Engineered For Success Podcast
EFS podcast, for self starters and those willing to make the most of any situation. Hosted by D Burke w/ co-host Waldo Black
Engineered For Success Podcast
Black and Forth
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In this episode, D Burke dives into the current events in the World Cup and gives a few takes on Lionel Messi and his greatness as a player. He also dives into the polarizing opinions of Argentina as a country and racism in futbol + more!
So, you know, as always, we get to this D-Berg 3 p. Spicy. We got a little smoker for you from the Millennial Music choir. Your boy. And if you remember different time, different place, different era, hold up, let's get a couple of years. Just in case that ass ain't up yet. Wake that ass up and come along with us. Let's talk to him. I got a little tune for you. Like to hear it? Here you go.
SPEAKER_05The only thing I'm seeing I'd like to put an amend on. Perhaps a little more room here for the feaksins.
SPEAKER_00Craig my shit to the max before we even get there. Let's do it.
SPEAKER_05If you remember, let's do it.
SPEAKER_01Different time, different place, different era with your boy.
SPEAKER_00The millennial music wire. Welcome to the deep bird, sweepy spicy.
SPEAKER_01The devil, the haters, the blockers they think that Drake and Soldier Boy. One time, wherever you at, wherever we listen to from turn it to the idiot levels, let's five.
SPEAKER_02This one is for all of the lost that for the biggest. Windows down, volume's up. Niggas do the black dogs, they talk through the nose off that won't change it. Oh, I'm a care won't heal all that anguish. We came a long way from the bottom of the boat, all the race to the back. Let's do it. Go next, middle finger corrected. All these niggas I got the We kicking it today, y'all. We kicking it today, no pun intended.
SPEAKER_01You see the attire, you see the vibe. See the man.
SPEAKER_02Let's talk to him. Nigga, we made it from slaves on the slave ship. Live from the cotton field, straight to the spaceship. How to make it a little bit more than a little bit.
SPEAKER_00Come along with me, man. Turn that music up. Let's do it.
SPEAKER_01One time for hold, we do a show this weekend.
SPEAKER_06No, I ain't missing no royalty spectrum.
SPEAKER_01We ain't gonna hold y'all out to death today, but we gon' rock today. For a moment, let's do it.
unknownSilly me, rabbit about chip.
SPEAKER_06What is rabbin' rap about gun stage? And a bunch of other silly chicken.
SPEAKER_01Look at the black space. Like I'm like, stuff, maybe it's black yellow. Nigga white.
SPEAKER_06So with my understanding, that so I still get paid. Oh crazy, too. I'm ready to chase a y'all cool back in the cage. These are the last days. What do I see? Face showed up to the last up for instant. What's that boat? Ace from the other world, Elliot superstition. Who you are, baby? My bloodline's crazy. Kings and queens and Michael Jordan rings that go stupido. Stupid.
SPEAKER_00Let's do it, y'all. Keep it going with me. We're gon' keep this thing vibing. D-Berg sweet be spicy. If you ain't awake yet, wake that ass up. The EFS podcast is back, man. Let's enjoy it. And by all means, we in that vibe, don't kill it.
SPEAKER_03Who's probably gonna sing again?
SPEAKER_01One time for the whole show.
SPEAKER_00If you got them tickets this week and enjoy, I'll be watching the content.
SPEAKER_03This don't kill my vibe. This don't kill my vibe. I can feel your energy. Y'all have a ball out there, y'all stay safe.
unknownBitch don't kill my vibe.
SPEAKER_01Don't kill our vibe, been a good summer so far. We still have our New York next energy. We still vibe and we still champ. But not just vibe.
unknownBrooklyn go hard with a fuck up.
SPEAKER_01Lummy on the east like a D.
SPEAKER_04Dominicans wish that I was born there. I'm looking to be the goddamn steep. You look at my hat, you see thorn there. I look at the game and see porn there. I'm fucking this industry hard. Right. I'm back at this money, tea back and yo, honey. You thought I was fresh off the yard. No. Don't break to me down with your life. Wait, they tell me you're nice, then I'm light. Wait, go get me a knife, you're looking like a steak. When I wanna reside, you're body food shape.
SPEAKER_01Up an echelon. Only hold features today. I am what's saying and honor the man.
SPEAKER_00The myth. The legend, the hover. I know we done it a couple times. I don't give a fuck. Y'all know what the vibe is. Big Brooklyn.
SPEAKER_03This don't kill my vibe. Big Brooklyn, big county. Big everything. I can feel your energy from two planets away. I got my drink, I got my music. I will share it with the big Come on. This don't kill my vibe. This don't kill my right. This don't kill my vibe. This don't kill my vibe.
SPEAKER_06Up in the clouds. Huh. Biggie my spouse.
SPEAKER_01Rumors on the ground, getting too loud. Please turn them just down.
SPEAKER_06Can't hear myself think.
SPEAKER_01I can't.
SPEAKER_06Turbulence shit almost spilled my drink. In the wife's with a mink. Running through that bitch like it's my house. Roll up in the hall like a mall. Told you motherfuckers, all I do is ball. No, I don't remember you. I don't intend to. Hillary's wank. Next to Hillary smelling like tank.
