Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're sending
Speaker 1: subliminal mind signals to WNBA Award voters warning them of
Speaker 1: slow death by hemorrhoids if they so much as think
Speaker 1: about giving Asia Wilson a fourth place vote. On today's show,
Speaker 1: we'll be talking to Orlando Pride defenders Emily Samson Kylie
Speaker 1: Strum about the team's twenty one game unbeaten streak and
Speaker 1: their impenetrable backline, plus a wild statistical anomaly, your postseason picks,
Speaker 1: and look good, Feel good, play good. It's all coming
Speaker 1: up right after this. Welcome back, my little slices. Happy Friday.
Speaker 1: Here's what you need to know today in the WNBA.
Speaker 1: The regular season has officially concluded and the playoff matches
Speaker 1: are set, but we're recording this before all the games
Speaker 1: are over, So this is now a choose your own
Speaker 1: adventure podcast. Select the sentence that most accurately matches reality.
Speaker 1: Thet won the battle for the eighth seed. The Washington
Speaker 1: Mystics won the Battle for the eighth seed. The Chicago
Speaker 1: Sky won the Battle for the eighth seed. So the
Speaker 1: playoffs begins Sunday. The first round is best of three,
Speaker 1: and as a reminder, the first two games of each
Speaker 1: series will be played on the higher seeds home court. Also,
Speaker 1: technical foul counts are now reset to zero. The first
Speaker 1: round matchups are the number one Liberty versus the number
Speaker 1: eight team. I just told you that, were you not listening?
Speaker 1: The number two Links versus the number seven Mercury, and
Speaker 1: three verses six and four versus five? Which teams are those?
Speaker 1: That's what Google's for. Okay, get your popcorn ready and
Speaker 1: hold on to your butts. It's playoff time. Oh and
Speaker 1: since we recorded this episode before all the games were locked,
Speaker 1: that Mercury Storm contest, a freaking ten pm Eastern start,
Speaker 1: wasn't yet over. So we're just gonna guess at what
Speaker 1: might have happened in what might have been Diana Tarassi's
Speaker 1: last regular season game ever and potentially her last home
Speaker 1: game ever if Minnie sweeps him the first round of
Speaker 1: the PLA.
Speaker 2: So here's what we do know.
Speaker 1: The Mercury came prepared before the game. The team released
Speaker 1: a video that honestly made us feel some things. It
Speaker 1: featured a handful of folks, including her wife, agent, and sister,
Speaker 1: along with teammate Britney Griner, reading a letter titled Dear
Speaker 1: d here's a snippet.
Speaker 2: If this is it, thank you will never be enough,
Speaker 2: but it's a start.
Speaker 1: Hello all of us. And before the game, every fan
Speaker 1: received a commemorative T that said, quote the greatest of
Speaker 1: all time period P E. R Io d T. And
Speaker 1: on the back text from that aforementioned letter to DT.
Speaker 1: The Mercury have been hinting if this is it, but
Speaker 1: y'all the video and the shirt that really made it
Speaker 1: feel like this is actually it Now what we don't know,
Speaker 1: but we're guessing at after the game in which the
Speaker 1: White Mamba scored let's say a points one more than
Speaker 1: Kobe's best Yeah, yep, okay, and grabbed thirty boards yep,
Speaker 1: that's correct. Yeah, all in fewer minutes, shorter games, and
Speaker 1: got am I reading this right? Four technicals? She was
Speaker 1: asked if she's retiring after the playoffs, and here's my
Speaker 1: dramatic reenactment of Diana's response, not telling you shit.
Speaker 2: You'll find out when I figure it out, gocox.
Speaker 1: We'll see how close I am to reality to soccer.
Speaker 1: There are a couple of NWSL games tonight, and three
Speaker 1: of the top four squads are in action. First it's
Speaker 1: the number two Washington Spirit and number four k C
Speaker 1: Current at eight pm Eastern, then number one Orlando Pride
Speaker 1: at number eight BFC at ten thirty pm Eastern. There
Speaker 1: are four more games this weekend, so we'll link to
Speaker 1: the schedule in our show notes. More NWSL news New York,
Speaker 1: New Jersey Gotham FC announced yesterday former team captain in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three NWSL champ Ali Krieger will serve as
Speaker 1: its first ever club ambassador. No, that doesn't mean she's
Speaker 1: responsible for scheduling all the team's nightlife activities or will
Speaker 1: should be tasked with leading the diplomats and staff serving
Speaker 1: at a Gotham embassy or mission. Per Gotham's x account,
Speaker 1: Kreeger's mission as ambassador is quote to elevate the club
Speaker 1: women's sports and act as a connection to media on
Speaker 1: and off the pitch end quote. A press release from
Speaker 1: the team also states that the move is part of
Speaker 1: the team's effort to keep collaborating with players after their
Speaker 1: careers end and give them flowers for their leadership and
Speaker 1: legacy and its breaking NWSL news. So Sportico is the
Speaker 1: first report that Milwaukee Bucks owner Mark Lazry is nearing
Speaker 1: a deal to buy a control stake in the NWSL's
Speaker 1: NC Courage from Steve Mallick at a roughly one hundred
Speaker 1: and eight million dollar valuation. The offer is for sixty
Speaker 1: percent of the team, per the Sportico Report, quote Lazri,
Speaker 1: who expressed interest in the Seattle reign and was in
Speaker 1: the running to buy Angel City FC before will Obey
Speaker 1: and Bob Eiger secured a control stake in the NWSL's
Speaker 1: most valuable club at a two hundred and fifty million
Speaker 1: dollars valuation. The Courage sit on the other end of
Speaker 1: the NWSL's financial table, with one of the lowest revenues
Speaker 1: in the league. The club has often been mentioned as
Speaker 1: a potential seller given that near every other NWSL team
Speaker 1: is either a new franchise or has a new principal
Speaker 1: governor over the past four years, and most of those
Speaker 1: ownership groups want to invest heavily to propel the league forward.
