Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we'd be
Speaker 1: honored to duck and cover when Caitlin Clark shanks a
Speaker 1: drive on the golf course. It's Thursday, November fourteenth, and
Speaker 1: on today's show, we're going to be joined by the
Speaker 1: athletics Meg Linahan to discuss all things NWSL playoffs, end
Speaker 1: of season awards, and the latest on dronegate and the
Speaker 1: San Diego Wave. Plus a new women's league arrives, Bluer
Speaker 1: skies ahead, and dreaming of a new head coach. It's
Speaker 1: all coming up right after this welcome back slices. Here's
Speaker 1: what you need to know today to the WNBA, the
Speaker 1: Atlanta Dream announced that the franchise's next coach will be
Speaker 1: Carl Smesco. Smesco spent the last twenty three years as
Speaker 1: Florida Golf Coast head coach, leading that program to a
Speaker 1: six hundred eleven and one hundred twelve record and ten
Speaker 1: nc DOUBLEA appearances. Smesco has the third highest winning percentage
Speaker 1: among active coaches in NCAA Division One women's basketball, behind
Speaker 1: only Gino Oriema and Kim Mulkey, and he is actually
Speaker 1: the only coach in Florida Golf Coast women's basketball history.
Speaker 1: He was hired in two thousand and one ahead of
Speaker 1: the team's inaugural season. The Eagles played in Division Two
Speaker 1: from two thousand and two to two thousand and seven
Speaker 1: before moving up to Division One in two thousand and eight.
Speaker 1: In a statement, Smesco said, quote, the w has intrigued
Speaker 1: me as a possibility for a long time. When this
Speaker 1: opportunity came up, it really seemed like the right place,
Speaker 1: in the right time. I had great conversations with the
Speaker 1: general manager and with their ownership, and this is the
Speaker 1: right move for me right now. End quote. Smesco phills
Speaker 1: the void left after the Dream fired Tanisha Wright last
Speaker 1: month after the franchise lost in the opening round of
Speaker 1: the WNBA Playoffs. Shortly after Smasco's hiring was made public,
Speaker 1: Florida Golf Coast announced that former player and current assistant
Speaker 1: coach Chelsea Lyles would become the program's due head coach.
Speaker 1: To soccer and the Canadian drone scandal, which made headlines
Speaker 1: during the Paris Olympics. On Tuesday, Canada Soccer fired coach
Speaker 1: Bev Priestman following the conclusion of an independent review. Assistant
Speaker 1: coaches Jasmin Mander and Joseph Lombardi were also fired. All
Speaker 1: three were previously suspended by FIFA for a year and
Speaker 1: sent home from Paris after New Zealand complained about a
Speaker 1: drone surveilling their practice ahead of a group play game
Speaker 1: against the Canadians. The investigation reported that there's no evidence
Speaker 1: that similar surveillance was used at the twenty twenty one
Speaker 1: Tokyo Olympics, where Canada won gold, or that the players
Speaker 1: saw the footage. We'll talk more about those findings later
Speaker 1: in the show with Meglenahan. To the NWSL, the league
Speaker 1: has announced the finalists for its end of year honors.
Speaker 1: The NWSL uses a two round selection process. In the
Speaker 1: first round, players, owners, GMS, coaches and media select the
Speaker 1: nominees using a weighted scale, and fans get to join
Speaker 1: the voting process in the final round. That means your
Speaker 1: voice can be heard by voting for individual awards Best
Speaker 1: eleven First Team and Best eleven Second Team by Friday
Speaker 1: at three pm Eastern. We'll link to the voting site
Speaker 1: in our show notes. As for those individual awards, a
Speaker 1: couple will point out here MVP Race, Kansas City Star,
Speaker 1: Tenwa chewinga winner of the Golden Bood Award for most
Speaker 1: goals during the season, is obviously in the mix. There.
Speaker 1: She's joined by Orlando Prides Barbara Banda and Marta, the
Speaker 1: Washington Spirits Trinity Rodman, and the Portland Thorne Sophia Smith.
