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Sept. 25, 2026

"World Cup/Soccer Market Review/NHL Hobby Outlook" w/Clemente Lisi E407

"World Cup/Soccer Market Review/NHL Hobby Outlook" w/Clemente Lisi E407
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My good friend Clemente Lisi is back on to breakdown the World Cup, Soccer Hobby market, Messi's announcement, and a discussion about the approaching NHL season.

TALKING POINTS:
*World Cup Review
*Soccer Market
*Messi's Announcement
*Thoughts on Pocchettino/USA Soccer
*Next World Cup
*NHL Market and Upcoming season.


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WEBVTT

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Sports Card Nation, the hobby is the people. Weekly news

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and interviews, it's your number one source.

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Sports Card Nation, the hobby is the people.

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Sports Card Nation.

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What is up, everyone? Welcome to episode 407, Sports Card Nation.

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Right off the top, let's thank our sponsors that make

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it happen. SDC, Iron Sports Cards, Sports Collectors Digest, Hobby Hotline,

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Upper Deck, Card Ladder, and the Certified Trading Card Association.

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All right. The guest on today's program is an alumnus.

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He's been here a few times, and he's back again.

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And it's my good friend, Clemente Lisi. And we're going

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to talk soccer. We're going to talk a little hockey.

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We're going to wrap up. the world cup and talk

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about the soccer market we're also going to look forward

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to the uh soon to start nhl season as well

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on these double episodes so uh part one is this

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week part two will be next week so with that

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being said let's get the show started.

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Attention sports card nation.

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Viewers What up, kids?

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It's your boy Scott Hanson from NFL Red Zone.

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Oh, we're back.

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Ball is back.

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The hobby never ends.

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And before you know it, I'm going to be on

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your screen again, rocking that octobox, knocking the bottom out

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of the witching hour, and announcing seven hours of Red

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Zone football. But as you watch Red Zone, just save

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some time. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, to check

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out John. and SportsCard Nation. Let's have a great season, people. 5, 4, 3, 2.

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1, 0. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.

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Always love having the next gentleman on sports card nation.

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And this time is, is no different. He's a fellow, uh, SCD, uh,

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writer like myself. He's on other podcasts. Uh, and he's probably,

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he's my, uh, good friend. And the guy like I

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lean on when it comes to soccer, uh, and even

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hockey and other things, uh, as well, where I was

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going to talk about, uh, some of that, uh, with

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the world cup, uh, wrapping up here, uh, you know,

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some weeks ago. So, uh, without further ado, uh, welcome

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Clemente Lisi.

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Hey, John, great to be back.

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Yes.

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Um, well, let's listen the day before we're recording this,

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you know, a big soccer announcement, uh, came through, uh, messy, uh,

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as many as some predicted, uh, announced his retirement from,

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you know, the tournament play or, or world cup play. Um,

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Many thought that by the way he left the field

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from the final, the way he looked around and like

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was taking it all in. I definitely want to talk

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about this, Clemente, like surprise, not surprised, expected. Like what's

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your take?

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It's expected. But even though it's expected that when the

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news hit, it really hit like in the sense that

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everyone was like, wow, this is for real. And he

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basically said in a statement that he had decided on

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this like a few days after the World Cup. People

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might know that over the summer in August, his father died.

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I think that really cemented his decision to decide to

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no longer play for Argentina. He will continue to play

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for Inter Miami for as long as he wants. And

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at 39 years old, he might have another year or

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two in him. But for Argentina on the international level,

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they have to move on now. And he's played for

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21 years. He's spanned a few generations. He's been him

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and Cristiano Ronaldo have been you know, mainstays in the

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international soccer landscape. And it's going to be hard to

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watch Argentina going forward without him in it. And then

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we're going to talk about the World Cup. He had

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a very good World Cup, brought Argentina to a final.

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He won it four years ago. And, you know, people

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say he's the greatest of all time. And the case

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can be made that he is.

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Did the timing surprise you? Like we've got obviously some

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years now before the next World Cup. that he announced

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it now rather than maybe wait a couple of years?

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Is there anything to the timing or it just is

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what it is?

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I think it is what it is. Oftentimes players like

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this will announce like literally the day after the final,

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you could have said that, you know, because what happens is,

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you know, there's not just the World Cup, but you

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have international tournaments like Copa America and European teams playing

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the Euros. So there's always some big, big international tournament,

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you know, every summer. The issue is also for the

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national team. If you're the national team manager, you want

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to be able to say, am I going to Can

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I call this guy up? Can I rely on him?

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Do I have to move on? You know, the rumors

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before the World Cup was that he was going to

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maybe be a bench player. Turned out he was a starter.

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He played every game. He scored six goals. He got

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into a final and he played at an extremely high level.

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You know, for the group stage, I think he was

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the only Argentine to have scored for his team. So

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he was very much the center of the team. And look,

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now comes the legacy of And, you know, that's cemented,

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of course. But it's what's next for Argentina. It's going

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to be an interesting question because who's going to fill

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in those shoes? You're not going to be able to fill.

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You know, you might have some good players out there,

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but no one's going to be the greatest of all

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time to replace. It's like, you know, it's like the

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Patriots or Tampa when Tom Brady retired. No one thought

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they were going to replace Tom Brady with another Tom Brady.

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Right.

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So.

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You kind of have to rebuild. And for Argentina, it's

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an interesting case they're in now. Where do they go

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from here? And we'll see that in the next couple

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of years.

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I think you mentioned one or two years. How long

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do you think he plays soccer, period? I know now

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it's like the tournament he's stepping away from. But how

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much soccer do you think he has left just in

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the season?

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Yeah.

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Yeah, I think he could have another two seasons. I mean,

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let's not forget that he announced this on Monday, but

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on Saturday, two days earlier, Inter-Miami beat Montreal 7-1. He

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scored four goals. So he's not, which is a lot

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in soccer, to score four goals in a game.

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So it's not... Everyone does that, Clemente.

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Come on. It's not done, done. I think he still

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has to play at a high level. And, you know,

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there's a lot of money surrounding Messi, marketability. If you

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watch the World Cup, every other commercial involved Messi. If

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he went to Lowe's, there was a Messi blow-up you

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can buy. I mean, he's in every commercial, even though

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he doesn't speak any English and doesn't speak in the ads.

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And I think he's going to make a lot of

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money going forward because I think he's just a name

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you can bank on. And so I think he's maybe

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got another two years for MLS. And MLS is in

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a good place now because they're coming into the afterglow

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of the World Cup and they want to try to

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grow soccer in the United States. And if people did

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watch the World Cup and then had a good time,

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they could watch MLS. And some of those players are

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playing in MLS now. And so there's kind of a

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longer tail to it all because the world cup is

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every four years and the world cup is the highest

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level but there's a lot of soccer that's played in

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between those four years this is a chance i think

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for americans to really enjoy messi and we should be

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privileged that he's here and we get to see him

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for a couple more years and you know every game

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now feels like his last game you know for for

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inter miami it feels like oh this could be he

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can retire at the end of the season who knows

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he hasn't He hasn't said anything about that, but we'll see.

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I think he's got two years left.

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Do you think there's any chance he changes his mind

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as far as tournament? Like, you know, four years from

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now or just under four years from now, do you think,

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or even before that, do you think, you know, I

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think he'll be 43 then or somewhere in that vicinity.

