Two Awesome People
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We are Kelly and Don, two awesome people who luckily married each other. We're navigating family, marriage, friendships, work, and all of the aches and pains that come with being in your 40s, and we're doing it in the podcast-verse for your listening pleasure. Come hang out with two awesome people.
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Two Awesome People
Wait, the World Cup Is In America?!
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Is soccer BORING... or is America just sleeping on the world's biggest sport? Kelly and Don break down the 2026 FIFA World Cup — 48 teams, 1.5 BILLION viewers expected, and the US men's team finally has something to prove. ⚽🇺🇸
In Episode 66 of Two Awesome People, Kelly is convinced soccer is a snoozefest (only two goals?!), and Don is armed with data to challenge everything she thinks she knows. Together they break down why soccer captivates 3.5 BILLION fans worldwide — while American fans still can't quite commit.
From the World Cup 2026 album featuring Shakira, Jelly Roll & IShowSpeed, to the first-ever halftime show in World Cup history, to the story of how the World Cup trophy was STOLEN and found by a dog named Pickles — this episode has everything.
Plus: the three host nation mascots (Maple the Moose 🍁, Zeiu the Jaguar 🐆, and Clutch the Bald Eagle 🦅), Kelly's theory on why Americans physically cannot do "fancy footwork," and a heated soccer terminology quizfeaturing tiki-taka, clean sheets, and parking the bus.
We also make our World Cup 2026 predictions, debate whether America will FINALLY care this time, and share what ChatGPT had to say about it (it's not optimistic 😅).
And — it's our one-year podcast anniversary! 🎉 Thank you for being part of this community.
Chapters
0:00 — Cold Open: Is Soccer Really Boring?
1:14 — What's on the Clock: The 2026 FIFA World Cup Breakdown
2:35 — Why Soccer Rules the World (3.5 Billion Fans!)
3:47 — National Pride vs. Universal Love of the Game
4:58 — Decode This: Soccer Lingo 101 (Ted Lasso Edition 🎬)
7:11 — America's Problem: Can You Name ONE Famous US Soccer Star?
10:15 — Why Is It Called "Soccer"? The Etymology Debate
11:56 — The US Men's Team: A 40-Year Drought & Why It Matters
14:22 — Kelly's Theory: The Real Reason Americans Find Soccer Boring
18:25 — Fun Facts: Halftime Show, Mascots & the Stolen Trophy 🐶
22:53 — World Cup 2026 Predictions + Soccer Terminology Quiz
26:13 — Will America Actually Care in 2026?
28:13 — One Last Thing: 1-Year Anniversary + Recs
#WorldCup2026 #FIFA #Soccer #FootballVsSoccer #WorldCup #SoccerPodcast #PopCulturePodcast #CouplePodcast #twoawesomepeople
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Reach out to us directly : don.broida@gmail.com
Is soccer boring?
SPEAKER_04I think it is boring. Would you like to know why? Yeah. Because you only score like two goals in a game. It's sort of like if you go to a basketball game and they're running back and forth, but they only score like two baskets.
SPEAKER_01Dude, if we went to a basketball game and they only scored two baskets, we'd be like this.
SPEAKER_03How they do it? That's how they do it. Are you ready for the biggest sports event in history? Yes. Yes, I am. We're talking 2026 FIFA World Cup. We got 48 teams, 104 matches, all set in the US, Canada, and Mexico.
SPEAKER_04It's a dynamic trio.
SPEAKER_00Six billion viewers globally.
SPEAKER_04How many people are there on Earth?
SPEAKER_03I don't know. I thought you did. And for the final event, the final match. They're projecting 1.5 billion viewers just for that one event. Damn.
SPEAKER_04I know. Damn.
SPEAKER_03To put it in perspective.
SPEAKER_04Yes, do that.
SPEAKER_03The Super Bowl only gets a mere 130 million viewers.
SPEAKER_04That's pretty restricted to the US, I would think, right?
SPEAKER_03I think so.
SPEAKER_04This is global.
SPEAKER_03Global.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's bigger.
SPEAKER_03Bigger than country.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we get it.
SPEAKER_03FIFA released the World Cup album. Did you hear about this?