Speaker 1: For Rookie of the Year, you've got Washington Spirit midfielder
Speaker 1: Kroy Bethune, who won NWSL Rookie of the Month honors
Speaker 1: four times this season before she got hurt. She's joined
Speaker 1: by Kansas City Current midfielder Claire Hutton and Ali Sentner
Speaker 1: of the Utah Royals. The league also announced the nominees
Speaker 1: for Defender of the Year, Midfielder of the Year, Coach
Speaker 1: of the Year, and Keeper of the Year. We'll link
Speaker 1: to all those nominees in the show notes. Also an
Speaker 1: NWSL news, the Kansas City Current announced that Caitlin Carducci
Speaker 1: is officially the club's GM. Carducci has been working as
Speaker 1: GM in an interim capacity since May after Camille Ashton
Speaker 1: resigned from the post to tennis and to the Billie
Speaker 1: Jean King Cup. The opening tie between Spain and Poland
Speaker 1: on Thursday was postponed to Friday due to severe weather
Speaker 1: that brought heavy rain to the region. In a statement,
Speaker 1: organizers of the event said, quote, this decision has been
Speaker 1: made based on guidance from the relevant authorities to ensure
Speaker 1: the health and safety of all participants and attendees end quote. Lacrosse,
Speaker 1: The Premier Lacrosse League, an eight team men's league that
Speaker 1: was it in twenty eighteen, announced that it's launching a
Speaker 1: new women's professional league that will begin play next spring,
Speaker 1: starting at the PL Championship Series in February. The women's
Speaker 1: league will initially feature four teams in cities to be announced,
Speaker 1: and has already garnered commitments from top players, including Charlotte
Speaker 1: North and Izzy Skain. College Volleyball, we got a blockbuster
Speaker 1: doubleheader tonight as number two Nebraska takes on number sixteen
Speaker 1: Minnesota eight thirty pm Eastern. For that one, Huskers haven't
Speaker 1: dropped a set since October twenty six. That match will
Speaker 1: be followed by number six Wisconsin facing number twenty three
Speaker 1: USC at eleven pm Eastern. Badgers lead the overall series
Speaker 1: with the Trojans five to three. Both matchups available on
Speaker 1: the Big Ten Network. To the PWHL. Some news that'll
Speaker 1: make gamers pretty happy, the league announced Thursday, it's entered
Speaker 1: a multi year partnership with EA and that the PWHL's
Speaker 1: players and teams will be included in NHL twenty five,
Speaker 1: which launches December fifth. All right, if you listen to
Speaker 1: yesterday's show Slice, as you heard us mention Caitlin Clark
Speaker 1: playing in the Onika, and from the looks of social media,
Speaker 1: she had some six shots and definitely some fire kicks,
Speaker 1: but she also had one notable shank or was it
Speaker 1: a slice right off the opening tee that nearly took
Speaker 1: off the head of a spectator or two? It's twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four, so everyone's got a phone. There are a
Speaker 1: lot of angles of the shot out there, but the
Speaker 1: best one is someone who caught the errant ball screaming
Speaker 1: right at him from the spectator side. So we'll link
Speaker 1: to that video in the show notes. Caitlyn even liked it.
Speaker 1: She commented, this is the greatest video ever. I'm so
Speaker 1: real good stuff. We got to take a break, but
Speaker 1: we wanted to give you some context quick before our
Speaker 1: interview with Meglenahan. Just in case you need it. Here's
Speaker 1: a quick refresher on the current situation involving the San
Speaker 1: Diego Wave. So back in July, former Wave employee Brittany
Speaker 1: Alvarado spoke out against the club and team president Jill
Speaker 1: Ellis on social media, alleging a toxic work environment. She
Speaker 1: was subsequently sued by Ellis for defamation. Last month, Alvarado
Speaker 1: and four other Wave employees filed a lawsuit against the
Speaker 1: team and the NWSL for over fifteen claims, including discrimination,
Speaker 1: sexual harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination. The lawsuit doesn't name
Speaker 1: Ellis as a defendant, but it does include examples meant
Speaker 1: to highlight her role in creating a quote abusive and
Speaker 1: toxic workplace culture end quote. Now, we haven't learned much
Speaker 1: more since the lawsuit was filed, and due to the
Speaker 1: ongoing legal proceedings, the San Diego Wave inn NWSL have
Speaker 1: previously declined to comment on specific claims in the suit.
Speaker 1: We're going to get into all that, plus NWSL, SEMIS
Speaker 1: and more when Meg Lenahan makes her Triumphit return to
Speaker 1: the show That interview's coming up right after this. She's
Speaker 1: a senior writer for the Athletic who covers the US
Speaker 1: women's national team, the NWSL, and all things women's soccer.
Speaker 1: She also co hosts the fantastic weekly podcast Full Time
Speaker 1: with Meg Lenahan. Her wife and her dog have matching
Speaker 1: puffy coats, and she wants to know if you're filling
Speaker 1: out your full time playoff bingo card. It's Meg Lenahan.
Speaker 1: What's up, Meg?
