Best of The Ben Maller Show

July 2, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The host of the Ben Maller Show, filling in for the regular host, opens the episode by explaining why he is rooting against the U.S. men's national soccer team in the World Cup. He is not rooting against the country, he insists, but against the team itself, for reasons he lays out in detail. This leads into a broader discussion about race and roster construction in the NBA, sparked by Stephen A. Smith's comments about the Los Angeles Lakers' recent trades. The throughline of the episode is a defense of contrarian sports fandom: the host argues that rooting against a team for specific, non-political reasons is legitimate, and that the same logic applies when analyzing team composition, even when race enters the conversation.

Why Root Against the U.S. Men's National Team

Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.

Read Full Summary →

Free • No credit card required

Listen to Audio Summary Open in App

Never miss an episode of The Ben Maller Show

Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

What you'll learn

1 (03:50) **Show Open & NFL Combine Headlines** - Host Brian Noe welcomes listeners and previews topics: Russell Wilson wanting to stay with the Broncos, coaches skipping the NFL Scouting Combine, and the Bengals franchise-tagging Tee Higgins.
2 (05:05) **Team USA Soccer Win & Host's Anti-USA Stance** - Brian celebrates Team USA's 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, then explains why he is rooting against the team in the World Cup.
3 (11:05) **Red Card Controversy & Punishment Debate** - Audio of Balogun's red card is played, and Brian argues the call was too harsh for a borderline play.
4 (14:49) **Recap: Why Root Against Team USA** - Brian recaps his three reasons for rooting against the USMNT, responding to a listener who called him unpatriotic.
5 (18:35) **Team USA vs. Indiana Football Analogy** - Compares the USMNT to the Indiana Hoosiers football program to explain his stance.
6 (22:20) **Defending the Anti-USA Stance** - Responds to a listener who called him a "D word" and "P word" for rooting against the USMNT.
7 (30:27) **Stephen A. Smith's "White Dude Central" Lakers** - Brian reacts to Stephen A. Smith's comments about the Lakers having too many white players as their top three.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Brian Noe, filling in for Ben Maller, discusses why he's rooting Team USA to lose in the World Cup and analyzes the Lakers trade for Walker Kessler and why the Lakers are showing how desperate they are. Brian also analyzes the Jaylen Brown trade to the 76ers and why the Celtics may have surpassed the Mavericks trading Luka ass the worst trade of all time. Biran and LaReina also get to know each other better with a fun game.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.