Will Cain Country - How President Trump Completely Reshaped The Political Party System! PLUS, The USA Vs. Canada Hockey Rematch

Episode Date: February 20, 2025

Story #1: From the war in Ukraine to cutting government waste and spending, the ground is shifting beneath the American electorates' feet and the Left is unsure where they stand thanks to the calculus of President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.  Story #2: Are we a nation of immigrants or pioneer and settlers? Is 'centrism' moralistic garbage? A conversation with the Host of ‘The Wade Show With Wade,’ Wade Stotts.  Story #3: USA versus Canada! FOX Sports lead studio analyst & U.S. Soccer legend Alexi Lalas breaks down this rivalry on and off the ice as well as a deep dive on the culture and politics of American soccer ahead of the 2026 World Cup and MLS's 30th season.  Tell Will what you thought about this podcast by emailing [e-mail] Subscribe to The Will Cain Show on YouTube here: Watch The Will Cain Show! Follow Will on Twitter: @WillCain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One, from the war in Ukraine to cutting government waste in spending, the ground is shifting underneath the American electorate's feet. And the left has no idea its place in the political landscape because they do not see how right now the entirety of America is being shifted. by J.D. Vance and Donald Trump. Two, are we a nation of immigrants or a nation of settlers? Is centricism moralistic garbage with one of my absolute favorites? The host of the Wade show, Wade Stottes.

Three, USA versus Canada. Soccer legend Alexie Lawless breaks down this rivalry on off the ice. It is the Will Cane show streaming live at Fox News.com on the Fox News YouTube channel and the Fox News Facebook page, always on demand, by subscribing on Apple or on Spotify. You can watch the Will Kane show every Monday through Thursday at 12 o'clock Eastern time. uh by subscribing on apple or on spotify or on youtube i consider myself a very seasoned television professional and radio personality i can normally fight through any technological trouble i cannot fight through what has just started our show today two a days is it happening still right now was rough no okay it's not oh my my bad my god

Gosh, that was bad. I was bad in here. You thought I was stressed out before. I've more stressed out now, but I figured out. Apparently, it didn't go out to our listeners, though. I checked on my phone, and it sounded. So the listeners have no idea what I'm talking about. No, it was an internal issue.

You know how I do the teleprompter for you sometimes? Yes. It was that computer was feeding your own audio back to you. So that's why. Oh, my God. My bet. So just to bring you back in, audience, to what I fought through. Was I halting?

Was I speaking, like, haltingly and slowly? No. Do you remember when we used to do the podcast? My audio was coming, my audio was coming back into my ear at about a two-second delay. So I heard myself, that really rattled my cage. And I was like, there's no way I can do this for an hour. There's no way. And I've had to do that before, by the way.

I had to do an ESPN radio show with that one time. It is like having a stroke, man. you just got to somehow like tune it out while you keep talking it's the thing by the way where have you ever heard seen the videos of national anthem singers there's a few of them there's these videos out there where they sound drunk have you ever heard it but they're not drunk they're slurring their words they're slurring the national anthem happened to me and they say it's you sing the national anthem yeah at the baseball games drunk i've done it at minor league baseball games before and stuff like that it happened to me it's the delay

Well, you are just a box of chocolates You never know what you're going to get You sang the national anthem at Different events, yeah, for sure Minor League baseball games? Yeah, high school, high school state championships For basketball And you got the delay headed back into your ear like that?

Yeah, it's crazy So you hear it and your mouth kind of like Your brain doesn't know how to process What you're hearing and what you're outputting through your mouth It's crazy No, it totally messes your brain up Like to hear yourself on that kind of delay and I have fought through it

and I think I just fought through it there at the beginning I don't know if the audience can notice but you're good you couldn't, it was so bad that's the worst it's ever been right there and I couldn't do that I was just gonna have to own it on air

and by the time I owned it on air you had corrected it whew it's a little wake up I feel like I just took two shots two shots of Jack Daniels to start the show yeah

were we supposed to talk about who did that who sounded drunk on a national anthem when it did that. It slurred their words. We should look that up. Was it Fergie? I don't know.

We don't want to get this one wrong. Well, you'll be able to find it. You'll be able to find examples of people seeing the national anthem. You're like, in the question everybody asks, in the comment section, or in the headline is, are they drunk? It was seven months ago. Yeah, was that home run derby anthem, Ingrid Andress. She's a young girl.

Is that the story? Was she hearing her feedback, they say? Oh, no. She was actually drunk. Never mind. She was actually drunk. It's, no, they're older examples. They're like from the 90s. I've seen some of those.

You should pull it up. See if you can pull one up while we're talking. We've got to, I'm excited about today's show. One of my favorites is on today, Wade Stott's. He's the host of the Wade show. It's on every platform, Rumble, YouTube. He's freaking amazing. he does, you know, great monologues on really, I think, deep philosophical issues, questions like,

hey, does Christianity push you towards centricism? Is centricism the moral middle ground? And he rebutts that premise. And then, you know, the truism, everybody repeats all the time, we're a nation of immigrants. No, no, no. We're a nation of settlers who has welcomed in immigrants. But that's an important distinction. It's not semantic because it says settlers come to build something.

identifiable, and you have to preserve what that thing is, and that is America. Plus, today on the Fox News Channel, I'm basically going to hold a USA pep rally, at least in part, because a huge hockey game tonight, huge, the finals of the Four Nations Cup, USA versus Canada. You guys listening, watching, know, this is more than a hockey game. From 51st state to tariffs, this thing. has manifested in booing the American National Anthem, fist fights, three of them in nine seconds. So today, tinfoil, yesterday, Two A Days had his fanboy moment with Krista Stefano.

Today, Two of Days is beside himself. Because on the Fox News Channel for today, we have Joe Pavelski. He's an NHL legend, San Jose Sharks, and Dallas Stars. We have Mike Ruzioni, one Olympic hockey gold. In 1980, the big one, Miracle on Ice. And we have Dallas stars and USA legend Mike Modano. And Tinfo Pat is just fanboid out over Mike Madonna. Yeah, Patrick, this is a big one for you.

He's the greatest American hockey player of all time. One of my top guys. Yeah, I'm really excited for this one. Is he, is Mike, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, Mike, I told you guys last night. I have been loosely connected to Mike for a little while, and we traded numbers last night and talked on the phone. I told him right off the bat.

This is, for me, I don't get starstruck much anymore, but he's a Mount Rushmore-level Dallas sports legend. You know, Roger Staubach, Dirk Novitsky, probably the hard part about Troy Aitman, Emmett Smith, and Michael Irvin is the three of them together, so you probably have to like make them one spot. And Madonna's there. And this is, by the way, this is why everybody's so upset about Luca, because Luca was on his way.

You know, being our guy, being in our city, that's how you become a Mount Rushmore city guy. And Mike Medano is a Mount Rushmore of Dallas. So, yeah, I'm fanboid out too, Patrick. I'm excited. Do you have it? Tinfoil? I mean, two days, do you have? I haven't found it.

It's only showing that one girl who was actually drunk. There's some that were the worst. There was like Aaron Neville was bad. Fergie was really bad but I can't find one that's just because their earpiece wasn't working well Oh, it's out there

I've seen that bad when she did it It was just her earpiece Maybe it was her earpiece Before we get into it today This caught my eye It's caught my attention And I think it's not thematically that far

From what we're talking about today In a lot of ways You know I've talked a lot about The monoculture and the U.S. all becoming one and I like provincialism and I like Boston and Massachusetts and I like that it's different than Texas or Georgia and I like you know on top of that though patriotism I like America and I don't dislike Canada I mean we got a lot of Canadian viewers that watch the will cane show on Fox and some are mad at me you know what I what's hard to know for that audience is getting

to know me this audience knows me like I'm going to kick the Texas A&M Aggies in the crotch I'm going to do that. And I'm going to do the same thing with Oklahoma Sooners and the Philadelphia Eagles fans. But I actually respect them. Like, I respect the rivalry. This isn't war. I'm not mad. It's a rivalry. And that's where it is in hockey. And I like our friendly neighbors to the north. I like Canada. But that's not going to stop me from talking trash. I'm going to talk trash on USA versus Canada. Right? Yeah. I mean, my families have the ones watching that Canadian. It's really gone from like, I don't care to can't lose this game. Oh, you can't lose this game. And if we do, I'm going to have

to eat a ton of crow. And I'll do it. I'll do it on air. They don't like when I say, you were, you were born of favor and we're born of revolution. We're born of blood. Will you wear a Canadian, you know, hockey, hockey sweater tomorrow? No. No, I'm not making that bet. No, I'm not doing that. I have one to send you No way No way But on that note

This caught my attention Check this out This is the proliferation Of the term Soda Over time Like what do you call it You call it Coke

You call it pop You call it soda In 1947 It looks like about 40% Let's see if I can be accurate Yeah 40% of the country

Probably called it pop four we'll call it 35% called it coke and probably 30% called it soda okay south everybody calls it coke from basically new mexico all the way through the south Midwest and the north calls it pop and the east coast and the west coast called it soda well fast forward to 2024 and soda has overtaken the country overtaken pop has been really reduced to like minnesota north and south Dakota, Montana, you know, Michigan. Coke has been reduced to Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi. But like, Coke has lost the Carolinas. Coast is lost, Coke has lost Virginia, you know, it's really reduced. And I have a theory on this, okay? Here's, first of all, do you guys think

you know why? Like, why is soda overtaken? Because Coke refers to Coke itself. So does any of them. I think there's so many different, you know, type of sodas now that there's not just the two variants. So you have to call things soda now because there's a lot of soda, though, going around 100 years ago, though. So like, you know, Coke was like we have now. It was like Kleenex. It was just a generic, you know, term. Right. I think this is what happened.

