World Cup Review, 2022 Highlights, and Season 7 Post-Match Show

Phil: Welcome back to the How Soccer Explains Leadership podcast. I'm Phil Darke, your host got my co-host and brother in arms, Paul Jobson here with me. And we have our World Cup Review, post match, year end episode for you today. We're kind of covering all bases today. Don't worry, it's not gonna be a three and a half hour episode.

We are going to keep it to a manageable number of minutes for you. But hopefully they'll be packed with just goodness for you today with just lots of year end stuff, lots of World Cup. We had an amazing World Cup. It's not regular. Not normal. If you're not as big, you know, football, soccer, fan that we're gonna have a year end and World Cup review when it just finished.

So, but that's what we're doing now. That's what we're doing today. So, Paul, how you feeling? What, what, what are you thinking about right now, man, after a great game yesterday. . Well, I

[00:00:54] Paul: mean, I, I know I'm not the first to say it, but probably the best definitely the best World Cup [00:01:00] final I've ever watched.

Yeah. Maybe one of the Best World Cup matches, maybe even one of the best football matches I've ever watched. Mm-hmm. , it was just you know, I was telling somebody yesterday, you know, the, the sports world always does a great job of hyping big games. You know, you had the young Mbappe against the, you know, somewhat maybe his last World Cup, Messi, one of the greatest of all time to play.

They're fighting for the, you know, for the, the golden ball player of the, you know, player of the tournament, hyped it up and, and time after time. The hype always fails. I mean, it always fails. Mm-hmm. , something happens, you know, somebody gets hurt or it's a blowout or whatever. So you kinda go into this match going, okay, what's this really gonna be like?

And there's no doubt in my mind that game lived up to all the hype, you know? Mm-hmm. , I mean, Mbappe and France were somewhat irrelevant for most of that match. You know, Argentina was just crushing it. And then next thing you know, there's Mbappe and it, all of a sudden it's a game. So, you know, the hype was there.

It lived up to the hype. You [00:02:00] had people who were not even soccer fans raving over what an epic battle that, that soccer match was. And I think for some of those folks, it helped that there were, you know, for a soccer match, there were a lot of goals. , you know? Yeah. And it was a one, oh, you know, then, and then PKS and, and all of that.

So, yeah, I, I mean, I'm, I'm still, I mean, we're a couple days past it. I'm still in awe of, of what we experienced. We had a, a room full of about 20 people from one year olds up to 65 year old people just enjoying that match. So it was a few days after, still really reeling over what we

[00:02:32] Phil: witness. Yeah, yeah.

No, we, we had a similar deal. It was, it was kind of a lull there a little bit in the beginning of the second half, but then it just, it just started, the fireworks started going off and, and we thought it was gonna be the perfect storybook ending with messy scoring. The game-winning goal, winning the Golden Boot, golden Ball and World Cup, and a little elbow got in the way of that.

But, you know, but that made it what it was. And I, I actually had been talking to a lot of people about it [00:03:00] and I, I think that it almost is, is more poetic for Messi's career. That he's always been such a team player and not an individual look at me guy. To actually have it end with a shootout where they have the whole team, you know, not the whole team, but a good chunk of it.

It's not just him making a shot to win it, it's actually a team surrounding him. Cuz that's, that's what this sport is. It's not about one person. That's why, you know, the media, like you said, the hype. We also as the media, not we, but the media. Has to have that guy, right. You know, if it's Messi, Ronaldo or Kobe, LeBron or Michael Jordan, who's the goat?

Who's the best? And it's like it's a team sport. You know, any one of these players on their own is nothing. Yeah. They have to have that team around them and you know, and they're, yeah, individually they're incredible in what they do, but defenders are never in the, in the talk of who's the goat. Right. You know, on any, in any sport.

Yeah. So, you know, that's something that I, as a, as a purist and like, can we just stop with that, you know, but I get it. [00:04:00] I get it. But you know, but to see what they do is amazing and absolutely love watching. So we're gonna get into some of the more details. We're gonna talk about our picks and how good or bad they were.

Those of you who remember the preview show a few episodes ago, you know, the answer to that question. Best goal, best play. But before we get into that, this is also the post-match episode. And so we are finishing up season seven at the end of this year, 2022. And we had a few episodes. We had the World Cup Preview show, which I, we already mentioned briefly.

I also had Tim Ryerson on and Mike Buchanan and Paul McVeigh a couple weeks ago. And, and I'm just, I just know that I really enjoyed those conversations. I thought for very diff for different reasons on each of 'em. They were just, Great men doing great things. And, and also just hearing some, some of those stories and hearing the heart of those guys I just, I just really [00:05:00] enjoyed it.

Those, all three of those episodes, if you didn't listen to those, I, I strongly recommend you going back and listening to them. You know, whether it's Mike Buchanan, talk about how he's overcome injuries and how we can do that too, and how our kids can do that as well. You know, Paul McVeigh, which is his cool stories from when he played in the Premier League, but how, but more importantly than that, it's not just about cool stories, it's how he is using them today to help younger players and just their mindset.

And we've talked a lot about mindset on this show, so hear it from a player's perspective, who played at that highest level. and now he's doing something about it. I, I love that. And then Tim Ryerson with Get on the Bus but also just, you know, he's, he's fighting some personal stuff as well now and how he's using a lot of these lessons from the game to do that.

So check that out. What'd you, what'd you think just generally about the, the, the second half of this season?

[00:05:50] Paul: Yeah, there's a lot of wisdom in, in these in our guests. I think that's probably pretty consistent with all of our guests, but I mean, these are the most recent, they're freshest in our mind. And, and yeah, I mean, you hit, [00:06:00] you hit the hot buttons.

I mean, you got a guy like Tim Ryerson that's been in the game a long time and he's, you know, seen a lot and done a lot and helped a lot of people. And just a lot of what he's learned, he's now giving back, you know, and he's, he's sharing that information with, with players, coaches, parents. Clubs you know, helping them navigate things that he's, he's figured out and navigated.

So, I thought that was a really great, great conversation. And I, and I think the, the point you also hit of each of these guys for the most part, having different struggles and battles that they're fighting have fought through or, or are fighting through. I think sometimes we, we gloss over.

Struggles at times. But I think this, this se or this half of a season, I think we hit some, some really deep moments with people that I think a lot of our listeners that they didn't hear those episodes should go back and listen to. Cause I think there's a lot of you know, there's a lot of wisdom in, in the, in the thoughts and processes of how people are, are processing real life situations.

You know, whether it's tragedy or injury or, you know, those could be the same depending on how, how, how bad it is. But some really great [00:07:00] wisdom. And, and of course with, with Paul McVeigh, just his his playing experience and how he, he transitioned from, you know, this year has been a transition thing for, for me.