Speaker 1: End quote. We'll keep you updated on that story as
Speaker 1: we get more more soccer. The other day, we told
Speaker 1: you about Team USA under twenty playing in the U
Speaker 1: twenty World Cup. While they lost to North Korea one
Speaker 1: nil on Wednesday in the semi finals, which makes this
Speaker 1: the best showing for Team USA since their fourth place
Speaker 1: finish in twenty sixteen. But they won't be grabbing gold.
Speaker 1: They'll take on the Netherlands for the bronze on Saturday,
Speaker 1: and it'll be North Korea versus Japan for the title
Speaker 1: on Sunday. We're going to take a quick break. When
Speaker 1: we come back, we step onto the pitch with Emily
Speaker 1: Sam's and Kylie Strum. It's time for group chat, where
Speaker 1: we take the tea from the text and bring it
Speaker 1: onto the airwaves and joining us today, we've got a
Speaker 1: defender for the top of the table, Orlando Pride of
Speaker 1: the NWSL. She won gold with Team USA in Paris
Speaker 1: and was a national champion with her Florida Seminoles. She's
Speaker 1: a twin. She loves Dakota, a guy, not a state.
Speaker 1: She's got cat's name Linguini and Rigatoni, and she got
Speaker 1: married in February, but her wedding's in December. It's Emily
Speaker 1: Sam's what's up, Emily, what's up?
Speaker 3: Thank you?
Speaker 1: That was crazy? Also joining her a defender for the
Speaker 1: Orlando Pride. She's played in Germany, the Czech Republic and Spain.
Speaker 1: And she's a proud b u alum. She was on
Speaker 1: the most recent NWSL Best eleven for the month of August.
Speaker 1: She's just a quiet gal who likes to read books
Speaker 1: and watch Jeopardy, but says she turns into a monster
Speaker 1: on the field. It's Kylie Strom. Hey, guys, ladies, it
Speaker 1: is great to have you, and we are really excited
Speaker 1: to shine a spotlight on this defense for the Pride.
Speaker 1: I get why we have so many conversations about the
Speaker 1: goal scorers like Barbara Banda and Marta, but we got
Speaker 1: to talk about the lockdown that's been happening with the
Speaker 1: Pride of late. You shut out your opponents in four
Speaker 1: straight matches. You set a new club record for longest
Speaker 1: clean sheet streak. You've also set a new club record
Speaker 1: for regular season minutes played without conceding four hundred and
Speaker 1: eleven consecutive minutes without giving up a goal. So let's
Speaker 1: just start there. Emily, what's the secret, Like, what's been
Speaker 1: the secret to this incredible defensive stretch?
Speaker 3: Oh gosh, I would say, although we're talking to two
Speaker 3: defenders right now, it's definitely a team effort. Yeah, even
Speaker 3: just like the midfielders from to the forwards. Everyone's included
Speaker 3: in our defending and I think that's what helps make
Speaker 3: it so successful. And of course, having players like Marta
Speaker 3: and Barbara on offense, I think changes teams to their
Speaker 3: behaviors and makes them play maybe a little bit more defensively,
Speaker 3: which makes them makes our job easier.
Speaker 1: That's such a defensive player's answer to just defer. That's
Speaker 1: why I never could have played defense. I'm way too
Speaker 1: much about myself. I'm like, give me the goals. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: you're just spreading the love. But it's true. It's incredibly
Speaker 1: complete team and that's what's made it so impressive to watch.
Speaker 2: And that goes back to the goalkeeping.
Speaker 1: To Emily, Anna Moorhouse tied in NWSL single season record
Speaker 1: the other day in your nil nil draw with Case.
Speaker 1: That was her eleventh clean she of the season. So
Speaker 1: tell me.
Speaker 2: About playing with Anna and your communication back there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're trying to get twelve for her so she
Speaker 3: can set the NWSL record.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Anna's great. I mean, she's obviously has a big
Speaker 3: presence and like, for example, end of the game, we
Speaker 3: have a corner, like we have full confidence that she's
Speaker 3: gonna come out grab the ball and just like secure
Speaker 3: the win for us, or you know, get the shut
Speaker 3: out for us. So it's been great, and yeah, I
Speaker 3: think too. Part of what makes it so great is
Speaker 3: that we can communicate in practice, like get it all
Speaker 3: out there, like we can just she says her opinion.