Although there was RC and, you know, all these others, Coke dominated. It just dominated. So when you got a carbonated, sugary drink, it was Coke. That's how I've always been. I've called it. So you go to a bar, a restaurant, and you say the waitress, I'd like a Coke. Her follow-up question is, what kind? You know?

That's so weird to me. That's so weird to me. Yeah, you'd say, I want a Coke. Okay, would you like Dr. Pepper? Would you like Pepsi? It was all Coke. And then you'd say, no, Coca-Cola, or whatever. if you wanted Coca-Cola.

And so it dominated. It was almost like a first-to-market dominating the whole genre. And like Patrick said, Kleenex is the perfect example. Like, all tissues are Kleenexes, right? And I still think that way. Do you all use the word Kleenex as a catch-all generic for all of those things?

Absolutely. Yeah, right? Same thing. So I think what happened is twofold. Coke's dominance disappeared. I mean, it still dominates that one type of dark colored carbonated beverage right um but there's so many others that people would get now um i don't think anybody would say i want a dr pepper anymore and start with i'll take a coke what kind

dr pepper they just come out of the gates i'll take a dr pepper but the other thing that's happened i actually think it's the sparkling water and all that because all that soda right it's like uh everything's a soda now. So we in our area of the country got used to the word soda. Soda wasn't in the lexicon. We didn't use it for anything. But soda water became a thing you know, like

that people drink soda water and LaCroix and all that. And so you just got used to saying soda more often than you ever would have in the past and it's proliferated. Pop I don't even get. I don't know who says pop. It bothers me when people say pop. I can't stand it. It's awful.

Yeah. So that's What is that? Northern thing. Yeah, yeah. That's interesting. I've heard it up there. I've been to Wisconsin. And they're like,

oh, you want a pop bud? You're like asking to be made fun of. Yeah, I asked our... That feels like that. I asked a friend of the program, Bobby Burrack,

what he says, and he's, because he's from Michigan, he's a pop guy. Oh, gosh. Yeah. It sounds... Bobby, you're wrong.

It sounds... It sounds feminine. It sounds dorky. It does. It does. I want a pop. What are you, seven? Yeah.

We're not like a pop. That's what I call my, that's what I call my grandfather, pop. It sounds like what the seven-year-old dork in the 2000s movie would say. You called your grandpa pop? Yeah, pop pop pop pop. I didn't have, pop pop pop pop pop pop. I had a, I had a pawpaw. I had Papa.

I had Grandpa and Papa. I was reminded to. What do y'all call? James, would you call your grandparents? Grandpa and grandma. Wow, classic, classic Westchester County. Both sides? Yeah. Both sides? Yeah. Sometimes first name. No, I'm just kidding. Oh my God, I've got the belt for that. So Grandpa Steve and Grandpa Bob, that's how you do it like that? No, just straight-grandpa. You add their name to it? Period. No, the name part was a joke. That didn't really quite land, but... Oh. What about you, tinfoil? had a grandpa and then just a pa but he he got named pa because when his son was a young kid they called their grandfather daddy so it was really weird southern thing so yeah hmm yeah it was papa now my kids have a bubba they call our grandpa bubba

Bubba's cool. Yeah. All right. Let's get into it. We got a bunch of big guests. We've got a big show today. So let's get started with story number one. So I think as a continuation we were talking about yesterday, there's just not a full appreciation for the political grounds that are shifting underneath the feet of every American.

Donald Trump and J.D. Vance have totally remade. I think the idea of political parties. I just think we're well beyond, okay, Republican and Democrat and what you historically would have associated with those parties. We're well beyond the traditional ideological spectrum that is a straight line from left to right. There is a total reshuffling. And I think that many on the left and the right, for that matter, are having a hard time keeping up with what's happening and where they fit in this place. I'm going to give you a couple examples. So Harry Inton is a guy at CNN who's been doing a lot of, like, polling.

And it seems like every time he kind of explains what I'm talking to you about now to the CNN anchors, their minds are blown. But here he is on CNN talking about the remaking of the American electorate. Donald Trump and the Republican Party has changed the electorate. What do I mean by that? Well, let's take a look at party identification, Democrats versus Republicans. You go back to 2017. Five points more of the electorate was Democrats than Republicans. You go to 2021 when Joe Biden was starting out.

Look at that. Six points more of the electorate was Democrats than Republicans. But look at what's happened in February of 2025. Look at this. Republicans, there are more Republicans in the electorate than there are Democrats. Republican plus two. So Donald Trump and the Republicans have remade the electorate. They've turned some people over from being Democrats or independents to become Republicans.

New folks have entered the electorate who are more Republican leaning. And so when you combine that with the fact that Republicans are really, really behind Donald Trump, all of a sudden you get a winning recipe whereby you break the normal rules of politics and give Donald Trump that positive net approval rating when he had pretty much a consistently negative one in term number one. And it's not just Donald Trump. I think for most of my life, Republicans have had, they've been trailing Democrats in net positive ratings. So it's by three or four points, actually. You know, you've got your Republicans, Democrats, independents, and who self-identified, Democrats were always on top. But it's been changed.

And for many on the left, I think they have no idea, no idea what to do with this. So first, this is, like, one example is to freak out and get mad. And we're seeing a lot of that when it comes to Doge. Just an absolute freak out and get mad. Guys, just as a side note, I'm not going to say his name because I didn't ask him to, but a big sports personality called me yesterday. and um not an athlete like a commentator a sports personality called me yesterday he just wanted to talk and he he was asking me why do you think they're so freaking out about doge like what is the explanation for being opposed to government waste and abuse and he was he just couldn't wrap his

mind around where someone finds themselves in the political landscape that they look up today and go what are you talking about cutting back the government right and the the hardcore defense of government spending and so i think that what he's seeing is people like jasmine crocket who congresswoman from texas who is she's really become one of the major voices the democratic party recently and her path has been pure anger and insult to anyone that now represents as just laid out on CNN the majority of americans here's jasmine crocket 70% believe that he's fulfilling his promises and 45% believe

Democrats should be more moderate. What do you take away? I think there's a lot to make of those numbers. What's your takeaway from that? My takeaway is just like the election. We've got to do better at education. People don't understand. But you will understand when those hospitals in rural America start closing down even more.

You will understand when you don't have your Social Security. You will understand when your Medicaid, your Medicare goes away. You will understand as planes continue to fall out of the sky. Soon you will understand why it's important to maybe have somebody that isn't loud and ridiculous and maybe Sleepy Joe is what we wanted because we could at least sleep in night. Yeah.

All right. So her explanation is we're all stupid and we're going to be educated and she's smarter than us. I'll leave that to you to think if you think Jasmine Crockett is smarter than you. On the other hand now, here's Jin Saki. Jin Saki, I think she's with John Stewart here trying to figure out their new place in the political landscape. Theo Vaughn and Joe Rogan, I think, are different animals than any of this. Like, I wouldn't say they're, I don't think they're part of any machine. Don't you think they're the ant, but they are, they are still in the right wing ecosystem.

Wouldn't you agree? No, I would think they're in, no, I would, I would consider them in a more probably libertarian, comedic complex, you know, more along the lines of, and, and if you watch or listen to their shows a lot of times it's just pure like goofing off has nothing to do with politics and oftentimes but almost entirely but they are supportive of the trump enterprise is what i mean so maybe i'm loosely putting them in that category i think they are supportive but not they are not relentless in the trump enterprise like they are not charlie kirk they are not uh ben appear like they are very different animals okay so she can't what she what socky is doing is saying

by the way rogan was on the left that's undebatable he was on the left he was a bernie sanders guy so she doesn't see that the ground has shifted instead what she's doing is saying those people went to the right and she's shoving them out and that's their thing they've been shoving everybody out not recognizing the way that the landscape has changed not people they've changed and then after they changed the landscape changed and i think it's not exclusive uh to the left jd vans just posted this he gave a speech this morning and he just posted this on x and it's fascinating towards the right now ferguson is a guy that i think for much of his career has been considered yeah he's on the right and he posted quoting george w bush this is about the ukraine russia war he said

this will not stand this will not stand this aggression against kuwait and then he lodged George H.W. Bush from the 90s and that's short of foreign policy. It's long. I'm going to try to just share the pertinent parts, but Vant says this is moralistic garbage. And it's unfortunately the rhetorical currency of the globalist who have nothing else to say. He said for three years, we've laid out to the American people exactly what we believe when it comes to Ukraine. And the response from the right is simply to quote things from a different historical period and a different conflict. That's another current. of these people, reliance on irrelevant to history.

