Soccer and sports are supposed to allow us time to not focus on all the rest, the things we have to think about and deal with that we'd rather not. In the last week, however, we've seen the USLPA vote to authorize a strike, a World Cup host country attack one of the teams that qualified for its tournament, an MLS partner enabling people to profit from war and death and the brave Town of Foxboro has stood up to FIFA.

Heady stuff, for sure, but it must be tackled and Oliver Scholes and Thomas are ready to go in studs up!

The best way to keep up with Oliver is at The Blazing Musket.You can follow Thomas on BlueSky.

Let us know what you think about the show, send us your suggestions and anything else at thebentmusketig@gmail.com.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

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The MLS Next Pro season kicks off this weekend and a revamped Revs II is back in action for 2026. They had a lot of turnover this past off-season and with a youth minded coach with the first team, Revs II are worth keeping an eye on this season. Literally no one follows this team like Josh Nye does for The Blazing Musket, he's here to get us all caught up and ready for the new season!

Thomas opened the show with some words on Merrimack New Hampshire, South Georgia Tormenta, the blizzard of 2026 and the USLPA before Josh joined as well.

The best way to follow Revs II is with Josh's coverage at The Blazing Musket and on BlueSky.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's the time of year where everyone makes their predictions for the season ahead, everyone offered up their best thought out predictions that will mostly turn out to be wildly inaccurate in a few months time.

We also discussed the 1st round of the US Open Cup in New England and we tested the limits of how far off topic we can get and still get back on track.

Our guests join from:

United in Green podcast covering the Vermont Green

From the Forest to the Tide podcast covering Portland Hearts of Pine

Raising Anchor a podcast covering Rhode Island FC

And contributing writers for The Blazing Musket

You can find all these podcasts on The Blazing Musket as part of our podcast network along with Revolution Recap.

We hope you like this episode and be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review if you do wherever you get your podcasts from!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's almost time! The NWSL's return to New England with the Boston Legacy is drawing ever closer. Jackie is back to get you caught up on who the Legacy have got, where they're playing, when they're playing and everything to expect this season.

The best way to follow the Legacy is with Jackie's coverage at The Blazing Musket and on BlueSky.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The leader of The Blazing Musket, Sam Lattof, checks in to catch up on all the latest developments with soccer in New England. We've got preseason behind closed doors for the Revs, new players for RIFC and Hartford, the US Open Cup brings New England vs New England match-ups and Mauricio Pochettino puts his foot in his mouth. Sam's here to discuss it all!

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

To keep up with all the soccer in New England, head over to The Blazing Musket!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With all the excitement around New England's growing USL presence in recent years, the strong presence of the UPSL may have been overlooked. The founders of one of the UPSL's newest teams, Boston Emeralds, are in this week to tell you all about their Club and why we should check them out in 2026.

What goes into founding a Club, deciding on a league, name, badge and building a following, Kevin and Keegan let us know all about it!

You can follow the Boston Emeralds on Instagram and checkout the UPSL at their site.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

To keep up with all the soccer in New England, head over to The Blazing Musket!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The biggest obstacle to the biggest year of soccer in the US that isn't the Federal government is the USL Championship labor dispute. The USL and USLPA are three weeks past the expiration of the previous deal and it's an open question as to when a new one will be reached. Connor Tobin is fully involved in the negotiation process and joins us to tell the tale of how we reached this point, what an ongoing dispute could mean and what are the key points holding up the deal.

It's a critical and important situation for the future of US soccer and one to keep full up to date on!

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

To keep up with all the soccer in New England, head over to The Blazing Musket!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back for the January 2026 Roundtable! The USL has an ongoing labor dispute, women's soccer is back in New England, new teams are joining the party in Maine, Vermont and Connecticut and the USL is going to play right through the World Cup.

It's a lot discuss and we tackled all of it!

Our guests join from:

United in Green podcast covering the Vermont Green

From the Forest to the Tide podcast covering Portland Hearts of Pine

Raising Anchor a podcast covering Rhode Island FC

And contributing writers for The Blazing Musket

You can find all these podcasts on The Blazing Musket as part of our podcast network along with Revolution Recap

We hope you like this episode and be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review if you do wherever you get your podcasts from!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.