DoopCast - Philadelphia Union

Sure, this is late too but it is still not as late as Corben Bone challenge.

Sorry, folks - been one of those months / times of year.  The DoopCasters are scattered to the four winds and our schedules are crazier than Bernie Sanders' hair.  We will do what we can in the weeks ahead.

The lads are back in the studio and an old friend also drops in for a quick rant.

I guess it’s a sign of progress for the Union that after a 2-1 loss to Seattle we felt a bit let down, however in the battle of the two young prospects in Morris and Yaro it was the Sounder who was a bounder, overshadowing that splendiferous strike from Seba.  In previous years that might have been a setback but this ain’t your, erm… older brother’s Union as the always pleasant visitors from NYC FC were given exactly what they deserved, i.e. nothing, to leave Patrick Viera shaking his (both literally and figuratively) enormously oversized head.  Guess you made the right call in leaving Pirlo out, coach…

Jamaican Jesus to the rescue after Barnetta's belter left us all delirious and dreaming.

Second place in the second city for a second loss.

I guess as it’s Holy Week it is entirely appropriate that the Union performed somewhat of a miracle in winning in Columbus for the first time as Pontius piloted the boys in blue to a deserved 2-1 victory with Saint Andre getting in on the act by denying the crew three times before the rooster crowed and the whistle blowed. And that wasn’t all, as on Palm Sunday the Union also returned home with a second coming of fine football that left more than one of us declaring, “Christ alive!” As a holy trinity of goals secured three points despite the Union having more problems with spots and misses than a preteen at a middle school dance.

Huh?  He's playing who as a back four?  What?  Fernandes instead of LeToux? Shurely shome mishtake...

The Lads give their predictions for the season and we have an interview with the vice president of the Sons of Ben, Jeff Mitchell.

First half of a bumper wrap up.  Part two should be available soon, featuring an interview with Sons of Ben vice president Jeff Mitchell.

Stormin Gorman braved the elements and an enormous cephalopod to bring you this report.

All the rest of the gongs, plus "should he stay or should he go?" which by now is out of date, but whaddayagonnado?

Here they are, the much coveted Doopies.  Hey, apparently all that slagging off of Danny Cruz made him a better player.  Who knew? If you have enjoyed our humble little show at all this year please chuck a few bucks our way to help defray hosting costs - go to www.doopcast.com and hit the donate button.   Part 2 will be available in a couple of days.  Cheers!  And happy holidays to you and yours.

Initial upload was quiet for some reason.  Here is the episode a little louder.   Like the show?  Please send some love our way by donating to help defray the cost of bandwidth and hosting.  Go to www.doopcast.com and hit the donate button.  Thanks.

Hey listener... Please be so kind as to throw a couple bucks our way to help us with bandwidth costs.  Just to deliver the show to your phone does cost a fair bit, so if you have enjoyed our show please head over to www.doopcast.com and click on the 'donate' button.  ANy amount is greatly appreciated.   As for the Miami game...Meh... What can you say?    

Records are made to be broken.  Can the broken record that is the Union's futility also be smashed by a new appointment?

Oh... Sigh...

So everybody in Philly is going mental, some Argentinian fella is in town and the whole place goes nuts.  Everyone is hoping and many are praying that he will be the one to bring light and happiness to our fair city.  Wait.. who?  The Pope?  Nah, mate… That’s the wrong Argy....  I’m talking about Chaco Maidana and how his irresistible form will surely make our cup runneth over.

So… Jim Curtin… Tactical genius.  San Jose were THE hot team in MLS, so naturally a bloody awful Union side stood no chance against a team that had won the last four games, including beating the seventy three  Designated Players that LA has.  So what was it?  A free-roaming Barnetta carving open defences with trickery and speed, a daring false nine combined with a double pivot and zonal pressing?  Fluid / total football?  Nah mate...  Just chuck it in the box for the big lad. Only this time instead of the slender, toned Sapong it was the slightly fuller figure of one Conor Patrick Casey.   I guess it’s true what they say… Girth really does make a big difference in the box...

The DoopCast is all about that cup, bout that cup, no playoffs.

Oh LeToux LeToux, He’s Frencher than me or you, And even Drogba too, Four from five will do.   M’Bolhi M’Bolhi, He’s madder than you or me, He’s headed off to Turkey, Goodbye from Philly. Don’tletthedoorhityourassonthewayoutRais...