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If he's still playing fairly productive soccer, you think he

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sort of rescinds that or you think it's, we've seen

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the last of, of Messi in tournament play?

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I think we've seen the last, but you never say never.

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You never know. I should point out that at the

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same stadium, at MetLife Stadium, when Argentina lost the Copa

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America final, I want to say it was in 2016,

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he retired from Argentina that night. And of course, that

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lasted about two months, and he was back on the team.

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And I think he was so disappointed at that defeat.

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I was at the World Cup final, and I'm going

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to talk about this. And once Spain scored extra time

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I knew the game was over I've seen enough of

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these games to know and if you watch the game

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you know Argentina couldn't do anything against Spain and I

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just spent the last I think 10 minutes of the

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game just watching him watching him kind of in the

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midfield go back and forth and then at the end

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of the game him and his teammates just kind of

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stared off into the crowd and he was at in

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the end where I was sitting and I just stared

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at him I just thought this is the last time

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I'll see him in Argentina jersey and it was interesting

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because Spain was celebrating the World Cup they were parading

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the trophy around and they were, you know, having a

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great time. They won the, you know, the best in

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the world. And the crowd is chanting Messi's name. It's

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sort of a surreal experience. I think Messi transcends any team,

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any player in that stadium on that afternoon. It just

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didn't matter that Spain won. The crowd was mostly Argentines,

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but even the neutrals were Messi fans because how can

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you not root for this guy? Now, you know, He

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won the World Cup in 2022. He'd won the Copa

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America before that. You know, he's won everything at Barcelona.

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I mean, this guy has won lots of trophies, and

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you shouldn't cry for him. But to watch him, you know,

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literally drag his team to that finals, I think that's

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what he did. Because everyone else on the team was

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kind of like a B team, basically. I mean, they

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got some good players, but he really put it all

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on the field. That's a cliche, I know, but I

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think he really did. And then the final against Spain,

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they just couldn't do anything about it, and they were tired.

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and Spain was the better team that day for sure

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so but but I spent my time staring at him

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because I knew okay this is it.

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He's done you mentioned legacy he's arguably one of the

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greatest to ever uh be on the pitch in your

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mind as you know a soccer aficionado Where does he

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rank in your rankings in terms of all-time greats?

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I mean, I had always made the argument five years ago.

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I kept saying, if he doesn't win the World Cup,

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he can't be the top. He can't. You have to

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win the World Cup. All the greatest players have done that.

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But to me, he is number one, especially what he

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did at this World Cup. I mean, on top of that,

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at one point during the tournament, he became the all-time

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leading scorer in the tournament. Then, of course, he got

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surpassed by Mbappe, who was much younger than him. But

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at one point, he broke records during the tournament. So

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I would put him number one. Number two, I would

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put his countryman, Diego Maradona. Pele is there. And maybe

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Cristiano Ronaldo, who has not won a World Cup, but

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I would put him on the Mount Rushmore of the

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four greatest players of all time. And sometimes these players

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kind of switch around, depending on who you ask. But

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it's really, you know, Messi has done so much, even

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in just the last five, six years. I mean, if

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you had a career that was six years old, let's

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say Messi started in 2020. It would already be an

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amazing career. He's played, obviously, that. So, no, I put

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Messi at the top. And the New York Times, The

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00:11:16.690 --> 00:11:20.490
Athletic did the book, Soccer 100. Spoiler alert, they gave

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00:11:20.549 --> 00:11:24.009
Messi the top spot. It's not a surprise. And I

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00:11:24.049 --> 00:11:26.049
know a lot of us have regency bias. We always

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00:11:26.090 --> 00:11:27.769
think the last thing we saw is the greatest thing

234
00:11:27.809 --> 00:11:29.889
we saw. But I think Messi's been doing it on

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00:11:29.909 --> 00:11:33.190
a consistent enough level that we can say, yes, he's

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00:11:33.210 --> 00:11:35.529
the greatest of all time. Now, there's Ronaldo lovers out

237
00:11:35.549 --> 00:11:40.019
there who hate this and want to argue otherwise. Ronaldo's 41.

238
00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:42.559
He had so-so World Cup. He tried. He's a lot

239
00:11:42.580 --> 00:11:44.450
slower than he used to be. He's also still playing.

240
00:11:44.549 --> 00:11:47.049
He still hasn't called his retirement. But at some point,

241
00:11:47.070 --> 00:11:48.889
he's going to have to retire. And I think it's

242
00:11:48.909 --> 00:11:50.190
going to be the end of an era to see

243
00:11:50.210 --> 00:11:52.909
these two guys go away. And then we'll have new players.

244
00:11:52.950 --> 00:11:55.549
We have, like I mentioned, Mbappe has been around a while.

245
00:11:55.620 --> 00:11:58.139
We have Erling Haaland of Norway, who I think people

246
00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:00.200
fell in love with during the World Cup. It's like, hey,

247
00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:03.399
Norway's best player actually looks like a Viking. This is amazing.

248
00:12:03.889 --> 00:12:06.529
And everyone got into the whole fan thing with, with

249
00:12:06.590 --> 00:12:08.970
Erling Haaland. And then you have, you know, other players

250
00:12:09.009 --> 00:12:10.789
out there too, but you know, these are, these are the,

251
00:12:10.820 --> 00:12:12.600
you know, living in the model of course of Spain.

252
00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:14.659
But this is, these are the, this is the new

253
00:12:14.700 --> 00:12:16.559
generation now. So we, you know, we have to kind of,

254
00:12:16.919 --> 00:12:18.580
you kind of have to move on, turn the page. And,

255
00:12:18.600 --> 00:12:20.179
you know, when you live long enough, like you and I,

256
00:12:20.220 --> 00:12:22.690
John have, You get to see players come and go,

257
00:12:22.769 --> 00:12:24.350
and then you start to really build sort of a

258
00:12:24.789 --> 00:12:28.730
mental library of highlights, lowlights, and things people have done.

259
00:12:28.769 --> 00:12:31.370
And you can put into perspective a player's career, but

260
00:12:31.450 --> 00:12:33.450
it's got to be extremely difficult for any athlete to

261
00:12:33.590 --> 00:12:36.210
basically call it quits. I think they really enjoy playing.

262
00:12:36.230 --> 00:12:39.309
They really enjoy that kind of life, the competition. And,

263
00:12:39.350 --> 00:12:41.570
you know, we'll see what happens. Like I said, the

264
00:12:41.590 --> 00:12:44.269
curious thing is how good will Argentina be going forward?

265
00:12:44.330 --> 00:12:46.429
Because we know France is good. We know Spain is good.

266
00:12:46.850 --> 00:12:49.509
How good will Argentina be? Sometimes one or two retirements

267
00:12:49.580 --> 00:12:50.149
can really make a difference.

268
00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:54.590
Yeah, that was actually my next question. Assuming his retirement

269
00:12:54.909 --> 00:13:00.210
stick holds to it, doesn't play, does that knock Argentina

270
00:13:00.289 --> 00:13:04.769
down a peg or two from being a perennial favorite

271
00:13:04.889 --> 00:13:10.440
in a World Cup or really any tournament they play in?

272
00:13:10.919 --> 00:13:13.539
Is it such an impact it makes them maybe middle

273
00:13:13.559 --> 00:13:16.179
of the road or not necessarily?

274
00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:17.100
It could.

275
00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:17.779
It depends.