So he goes out and he says, here are our five things. Number one, while our Western European allies have benefited greatly from our generosity, they now pursue domestic policies, migration, censorship, that offend the sensibilities of most Americans. Number two, Russia has a massive numerical advantage in manpower and weapons in Ukraine, and that advantage will persist regardless of Western aid packages, okay, just acknowledging reality. Three, the U.S. has leverage over both parties.

Four, ending the war between Russia and Ukraine requires talking to people on both sides who started it and are maintaining it. And number five, the conflict has placed all parties. Russian, Ukrainian,

European, but most importantly, he says, American stockpiles, state craft, resources, and security. on bad footing. Given that, we recognize reality and we pursue peace. This is a fascinating restructure of the global political landscape that many are having trouble keeping up with, obviously on the left, and even on the right, as I think J.D. Vance and Donald Trump remake

America. You don't want to go anywhere. Wade Stott's thoughts is awesome. We're going to talk about this and much more, including we're a nation of settlers. not immigrants that's coming up on the will cane show hey don't eat breakfast until you learn about caloric bypass your breakfast is setting you up for the entire day to either gain or wait or lose it the term breakfast literally means to break your fast that started the night before about four hours after you eat dinner your body switches from the nutrients we get from food to the stored glycogen we have in our bodies once glycogen stores are depleted that typically takes about eight to 12 hours of fasting, the body shifts to burning fat for energy. Fatty acids are released from

fat stores and they're converted into ketone bodies through a process called ketogenesis. Then when you eat breakfast in the morning, the body starts the cycle again. And this is where caloric bypass comes into play. Dr. Gundry, a heart surgeon in California, learned that if you break your nightly fast with something called MCTs or medium chain triglycerides, you can actually keep burning fat through the day and use it for energy. But there are specific types of foods that contain these MCTs. And using this breakfast breakthrough, he was able to lose 70 pounds just through diet, and he did it in his 60s. You can find all about it and his exact method by going to the healthyfat.com slash will. That's the healthy fat.com slash W ILL or click on the link in the

description box below. It's a point to remember that everyone's body processes fat differently, and it all depends on your unique metabolic type, which is why in the video he released for my viewers especially he talks about it it's really quite fascinating it might change the way you think about health so go to healthy fat the healthy fat dot com slash will or click on the link in the description box below centricism is not the moral high ground next with wade's dots on the will cane show it is time to take the quiz it's five questions in less than five minutes we ask people on the streets of New York City to play along. Let's see how you do.

Take the quiz every day at thequiz.com. Then come back here to see how you did. Thank you for taking the quiz. Listen to the all-new Brett Bear podcast featuring Common Ground. In-depth talks with lawmakers from opposite sides of the aisle, along with all your Brett Bear favorites like his All-Star panel and much more. Available now at Fox News Podcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Following Fox's initial donation to the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund,

our generous viewers have answered the call to action across all Fox platforms and have helped raise $6.5 million. Visit go.fox forward slash TX flood relief to support relief and rebuilding efforts. USA Pepp Raleigh starts today first here on the Wilcane Digital Show and radio show continues. Four o'clock later today with Mike Medano, Joe Pavelski, and Mike Arruzion. as we get ready for USA versus Canada. It is the Will Cain Show streaming live at foxnews.com on the Fox News YouTube channel and the Fox News Facebook page.

Hit subscribe at Apple, Spotify, Facebook or YouTube, and join us every day, we hope. All right, he's the host of the Wade show. Wade Stots, he knows this. I'm a big fan, and I just got done texting my producers once again. Figure out ways to use Wade regularly. This dude is really. good um wait uh what's up first of all how you doing yeah i'm doing great i'm just sitting here

with my you know a cup of pop i'm doing great it's a good morning do you say pop you're from arkansas but now you live in idaho you don't what do you call it i still probably say coke i probably i still say coke weird that's what i call my grandpa that's strange no yeah i say coke yeah now i'm from arkansas i grew up in arkansas i lived in texas for a while yeah i'm i'm i'm I'm a Southerner through and through. Do you do your show from a utility closet, or is that all for fake? Is that just for the looks? What are you really doing?

This is, yeah, just sort of shelving that, yeah, it makes it look like a bunker. This is, I, like I live underground. But I'm just prepping, just getting ready. Who knows? I mean, we're in a good time right now. Is that your prepper? Trump, but, yeah, who knows? That's your, you did move to Idaho, suspect.

So, every right winger that moves to Idaho, we, You know what you're up to, Wade. Yeah, yeah, my Ruby Ridge. Yeah, we're doing, having fun up here. That's great. Do you like it up there, by the way? You know, you and I talked. I lived in Montana for a while.

I absolutely loved it. Absolutely loved Montana. I didn't ever get to Idaho. It's just so beautiful. I mean, I don't know what drew you up there, you know, but good people. Yeah, it's a beautiful part of America. It's a gorgeous place. I'm in a place called the Palouse.

I'm in an area. I live in Moscow, Idaho. And it's, yeah, it's just beautiful. little hallmark card town in the middle of where university of Idaho is and yeah we moved here right uh i guess four years ago so we were here for the whole Biden administration um and and uh and then now the Trump which is great uh you heard me talking on the way in not just about pop and soda and coke uh but about what's kind of just happening i just j d vance today is it is it is it what did he's what did he give the speech was it CPAC that he gave the speech today i don't i don't know what it was

I don't know either, yeah. It's remarkable way. I don't know if you got a chance to see any of it yet or some of what he had to say, but his responses on Ukraine and Russia, his responses about mass migration in Europe, their embrace of censorship. I just feel like, Jay, look,

we've talked a lot about Trump and we will talk about Trump, but JD is at the forefront of the defense of Western civilization. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's a guy I did not. not. I was excited about the pick. There were, there were several different options. You know, we were all kind of speculating at the time. But yeah, and I don't know where, I didn't really see the skepticism from people who didn't really like Vance. But I've always thought, man,

that guy gets it. That guy totally understands. And not just on a domestic front. He understands where, where America fits broadly. And, and yeah, you can't really, he's had this kind of Richard Nixon vice president vibe where he's like a hatchet man, but also a, also like trump gets to he's also a shield for trump at some level so trump i talked about this recently but like trump has basically two shields right now which is vance and elon and so all the hate gets to him all the hate ends up going there but they get to be like the um the hatchet man again and so that's a really that's really good news for succession so whatever comes next it looks like trump is okay with um handing off some significant things while still being the leader um

you have this video. So I see your stuff on YouTube. I don't know where you want the audience to go find you. Rumble, where your primary platform is. What is it? Where do you prefer people watch you? Yeah, YouTube and X. Those are the main ones. And then we do a subscription service where I do a podcast on Canonplus.com. So that's where if I ever get canceled, if anything ever gets pulled, it's over on Canonplus.com. Well, YouTube and X are where I see your stuff the most. Yeah. You have this one recently, and you were talking about centricism. So you heard me in some part talking about the remaking of the American electorate and the shifting political grounds underneath our feet. And I think one could be tempted to go, is Will advocating for, or are the parties moving,

has a Republican Party moved more centrist? The problem I have with that idea of centricism, and you lay this out so well, is it accepts, it forces me to accept two polls on a bipolar scale, right? this is our this is the this is the way we get to exist and i don't think that's the way we do exist um between whatever it is left and right and whatever those two polls are um and you you talked about it in terms of christianity and but you know i think so much is changing and i've said this we've lived in the age of ideology for a good 70 years i'd say um where smart people and I don't want to take away from them, like really smart people, whoever they may be,

