June 12, 2018 9:13 pm

Re-visit Planet Soccer and Get Ready for the World Cup with Chuck, Gary, Neil deGrasse Tyson and John Eric Goff

Oh, it’s that wonderful time of year, well, four years. Every four years, the best 32 soccer countries in the world compete for the ultimate prize: The FIFA World Cup. And this summer is no different.

From a re-invented Brazil team, still sore from the 7-1 home semi-final defeat last World Cup, to Germany trying to retain their title, to the rest of the field fighting their way to the top, this summer in Russia is going to be good. We are missing some notables: Italy, Holland, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and the United States all failed to qualify. However, that only means that it’s time for new countries to step up to the spotlight.

This week on Playing with Science, we revisit Planet Soccer, now extended with a conversation between Gary O’Reilly and physicist John Eric Goff about the Adidas Telstar 18 – the new ball being used for this year’s World Cup. On this extended classic, you’ll hear about the differences between the Telstar and the Brazuca, the ball used during the 2014 World Cup. We also can’t help but discuss the infamous Jabulani, the ball used during the 2010 World Cup.

Eric is one of the leading experts on the Telstar 18 and he was also featured on our episode 2018 Soccer Tech: Beyond Sports & Telstar 18 where he gives an in-depth review of the Telstar 18.

If you’ve never listened to the original episode, you’ll also hear from resident astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and former NY Cosmos assistant coach and 2x MLS All-Star Alecko Eskandarian as they join Chuck and Gary to discuss how to “Bend it Like Beckham,” the future of high-tech jerseys, video replay, and a lot more.

We’re only a couple days away from the start of this year’s World Cup and you can feel the excitement in the air. As a former soccer player and crazed fan myself, I love the World Cup because everyone around you can get swept up in the beautiful game. And even though England will break my heart, as it does every four years, and even if the United States failed to qualify, there’s almost no better feeling than knowing a summer of the world’s greatest soccer is upon us. Full steam ahead.

Please join us tomorrow night for Extended Classic: Planet Soccer, with Neil deGrasse Tyson right here on our website, as well as on our Playing with Science channels on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. If you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Ian Mullen