276
00:13:17.820 --> 00:13:20.039
You know, I always thought that when Messi was playing,

277
00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:22.879
the other players on the team all kind of, you know,

278
00:13:22.899 --> 00:13:25.179
looked to him. And now that he's going to be gone,

279
00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:28.779
they'll be curious to see, hey, does anyone step up? Like,

280
00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:30.470
you know, they have a player named Julian Alvarez. He's

281
00:13:30.509 --> 00:13:33.850
very good, but he plays alongside Messi. But knowing Messi's there,

282
00:13:33.870 --> 00:13:35.570
you kind of don't, you know, you don't need to

283
00:13:35.649 --> 00:13:38.370
do everything that Messi does because he's doing it. So

284
00:13:38.850 --> 00:13:41.049
it's about stepping up. It's about finding new players. It

285
00:13:41.070 --> 00:13:42.529
kind of reminds me of the Bulls, right? Like when

286
00:13:42.590 --> 00:13:45.409
Michael Jordan went to play baseball for a while, the

287
00:13:45.460 --> 00:13:48.179
Bulls weren't as good. They had Scottie Pippen, but they

288
00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:50.799
weren't as good, right? They couldn't win. And I wonder

289
00:13:50.820 --> 00:13:52.240
if that's what's going to happen to them. I'm sure

290
00:13:52.259 --> 00:13:55.940
the bookmakers have dropped them a notch or two. But

291
00:13:55.960 --> 00:13:58.740
Argentina is always in the conversation, of course, like Brazil

292
00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:00.620
and Germany, even though they're not as good. And France

293
00:14:00.659 --> 00:14:03.559
and Spain, these are the big countries now. But yeah,

294
00:14:03.580 --> 00:14:05.059
I think it knocks them down a little bit. Be

295
00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:07.120
curious to see the Copa America, the next big tournament,

296
00:14:07.179 --> 00:14:10.200
which is a South American championship. How good, how competitive

297
00:14:10.220 --> 00:14:12.259
will they be there? And then the next World Cup

298
00:14:12.330 --> 00:14:14.750
is in four years, and it's the 100th year anniversary

299
00:14:14.769 --> 00:14:16.149
of the World Cup. It's going to be a big deal.

300
00:14:16.169 --> 00:14:19.850
It's going to be co-hosted by Portugal, Spain, and Morocco,

301
00:14:19.929 --> 00:14:23.610
with some games in Uruguay and Argentina and Paraguay. So

302
00:14:23.769 --> 00:14:26.590
Argentina will also host some games. People were hoping maybe

303
00:14:26.629 --> 00:14:28.110
he would stick around for that, to be able to

304
00:14:28.149 --> 00:14:29.649
play a World Cup at home. But it's a lot

305
00:14:29.669 --> 00:14:33.149
to ask of any player pushing 40 to keep going

306
00:14:33.190 --> 00:14:35.480
at this level. And I'd rather go out on top.

307
00:14:35.500 --> 00:14:36.789
I mean, if I was Messi, I would have retired

308
00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:38.259
four years ago as a World Cup champion.

309
00:14:38.519 --> 00:14:38.679
But.

310
00:14:39.029 --> 00:14:40.340
Players never want to do that. They want to just

311
00:14:40.379 --> 00:14:43.460
keep going, keep pushing. And look, he came really close.

312
00:14:43.779 --> 00:14:47.220
They lost 1-0 in extra time, right? If the game

313
00:14:47.240 --> 00:14:50.080
had gone to penalties, anything could have happened, right? So

314
00:14:50.179 --> 00:14:52.779
he came really close. So kudos to him. I think

315
00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:55.340
I admire him a lot for what he's done. I mean,

316
00:14:55.379 --> 00:14:57.000
he loves his country, he loves his club, but he

317
00:14:57.019 --> 00:14:59.299
loves his country. And these players really put it all

318
00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:00.139
on the field, like I said.

319
00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:02.940
Before we get into the World Cup, and we're going

320
00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:07.129
to get heavy into that, let's talk about the soccer

321
00:15:07.190 --> 00:15:11.179
hobby market. Now, how much of an impact, in your mind,

322
00:15:11.539 --> 00:15:14.610
you know, the soccer market's doing pretty well, like even

323
00:15:14.629 --> 00:15:17.009
before the World Cup. You know, how much did the

324
00:15:17.049 --> 00:15:20.570
World Cup, you know, affect the market? And maybe even

325
00:15:20.590 --> 00:15:24.809
the announcement of Messi's retirement, like how would that even

326
00:15:24.870 --> 00:15:29.100
affect his market? Like where are we at hobby-wise when

327
00:15:29.139 --> 00:15:30.379
it comes to that?

328
00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:32.559
I'll answer that question with a story. So I went

329
00:15:32.580 --> 00:15:34.820
to the National, and I bought stuff, and I bought

330
00:15:34.860 --> 00:15:38.179
zero soccer. It was so expensive at the National. Everything

331
00:15:38.200 --> 00:15:39.879
at the National is expensive, I thought, this year. But

332
00:15:40.279 --> 00:15:43.190
soccer was through the roof. And I get it. We're

333
00:15:43.289 --> 00:15:46.190
fresh off the World Cup, two weeks. The soccer market

334
00:15:46.230 --> 00:15:48.889
is doing very well card-wise. And so it's definitely not

335
00:15:48.950 --> 00:15:51.750
a buying time. I would let things cool off. A

336
00:15:51.809 --> 00:15:53.990
lot of the people that jumped into the soccer market

337
00:15:54.009 --> 00:15:56.129
in the last six months may just be World Cup people.

338
00:15:56.149 --> 00:15:58.220
And they're going to come out. And then the prices

339
00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:00.039
kind of settle down a little bit. But it did

340
00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:02.860
definitely help. And not just the new stuff. People are

341
00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:05.440
looking for vintage now, vintage soccer. They're looking for stuff

342
00:16:05.460 --> 00:16:08.460
they've never seen before. So it's a growing market. We

343
00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:10.669
had the International Pavilion at the National. There was a

344
00:16:10.669 --> 00:16:13.309
lot of soccer there. They had the Soccer Expo, which

345
00:16:13.330 --> 00:16:16.250
was also happening in the Chicago area during the National.

346
00:16:16.269 --> 00:16:18.929
That was all soccer. So you do have a lot

347
00:16:18.970 --> 00:16:21.330
of soccer vendors, a lot of guys from Europe coming

348
00:16:21.429 --> 00:16:23.950
over and buying. A lot of Americans are interested. So

349
00:16:23.970 --> 00:16:26.889
he's extremely expensive, not a good time to buy. Now

350
00:16:26.950 --> 00:16:31.620
for Messi cards, the Messi rookie card from Panini, that's

351
00:16:31.659 --> 00:16:33.659
been going up and up in value for the last,

352
00:16:33.820 --> 00:16:38.200
I'd say, seven, eight years. So no deals there. You know,

353
00:16:38.340 --> 00:16:40.279
I think what's a little cheaper maybe is chasing maybe

354
00:16:40.299 --> 00:16:43.220
his autograph cards because he has signed a lot now,

355
00:16:43.379 --> 00:16:45.820
last couple of years for Panini. There's been some scandals

356
00:16:45.860 --> 00:16:47.720
in the past about whether or not he actually signed

357
00:16:47.740 --> 00:16:49.740
some of those cards or if his brother had done it.