SPEAKER_01I wait.
SPEAKER_06Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I've been in my wave like twenty years straight. I've been in my vibe like twenty years straight. Don't fuck up my high, fuck up my eye. Nice like this, I can fuck up with the five. We in that mode, y'all, we in that bag. Let's go along with it. Energy, energy, energy. Smoking this shit like I'm trying to prove a point. I'm the highest, the highest title, numero uno.
SPEAKER_01Get my vibe at your motherfucking funeral. Chill. Chill, D Bird.
SPEAKER_00Don't hit him like that. We're gonna keep this free peak smoker going. I know barbecues is over after July 4th, but we still smoking over here. Let's talk to him. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Different time, different place, different era. If you remember this, joint word for word, push a T hole. Let's talk to him one time.
SPEAKER_05Valentino summers and wave runners.
SPEAKER_01Chains on my niggas like slave runners.
SPEAKER_05Garages, the phantom, ghouls, ghosts, and goblins. Blond move off the collection. I'm Dennis Rodman.
SPEAKER_01The money count is the only windows down, volume up, wherever you from. East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, South. Over the waters, we got a couple listeners over there. Come along with your boy for the three teeth. Spicy.
SPEAKER_05After all, I can make a call. I can baptize a brick. As I wash away my sins like a Catholic. Children never less a guard when your melanin's got a taste. Shit is hard now. All that but it's hard now still.
SPEAKER_01G's on my body.
SPEAKER_05The new Gucci has blessed monogram.
SPEAKER_01God's got him.
SPEAKER_05Let he without sin.
SPEAKER_01Catch the first stone.
SPEAKER_05So I built that old glass quad level first tone. Shatter all of your misconceptions. Hold all of the missing weapons. You thought I would miss my blessing. The ultimate misdirection.
SPEAKER_01Yuck. A good old yuck. Sometimes get it done. Two of the illest lyricists of that era. Push up, hover. Let's talk to him. One time in the air for Big J.
SPEAKER_06Federico Food.
SPEAKER_01Fellini in the flesh. Sing the shit word for word if you remember it, y'all. Let's do it.
SPEAKER_06Brackin' since the 80s. Google me, baby. You crazy. 89 in London, pullin' pins uh. Type it in, Google's your friend, bruh. 14 years. Become that popular store. He's been hula hoopin' through loopholes, working round shit. IRS should've had the town. Townhouse is surrounded. Thanks to the lawyers. Ah, marble the foyer. Ah, tore the floor, yeah. That's for the court fish. We've been dining no oysters. I go through the garage, like multiple choices.
SPEAKER_01I told him put a royce up.
SPEAKER_06I'm getting ghosts. I'm hearing noises. I think it's the boys, but I've been banking the Dutch. We got star fronts.
SPEAKER_01We got employee stuff, we talk to 'em. Business on the top. Entrepreneur top.
SPEAKER_06The paper trailers, gorgeous. Cases we bury some before reasonable doubt drop. The jury, huh? Bling bling. Every time I come around, you'll see. We rockin' all the way through.
SPEAKER_01I know we long in the pre-pod, I know we long with the three-piece spice people. We moppin'. We in that mode, we in that vibe, we in that bag, don't kill it.
SPEAKER_06Try to get him to tell about me. He told 12, give me 12. He told him to go to hell. Hell about me. Truck dealers anonymous.
SPEAKER_01You think it was the future? Our car's been autonomous. Don't let that go over your head. Don't let that go over your head.
SPEAKER_06We just call the shots by simply moving our thumbs. I'ma cause some miracles with this shit. Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Bearing lies the piece of car. I always knew I was a prophet, but I couldn't find a decent job. Life made me ambidexturous. Countin' with my right, whipping white with my left wrist. Damn, Daniel. All white vans through.
SPEAKER_00Chill, y'all. Chill, y'all. Chill, D Burke. Don't hurt them like that. Three piece spicy for y'all. One time for Hove, as we said, man. Big contest on the way this weekend. We're gonna keep this New York summer energy going. Coming off the Knicks, coming off the World Cup. We'll get to that in a second. You know, it's big vibes, big vibes all over, all over the town, man. And as always, y'all know what time it is as we get to this thing. What up, y'all? I'm back for another audio occasion. It is a podcast for self-starters and those willing to make the most out of any situation. The EFS podcast is back. Full of energy. Sun is shining. Middle of July. Well, not middle of July, almost the middle of July. And we just in a good vibe, man. We in a good bag. The World Cup is still rocking. We happy about it, man. You know, we're gonna enjoy it. We're gonna enjoy the time while we got the time. But making the most out of this thing, we kick it off with our pre-card audio. What's the fun as shit that is? What's the fun as shit that is, but we're gonna get to it. Oh my shit, I get a little funny with that right now. Alright, yeah, let's do it. Here we go. And you see the vibe, you see the show, you only know it's one thing we rep in a day, man. It's the goat. The goat. Bad talk. Bad talk. Let's do it. Hold on one second.