SPEAKER_04I did hear about this, Don.
SPEAKER_03Do you know who's on it?
SPEAKER_04Well, Shakira's on it.
SPEAKER_03Shake it, shake it.
SPEAKER_04Hers is like the biggest song that's on it, I think. I saw that Shaggy's on it.
SPEAKER_03Rolling Stones, Jelly Roll, and I Show Speed has a song on it.
SPEAKER_04I don't really know who that is, Don. Is he American?
SPEAKER_03He is American. Okay. He's from Ohio. Okay. And our boys love him. And he had the World Cup song. 54 million followers.
SPEAKER_04He is literally on YouTube?
SPEAKER_03On YouTube.
SPEAKER_04Oh, I didn't know if they just follow him.
SPEAKER_03Wherever he goes, they go.
SPEAKER_04I think on YouTube it's a subscriber.
SPEAKER_03No, whatever. I mean, we're still like amateurs at this. Okay. It's there's something. We really know nothing about it. World Cup. Soccer. We are soccer, World Cup, dum-dums.
SPEAKER_04I prefer lum lum. Dum dum, it's calling you dumb. Lumlum's just kind of ignorant. It's not an intelligence judgment.
SPEAKER_03But this next month, it's going to be everywhere. Uh, it's gonna be in LA, our hometown. So let's learn about it. Let's learn. Why is it so popular?
SPEAKER_04It's inexpensive and easy to play.
SPEAKER_03You have a ball and a foot and you kick.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Ease and and accessibility. You know, baseball, you need a lot of gear.
SPEAKER_03You need a bat.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. You need to go off. Baseball, I feel like you need a hoop. Uh you're just naming everything you need.
SPEAKER_03Um, these are the things you need.
SPEAKER_04Basketball, I think, is gaining popularity globally too, right?
SPEAKER_03I have a little couple facts about the popularity of basketball. Yes. And soccer to give it uh Oh, for real? Oh, yeah. I got the global fan base. Look at me. I'm all prepared and shit.
SPEAKER_04Look at me, I'm threading the needle.
SPEAKER_03Bam. Globally, the fan base for soccer is around 3.5 billion. Basketball, it's 2.2 billion. Baseball is 500 million. American football is 410 million approximately.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I don't really know beyond that why soccer plays such a role in people's lives around the world. Why do you think it's so powerful?
SPEAKER_03I think you nailed it. Well, and if they grew up.
SPEAKER_04I know, but now I'm thinking of technically American football, you don't really need anything.
SPEAKER_03You just need a weird-shaped ball. But American football came from America and it was it's much newer. With the World Cup, it's like the Olympics. It's the scarcity of it. But also it's really about the entire world coming together, nations competing against each other on a global scale. And other than the Olympics, you don't really get that.
SPEAKER_04I get the impression it's not a cutthroat competition.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Do you think I'm being stupid? Do you think they're like, oh, you go ahead and win?
SPEAKER_04I think that there's a universal love of the sport, and that that is almost, if not more, like equal to the love of a team. And so people love both.
SPEAKER_03Well, to break it down for us Americans, when you watch the Olympics, you're watching somebody you really knew nothing about three months before the Olympics. But there's that national pride that comes about of, oh my God, this person, they're American, let's go see them win. That's why people love the World Cup.
SPEAKER_04I also read that there's like a big interest in the team fashion.
SPEAKER_03Do you know what a soccer uniform is called? I do. Tell me.
SPEAKER_04A kit.
unknownA kit.
SPEAKER_03This is your kit. It's not a uniform, it's a kit.
SPEAKER_04But I'm not even just referring to the kit. Like there are stories online about what teams are wearing to get on the planes. Because they all wear the same thing from the coach saying go.
SPEAKER_03Do you think they sleep in the same pajamas?
SPEAKER_04They very well might.
SPEAKER_03We don't call cleats cleats. They are called boots.
SPEAKER_04That is very European.
SPEAKER_03We don't count to three like this. We count to three like this.
SPEAKER_04Why do we count to three?
SPEAKER_03I don't know.
SPEAKER_04You don't know why we count to three.
