting and finance and stuff like that and, you know, making money finally, um, you know, I’m still scraping by and you know, finally I got a chance to come up to Montreal on a tryout and, um, broke my finger the first day of the tryout. So yeah, I thought, I thought my time in Montreal was over before it started. Got a call back three weeks later and they invited me to preseason and, you know, I earned a position on the team as the backup goalkeeper on the second division team at that point. Um, that guy ended up getting hurt, I think seven or eight games in the season and I took over and kind of ran with it. Um, and then it’s kinda been, you know, another hurdle after another hurdle, uh, since then.

Paul: (38:01)
Um, but is that automatic with pro sports?

Evan: (38:04)
I think so. I think so.

Paul: (38:05)
I think from what I, again, what I gather, I’m definitely not a, you know, but from what I see, what I read, what I, when I try and pick up, it’s, I don’t think it’s, there’s never not hurdles. There’s maybe in each sport and a couple, a handful or setups, it’s better, you know, they have other hurdles, but I mean, isn’t that life?

Evan: (38:24)
Everybody’s, everybody has something, whether even whether you know what’s going on or not. Um, you know, just, just on the field in Montreal, uh, my first year in MLS, you know, I was excited to finally sign an MLS contract and I was, you know, immediately put as a third goalkeeper, which I didn’t feel like I deserved. So right from there I had to work my way back up again. And um, you know, finally got to become the starter. And in 2014 and for the most part I’ve been the starter, uh, since then there’s been, you know, some ups and downs obviously, but that’s again, you know, that’s having a career and you, you get through those and you see who the mentally tough guys are. And, um, you know, that’s something that I’ve prided myself on over the course of my time as a professional is being mentally tough because I think that’s the first thing you have to be as a professional.

Paul: (39:09)
Is there a myth, is there like a common myth about footballers you can do bunk or is there something that, you know, is there, um, is there an eliteISM amongst players or, you know, the, is there something that stands out to you that sort of the public thinks is one way, but it’s really just another way?

Evan: (39:30)
Um, you know, I think professional athletes in general have this aura to them, you know, that’s put on them by the public. That isn’t necessarily the case. You know, I’ve played now with, you know, a lot of really big personalities in the football, in the football world. You know, we’ve had Drogba here, we’ve had Nesta, um, you know, Ferrari, a lot of big guys, you know, that when they walk in the locker room, you don’t know what to expect because they’ve played at such a high level that they can walk in with a big ego. You know, to a man, each of those guys that I mentioned were some of the greatest teammates I’ve had and the easiest guys to talk to. Very personable. Um, I’m sure they don’t care or I’m sure they don’t like if someone on the street comes up to them and like tries to talk to them for 20 minutes, but if it’s, you know, a quick hello handshake and stuff like that, then, you know, they’re fantastic people. A lot of times what you get is kind of that secondary or that second level of player that comes in that with like, yeah, that kind of thinks that they’ve accomplished more or I think they’ve accomplished what the Drogbas have accomplished that they haven’t really, and they have to walk around and, um, you know, they put on a persona that’s, uh, not, not so flattering. So, um, you know, it’s, it’s an interesting dynamic in a professional locker room sometimes.

Paul: (40:53)
That’s amazing .For sure. And that’s, I think when, when you see that, but that, you know what, I think that that’s a sort of a, an aura everywhere and in everything. And I think you either you realize that, I mean, they too might have had that sort of swagger and feel to them at one point in their life. And then at a certain moment they realized, wait a second, that’s, that’s not how I’m supposed to act. And yeah. You know, they sort of change the trajectory on how they do stuff. Um, do you have any hobbies you do? Anything? I mean, from what I, from what I gather, most athletes you can’t do, you can’t do your, that all the time. Do, you still play other sports. Do you do hobbies? Do you do modeling? Do you build Lego castle, you know, like does their stuff that you do to take your mind off of your, your daily sort of routine?

Evan: (41:52)
Yeah. Um, obviously I have three kids, so, uh, you know, first and foremost I’m a father and that’s, yeah, it’s pretty wild. Um, so from the start, you know, there’s, you know, a lot of, a lot of responsibilities when you get home every day. Um, but the responsibilities a lot of times or that’s probably not the right word to use because it’s enjoyment too. Yeah. Um, so, so once you know your, your, your past, that part, you know, my other hobbies are probably I enjoy cooking. Um, yeah. So, uh,

Paul: (42:25)
you have a favorite dish?

Evan: (42:28)
It Changes, you know, we’re starting to go, you know, a little bit more restricted with our diet, I should say.

Paul: (42:35)
So like you or the family?

Evan: (42:36)
My wife and me,

Paul: (42:39)
like for health reasons or just, …

Evan: (42:40)
um, a little bit of everything, a little bit of everything and more so health and environmentally. I, you know, I think it helps, you know, a little bit of both sides,

Paul: (42:47)
but then you’re going to teach that to your kids. Right? So that’s the next generation.