SPEAKER_07He became an animal, and nobody could catch him. He just went on, went on, and uh and this is the one I saw, we were used to see, and we're still seeing. So you can see also how emotional he is, how much it means for him. Remember, he already won this World Cup. He already won a lot of trophies, a lot of Ballon d'Or, a lot FIFA player of the year, everything. I can sit here and just give his C V and uh and it looks perfect, but he still wants it. He still wants it, and that's impressive. Look at that.
SPEAKER_00Keep it short on the on the on the intro audio today. We only talk about one man, and that's the guy Leonel Messi. But as you know, when we kick this thing off, it's only one thing we doing. Getting our theme music locked, loaded, ready. Let's spin it. We got one air horn, two air horns, a whole abundance of air horns.
SPEAKER_01Let my theme music run. Drop my shit.
SPEAKER_00And as always, if you made it to the audio slash visual occasion, please do not forget to like, comment, share, subscribe. If you want good content like this coming from your boy and the EFS network, you know what to do with all the bells, buttons, all of that. But we are here. I'm your man, your myth, your legend from the EFS brand themselves, Mr. EFS, Mr. 1%. Two times the man D Burke is back in the house for another episode. Officially, episode number 79. As I said a little bit earlier, go fucked up the number on the last episode. Uh so gotta correct, of course, correct and make sure we're being accurate as far as where we're at with the number of episodes we have put out. But with episode number 79 upon us, man, thank you for coming and listen. Thanks for coming to watch for the viewers. We're here, and we got a lot of great topics of discussion today. Some not so, you know, not so great, but we'll we'll address it. But either way, man, as we get this theme music faded out, we'll kick off our episode. Really happy to be here with you people, you listeners, you supporters, those who are rocking and rolling. As always, man, tell a friend to tell her friend as we try to keep this thing growing, man. The EFS podcast is is still in the running. We're working ourselves towards that hundred ep 100th episode, and we're gonna do so piece by piece. Uh but again, tell a friend to tell a friend. We love the love over here at the EFS Podcast. So as we check in, we tap in, and we open up for E-Burks takes this week, I guess. You know, still out here solo, still rocking, but sometimes it's better that way, man. Just uninhibited raw thoughts from your boy. Um, and sometimes not so structured. Uh but either way, man, uh we here. We we representing today for the previous champs. We'll call them previous champs and are now still in a fight, you know. We we we'll talk about it, man, as we open things up. You heard the audio for for the the man, the goat, the lion, the little lion, whatever they call him, man, Leonel Messi in the World Cup. Uh World Cup in general, you know, it it it has been a very entertaining and you know, I would say damn near the edge of your seat for a lot of these games that that we've been watching with the World Cup. Um so if you've been watching, salute to you. If you haven't been watching, salute to you as well. You know, I know not everyone is a World Cup fan, not everyone is a football fan, uh football, as they call it all overseas, uh, which I lean more into calling it that. I know here in the the US side of things we are a little bit more uh we call it soccer, but you know, from my perspective, we call it football, it's the world's game, and you know, very happy to be in the midst of the the World Cup again and after another four years. Uh so first and foremost, I know it may not seem like something that is common here in the US, but I've been a big football, soccer, whatever you want to call it here fan for a long, long time. I'm not one of the people that just popped up this year with a bunch of content about soccer who don't know shit about it, don't really know who's who, don't really know how things go outside of the World Cup. Um, but we're not shitting on those fans either, because obviously the the goal is to to grow fandom and just have more people enticed and excited about the product that's being put out. Uh but first and foremost, disclaimer I've been a soccer fan for a long time. Uh my roots in soccer, not as a player, I ain't going to act like, you know, I've never played in an actual official game of soccer, I've never been on a soccer team, I've never been a football soccer practice um outside of just fucking around with some teammates of mine when I was playing basketball. Um, and that would be mainly overseas uh in foreign countries all across the world. Uh but my affinity for soccer goes back way, way further than that. Um my parents are from the Caribbean, my dad's from Barbados, my mom's from Guyana, as we've talked about a lot of times on this podcast. Uh and if you know anything about the Caribbean, football, soccer is a big sport there. Uh so the roots for me kind of ran deep from jump. Um, wasn't blessed with those kind of skills, wasn't gifted to be a soccer player, uh, but my love for the game came from there. And even more so grew in my time of playing professionally basketball abroad, which you know you guys know if you've been a follower or listener to this podcast. Uh ten years professionally overseas in three different continents. We had uh Europe, we had South America, we had Asia. So if you're in those places, then a lot of times you're gonna understand what the real, real culture for football is outside of the US and how diehard some people are and you know are fans of their ball clubs, you know, and their countries and those in those countries too. Um and been to some countries that have really, really diehard about their teams and their clubs. Um of the clubs that are actually playing in the the World Cup now. Um Argentina was a person that played there. We'll talk about that in a little bit on the positive and negative side, because you know, there's been a little bit of, you know, hustle and and not hustle, excuse me, a little bit of just discourse, I would say, and just back and forth about what Argentina's like um on the soccer field and as a country itself. We'll dive into that momentarily. Um the place I've been is France, they're currently in the World Cup, so you know, I I've seen how the French give it up when it comes to World Cup soccer, Uruguay, they're out the tournament right now, but that was my first gig and when I really, really started to get introduced to soccer on an overseas level and how big the sport actually was and how diehard the people are. Uh so say