Speaker 3: She's a very strong opinion, which is good. And I
Speaker 3: think I'm strong opinion too, So we can just like
Speaker 3: swear it all out there on the field and not
Speaker 3: you know, dance around what's going on. We'll just get
Speaker 3: it all out there and come to a common ground.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Kylie, is there something in particular that the defense
Speaker 1: has worked on or prioritized of late or is this
Speaker 1: just a team clicking in the final stretch.
Speaker 4: Honestly, I think it's just kind of like a mentality,
Speaker 4: you know. I think our coach, Sam Hines, he was
Speaker 4: a defense in his career, and yeah, we just take
Speaker 4: a lot of pride in our defending. I think we
Speaker 4: have like such good camaraderie from front to back, and
Speaker 4: I think like the defensive unit is super tight and
Speaker 4: like we all have a common goal. So yeah, hopefully
Speaker 4: we can keep it going well.
Speaker 1: Twenty one games unbeaten. That's the most in league history.
Speaker 1: There's only a few weeks left in the regular season,
Speaker 1: so how much pressure is there to try to go
Speaker 1: an entire season without a loss?
Speaker 4: Kiley honestly, like, like it's not a main goal for us,
Speaker 4: Like we've broken a lot of records and all that stuff,
Speaker 4: but it's never once been a goal for us. I mean,
Speaker 4: we want to win the Shield, we want to win
Speaker 4: a championship, I mean, we want to go to playoffs,
Speaker 4: which we've accomplished already, but we just want to keep
Speaker 4: playing like our best games ever game. So that's kind
Speaker 4: of the motivation here. No pressure with any of like
Speaker 4: going undefeated and stuff. So we're just we're just going
Speaker 4: with it.
Speaker 1: Is it like a jinx mentality, like you don't even
Speaker 1: talk about it?
Speaker 2: Or is it like mentioned we.
Speaker 4: Don't even talk about it on it Like I think
Speaker 4: sometimes we look at each other, like we tell this
Speaker 4: story a lot, Like in the beginning of the year,
Speaker 4: but like preseason times, we were going through our schedule
Speaker 4: and kind of like predicting, like you know, how many
Speaker 4: points we would have and which games we would win
Speaker 4: maybe like draw, lose, whatever, and we gave ourselves like
Speaker 4: a ridiculous amount of points, like crazy and we're like
Speaker 4: afterwards we went through We're like, guys, this probably is
Speaker 4: a little unrealistic, you know, like let's be real and
Speaker 4: like now we're like even out performing on me. So yeah,
Speaker 4: I think sometimes we're just like, wow, this is crazy.
Speaker 2: And we call that manifesting.
Speaker 1: Right, you just put it out there, like here's all
Speaker 1: the points that we want and then you just made
Speaker 1: it happen.
Speaker 2: That's awesome.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about Marta FIFA World Player of the Year
Speaker 1: six times, first football or of any gender to score
Speaker 1: five different World Cups, first of any gender to score
Speaker 1: five straight Olympic games, Like, Kylie, what's it like playing
Speaker 1: with an all time great like that. You've had a
Speaker 1: couple of years with her.
Speaker 2: It's unbelievable.
Speaker 4: Like I think every single day we step out on
Speaker 4: the field with her is like such a privilege and
Speaker 4: an honor. She is hands down the greatest of all time,
Speaker 4: Like no debate, and the fact that she's like still
Speaker 4: doing these things that she's doing like at her age,
Speaker 4: like she's like getting better if that's even possible. Yeah,
Speaker 4: it's it's just like such.
Speaker 2: An honor and a privilege to be her teammate.
Speaker 1: I remember talking to some of my Chicago Red Stars
Speaker 1: players at an end of season event, and I ask
Speaker 1: the question, like, is there a player that you got
Speaker 1: out in the field and you have trouble just playing
Speaker 1: with or against because a little bit of you is
Speaker 1: like kind of freaking out a little And I feel
Speaker 1: like that would be the case with Marta. Did you
Speaker 1: feel that way when you were in your first couple
Speaker 1: of practices together.
Speaker 4: The coolest thing about Marta is like she'll never make
Speaker 4: you feel like she's, you know, the greatest of all
Speaker 4: the time, Like she doesn't act like it or anything.
Speaker 4: Like she's so humble. She's just like another person, and
Speaker 4: it's like, you know, like you you meet her, she's
Speaker 4: I'm like, oh, I'm kind of like, oh Marta, Like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know.
Speaker 1: That's like oh Madonna, Okay, yeah one.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Has she taught you anything or is there anything that
Speaker 1: stands out from your years playing with her that that
Speaker 1: she's taught you? Oh?
Speaker 4: I mean I've learned so much from her, you know,
Speaker 4: just her like being a captain and the way she
Speaker 4: leads is one of the most inspiring things.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 4: She's so passionate about everything that she does, like every
Speaker 4: single training, like she's she's not there to just like
Speaker 4: show up and you know, do her job, like she
Speaker 4: wants to win. So I think she just showed me,
Speaker 4: like what it what it takes to be a winner.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Emily, it's just her first year, but it feels
Speaker 1: like Barbara Abanda is a legend in the making in
Speaker 1: the same way.