So getting to the end of this year and kind of ending with a, someone with a transitional moment from player to sports psychologist which seems like a big transition, but when you hear him talk about it, it seems very natural. , you know, so a lot of wisdom and that. Probably an interview that we could probably go back and do all of these.

We could do longer interviews for sure, but I think with Paul, I think there's a lot there that we could probably go back in and dive a little bit deeper into with him as well. So, really I got a lot out of this half the season and really enjoyed, really enjoyed our guests.

[00:07:36] Phil: Yeah. Yeah. I hope we can't go back and, and dig deeper into, into that conversation we had with Paul, especially not the other two.

We could, we could go on and on and on, but I know that that was also a shorter interview Yeah. Than we normally do. And it was for various reasons we had to do that. But, but I just, I read it, I read, you know, through his book as well, and even just reading through that, check out that book. I mean, the [00:08:00] stupid football footballer is dead.

If for no other reason for the title. I love the title. And unfortunately, I don't think the stupid footballer is dead. But but I, I do, there's, so there's a lot of really, I mean, great stories. Each chapter takes a specific player. Most of those players, you know, even though they're all a decade or so, you know, it was a, it was, I think released in 2012.

So, you know, they're, they're ways back. But I, you know, remember these players and some of the stuff they did and, and talking about what we talked about on that. But also, you know, for our young players, you have dreams of playing in pro. He goes through a really good list of the pros and the cons of, of playing at those levels.

And some of the things you, you think about and other things you don't necessarily think about, you know, of the, you know, he talked about leaving home, but you also talk about, you know, like you're, you're sacrificing relationships and friendships and, and you can't build into those cuz it's a year round deal.

You know, you're, you're gone and, and you know, as he said, you're dispensable. All those things that are, that are life lessons that. , [00:09:00] you know, we typically don't learn, learn at the lower levels. You might learn some of those, but typically the people who are going in that, in that pool to play pro have always been the best.

They've always started, they've always been on this, on the, you know, the different fields playing most of the games. And so to have, you know, they don't care about you when you're washed up. Right? Like it's, it's done. It's over. And that's, that's hard to, hard to deal with. And so to hear it from him, how he, how he's done, we have a couple other guests talk about that too.

But, but yeah, loved, loved all those episodes so one of those episodes too was the World Cup Preview show. And I know Paul, you wrote down all of our picks and, you know, I, I filled out all the answers at home and I, I did put, I did post that yesterday and I, I, I know that you responded to me at least saying that that's exactly what you picked, but I knew that was just a flat out lie.

Um, And I'm sure that my, our, our, our viewers would remember back as well. [00:10:00] But if I remember correctly, I know I missed, and I think you did too. Oh, no, you picked one of 'em. You picked Croatia to go through, but I, I picked Canada and Belgium to go through. I, so I had an entire group that I just missed both of 'em. I mean, you'd think you'd, at least you could throw darts and get better on that one, but but you know, I, I, what, what'd you think just generally? I mean, we talked a little bit about it, we touched on it, but, you know, going into this World Cup, obviously a lot of controversy, a lot of, you know, corruption to bring it to Qatar, a lot of the migrant worker issues, a lot of the other things.

And unfortunately, there was a tragedy with the, you know, Grant Wahl and, but that seems to be even cleared of any wrongdoing or anything at this point as far as what we know. But with all of that what'd you think about the. Playing on the pitch that all of that stuff, you know, but not the time of year, all of the middle of the season, all of the problems, all the issues that we could focus on.

And [00:11:00] we did focus on some of that in the first, the first in the preview. But I want to wash that aside and say we had, in my opinion, you talked about the final game. I would say one of, you know, the best World Cups I can remember as far as the drama, as far as the upsets, as far as the, the, the just amazing play on the field.

And that may be one of the good things about doing it in December is that a lot of these players are in form, but I don't know. What'd you think?

[00:11:26] Paul: Yeah, I agree. I mean, it was, it was, you know, probably one of the best cups, you know, I've seen in a long time. I think there were some some great upsets.

I think I had said it maybe on one of the podcasts we did, but the fact that you're not able to fully predict the teams that are going through, I think makes it a great World Cup. Yeah. You know, you've got teams that are rising to the occasion. You got teams that are kind of falling off maybe when they shouldn't.

I mean, look at how Argentina started the World Cup. It was a loss to Saudi Arabia, to one loss to Saudi Arabia. And of course, as we do, we're like, oh, well Argentina's done. You know, I mean, hey, that's where we all went to. Right? And they'd go on [00:12:00] to, you know, find their form. And I think that was a great story within itself of, of just that team and that the pressure that I'm sure they all felt to lift the trophy, trophy with Messi and, you know, really stumbled a bit at the beginning.

But then, you know, some of the other teams that surprised us as well, as well, that went through were, you know, Morocco, the story of Morocco. I mean the kind of the, the hero I think the hero of the cup. And I thought they, you know, , I thought they did what they needed to do to win games. I was really impressed with their fight.

And you know, so I, I love a world, world Cup where you get to learn you know, about new countries, about new players, about, you know, there's, you know, not new history, but you're learning history of teams maybe you wouldn't have known about and, and not just having the regular customers day in and day out.

So I was, I was really blown away by the World Cup this year. And yeah, I mean, every, every major tournament's gonna have its controversies and its issues, but once we get past all that, I think that the game itself and, and what it was, what it's meant to do I thought brought the world together in a [00:13:00] lot of different ways.

Which is what I think it's some of its greatness is. And we saw a lot of news stories rise to the top and a lot of legends walk off with trophies.

[00:13:08] Phil: Yeah, absolutely. No, I, I think it, it was, it was a storybook ending. It was what they wanted. We got our ar, you know, an Argentina, France final, which a lot of people were wanting from the beginning.

You know, and I thought it was, it was a, a ver yeah, I mean, it was a great, incredible dramatic game that had everything in it. You know, controversial penalties that you're still gonna hear people arguing about till the end of whatever, not calling a couple penalties, different things happening. You know, at the end of the day it was, it was just amazing.

And I think the right team won the game yesterday, at least. They, they outplayed France and, but that, I mean, England, outplayed France too, I thought mm-hmm. , that that didn't go the the right way for, because they missed, you know, the second pen, whatever, you know, all these different things. That was an interesting thing too, even seeing Mbappe step [00:14:00] up for a second penalty and thinking of Harry Kane and, and how Oh, was his second, he said in our house.

Yeah. I mean, who wasn't thinking that? Right. I think if you watched, you know, you're just like the same guy stepping up and I, I was like, why did they have the same guy step up? And then Mbappe says, you know what, I'm gonna put it in the same place all three times and hey, come and save me. Right. Like, good luck.

Yeah. I'm gonna, and that's the good lesson for I think our youngsters too, is pick your spot and hit it there. Don't overthink it. Yeah. Just, you know, and could, could Martinez have saved one or two of 'em? Yeah. But he didn't because it was hard. He hit it hard, right. Yeah. And and how about me's PK in the, in the shootout?

