Sporting KC Show presented by Michelob Ultra: Gerso talks golf, training, family and TV shows ahead of MLS is Back

Running throughout the season on Sports Radio 810 WHB, the Sporting Kansas City Show is available on several podcast hubs including Spotify and iTunes as well as SportingKC.com/SportingKCShow. With Nate Bukaty, Carter Augustine and Aly Trost hosting the weekly program, Sporting fans have a place to go to catch up on club storylines, guest interviews and more.

Sporting Kansas City has touched down in Walt Disney World to compete in the highly anticipated and long-awaited MLS is Back Tournament, which will kick off tonight at 7 p.m. CT when Florida clubs Orlando City SC and Inter Miami CF lock horns in the first match since league play was suspended March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Needless to say, the newest episode of the Sporting Kansas City Show on Sports Radio 810 WHB provided a comprehensive preview of the action, including Sporting’s Group D opener against rivals Minnesota United FC on Sunday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and the ESPN app.

Hosts Nate Bukaty and Carter Augustine were joined by FOX Sports Kansas City sideline reporter Carter Augustine, who has traveled to Orlando with Sporting’s delegation and will provide first-hand updates throughout the competition. Augustine shared insightful details on the COVID-19 testing protocols, Sporting’s golf session on Tuesday and the various ways players and coaches are spending their free time in the proverbial bubble.

Sporting Kansas City winger Gerso Fernandes also joined the show, commenting on the club’s first few days in Orlando. The forward has become renowned in Kansas City for his golf swing goal celebration, but as it turns out, his golf game left something to be desired on Tuesday.

“At the golf course, my teammates were saying to me, ‘Gerso, you look good but you don’t play good,’” Gerso recanted. “I told them, ‘Well, if I look good it doesn’t matter. People will think that I am good until they see me swing.’”

Gerso has been delighted thus far by the hotel amenities—from pools and restaurants to gaming rooms and workout facilities—but acknowledged that the biggest challenge of participating in the tournament is being away from his son, Gerso Jr., and his wife Emmy. Gerso will miss his son’s first birthday, and although that made for an emotional goodbye last weekend in Kansas City, the winger feels good about his family’s safety and the team’s mindset.

“Everyone has been working very hard to be ready for this environment—for the temperatures, the humidity, all of the things that will be working against us,” Gerso said. “We’re ready for this moment.”

The episode concluded with Bukaty and Trost previewing Sunday’s contest between Sporting and Minnesota—a Midwestern clash that pits two teams who sit atop the early Supporters’ Shield standings after a pair of convincing wins at the start of the season. They also heard from Manager Peter Vermes, who believes his side is as ready as it can be ahead of this historic and unprecedented competition.