Evan: (42:50)
Yeah. Which we’re finding to be very difficult really. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if you try to make some super clean meals for kids, it’s, it’s difficult for them to enjoy things. You know, they want chicken nuggets and French fries, you know, so you have to find, you know, you know, proper ways to do that. Whether it takes time, for sure. If you’re going to make clean meals, it takes more time than, um, you know, just running to a fast food restaurant or throwing a pizza in the oven for sure.

Paul: (43:16)
That’s amazing. You have a failed case. So we’re going to, we’re going to take it to, uh, we’re gonna get into some little interesting quiet, I’m going to ask you a question or two and then we’re gonna get into 12 questions, which is which is a part where you just answer quickly out. But I’m very curious. Do you have a favorite word that you use, uh, on the constant and you know, like shucks, or is there something that jumps to your mind that,

Evan: (43:46)
I mean an appropriate word?

Paul: (43:47)
No, no, absolutely not. Do you have a favorite curse word?

Evan: (43:52)
Yeah, I mean, you can curse, dude. Yeah. I mean, I say I say fuck a lot, which I actually read somewhere, which is probably a lie. Um, you know, five, six years ago I read something that said, the more you swear in your general conversation, the more intellectual you are. So I read that and yeah so it’s probably probably not true, but I’m going to run with that.

Paul: (44:23)
So pirate or like a hobo in the street is brilliant. Okay, so here we’re going to go 12 questions. Okay. Rapid fire. Rapid fire baby. All right. What’s your favorite sport?

Evan: (44:41)
Soccer. Football.

Paul: (44:42)
Good man. What song or band would you want blasting while you walk into a stadium?

Evan: (44:48)
E street band

Paul: (44:50)
Yeah? Yeah. Oh man. A favorite footie or sports team?

Evan: (44:56)
Arsenal.

Paul: (44:57)
Unfortunately the gooners. Yeah. Awesome. At least you won against leads today. Favorite athlete? Dead or alive?

Evan: (45:07)
A Michael Jordan.

Paul: (45:09)
Favorite breakfast item?

Evan: (45:14)
Avocado with anything really.

Paul: (45:16)
You’re so healthy. Favorite drink, alcoholic or non alcoholic?

Evan: (45:21)
Uh, I’ve actually really gotten into different types of bourbon lately. Yeah, I dunno why, but just kind of sipping on bourbons at night makes me feel like a sophisticated kind of, I guess. I don’t know.

Paul: (45:36)
Tea or coffee.

Evan: (45:38)
Coffee,

Paul: (45:39)
Dream trip? If you haven’t taken it yet,

Evan: (45:42)
I got to go to Hawaii.

Paul: (45:44)
That’s super cool. Yeah. Hawaii, I’d never been.

Paul: (45:48)
Favorite condiment. So ketchup, mustard.

Evan: (45:52)
Ballpark Mustard.

Paul: (45:54)
Is there a different type of, I’m not, not Dijon, but like there’s yellow mustard?

Evan: (45:59)
Yeah. So ballpark mustard, I don’t know if it’s only a Cleveland thing, but it’s, you know, they serve it on the hotdogs, uh, Cleveland stadiums and um, it’s kinda like a Brown mustard. Yeah. It’s, it’s fantastic.

Paul: (46:14)
This is amazing. You know, I’m going to look into this. Pajamas or no pajamas?

Evan: (46:22)
Um, are we talking like sleeping naked or,

Paul: (46:24)
Yeah.

Evan: (46:25)
Uh, no, I wear pajamas. Just not like.

Paul: (46:27)
Don’t worry. I don’t need run.

Evan: (46:28)
More like shorts than pyjamas. I wouldn’t spend money on pyjamas,

Paul: (46:32)
stupid pyjamas. Your favorite social media to look at or watch. So anything that you’re into sport wise or non sport wise right now on specific account?

Evan: (46:42)
Yup. Um, there’s a dr Abrahams, I think his name is or Abrams, something like that. He’s a English sports psychologist who works with a lot of English footballers.

Paul: (46:58)
Superstition. Do you have one on game day / big events? Do you have any superstitions?

Evan: (47:02)
Uh, I think it’s more of like a routine and superstition.

Paul: (47:06)
So like you use same jockstrap etc?

Evan: (47:11)
Just routine. Yeah. More so routine.

Paul: (47:13)
Okay. Last one. This is our 12.1. We call it soccer or you call it football.

Evan: (47:20)
Depends the crowd I’m with, you know, if it’s a, if it’s like I’m talking with you, I say football. If I’m talking with people back home that don’t enjoy the game, then I say soccer because you know, they like American football. It’s just, I avoid the controversy.