that to say that, you know, my my my ties and my my my love for the game of soccer has been there for a long, long time. Um that said, my love for the player that we're speaking about currently, Leonel Messi, in the World Cup, um, has been over a decade at this point. From my time to being overseas and just getting exposed to him as a player, you know, and kind of understanding what he was and what he was doing at that point. And I would say that he's been great for a long, long time. Uh and I've been a fan for a long, long time. And fans of some other players, of course, but you know, right now we're talking about the GOAT. You know, we talk about Leonardo Messi, what he's been doing in the tournament. This is no shade to any other of the greats that are in the tournaments because I know there are a bunch. Love what Killian Mbappe is doing. Um, love what Lamin Yamal, one of the young new players uh for Barcelona, you know, taking it taking in the footsteps uh after the footsteps of Messi because he played for that club for a long, long time and was very, very great. But a lot of great players all across the world. Shouts to CR7, you're out of the tournament right now, bro. You know, we got a lot of love for what you've done for the game of soccer. Um, obviously being a little bit of a rival to one of my favorite players in the game. But, you know, a lot of great soccer players. Harry Kane for England doing his thing, my man Holland from Norway doing great things. You know, they're putting uh soccer on a big, big stage right now. And again, even picking up off of 2022 when the World Cup started to gain even more steam. You know, the USA, we'll talk about that in a little bit. Uh, but either way, man, soccer is is live and it's in effect, and I'm happy to see where things are at, especially because my guy, the GOAT Leonel Messi, has now made it to the round of eight uh after the most previous um competition, which depending on when you hear this, you know that he passed Egypt yesterday for the uh round of eight. Well, he was in the round of sixteen and beat Egypt in a very controversial game at this point, uh, which we'll tap into and dive into in a second. Um, but man, I'm telling you, listen, that that after the Knicks game four uh against the Spurs in the NBA finals with OG and a tip, uh the game against Egypt that was played where Argentina was down 02 to everyone's surprise, I think. Um, and I was up to 78 minutes into the game. If you know soccer, it's a 90-minute game plus running time, if you know, you know. But either way, they was down big time. Um in a very unfavorable situation for them to come back and win the game. And then uh within that span of time from the time they were down 02 to the time they were up 3-2 to close the game, it happened in about maybe 11 or 12 minutes or something like that, uh, of actual game time. Um and if you know soccer, if you know football, that is not a very common thing. Um, and to see it and to watch it live again outside of that game for a San Antonio and New York Knicks in the garden, this might have been the best game that I've seen this year. You know, and it may be one and two, one A, one B. I don't know which one to rank first. I would say probably the Knicks, but this one ranks very, very close. Second just because of the fashion that it went down in. And I'm not gonna lie, I was a little bit nervous to see my guy who I talk a lot of shit about to other people when it comes to football, possibly be put out of the tournament and then possibly be put out of the World Cup for the rest of his life because this is potentially gonna be his last World Cup. I'm saying it probably is gonna be the man that's 39 years old. So at this point, though the point of the last game, I think it was it was testy. It was very testy, and we didn't know how this one was gonna go. Um, but he pulled it out, man. Three goals, and Messi was a big part of I want to say two out of the three, three out of the three, if you want to look at it, you know, on the more intricate levels of things, but directly a part of two of the goals. Assisted on one, scored one himself within that time, and just even more cemented his legacy as a player. Um, now this is not here to shit on anybody just because we just did give him love, which uh Cristiano Ronaldo, CR7, uh being eliminated from the tournament this week as well, that just passed. Uh, and you know, having the duel of back and forth with what player is better has been a conversation for a long time. And there are Ronaldo people, there are Messi people, and there are the fans of the game who kind of like both. But I would say that I'm a person that, you know, I champion when I get behind a person because of what I see them put out there on the field, the the field of play. For me, you know, I'm gonna die hard for Lionel Messi. Um, and I think it's been a while, it's been a while now, just because the stats have been piling and piling up on Messi's side. But I think he has cemented his legacy as the best football player to ever play the game. Um, you can debate me, you can disagree with me. This is my opinion personally, and I think that my opinion has a lot of statistics to back it up, which is just fine. I'm not here to beat y'all of death about it. Um, but all I'll say currently, as they work towards the next round, you know, it is not going to be a foregone conclusion that Argentina is going to win the World Cup again. There haven't been that many teams to do it historically. So if they were able to pull it up, then that's another stamp on his legacy to say that he actually is the best. We'll see how that goes. But leading up to this point, what you are watching is the equivalent, and I saw someone comment this on just a post that I was scrolling by, uh, that the man Lionel Messi is what Michael Jordan is to basketball, you know. And I don't say that lightly just because MJ is the GOAT of basketball. You know, I know there's a LeBron people, whatever, we ain't having that conversation. But Lionel Messi is that guy in soccer. And seeing what we're seeing now at this age, this level of you know, production, this level of dominance, this level of just being someone who's actually still relevant in this sport is just amazing to see for someone who's put a lot into the game and done a lot for a long time. Um and for me, it just goes to what hard work looks like and what just being in love with your craft looks like um once you start to get into the twilight of your career. And it is not very common for a 39-year-old 39-year-old man to score eight goals in the World Cup and then be leading for the golden boot race. The golden boot race is the most goal