It was like, are you kidding me? Like, he hit that about a mile an hour and it just, I wasn't

[00:14:40] Paul: sure it was gonna go over the line. I know. I wasn't sure it was gonna, I'm not sure It met the back of the

[00:14:44] Phil: net even dude. And, and you know, Lloris is just still gonna have nightmares about those pks cuz he probably could have saved, I mean, he definitely could have saved the first two and he probably could have saved all four of 'em.

Yeah. But you know, he, he didn't save any of them. And then Martinez makes two just clutch or the one [00:15:00] clutch and then this, and it was, So, so just dramatic, obviously, you know, and people are like, oh, it was fixed for Messi. It's like, you guys have no clue about the game. If you're saying that can't fix, it's like you can't fix, you cannot make that crap up the Netherlands game in the hundred, a hundred and minute, whatever, a hundred minute going 10 minutes of extra time and scoring with that direct kick with the Netherlands game.

I mean, that was unbelievable. Yeah. And then having the Argentina just pounding the goal for five of that extra time and just couldn't put it away hitting post hitting this, and I mean, it was just so amazing seeing Brazil and how they were just that South Korea game. You thought, man, this is just unfair.

They're men among boys out here. And then have a Croatia team just do what Croatia does and squeak out a win. You know, nobody was picking him for. Right. And And they just did it. They just kept doing it. And to see that's another guy that just always has flown under the radar. Yeah, he got the[00:16:00] Golden Ball in the 2018.

But I still think Luka Modric is, you know, he's always going to be one of the best just teammates team play like a guy who is a leader that I think we're gonna be looking back at him over time and he will, he will stand the test of time as one of those players. That was just, I mean, he just does what he, he just wins with team and he helps teams win.

Look at him at Real Madrid. But he never has sought or been in really the spotlight. Even when he won the Golden Ball, he wasn't in, no one was, no one talks about it. It's just like, oh yeah, Modric. I mean, they do, but you know what I'm saying? The people who know talk about him, but even then, it's a short conversation.

Cuz he's so unassuming, he never seeks it. Neither does Messi, but Messi, you know? Messi's just Messi. So, but I think if Modric plays at a different time, I think he's one of those guys a lot more people are, are talking about, but he didn't score a, you know, he doesn't score a ton. So people are like, mm-hmm.

Well he is, he can't be a great player if you don't score a lot,

[00:16:56] Paul: . Yeah. But you look at those, you look at those teams. Yeah. You look at those teams though that, that [00:17:00] either are full of superstars or they just have. Have, there's one or two players that can really put him over the top. And I think that's Modric with his team.

I mean, Croatia's a good team. Yeah. But he, he, I think you take him out of that, you take him out of that team and I, I don't know that they're having the success that they have. You know, it'll be interesting to see how they do moving forward. I'm sure they've got some good young players and, you know, I'm not discounting them as a whole, but I think, you know, they are you know, because of Modric, they're, they're obviously better than they would be without, because he really holds that team together.

He is not, he's not seeking Spotlight. He is seeking, you know, team first and, and, and whatnot. So I'll be interested to see how that, how they play out moving forward. But he definitely is one of my, one of my favorite players and was in the, the last World Cup as well. He is very unassuming and yeah, doesn't demand the spotlight.

And probably would just rather not have any of it from what I can tell. He,

[00:17:49] Phil: he kinda reminds me of a young Paul Jobson. Oh, totally. Yeah, totally. Yeah. Yeah. I could see with that hair You could pull it off. I could, I could, I could do it. Yeah. [00:18:00] I think you should try that. Do it. Marci would

[00:18:02] Paul: appreciate that.

Maybe that'll be a goal for 2 20, 23, you know? Yeah, okay.

[00:18:06] Phil: Yeah. Okay. I like it. I like it. Yeah. Yeah, so I, I think that it's, it's been, it's been fun. It's been a good one. So with that, let's go to a few of the, just to kind of from your perspective, from your opinion, what was the best goal of the tournament and why?

You know,

[00:18:24] Paul: maybe this isn't fair, because this maybe just really fresh on my mind, but I think in MBA's goal in the final, the, the, the, the volley mm-hmm. , I mean, that was just like mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . Where did that come from? I mean, that's, it's a world-class goal from a world-class player. Yeah. Uh, In, in in a moment, , you have to make a play like that.

And I, I just think it kind of all came together of, you know, and there were some other goals like that too. There was one that Brazil had that was kind of similar, and it's a great goal, but I think the, the magnitude of that goal, how it was scored, yeah. The, the really, the impossibility of that, you know, it takes [00:19:00] that kind of player to score that kind of goal in that kind of moment.

So for me, that was probably one of my, one of my topic probably. It's probably the most fresh on my mind too. But for me, that was probably the best, the best, the best goal that I, that I, that

[00:19:13] Phil: I had. . Yeah. Yeah. And I, I mean, I, I go back and I said it when, when he hit it, and I, I agree. I actually, that the couple of the goals yesterday in the Messi in the, in the hundred and whatever, fourth hundred, fifth minute was another one.

Just, yeah, it wasn't such a, it was just, you know, they rise to the ti the ti and it was a, a scrappy goal, but the Richarlson goal at the beginning, I posted right when it happened. If, if there's a better goal in this tournament, I can't wait to see it. And I would say the ones, yes, a couple of those yesterday came really close.

But that goal was just when you're fan, to see him hit it pure on the laces after he pops it up. Now, unfortunately, he did come and say afterwards it was a bad touch that popped it up like that. But it looked like he just did that. And, but [00:20:00] even adjusting the body, moving it, doing everything that he did to do that scissor, kick your

[00:20:05] Paul: upper corner, it's, it's harder.

It's harder if you misto touch it to hit ball. That's true. Like that. Cause if you, that's true. If you do it on purpose, you've planned it, it pops up. It's exactly where you want it and you hit it. But if it's a bad touch, then

[00:20:17] Phil: you have to adjust Adjustment on

[00:20:18] Paul: thes True. On the fly. Yeah. To hit that. So I, I'm gonna go back and say, hey, it makes it even better that you's true.

Took a bad touch and made it a world-class

[00:20:25] Phil: goal. That's right. That's right. Even better. Even better. Yeah. But from the standpoint of telling my son, see that was amazing. Cause that's what you gotta do, . But but that's, that's the thing too, is a lot of you, you can't, that's what I tell my kids all the time.

Like, hit the ball. Hit the shot. If you have a shot, take it. If you miss it nine times outta 10, you make it the once. That is a one in a million goal there that we saw with Richarlson. Yeah. Right. Like he hits that same touch at that moment. To hit it that pure, not hit [00:21:00] a player, not have a defender come into it, not get knocked off your balance, not have someone cl I mean, the fact that he had that much time was, you know, whatever.