Speaker 2: What makes her so special?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think she's a world class player. She's so
Speaker 3: hard to defend. You know, there's times where I go
Speaker 3: against your own practice and she's making me better, and
Speaker 3: I hope I'm making her better. But she's obviously she
Speaker 3: has her speed, and but she's good to you know
Speaker 3: with like back to goalplay and like to connect with
Speaker 3: as the nine. So she's got like both of those
Speaker 3: aspects she's so good at like just a little flick
Speaker 3: ons and to get behind the back line, and of
Speaker 3: course her speed, Like she's just so good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it feels like you have this incredible torch passing happening.
Speaker 1: And I'm certainly not pushing Marda out, but like to
Speaker 1: have the greatest of all time and then have this
Speaker 1: player that in such a short amount of time has
Speaker 1: sort of taken this league by storm. It feels very
Speaker 1: promising for the future of this team, and that's really
Speaker 1: nice to see. I think I don't mean this in
Speaker 1: a condescending way, but there are certain teams that go
Speaker 1: through such struggles that it's hard not to root for
Speaker 1: them when they start to find success, and the Pride
Speaker 1: are kind of one of those teams, like best in
Speaker 1: the league right now. But things haven't always been so
Speaker 1: sunny in Orlando. The team has missed the postseason for
Speaker 1: the last five regular seasons.
Speaker 2: They've missed the.
Speaker 1: Postseason and all but one of the seasons that the
Speaker 1: team has existed. You've already clinched a playoff, Berth. You're
Speaker 1: playing so while, like Kylie, you've been on this team
Speaker 1: since twenty twenty one, why is this year so different?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's it's been a roller coaster to say the least.
Speaker 4: So to kind of finally see everything coming together is
Speaker 4: like the best feeling in the world. I think like
Speaker 4: one of the strengths of this team and something that
Speaker 4: makes us really special is just the bond and like
Speaker 4: the culture that we have amongst the girls. It's something
Speaker 4: that I've never experienced on any other team. And I've
Speaker 4: been a part of some really good teams but something
Speaker 4: that we have is just really special, kind of unexplainable.
Speaker 1: Yeah, how did you deal with it when the team
Speaker 1: was sort of the butt of jokes? I mean we
Speaker 1: had Ali Riley and said LaRue and I was talking
Speaker 1: to sid about her time there and how literally people
Speaker 1: would be like, oh, if you play too badly, you're
Speaker 1: gonna end up with the Pride. Like being a team
Speaker 1: that's sort of the butt of the joke is hard.
Speaker 2: How did you handle that?
Speaker 4: Oh? Yeah, like nobody wanted to come to the Pride.
Speaker 4: Like I remember there was like before one of the seasons,
Speaker 4: there was like this meme I wonder if I could
Speaker 4: find it, and it was literally like like you know,
Speaker 4: Pride potential starting eleven and it was like Marta and
Speaker 4: then like the rest was like a rock and.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Like but like we're like, oh wow, yeah, so we
Speaker 4: were down bad, but we climbed our way.
Speaker 1: Out of it.
Speaker 4: You know. I think we made a lot of good
Speaker 4: changes from you know, like front office standpoints and stuff,
Speaker 4: and people have just really invested in the culture of
Speaker 4: this team and took it really seriously. So it's pretty
Speaker 4: incredible how drastic of a turnaround it took. In a
Speaker 4: rather short amount of time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Emily, it's just your second season with the team.
Speaker 1: It's the only NWSL squad you've been a part of.
Speaker 1: But I wonder how much the team staff, coaches, anybody
Speaker 1: talks about those past seasons or previous struggles this year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was just thinking. I feel like one of
Speaker 3: the main messages from Seb last year was just like
Speaker 3: changing the narrative of Orlando. So yeah, people would come
Speaker 3: to Orlando and be like, Okay, easy three points. Like
Speaker 3: SEB would always just hammer that message into us and
Speaker 3: he's like, we have to change the narrative. We have
Speaker 3: to make it a nightmare for teams to come here
Speaker 3: and play. And I think we just had that chip
Speaker 3: on our shoulder last year of like, no, you're not
Speaker 3: gonna come here and just get an easy three points
Speaker 3: and go back home. Like it's we're trying to make
Speaker 3: it a nightmare to come here. And same thing with Away.
Speaker 3: You know, obviously it's a different like shot at you
Speaker 3: when you go to another person stadium, but you know,
Speaker 3: same thing, like we're not gonna this isn't going to
Speaker 3: be an easy game for anybody. And I think even
Speaker 3: from like two years ago to last year, like, although
Speaker 3: I wasn't part of the team two years ago, we
Speaker 3: did better and we were so close to making playoffs,
Speaker 3: and I think even almost making playoffs was again more
Speaker 3: fuel for us this year to be like, Okay, we
Speaker 3: could have done it last year, and now we've added
Speaker 3: more players and now we definitely know we can do
Speaker 3: it this year. And I mean it's worked, it's been
Speaker 3: I don't think it's any team has walked away thinking
Speaker 3: it's been easy to play.