358
00:16:50.169 --> 00:16:53.259
You know, so there's a little bit of a sort

359
00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:56.620
of backstory there. But he's tied to Panini in terms

360
00:16:56.659 --> 00:16:59.759
of autographs. And, you know, he did show up to

361
00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:02.679
Fanatics Fest because they did have the World Cup press

362
00:17:02.700 --> 00:17:05.980
conference there. So Messi was at Fanatics Fest. So he's

363
00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:08.150
gotten involved in the hobby more and more, I think,

364
00:17:08.210 --> 00:17:10.869
in terms of signing. And he signs lots of jerseys.

365
00:17:11.170 --> 00:17:13.109
There really is no shortage of his stuff. And I've

366
00:17:13.130 --> 00:17:16.710
seen signed jerseys for like $ 500, which is not totally crazy.

367
00:17:17.690 --> 00:17:20.190
But I think once he retires for good, I think

368
00:17:20.210 --> 00:17:22.670
the values will go up and then he'll become, he'll

369
00:17:23.099 --> 00:17:26.940
join that club with like Jordan and Gretzky of these

370
00:17:26.980 --> 00:17:29.539
all-time greats whose stuff is just worth a lot of money.

371
00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:31.339
And if you're not willing to drop a couple thousand

372
00:17:31.400 --> 00:17:33.809
bucks on a PSA 10 key card, then you're not

373
00:17:33.829 --> 00:17:36.109
going to get it. It's too late now. Once the

374
00:17:36.150 --> 00:17:39.470
American market got interested in soccer, because the European market

375
00:17:39.490 --> 00:17:41.710
was very small. And once the Americans got into it,

376
00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:45.009
And they got past the stickers, the mini stickers. It

377
00:17:45.029 --> 00:17:47.470
just became very expensive. And you got more eyeballs on it.

378
00:17:47.549 --> 00:17:49.230
And so I like that there's more eyeballs on it

379
00:17:49.250 --> 00:17:51.750
because I like that soccer is more popular. But as

380
00:17:51.789 --> 00:17:54.529
a collector, it's not the greatest time. So like I said,

381
00:17:54.569 --> 00:17:56.890
I bought zero soccer at the National, which is very

382
00:17:56.930 --> 00:17:58.920
disappointing because I wanted to buy some soccer and it's

383
00:17:58.940 --> 00:17:59.559
just too expensive.

384
00:17:59.700 --> 00:18:02.240
So if I heard you right, Clemente, you're saying if

385
00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:05.440
you're a Messi fan or collector or just a soccer fan,

386
00:18:05.480 --> 00:18:07.980
now might be a good time to grab some Messi

387
00:18:08.019 --> 00:18:11.170
stuff before you're done for good. I know now, again,

388
00:18:11.190 --> 00:18:11.549
this is.

389
00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:16.740
I think so. Even though the recent announcement probably already

390
00:18:16.779 --> 00:18:18.680
makes it too late. There was that window maybe in

391
00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:21.420
between when I thought it was expensive then. That would

392
00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:23.680
have been a good time between World Cup and the announcement.

393
00:18:23.720 --> 00:18:26.140
Now the announcement will kind of die down. Then prices

394
00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:28.759
settle in. It's a good time to buy maybe between

395
00:18:28.779 --> 00:18:31.339
now and maybe Christmas or New Year. Once he announces

396
00:18:31.420 --> 00:18:33.559
at some point, now everyone's waiting for that when he

397
00:18:33.619 --> 00:18:36.680
retires for good, then I think things start to skyrocket.

398
00:18:37.220 --> 00:18:39.160
And who knows? I mean, he may end up having

399
00:18:39.180 --> 00:18:41.819
a career where he just signing a lot of stuff

400
00:18:41.859 --> 00:18:44.900
going forward. And if he does that, then it may

401
00:18:44.940 --> 00:18:47.539
devalue it. I know that for example, upper deck has

402
00:18:47.700 --> 00:18:49.039
Michael Jordan autographs, right?

403
00:18:49.099 --> 00:18:49.599
Exclusives.

404
00:18:49.779 --> 00:18:52.740
Upper deck is very good about not putting too many

405
00:18:52.819 --> 00:18:55.220
out there, you know, cause they want to keep the value.

406
00:18:55.299 --> 00:18:58.440
I'm not sure Panini or if tops gets involved that

407
00:18:58.460 --> 00:19:01.269
they care, you know, as long as he's signing and

408
00:19:01.289 --> 00:19:03.450
they're making money, they're going to keep doing it. He's

409
00:19:03.470 --> 00:19:06.450
got deals with so many different people for jerseys, for cards,

410
00:19:06.509 --> 00:19:10.289
you know, different, different marketing deals. So if you saturate

411
00:19:10.309 --> 00:19:12.809
the market, the value does go down. So you have

412
00:19:12.829 --> 00:19:15.569
to be careful. And he's only 39. So presumably, if

413
00:19:15.589 --> 00:19:18.450
he lives a normal lifespan, he will be around a

414
00:19:18.470 --> 00:19:22.450
very long time and signing a lot. And I talk

415
00:19:22.470 --> 00:19:24.339
about autographs. That's why maybe his cards may be worth

416
00:19:24.380 --> 00:19:26.660
more because his early cards are hard to find. They

417
00:19:26.680 --> 00:19:29.539
came out in Spain. They're Panini cards. They were not

418
00:19:29.619 --> 00:19:31.839
highly collectible at the time. They became more collectible in

419
00:19:31.859 --> 00:19:35.400
the last, I'd say, seven, eight years, definitely post-pandemic. So

420
00:19:35.940 --> 00:19:37.539
that may be something to chase and you don't need

421
00:19:37.559 --> 00:19:39.619
to get a PSA 10. You can get any grade. I,

422
00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:41.500
you know, I don't buy the grade. I buy the

423
00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:44.160
card or buy it raw, whatever. If it's going to

424
00:19:44.180 --> 00:19:46.490
bring the price down, then do it that way. That's

425
00:19:46.509 --> 00:19:48.170
not the way I would do it. But yeah, his

426
00:19:48.190 --> 00:19:50.759
stuff is, is expensive. You know, It has been, along

427
00:19:50.779 --> 00:19:53.480
with Ronaldo. And then you see Mbappe's stuff is expensive.

428
00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:55.980
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Building a safer, smarter, and stronger hobby.

446
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Let's go! You are listening to the Sports Card Nation podcast.

447
00:21:11.809 --> 00:21:14.589
All right, let's get into the World Cup. You attended

448
00:21:14.650 --> 00:21:19.410
this one here in North America. You also attended the

449
00:21:19.509 --> 00:21:24.450
previous one in Qatar. You know, obviously it's the same tournament,

450
00:21:24.490 --> 00:21:29.809
just different locales. You know, comparing and contrasting the two

451
00:21:29.910 --> 00:21:33.190
as someone who attended both of those, how would you,

452
00:21:33.710 --> 00:21:36.630
how would you assess, you know, both of those at

453
00:21:36.670 --> 00:21:40.589
different locales? I know the tickets here, Clemente, as you

454
00:21:40.630 --> 00:21:44.650
well know, were, you know, through, through the roof to,

455
00:21:44.769 --> 00:21:48.309
to attend. Fortunately, you know, you're, you're a press member.