Speaker 2: They do have matching puffy because I also have a
Speaker 2: blue one. I was just not in that particular photo
Speaker 2: slash wearing that coat at that time, but we all
Speaker 2: have blue puffy coats.
Speaker 1: Honestly, I wanted to ask you, and I felt like
Speaker 1: it would only be right if you did, but I
Speaker 1: didn't see photographic proofs. So you know, my reporting duties
Speaker 1: required me to only report on your wife and your
Speaker 1: dog having the same coat. But I'm gonna need a
Speaker 1: shot of all three of you. Please, can we okay?
Speaker 1: I'll work out, Thank you, Thank you. Before we talk
Speaker 1: playoff matchups, I want to get into the news of
Speaker 1: the week. Bev Priestman, the coach of Canada women's national team,
Speaker 1: was suspended after the drone surveillance incident at the Paris
Speaker 1: Olympics and was fired on Tuesday after an independent review,
Speaker 1: along with assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi.
Speaker 1: They're also fired Canada Soccer releasing findings of the investigation.
Speaker 1: What did you make of the report that's come out
Speaker 1: and the resulting decision.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I don't think there was anything truly
Speaker 2: surprising in that report. I feel like I was actually
Speaker 2: a little underwhelmed. Also, when you read it's just so
Speaker 2: hilariously redacted, it's like, okay, but we actually know a
Speaker 2: lot of what you've redacted, so thank you. I guess
Speaker 2: like it doesn't really matter, but yeah, I mean it is.
Speaker 2: It is interesting just in terms of clear sort of
Speaker 2: you know, the higher brass at Canada Soccer wasn't really
Speaker 2: aware of it that obviously. I don't think that there
Speaker 2: was a path for any of those three people to
Speaker 2: come back to Canada Soccer even after what happened. But
Speaker 2: I do think the bigger question still is, like have
Speaker 2: they actually gotten to the root of this practice because
Speaker 2: John Herdman wasn't available, like the timing didn't work for
Speaker 2: an interview, and I think that is still kind of
Speaker 2: the number one question hanging out there of who started it,
Speaker 2: Because it's not that I want to like absolve Bev
Speaker 2: Priestmen of what happened at the Olympics or in other cases,
Speaker 2: but I just don't want her to like get the
Speaker 2: hook for something that is not just her. And I
Speaker 2: think that there is maybe a chance for an easy
Speaker 2: scapegoat here. And so this is one where it's like
Speaker 2: I would like a yes and out of Canada Soccer, right,
Speaker 2: I would like to see you know, and they I
Speaker 2: think they have kind of promised more, but I don't
Speaker 2: think this can be the end of Canada Soccer trying
Speaker 2: to figure out culturally what enabled this behavior for so
Speaker 2: long and it major targe, like.
Speaker 3: Just again, the audacity is so baffling.
Speaker 2: And the fact that you know, I mean, it was
Speaker 2: kind of a meme at the time, but it's like
Speaker 2: you're gonna spy on new Ze, like you're gonna do
Speaker 2: this and still play like that, okay.
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, we love a yes and around here. And
Speaker 1: I was feeling the same way reading the results, where
Speaker 1: it was why would someone say Canada Soccer's been doing
Speaker 1: this forever if they haven't. So when the result comes out,
Speaker 1: it's like, yeah, there's no reason to believe the men
Speaker 1: were doing this and that it was existing. I don't know,
Speaker 1: I want more, Yeah, I want more out of this
Speaker 1: to know exactly who knew and who knew? What? Are
Speaker 1: there any wave updates? While we're talking about news, this
Speaker 1: feels like a story that's been sort of boiling, but
Speaker 1: we haven't gotten a lot of progress on exactly what's
Speaker 1: happening for either of the wave or the people accu using.
Speaker 1: Jill Ellis, do you have anything for us on that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean not really. I think now that there's
Speaker 2: a lawsuit in motion, I think that does kind of
Speaker 2: change the scope of reporting. I mean, I think we've
Speaker 2: seen that a few times in the NWSL where lawsuits
Speaker 2: have just actively no one will really talk right and
Speaker 2: like that even comes from a leak point of view.
Speaker 2: So I think, you know, I have been working quietly.