Speaker 1: Us, certainly not since nobody's beaten you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can't imagine.
Speaker 1: I think it's easy to take a drawer or loss.
Speaker 1: Speaking of going from struggling to the top of the game,
Speaker 1: the US women's national team had its worst World Cup
Speaker 1: finish last year, bounced back to win gold this summer
Speaker 1: in Paris. You know, I've heard players like Glenn Williams
Speaker 1: rave about the vibes, the energy, the camaraderie just felt
Speaker 1: different to her from that World Cup teamer previous iterations.
Speaker 1: What was your experience like in Paris? Did it feel
Speaker 1: like the team was carrying the weight of that World
Speaker 1: Cup failure or had moved on to this new vibe.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I definitely don't have the experience from previous years
Speaker 3: and under different coaches and stuff like that with the
Speaker 3: national team. But I think that was like one of
Speaker 3: the first things that the team talked about and that
Speaker 3: Emma talked about. Like she came in and just had
Speaker 3: her what she wanted from the team, her expectations, and
Speaker 3: we would have like meetings that weren't even anything about soccer,
Speaker 3: but just how can we build the togetherness and the
Speaker 3: cohesion within the team and like forget all the distractions,
Speaker 3: forget all like you know, previous results, Like let's forget
Speaker 3: all of that, Like we're here for a reason. We're
Speaker 3: a really good team. And she just did such a
Speaker 3: good job of, like I said, building that cohesion between us,
Speaker 3: and then I think the players kind of like caught
Speaker 3: that vibe too, Like so when we would have our
Speaker 3: team meetings with no staff, we would echo some of
Speaker 3: the same things that she was saying. And I think
Speaker 3: the players, of course recognize how hard it's been in
Speaker 3: previous years, and so I'd hear a lot of them
Speaker 3: tell stories about like, oh, you know, like stay off
Speaker 3: the media and like stuff. They have all that experience,
Speaker 3: and so I think just hearing them talk about previous
Speaker 3: years to this tournament. I think, I'm like I can
Speaker 3: kind of get the picture and could definitely tell that
Speaker 3: the vibes were way different.
Speaker 1: You started out as an alternate. How did you approach
Speaker 1: your role in what you could bring.
Speaker 2: To the team.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was honestly like forgot or I didn't know
Speaker 3: the rules for the Olympics. So when Emma sits me
Speaker 3: down and tells me you're going to the Olympics, I
Speaker 3: was like, what the heck is going on? So I
Speaker 3: think from that moment on, I was like, which is
Speaker 3: a learning thing for me? I wasn't like prepared for
Speaker 3: that role or preparing myself for that role. Of course,
Speaker 3: I was like, first camp, I'm gonna try my hardest,
Speaker 3: but like it's just a week, and you know, it's
Speaker 3: not about me, it's about the team getting ready for
Speaker 3: the Olympics. But just the fact that it changed so quick,
Speaker 3: I think, yeah, definitely learn from that experience to like
Speaker 3: always be ready and so then preparing differently and just
Speaker 3: knowing that at anytime something can change. And then of
Speaker 3: course making the roster. I'm like, I don't think she's
Speaker 3: gonna put me in, but like you never what's looking
Speaker 3: at happen, So just preparing myself in every way for
Speaker 3: that scenario should have come up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we saw a lot of different experiences. We saw
Speaker 1: the starters thriving. We saw someone like Lynn Williams, who
Speaker 1: was originally an alternate, coming in scoring a goal, playing
Speaker 1: a huge role. We saw players suffer injuries and lose
Speaker 1: out on their dream of getting to the Olympics, and
Speaker 1: then even different experiences for alternates. You end up on
Speaker 1: the roster getting a medal, and then you have alternates
Speaker 1: that don't get that. How is that kind of balancing
Speaker 1: getting and experiencing a dream but also being alongside teammates
Speaker 1: that maybe didn't get out of it what they'd hoped.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's like devastating for them. I mean,
Speaker 3: I think the rules are just stupid in that regard.
Speaker 3: I think they're there away from their homes across the
Speaker 3: world for just the same amount of time as everyone else,
Speaker 3: and they had to be ready to be called into
Speaker 3: the squad at any moment, to be called into play
Speaker 3: at any moment, just like the rest of us. So
Speaker 3: I feel like I feel so lucky that I was
Speaker 3: put on the I mean, yeah, that was put on
Speaker 3: the roster I hate that people got hurt all that stuff,
Speaker 3: but I just wish that they could yeah get the
Speaker 3: get their medals too, because they were alongside every single
Speaker 3: one of us the whole time. And I love like
Speaker 3: during the podium during the metal ceremony, you know, people
Speaker 3: took off their medals right away and put them on
Speaker 3: them and we like got pictures and everything. So of
Speaker 3: course that's not nearly enough, but I hope that they,
Speaker 3: you know, felt celebrated and appreciate, appreciated and all those
Speaker 3: things the same as everybody else.