456
00:21:48.329 --> 00:21:51.089
So you, you, you know, you're blessed to go in

457
00:21:51.130 --> 00:21:54.380
that route, but for those that aren't and have to,

458
00:21:54.779 --> 00:21:58.240
you know, plunk down some hard earned money, it was very,

459
00:21:58.380 --> 00:22:01.960
I know we even talked about, Maybe a year and

460
00:22:01.980 --> 00:22:04.720
a half ago, two years ago, maybe, you know, I'm

461
00:22:04.779 --> 00:22:07.930
from New York originally. It was like coming down there

462
00:22:08.369 --> 00:22:12.410
and maybe getting to a couple games. But the ticket

463
00:22:12.450 --> 00:22:17.289
prices sort of made that decision for me. So, you know,

464
00:22:17.470 --> 00:22:21.000
attending both the last two World Cups sort of compare

465
00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:25.380
and contrast what you've noticed from being an attendee to both.

466
00:22:25.779 --> 00:22:26.039
Yeah.

467
00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:27.500
So I've been watching the World Cup since I was

468
00:22:27.539 --> 00:22:30.220
a kid, 82. So you can do the math there.

469
00:22:30.779 --> 00:22:33.200
And I've been to the last four World Cups in person.

470
00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:36.299
And yeah, the last one in Qatar was pretty extraordinary.

471
00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:40.500
And everyone remembers the final between Argentina and France. 3-3 game,

472
00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:43.049
went to extra time, is now considered the best soccer

473
00:22:43.109 --> 00:22:45.289
game ever played. And I have to agree that that

474
00:22:45.349 --> 00:22:48.450
was the case. Fast forward to this tournament, you know,

475
00:22:48.470 --> 00:22:50.230
what I always like about going to a World Cup

476
00:22:50.269 --> 00:22:53.690
is you get to visit another country, immerse in the culture,

477
00:22:53.710 --> 00:22:56.450
the food, you know, all the stuff that goes with sports,

478
00:22:56.650 --> 00:22:59.059
the culture, the food, everything else, the experience. When you

479
00:22:59.079 --> 00:23:01.220
get to experience it at home, you don't really get

480
00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:03.220
that i mean it's fun to watch japanese people eating

481
00:23:03.259 --> 00:23:06.880
barbecue or germans eating sour cream but it's but but

482
00:23:06.940 --> 00:23:09.529
i i'm american i eat all the time so i'm

483
00:23:09.589 --> 00:23:13.150
not for me it wasn't like oh i discover america

484
00:23:13.170 --> 00:23:15.670
i didn't discover america like i live here so you

485
00:23:15.690 --> 00:23:17.750
don't get that part of it but getting a world

486
00:23:17.769 --> 00:23:20.769
cup here is nice because i took my daughter to

487
00:23:20.809 --> 00:23:23.299
a game at france senegal at life stadium so she

488
00:23:23.319 --> 00:23:26.549
got to see her first world game ever and she's 17.

489
00:23:26.549 --> 00:23:28.769
and also just the idea that the World Cup is here,

490
00:23:28.869 --> 00:23:31.259
like that it's the streets, it's at your local bar,

491
00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:33.339
but it's also happening here because the World Cup, let's

492
00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:36.140
be honest, is a made-for-TV event. It doesn't matter where

493
00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:37.460
you are. If the World Cup was being played on

494
00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:39.619
the moon, it wouldn't matter. As long as you can

495
00:23:39.660 --> 00:23:41.940
watch it on television and you're with your friends and

496
00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:44.480
a couple of beers, that's the experience right there. So

497
00:23:44.500 --> 00:23:45.880
it doesn't matter where it's being played. And if you're

498
00:23:45.900 --> 00:23:48.309
going to attend the World Cup, you know, it helps

499
00:23:48.329 --> 00:23:49.769
that it was in America, that it's close, you know,

500
00:23:49.950 --> 00:23:51.170
to be able to go to my own bed at

501
00:23:51.230 --> 00:23:53.269
night was nice and not to have to, you know,

502
00:23:53.750 --> 00:23:56.799
bop around another country or fly far away. Those are

503
00:23:56.819 --> 00:23:59.039
always nice things. And that happens maybe once or twice

504
00:23:59.079 --> 00:24:01.680
in a lifetime. You know, the U.S. did host in 94,

505
00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:03.720
where ticket prices were a lot lower, of course, because

506
00:24:04.059 --> 00:24:07.180
people in 94 didn't really care about soccer in America. Now,

507
00:24:07.220 --> 00:24:09.220
I think I want to say that the prices were

508
00:24:09.539 --> 00:24:12.849
ridiculous for games, but that a lot of Americans did

509
00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:15.109
go anyway. But a lot of foreigners came here. As

510
00:24:15.150 --> 00:24:16.990
someone who is in the New York area, I can

511
00:24:17.009 --> 00:24:20.029
tell you we had various invasions. I use that term,

512
00:24:20.109 --> 00:24:23.019
you know, nicely, invasion. We had the Scottish showed up,

513
00:24:23.059 --> 00:24:27.029
then the Norwegians, then the French, then the Brazilians, then

514
00:24:27.170 --> 00:24:30.690
the Moroccans, then Argentina and Spain at the end. You

515
00:24:30.710 --> 00:24:33.950
had time scores full of fans. We may never see

516
00:24:33.990 --> 00:24:36.210
that again here before. And a lot of people I

517
00:24:36.250 --> 00:24:39.190
know who don't know anything about soccer, I've been doing

518
00:24:39.210 --> 00:24:40.829
this in the last couple of weeks, I've been asking them, hey,

519
00:24:40.859 --> 00:24:42.680
did you watch any World Cup games? And they're telling

520
00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:46.559
me they watched 9, 10, 15 games on TV. Some

521
00:24:46.579 --> 00:24:49.839
people I know actually went to games. That surprises me.

522
00:24:49.960 --> 00:24:52.160
For people who basically prior to the World Cup would

523
00:24:52.180 --> 00:24:54.339
have said, yeah, I don't really watch soccer. I don't

524
00:24:54.359 --> 00:24:57.839
really care. My mother-in-law doesn't watch any soccer. She's watching

525
00:24:57.859 --> 00:25:00.500
the World Cup on TV. So it's something that I

526
00:25:00.539 --> 00:25:02.440
think was everywhere for five weeks. And it was the

527
00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:04.930
longest tournament ever. By five weeks, it was long. It

528
00:25:04.950 --> 00:25:08.369
had 48 countries, the biggest one ever. 104 games, again,

529
00:25:08.410 --> 00:25:11.369
the biggest one ever. So it was huge. I think

530
00:25:11.529 --> 00:25:15.670
now it's totally baked into... the American sports culture, like

531
00:25:15.710 --> 00:25:18.069
the Olympics. I'm not saying everyday soccer is. I'm not

532
00:25:18.089 --> 00:25:21.210
saying Champions League or MLS. No, probably not. But when

533
00:25:21.230 --> 00:25:23.549
you talk about the World Cup as an event, I

534
00:25:23.589 --> 00:25:25.430
think it's here to stay. I think people are going

535
00:25:25.450 --> 00:25:27.150
to talk about it. They're going to watch it on TV.

536
00:25:27.170 --> 00:25:28.799
I think in four years when the World Cup will

537
00:25:28.839 --> 00:25:31.140
not be here, it'll be somewhere else, people will be

538
00:25:31.160 --> 00:25:33.660
watching here. The ratings for some of the games, for

539
00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:37.380
the U.S. games, were like NFL-type ratings, which kind of

540
00:25:37.420 --> 00:25:39.019
caught me by surprise. And the U.S. had a pretty

541
00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:41.150
good run, we have to say, as well. And it

542
00:25:41.190 --> 00:25:43.569
was good to see the U.S., the enthusiasm around the U.S.