SPEAKER_03Well, that's just a European thing. There are 200 national teams similar to the Olympics, have to qualify for this tournament. It's usually 32 teams. This year it's special because it's 48. Do you know what the field's called?
SPEAKER_04I do. Do you want to know why I know these things? Because of Ted Lasso. That's the only reason why I know. Unfortunately, Ted Lasso did not teach me this.
SPEAKER_03That's not a soccer thing. It's not? No.
SPEAKER_04Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_03Because Europeans count like that.
SPEAKER_04Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_03Us Americans do this.
SPEAKER_04We really Americans count to three in a harder way.
SPEAKER_03I count like this.
SPEAKER_04Like holding your pinky down. It's there's dexterity involved. Why do we complicate it?
SPEAKER_03We complicate a lot of things.
SPEAKER_04It's like Americans have a need to get fancy.
SPEAKER_03We get fancy over here. We don't like the kick the ball around sport. We like sports that hit people.
SPEAKER_04You know what I do like about soccer? And I hope that this is true. It's just a set game time, right?
SPEAKER_03It's 90 minutes. They don't stop the game in the middle, but they take the time from like timeouts and all the stuff that happens and they put it at the end.
SPEAKER_04So it's longer than 90 minutes.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_04I read that at the World Cup too, they're taking like hydration breaks, like three-minute hydration breaks.
SPEAKER_03I like how it goes from a water break to a hydration break.
SPEAKER_04You know what I thought of last night? That I was like, this is the greatest gift the World Cup has ever given us. The Vubuzella.
SPEAKER_03Oh, I loved the Vubuzella. See? Name me one famous American soccer star.
SPEAKER_04An American? You got so you started broad.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you were like, I get this.
SPEAKER_04And then you just narrowed it.
SPEAKER_03You're like, I could do this messy, Ronaldo. Uh Beckham. He's not, well, sure, he played, but he came from the European League and he's British.
SPEAKER_04I don't have a clue.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Neither do I. I think there was a guy named Lando.
SPEAKER_04I think there was a guy named Bill.
SPEAKER_03Jerry.
SPEAKER_04I doubt there's a Jerry.
SPEAKER_03We're just normal Americans over here. We can't even name a single soccer player. Yet name me a basketball player.
SPEAKER_04LeBron James.
SPEAKER_03Bam. Name me a baseball player.
SPEAKER_04Uh Freddie Freeman.
SPEAKER_03Name me a football player.
SPEAKER_04A current football? The one that's marrying Taylor Swift. Kelsey.
SPEAKER_03Can you name me another football player other than Travis Kelsey? Drew Brees? Is he? I think he retired about eight to ten years ago.
SPEAKER_04Um, I don't know. I don't I don't shoot. I can't really even name soccer teams.
SPEAKER_03I can name soccer cities.
SPEAKER_04Soccer cities. I just know LA and Miami.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_04And that's what you were gonna name.
SPEAKER_03Pretty much. I could probably guess Dallas.
SPEAKER_04I bet there's a soccer player named Dallas.
SPEAKER_03One named Austin as well. And maybe Houston. But this is the problem. All our athletes, all the American athletes go to other sports than soccer. So there's not a huge draw for us because generally the money is elsewhere.
SPEAKER_04It's interesting too because soccer is so popular for kids to play.
SPEAKER_03It's not a we don't know what soccer is. Right.
SPEAKER_04It's so popular for small kids to play soccer and then they kind of grow up playing soccer, but then I don't know what happened.
SPEAKER_03It's a thing, it's a type of mom, the soccer mom.
SPEAKER_04Well, and I purposefully did not let our kids play soccer. Why? Because I don't like soccer.
SPEAKER_03Why don't you like soccer?
SPEAKER_04You want to know what my issue with soccer is. First of all, I'm not good at soccer, and I had a bad experience playing soccer, so I just didn't really want to play soccer.
SPEAKER_03What was your bad experience?
SPEAKER_04I just wasn't good at it.
SPEAKER_03You were really good at baseball, though?
SPEAKER_04I was good at softball. I think that the thing about soccer is it has to do with foot coordination. And every other sport that Americans play is much more upper body coordination if you think about it. Yeah. We just don't appreciate the lower half.
