Urban Pitch Podcast - The Beautiful Game of Life

With a solid MLS career under his belt, Keegan Rosenberry has built a reputation for himself as one of the top defenders in the league. Since being traded from the Philadelphia Union to the Colorado Rapids in 2019, he's been a mainstay in the Mile High City's backfield. We catch up with Rosenberry to get his thoughts on playing in Denver, how he became the team barber, and what MLS players look fo...

In another solo episode, Ramsey, Julio, and Brigitte catch up on the latest soccer headlines, including the start of the MLS and NWSL seasons, the new MLS All-Star Game format, and the return of 'Ted Lasso.' Timestamps 03:00 Getting back into the MLS season and the vibes in the LA stadiums 18:40 The new MLS All-Star Game format 23:37 Are there too many competitions in American soccer? 35:30 NWSL:...

With a new club and new family, it's been a wild past few years for Memo Rodriguez. After spending over a decade in the Houston Dynamo organization — from the youth ranks to the USL affiliate to the first team — Rodriguez joined the LA Galaxy this offseason, where he's looking to not only continue his solid MLS career but also compete for trophies. We sat down with the veteran midfielder to discus...

You know we had to do it big for episode 100! We brought on some of the Urban Pitch fam that has been with us since day one to celebrate the momentous occasion and look back on our collective growth in our respective fields. The guest list includes: Olympic medalist and ex-pro Lauren Sesselmann, music artist Feefa, pro freestylers Caitlyn Schrepfer and Lizzy Calderon, Urban Pitch founder John Lee,...

From winning an MLS Cup Championship to playing in a World Cup, 2022 was a landmark year for Kellyn Acosta. But the midfielder has his eyes set on more in 2023. We were able to sit down with the LAFC star to discuss his iconic foul on Gareth Bale and the overall experience at the 2022 World Cup (01:20), the current USMNT and what it was like breaking through with the team (07:25), coming up in the...

A new MLS season is upon us, which means new kits! The Urban Pitch Podcast sits down to unbox a special gift from the Colorado Rapids (00:01:43), then they discuss their favorite (00:07:48) and least favorite (00:42:50) 2023 MLS kits. Cast Hosts: Ramsey Abushahla, Julio Monterroza, & Brigitte Flores Producer: Roy Cho Subscribe to our newsletter  for more interviews and latest news on street fo...

Covering everything from a potential new 18-team MLS format to kit leaks and the next USMNT manager, the Urban Pitch Podcast crew is back with all the vibes and headlines in the soccer-verse. Ramsey, Julio, and Brigitte sit down to discuss potential changes to the MLS Playoffs format (03:21), LAFC's "savvy" business moves (18:13), 2023 MLS kit leaks (26:20), Jesse Marsch's short tenure a...

After a one-week hiatus, the Urban Pitch Podcast crew is back to give you the hottest takes on all things football culture. Today's episode covers the USMNT friendlies in LA (01:45), Chicho Arango leaving LAFC (08:47), Weston McKennie's loan to Leeds United (12:21), LAFC 2's announcement and MLS Next Pro vs. USL Championship (17:17), MLS' storytelling problem (24:36), and Julian Araujo's failed tr...

The soccer world knows no shortage of drama. The latest episode of the Urban Pitch Podcast covers only but a few of the burning topics that have been coursing through the veins of the beautiful game. Ramsey, Julio, and Brigitte sit down to discuss their thoughts on LAFC and Angel City's new stadium name: BMO Stadium (01:56), LA Galaxy supporters' threat to boycott games (08:39), Shakira's Gerard P...

An artist, host, and entrepreneur, Devin Kirtz is a man of many talents — so much so that even his own wife has trouble explaining his multi-faceted career. At the root of Kirtz's versatility is a passion for music and soccer. He played on the Wingers, Red Bull's freestyle football team that has been described as the "Harlem Globetrotters of Soccer," and while touring with the team he wo...

New year, new drama. As if we hadn't been talking about the United States men's national team enough, it found itself back in headlines once again last week. The Urban Pitch Podcast crew reconvenes for the first time in 2023 to discuss the USMNT drama between Gregg Berhalter and the Reyna family (01:21), the futures of Berhalter and Gio Reyna (18:22), options for the next USMNT coach( 22:45), the...

We made it to the end of the year! In a special episode of the Urban Pitch Podcast, the Urban Pitch Podcast crew recounts some of their favorite memories from 2022, in addition to looking ahead to 2023 and beyond. Ramsey, Julio, and Brigitte sit down to discuss the wild 2022 World Cup final (02:18), overall takeaways from Qatar 2022 (14:50), highlights from the year (26:47), and New Year's resolut...