543
00:25:43.609 --> 00:25:44.009
Team.

544
00:25:44.329 --> 00:25:46.250
And I know there was that whole thing with Trump

545
00:25:46.309 --> 00:25:48.039
and Balogun and the red card at the end that

546
00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:51.059
soured some people. But overall, it was a great experience.

547
00:25:51.099 --> 00:25:51.559
And the U.S.

548
00:25:51.900 --> 00:25:53.339
Did the best they could to get as far as

549
00:25:53.380 --> 00:25:55.700
they could. They won a knockout game, which is huge,

550
00:25:55.960 --> 00:25:58.940
with an extra round of knockouts this time around. And yeah,

551
00:25:59.019 --> 00:26:00.420
I mean, I thought it was a great experience. It

552
00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:02.539
was fun. And really, for four weeks, I think it

553
00:26:02.579 --> 00:26:04.599
was almost like we were all sort of thinking about

554
00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:08.000
something else. We were all sort of distracted. Some games

555
00:26:08.039 --> 00:26:10.339
were four games a day some days, and during the

556
00:26:10.380 --> 00:26:12.660
group stage, it was a lot of games. Six games

557
00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:14.650
a day, whatever it was, it was a lot of games.

558
00:26:14.910 --> 00:26:17.730
Because it spanned from New York all the way to Seattle,

559
00:26:17.750 --> 00:26:19.829
all the way to Mexico City, all the way up

560
00:26:19.869 --> 00:26:22.829
to Vancouver. I mean, there were games on beginning of

561
00:26:22.849 --> 00:26:24.890
the afternoon going all the way into the night. There

562
00:26:24.930 --> 00:26:27.859
were games on at 10 p.m. Eastern time. So it

563
00:26:27.890 --> 00:26:30.059
was great. It was a lot of fun. They made

564
00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:31.920
a lot of money. You know, I mean, the New York,

565
00:26:31.940 --> 00:26:36.700
New Jersey area alone generated $ 3. 5 billion in revenue just

566
00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:39.460
from that five weeks. So, I mean, the World Cup

567
00:26:39.480 --> 00:26:41.950
is a very powerful event. And I've been saying this

568
00:26:41.990 --> 00:26:44.049
for years now, and I kind of feel vindicated. This

569
00:26:44.369 --> 00:26:46.609
World Cup, I think, vindicated. We talked about the World

570
00:26:46.630 --> 00:26:49.329
Cup four years ago, and I think half the American

571
00:26:49.369 --> 00:26:51.109
public wasn't paying attention four years ago. I think they

572
00:26:51.130 --> 00:26:51.369
are now.

573
00:26:52.089 --> 00:26:56.259
Yeah, someone who watched quite a bit of the World Cup, Clemente,

574
00:26:56.339 --> 00:26:59.200
you know, it had a Super Bowl feel to it,

575
00:26:59.259 --> 00:27:03.819
especially the, the final itself, right? With the commercials, the

576
00:27:03.880 --> 00:27:08.470
halftime show, the amount of people that were talking about it,

577
00:27:09.009 --> 00:27:12.210
the celebrities that sort of bought in, whether it was

578
00:27:12.609 --> 00:27:18.150
real or not, they were involved. It felt like the

579
00:27:18.210 --> 00:27:22.910
Super Bowl to me, again, even with the halftime show.

580
00:27:23.650 --> 00:27:28.910
With the ticket prices being astronomical, you know, whose fault,

581
00:27:29.309 --> 00:27:32.390
if there's fault to be blamed at anyone's feet, like

582
00:27:32.450 --> 00:27:34.519
where does that fall in your mind?

583
00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:35.039
Yeah.

584
00:27:35.059 --> 00:27:36.380
I always want to talk a little bit about the

585
00:27:36.400 --> 00:27:38.279
halftime show and the cooling breaks.

586
00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:38.900
Yeah. Go ahead.

587
00:27:39.380 --> 00:27:41.279
Almost like commercial breaks. So you're right. It had a

588
00:27:41.299 --> 00:27:43.279
super cool feel to it. I should also point out

589
00:27:43.299 --> 00:27:45.819
the halftime show was sponsored by Topps. So you noticed that.

590
00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:46.599
Yeah.

591
00:27:46.660 --> 00:27:47.720
Because Fanatics has.

592
00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:50.319
Gotten their involvement in soccer now. They have the FIFA

593
00:27:50.339 --> 00:27:53.769
license starting in 2031. So clearly a play for them.

594
00:27:54.190 --> 00:27:56.380
And Fanatics Fest had a lot of, The FIFA booth

595
00:27:56.420 --> 00:27:58.230
was enormous and a lot of soccer there as well.

596
00:27:58.650 --> 00:28:01.509
But the ticket prices were expensive. Really, it was twofold. One,

597
00:28:01.970 --> 00:28:05.430
FIFA starting prices were already pretty high because they figured

598
00:28:05.470 --> 00:28:08.730
it's the North American market. There's more money here. Then

599
00:28:08.809 --> 00:28:11.190
we have something in America that I think people around

600
00:28:11.210 --> 00:28:14.029
the world don't have, which is a pretty healthy scalping market,

601
00:28:14.109 --> 00:28:16.789
a secondary market, if you will. And I think, you know,

602
00:28:16.809 --> 00:28:19.519
for example, the cheapest ticket to the final through the

603
00:28:19.559 --> 00:28:22.660
FIFA website was about $ 4, 000, which is a lot of

604
00:28:22.740 --> 00:28:25.589
money considering four years ago, That was probably the most

605
00:28:25.650 --> 00:28:27.670
expensive ticket. If not, it was cheaper than that. I

606
00:28:27.670 --> 00:28:29.650
think you can go to the final four years ago

607
00:28:29.690 --> 00:28:33.460
for like $ 1, 500, okay? That was considered expensive. $ 1, 500 at

608
00:28:33.480 --> 00:28:36.240
this World Cup final wouldn't get you through the parking lot.

609
00:28:36.299 --> 00:28:38.299
Parking was $ 300, right? So it would get you barely

610
00:28:38.359 --> 00:28:41.599
parking a car, right? So what happened was I think

611
00:28:41.619 --> 00:28:44.130
it was a secondary market. It's not illegal in the

612
00:28:44.150 --> 00:28:47.410
United States to sell tickets for twice, three times their

613
00:28:47.450 --> 00:28:49.269
value as long as it's a market they are to

614
00:28:49.309 --> 00:28:49.589
buy tickets.

615
00:28:50.009 --> 00:28:50.289
Games.

616
00:28:50.589 --> 00:28:52.809
So on the secondary market, the final, the cheapest ticket

617
00:28:52.829 --> 00:28:55.170
was about $ 8, 000, which is a lot of money. And

618
00:28:55.210 --> 00:28:59.930
yet tickets, $ 30, 000, $ 40, 000, $ 50, 000, like the Super Bowl, exactly.