scored. If it comes down to a tiebreaker, then they add other statistics into the equation. Um, but it is a very close race, very close race this year. Um uh, like we just talked about, Holland from Norway is up there. Um, we got Killing Mbappe basically there as well. They're tied for seven goals. Lionel Messi just took the lead uh with the game that he played against Egypt to have now, you know, the potential. Well, we got to see how the rest of it plays up because everybody's still in the tournament. So, either way, to watch a 39-year-old man be in that position to put himself in position to win the golden boot says a lot about that person. It says a lot about you know how he goes out there and dominates the game in the field of play. So I can sit here and I can ramble on, but Messi is the GOAT, and we just gotta leave it at that, man. We just gotta leave it at that. And the game yesterday, we'll dive into that a little bit just because it's been a big topic of conversation back and forth with the way things played out. Listen, there are rules and there is rigged, which everyone is saying. And I know the whole goal getting pulled back by Egypt to say that, you know, they they were gonna go up 2-0, but then they ended up being up 1-0 because that goal was taken away from them. If you know the rules of the game, then you understand that that is a valid, you know, drawback of the the goal or valid, you know, wiping of the goal just to make sure that they, you know, did the did the right thing there because it was a foul, and then from there it led to the goal on the opposite end, which again, by the rules and even more by the VAR technology that they're using now, it was actually valid. And I know the whole foul on the other side where Mo Sala went down in the box, and then but like, bro, different situation. Watch the game close enough and watch the replays close enough, and you'll see that it's not the same thing. Um, so for everyone that's been saying that this rig for Argentina, like I get it. I understand it's messy, it's Argentina, they're not very liked, I would say. Um, they are very liked, but they're not very liked by it's either again, it's like a polarizing team and just people that you can kind of get behind or not really fuck with. So I do understand all the people that who are saying it's rigged, but y'all bugging the fuck out. Like, if it's rigged, then you also got to rig things for the team that they're coming back on in that short of a time to be that terrible in that span of time to then lose the game. Like for you to be up that much, there's a way for you to close that game without it going that way that it did. So if it is quote unquote actually rigged, I think a lot of things would have had to go in Argentina's way uh just for them to come out on top of the game. And you can look at it like it's rigged, or you can look at it like what it was one of the best comebacks that you've ever seen, and a collapse from another team. Because for something to look like that bad, one team has to collapse and one team has to capitalize, and that's exactly what we saw was the capitalization with the victory, and that's that, man. So we ain't here to argue, we ain't here to go back and forth. The people that do not believe what they just saw, it is like I don't know what to tell you. I don't know what to tell you, but they go home, and Argentina's moving on, and that is what it is. So get on board with it, man. You can get down with the gang, or you can be a fan of somebody else, and we leave it at that. Uh, still within the realm of things, just because I know, and I just said kind of pivoting and segueing off of what we just talked about, uh, with Argentina itself. Um, and this kind of comes off, and it's not just me, I don't take this personally in any kind of way, because I've seen a lot of the conversations about it, and the people who are messy fans getting some kind of flack for being fans of the Argentina football team. Cool. Let's talk about it. Reason being is because Argentina has been known for being, and I don't throw this word around lightly or loosely, being a racist country. Um, and if you know anything about the history of Argentina, there are a lot of things that have gone on uh to where they, as a government, institution, etc. etc., have kind of uh did their best to wipe out or decimate their their indigenous or their darker or their colored population to make things look, you know, to whitewash kind of the country. Um on top of that, there's the leadership of Argentina and people who feel like you know they have their negative things to say about that. I'm not here to make this super political, but I will lean into it a little bit um just because it kind of ties into the whole sports side of things, and we'll segue off of that to talk about some other things in the same realm in a moment, uh, with one Killian Mbappe. If you know, you know. But uh staying on Argentina right now, uh, the question of how can I be a fan of Argentina as a black man or somebody who you know is of color and of conscious to understand uh what that kind of you know country has done historically. Um now, as someone who's personally been in Argentina, I will give you my stance. I've played there for months, uh, was personal with boots on the ground there, saw the people, was around the culture, lived there, experienced life there. So I have a different perspective than someone who's just sitting on the keyboard or you know, talking shit to people who actually know things. Um so being fair to everyone who's asking those kind of questions, and not just of me, again, because it's not just exclusive to me. Uh, how can you get behind Argentina? Uh, knowing what's happened in Argentina for history, you know, the the the whitewashing whitewashing or the blancanmiento, uh, if you know what that is, great. If not, Google it, you know, it's been some things to where it's kind of like a genocide of the people in the country. And there are still black people that live in Argentina now, um, but obviously, as we would figure, they're not very they're not fared very well or like, you know, not really high in society. All of that sounds fair, you know. As someone who is a black man, I wear it on my sleeve. I'm proud of being a black man. I'm not a person who turns away from my race in any kind of facet outside of just, you know, being critical of some situations that need to be critical of black people. But either way, um, my support of the team for Argentina really just comes to one player who is Lionel Messi, you know, and as someone who's been there in the country to understand what Lionel Messi's own history was within his own