Speaker 2: Kylie were there.
Speaker 1: Team viewing parties for the Olympics were all the Pride
Speaker 1: folks watching together.
Speaker 4: Absolutely every game we watched. The final is interesting for
Speaker 4: sure because.
Speaker 1: We had a.
Speaker 4: Yeah and then yeah, so that was that was a
Speaker 4: tough one. You know, you're you're like so torn, but
Speaker 4: it was it was so incredible to like watch all
Speaker 4: of them just be on the biggest stage and smash it.
Speaker 4: Like we were so pumped for and like I just
Speaker 4: remember like like when she like got called into campus
Speaker 4: and she was so excited and you know, like like
Speaker 4: you said, just have the mentality like yeah, like let's
Speaker 4: just you know, see, you know, I'm gonna enjoy my
Speaker 4: time and you know, then I'm gonna go visit my grandparents.
Speaker 4: After then she gets called in and like doesn't even
Speaker 4: have a suitcase, Like.
Speaker 2: It's sorry, Grandma.
Speaker 4: Like such a cool story and like just so well deserved.
Speaker 4: So it was it was awesome to see them.
Speaker 1: Wait, so Kylie just said that you didn't have a suitcase,
Speaker 1: so you literally didn't know the rules, Like you thought
Speaker 1: you were going to go to campus and alternate, help
Speaker 1: them prepare and then leave, and instead you're going to France.
Speaker 1: So take us through that moment. Are you like speed packing?
Speaker 1: Like what's the plan there? How do you react?
Speaker 3: Yeah? We were in New Jersey and I had packed
Speaker 3: my little suitcase, my little carry on for one week
Speaker 3: and so she yeah, she's like, you're going to the
Speaker 3: Olympics and that's like a six week trip. So I
Speaker 3: like ran up or went up the stairs to my room,
Speaker 3: called my husban right away. I was like crying and
Speaker 3: all that stuff, and I was like, okay, I need
Speaker 3: you to pack me a suitcase, like and I didn't
Speaker 3: even have my past No, you travel too for the husband. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So then like the next day we like got on
Speaker 3: FaceTime and I was like, yeah, I need that, I
Speaker 3: need that or whatever, and he packed me a suitcase
Speaker 3: and he sent it and it got there the day
Speaker 3: before we left for France.
Speaker 1: He had to mail your suitcase. Okay, first of all, Emily,
Speaker 1: let's have a chat here. Why didn't you read the
Speaker 1: rules or ask questions about like what's this process? Like
Speaker 1: what happens after this week?
Speaker 3: I was supposed to, yeah, go home, and then like
Speaker 3: because a player got hurt and from the eighteen and
Speaker 3: then you know, Lynn got moved up, and then I
Speaker 3: got moved to the alternate. So I just I thought that, like,
Speaker 3: once the roster was set, it was set, and so yeah,
Speaker 3: I guess I should ask more questions and learn the
Speaker 3: rules earlier. But yeah, Dakota, my husband had to send
Speaker 3: me a bag and my passport. It was very stressful.
Speaker 1: Okay, so you walked him through on FaceTime to pick
Speaker 1: out certain things. But in the end, whatever the husband
Speaker 1: packed for you, was that good enough? Or like, listen,
Speaker 1: this is a very fashionable team out there. You got
Speaker 1: to wear a lot of your Ralph Lauren stuff, so
Speaker 1: that's helpful. You had some outfits planned for you, But
Speaker 1: did you feel like you were like Oh, I can't
Speaker 1: believe you forgot to put this in or I needed
Speaker 1: this and I forgot it.
Speaker 3: No, I felt I felt well prepared. I'm not a
Speaker 3: good dress upper person. I'm just wearing We all were
Speaker 3: wearing swubpants and T shirts, and the I literally could
Speaker 3: have packed two suitcases or two T shirts have been
Speaker 3: fine because I just rotated the same my favorite T shirts.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I had more than enough while I was there.
Speaker 2: All right, Good to hear, Good to hear.
Speaker 1: How was it for you in that Olympic final You're
Speaker 1: facing off against four of your Pride teammates, Marta, Adriana, Angelina, Raphael.
Speaker 1: What was that like for you recognizing so many people
Speaker 1: on the other side and then realizing that you had
Speaker 1: to beat them and steal their dream.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was definitely tough, just especially like with Marta
Speaker 3: being her last in and out national game or last
Speaker 3: international tournament. I was like, I really want to win.
Speaker 3: I want to go home with the gold medal. But
Speaker 3: and I was even thinking too, like I can't stand
Speaker 3: and like go back into the facility and see them
Speaker 3: all holding their gold medals and I just have my
Speaker 3: little silver medal like that. But of course, yeah, I
Speaker 3: mean it was it was really cool just to see
Speaker 3: Audrey Marda and yeah, all of them Rafa get on
Speaker 3: the field and super cool to be able to see
Speaker 3: them after and just to like experience that with them.
Speaker 3: It was really cool.