619
00:29:00.150 --> 00:29:01.609
Or like the World Series a couple of years ago,

620
00:29:01.670 --> 00:29:04.910
the Dodgers, Yankees, World Series had these crazy prices. Also,

621
00:29:04.950 --> 00:29:08.380
something I noticed since the pandemic is prices for live

622
00:29:08.430 --> 00:29:12.920
events or prices for sporting events have just gotten ridiculously priced.

623
00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:14.380
And I knew this was going to happen with the

624
00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:16.619
World Cup when a couple of years ago, I saw

625
00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:19.410
what was going on with Taylor Swift. And I thought, Hmm, interesting.

626
00:29:19.430 --> 00:29:22.049
If Taylor Swift can bring in this kind of money, well,

627
00:29:22.069 --> 00:29:23.210
soccer is bigger than Taylor Swift.

628
00:29:23.230 --> 00:29:23.670
I know that.

629
00:29:24.250 --> 00:29:26.799
And when I was at the final, where I was

630
00:29:26.859 --> 00:29:29.240
sitting in some of the press areas, all the fans

631
00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:31.279
are kind of around you. And they were all from Argentina.

632
00:29:31.319 --> 00:29:33.839
They don't speak any English. They came from Argentina. They

633
00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:37.150
basically bankrupted themselves. They did this in Qatar four years ago.

634
00:29:37.170 --> 00:29:39.269
I remember talking to a guy who said to me

635
00:29:39.289 --> 00:29:42.259
that he had sold his... car to watch Argentina play

636
00:29:42.279 --> 00:29:44.730
in the final. And they won, which is great. He

637
00:29:44.750 --> 00:29:47.569
has no car when he gets home. But now these

638
00:29:47.589 --> 00:29:49.890
guys flew all the way to New York. Some of

639
00:29:49.910 --> 00:29:51.769
them had gone to Atlanta to watch the semifinal. They

640
00:29:51.789 --> 00:29:54.029
came to New York, whatever. And the team lost. But

641
00:29:54.069 --> 00:29:56.309
that's how rabid these people are, how it's like a

642
00:29:56.390 --> 00:29:59.789
religious experience for them. You know, I'm not saying it's

643
00:29:59.849 --> 00:30:01.809
a noble thing to bankrupt yourself. I think it's the

644
00:30:01.950 --> 00:30:04.190
dumbest thing in the world. But that's what bothered me

645
00:30:04.230 --> 00:30:06.680
about it, that FIFA kind of knows this. They know

646
00:30:06.759 --> 00:30:10.000
people will pay whatever it takes to go. And so

647
00:30:10.019 --> 00:30:11.559
that's what bothered me because I felt like they were

648
00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:13.460
taking advantage of the situation. And FIFA was doing all

649
00:30:13.480 --> 00:30:16.250
kinds of games on their own website as well. And

650
00:30:16.269 --> 00:30:18.769
there were terms of prices and Because it was based

651
00:30:18.910 --> 00:30:21.819
on demand. If demand went up, the price would go up.

652
00:30:21.869 --> 00:30:23.589
If demand went down, the price would go down. So

653
00:30:23.990 --> 00:30:26.269
even they did all kinds of strange things with the algorithm.

654
00:30:26.549 --> 00:30:29.069
I'm hoping the World Cup does go back to normal

655
00:30:29.210 --> 00:30:30.890
because people around the world are not going to pay

656
00:30:30.910 --> 00:30:32.470
this kind of money to see a game. They're just not.

657
00:30:32.849 --> 00:30:35.690
Americans will pay. I mean, if you ask people what

658
00:30:35.710 --> 00:30:37.480
they pay to see the US Open, for example, which

659
00:30:37.500 --> 00:30:40.180
is happening right now, or the Super Bowl, or even

660
00:30:40.220 --> 00:30:43.619
like a regular season NFL game, it's expensive. It's not cheap.

661
00:30:43.660 --> 00:30:45.839
I mean, I've tried to go to Rangers games here

662
00:30:45.859 --> 00:30:48.480
in New York. The cheapest ticket is like $ 300. So

663
00:30:48.500 --> 00:30:50.279
a family of four, that's.

664
00:30:50.099 --> 00:30:52.980
A lot of money. Well, listen, as a Ranger fan,

665
00:30:53.480 --> 00:30:57.680
they keep losing as last year. Those ticket prices will

666
00:30:58.190 --> 00:31:01.589
unfortunately will come down because I'm a Ranger fan. I

667
00:31:01.609 --> 00:31:02.329
want them to win.

668
00:31:02.769 --> 00:31:03.049
Right.

669
00:31:03.309 --> 00:31:05.670
No, you're right. In a secondary market, they were plummeting

670
00:31:05.690 --> 00:31:08.269
last year. Like literally hours before the game, you could

671
00:31:08.289 --> 00:31:10.579
get a ticket for 50 bucks because at that point,

672
00:31:10.599 --> 00:31:12.380
nobody wants to go and But so you have to

673
00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:13.940
play this game. And that's what I mean. People were

674
00:31:13.960 --> 00:31:15.789
playing this game. I was on all these Reddit posts

675
00:31:15.809 --> 00:31:18.069
where people were talking about tickets. It became a sport

676
00:31:18.309 --> 00:31:20.289
to go on there and watch ticket prices. It was

677
00:31:20.309 --> 00:31:22.450
like a stock. And it became kind of a joke.

678
00:31:22.769 --> 00:31:26.549
It became a big talking point, obviously, pre-World Cup, but

679
00:31:26.589 --> 00:31:28.829
also during the World Cup. And the idea that soccer

680
00:31:28.869 --> 00:31:31.710
is for everybody, I believe that. It's also not your

681
00:31:31.769 --> 00:31:33.250
right to go to a soccer game. It's not like

682
00:31:33.269 --> 00:31:35.730
in the Constitution that you have to, you know, life, liberty,

683
00:31:35.750 --> 00:31:37.390
and the pursuit of going to soccer games is not

684
00:31:37.430 --> 00:31:39.710
a thing. I get it. But at the same time,

685
00:31:39.750 --> 00:31:42.789
I wish they had done, FIFA had done more because

686
00:31:42.809 --> 00:31:45.650
I think to get kids to go to games, it

687
00:31:45.670 --> 00:31:48.170
helps build legacy. And if only people with money get

688
00:31:48.190 --> 00:31:50.650
to go to live sporting events and you lock everybody

689
00:31:50.690 --> 00:31:53.009
else out, that doesn't really help legacy. That just helps

690
00:31:53.190 --> 00:31:55.750
extremely wealthy people give them access to games. And I

691
00:31:55.799 --> 00:31:58.539
really think part of it too is the idea that

692
00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:00.900
people were going to these games and taking a selfie

693
00:32:00.920 --> 00:32:03.279
of themselves at the game or taking a picture of

694
00:32:03.299 --> 00:32:06.039
the flags on the field before the game started. They

695
00:32:06.119 --> 00:32:09.279
unfurled these large flags of both countries. People were posting

696
00:32:09.299 --> 00:32:11.700
those to social media. And that was a huge social

697
00:32:11.740 --> 00:32:14.380
media Instagram flex. It was like, hey, I'm at this game.

698
00:32:14.420 --> 00:32:18.259
And guess what? You're not. That's what Instagram was telling people.

699
00:32:18.319 --> 00:32:21.140
And so people were getting FOMO. And so they knew that.