But yeah, it was unbeliev, no one expected it because it was, you know, they were probably just defending, waiting for the, so that was, that was my top goal of the tournament. And now we're gonna go to the best play, which is different in that it includes more than just a goal. So, and I thought the goal, the one yesterday, I'll do this first and the one yesterday, I thought there were a couple of 'em.

But there's, there's two that tied for first for me. One was Messi's, no look passed through three guys. Two, I forget who he was even to, cuz it doesn't even matter. He put the ball on a dime through three people not even looking and you watch through the play and it's like, when did he even see the runner?

Yeah. Yeah. That's the thing about Messi that you, you watch and you're like, this dude has eyes on the side and back of his head, I swear. Cuz he's constantly, and that's what [00:22:00] Guardiola said in the special with Messi was he's always scanning the field. He's always looking you, he knows where everyone is and he knows where they're going because that's what he does and that's what makes him so special.

And that's what I also, I've been talking with people about the difference between Messi and Ronaldo is Messi has never relied on speed, strength, you know, just insane moves. All this other stuff he's relied on just being really smart and smart gets better with age. Whereas the other stuff tapers off with age and, and he's, you know, it's, I'm not, yeah.

Anyway, so that was one. The second, and I'll go, it was another, Brazil goal, it was another Richarlson goal. It was the one, you know, the three headers or I think he did four headers in a row, boom. Passed it overlap and didn't take the ball. The second pass went through and then popped it. I mean it was just, that was just your brilliance and beauty.

That's why it's called the Beautiful Game. And that's why the Brazilians and their play coin that term cuz they do stuff like that that just make it look so stink and [00:23:00] easy. There were a few other goals that those, just those four goals, I think in the first half of that South Korea game. The, the pass, you remember that pass where the, I forget who it was, I think it was Venices Jr.

But it was one of 'em was coming down the left and he likes, there's a whole mass of people in the middle and he just dinks a pass over everybody Volley corner. And you're like, that's so hard to do, . And he made it look like it was this. easy, whatever, just a Sunday morning league that we're just gonna play.

That's what it felt like. Anyway, how about you? Yeah.

[00:23:33] Paul: I, there, there are so many times in this World Cup that I'm watching, obviously like, like who you're watching with your kids and you're just like, how did that, how did they do that? You know? And it was a, it was multiple teams. There were a lot of different teams.

Mm-hmm. , but especially, you know, Brazil, Argentina, and, I mean, Argentina in the first half of the France game, you're just like, oh, oh my gosh. Like, how are they, yeah. How are they doing this, you know? Right. But the one play that has stood out to me through this cup was, I think, I think it [00:24:00] was in the cro, the Argentina, Croatia game.

And I think it was Alvarez. Alvarez had two goals in that game. And he had a, he had a standout game in, in, in that, in that match. But I, I think it was Alvarez against Croatia where he got the ball from, I think messy, just over midfield, I think, and dribbled, I think 40 something yards and scored. I'm like that.

Okay. You don't see that at the international level. You don't see somebody have the. The confidence to take the ball like that and just drive it the goal and get one-on-one with a keeper and score. You just mm-hmm. you don't see that. But his ability to hang onto the ball, three or four different pla past three or four different players to never lose his cool to just, and he's going as fast as he can.

I mean, he is, he is, he is driving at that goal as fast as he can to keeping control of the ball with people diving at him, and he is able to tuck it away. I, I thought to me that was just a one of the few times you just saw individual greatness from a player that wasn't Messi. Mm-hmm. Or, or wasn't in Mbappe.

It was just, I mean, [00:25:00] yes, Alvarez is a great player. He proved that in this cup, but it's like, okay, who was that? Right? Oh my gosh, that was Alvarez. That was amazing. And I think even, so that one stands out to me for sure, and then the final. Some of those goals you know, a couple of Argentina goals, you know, where they're knocking around, you find the, the, the open player on the back post, you know, things like that.

It just, some of those, you're just like, man, how, how do they see all that? But that, that one, I think it was Alvarez yeah, it was against Croatia. I thought that was just, like, that one just keeps coming up in my mind is like, okay, that's, you just don't see that at that level. You don't see that. And I

[00:25:33] Phil: thought that was pretty impressive.

Yeah. And the other thing about that goal, I mean, first of all, They had, you know, the defenders like, how none of them touched it away. Like you said, he was going full speed, they like nicked it and it hit off his foot just right and then it nicked, it hit off his chest, didn't hit his hand, didn't hit his arm.

I mean, all those things that you watched, the perfect storm happened in that goal. Cuz normally you'd see that ball hit off his arm rather than his chest or something. Cuz he didn't, it didn't hit him. It wasn't like a, you know, [00:26:00] it, it hit him. And it wasn't like the Son goal where he dribbled through everyone a few years ago for Tottenham, um mm-hmm.

because that one, he kept it on his foot and this one was like all over the place. And you're like, how does he, going back to that body control, as you said, when it's harder, when it's not intended. So those balls were hitting off all different people. But the other thing about it was that, What was, I think a lot of people don't realize that how hard it is.

And I, I give a ton of credit to the referee in that, in that play too. Mm-hmm. , because Messi got destroyed after his pass. Yeah. At least looked at, looked like. I mean, he got hit for sure and he, I dunno if he mailed a mail out of it or he got destroyed cuz no one cares about that anymore. But the referee didn't call it no.

To not call that and keep advantage when the guy had three defenders between him and the goal and the other guys were trailing a little bit. One guy was ahead, but the other guy was trailing. And then the def, the arg, I know people have talked about this a lot, the Argentina dude on the right, cutting in and taking a defender, just that slight second, so that mm-hmm.

Alvarez could keep going. That, that's why it was a play, not just one [00:27:00] dude doing something. Messi got the touch to Alvarez, the referee didn't call it, you know, a lot of stuff has to happen in. For him to be able to have that run and make that incredible goal. So that, that Yeah, I totally agree. That was,

[00:27:13] Paul: that was, and let's, let's, let's make sure, you know, we talked a lot about these attacking players and you even mentioned defensive players don't really get a lot of credit.

Yeah. I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go to, to Argentina's goalkeeper Martinez with the save that he made to save Unreal. To save the game. Yes. That, I think because of how great it was for Messi in Argentina, that play has almost been forgotten. Yeah. And it's so sad because that, that he doesn't do that.

We're, we're having a different conversation today. I mean, that saved Oh yeah. That saved the game and he didn't have to really do a whole lot the entire game. But that you know, really, really created the opportunity for, for them to continue on to be able to, to hoist the trophy. So I don't wanna, right.

I don't wanna, I wanna make sure I don't overlook how huge that play was for Argentina and the World Cup.

[00:27:58] Phil: Yeah. Good job on that. Cuz you [00:28:00] know that also, Almost re resulted in a counter that could have won the game. I mean, it did result the counter. And if he hits that header on frame, it does that. Could you imagine that finish?

