Total Soccer Show
The Total Soccer Show is a radio program and podcast AbOUT football, produced in Richmond, Virginia and broadcast locally on WRIR-LP. The show was formerly named The Total Football Soccer Show. Although the pilot episode was recorded and submitted over a three month period, the first official episode was not broadcast until August 6, 2009. Since June 2010, the show has been provided at least two times per week.
Origin
The radio program/podcast began as the brainchild of co-founders Daryl Grove and Taylor Rockwell. It was first pitched to WRIR-LP in the spring of 2009, and was approved for weekly broadcast later that year. Albert Ottati and Josh Stankus served as part-time replacements for Daryl, while the latter was on holiday in England in December 2009. Ottati and Stankus were promoted to full time hosting duties upon Daryl's return in January 2010.
The show was initially titled The Total Football Soccer Show, after various other titled include "The River City Soccer Show" and "The Old Dominion Soccer Show" were rejected for being "too region specific". The show was renamed The Total Soccer Show in January 2011 after months of intense ReDeSign and listener input.
Regular features
Prior to the inclusion of Albert and Josh, one recurring segment was a weekly Spelling Bee. In the contest, Daryl and Taylor would challenge each other to spell the names of different players (GeneRally relating to that week's particular subject). Although no official score remains from the contest, general listener consensus awards Daryl the most all-time victories.
Another popular segment was "Tee Shirt Time", wherein the listener who answered a previously announced trivia question would receive a Total Soccer Show Tee Shirt. The name "Tee Shirt Time" was taken from the popular MTV program The Jersey Shore.
There is also a "Game of the Week" section, where the co-hosts determine what football match (usually from the upcoming weekend) will be awarded the honorary status of "Game of the Week."
The Albert Ottati Rant Box
The "Albert Ottati Rant Box" (or AORB) is a recurring segment, wherein Albert vents his anger, frustration, fury, or combination thereof regarding a specific topic. Generally, the AORB relates to the United States men's national soccer team in general, and US Coach Bob Bradley in specific. Other past targets of the AORB have included Sunil Gulati, Josh Stankus, Major League Soccer, Liverpool F.C., and former Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George N. Gillett, Jr.. The rants are generally explicit, and often employ wildly inappropriate portmanteaus.
Name That Tune
A regular feature of the radio program/podcast is "Name That Tune", with football teams instead of songs. Name That Tune is a fairly straightforward version of The Leonard Maltin Game, made popular on the Doug Benson podcast Doug Loves Movies. The game consists of the host giving several clues as to the identity of a certain soccer player, and then the contestants guessing the number of clubs they would need to correctly identify the given player.
Albert and Daryl are frequent winners of the contest, with Daryl having correctly "gone negative" (listed the player and any of his various teams) more than any other player. A running joke during the game is for a player to shout out the name Ally McCoist when they are uncertain of an answer. This reference dates back to the January 5, 2011 episode (Episode 73) wherein Josh, aware that an unnamed player was Danish, gave the former Scottish international as his answer.
Regular cast
- Taylor Rockwell (host)
- Daryl Grove
- Josh Stankus
- Albert Ottati
Friends of the show
As established by Taylor on the February 10, 2011 episode, a friend of the show is any guest who has appeared on the show more than twice. To date,
- Jesse Smith - President, Central Virginia Soccer Association
- Luke Moore (broadcaster) - Founder of the award-winning podcast, The Football Ramble
- Jeff Carlisle - Soccer columnist for ESPN
- Leigh Cowlishaw - Head Coach and Director of Soccer, Richmond Kickers
- Alexi Lalas - Former member of the United States men's national soccer team and first modern-era American soccer player to play in the Italian Serie A.
- Mark Cuban - Owner, Dallas Mavericks. Cuban was established as an honorary "Friend of the Show" for "Services to the Soccer Show".