SPEAKER_03The lower half sucks.
SPEAKER_04We like to run, people run, but the fancy footwork, like, it doesn't do it for us.
SPEAKER_01I like your assessment.
SPEAKER_04Soccer, you can't use your hands. And so maybe Americans are like, we're out.
SPEAKER_03I got a fact for you.
SPEAKER_04I would love a fact because I'm just rambling.
SPEAKER_03We keep on calling it soccer.
SPEAKER_04That's the other problem.
SPEAKER_03It's called football. Foot. Which makes way more sense.
SPEAKER_04A hundred percent. Why is American football called football?
SPEAKER_03Should be called smash.
SPEAKER_04That's the problem.
SPEAKER_03The term soccer did not come from Americans.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_03It came from British.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_03And the British had two types of football. Do you know the two types of football? Well, I would guess that one was soccer. Sure. Do you know the second one? I don't. The second football is rugby. Oh.
SPEAKER_04Which involves your upper body. Doesn't it?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah. Soccer was called association football. And rugby was called rugby football. And it got narrowed down to soccer, like from the middle of the association word, I guess.
SPEAKER_04It could have been called ass.
SPEAKER_03Play ass ball. It was the shortening of association, probably with the British accent. And then apparently British added ER to everything. It went from saha to soccer.
SPEAKER_04It's weird that Americans called football football.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04That legitimately doesn't make sense.
SPEAKER_03I know the etymology of the word soccer, but not You also know the word etymology.
SPEAKER_04That was more impressive.
SPEAKER_01I don't know if I used it correctly.
SPEAKER_04So I guess that it's really just that the sport itself hasn't resonated with America so much for all of these reasons that we talked about. And so our excitement in the World Cup is affected by that, right?
SPEAKER_03Yes. And I think our interest in the World Cup is because the men's team has never won the World Cup.
SPEAKER_04Do they do well?
SPEAKER_03No, we generally suck. I think that's also why Americans don't really give a shit. When we go to the Olympics, we do really well. And so it's like, oh yeah, but if you imagine like we went to the Olympics and everybody got 15th place, nobody really So maybe it's really that America's like playing it cool, like, oh, we don't really care that much.
SPEAKER_04Oh, there's this isn't that important to us.
SPEAKER_03There's no doubt that if our men's team made it to the final, I think it's eight, uh-huh, that we would be way more into it. We had a 40-year drought between 1950 and 1990 where we didn't even make the tournament.
SPEAKER_04That's an entire generation. Yeah, that is the thesis of why America doesn't care.
SPEAKER_03You're totally right. For 40 years, we didn't make the World Cup. So why would we even care about the World Cup?
SPEAKER_04Yes. I isn't that two generations?
SPEAKER_03That's a lot of birth. That's a that's a lot of people having birth and not caring about a sport. Did you know that there is a baby boom in their host nation? Do you know why they expect a baby boom? Why do they expect a baby boom?
SPEAKER_04Everybody is in really high spirits and they drink a lot.
SPEAKER_03That sounds like me all the time. I don't need the World Cup for that. Should we have a third?
SPEAKER_04I don't think we should have a third. I wonder if there's baby booms in like cities that win the Super Bowl.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, absolutely. That is so funny. And then they get named after the players.
SPEAKER_04Well, that's stupid.
SPEAKER_03So going back to the male team, because this year they are projected to make it past round 16. Oh.
SPEAKER_04Well, that's amazing.
SPEAKER_03The prediction mark is Calci is their they're projected to be 13.
SPEAKER_04Well, good for them.
SPEAKER_03Even though our male team has never won.
SPEAKER_04Yes. Didn't the females win?
SPEAKER_03Our female team is the winningest World Cup soccer team ever.
SPEAKER_04So the ladies cook.
SPEAKER_03The ladies cook. The ladies grill. Bait. Wait, can I say bake?
SPEAKER_04Well, the women's coach should coach the men's team.
SPEAKER_03Or maybe the women should just play on the men's team.
SPEAKER_04I think that's probably not allowed, but that's frowned upon.