Oh, pat save. I mean, whatever. But again, I'm, I'm glad how it ended. I hate, I hate that it was a shootout, but I, I do like the fact that it was team, but I think that that saved it. Two things. One, it saved the game. Yes. But it also, as a keeper, I know, gave him the momentum going into the pks and got in France's head too, like, he's on, we better put this right in the corner, or we're hosed.

You know? And by the way, he saved Van Dijk, you know, to kick off the other one. Mm-hmm. . And, but Mbappe still steps up and, you know, drains his third PK of the game and that first pk like, so that he, you know, he. He overcame a lot. A lot of people just crump crumble in the hype and that dude is a hat trick.

And again, yeah, two of them are pks and people will Yeah. But to make two PKs in the game, we know it is hard. It's hard. We talked about that. It's hard. So it's hard. Anyway, alright, well, you know, I know we could do three shows on the World Cup, but we're [00:29:00] not going to, and I do wanna say, cuz I have, I, you know, the first preview show got criticized by a, a friend of ours.

He is not a friend, but I don't know him, I'm not saying he might be a friend at some point in our life, but I don't know who this is, but friend in, in Tunisia who had it, who was upset about the first, the preview show because it didn't go into detail. We, that was on purpose. We didn't go into super detail cause it would've been four and a half hours.

You know, I can talk for sure. Yeah. And Paul has so much wisdom. He could have gone on and on about it and we would've been even more wrong if we would've gone on a lot more. So I'm glad we didn't. This is also not a comprehensive World Cup review. It is something that we are doing that and I'm glad we did.

It was fun. That was fun. Alright, so now we have, we're we're, we're going into our year end review portion of this episode, and we're gonna do our top three episodes from 2022, which is so ridiculously hard, by the way. This is like the most unfair thing to do to us. But I'm gonna start with you because then I can piggyback on your three and then do three other ones.

[00:30:00] And so, what do you got? Okay,

[00:30:02] Paul: so what's crazy is, is I, I was, I was, I was trying to do it from memory, which I don't have the best memory to begin with. So I started flipping through and I went back to the beginning. I'm like, oh my gosh, yes. Like, are you kidding me? Like, I know some amazing, amazing episodes, but the ones that stood out to me the most is I kind of did a personal review David Ricca, for sure. If you, if you're just tuning into what we're doing and you've not heard that episode, go back. I'll just throw this out there. He is a nine 11 survivor in the, in one of the towers. If that doesn't hook you, nothing else will just listen. He is an amazing human being and what he's doing now Dan Abraham's is just, I mean, we've talked about him a ton.

He's just full of wisdom. He, he thinks he's dumbing things down for everybody, , but he's still so much more intelligent than all of us . But he's got so much, and, and then it was, I'm gonna give four actually, because there's a tie for the other two. And they're not necessarily, or, but Brad Miller, you know, what they're doing with [00:31:00] their organization is, is phenomenal.

I always love talking to those guys. And then Jorge Vallejo, I thought that was just a really you know, Hits me. It kind of goes along with a lot of what we do with Warrior Way Gives. And so, I threw Jorge's interview in there as well, but really hard cuz there were some just really, really amazing interviews over this last year.

So those are my three that turned

[00:31:20] Phil: into four. Phil. I like it. I like it cuz you set the precedent to have a tie for fourth or for first, cuz it's not necessarily in that order. So, my top three might be four, depending. Actually those, you know, two of those three were on my short list. I'm not gonna say, or two of those.

Four were on my short. I'm gonna say which ones were not. They're all amazing episodes. I love that. Actually, just, just use the, the Vallejo episode as one of our year end emails for Providence World, because I thought it was such a good display of why we do what we do, and to be able to highlight people like Jorge who might not otherwise be out there and, and, you [00:32:00] know, on our, on our radar to be able to, to meet him.

And, and I, I do wanna shout out, we're gonna get him on the show in 2023, but I wanna shout out Shaun Smithson for giving me several of these recommendations of these interviews. We wouldn't have had these men and women that we had on without, without Shaun. So thank you, Shaun. He's, he's working with FCA, one of the, one of the national guys with FCA Fellowship of Christian Athletes, if you're not aware of them, so, so check that out.

 so my, my three in no particular order Daniel O'Neill. I, I just love the conversation I was able to have with him about just the, the physical revolution, the physical identity, the PE revolution, the physical identity that we need to bring back for our kids. I think it's so important, and a lot of us forget that that's an issue if we have elite athletes in our homes.

And we have children who are playing soccer or other sports all the time. We forget that we have a epidemic in our, in our country. And it's, you know, it's starting to get to other places where kids just aren't active [00:33:00] anymore and it's causing many, many problems. So, to, to hear that from a, a guy who knows what he's talking about, not just me like complaining about it Was, was really, really good.

So, you know, if that, that's something that I think we should give that episode. You know, he's talked on some other podcasts too, so I'm not saying just this, he has a few books out there too. But get that in front of your pe teachers, get that in front of your other teachers and people who have, have something to do with how schools are run.

Cuz one of the things he talked about was, you know, have 10 minutes, 15 minutes of activity before every school day. It'll get the kids' brains going. You know, some of the other conversations we had with people over this, over the course of the year talked about, you know, gut brain connection and other brain getting brain going.

And if we don't do that, we're gonna, we're gonna miss out on a lot. So, notice I didn't say the name of the person with Gut-Brain Connection cause that would've been another episode that I would have in my top four. So I did not do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was end around. You know, he is a part of our family and I just cannot get over the fun we had with Horst Richardson.

[00:34:00] I knew that would be one

[00:34:00] Paul: of yours. I knew that'd be one of yours.

[00:34:02] Phil: It was a good one. And just the 50 years of stories that we had on that. Just, just fun. I mean, hey, by the way, I did

[00:34:08] Paul: get my book. I don't know if listeners know that Horst actually did send me a copy of the book. Of course he did. Of course he did.

He was true to his word, which I did not doubt. But I just, yeah. Our listeners are probably wondering, Hey, did he actually send Paul a book? He

[00:34:20] Phil: absolutely did. So I'm sure he did right when you sent that text. So, yeah. And he, you know, to hear you almost lose a dude in China and like, how many coaches can almost lose a dude in China and laugh of, you know, like, and now you can laugh about it, but he was probably like, all right, it'll be fine.

Heck got no horse. Well, he, he'll be, he'll, he'll be here, you know? So go back and listen to that episode. I'm just gonna tease it. I'm not gonna tell you what happened. Yeah. There. And then I, I got my tie here too. George Blamoh guy doing some really cool stuff in Liberia, and he, it's just like-minded.