Speaker 2: The part of the challenge of timing as always is
Speaker 2: you know, playoffs and trying to manage all these things
Speaker 2: at the same time. But I think there are stories
Speaker 2: around because again I don't think it's just necessarily a
Speaker 2: wave problem. I think that's the one, to your point,
Speaker 2: that boiled up fastest and hardest. But there are culture issues,
Speaker 2: I think probably in every single front office, because it's
Speaker 2: not just even an nw CELL issue. It's really a
Speaker 2: sports industry issue of like what has been normalized, and
Speaker 2: so I think there's even a challenge of just how
Speaker 2: can you resolve some of these issues outside of lawsuits? Right,
Speaker 2: how could you proactively address some of the culture things
Speaker 2: that are probably happening, whether that's I mean straight up
Speaker 2: toxic environment, but also just like working conditions in this
Speaker 2: industry are kind of infamously not pleasant, and so I
Speaker 2: think that there's a few different things happening. But when
Speaker 2: it comes to San Diego, I think it is a
Speaker 2: little bit tougher, just because now with a lawsuit ongoing,
Speaker 2: everyone has a lawyer that really does I think, change
Speaker 2: who is willing to talk and why, and like there's
Speaker 2: just it's all risk, no benefit at that point, and
Speaker 2: so that things change.
Speaker 1: I think if you haven't been in a situation like
Speaker 1: that too, it feels right and true to say whatever
Speaker 1: it needs to be done to get the truth out,
Speaker 1: whatever needs to be done to get people held accountable.
Speaker 1: It's easier said than done. I'll tell you from experience
Speaker 1: with the Red Stars. I was getting hounded as the
Speaker 1: public face of the new ownership that had joined and
Speaker 1: why am I not speaking out about stuff? And I
Speaker 1: was getting threatened behind the scenes repeatedly with legal threats
Speaker 1: that I didn't know how true they were. I didn't
Speaker 1: know how real they were. I was told I was
Speaker 1: behold into an NDA, but I never saw it or
Speaker 1: signed it, so I knew somehow that didn't feel legally binding.
Speaker 1: But I don't have the money to have a bunch
Speaker 1: of lawyers fight that either. People don't realize even if
Speaker 1: you're in the right, you have to spend all the
Speaker 1: money on the lawyers to fight the other lawyers, and
Speaker 1: then if nothing comes of it, you've still spent all
Speaker 1: that money.
Speaker 2: And I also think that there is a push for
Speaker 2: people to see stuff like on social media that's like
Speaker 2: a very definitive opinion and first of all, like I'm
Speaker 2: not really allowed to do that in my job, but
Speaker 2: second of all, like a I'm off Twitter now, so
Speaker 2: that has already kind of been for you. Yeah, honestly,
Speaker 2: I have not missed it. It's actually kind of like
Speaker 2: you realize how much your brain has been poisoned. And
Speaker 2: so anyway, different different podcasts, But yeah, I think there
Speaker 2: is this sense of, you know, a pressure to want
Speaker 2: to say something right, and I super understand that, but
Speaker 2: I think it's also a lot easier for folks who
Speaker 2: aren't in like a reporting situation to be able to
Speaker 2: say things like that. Whereas you know, even when the
Speaker 2: lawsuit was filed, just in terms of like it's got
Speaker 2: to get covered, it has to go through multiple levels
Speaker 2: of editorial review before it can get published, all of
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff, and so there are sort of
Speaker 2: guardrails on what like, I can certainly have a private opinion, right,
Speaker 2: but the sharing of the private opinion.
Speaker 3: Is a little bit different now.
Speaker 1: And they're there for a reason, and they're there for
Speaker 1: a reason because it does matter when people with journalistic
Speaker 1: integrity and agency and voice say something more so than
Speaker 1: when someone on the internet expresses an opinion and later says, oh,
Speaker 1: I didn't know that. My bad, Yeah I didn't have
Speaker 1: that information.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think there's like there's absolutely you know, having read
Speaker 2: the lawsuit, there's a there's a ton of concerning things.
Speaker 2: But also now it is kind of you know, I
Speaker 2: think there's alternate processes that these things can go through,
Speaker 2: and generally, you know, the reason why I did so
Speaker 2: much reporting for the NWSL is because it was not
Speaker 2: going through one of those like more formal weather that
Speaker 2: was an internal nw CL process or whether it was
Speaker 2: a lawsuit or whatever it was. Right, those avenues had
Speaker 2: not worked slashed, the pl didn't elect to go for them.
Speaker 2: They elected to go for this sort of external communication strategy,
Speaker 2: and so it's not this is where it is kind
Speaker 2: of maybe not a yes, and right where once it
Speaker 2: gets into one of these sort of paths, the other
Speaker 2: ones get harder. Like I can have a whole bunch
Speaker 2: of conversations behind the scenes, but that does not necessarily
Speaker 2: mean it's going to get into a place where it
Speaker 2: can be reported and get past you know, the number
Speaker 2: of editors to get passed.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. Other news this week, the NWSL announced
Speaker 1: the finalist for the awards MVP, Defender of the Year,
Speaker 1: Midfield of the Year, Keeper of the Year, Coach of
Speaker 1: the Year, Rookie of the Year. Any major surprises in
Speaker 1: those nominees as far as you're concerned.