SPEAKER_03But this 2026 is men only. It's a men's tournament. The women's will actually be next year.
SPEAKER_04And the women's is every four years, too.
SPEAKER_03Correct.
SPEAKER_04Facts.
SPEAKER_03I have a big question for you, Kelly.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_03Is soccer boring?
SPEAKER_04So I think it is boring. Would you like to know why?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Because you only score like two goals in a game. So there's only like two moments of like solid celebration. And so they're really just running up and down the pitch. Back and forth. It's sort of like if you go to a basketball game. I know. They're running back and forth, but they only score like two baskets.
SPEAKER_01Dude, if we went to a basketball game and they only scored two baskets, we'd be like, fuck this. See?
SPEAKER_04So I will say I will say it is boring because of that.
SPEAKER_03But that's where I guess the slow burn tension.
SPEAKER_04And that's what Americans aren't cut out for. We have short attention spans.
SPEAKER_03No. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04We need explosions and action all the time.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And we need big loud commercials and great food. And we need everything to go along with that.
SPEAKER_04I think we may have just cracked another reason why it doesn't land.
SPEAKER_03Why it's boring for us, nobody scores. And you know what? The slow burn tension, cool.
SPEAKER_04But do you think it's boring?
SPEAKER_03We haven't really watched a game. Yeah. So to make a judgment. We're also used to in America, we're used to like mini wins. So in baseball, you have a batter who either gets out or gets a hit and then it starts over.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_03In football, you have downs. So it's like four downs and it starts over. Okay. And so we're used to these like resets that are kind of interesting. Even basketball, you score, you start over.
SPEAKER_04And football But in so I guess, but soccer, you don't score that much.
SPEAKER_03Exactly. And so in soccer, there's just not a lot of resets. It's just like back and forth, back and forth.
SPEAKER_04Well, the goalie can get the ball, though.
SPEAKER_03And then but the game is still continuing. Right. It's not stopping and resetting like these other sports. And I think that Americans like the stop and reset. We need a minute, is what you're saying. Well, or it's the mini win or mini loss. Right. You either make the fourth down or you don't. So it's a win or a loss. And football or soccer, see now I'm I'm I'm joining the Europeans.
SPEAKER_04I'm becoming you're so fancy.
SPEAKER_03I can't help it.
SPEAKER_04Are you gonna get a kit?
SPEAKER_03Maybe I should get a kit and we can wear it around the house.
SPEAKER_04I'll get you shin guards and just kick you.
SPEAKER_01Get me shin guards just so you can kick me.
SPEAKER_04Well, don't they wear that? I remember in soccer you wear shin guards.
SPEAKER_01I'll just wear the shin guards around the house and you'll just kick me.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it'll be like, wow, we're playing soccer.
SPEAKER_01Bam!
SPEAKER_04And then you'll be like, no, it's football.
SPEAKER_03No, I'm just trying to make myself coffee. Very funny, Cal.
SPEAKER_04Thanks. Thanks, Don.
SPEAKER_03Baseball, basketball, football. Those are sports. It's deeply ingrained in our culture. And soccer's not part of that.
SPEAKER_04I think that it is on its way up.
SPEAKER_03Forty-five percent of Americans say they are more interested in soccer than they were like before. Yeah, it's a Harris pull.
SPEAKER_04Technically, you and I are more interested in it, but we're interested in it in a way of being like, why aren't we interested in this? I wonder when soccer season is.
SPEAKER_03Flavortown. Questions. Flavortown questions. I like nachos.
SPEAKER_04You like nachos.
SPEAKER_03And that's just not what I've ever gotten with soccer because mostly I'm not an alcoholic and gonna go sit and drink at 9 a.m. to watch Arsenal.
SPEAKER_04Way to go. Way to name a team.
SPEAKER_03Manchester United.
SPEAKER_04Another one.
SPEAKER_03Real Madrid. Bam!
SPEAKER_04That's real.
SPEAKER_03I literally in my head.
SPEAKER_04It's real. This team is real. It is real.
SPEAKER_03We're huge football fans. Real Madrid. I think it's Real Madrid.
SPEAKER_04I would be really amused if you were wrong. And I was right. This is real confusing.