700
00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:23.460
So ticket prices bothered me. I wish that that was

701
00:32:23.500 --> 00:32:25.640
not a thing. But having said that, it was a

702
00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:29.710
huge success. Games were full. I mean, I was thinking, oh,

703
00:32:29.730 --> 00:32:32.180
maybe there'll be empty seats. And that will send a

704
00:32:32.279 --> 00:32:35.559
signal to FIFA and to everybody else, better drop those prices.

705
00:32:35.759 --> 00:32:38.160
But it did not. People from all over the world came.

706
00:32:38.519 --> 00:32:40.619
The demand was high. It was a huge success, which

707
00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:42.980
I'm happy it was. But having said that, I wish,

708
00:32:43.160 --> 00:32:44.539
for example, you could have gone to a game. That

709
00:32:44.559 --> 00:32:46.549
would have been nice. Now, the alternative, I hope people

710
00:32:46.589 --> 00:32:49.250
did take advantage of this, was the fan fests because

711
00:32:49.630 --> 00:32:51.089
they were fun. I went to one in New Jersey.

712
00:32:51.529 --> 00:32:52.950
There were some in New York. They were in every

713
00:32:53.029 --> 00:32:54.269
host city. They were all over the country.

714
00:32:54.289 --> 00:32:54.609
I did.

715
00:32:54.630 --> 00:32:55.009
I did.

716
00:32:55.609 --> 00:32:59.359
I did attend the one in Philadelphia for one night,

717
00:32:59.799 --> 00:33:03.819
which was a really great experience and well done. Obviously,

718
00:33:03.859 --> 00:33:06.619
I'm not at the game, but the crowd was so

719
00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:09.880
big and there was a DJ. And when there was

720
00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:13.309
a goal scored, the crowd would erupt. The lights would

721
00:33:13.349 --> 00:33:18.099
go nuts around the big screen. Fireworks would go off it.

722
00:33:18.230 --> 00:33:20.990
And so it almost, while not being at the game,

723
00:33:21.029 --> 00:33:26.089
it had a similar feeling. Not exactly the same, obviously.

724
00:33:26.769 --> 00:33:29.599
I'm glad I went. I visited my nephew who lives

725
00:33:30.259 --> 00:33:34.299
in Philly. He's a fireman there. And he literally lived

726
00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:37.400
two blocks from where the Fan Fest was. So we walked.

727
00:33:37.539 --> 00:33:42.009
We literally walked. And actually, we went two days, one

728
00:33:42.049 --> 00:33:46.630
day longer than the other. But they did a great

729
00:33:46.670 --> 00:33:50.420
job with that. And people were great. were decked out

730
00:33:50.460 --> 00:33:54.420
in whatever countries they were rooting for. And there's this

731
00:33:54.619 --> 00:33:59.750
one big happy party. People were respectful. Even if you

732
00:33:59.809 --> 00:34:03.869
weren't rooting for the same country, people were respectful. It

733
00:34:03.910 --> 00:34:07.490
was just a celebration of the sport in general with

734
00:34:07.529 --> 00:34:10.940
people obviously rooting for who they were rooting for. And I,

735
00:34:11.510 --> 00:34:14.280
I really enjoyed it even more so than I thought

736
00:34:14.360 --> 00:34:17.320
I was Clemente. And I thought it was well done.

737
00:34:17.380 --> 00:34:21.550
And for, for not being able to go probably the next, uh,

738
00:34:21.610 --> 00:34:24.539
the next best thing for everyone who was at these

739
00:34:24.619 --> 00:34:27.860
fan fests. Right. So, uh, and they were, you know,

740
00:34:27.880 --> 00:34:30.300
at least the one in Philly, it was free, right.

741
00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:33.340
You didn't have to pay, uh, to get in. It was,

742
00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:35.570
while there was a lot of people there, there was

743
00:34:35.650 --> 00:34:38.289
plenty of room. It wasn't like you were, were tied

744
00:34:38.349 --> 00:34:40.110
in there. And I saw, I thought it was, it

745
00:34:40.150 --> 00:34:43.269
was well done. And, uh, something I would do again, uh,

746
00:34:44.010 --> 00:34:46.840
if it ever, you know, is, is the case. And, uh,

747
00:34:47.650 --> 00:34:52.110
I enjoyed watching the games, you know, in that setting.

748
00:34:52.150 --> 00:34:55.530
Let's talk about the final.

749
00:34:55.929 --> 00:34:56.289
Go ahead.

750
00:34:56.309 --> 00:34:56.630
Go ahead.

751
00:34:56.650 --> 00:34:58.960
No, I was going to say, you know, we may

752
00:34:58.980 --> 00:35:01.280
get that chance sooner than later. There's already rumors that

753
00:35:01.320 --> 00:35:04.579
maybe the U.S. will host the World Cup again in 2038.

754
00:35:04.579 --> 00:35:06.980
So it's quite possible that the World Cup will come

755
00:35:07.019 --> 00:35:09.610
back here, not with a 30-year gap, but a much

756
00:35:09.659 --> 00:35:11.510
smaller gap. Because like I said, the next World Cup

757
00:35:11.530 --> 00:35:14.289
is going to be basically hosted by six countries. Then

758
00:35:14.309 --> 00:35:16.250
the one in 34 is going to be Saudi Arabia.

759
00:35:16.820 --> 00:35:19.119
And the way FIFA works is a rotation. So it

760
00:35:19.139 --> 00:35:21.260
may come back to North America. So the U.S. is

761
00:35:21.480 --> 00:35:23.340
obviously in a position. And FIFA knows that they can

762
00:35:23.360 --> 00:35:25.500
make a lot of money here. So we could get

763
00:35:25.559 --> 00:35:27.699
this World Cup back a lot sooner than we think,

764
00:35:27.780 --> 00:35:28.719
maybe in 12 years.

765
00:35:28.739 --> 00:35:31.340
Well, maybe they'll do what the National does and want

766
00:35:31.360 --> 00:35:34.440
to hold it in Chicago every year. Maybe FIFA will

767
00:35:34.460 --> 00:35:36.699
just want it in the United States.

768
00:35:36.860 --> 00:35:39.599
If FIFA could hold it every year, they would totally

769
00:35:39.619 --> 00:35:44.320
hold it every year. Totally. It goes to the U.S., exactly.

770
00:35:45.559 --> 00:35:48.719
Obviously, I jest, but like you said, it might come

771
00:35:48.780 --> 00:35:52.110
back more than that 30-year gap the last time I

772
00:35:52.610 --> 00:35:56.269
was here, which would be good. As U.S., there's two

773
00:35:56.309 --> 00:35:59.650
guys that live here. It brings a lot of money

774
00:35:59.690 --> 00:36:04.269
into the economy, obviously, and it's good for attending and

775
00:36:04.309 --> 00:36:09.519
getting to see the tournament. I won't argue that.

776
00:36:11.489 --> 00:36:15.530
Time for our Hobby is the People announcer of the week.

777
00:36:17.869 --> 00:36:21.289
This is Zach Byrne, one of many hobbyists who returned

778
00:36:21.349 --> 00:36:24.750
during COVID. Thanks to John for steering me in the

779
00:36:24.829 --> 00:36:28.590
right direction. And remember, the hobby is the people.

780
00:36:29.489 --> 00:36:31.670
If you'd like to be the Hobby is the People

781
00:36:31.730 --> 00:36:35.210
announcer of the week, do a WAV or MP3 file

782
00:36:35.429 --> 00:36:39.130
and send it to sportscardnationpc at gmail.com.
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