Speaker 3: I don't know if there's a surprise.
Speaker 2: I mean, I was certainly, I guess I was surprised
Speaker 2: to see Marta in the top five finalists for MVP.
Speaker 2: I think that maybe betrays a little sense of sentimentality
Speaker 2: on the voter's point, but I.
Speaker 3: Don't hate it.
Speaker 2: I certainly am a big Marta supporter and I think honestly,
Speaker 2: she's played out of her mind this season, so I
Speaker 2: agree with that. I was a little surprised. I think
Speaker 2: more in terms of who wasn't on some of these lists.
Speaker 2: I think Abby Dahlkemper the way that she changed BFC's
Speaker 2: entire second half of the season. She was on my
Speaker 2: top five to head into that ballot for Defender of
Speaker 2: the Year, and then the other one that I was
Speaker 2: honestly very surprised by is no Taylor Flint in Midfielder
Speaker 2: of the Year. I feel like we were maybe running
Speaker 2: a little bit of an unofficial campaign. She was on
Speaker 2: full time. Yeah, she's just I think she's really like
Speaker 2: completely turned around her entire game. When she first kind
Speaker 2: of got put into that holding midfielder positioned with the
Speaker 2: US womens national team in New Zealand ahead of the
Speaker 2: World Cup, I think everybody's looking at Flacko being like, sir, well,
Speaker 2: it's happening, and it's been such a transformation at Racing Louisville,
Speaker 2: and so she was very much in my top five
Speaker 2: from Midfielder of the Year and to not see her there,
Speaker 2: I am a little disappointed on that one.
Speaker 1: I think some of them not surprises at all, Naomi
Speaker 1: Germa trying to get a third Defender of.
Speaker 2: The Year, but one where it's like, as much as
Speaker 2: I fully, like fully fully respect Naomi Germa, it's kind
Speaker 2: of hard with thee it's hard with the team she's on,
Speaker 2: and it's not that she's had a drop in quality,
Speaker 2: but you look at the other four candidates for Defender
Speaker 2: of the Year and it's like, okay, all four of
Speaker 2: those in terms of performances and the teams that they're on,
Speaker 2: Like this is I think maybe some of the same
Speaker 2: situation where Becky Souerbun kept getting nominated for Defender of
Speaker 2: the Year and at some point finally had to like
Speaker 2: put out that statement and be like I love the
Speaker 2: energy that you all have, but also there are really other,
Speaker 2: like you know, deserving candidates in this pool, and you
Speaker 2: need to think about how you're voting. So I think,
Speaker 2: you know, Kaylee Kurtz North Carolina really interesting one. Emily SAMs,
Speaker 2: I think maybe has a little more momentum from that
Speaker 2: sort of award season, you know, conversation to.
Speaker 1: They if they cancel each other out though, when you
Speaker 1: have two Pride players, yeah, will Kylie and Emily cancel
Speaker 1: each other out in terms of voting, or will people
Speaker 1: think that they were such a two headed monster that
Speaker 1: neither is deserving.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's actually I think we'll get into this
Speaker 2: on my podcast a little bit too, because I think
Speaker 2: Orlando isn't the only team that has that problem. Like
Speaker 2: you look at Gotham and it is really hard I
Speaker 2: think where a lot of players got left out of
Speaker 2: these individual awards because that team is such a comprehensive team,
Speaker 2: and also players sort of move in and out of roles,
Speaker 2: and it's a little tougher when you think about like
Speaker 2: a Yasmine Ryan who's had such a really good season,
Speaker 2: or Neilie Martin again in my top five for Midfielder
Speaker 2: of the Year, not there in the list, and so
Speaker 2: and these are players that aren't like the big name,
Speaker 2: you know, splashy signings in the off season. But it's
Speaker 2: tougher when I think you have that sort of like
Speaker 2: team team vibe to pick out names for individual awards.
Speaker 2: So I think there is maybe a little bit of
Speaker 2: a risk for I mean, we were even having an
Speaker 2: internal debate of Emily SAMs versus Kylie Strawman, who's had
Speaker 2: the stronger season.
Speaker 3: It's tough.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I also I knew Kroy Bethune would be in
Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year. I think she'll win Rookie of
Speaker 1: the Year of the month four times every time she
Speaker 1: was available and not injured. But also very impressive to
Speaker 1: be out for Midfielder of the Year as a key
Speaker 1: with a shortened.