SPEAKER_03So, Kelly, this is supposed to be the biggest World Cup in history.
SPEAKER_04Okay, because it has the most teens.
SPEAKER_03And it's got a halftime show for the first time ever. That's what's gonna pull us Americans in.
SPEAKER_04Isn't Madonna playing it?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, they dug her up from the grave, brought her back from dead.
SPEAKER_04You're so pleased with yourself.
SPEAKER_03I mean, she's pretty old.
SPEAKER_04Her hips are gonna be really sore after that performance.
SPEAKER_03And they got Shakira and BTS. Solid. Chris Martin is MCing it. He's MCing it. That's what it said.
SPEAKER_04Because he brings such energy to everything he does.
SPEAKER_03You know what?
SPEAKER_04I got the perfect person to let's hype up the crowd.
SPEAKER_03Bring out Chris Martin from Coldplay. They should have brought Little John. I mean, he's the ultimate hype man. Him or like Pitbull, like those are the hype men.
SPEAKER_04So they have Shakira, who's from Brazil, you see?
SPEAKER_03Colombia.
SPEAKER_04They have BTS.
SPEAKER_03Asia.
SPEAKER_04I think that they're doing this globally. They have Madonna. So they were probably like, who are we gonna get? Chris Martin?
SPEAKER_03They got Ed Sheeran.
SPEAKER_04I feel like it would have been the same.
SPEAKER_03I'm kidding.
SPEAKER_04They were going global and they just landed with a thud when they got there. I think it's cool that the World Cup is in three countries.
SPEAKER_03Well, I mean, Canada's the 51st state and Mexico's the 52nd state. Right there. This is the America World Cup. Move on. Before the 1966 World Cup in England.
SPEAKER_04Oh, that was a good one. Yeah, that was classic.
SPEAKER_03Do you know who won?
SPEAKER_04I don't know anything about it.
SPEAKER_03Neither do I. But I do know that the World Cup trophy was stolen.
SPEAKER_04Wow, someone lost their job.
SPEAKER_03Pickles, the dog, helped find it. God bless Pickles. He became world famous.
SPEAKER_04How did he find it? Was it in someone's trunk? I would like to know. Like, was he digging, or did he just sniff it out in someone's closet?
SPEAKER_03I don't know. I just know that it was helped uh that pickles helped find it and that pickles became world famous. Maybe somebody had just like dropped in and wasn't actually still. Well, that's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_04It was just like displaced.
SPEAKER_03I mean, crazy to steal a trophy.
SPEAKER_04Do you think they knighted pickles after that? He should be Sir Pickles. That's what happens when you're knighted. You become a sir. Apparently, the dog became very famous. He might be sir.
SPEAKER_03We'll look into that.
SPEAKER_04All right.
SPEAKER_03Do you have any questions about soccer? Other than everything?
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Why and how?
SPEAKER_03Oh, then let's go back. Yeah. Yeah, let's start over. It's the closest thing outside the Olympics that the world has of a shared event.
SPEAKER_04Sort of like love of the sport and love of country.
SPEAKER_03And everybody is able to participate except us Americans.
SPEAKER_04Well, that's not true that everybody participates because some countries don't make it.
SPEAKER_03The ones that suck. It's like the Olympics, March Madness, a family reunion, international therapy, and a bar fight all in one.
SPEAKER_04The World Cup has mascots.
SPEAKER_03Sick.
SPEAKER_04Because even the Olympics have a mascot. Kind of.
SPEAKER_00Does it have a big old belly?
SPEAKER_04It's like each country's represented by a mascot. So the Canadian mascot, you can guess what it is.
SPEAKER_03A maple leaf.
SPEAKER_04It is named maple, but it's a moose, right? Yes, maple the moose. Mexico's is a jaguar. Are there jaguars in Mexico?
SPEAKER_03I'm guessing yes.
SPEAKER_04Okay, well, it's Zayu the Jaguar.
SPEAKER_03Sweet.
SPEAKER_04America's is the best, both in name and animal.
SPEAKER_03America's World Cup mascot, the reveal.
SPEAKER_00This is breaking.