Speaker 1: And you have an opportunity with the Pride to do
Speaker 1: a little bit of a make good with Marta now
Speaker 1: on the same side with her, trying to help her
Speaker 1: potentially go out in style. I know she's only announced
Speaker 1: the retirement from international play, but boy, would that be
Speaker 1: a pretty cool way to cap off this year. What
Speaker 1: message do you have for the fans of the Pride.
Speaker 1: I know there's been time to, you know, react to
Speaker 1: the success you're having, and it's hard to demand this
Speaker 1: huge outpouring for a team that has struggled in the past,
Speaker 1: but I'd like to see Orlando get behind a squad
Speaker 1: that's doing unprecedented things. Kylie, what would you say to
Speaker 1: fans to try to get them to come out and
Speaker 1: see what y'all are doing?
Speaker 4: Yeah, we have some of the best players in the world,
Speaker 4: Marta Barbara Like, there's there's literally nothing more you could
Speaker 4: ask for. You know, we're flying right now, so yeah,
Speaker 4: we we have great fans. Our environment this year especially
Speaker 4: has been like so great, and yeah, it'd be nice
Speaker 4: if if one day we could sell out enter inco.
Speaker 2: And keep this going.
Speaker 3: How about you, Emily, Yeah, I would say the same.
Speaker 3: Like the growth even from last year to this year
Speaker 3: has been awesome. You know, we're starting to fill out
Speaker 3: the upper part of the stadium, or not fill out,
Speaker 3: but starting to get people there. So I just want
Speaker 3: to keep that going. Like, huge shout out to the
Speaker 3: fans that have been with us, you know, through the
Speaker 3: hard times and through last year, and that have been
Speaker 3: here every game this year. So bring your friends, bring
Speaker 3: your friends, friends, bring your parents, whatever you got to.
Speaker 1: Like, let's bring your enemies.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, exactly, literally anybody.
Speaker 1: And the last thing I want to ask you to
Speaker 1: is to tell me something about your team that most
Speaker 1: of the fans wouldn't know. I feel like there's been
Speaker 1: such incredible coverage of the soccer, but I don't really
Speaker 1: know a lot of the members of your team as
Speaker 1: well as some other teams. So give me some good stuff, Kylie.
Speaker 1: What's something like and team inside joke or somebody on
Speaker 1: the team that's always like singing or or in charge
Speaker 1: of the music in the locker room or dancing or
Speaker 1: doing tiktokic.
Speaker 2: What are some of the characters of your team that
Speaker 2: we should get.
Speaker 4: I don't even know where to start. Like I feel
Speaker 4: like we have a really fun team. Yeah, Like I
Speaker 4: mean Lauro a lot o cats. She's a special one.
Speaker 4: She's bringing all the pregame vibes in the locker room.
Speaker 4: She's getting everybody going. She's like so important to this team.
Speaker 1: Oh God, Like there's so many What about you, Emily.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say as far as like tiktoks, like
Speaker 3: mac cron gets her little squad and like Ali Lemos,
Speaker 3: they like love making their tiktoks so on the field
Speaker 3: and they yeah, they provide all that content for like
Speaker 3: on the field tiktoks, which is kind of fun. And
Speaker 3: they try to like pull someone of this in Like
Speaker 3: me and Kyler are like, no, you got go ahead,
Speaker 3: But yeah, they rope some people in somehow. Uh.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's so funny because like we have some you know,
Speaker 4: like Ali Limos, like she's so young and like I
Speaker 4: feel like an old grandma, but like at the same time,
Speaker 4: like she's one of my favorite people. Like we just
Speaker 4: like get along so well, and she just is teaching
Speaker 4: me nonsense.
Speaker 1: And with all the like international players and especially all
Speaker 1: the Brazilians, are we mixing it up? Are we getting
Speaker 1: like some Bossa Nova and some samba music and stuff
Speaker 1: in there or is it? Are there little clicks of
Speaker 1: like all the international players and then all the Americans
Speaker 1: are hanging over here.
Speaker 3: I would say, like in the locker room, it's funny
Speaker 3: because we'll be like playing like you know, rap music
Speaker 3: or you know, Drake whatever, Like I can't even tell
Speaker 3: you who the new rappers are. I don't listen to
Speaker 3: that crap, but they'll that'll be playing the locker room,
Speaker 3: and I know, like come they'll like come a time
Speaker 3: where like Marta and someone's like, Okay, we're like tired
Speaker 3: of this, and then they'll like go over and put
Speaker 3: their Brazilian playlist on, and then everyone's like, hey, a
Speaker 3: little nice vibe, like let's go yeah. I feel like
Speaker 3: they get yeah, they get fed up, and they're like
Speaker 3: we're changing the vibe.
Speaker 4: Then em comes in and puts like I don't know,
Speaker 4: like journey On.
