Jon Tannenwald of Philly.com’s soccer blog The Goalkeeper joins the show to talk about USA-Brazil. But first…WHAT IS LEBRON JAMES THINKING?

Don’t think for one min that I haven’t been taking mental notes of everyone taking shots at me this summer. And I mean everyone!

Is this, before our eyes, a real-life heel turn? We mentioned this before with regards to Tiger Woods. He’s made enough money, so why not go heel and try something new. At the very least, he can be himself and wouldn’t feel beholden to corporate interests. And, think about how many people love the villains (see: nWo) so the endorsements may be just as lucrative as a bad guy.

This, it seems, is LeBron’s marketing strategy. It’s fantastic. Or, if he’s not trying to do this, it’s a continuation of one of the worst summers in the history of public relations.

SOCCER TALK:

We go pretty in-depth into the U.S. soccer match with Brazil, but keep it framed within the ESPN telecast. Namely, was Bob Bradley coaching for his job, and were we surprised that ESPN spent the entire telecast talking about if Bob Bradley was coaching for his job. It was a bit surprising, but nicely handled by ESPN, especially Rob Stone who handled the extended pre-game show very well.

To shift gears, Tannenwald was also on the scene recently when a city bus smashed into a local bar. He talks about the story of being an intrepid reporter. I hope he was wearing the proper fedora.

Thanks for listening.

Tags: Bob Bradley, Jon Tannenwald, LeBron, Soccer, USMNT