William F. Buckley, Nile Ferguson, whatever, they see the world through a prism of ideology, right? And that's not useless. Ideology has its uses. But Donald Trump has brought in pragmatism and just a rejection of this, like, I'm not going to be guided by principles if those principles lead me into bad outcomes. They have to be connected. Talk about that and your, like what you talked about with centricism. Yeah. So centrism basically is an attempt at an ideology, but it's not really one. So centrism is essentially what it amounts to is you talk as if you can add up the opposing party platforms, divide by two, and then you found the perfect political middle. You found where everybody should be. But I mean, I think as things have heated up and as the parties have become so polar

opposite. It is obvious that you can't really exist there. And so the question is, do you have to then pick a halfway point between every issue? So do you have to be halfway between pro-abortion and anti-abortion? Or is it that you have to, if you're anti-abortion, you have to be against guns or something. You have to have some kind of middle ground that way where everything balances out. But you're exactly right about ideology. That ideology is this, Russell Kirk was a huge enemy of ideology back in the day. And he talked about how there were, there were these things that were blocks for people. And pragmatism and conservatism has, Russell Kirk very much a conservative mainstream author, but he was a guy who said, yeah, ideology is something that can hold people

back from getting stuff done. It can also hold people back from conserving something that matters. So you can't come up with, just like you can't come up with the perfect political philosophy by adding up the opposing forces and the dividing by two, you also can't. can't just sit in an armchair and dream up the perfect society and then make every single decision that you have based on, again, your thoughts and like all the little math that you've done in your armchair. Yeah. Okay, there's a couple places I want to dive into there. Let's talk about centricism first as a concept. It appeals to a lot of people. I think it appeals to casuals in particular. There are intellectuals that think it is the moral high ground, centricism. I can think of

some names, but I'm not as concerned with them. I'm more concerned with the casual political observer who sees it as, okay, well, if you're too far right, you're too far left, you're either a partisan hack or you're close-minded, and I'm an independent. So I'm going to pick and choose from each side, but they inevitably gravitate towards this thing that is centrist. And you make a great point in your video, historically, where does that put you? Think about the idea of centricism and expanded upon this current moment. Like you don't have to, in your video, you take us back to 1925 or 1825, but I think even taking us back to 2005, like it's a radically different place if you call yourself a centrist then versus now. Yeah. Well, if you think that the moral

high ground of 2025 is the middle, then you would have to, at some level, think, Curtis Yardv makes this point about, you'd have to think the same thing about 100 years ago. So if you were to take all of your same ideas, your political centrist ideas back 100 years, you should think that that is also moral then. But 1925, you would sound like a raving leftist lunatic. And so the further back you go, the further left, your centrism looks like, which is interesting, at least interesting that the center always at some level moves left. You think the further left? The further left? I feel like the center has moved left with time. So now today's centrist would look like a radical socialist you know, in 1925 and an even worse in 1825.

Yeah. Oh, and that's what I meant to say. I probably said it poorly. But yeah, like, so as time marches on, the left basically is able to take over the definition of center. And so when when people say I'm in the middle, what they typically mean is I am okay with whatever leftist thing happened 10 years ago, but not the thing now. So I'm not on the bleeding edge of the leftist push.

I'm somewhere. I'm a little bit behind. is basically what they're saying. I'm behind the revolution. But really what the center is is defined by the most powerful institutions. So if certain institutions in power, then they get to decide what the acceptable range of opinion is. And that's back to the concept of the Overton window. And the Overton window is not some kind of virtue. It's basically just the idea of what is acceptable opinion, things you can say out loud. But making that kind of calculation is making a strategic calculation. It's making more of a, how can I come off as

moral kind of calculation, rather than a what is right and what are good things, what do I want to preserve. And yeah, those are very different kinds of reasoning. And then the other part of this beyond the historical comp of centricism is back to the ideology point, okay, well, what was governance and nation building like before the age of ideology. And again, it's hard for us because every single person listening and every one of us involved in the show right now grew up immersed in the age of ideology. We just did whether or not we chose to or not, you did. And I feel like, wait, if you rewind the clock, there was a much greater emphasis on the

concept of leadership. Okay, so what does leadership mean? I want a strong person with a strong worldview, but in this case, if we're saying Donald Trump was a return to that, pragmatism is part of it, you know, persuasion and ability to win people over is a huge part of it, and defending your people are a big part of it. And the age of ideology minimized all of those qualities. We put party platform above the man. And some of that's good, by the way. Some of that's good. We put principles and ideology. above nationalism. Maybe some of that is good, but I think we lost the pride and patriotism and focus, which has now been distilled into the idea of America first.

So it's not that radical to move away from ideology back to these concepts. It's just radical in the context of the last 70 years. Right, yeah, and before politics was, you talked about leadership and you talked about nationalism, I think a key piece there is interest. So national interests is something that feels like a throwback phrase or it feels like, oh, that's backward. But as soon as Trump shows up and starts talking about national interest, we start to remember, oh, yeah, we are a group of people who has things that we want and things that we don't want and it's okay to talk that way.

And the same way, why the J.D. Vance, I don't really care, Margaret, moment was so important was because he was a guy saying, no, we want this and we don't want that. And it doesn't matter if that conflicts with, again, the principles that you had in your head when you were sitting down and going like, yeah but the perfect society would be open and the perfect society would be wouldn't have any interests at all then yeah so it's it's basically a way of thinking like you said the last 70 years since the since the end of the second world war where we thought of the world as being divided into ideologies and i mean people saw this coming so samuel huntington is a great example of a guy who saw it coming that there was going to be an end of thinking in terms of ideologies and more start to think in terms of civilizations civilizations civilizations being divided more by culture

than by ideas. And ideas are part of culture, of course. I mean, where they give rise and they're animated by ideas in some ways. But there are plenty of practices about culture that come from things like religious practice, come from things like legal practice. If you were to describe what America is, it's not just the ideas. Ideas, again, are a very important part of it. We have ideas, but we are not ideas. We're not our own ideas. We're a group that was shaped by, again, particular people who came from a particular place and have particular goals. And that's a okay it's okay to say we're something and not this other thing okay that transitions into the other video i just want to say one thing i'm probably being historically wrong and you you bolstered me so we're

both probably wrong it's not 70 years i don't think it is post world war two i think it's post world war one when the age of ideology began i think it's with the advent of the progressive movement don't you think like the progressive movement was the first big ideological push and it dominated for probably 30 years, there was a conservative movement that was a reaction to that in a way that came along in the last 70 years. I think, I'm not, I'm not speaking high on the mountain as an expert. I'm thinking that's probably more accurate. So, what you just described the way, what you described is a pushback on the cliche of we're a nation of ideas. And I like the way you do it because I feel the same way. Ideas are part of who we are, but we're not simply a nation

of ideas because if we are just a nation of ideas what about the culture that binds us the people that have been invested in this the sense of national identity that's a path to losing all of that and who we are and that takes me to that other video you've done um which is another cliched thing to say are we a nation of immigrants and you push back and so is jd vance by the way and said no we're a nation of settlers yeah so he he does that make that distinction that's a extremely extremely helpful one and back to Samuel Huntington he was he was a guy who recognized okay we're moving from a time where we're defined the con by a conflict of ideas or ideologies that we're moving into a clash of civilizations and those civilizations need to be defined so that if america is going to have

a future it needs to know what it is and what it wants to preserve and so uh the nation of immigrants thing is a way of trying to obscure that trying to flatten the distinction between settlers and immigrants so settlers the difference between settlers and immigrants it's not just a semantic thing it's It's not just a word to make people feel better about what America is. A settler is someone who comes from a particular place to a place and establishes a civilization. So before, and then immigrants are people who come to an existing civilization and want to participate in that. And so if you want to, you can say, yes, we do have immigrants. We welcome immigrants, but they become a part of something.

And it's a particular thing. And in the video, I talk about the melting pot analogy. But Samuel Huntington says it's a pot of something that we want to preserve and want to keep making. So his analogy is tomato soup, right? So if you're making a pot of tomato soup, you can't just put anything in there and still call it tomato soup. At a certain point, it becomes something else. And so the culture of America, what it was and what it is, the central idea of what it is, came from Britain, came from England. So it came from English settlers who came here and brought with them the Protestant religion,

They brought with them British traditions of law and justice, little cultural practices, food, things that might be at the top of the iceberg. But also, there are deep-seated cultural ways of being that have been here for a long time, and we like those. And so saying that we want immigrants to assimilate or we want to have a dominant American culture is not an insult to the outsiders. It's just a way of loving the thing that we were born into. It's a way of loving the space and the people that gave that. to us. They wanted to hand something down to preserve a republic for themselves and their posterity. They wanted to hand something down. And it's okay to say thank you for that. It's okay to be grateful for it while also saying we want to hang on to it. Well, you did two great analogies.

You said the difference between in your video, the difference between settlers and immigrants is like a founding member of a band and a guy that joins a band. And but the key is joining the band. If you're joining a band you're into their music and the dudes that are already in the band so you're signing up for something right you don't come in and go this is awesome thanks for inviting me in guys here's a whole new sheet of music we're going to do we're changing our style in the name yeah we're metal soup one is great but the tomato soup one was great because you said you acknowledge and we all do okay immigrants ideally immigrants have something to add to the soup okay basil, whatever you want to add to the soup that makes the soup better.

