Water popping opens up the grains in the wood to allow stain to penetrate deeper and more evenly. Basically he does know what water popping is.

Water popping is good for certain types of woods and for darker shades of color.

Light stain on red oak doesnt need water popping. It can still be done but the benefit is essentially nil.

Dont like yellow? There are plenty of stains to choose from that has very little or no yellow in it. And the poly can give a honey color too so maybe a water bourne urethane may be better option for you.

thanks for the reply. Can you tell me a little more about waterbourne urethane and how it's different from polyurethane? I actually like the color of the natural wood before it is finished but I know that putting a polyurethane in a natural finish turns it a little yellow which is what I'm trying to avoid. Thanks!

Never mind....Google is my friend. :) I think I understand the difference and it looks like the water urethane is what I want.

Water bourne urethane is the closest thing you can achieve to resemeble any woods true natural color without any alterations.
Staining can still be done to achieve a color you want if the water urethane doesnt work for you colorwise. But since it sounds like you dislike yellow adding the water urethane OVER the stain will help keep true to the original stain color choice. Adding Oil polyurethane can give the color a richer appearance but does also tend to add a bit of a honey tone in the early life of the floor and then tends to amber with age.
Water bourne urethane does age and change tone but not nearly as prevalent as oil based polyurethane.