SPEAKER_04Let's build this up.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. What is it, Kelly?
SPEAKER_04It's a bald eagle. What? Fierce.
SPEAKER_00Fierce.
SPEAKER_04And its name is Clutch. So that was your fun uh break. I love mascots. Do you love mascots? Well. What's another mascot that you love?
SPEAKER_00Give me a moment.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I'll get back to you on that one, Kelly.
SPEAKER_04I love mascots. I can't think of any right now.
SPEAKER_00Help me. Um. Who's gonna win?
SPEAKER_04Who's gonna win?
SPEAKER_03The World Cup prediction right here.
SPEAKER_04A European country.
SPEAKER_03Somebody that's playing.
SPEAKER_04A team of men wearing matching kits.
SPEAKER_03So projected to win. Disregard what I'm saying. Yes. Moving on.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_03They'll win it with a ball. Yeah, they'll into a goal. Do you know what's crazy is that you can have a tie.
SPEAKER_04Can you in World Cup?
SPEAKER_03I don't know if in World Cup, but in soccer you can.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03A waste of two hours. If I watch two hours and it's a tie, I I'd ask for a refund. Well, you wouldn't get it. The point of competition is that somebody wins. Lame. All right. Here's who's gonna win. Projected Spain. Is that according to Calchi Don? Calci, yes. Our favorite prediction market. Okay. Uh Spain and France pretty much tied neck and neck, that they are the two favorites.
SPEAKER_04So they might be the ones in the final.
SPEAKER_03So European. They would actually face each other in earlier on. Earlier, yes. And the projected finals is Spain versus England. Can you even name me a Spanish lair?
SPEAKER_02Carlos.
SPEAKER_03I can't say no to that. I have Lamy Lermi how do you say his name? Lamin Yamal. Lamin. He's good. Yeah, he's great. Yes, it's Spain, France, England is the projected number third. Portugal. Do you know who plays for Portugal?
SPEAKER_04I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Messi.
SPEAKER_04Oh, cool.
SPEAKER_03I guess I better chuck my nose to make sure this is true. No. Oh my god, I was wrong. Portugal is Ronaldo.
SPEAKER_04You should skip this now.
SPEAKER_03Messi is Argentina. We know nothing about soccer. You want to quiz?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, quiz me. It's gonna go really well.
SPEAKER_03Guess the meaning.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_03We'll start easy.
unknownPitch.
SPEAKER_04The pitch is the field on which a soccer match is played. Nil. Well, nil means zero.
SPEAKER_02You could also say zilch.
unknownNo.
SPEAKER_02They don't say zilch. They say nil. Stop trying to change it. I'm gonna say zilch. It's zilch to zilch.
SPEAKER_04Tiki taka. I have no idea. It's sound like food that you would eat at a soccer game.
SPEAKER_02I'd like to order some tiki taka.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, what is it?
SPEAKER_03Tiki taka is a style of soccer built around quick, precise passing and constant movement.
SPEAKER_04Oh, it's this. It's when they do this with their feet.
SPEAKER_03Whether we should be doing another.
SPEAKER_04That's what Americans don't appreciate.
SPEAKER_03Uh clean sheet.
SPEAKER_04Starting over.
SPEAKER_03It's when they get no dirt on their jersey.
SPEAKER_04Oh.
SPEAKER_03No, I'm kidding. That's not what it is.
SPEAKER_04I was gonna say that makes perfect sense.
SPEAKER_03Clean sheet is when a team gives up no goals.
SPEAKER_04You mean nil?
SPEAKER_03Nil.
SPEAKER_04Zilch?
SPEAKER_03Zilch. Park the bus.
SPEAKER_04For God's sake, Don. Uh score. They're saying to score already.
SPEAKER_03Park the bus is a soccer term that means everybody's gonna play defense. It's to generally protect the lead.
SPEAKER_04So if they ride the bus, are they playing offense?
SPEAKER_03Man, you should be a soccer announcer.
SPEAKER_04Maybe you crashed the bus.
SPEAKER_03That's when everyone just quits. Yeah. That was a great quiz, and you did better than I expected. I did. Yeah, you got nil right. Let's hear the verdict. What is the question? Is 2026 the year America says, fine, we care?