Speaker 2: Season legit very I mean truly one of the best
Speaker 2: breakout performances we've ever seen in the n of cell.
Speaker 2: I'm not actually that surprised that she's on Midfielder of
Speaker 2: the Year. I think, you know, I even saw cases
Speaker 2: for her to be in the MVP conversation as well.
Speaker 2: But I do think, and I said this from the
Speaker 2: point of her injury on, like she did enough I
Speaker 2: think to earn that award. There's just no one that
Speaker 2: even touched right that agreeable and not not anything against
Speaker 2: the other two candidates in that category, because I think
Speaker 2: both were like very stellar players who did very important
Speaker 2: things for their team, but Corey Bethune was one of
Speaker 2: those ones where just also if you see her in person,
Speaker 2: it's like, yeah, what is happening right now?
Speaker 1: I can't wait to see her back out there. Okay,
Speaker 1: let's talk playoffs four teams remaining before we get into strategy.
Speaker 1: Let's say we've got some listeners here that don't have
Speaker 1: a vested interest in the semi final. We want to
Speaker 1: give them a chance to pick a squad and start
Speaker 1: bandwagoning with two weeks left. So I need a sentence
Speaker 1: per team to sell our unaffiliated slices on cheering for
Speaker 1: that for that squad. So Washington Spirit.
Speaker 3: Washington Spirit.
Speaker 2: I mean, I do think it is just coming down
Speaker 2: to a if you want to see them go all
Speaker 2: the way, you want to be part of that championship celebration.
Speaker 2: Because I don't know what kind of party Michelle Kang
Speaker 2: is going to put on in DC, but I feel
Speaker 2: like it's going to be legitimate one, and you.
Speaker 3: Want to be a part of that. And maybe you
Speaker 3: want to wear a cape.
Speaker 1: Agreed, She wears a lot of capes. She does. Kansas
Speaker 1: City Current.
Speaker 2: Kansas City Current. Honestly, what I'm fascinated to see with
Speaker 2: Kansas City Current is if they beat Orlando in the semifinal,
Speaker 2: they're actually going to be the quote unquote away team,
Speaker 2: So they're going to be forced to be in the
Speaker 2: away supporter section.
Speaker 1: And if they're a stadium.
Speaker 2: It's just a little chaotic, and I enjoy the vibes,
Speaker 2: but I do think go for the current. Go for
Speaker 2: the the current. Obviously Temwatt, but I will say also
Speaker 2: if you are someone who maybe thought Vlaco got a
Speaker 2: little bit of a rough deal with the US women's
Speaker 2: national team, it is also the Vlaco and Aanofski.
Speaker 1: You go there, you go, all right, New York, New Jersey,
Speaker 1: Gotham FC.
Speaker 2: I mean, you're rooting for a super team right in theory,
Speaker 2: but I do think this is the most comprehensive team.
Speaker 2: Also again, potential celebration. They did not do one last year,
Speaker 2: but like I am rooting for if Gotham wins at all,
Speaker 2: we go.
Speaker 3: Ellie cameo.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say, you can't throw a party for
Speaker 1: the Liberty like you just did and then not follow
Speaker 1: it up.
Speaker 2: If Gotham so, I mean, like again, I would like
Speaker 2: to maybe see an NW CELL parade down the canyon
Speaker 2: of here, like you want to talk about first in
Speaker 2: the nw CELL that honestly something too.
Speaker 1: I want to see Ellie and a soccer kit.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, let's go.
Speaker 1: Uh finally, Orlando Pride.
Speaker 2: Orlando Pride, I mean then you are a fan of excellence, right.
Speaker 2: They have been gold standard all this season. And I
Speaker 2: think there is also again to our earlier point about
Speaker 2: Marta being an MVP candidate. You want to see Marta
Speaker 2: win another trophy in this country. She loves a trophy.
Speaker 2: The celebrations are gonna be epic. Yeah, there's not a
Speaker 2: bad choice out of these four if you're a neutral.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And I think also Orlando, like being such a
Speaker 1: downtrodden team for so many years, not only do you
Speaker 1: get your roop for Marta, but one of those teams
Speaker 1: that like, you know that they've got fans that have
Speaker 1: been sticking with them for years through the tough times.
Speaker 1: Kind of cool to see a team like that. You know.
Speaker 2: Also for listeners of this show, if they're the slices,
Speaker 2: like all you got to do is get an Orlando
Speaker 2: Orange kit and then you're said.
Speaker 1: Oh, look at you, look at you. Okay, let's talk
Speaker 1: about these games. Saturday, Audi Field, twelve pm, Eastern Washington.