But if you start adding gummy bears and chocolate syrup, it stops being tomato soup. And all that says is it's not a melting pot, it's tomato soup. Everybody that comes here is in on tomato soup, and there might be some good ideas to add a tomato soup, but we need to be cognizant that we are still serving tomato soup. Right. And it's not at some level an insult to gummy bears. It's not saying that gummy bears are a bad thing. It's just saying that's not what we're doing here. Yeah, yeah, sure.

And there are some things that are not food that you wouldn't want to add. So not everything is fair game. But yeah, there are societies that can exist as their own. But yeah, the idea of having a particular thing can come across as people would try to get away from that because they think it is chauvinistic. People think that it's xenophobic or afraid of something. But really, at some level, it's just an amount of gratitude. It's just loving, again, the thing.

that your parents and grandparents going back established. So we've been here for a long time. And America is something, Russell Kirk, back to him, he talked about how the American order, this thing that we have, is a result of 3,000 years of human striving, going back to Jerusalem and Athens and all of that. And so wanting to preserve that, that robust thing that we've been handed, is, again, not an insult, it's just gratitude.

Okay, guys in New York. I want to try this really quickly, because I want to do this with Wade. I've got Alexie Lawless waiting. Dan, two days. Can you bring Alexi in real quick? Can we bring Alexi Lalis into this? Yeah, Alexi Ryan. You can.

You can. Okay. So, Wade, do you know Alexi Lalas, American Soccer legend? I don't. Here is. So, Alexi is one of the... I'm a terrible person. Tomato soup, my friends.

Long-lived tomato soup. Okay. So Alexi and I are going to talk about soccer, but also USA Canada and nationalism and patriotism in a minute. And I got my own conversation with Alexi. But there's something I want to do with Wade. And I thought, instead of keeping Alexi waiting forever, let's do this together. Now, I know you can't bring yourself up two days. Which president are you?

Can we do this quiz with all three of us in not an obscene amount of time? Can we answer these multiple choices two days? Maybe if we send them all links. I can read it out. Hold on. No, James. No, James. Come on, we can figure this out.

No time constraints here All right, yeah, I could do it I could read it out if you want Okay, let's go Ask us these questions We're going to figure out Which president is Alexie Lawless Which president is Wade's thoughts

Which president is Wilcane We gotta figure out Someone's got to fill out different ones though So Okay So tell Tinfoil You got three guys there On the support staff

You guys to figure it out James do you do Alexi Patrick and do Wade All right It's your day off How are you spending it riding through the countryside and horseback reading reflecting or writing in your journal

tinkering with a new invention or disgusting philosophy hosting a lively dinner party with friends and colleagues taking on an extreme outdoor adventure competition watching a classic movie enjoying the simple things in life which one of those

okay Wade which one of those would you do on your day off I'm going to go with watching a classic movie the last one just because that's what I remember right down from the list Alexi Uh, dinner party. Okay, extreme outdoor adventure, by the way. Good to meet you.

Good to meet you. Are you in a pantry or something? What's going on there, man? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got me, you know, I'm stuffed in a closet over here. It's great. It's beautiful. It's beautiful.

He's in Idaho prepping, Alexi. He's a prepper in Idaho. All right, I'm Extreme Outdoor Adventure. What's next two days? Extreme Outdoor Adventure, okay. All right. You're faced with a big challenge. What's your approach?

Stay calm, plan carefully, act decisively. Gather opinions, reflect deeply, and stick to your principles, or think outside the box and come up with a creative solution. Rally a team, inspire action, and push forward boldly. Or charge your head, full force, and take down an obstacle in your way. Use humor, positivity, and communication to win people over. So many options. I know.

All right. Alexi, you got to be rally the team, Alexi. Yeah, right. The rally the team. Yeah. I mean, shoot, that's what he did for America. I'm going to say I am, I'm going to say I'm the dude that gathers opinions and then takes action. Wasn't that one? That's what I'm going to do. That is.

All right, Wade. I'll take the last one. All of these feel a little bit self-aggrandizing where it's like, I would just be awesome, actually. That's what I would do. All right, next one. All right. How many are there? How many are there? There's nine total. This is number four. Okay. All right. What's your favorite way to travel?

on horseback enjoying the fresh air and open road walking through nature designing a better method of travel why not invent something new or jet setting to a new and exciting destinations exploring the wilderness on an intense expedition or taking a classic road trip enjoying the scenery oh my favorite way travel method of travel inventing a new method of travel that's the question that's what the answer is

I love it I'll go road trip I'm road trip. Absolutely road trip. Road trip. All right. Let's do it, guys. Let's get a road trip going. Okay.

All right. Next one. Choose a historical moment you'd love to witness. The signing of the Constitution, delivering a powerful speech that unites the country, writing the Declaration of Independence, exploring the excitement of the space race, leading the charge up San Juan Hill, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. that I'm going to witness? Yes. As much as I want to do the Constitution or Declaration,

I want to watch them charge San Juan Hill. Okay. Ooh. I'm going to go to space race. Really? Sounds very fun. Wow. That's good.

I would just say declaration. I want to go declaration. All right. You got declaration? Declaration for Alexi. All right. All right. What's your go-to snack?

Fresh fruit and hearty bread. A classic humble meal like apples and milk. Something homegrown or made from scratch. Gourmet treats or something trendy and exciting. A steak cooked perfectly with a hearty side or jelly beans. Steak. Steak. Did you say meal or snack?

There is go-to snack. Okay. So the candy, the jelly bean one. You want a steak for a snack? I get it. Wow. It's robust. It's very robust.

All right. What's your dream home like? A stately estate surrounded by lush farmland, a cozy cabin, a grand house with a personal library and workspace, a sleek modern residence with the latest amenities, a rugged adventurous retreat in the great outdoors, a peaceful ranch with open space and fresh air. last one I got the ranch makes sense

okay I'll go the one with the library and workspace that sounds nice I thought for sure you'd be the cabin in Idaho

oh yeah I've already got one of those no electricity no or anyone estate I'm gonna go estate estate estate for Alexi

wow okay a stately estate that was a Thomas Jefferson push right there he's headed down Thomas Jefferson path. I can already see it. All right. Which animal best represents

your personality? A strong and loyal horse, a wise and thoughtful owl, a curious and inventive fox, a bold and charismatic eagle, a fearless bear, always on the move, a friendly golden retriever, loyal and optimistic.

It all is self-aggrandizing Wade. Go ahead. I'm a horse, I guess. I remember what the descriptors were for it. I guess. I'm a horroca. Strong and loyal. Strong and loyal. I'm so strong. I'm so loyal. Alexie? Yeah, I think Fox. I can't remember what the attributes were, but sounds cool.

Curious and inventive. Okay, there you go. Curious and inventive. What do you will? I'm the eagle, man. I'm an eagle. Of course you are. That's good. All right. Last one. What's your signature outfit? classic and practical attire with polished details a simple timeless outfit that reflects your humble roots stylish yet functional clothing that allows you to work and think freely sharp and modern outfits that exude confidence a rugged adventurous outfit ready for action or a cowboy hat jeans and a smile umble roots so i guess humble roots for wade that was b

Yeah, there we go. Alexi. Humble, but amazing. There was something there where it was stylish but still functional. You could still do your job or whatever. Stylish yet functional clothing that allows you to work and think freely. There we go. My clothes allow me to think.

You think freely with your clothes. You really freeze you up. I mean, Alexi, you're wearing red eyeglasses and you're famous for your haircut back in the day. Wasn't flamboyant the answer. Come on, man. Right? I know. God, sold.

I'm going where Wade went. I don't wear a cowboy hat. enough to pick that one. So the Humble Roots one. Okay. All right. So Will Kane is Theodore Roosevelt. You can see it was pushing that way.

San Juan Hill did it over. Wade, you are, can you hear me? You're dude Alexi. Yeah, I did both. I got them both down. Oh, you got them both down. Wade, you are Thomas Jefferson. Great news. And Alexi, you are George Washington. Had a baby. That had a baby.

All right. America. Thinks of himself highly. Enjoy your stakes, gentlemen. Based on your own answers. I love that. All right. I have no idea if that worked, but it was fun to try.

Wade Stott's, the host of the Wade show. Check him out on YouTube or on X. As I mentioned, I don't give Ridicudis compliments. I'm a huge fan. You're going to be hearing more of Wade Stats. Thank you, Wade. Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure.

You bet. All right. See you, ma'am. Okay, two days. We've got Alexi. Let's not take a break. Let's just keep rolling with American Soccer legend. Fox Sports Soccer analyst, Alexie Lawless. What's up, man? Hey, buddy. Pleasure to be on. By the way, congratulations on all your success and the new show and all that kind of stuff. Couldn't have happened to a better person. And I've been following your trajectory for years and should come as no surprise, given your intelligence and your great hair. Oh, that is. Thank you, man. I kept waiting. He's going to turn it any minute. He's going to kick me in the crotch. But he never did. He's just a nice guy. We're going to talk about MLS and stuff like that coming up in just a minute. But I wanted to, so I went back through, Alexi, and I was said to the guys, he went on this huge tweet thing at one point. And I was super interested in it. And I want you to go back and find it. And they used GROC, GROC 3, which is really good, to find some of the stuff that you had gotten into on Twitter. And this is what it was, Alex. And it was back, it was this year, or last year, 2024,

and it was in the spring and summer that you were on this. But you were talking about the fact that soccer codes left in America. And I think this is really fascinating because I love soccer. You know that. And every time I do, my conservative friends make fun of me or whatever. And here's what you said in May. You said American soccer has traditionally presented itself on and off the field. as leaning left. Soccer's portrayal

as a niche foreign and or alternative sport has a lot to do with that. As soccer's grown, it's come to mirror more political diversity but mostly in the grassroots. I actually think the grassroots point is the most interesting part and accurate. And I know you get a lot

of shit, to be honest, Alexi, because I don't know you politically, I don't know, I'm not going to pigeonhole you, but let's just put it this way. You're not reliably on the left. You may not be reliably on the right, but soccer audiences are on the left and they probably come after you a lot because of what you just described. Yeah, sure. I mean, you know, my support for Trump and certainly the leaning to the right, you know, has, and the fact that I, that I've posted about it over the years, you know, certainly has, I mean, I provoke and I understand that I invite some of this and, and I enjoy some of it, to be quite, to be quite honest with you. I think, you know, that post in particular brings up a point.

And look, I know you are a soccer guy, by the way, you know, your family. And I think you see what I'm talking about here. At the highest level and the elite level and, you know, the professional level that I'm oftentimes talking about, I think dramatically it, it leans left in terms of the politics. And we have seen that on a consistent basis, whether it's our women's national team and certainly from the professional game out there. But, and I know you've probably found this, that over the years, as I've started to talk about this and, you know, whatever you want to call it, the coming out or something like that, it's amazing to me the amount of people that come up to me. And I think we're coming out of this period of time where, you know, we were once all so bold and there was a period in an era where everyone was so scared to say anything. And so it's almost like a fight club type of situation where people would come up to me and, you know, want to, in hushed tones, talk about, hey, I love the way that you talk about this. I'm right there with you. And either it's implied or they're telling me that they're too scared to do it. Now, I think we've moved away from that a little bit and people are a whole lot more confident in talking about that. But when it comes to specifically soccer and, you know, the grassroots, you know, soccer permeates all sorts of communities out there.

I think that the, you know, the inexpensive nature of it, the fact that you don't have to be huge to play it. I mean, if you saw, if you didn't know anything about soccer and saw Leo Messi walking down the street, you wouldn't say, hey, there goes arguably the greatest player ever to play the game, given, you know, his size and everything like that. So I think it attracts a lot of people. And, you know, I think ultimately it is a reflection of the country. and in many ways, maybe not at the top, but as this pyramid of soccer appears, I think you find a lot more people that do lean right, a lot more people that are just into, for lack of a better word, common sense. And, you know, it's fun to see it. It's been fun to discover over the years. Yeah. This is what you said in December. I love this tweet. You said,

soccer in America has often been seen as alternative counterculture and foreign i think that's true this can inherently appeal to liberal sensitivities because it defies american tradition american soccer also encouraged foster attaching ideology uh to fandom but america's shifting and so is soccer yeah i think that's true like it's so you have two things your analysis of why it codes left is absolutely true foreign counterculture i think about the guys that played soccer in high school, right? They were kind of counterculture. I don't know if that still is the case, but there's two counteracting forces going on. One, a lot of soccer fandom wants it to stay that way. You know what I mean? They want it to code left. They want it to be globalist.

They want to come off as cultured. They want to appreciate France or the UK culture, maybe more or at least as level with American culture. And a lot of that boxes other people out because that turns people off like no i love america and i want to love soccer the other force that i've seen that i fight against alexi is on the right the right's like you like soccer you're a commie you know you're a cell whatever i'm like why does it have to be this way like first of all as a game it's an amazing game it truly is and i know i know this because anybody listening i used to be one of these guys i'd be like any game that can end in a zero zero tie is communist not one any part of it and i get that i get it but my boys have played soccer

enough that I've learned the game. I think I know the game fairly well. And everything that happens outside of scoring is just awesome when you figure out what's going on. I just wish both sides would open up on sports is a common ground. And in this case, when we're talking about our national team, it's America. I just wish they'd stop boxing each other out. Yeah, in this moment where I think we are seeing and talking about, you know, the convenient epiphanies that many on the left are.

having relative to their recent losses. I think it's important when we are, you know, looking at soccer, ignore it at your own peril. And I don't think that it's any coincidence that time and time again, when Trump is giving speeches, you know, big picture types of speeches, and inevitably he mentions the 2026 World Cup. He mentions Johnny by name. Johnny Infantino is the head of FIFA. He understands what soccer has become, the power of a World Cup, and the power of soccer. The other thing you mentioned, and I fight this constantly, is that as Americans, because it's not a traditional U.S. game, we have an incredible inferiority complex, and we apologize. And I'm here to tell you, we should not apologize at all for what we are or aren't

on or off the field as a soccer playing nation. We have created something very, very unique in terms of our soccer culture in the United States. There's good and bad, just like any other culture. it is uniquely American and leaning into that American aspect of it and saying, yes, this is the world's game and we are participating it. But this is our version and our take on the world's game. I think that there is a power to that. And I think it can be incredibly attractive, not just to those around the world, but those in our country that we're trying to get into the tent, some of the people that maybe have looked down on it or just ignored it in general. We bring him into the tent. Obviously, the World Cup coming in 2026 is a great opportunity

to expose them to what you have found in terms of what happens on the field with the game, the culture around it, the supporters culture that has its good and bad points. But being a, you know, being a soccer fan for a long time, to your point, has meant, you know, thinking globally, if you will, and apologizing for what we aren't, even, not even what we aren't at soccer, but what we are or aren't as Americans. And I don't think that that is, I think that has changed a lot. It's come above ground in terms of all those soccer kids that you remember back from growing up that were, you know, a little, you know, nerdy, if you will.

And there was that counterculture element. It was almost like a music thing where you were following bands even just because they were from someplace else because it made you feel cooler about what was going on. But you certainly took your hits, sometimes even literally. Right. I imagine. I imagine. Great analogy on the music thing.

Yeah. It was like the garage band guys from a different city. You know, I'm super into this thing that you wouldn't know about because you're not worldly. That's a snobbery. That's the snobbery also, though. That's, and that's something we as a soccer community really have to guard against being elitist and being snobby. We do not want to do anything that excludes people and that turns people off from this game. And we are as guilty as any sport or entity out there of doing that sometimes.

Yeah. You're really smart, Lexi. People don't give you enough credit. I appreciate that. Can I clip that one off and send it to my wife? Hey, you said we have our unique spin on it. What is that? As much as I love soccer, like, you know the reputation?

America likes big guys, big players. You probably benefited from some of that, right? My sons might benefit from that because they're big. I got a centerback and a striker because they're big. big right um but i don't know like i couldn't define i can define spanish soccer i can define uh Brazilian soccer but like you said we're developing our own thing our own identity we don't have to have this inferiority complex what what are we so a couple of things first off it's called soccer okay don't ever apologize for calling it soccer i i even go like overboard i will not call

at football. I will die on the hill that is soccer. The other thing, and actually this goes back to your previous conversation with your previous guest, you know, we talk so much about the melting pot that is the United States, right? So from an American perspective, you know, for example, the World Cup's coming up in 2026. We have to find 11 men to represent the United States on the soccer field. And it's difficult, however many, 300 million people more than that, obviously. you have to find 11 people, and they have all of these different backgrounds. If I take 100 Americans that are into soccer and I ask them what good soccer is, I'm going to get 100 different answers.

And it's relative to where you grew up, your nationality, where you played, geography. There is an argument to me made that in order to be the best national team we can be, instead of being American in our bid to be as inclusive as possible, we actually have to be more exclusive. There's an argument to be made that we would do better as a national team if we just picked players from one geographical region.

You know, New York's a hot bed. Down in Texas where you are as a hot bed. Southern California is a hotbed because there is a homogenous type of nature, there is shared experience that leads to an understanding. So now when I'm asking that group, there's a general understanding

and acceptance of this is how we play. Because like any sport, the game can be played in different ways. And it can be, you can succeed in different ways. But when you have those 11 people that aren't able to come to consensus as to how they want to play because of their backgrounds, that's a difficult thing to do. That's really interesting. Our diversity becomes all of these other countries are culturally homogenous. They just are. They have some.

Now, now here's, wait a minute. Okay. So Spain is culturally homogenous and has a culture of soccer that they've all grown up with for generations. same thing with Brazil um we are culturally diverse especially when it comes to soccer so i'll just put flesh on that bone so we have african immigrant kids who come over and they they learn soccer a certain way and it's passed down from their fathers and their athletic abilities lend to a certain type of player we have Latino players who have a different path of culture we have a you know white players who have a different yet another different path and so we have an extreme amount of diversity

once we pick the best athletes and soccer players on the field that have to figure out how to congeal into one team wouldn't how do you i guess the other country that's going through that has that kind of diversity would be france and they dominate right now but maybe you would argue well france is actually adopting african culture and soccer so they're becoming culturally an african style team it's not necessarily diverse it's just more african style soccer is that yeah i have I think that's fair. They're really good. They're really good.

And their cultural attachment to soccer has changed more than the other nations we're talking about. Yeah. I mean, the way, the makeup of, for example, you're using France, you could also use Germany, actually. And Germany is a really interesting one given the immigration that they have had over the last couple of decades and what's happened. And certainly, like anything, as impacted all walks of life, including soccer. But I think what we're talking about. And by the way, really quickly, in Germany, we're talking about like Turkish and, and that type of immigration, right? And some really good players, playing for Germany.

And some really good players that have made the national team better. But they have come in and assimilated with an existing way to play, an existing way to train, an existing form of what the player can be. So it's not completely blown up. And they're not on an island. There's a recognition and I think a respect, whether it's France or Germany or anybody else, that Hey, this player, given what we already have established, but also given the fact that this player may be able to do some things differently or do the things that we do better than anyone we have seen, that's where the assimilation comes in. So I don't think they are changing as much in terms of the belief. And again, that group of people when you say, this is who we are and this is how we play. Ultimately, I know it's about wins and losses and all that kind of stuff.

but style in all sports and including in soccer is something that is discussed ad nauseum people write books about it and all that kind of stuff and yes it changes relative to the the tools which are the players that you have but I think that there's a much better general understanding of what they're coming into when they come into these let's be honest much more well established types of countries and cultures with what they think is the way they should play that's that's directly can I tied to the conversation I just had with Wade stocks right so it's tomato soup and are you adding to it are you changing the tomato soup so your point is like

the turkish immigrant kids or wherever they're coming from to germany are buying in to what already existed in germany and adding to it instead of so tell me and this is what we're kind of getting at so i've experienced this alexie because my boys play club they play school soccer soccer breaks down when it's not 11 dudes together and what happens often at lower levels i see all the time. You know who becomes the problem, but he's also the solution, is the best player on the field. He can be both at the same time. And what happens is if he's surrounded by players that are admittedly inferior to him, he becomes someone who plays hero ball. And that works sometimes, especially against inferior opponents. But the minute you run into another team where 11 dudes are

playing together in a certain way, you're toast. And when he tries to play hero ball, you can dribble one dude, you can dribble two dudes, you can't dribble five dudes, you know, and five dudes come collapse on you pretty quick after you've done it. The best player playing not in a homogenous congealed way with the rest of the other 10 guys, he goes from being a huge net positive to a huge negative for the entire team. Yeah, and because soccer is so low scoring, it's one of the, you know, the, the criticisms that people have on it, but the reality is it also makes those goals so valuable. But what it means, and certainly it's implied that you can defend. And some of the great defensive performances have been in the great sense of being a team and being

selfless in terms of that act. By the way, when people ask me all the time, you know, for advice, what should I do with my kid and all that kind of stuff? And I tell them, and it probably applies to any sport. If you're the best player on your team, find a better team. Okay. And we're talking about when you are a youth player. And it can be a curse to be the best player on your team because you do, to your point, feel like you have a responsibility. And in particular, when it comes to soccer, we always say there's nobody that's ever been faster than the ball.

And so that teamwork that happens when you are working that ball around, it doesn't matter how you good. It doesn't matter if it's messy or Ronaldo or anybody else. That ball is faster than them. And if I am able to control the ball and move the ball, I can. we can beat anybody. And the individual, the individual, whether it's in this case, in this team, the individual, yes, it's important and it's important in moments, but like any sport, you have to know

and pick and choose when to use that individual greatness that you have. And you have to have the respect of everybody else around you because it would only get you so far. Okay, one more question on this. So back to the thing of who are we? You said, we're developing our own thing. It'd be better if we picked, you know, Texas or Southern California or New York. and made that our identity, is your argument, we don't have one as a national team right now?

And if we did, like, which one should we pick? Like, who are we as a soccer nation? Well, as soon as you do that, you not only exclude a certain, you know, group of players, you know, you mentioned all these different baskets that we have of, you know, your soccer upbringing. And in each and every moment that you, uh, on the field, a player has, you know, a myriad of choices out there. And because of your background in that moment, you say, well, I know from growing up, this is how I would play this ball and this is where I would play that ball. But somebody might

have a completely different way of looking at it. When it comes to the national team and the national team that you are going to see in the 2026 World Cup in a year and a half from now, which by the way you can see on Fox, there is a developing style. But I think it's a developing style relative simply to the players that exist right now. It's not something that everybody is going to recognize necessarily or everybody is going to necessarily agree upon. Because like I said, I think it's very, very difficult unless there is that shared upbringing that you have. And again, not just shared, but accepted way of playing that oftentimes comes from, you know, the other people were amazed a few years ago when Iceland, you know, kind of came up and had a moment. Everybody's

saying, wow, we should do what Iceland does and stuff like it. It's apples and oranges. It's a completely ludicrous type of comparison the size of the United States. Yeah, it's actually easier at times to organize a smaller group of people. If I have to get two people to run to that mountain, it's easier than telling 100 people to run to that mountain. And the same applies for the United States when it comes to soccer. Interesting. By the way, the World Cup is on Fox. I have been told by high levels, we're going to see I get to do the Will Kane show from the field during the World Cup. Awesome. I'll tell you this, Alexi. I don't mind telling this. I went to this party at the Super Bowl, very swanky, okay? A lot of hitters. Got to expect nothing less from you. Of course, of course.

And my son wigged out. He was like, I got to get this picture, Dad. Dad, can I get this picture? Please, please, this one picture. I'm like, it's not really an environment where we're asking for pictures. And I'm going to put this into context. Tom Brady was floating around, right? It wasn't Brady. He had to have his picture with Johnny Infantante. Had I say it right? Whatever, the president of FIFA. Johnny Infantino. Infantino. Yeah. And so that was his big thing. He got his picture with the president of Peter. Hey, listen. And by the way, Trump has the trophy. Oh, really? Trump has the trophy. Have you noticed that? Yeah. I mean, listen, you, and you talk about politics all the time.

The power that FIFA and for people that don't know, it is the governing body of soccer. The power that FIFA, and in this case, the head of FIFA, which is Johnny Infantino, the power that he and FIFA have is more than many small countries out there in terms of the influence, in terms of the money, and obviously in terms of the relevance, you know, you see the World Cup trophy behind Trump in the White House and all that. So it's coming. I think it's going to be incredible. It's going to be the biggest World Cup we've ever had, 48 teams. Obviously, we're doing it with Mexico and Canada, but 80% of the games are going to be in the United States. And I think it's going to be unlike anything the world has ever seen.

Obviously, the world is coming back, 1994. I mean, I'm sitting here today because of the World Cup in 1994, talking to you, 1994 and then the Women's Cup in 1999. Those were seminal moments, and they've changed the culture forever. But the world is coming back to a very, very different soccer landscape in the United States in 2026. I think they're going to be pleasantly surprised. and I think it's going to be a hell of a celebration on and off the field for a number of reasons, not the least of which, by the way, it's the summer celebrating the 250th birthday of the greatest

country in the world. So there's a lot of stuff to be excited about. And I know you'll love to talk about things that unite us. And I'm ready for tonight. By the way, I got my hat on. I'm ready to go for the U.S. Canada game. Sports is one of the last few things where I think we can be united, even though we disagree about different things. And it's fun. It is so much fun to cheer for your country. case the United States. I love seeing it. I love seeing the passion. I love seeing the pride. And the reality is, whether it's hockey, whether it's soccer, whether it's darts, it really doesn't matter. But it's something that brings us all together in a world and in a country right now where very few things do. All right. I want to ask you about MLS, but I have to ask

this from your perspective. Okay, you have two questions. I'm going to ask the first that this way. You just described a fan's perspective. That's what we all feel, what you just described. But you've been on the other side of that. You've been on the field wearing the red, white, and blue. You've got to tell me about it from that perspective. How different does it feel from playing for a club? How different does it feel for playing in any other situation to represent the United States? It's a completely different thing than playing from a club. And for those that don't know, you know, soccer players play for their club. And, you know, that would be, you know, a Milan or Manchester United or something that. And then whatever national, I don't know, they are,

Every once in a while, they go with the national team. And obviously in the summer, when World Cups happen, they represent their country. Look, I did not represent and serve my country in a military capacity. And in no way am I equating running around on the soccer field with serving our country in a military capacity. But I still recognize that each and every moment that I got the opportunity and the honor to walk on the field, sometimes in some really crazy situations. to stand there, to put my hand over my heart, to sing that anthem. Regardless of if we won or lost or if I played well or anything like that, I was there to represent the country. And I'm telling you, and I'm not telling you anything you don't know, America has baggage.