I feel like we're kindred spirits because he's got his book on, you know, all the different life lessons from the game that he actually teaches in his soccer [00:35:00] practices with these young men and women over in Liberia and just, you know, you guys, a lot of people, if you haven't traveled the world, like you don't understand how critical this is in these countries around the world to have people teaching about life through the game because these kids are playing, they go out, that's all they do a lot of the times, and a lot of them, most of them don't have dad.

They don't have intact families at home. Their moms are working their tails off. Their moms often have multiple, you know, lots of kids and they're just trying to figure it out. A lot of these kids are in orphanages. And, if you don't have men like, and women as well, but I'm just, in this case, men like George Blamoh, they're doing stuff like he's doing.

They have no chance. Yeah. And, and so that just really, I love that conversation and to see how God's used him to now like be an ambassador to the UN and like doing all these cool stuff because of [00:36:00] his, you know, because of what he did on the field. Like, you look at it and everyone's like, oh, national team Liberia, who cares?

They never make the World Cup. Well, a lot of kids care. Yeah. Because, because of that platform, he's able to do what he does. So that, that was super cool. Love that. And then, you know, my, my fourth. . And again, if, if you notice the way Paul and I are are driven, I'm driven by fun, right? So that's my driver as a high I personality.

I'm driven by fun. And one of my most fun conversations, you know what I'm gonna say here. Do you know what episode? Like the most fun the Horst was gonna be your most fun episode. That was fun. But think you know, you, you'll, it'll, you'll, you'll know when I, when I say it, think about one of the most fun guys that we've had on all year.

And he happens to share a name with me. . So, gotcha. Phil Smith. You know, and I, I, what's been really fun is behind the scenes I've been getting texts from Phil from Qatar, cuz I feel like I have, it's almost like a Saturday Night Live. Remember those old ones with [00:37:00] what was Al Franken when he'd be like, have the camera on his head?

I think it was out Franken. He had the camera on his head and he was like, reporting from, from Iraq or whatever, like the war zone. And he'd have bombs going up behind him. He would go to Sta. I felt like that's what was going on. I'm getting I don't wanna get him in trouble, but he, you know, he is taking videos as he's driving down the Qatari Highway and all the, he was live from Qatar and, and

That's funny. He was at the games. I think he, he was at the final. He's like, what'd you think of the pk? He says, well, I don't know. I didn't have a good angle. You know, I'm like, oh, the problems of watching it live . But totally. , but just the stories he has and just, I mean, a life that is just crazy and how he is so light about it and fun and he just takes it as it is, as I always say, kind of follow the breadcrumbs that, that God puts down for me in life.

And I feel like that's what Phil's been doing and that's why, you know, we call that take the meeting of that episode because he, that's basically his story.

[00:37:52] Paul: I think we've mentioned this before with, with Phil. I love, I love that interview as well, but we've talked about getting him on again. Yeah. Like, I just think he's somebody [00:38:00]that should almost be a, you know, a regular, if not once a year, a couple times a year just to see what do, what, Hey, what are you doing?

Where

[00:38:07] Phil: are we? What you totally, what are you doing?

[00:38:10] Paul: Totally. Let's, right, let's, you know, catch up, catch up with Phil, you know, see what's going on in his world. You know, he'd,

[00:38:16] Phil: it'd be. Yeah, he'd before it, for sure. And I mean, the funny thing about that interview was, I mean, there's so many funny things about that interview.

So if you have it, let's do go back. You'll just have a good laugh for sure. Yeah. Like, he's just such a amazing, fun dude. But before that episode even, he says, oh, by the way, did I tell you? I just got all gl, you know, European and Middle East rights to, to Nerf, you know, and I. What? No, you didn't tell me that, but of course you did, because why not?

You know? And he's like, oh yeah, I got this place in Manchester we're building, it's gonna be like the, the, the Nerf experience where, and he shows me all the plans that, and that happened like in the couple months before we had, you know, I'm like my gosh. But yeah, that, that was like a little [00:39:00] like, oh yeah, by the way, did I tell you?

That's, you know, whatever. That's, that's Phil Smith in a, in a nutshell. So that's super fun. Good. Those are my, you know, and there's so many more, and I, you know, oh gosh. That we had, and I do wanna say I did have one, and I don't wanna, I, it's, it's, it is part of my, it was part of my shortlist. I do wanna say cuz we un you know, for no other reason other than just, those are the numbers we have, but we didn't have it a female on this list.

So I'm gonna make sure that I did mention Cara Bradley indirectly, but also Cheryl McCormick. That was the first interview of the year. Mm-hmm And I really enjoyed that. She Cheryl's doing a lot of really great things really enjoyed that conversation we had with Cheryl. So that definitely made my shortlist as well.

And yeah, and actually we're gonna kick off. We kicked off 2022 with a amazing woman and we're gonna kick off 2023 with an amazing, one way we've interviewed that had that interview already too. So I will tease season eight kickoff with that. 23

[00:39:52] Paul: is already shaping up to be another great year.

[00:39:54] Phil: No doubt. Yes, no doubt. It will. No doubt it will. So, Now we're gonna finish off with a couple things. The [00:40:00] first is what, one or two recommendations? Like recommendations from 2022 book you read, something you watched that just sticks out. And I know it's so hard cuz there's so much that you've consumed over the year, but what what, what, what do you got?

Yeah, it's been

[00:40:15] Paul: a, it's been a long a long year. I don't mean that in a bad way. Yeah. It's just been, we're at the end of 12 months and, and I think that the, there, there's a couple books that have stood out. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry is one that we read earlier in the year that really kind of set the tone for mm-hmm.

Kind of what our year looked like. Ending of last year into this year. I would say. Maybe I read that last year. I don't even know now. Yeah. But another book, I'm, I'm, I'm reading right now, it's called Range by David Epstein. Mm-hmm. . And it, you know, we talk a lot about specialization. You know, in sport David Epstein in this book kind of goes through the pros and con, I won't say pros and cons even, but he talks about specialization.

He talks about guys like Tiger Woods, and he talks about, you know, other guys that have, you know, done multiple sports. He talks about Vincent Van Gogh. He talks about like, [00:41:00] it's just a really, really great read as it as it pertains to how people find their interests or how people find the things that, that God has really blessed them with in their lives.

And a lot of it's not specialization and, and tap tapping into it at four years old, but it's, you know, going through things to learn what it is that your strengths and weaknesses are in life. So anyway, I'm not all way through the book yet, but I, I'm, I'm reading it now. I'd put it away for a while.

Picked it back up. When I was in Spain, I, I picked it back up and started reading it again, but range by David Epstein is kind where I am right now, but Ruthless Elimination a Hurry was a really, really great one. and I'm gonna give a recommendation on a marriage devotional by the Lusko. Hmm.

The Lusko's have a great marriage devotional out right now that Marcy and I are going through. That has just been, been really, really good as well. So that's kind of out in left field a little bit, but we talked a lot about marriage. Yeah. So I wanna throw that out there. That's one. We are getting some good stuff out of Jenny and Levi Lusko.