Speaker 1: Host got them what needs to go right for the
Speaker 1: Spirit to win.
Speaker 2: They've got to probably just like get past the injuries, right.
Speaker 2: I don't think that was the cleanest game for them
Speaker 2: against AFC that was the one where everybody sort of
Speaker 2: tapped an upset. And now, to be fair, I don't
Speaker 2: think there's any such thing as an upset in these
Speaker 2: two games, right, Like, yes, it seeds one through four,
Speaker 2: but these were the clear four best teams of the year.
Speaker 2: I don't know if we can call any of these
Speaker 2: whoever wins an upset. Any one of these teams deserves
Speaker 2: to go through. For the spirit Andy Sullivan, that injury
Speaker 2: I think is still one of the biggest ones. But
Speaker 2: Sar being out, I mean, they've just kind of Cory
Speaker 2: Bethune again, like they've lost a lot of very key players.
Speaker 2: So for me, Lacy Santos was the difference maker last weekend,
Speaker 2: and I think you need to get another big performance
Speaker 2: out of her, changing the game, being able to control
Speaker 2: the temple, being able to find those spaces in those
Speaker 2: little pockets in the midfield, and that's really tough to
Speaker 2: do against that Gotham team, but she can do it.
Speaker 1: What needs to go right for Gotham to win.
Speaker 2: They've got to be I think, honestly a little more
Speaker 2: ruthless having been at that quarter final. They love to
Speaker 2: be pretty right, like it is a little frustrated watch
Speaker 2: them sometimes where it's just like just someone take the shot,
Speaker 2: like just right, and I like it's it's fun to watch.
Speaker 2: But also I think there is this sense of they
Speaker 2: Ella Stevens, like again, every time I see her in person,
Speaker 2: I'm just like, you have such tremendous skill, and sometimes
Speaker 2: I'm just like you just have to like, oh, I
Speaker 2: just need you to make a slightly better.
Speaker 3: Decision and you would have a goal right now.
Speaker 2: And so that, to me, I think is the key
Speaker 2: for Gotham is just really dialing in on the ruthlessness,
Speaker 2: set set that game from the jump and just put
Speaker 2: your foot on their necks, like truly, that's that's the
Speaker 2: vibe for Gotham in order to advance well.
Speaker 1: And Gotham benefits from the later in the season and
Speaker 1: the more tired everyone is because they honestly have a
Speaker 1: bench full of starters.
Speaker 2: Yes, I mean we saw like Delaney sheehan coming in
Speaker 2: changing the game for them. I mean again, I have
Speaker 2: never just being at the Championship last year, the rain
Speaker 2: vibes were great, right like Pino last game, like obviously
Speaker 2: I know, right until two and a half in, but
Speaker 2: like Gotham walking into the room for media day. I
Speaker 2: have never experienced that sort of vibe with a team,
Speaker 2: and the end of his they were just such a
Speaker 2: team in a way that I it's so hard to explain,
Speaker 2: but like they so clearly were in it and bought
Speaker 2: into the system, and it didn't matter who got the glory.
Speaker 2: It was all about the team result. And I think
Speaker 2: this is a little bit of an extension of that. Obviously,
Speaker 2: they have stacked in some more talent and we saw
Speaker 2: it coming through with Tieranna Davidson and Roosevelt getting those goals, right,
Speaker 2: like it has paid off. But it's really the Neely Martin's,
Speaker 2: the Yasmine, Ryan's, the Delaney she hands, Like those are
Speaker 2: the players who are making all of this work. And
Speaker 2: so I like I do lean Gotham, but also Gotham
Speaker 2: has not won at Audi Field this year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so yeah, all right. Sunday, Interra and Co Stadium
Speaker 1: in Orlando, three pm, Eastern Pride hosting the current what
Speaker 1: needs to go right for the Shield winners the near
Speaker 1: ran the tablers Pride to finish the season off with
Speaker 1: a win and chance at the title here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think more of the same of
Speaker 2: what they got out of the quarterfinal I mean they
Speaker 2: owned the midfield against Chicago. You got Barbara Banda off
Speaker 2: the jump doing stuff right, and so Banda has been
Speaker 2: quiet post Olympics. I think there are a lot of
Speaker 2: questions that she's obviously dropped off in the MVP conversation
Speaker 2: and then quarterfinal happens and it's like, oh, here's the reminder, right,
Speaker 2: like here we go, here's what she's capable of. And
Speaker 2: so I think that really is just can you get
Speaker 2: Barbara Banda involved from the jump and forcing Kansas City
Speaker 2: into making mistakes? But this is really one where, you know,
Speaker 2: the last we had, there's some spice between these two teams,
Speaker 2: and I think Orlando has owned the spice battle, yes,
Speaker 2: and so just again doing more of the same for Orlando.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for those who don't remember, tell everyone about what
Speaker 1: Marta did after one of their previous meetings and how
Speaker 1: current right.