Part two covers that thrilling three-three rematch on a sultry Sunday night.  There's also Off The Post and a head-scratching Who Are Ya?

Part one of this episode considers the Orlando game (if you could call it that) and the Open Cup semi-final against Chicago.  Part two will have the league game, Off The Post, and Who are Ya?

As we get down to the nitty gritty in the east, The Union’s results aren’t so pretty... not in the least, Now Sheannon’s gone and with him the BOOM, The spectre of more losses surely does loom, With barely a dozen league games games left, Will the trophy cabinet again be bereft? Will Barnetta bring back smiles to us all, Or will Sack Curtin become the call? Hey, we’ve still got the cup, Or is that just something else to cock-up? Let’s see what the lads have to say about it all.

Blimey… DoopCasts are just like SEPTA buses… What’s that you say?  old, slow, and emitting noxious substances?  No…. I mean you wait forever and then two or three come all at once…. It’s been quite a week with all that fuss over Caitlyn Jenner… and after the Toronto game I have to agree that the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage did go to the wrong person, surely CJ Sapong deserved it as he gamely played on after taking a size twelve right in the swingers.  I don’t think Ryan Howard has hit balls any harder than that.  Who Are ya is back, and Off the Post and despite (predictably) no Union player making the “Marketing personalities of the league to a national sponsor scrimmage”  erm… I mean the All-Star Game, there is news of the U bringing home a championship…. of sorts….

The second half of the catchup.  Next week we will cover TFC - we promise!

Time to play catchup again - we will be back to one match, one episode with the Toronto game.

Covering the visit of those ever-so-loely Third Rail types to PPL, plus Who Are Ya? and Off The Post with Dr. Carr.

Sorry for being absent for so long but it wasn't through lack of trying. Here is the first of a two part catchup episode.

Pfeffer once again proved that he should be seeing more time on the field and less on the bench with a finish cooler than the other side of the pillow to send us home singing songs of joy and not of protest.

Hi folks, it’s Richie here with a brief but important message.    A  very serious issue that is exceptionally near and dear to the DoopCasts heart is one you probably haven’t heard of, Leukodystrophy.  This Saturday, May 16th you can come out and support the cause simply by taking a walk.  It is taking place in Fairmount Park and it promises to be a glorious day - go to huntershope.org for details.  If you can’t make it out but would like to donate just go http://www.thecalliopejoyfoundation.org/

  Maybe the Sons of Ben movie has had an adverse effect on the U, because it looks like we are swiftly turning into a mockumentary like This is Spinal Tap.. How else to explain the bizarre series of injuries and circumstances that have afflicted all the goalkeepers?  After all, the goalie is to a soccer team like a drummer is to a rock band…unfortunately Nick Sak seems to be playing the Malcolm McClaren to the Union’s Sex Pistols as it’s Anarchy in the PA...

Take me to the away game, Take the bus with the crowd, Buy me a winger and a left back, I don’t care if big Jim gets the sack, So it’s boot boot boot out M’Bolhi, That whole episode was a shame, And it’s 1, 2, 3, goalies are out, And Nick Sak’s to blame.

This time the Union made like a doctor dispensing medicine while doing a handstand… and flipped the script by pulling off a late win.. and you know I think I heard Dr. King as I was walking out of PPL saying “Three at last, three at last, Thank Nogs almighty, three points at last….” The River End joined Ayuk in flipping out after Noggy’s last minute strike grabbed the points like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a nerdy goalkeeper’s hat - and I guess that in the post match interview JP must have been hungry because he apparently ordered a Big Mac and cries… aww…. bless…

  It seems M’Bolhi the goalie had the wrong idea of what holy week was - no, Rais, it doesn’t mean you keep goal as if you are made out of holes.  Though to be fair the defence on set pieces was shakier than a Parkinson’s ward during an earthquake, and predictably… as if they had been given a passing grade by Philadelphia Licenses and Inspections, the Union collapsed with disastrous results, but on the bright side at least Mike Lahoud now has something even more embarrassing than that terrible hairdo for us to talk about...

So it’s another week of misery in Unionville, although as it is Easter I suppose you could say that the Union were just doing their bit by serving up a tragedy when it comes to crosses, and despite being Muslim I think I did see Mbolhi paraphrasing Jesus on the cross saying, “my defenders, my defenders... why have you forsaken me?” Now we’re no Indiana here at the DoopCast and we want to recognize Passover is also here but I think Fred needs to get down the Yeshiva and study some more because Adonai freed the Jews from bondage with ‘a mighty hand’ and not a dainty slap from a wooly glove.  Sadly there was to be no stemming the red sea of red cards as the Union blew it in the windy city.

No elbow room at PPL Park.   What was he thinking?

It was inevitable - here is my entry for 'A Song for Fernando'.   We thought we had the win in sightOn Friday night, Fernando.     He was scoring goals for you and me, almost got three, Fernando.Though we never thought that we would lose, there was the ref.  If you can score two goals again, you’ll be my friend, Fernando.If you can score two goals again,you’ll be my friend, Fernando.

  According to Wikipedia the highest point in Colorado is Mt. Elbert at 6,800 feet and NOT 6 foot 7 center back, Axel Sjoberg nor man-mountain cry-baby Bobby Burling -  but just when we thought Burling’s dismissal had left our opponents with a mountain to climb, the Union’s rocky mountain high hopes came plummeting down to earth faster than Harrison Ford’s airplane as our stolid strikers made like they were playing in the Lot A mud and muck, however there were bright spots with an industrious, promising debut from Nando and not least the fact that Danny Cruz wasn’t even on the bench, so hey… it wasn’t all bad...   

THe Crew and RBNY games get a good going over and there is some Sons of Ben news to mull over.

Part 1B will be available for download later today (Friday).  Sorry this is so late but snow and ice conspired to confound us at every turn.     It’s time to dust off the grills, dig out of the snow and ice and get cracking on the 2015 season.  The lads are back, if only via Skype and maybe in preseason form themselves, but Stormin Gorman was down in Florida for the last three games, mingling with players, coaches, and team executives to run the ruler over everything and everyone to do with the U.  Take a listen to part one where we consider the changes made since the disappointing fizzle of the end of 2014 and go through the new look U...

The boys hand out the rest of the gongs, including Keano's Clown of the Year.  Keep subscribing for any tidbits that might come your way, and if you are able please head over to www.doopcast.com and throw some love our way by hitting the 'donate' button.  We could use any help you can spare to pay the bills.  Thanks for downloading and c'mon the U !

Curtin is now for real, and the lesser spotted Jay Sugarman even came out of hiding for a special announcement.  The lads consider the latest news and hand out the gongs for our best (and worst) of season awards. There is also a shameless piece of begging for money - just to bring this podcast to you Pat, Richie, and Dan pay all the costs out of their own pockets.  Believe it or not, hosting and distribution costs aren't cheap and actually run in to the hundreds of dollars per year even for our humble little podcast.  If you have enjoyed the show this year please consider making a donation - it is quick, safe, and easy - just head over to www.doopcast.com and click on the 'donate' button. Part two of the Doopies show will be available in a few days. Thanks.

Welp, there it goes.  Pat is in Ireland, Dan is indifferent, and Richie is trying to make sense of it all through the medium of song. Make sure you are subscribed because there will be another couple episodes to come, even though the U's season is now done.  We will have our Doopies award show as well as a review of the expansion draft and the regular draft.  And who knows what else...

Well, what can you say about that?  For many that game was the Union season all neatly wraped up in to one game.  For others it was the last straw.  Let's see what The Lads make of that particular kick in the nuts.

Oh dear... Where did the season go?

Three games for the price of one download.  Reference to canonical 20th century American poetry?  Check.  Insulting comparison of Thierry Henry?  You know it.  The DoopCast goes all the way from highbrow culture to the lowest of the low in the gutter.  Like Chris Christie and Rosie O'Donnel sitting down on the pitcher's mound at CItizen's Bank Park, the lads cover ALL the bases.

In the Eastern Conference at this stage of the season every game is a six-pointer.  The U took maximum points from our northern neighbors as the Curtin experiment continues on apace.  Can they maintain the momentum in to a huge four days?

Days late and a dooper short but Dan and Rich soldier on without Pat to try and make sense of two very different games.