country and other players who are great for that country, like Matadona, who was someone who was the Lionel Messi before Lionel Messi was even a thought and came up and took over that role. You know, we if you know anything about Matadona's history, he's a person of darker skin who went through his own trials and tribulations within his own country, right? So I say that to say there is the country, there is the institution, you know, the government, the everything that falls under that government and what they do with that country that they have or they own. Um, and there are the people, you know, the people of Argentina. Of course, there are some that still lean into that ideology that the country has, who are, you know, the exposing and putting themselves out there to be racist. And I'm not gonna sit here and act like that shit doesn't exist. But to act like those people are all of the country, that will be doing the country a disservice. And again, as someone who's lived in Argentina, seen it firsthand, I do understand that there's racism there. But I do also understand that there are people there who judge you by your character, not your skin color, who can connect with you no matter what you look like, etc. etc. From men to women, children, babies, whatever. Like the people versus the country is two different things. So everyone who can be mad at someone who, or maybe not mad, but everyone who can have an opinion about someone who supports Argentina as a country, uh, as a football team, I would say, not as a country, but the country with the football team, it doesn't really make sense to me just because if I was to literally look at pretty much, I don't want to throw out there a specific number, but let's just say a lot. If I was to look at a lot of the teams that are represented in the World Cup, a lot of the teams that are represented in a lot of different sports and a lot of different countries, then I would have the feeling that I can't be a fan of anybody. Because if I can't be a fan of Argentina, then what about France? You know, and some of the things that they've done historically that we know are terrible and you know are not so great on the racism side of things, or just different countries just in general. Again, not to single too many people out, or even say, let's let's put it on the table. America. America's out of the tournament right now. We saw how things went, they got the shit beat out of them by Belgium. But that means I technically can't even be a fan of my own country because of the institution or the government of the country that runs everything and racist tendencies or just racist acts distributed throughout, or not distributed, displayed throughout history. So for me, make it make sense. Like if you can't be a fan or someone who's a supporter of Argentina because of their quote unquote racism, then who can you actually be a fan of? You know, and even more so, again, I'm a fan of Messi. So I'm riding with Messi and what he's doing. When he retires from the game, uh, will I be a fan of the Argentina Football Club? I don't know. I don't think so, you know, because I support him as a player. But, you know, even supporting specific players who may play in different countries, again, like what you have to make it make sense. There's the people versus the institution. And I know we've seen a lot of things happen with Argentina that are racist, you know, historically, and even now, those are the people that, you know, there's some things going on. If you know about the I show speed situation where Argentina fans were yelling like racist things at him and kind of like antagonizing him and just stuff like that. Like we understand, yes, it does exist. My feeling is that those people who have enough money to fly to America or North America for the World Cup and are able to move around and purchase tickets to not one but multiple games, uh, they're a different kind of person than the standard everyday Argentinian man or woman. And that goes the same for all across the world with people traveling. Like, I don't know how these people from Norway got that much time off the summer to be over here rocking and doing rows after every win. Like, I don't know how people from England again have time to summers off. Like, like these people are different, they're higher level people of society, I would say, from the financial thing side of things, or just the ability to just move around. And again, they do not necessarily represent the whole of a country. So anyone who's shitting on people for being an Argentina fan, again, you got to look at it for what it is. Like, people are people, there's a lot of racism all over the world. And if you were to be a fan of any country that you can think of, outside of some African nations, which you know, we'll leave that off the table, but even in some, but again, that's a whole different rabbit hole. We're not going down right now. But if you're to be a fan of any country, you could look at someone and say, like, hey, how can you do that for whatever their country has done? If you dive deep enough into the history of what's happened across the world. So do your homework, people, and stop being so, you know, negative to people about a sport which they're trying to enjoy. Something that brings people together, something that creates connection, something that create creates moments. Like, let people have their moment without stepping on it and putting your bullshit in there just to, you know, try to project whatever feelings you may have about that, you know. And that is what it is, you know. And I support Messi. Anyone who has a feeling about it, you're allowed to feel whatever way you have. I'm also allowed to not give a fuck and support the GOAT. So there we go. Um, pivoting off of that, but still keeping it in the same realm uh on the racism shit. Uh, wanted to address this bitch from Paraguay. Um, so if you haven't seen or you didn't know, and I don't throw that word around loosely, I do think that this woman is an actual bitch and definitely a racist. And I don't even understand how she can be racist as a woman of color, but again, that's a whole nother psychological thing. But either way, um, Paraguayan Senator after France played their game in the round of 16 against Paraguay to then move on to the round of eight, uh, which are game under I also watched, very testy game. The Paraguayan team was out there showing their heart and looked like, listen, we not going as a team that was not favored to win the game and just trying to make the most out of it to potentially pull off an upset against France, which was the runner-up in the last World Cup and could be another finalist of this World Cup as one of the better ranked teams in the world. I think they're ranked number one or two potentially, but don't quote me on that. But um, this is coming into the World Cup. But either way, after the game, there was some whole back and forth because during the game, Killian and Mbappe didn't want to shake the goalkeeper's hands after they was popping shit back and forth. Very, very testy game. So, Paraguayan Senator, look it up. I ain't gonna sit here and put too much light on the person's name, said a bunch of racist things about Killian and Mbappe to the point where he saw and responded in the perfect kind of manner, from you know, my perspective, and kind of leans into what I just said and just like fried her, fried her ass respectfully on the internet to say that she's basically a terrible person and she does not represent the people of her country. And now she's taken away from a lot of the hard work that she saw that he saw their country go out there and do and represent themselves and their country in the World Cup to not make it a conversation about how he's a colonized baboon or whatever she called him or something like that. Um, but again, the quotes and the comments are out there. I do not want to read them on this podcast just because I ain't giving light to that racist shit in in that way. Um, but for me, perfect response and goes right off of what I just said about people versus country, because I'm sure that there may be some Paraguayans that are racist, but again, you can't put that on everybody just because someone in a position of power, which is the government, shows their hand. And again, if we look at our own country here in the US, if that was a mentality, then there's a lot of people who could be looked at as racist here who aren't actually racist, you know. But again, I ain't sitting here trying to make this a racial thing the whole entire podcast, but I did want to salute Killian Bob Killian Mbappe for the way he responded to that. Um, someone that I'm a little bit afraid of, not physically, you know, not actually in that way, but in a competent competitive way, just because he may end up running into the GOAT Leonel Messi potentially again in the finals. So we'll see how this thing goes. But salute to him for how you respond to that situation, man. That is how you deal with racist on a grand level, even to the point now to where she's threatening to sue him, calling it um gender-based violence, violence against a like a government official. Like these are words, people, not actual or not even people, because she might be the only one that thinks this. But I don't know how you get attacked in that way, and then you know, cry well, you attack someone, excuse me, mixing up my words in that way, and then want to, you know, play victim. Like, fuck out of here. Like, you wilding, you bugging, you're a bitch, and we don't stand with none of that shit. Um, and again, I'm glad you got put on, you know, blasted in the way you did in a public light. Um, so that said, we leave it at that. We get all the deep, dark, you know, racial things out the way, but gotta address it, man, there's been a lot of that going on, and I think soccer and football has had that potential and has had things that have gone that way in the past. And as someone who's been across the world and seen different countries, I do understand that it exists. And last thing I'll say on this is that I, yes, I have experienced racism in foreign countries and seen it firsthand myself, just because I was in a country playing as someone who didn't necessarily quote unquote belong there and had to be, you know, exposed to things. And not necessarily everywhere I played, played, played in 10 countries, but I've seen some level of form of racism in certain countries. I'm not gonna put them on blast just because it is what it is, but you are speaking to someone who is a worldly individual, so I get to understand and see things from a different level, and I'm not here to down anybody else's experience, but again, the way I look at things is not necessarily the norm. Um, just because I've been exposed to so many things in my lifetime. So again, I could see things with a different lens. Um, and someone who is also conscious enough to understand that, as someone who studies black history, knows who I am, knows who we are as a people, um, and leans into that heavily. But y'all gotta chill, man. Just enjoy the sports and just have a good time with it. Don't fuck up the vibe of the summer because that's exactly what y'all are doing right now with all this black and forth bullshit. Um, black and forth, excuse me, back and forth bullshit. But either way, man, we're moving off of that. Um, and again, I didn't want to spend too much time on here. We're here for a good time, not a long time. Got some other things to get to, but listen, we'll move things over to the NBA before I dip out of here, and we will just address some of the talk that's been going on with the recent moves that have been made in NBA free agency. Um, and my timeline has been hot with it, my DMs have been hot with it, and everyone just really talk about how shitty the Knicks are gonna be next year, just because how the Eastern Conference has gone gotten so much better. You've seen the moves, Yannis to Miami, you've seen the moves, Kawhi back to Toronto, you've seen the moves, Jalen Brown to the Sixers. Don't none of that shit make me sweat right now. Don't none of that shit put no fear in my heart, don't none of that shit mean anything right now because we still in championship mode, and you niggas gotta chill and just sit it down till October. Let y'all ball clubs get it together, figure everything out y'all need to figure out, and then when we roll the balls out again, pause. We're gonna see what's up when it comes to the next year. And everybody who's been doubting the Knicks since last year, see if y'all go down again. Like, yes, there are some key players that moved around the conference. I get it, I understand it. A lot of moves being going on in the maid, and we're still waiting on the big shoe to drop, which is LeBron James. Is it really a big shoe with this man being in his 27th, 28th, 29th, not actually career year of his career? But come on, man. Like, all this shit is cool, all this shit is cute. It makes for good banter, it makes for good back and forth, but we're gonna see what's up when the balls get rolled out next season. So none of that should put no fear in my heart. Our roster, we lost big Mitch, but there's some whole other things behind that that I think may have been going on. And honestly, I do think that Mitchell Robinson was one of our key