And so representing America in a soccer capacity and going around the world and going to some of these countries that either they don't like us or they're envious of us. and the only way that they can get back in any possible way is on the soccer field. There's that pressure, but there's also that responsibility. And so, you know, I would, you know, they've burned flags in the stands, booing the anthem. The other day when they booed the anthem up there in Canada, I was like, what, really? That's nothing for soccer players. We laugh at that.

And so all of this kind of crazy stuff, I loved it. There was a punk ethos, whether they're throwing batteries and spitting on you and throwing cups of urine and all that kind of stuff, specifically because you're American. And you're sitting there and you're taking it. I loved it. I was like Johnny Rotten or whatever. Just bring it on.

Bring it on. And then the times that you actually get to beat them, you take the last thing, their last hope away from them. And it's a beautiful, beautiful thing. Doesn't always happen, but that's the way that I approached it. It's just an incredible honor.

If you get the opportunity to do it, I suggest that you take it. And don't waste it because it's fleeting. like any career, but if our head coach right now turned around at one point when I'm up doing a game and say, hey, you got 20 minutes in you, I would gladly run down there on my bum knee and give them the 20 minutes for just one more opportunity to represent my country like that. That is awesome. All right, and you were watching as a fan on Saturday night, booed the national anthem, three fights in the first nine seconds. You're in on tonight, USA, Canada?

I'm there. I really hope that in the best kind of mass whole way, the folks up there in Boston, cheer the anthem, like from start to finish in the most cynical, beautiful way. Like, I want it to be so loud during the Canadian anthem that they can hear it up in Canada, but they know that we're doing it to show that we are better than them, that we don't need, that there's some, there's some wit in what we are doing right now. I don't know if the Boston folks have it in them, but I would love to see that. I'm all in. I'm worried, though, Will, that we may have won the battle and lost the war because, listen, beating Canada twice in one week, I mean, they're going to have to close up shop when it comes to hockey if that happens. And we should definitely have a holiday if they get the job done tonight. I can't wait. I'm a little worried. I have to eat crow tomorrow. I am. And I will. And I will. But, yeah, it's hard to beat them twice.

Okay, finally, you're here also talking about the MLS. So we're on the MLS season, kicking off. You know, the MLS is an interesting thing. You know, I'm connected to FC Dallas. It's where my sons play. I rooted for NYCFC when I lived in New York because it was the only time in my life I was a sports free agent, everything else I was born to.

But MLS is whether or not people acknowledge it. This is my opinion, Alexia. I'm curious, it's on the right path. It's on the right path. And it is gone from the retirement league, right? Which we still have messy coming over and maybe Kevin DeBrono will come over. We'll still get those stars. But it's getting big time young players out of America, bringing them up through the system,

showing good soccer, and being bought, which is what you want. That's how you have to start. Being bought by Italy or Germany. Yeah, I mean, it is. So first off, MLS is going into its 30th year. If you had told me back in 1996 that this is, you know, that, you know, in 2025, you'd be going into your 30 year. You have 30 teams. The 30th team is coming online this year down in San Diego, which has always been a spot that MLS wanted to go to and it's finally coming online here.

The infrastructure that exists, all the stadiums out there, soccer-specific stadiums that have been built over the years, to your point, the pathway and the new pathways that have now arisen that lead players that in the past, either wouldn't have been seen or wouldn't have had that pathway, the development that's going on, all of that kind of stuff, the broadcast, all of that kind of stuff is, is just wonderful. And it warms the cockles of my red-headed American heart that we've come so far. As the saying goes, you've come a long way, baby. And MLS certainly has. Is it perfect? No.

And again, it goes back to what we talked about. They've done it their way. And it's very different just in the form of the structure. There's no promotion relegation. It's a single entity. There's a salary cap, all these different things. But ultimately, they produced the most successful American Soccer League in history. And we have a past littered with teams that have folded and leagues that have folded.

And also to your point, it's changed over the years. And that retirement league moniker that a lot of people like to give, I think that that has absolutely, not completely gone away. But going forward, I hope that MLS. uses 2026. This is a great opportunity to be to do big, bold, dare I say it in the most positive way, arrogant American things. They're talking about possibly changing the schedule, you know, going and playing in a more European schedule, which would be interesting. I want to see, I want to see hyper-MLS. I want to see MLS injected with steroids. And that means

taking off some of the restrictions that they have right now. Money is not a problem. There are billionaires all over the place when it comes to MLS. I want those that want to spend to be given the opportunity to do that. I know it runs in the face of the manufactured parody that not just MLS, but American sports have. A dynasty would be good. Yeah. A dynasty would be good for MLS.

All that kind of stuff. So I'm excited. It's going to be fun. And if you have a dynasty, if you have a dynasty, then you have one that can compete in the club World Cup and compete against potentially some of the big European clubs. And that's what I would ask you, what is your prediction for the most season? but it's such a crap shoot. No one knows because there's so much parody.

Like who's the best team? Yeah, I don't know. And it changes year to year. And that's part of what makes it fun. But I would like to see, you know, like I said, some of the training wheels come off and the ability. You know, when we think about the EPL, the English Premier League, you know, and there's a lot of fans in the United States.

And it is the most popular league in the world. People sometimes forget that it happened because of a migration. Originally, it was Syria A, which is the Italian League. And then with the opening of the European community and something called the Bosman ruling, which enabled players to move, everybody migrated to England. And I'm telling you, Will, I know you've been to England. I've been to England. People didn't go there for the weather and the food, okay?

They went there for the money, all right? And the oligarchs had lots of it and the nation states and even American owners, lots and lots of money there. So a migration can happen. It would be a unique migration, but the day. difference and the advantage that the United States has and MLS has is people want to come to the United States. Players want to come to the United States with all due respect to what Saudi Arabia is doing. Players and their families want to come and live in our country, in our

culture, you know, our schools, our medical, our quality of life, all of these different things make it very, very attractive and make it unique. So I'm hoping that MLS recognizes that, does the things they need to do to encourage that migration to happen because it would be phenomenal obviously for the sport, and it would be unheard of that America now had the biggest, best, and most popular soccer league in the world. But it can't happen. It can't happen. Alexi Lalas. All right. MLS season kicking off. Do we need to, what do we plug? Where are you with MLS, Alexi? Okay, so look, you can find MLS when it comes to Fox. We have games of the week. We are doing the LAFC game

on Saturday. And, you know, we will continue to do games. Obviously, Apple is involved right now, and they broadcast a lot of games. It's an interesting relationship that MLS has with Apple, and maybe they're looking around the corner or seeing around the corner, as far as broadcasting goes. A lot of new players.

But like you said, it's impossible. If I find the person that can accurately and consistently predict major league soccer, then I'm going to take him or her immediately to Vegas or Atlantic City or whatever, because we're going to make some money. All right. But it will be on Fox, as will be the 2026 World Cup, as will be Alexie Lawless, and hopefully as well, the Will Cane Show. That went way longer than I'm sure you expected or me, but I loved every minute of it,

and I really appreciate you giving me so much time, Alexi. Oh, no, I listen to you every day, and I love listening to you. And like I said, you're a thoughtful and interesting person. And we talked about pathways. Your trajectory is something to emulate out there for others. So well done, and congratulations on all your success. All right. Alexi. Look forward to seeing you soon, ma'am. Take care.

All right. Tomato soup, baby. Tomatoes soup. There he goes. Fox Sports Soccer analyst, Alexie Lawless here on the Wilcane show. Okay. I loved every bit of that. Another long episode. We've had long episodes this week because I'm doing two shows a day, but that's all right because we'll be back again tomorrow.

Canon Sports Edition tomorrow of the Will Kane Show. Make sure you download it at Spotify or Apple. I'll see you again next time. Listen ad-free with a Fox News podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. And Amazon Prime members can listen to this show ad-free on the Amazon Music app. It is time to take the quiz. It's five questions in less than five minutes. We ask people on the streets of New York City to play along.

Let's see how you do. Take the quiz every day at thequiz.com. Then come back here to see how you did. Thank you for taking the quiz.