Lusko. So that's me, man. That's, that's, that's what I'm throwing off into [00:42:00] launching into 23

[00:42:01] Phil: with. Well, and that's a good, good Kind of microcosm of, of you and your life. You got, you know, some, you're really busy. You're pouring it into your marriage and you, you know, you got just really pouring into, to bringing wisdom into how you can do all those things really well, which is what we wanna do here on this show.

Right. So, I love it. I love it. Love the recommendations. I'm gonna go, I'm just gonna stick to the people out there since you did some books and people have reading enough for the next few months. Well, you know, since people don't read as much, if you do audio, you know, you can pour through books like, like I'm able to, when I'm walking or going to the store or whatever.

I've been reading, like I said, I've been reading a lot of fiction this year for whatever reason, I'm just, I'm just, you know, so busy that I'm like, I'm just. learn how to do storytelling better by listening to a lot of fiction. but I'm not gonna talk about books right now. I will say, although, you know, we, we mentioned the stupid footballers dead.

I don't just say that by the way. Like, I read a lot of books of different guests that I've done over the years, and like that book was really, really [00:43:00] good for people who like this show, like really, really good. Mike Buchanan's book also is really, really good. And Daniel O'Neill's book is really, really good.

They're, they're Daniel's bit, a little bit thicker, but those other two are quick reads, like you can get through 'em and they're quick and they keep you going. So check 'em out. And, and Paul's book's free on, on his website, so like, there's no reason not to go grab that, that digital copy. but the the videos, I mean, I just mentioned one recently.

It's FIFA:Uncovered, man, that, that movie is such a great lesson in how not to lead. Those, those four episodes, it's four hours. You can fly through it. It's fascinating on Netflix and you know, especially now that this World Cup's over, so that you can't get mad about, oh, I'm not, I'm gonna boycott the World Cup.

Or, you know, no, just go watch that for how not to lead and how corruption can seep in. And how corruption can be there from the start. And if you're not watching for it or you're not paying attention or people aren't holding people accountable to actual standards, things can happen real fast that aren't good.

The other the other one, [00:44:00] and now I'm blanking on it, what was it? But anyway, I'm gonna, I'll, it'll come to me, but all the, like literally any, all or nothing. I've talked about this before on the show, but I've been watching the Arsenal one this year and you know, I, I wish they'd do one on like the team that I have followed since I was a little kid in Manchester United, but they haven't done that one yet probably cuz they haven't had a stable enough coach to, to be like, yeah, I'm gonna do it.

And I don't think Ten Hag's gonna be all fired up about it. Maybe he will, but it'd be fascinating to see what happened this year. Get Phil,

[00:44:34] Paul: get Phil Smith on it, he'll make it.

[00:44:36] Phil: Yeah, that's true. That's a good point. But seeing you know, seeing Arteta, I, I really, I, you know, I really like the way he is connecting with his players and really like the way he's, you know, talked about, everyone talks about players as numbers, but I gotta see him as people.

And I, you know, like little quotes like that throughout, that you don't just throw out there. Like that means something. And I can tell that. I mean, hey, the proof is on the field this year. Oh my gosh, [00:45:00] that team's playing as a team, right? So good for, good for Arteta to, to do what he's doing. It hurts me, it pains me to say it.

If my brother's listening to this, he's going to ride this, you know, both my brother and Matt Bernard, you know, they're gonna be like, you know, see you in Arsenal Guy. Now I'm not, I never will be, but but you know, like same way when I watched Pep on, on the Man's city, all or nothing, like the stuff we can learn from those, you know, good leadership things that we could go, Hmm, I don't know about that.

Take the good. And just. , chew on it and, and keep for it. What will help you in your, in your different your different walk. And, and so that's, those are the, those are the big ones for me. From this year. I know there's one that I'm forgetting, but that's okay. That's enough to keep you busy for a while.

Just those all or nothings. And then a fun one. I just watched the first two episodes. Welcome to Wrexham. Have you heard of that with Ryan Reynolds and, and McInerney, like they're, they're the two guys who, who bought the team over in. I have, I've heard, I wanna. Yeah, over. It's [00:46:00] on Hulu and I just started watching the first couple of episodes.

It's just fun. Ron, Ron is a funny dude, but it's a serious thing. They're not doing it for a publicity stunt. Like they actually care and they're, they're going in and it's, it's really cool and she gives a really good glimpse into, kinda reminded me of watching like Sunderland Till I Die or, or the Salford one just seeing these smaller teams in England that we don't normally get to see.

So, that, that was it. So the last one I did remember Rise and Shine, Jay Demerit. We did, we did talk about that on his episode. Oh yeah. So that was another great episode. But Rise and Shine that documentary, especially for young players to see overcoming adversity and resilience and just working your tail off for something you really want.

Great, great show. So, go check that out. Absolutely.

[00:46:42] Paul: Good. Those are, those

[00:46:43] Phil: are, So, all right, the last thing we're gonna do here is just, you know, we did talk about Warrior Way lot. We talk about the different things that I'm doing a lot throughout the year, but we don't really go into what what we're doing deeper than a little, you know, plug at the end.

And so I wanted to give you just a [00:47:00] chance to this time last year you were, you know, doing kickoff fundraisers and you were doing different things to, to get Warrior Way going. And now it's been a year and I've, you know, some really cool stuff's happened. So can you just give a kinda two minute version of, of what's going on with Warrior Way and, and we'll obviously have the links to that as we always do, but just to share with our listeners like what's actually going on and what you're able to do this year.

Yeah, for sure. You

[00:47:23] Paul: know, if you're familiar, there's two, kind of two arms of Warrior Way. There's warrior Way soccer.com is the website, and there's a a, a soccer training side of it that we do here in our, our local Waco community. And then we have a nonprofit side of it that's called warrior Way gives.

Which is also you can find on that website. But what that's doing is taking our, what we consider our for-profit opportunities and giving it, that's why it's called Gives, and we're giving it to the community that maybe can't afford it. So we've got some programs in the last year that we've created.

We've created these festivals where we're going into you know, kind of some underprivileged communities in the Waco area. And we're giving these soccer [00:48:00] opportunities to these local communities where we're coming in and we're doing soccer training. We're sharing the, the word of God, and we're sharing a meal.

You know, it's basically it, it's basically food food, football and fellowship basically is what it comes down to with these festivals these little local communities in Waco and partnering with some churches as well to maybe do some long. Sessions like we do up here in our other communities.

And we also, we also have a partnership with some special needs folks here in town. We're able to employ some special needs community people in our soccer community. There's soccer, pl, former soccer players that aren't given operas within what we're doing here in Waco. And it's just an amazing opportunity, not just for them, but also for our young people to engage with the special needs community. So it's not so, you know, such a shock to these things together.

So there's a few things we have going on here in Waco, and then we have our partnerships in in Guatemala. Marci and I are actually going back here in January to visit with our partners down there just to see how things are going. We're sponsoring some tournaments in Guatemala where we're bringing.

Kids from about four or five different villages together to share [00:49:00] again football football faith and food together for these tournaments. And some of these kids, I think I've mentioned before, it'll be the first time they've really even ever left their village ever. And we're providing soccer cleats and uniforms for them to have a real tournament.

They'll have a, an opening ceremony, they'll have trophies. They're competing. But they're, we're, we're sharing, they're sharing the word of God too with them in these moments as well, putting some great people around them. So those are kind of the two minute, maybe a little less than two minute version of, of the things that we're doing to find out more obviously on our, on our website.

But we're really encouraged by what. Shown us this last year and what he's encouraging us to do in 2023, we're, we're gonna double basically all the, all the things that we've done this last year. We're gonna double all those things in 2023 and feel really, really good about what God's already provided for us in those areas.

And then in 2023, we're also looking at some, some other things that we're looking forward to announcing as well, hopefully in the next couple months that God's providing that we're not quite ready to announce yet. But some really encouraging things coming down the pipeline for, for Warrior Way on [00:50:00] this side of

[00:50:00] Phil: things.

Yeah, for sure. And you know, you can, you can follow Paul at Coach Jobson on Instagram and other stuff to see some teaser of some of those things that are probably coming down the pike. I'm just making some assumptions there. But some, some travels that that Paul gets to do and, and get some, be, do some really cool Partnerships.

And so I'm very excited to see what, what God's gonna continue doing in and through you and your family. And, and and it is just been fun to, to be able to do this with you for another year. So I'm, I'm, I'm excited to see what 2023 is gonna bring and, and, and the short version of, of what we're doing. You know, Providence World is the nonprofit that I've had the, the privilege to be able to run over the last, you know, 13 years or so.

And we've done a lot of different things. And the last couple years has been a lot of fun. That's what this, this podcast, you know, has led to a lot of work with different sports ministries, sports different, you know, different things going around the world to be able to connect sports ministries with, with orphan care.

And she, and talking about like George Blamoh is a perfect example of that. And, and being [00:51:00] able to, to help the sports understand the, how to care for the orphan and the vulnerable with excellence and how to, how to help. People who are caring for the OR and vulnerable with excellence incorporate sports into what they're doing.

And you know, I had a guy a couple months ago to give you a good little snapshot is, is he said, Hey, I have a field. We have about a thousand kids that come every week. And I, I don't know what to do with him and can you help me with that? And so I was, he's in Uganda and I was able to help him connect with another person from Uganda.

So they're in the process of, you know, and I'm helping them through that process of just building trust with each other to be able to, to collaborate and do work together so that, that field is not just a field of people just, you know, running around doing whatever, which is fine. Kids playing, yes. But to have purpose, to have play with purpose and and to be able to, you know, incorporate sports and maybe even have those, you know, elite athletes come and, and give those kids, you know, some goals and be able to say, Hey, there's, there's different things we can be doing. Cuz a, a lot of these kids are, are without that security [00:52:00] at home, without those people at home like most of us have had who are listening to this who have people telling you at home how much they love you and how you can do anything that you put your mind to and how you have amazing gifts and talents and all those things that, you know, seem like we take for granted.

We're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, mom, whatever, dad. But a lot of those kids have no one pouring into 'em like that. And so to be able to combine these different organizations together, that's, that's a big, big part of why we exist. You know, you guys have heard about the DISC training that I'm able to do.

We able to continue doing that this year. If you are a coach out there that wants to get involved with that, reach out to me. I'd love to, love to talk with you about it and, and see how we can incorporate that into your, into your work coaching The bigger game, you know, we're, we're still figuring out how to best get that out there.

I've actually, and modified it a bit. This year as well with my soccer team at, at Folsom High School, with our leadership team, I'm able to, to kind of modify it and take the coaching principles and put it into, hey, how can we train up the players on how to be better leaders? And they're eating it up.

I love [00:53:00] it. I love that they're, they're just wanting to learn, they're wanting to be better leaders. And these are, these are, you know, 14 or I guess they're probably 16 to 18 year olds, cuz we're doing it with the juniors and seniors. And so it's something for the younger players to look forward to as well, which is, which is really cool.

And I've been, I've just been on uh, just so. So excited, so excited to see what God's gonna continue doing through all of that. And we are still planning, you know, we're gonna get the coaching, the bigger game program out there. We just gotta figure out the best way to, to deliver it and the best way to get it in front of people.

And hopefully that will be coming up in the next few months. And so I'm no promises there, but you know, again, if you're interested in that, love to talk with you about how you can get involved and how we can get it, get it out there better. So, all right, man. Any parting thoughts as we finish up 2022?

No, I'm

[00:53:50] Paul: just been encouraged by all that uh, we've heard over the last year, and obviously Phil you know, a lot of what we've been able to do with Warrior Way and just our [00:54:00]transition, appreciate your support and all that you've done for, for the Jobson household, just through prayer and support and talks and conversations.

13, 14, 15 years plus of experience definitely has definitely helped me for sure. So I appreciate that. And as we transition to 2023, I'm excited about what God's gonna put in front of us and just appreciate doing this with you, man. I appreciate all our listeners that, that come alongside us as well and hope they are continuously encouraged by what we're able to put out there.

So, appreciate you, man, and looking forward to the new year for.

[00:54:28] Phil: All right folks, and, and as Paul said, we do appreciate you listeners, you know, I, I appreciate you Paul, very much. I appreciate the listeners, I appreciate everyone that makes this possible. And that, that's definitely you for listening. And, and it's also, as we've talked about, share this with your friends, share this with your family.

Share this with people that you think will be helped by these conversations. You know, whether it's parents of kids, whether it's coaches, whether it's, like I said, PE teachers, I dunno, there's lots of people who can benefit from. You know, leaders of organizations who have teams under them. These are principles that apply [00:55:00] everywhere.

And so, you know, with all that, we will have all the different links to Warrior Way to Coach and Bigger Game to Providence, all these different things where you can, you know, partner with Warrior Way, you can, you know, both, both of us rely on donors and people giving. And if you want to be a part of that and you want to take the opportunity to give, you can do that at, at Providence World website, at the Warrior Way website, and we'll have those links on our show notes.

And so go do that. If that's something that you feel led to do it also helps, you know, Keeping this podcast going, right? We, you know, we can't do this without, without, you know, your support in that way too. So we don't ask that very much, but that is there, and I know it's year end. So if you're looking to give, you can do that here.

You can also do it after the year if you listen to it then. But we appreciate you. We thank you and we hope that you're taking everything you're learning from this show and you're using it to be a better spouse, a better parent, a better friend, a better leader in all that you do. And you continually remind yourself that soccer does explain life and leadership.

Thanks a lot. Have a great week.