SPEAKER_04Um, no. I think that this will be an example of Americans' attention span. It's kind of like F1. F1 got its foot in the door here, but like I feel like it's sputtering. It's not like fully going.
SPEAKER_03That was a pun.
SPEAKER_04I know it had to do with cars. That was good, Don.
SPEAKER_03Thanks.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Are you gonna watch the final?
SPEAKER_04Well, I'm gonna watch the halftime of the final. Beyond that, I cannot say because I'm a very busy person. What about you?
SPEAKER_03I am interested barely. Barely. You know what?
SPEAKER_04I'm interested minimally interested.
SPEAKER_03Here's for me to fall in love with soccer. I want some nachos, I want some beer, I want to sit down with the boys, and we'll sit down from the very beginning. And I want some good commercials. If during this soccer match there's no good commercials, I'm out. So yes, I'm in it with all the accoutrement.
SPEAKER_04So you need to have all of these accessories to make it worth your while.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And then I'll give it a shot.
SPEAKER_04Do you think that nationally it's going to start to take off this year?
SPEAKER_03I think we will start to care if they go super deep. If they do get out in round 16, I think people are like, cool, whatever. Don and Kelly versus the AI. Is 2026 the year America finally cares about soccer? And Chat GPT says, probably not.
SPEAKER_04Ah, see.
SPEAKER_03They have been predicting this every four years since the 1970s. And maybe the year soccer becomes permanently normal. Right now it's really weird. You're not going to be the weirdo if you like soccer. Shall we give it time, Kelly?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, let's give it time. What do you predict is going to catch on or happen?
SPEAKER_03June 15th, 2025 was the very first Two Awesome People podcast.
SPEAKER_04Hot diggity.
SPEAKER_03Happy one year anniversary.
SPEAKER_04What are we giving it time to?
SPEAKER_03Oh, this is gonna catch on.
SPEAKER_04Predicting right now to give it time.
SPEAKER_03Two awesome people is going to catch on. It may take a few years, but it's catching on. That's my prediction. And happy one year anniversary. Hi Fi. I mean, we've been at it for a year.
SPEAKER_04We have been at it. We've been talking to each other.
SPEAKER_03Wanted to murder each other along the way.
SPEAKER_04Well, a few times, but we continue to talk.
SPEAKER_03And it's fun.
SPEAKER_04It can be fun.
SPEAKER_03Thank you for exercising your freedom of speech with me, Kelly.
SPEAKER_04Thanks, Don. Thanks for letting me.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. What is your give it time?
SPEAKER_04I wanted to recognize the fact that our oldest son is graduating from middle school. Um, and so he's on his way to high school. So I would say give it time. That's gonna be awesome.
SPEAKER_03How does it feel to have a high schooler?
SPEAKER_04I feel very old. Um, but I also feel like a cool old person because I am.
SPEAKER_03You are.
SPEAKER_04Do you have anything that you want to recommend to these fine listeners?
SPEAKER_03One last thing. Okay. I read this great book called Playground by Richard Powers. It uh is a very interesting book. If you've read tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, it's similar to that um in terms of a world that's virtual, but it also heavily discusses kind of the effects of humanity on earth in a very interesting way. And I would recommend it to all. It is a fictional book.
SPEAKER_04That was a very sincerely and seriously put recommendation.
SPEAKER_03It's weird. I hadn't read a book like that.
SPEAKER_04I wanted to recommend um a baking website.
SPEAKER_03We like to bake in our house.
SPEAKER_04I love to bake. I love to bake simple things. And there's this woman named Sally, and she has a baking addiction. And her website's called Sally's Baking Addiction. And she has really good recipes. I've made lots of things off of there, and I don't think any of them have been bad. So I recommend Sally's Baking Addiction.
SPEAKER_03Kelly, thank you for talking to me this week.
SPEAKER_04Thank you for listening and talking to me, Dawn.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, thank you all for listening and uh or watching. Please subscribe, share, leave us a review.
SPEAKER_04Yell goal again.
SPEAKER_03We'll see you next week.
SPEAKER_04Bye.