Speaker 1: Or something amazing. I feel like we've we've got like
Speaker 1: a movie in the making here, sort of like a
Speaker 1: bring it on style, but like not enemies. It's just
Speaker 1: the warring factors of the locker room Bossanova rap going
Speaker 1: back and forth. Or we could get some pretty fire remixes,
Speaker 1: to be honest, if you just put them together and
Speaker 1: you combine forces. Well, thank you to so much for
Speaker 1: joining us. Was so great to talk to you. Congratulations
Speaker 1: on the success you're having. It has been really fun
Speaker 1: to watch. And I don't know yet what's gonna happen
Speaker 1: with my Red Stars and the playoffs, but I will
Speaker 1: secretly be rooting for the Pride a little bit of
Speaker 1: a side peace action here because I just want y'all
Speaker 1: to see some of the success that has eluded you
Speaker 1: in the past.
Speaker 2: So good luck. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4: Appreciate it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you, Sarah, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Thanks again to Emily and Kylie forgiving us some time.
Speaker 1: Don't forget that Pride unbeaten streak is back on the
Speaker 1: line tonight. We got to take another break when we
Speaker 1: come back. You gotta say it with your chest. Welcome
Speaker 1: back Orange Slices. With the final w regular season games
Speaker 1: done and the statistical seasons in the books, wanted to
Speaker 1: share a wild statistical anomaly. So a couple weeks ago,
Speaker 1: a newsletter from the Next Hoops dot Com mentioned an
Speaker 1: interesting note regarding the Dallas Wings, the fact that the
Speaker 1: team looked like it might finish the season with four
Speaker 1: different seventeen points per game scores on their statue. According
Speaker 1: to Sports Reference, that has never happened before in WNBA history.
Speaker 1: So I kept an eye out the last few weeks
Speaker 1: and it happened. Ari Gae Agunbowale, Natasha Howard, Satusabli, and
Speaker 1: Odyssey Simms did it all average more than seventeen points
Speaker 1: for the year. Now, it's worth noting that Simms was
Speaker 1: a mid season signing and then was released, so she
Speaker 1: played in just nine games for the Wings, and Sabli
Speaker 1: was injured for the pre Olympic stretch and played in
Speaker 1: just fourteen for Dallas. But the stat remains true. Now
Speaker 1: it makes it so interesting. Isn't just that it's the
Speaker 1: first time it's ever happened. It's that the Wings are
Speaker 1: not playoff bound, unlike previous teams with three seventeen plus
Speaker 1: point scorers. They've struggled this year. The Next pointed out
Speaker 1: quote four previous teams in league history had three players
Speaker 1: averaging seventeen points, two of them won a title twoy
Speaker 1: seven Phoenix and twenty twenty three Las Vegas. Another lost
Speaker 1: the winner take all game of possibly the most exciting
Speaker 1: semi finals ever twenty eighteen Phoenix, and the other lost
Speaker 1: one of their leading scorers midway through the season but
Speaker 1: still made the second round anyway, twenty twenty Phoenix end quote. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: the Wings missed the playoffs, and even when they were
Speaker 1: at their best offensively, they were still losing games. All
Speaker 1: those three persons seventeen plus point teams had a lot
Speaker 1: of success, but four teen plus point scores and they
Speaker 1: couldn't even make the postseason. A case of too many
Speaker 1: cooks in the kitchen. Could be They've also got the
Speaker 1: worst defensive rating in the league. They sent opponents to
Speaker 1: the line more than any other team and had the
Speaker 1: third most turnovers in the league. Could be that, but
Speaker 1: still first team to four seventeen plus point scores. So
Speaker 1: congrats and we're sorry, and defense wins championships. We love
Speaker 1: that you're listening, but we want you to get in
Speaker 1: the game every day too, So here's our good game
Speaker 1: play of the day. Make your picks. Who do you
Speaker 1: think will emerge victorious from the first round of the
Speaker 1: WNBA playoffs. Don't be scared, send them to us. We
Speaker 1: want those receipts. Leave us a voicemail at eight seven
Speaker 1: two two four fifty seventy or hit us up on email.
Speaker 1: Good game at wondermedianetwork dot com and watch the games
Speaker 1: playoffs tip on Sunday. People, don't forget to subscribe, rate
Speaker 1: and review. It's easy, watch Round twenty one and play
Speaker 1: a society. WNBA Merch rating five out of five very
Speaker 1: fashionable Stars in review. These are two brands bring and
Speaker 1: some heat in the merch department. The designs are super
Speaker 1: unique and super versatile, and the creators are locked in
Speaker 1: with w culture. Shout out Jasmine Maetta, Shema Love and
Speaker 1: Esther Wallace.
Speaker 2: If you're looking for.
Speaker 1: Some gear to wear to a playoff game near you,
Speaker 1: or just on your couch while you're watching all the action,
Speaker 1: check them out. We'll link to their sites in our
Speaker 1: episode notes. Oh and Nike just released a new WNBA
Speaker 1: Portland tea, so if you're digging that expansion move and
Speaker 1: you want some merch to match, we'll link to that too.
Speaker 1: Now's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening, slices,
Speaker 1: have a great weekend. And see you Monday. Good Game, Emily,
Speaker 1: Good Game, Kylie, Thank you. Ten pm Eastern starts. Good
Speaker 1: Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production
Speaker 1: in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 2: You can find us on.
Speaker 1: The iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzi
Speaker 1: and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz,
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Speaker 1: Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain