Roundtable: Extremely Autumnal

James Bridget Gordon: Happy Monday, all.

How was your bye weekend?

Ruben Tisch: I got sick. I still have a cold.

Ruel Gutierrez Apostol: Was in the great state of Wisconsin or as T-Pain called it, Wiscansin

Ruben: Wiscantson

James Bridget: Dissconsin

Ruben: Illinois’ chef hat.

RJ: Was surrounded by all the lifelong Brewer fans that popped out of nowhere.

James Bridget: That sounds horrifying RJ

James Bridget: They have excellent cheese. There’s also this lovely cider distillery that I try to go to every fall. They let you walk around in the orchard and stuff. It’s autumnal af.

Ruben: Vermont Chedder > Wisconson Chedder

James Bridget: Ruben that is probably the most scorching take you’ve ever had in these roundtables. Which is fucking saying something.

RJ: I stumbled upon an apple farm. Picked some fresh apples. That was pretty autumnal for me.

James Bridget: Extremely autumnal. Well done on that, at least.

Ruben: Anybody watch any soccer this weekend?

RJ: Watched Canada vs Panama

James Bridget: I watched both CWC semifinals.

Ruben: I watched the Men’s Friendly and the first goal of the US Women.

James Bridget: The disparity is so stark. The MNT struggle against anyone halfway decent while the WNT are just this unstoppable juggernaut.

Ruben: I mean, sure. But I think that says more about the sexism in funding of national teams. The lack of competitivness in woman’s soccer in CONCACAF is sad and infuriating. These players deserve better.

James Bridget: Yup.

So what did you all think about Dax’s comments to the Trib? Ruben wrote about it on Friday but I want to get the rest of y’alls thoughts.

Adnan Bašić: Can’t fight a man who has nothing to lose. The Fire can’t punish him. Even if they trade him he’ll be more than happy to head away.

James Bridget: That was sort of my read too. It seems like Dax has gamed this out and realized the worst they can do is trade him in the offseason, which suits him just fine.

Do any of you think the club will try to “discipline” him? I feel like the smart thing would be to let it go, or maybe have a quick word in private to address whatever concerns they have, but this is also the Fire FO, so.

RJ: I think they might just have a word with him I private. I don’t think (or I think I’m just optimistic) he’s going to ask to be traded away.

James Bridget: I hope he stays, he’s been great for this team on the pitch and in the locker room. But, I’ve seen this movie before.

Adnan: I think them punishing him would only bring further attention to the situation so they don’t want that. I’d prefer for him to stay but maybe the Fire getting something for him at this age wouldn’t be too bad. Cause we still have center mid depth with Djordje, Bronico, and Adams.

James Bridget: That’s the thing though, so much of what the FO has done this year has made it clear that they don’t care about bad optics. They just do whatever they want.

So, I don’t know.

Anyway, we’re back next weekend, playing Atlanta in the second-to-last game of the season. I’m not feeling very optimistic here and I’d love to be convinced that the Fire have a chance.

Adnan: I’ve got no faith. Either 3 or 4 to nil. Might see a lot of backups as well.

The Fire are gonna lose u g l y

James Bridget: I’m not quite so pessimistic but... yeah. It’s gonna be bad. 2-0, at best.

Ruben: I predict 3-0 to Atlanta. Also, pain.