A regular face in the Jamaican national team back line, Javain Brown has emerged as a promising young player since fully turning pro in 2021. Now heading into his third professional season, Brown is looking to learn from the ups and downs in his career so far with both club and country.   He's seen significant time on the field in his two MLS seasons with the Vancouver Whitecaps, and now that he h...

When it comes to the beautiful game "culture" has a few different meanings. If you're talking about things on the pitch, the definition is pretty straightforward — the values a certain team or manager has instilled within its players. And while that's all great, off the pitch is where things get really interesting.   Here, culture has a multitude of connotations ranging from how we watch...

Plying her trade with Toluca, Destinney Duron has made a name for herself as one of the top goal scorers in Liga MX Femenil. A longtime friend of the podcast, we finally got her on to discuss the jump from college ranks to the pros (05:22), overcoming ACL tears in both of her knees (13:22), Good times at The Base LA and her first tryout with Club America (18:35), making the transition from Club Am...

In the early 2010s, the LA Galaxy were far and away the premier franchise in MLS. Three MLS Cup titles in four years is a run of success that hasn't been replicated since, and playing significant roles in that winning stretch was Sean Franklin and AJ DeLaGarza. Fan favorites amongst the Galaxy diehards, the defensive pair were lauded for their tenacity, versatility, and reliability — features any...

It might feel a little weird, but the World Cup is finally here. In what may very well be the most contentious one of all time, the Urban Pitch Podcast crew discusses all things around the tournament, including why this World Cup isn't hitting the same (04:08), favorite World Cup memories (14:57), thoughts on the USMNT's and Mexico's chances this year (22:47), our picks to make it through to the k...

Although Angel City FC narrowly missed out on the playoffs, there's no way you could objectively say that the club's debut season wasn't a success. From leading the league in attendance to generating a reported $43 million in sponsorship revenue, there was plenty to cheer for in La La Land for women's soccer fans. One of those also included Madison Hammond, a defender who joined Angel City just be...

Why is it so hard to quantify soccer? Advanced stat gurus have been able to do so with other sports, but still have issues in analyzing the beautiful game from a metrics perspective. In his new book "Net Gains: Inside the Beautiful Game's Analytics Revolution," ESPN staff writer Ryan O'Hanlon explores how some of the world's biggest clubs have begun to use cutting edge analytics and stat...

When you read "Amor Prohibido" (forbidden love), your first thoughts may go to the iconic first track of Selena's "Dreaming of You" album. But for Bryan Escareño, it goes way deeper than that. The namesake of his brand goes back to his origins in fashion. When the LA native decided to get into the game, he received pushback from his family, who didn't see fashion as a viable ca...

In front of a deafening sold out crowd, LAFC willed their way to a 3-2 win over arch rival LA Galaxy in their second round matchup of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The Urban Pitch Podcast crew was at the Banc to take in all the vibes, and sit down to recap the high octane match (1:00), the Rose Bowl El Trafico match to open the 2023 season (16:08) and the greatest El Trafico matches of all time (34:17). T...

Johana Rosas played and trained with a broken wrist that required surgery for over a month. That's pretty much all you need to know about the way she plays the game. The injury has kept Rosas on the sideline for most of her first professional season with Xolos of Tijuana, but she sees it as a blessing in disguise.   Despite having torn both of her ACLs in the past, she says this injury has been th...

Having played in two youth World Cups and one senior Club World Cup, Abraham Romero has seen the glamor that professional soccer has to offer. But he's no stranger to its struggle either. He was ready to retire following his 2020 season with LA Galaxy II, and despite signing with Orange County SC, he still had to work a construction job during the season to help make ends meet. In the turbulent wo...

The 2022 World Cup is upon us, so of course that means that USMNT fans are in a downward spiraling frenzy about the status of their team. After a lackluster international window that featured zero goals scored, the calls for #BerhalterOut are as strong as ever. But is it really panic time for the USMNT? The (not-so) Washed-Up Crew is back with another episode to answer that question (10:48), along...

Whether it's lifting a pair of MLS Cup trophies or playing alongside and against the likes of David Beckham, Landon Donovan, and Cristiano Ronaldo, Bryan Jordan had quite a career in pro soccer. But that's only part of his story. The LA Galaxy fan favorite has transitioned into careers both adjacent to and beyond soccer, working closely with the Galaxy as well as getting into acting and modeling....