pieces on the defensive side of the ball. But outside of that, man, there's a bunch of other people that can kind of do what Mitchell Robinson does on the offensive end and can shoot free throws better than him, too. You know, no shade to miss. You got us a championship. Best of luck in Boston. I think it's a little crazy that you went to one of the ops, the big, big ops. But hey, man, you deserve your bag. And if they was willing to give it to you and James Dolan wasn't, who we don't really fuck with anyway, then it is what it is. Take the bag, do your thing. But either way, the Knicks are gonna retool for this year, and we're gonna see what it is, man. We're gonna see what it is. I really can't say too much about what it's actually gonna be because the game is played between the lines and not on paper. And all these rosters that everyone thinks are getting so much better. We gotta see what they do around these key pieces that they're actually moving to be competitive enough to beat the champs who are the New York Knicks. It just is what it is. We still living in that, we're still basking in that, it's still that until next season. Open and night is opening night when we get our rings, then we talk about all that other shit from there. Like, I got my own thoughts, ain't giving it too much light because fuck y'all niggas, why not? You know. But that said, either way, just a quick hitter. Just wanted to tap in with y'all real quick before I get out of here, get back to some work and some things that are on deck for me. Uh, busy schedule, busy summer. Uh, so real quick to touch on the EFS Elite Academy going well. Um, and the EFS Trainer Center also is going well. Uh, I would say not exactly where I wanted to be, but I'm also in the space currently of accepting what is while I'm searching for growth. Um and really living in the the what's meant for you is meant for you kind of mindset. Um and being transparent, being open, and being honest, I did have feelings, not necessarily in a like real, real way to people, uh, about some of the growth of the facility that I thought was going to happen early on. And I'm getting smacked in the face, real time to understand what it's like to actually grow a business that I'm currently in in the fitness space or in a training space and seeing the work that's ahead of me, um, but also having some frustrations with some people who may not have followed through with some things that they said they wanted to do, or training with me, or being, you know, a part of the the gear gang, as I'm calling it now. Um, and you know, just looking at things for what it is. If people are flaky, like 100%, it is what it is, and and I'm okay with that, and understanding that I'm also not for everybody. Um, and again, being transparent, having to work through some of those feelings within myself, just to say, like, why you say, Oh, that's great, you know, I'm so happy for you. I gotta come work out with you, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But then when I offer you the opportunity to, you don't show up, you know. Why are you the one hitting me up with all these positive comments and telling me, like, yeah, I really want to come support you, and then you don't follow through, you know? And again, just why are you not saying what you want to do and then actually doing it? And having people in my life like that currently is is is common, I would say. And someone who's trying to sell their business or open up the doors for people to come in and then you know be a part of what I'm doing and offering to the world. Uh, it has been some frustrations with it. And right now, in this moment of transparency that I'm giving y'all, it is something that I would say that I'm working through just because, again, what is for me is for me. And my goal is to create the best product for myself and the people that I serve. Um, and let that speak for itself. Um, because I've had a great community of people that have kind of bought into what I'm doing so far, and word of mouth goes a long, long way, and it's gone a long way for my business thus far. Um, but again, leaning on the fact that I want to do good work and then let that speak for itself really kind of means that you have to be okay with taking a slow route. Um, and again, this is something I'm still working through, so I'm not saying I'm perfect this mindset, but that route isn't gonna be the microwave route. And then nothing that is actually worth it and nothing that's actually meaningful in the long run is gonna come easier quickly. And sometimes you just gotta sit in that, lean into that, and be someone that's willing to work through that while still understanding that you're in a good space, man. Like I would say I'm very, very blessed to have the opportunity that I have currently and very, very appreciative of the people that have bought into what I am offering and knowing that, you know, in due time it'll get bigger and it'll grow. And that just is what it is. But to anyone that may be in that position, maybe not as an entrepreneur, but even just in their personal life with things that, you know, people being flaky or people that are not, you know, supporting you in the way that you would like them to, what is meant for you is actually going to be for you. And anything outside of that, you're like creating more tension and more anxiety, trying to reach for things that, you know, again, they aren't they aren't for you. So what you do have, you can always appreciate. Lead with that and lead with being grateful for what's on your plate and what's on your table. Um, but also know that you can learn and grow in different ways outside of what you have right now, you know, and and that's the slow route that everyone, you know, kind of talks about who are the successful entrepreneurs and the people that haven't just done it overnight. Um, and that to me, again, is the route that I'm I'm down to take, and it goes along with everything that I say and I live, which is to stay uncomfortable, you know. So I say that to say it'll be all right, man. And I'm happy with where I'm at. In your lives, it'll be all right too. And I'm just here to someone to deliver that message to you as a person who loves to be a living example of all the things that I speak about and talk about, uh, is just that. So, as always, hang in there, stay motivated, and keep chalking along, man. It'll be all right, and you'll be good. Um, so with that said, I want to wrap up our episode as always by telling you to be safe mentally, physically, spiritually, and all things in between. Until the next go round, the EFS podcast, episode number 79 for real, is out. Peace. Talk to you later.