Speaker 2: So, I mean, the whole story of the first half
Speaker 2: of the season was Orlando Casey two unbeaten teams. Orlando
Speaker 2: comes in to Kansas City's beautiful little stadium and wins,
Speaker 2: and Marta is in pure Marta mode, shushing the crowd,
Speaker 2: and it did not go over well. Michelle Cooper had
Speaker 2: some thoughts, right.
Speaker 1: Like.
Speaker 3: She did rock a bait. Yeah, I mean just like
Speaker 3: truly truly.
Speaker 2: Went for it in all Marta glory. And then we
Speaker 2: got the second meeting in Orlando, which was this very
Speaker 2: cagey zero zero draw, and I think everybody is kind
Speaker 2: of expecting to see the Cagenus come back out in
Speaker 2: this matchup. But I'm honestly like, these are two teams
Speaker 2: between Barbara Banda and Tumwichwinga, like you can do heavyweight
Speaker 2: punch for like, that's the game I want to see,
Speaker 2: but also to jump ahead and get into what Kansas
Speaker 2: City needs to do, right, Like, yeah, we did see
Speaker 2: the return of that sort of Gwendinofski. I will settle
Speaker 2: for a single goal and then might knuckling it the
Speaker 2: rest of the way. And I don't know if you
Speaker 2: can get away with that against Orlando. I don't know
Speaker 2: if cagness will pay off in this game, right, It could,
Speaker 2: It could, but I.
Speaker 1: Mean prefer right, we would all like to see eight
Speaker 1: thousand shots apiece from these superstar strikers. But to your point,
Speaker 1: it is so easy because of the pace of both
Speaker 1: Temwa and Barbara and because of their skill sets to
Speaker 1: make a tiny little mistake. They got out ahead, they
Speaker 1: beat your defenders to the ball, and it's a one
Speaker 1: v one against the keeper and it's over. Right. If
Speaker 1: that's so easy to happen, the game plan of sit back,
Speaker 1: almost low block style and hope that no one makes
Speaker 1: a mistake might be smarter. Then let's have a shootof
Speaker 1: and see who gets the most.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it is going to be really you know,
Speaker 2: like maybe first half is super cagy and second half
Speaker 2: opens up a little bit. I mean, this could be
Speaker 2: one of those like very cliched tale of two half games,
Speaker 2: but I do I think everybody is hoping for fireworks
Speaker 2: to like that's truly this should in many ways be
Speaker 2: a final, right, Like this is kind of the narrative
Speaker 2: game of this postseason, And so it is a little
Speaker 2: disappointing to not have it happen again in Kansas City
Speaker 2: and have Orlando come in and have maybe this potential
Speaker 2: repeat of do you get the narrative of Orlando shushing
Speaker 2: the crowd in a championship game?
Speaker 3: So it is a little bit of a bummer.
Speaker 2: But again, like there's no wrong answer, right, what is
Speaker 2: really I always try to resist predictions, and these semi
Speaker 2: finals I think are truly impossible to predict because it's
Speaker 2: just like, yeah, the parody narrative is obviously dead this season,
Speaker 2: but like, if you want to talk about parodies the
Speaker 2: team right here, it's.
Speaker 1: The parody at the top. Yeah, and to your point,
Speaker 1: like there is a great argument for like Temwell versus
Speaker 1: Barbara Kurrent versus Pride been like at the top all
Speaker 1: season long, But then you're also ignoring that Gotham, once
Speaker 1: they adjusted to the new faces, to your point, might
Speaker 1: actually be the deepest and most talented.
Speaker 2: Yes, I mean back half of the back half of
Speaker 2: the season, the way that like they just really since
Speaker 2: July and to August like truly turned it on. And
Speaker 2: I mean they've had some extremely comprehensive performances, right, and
Speaker 2: like you look at the Summer Cup final where they
Speaker 2: played against Kansas City and they were missing literally everyone
Speaker 2: on that team, Yeah, and what that did to them
Speaker 2: and the fact that they were still honestly like not
Speaker 2: as bad as they could have been. Right, Yeah, it
Speaker 2: is going to be really I mean, any matchup that
Speaker 2: we get out of these semifinals is going to be
Speaker 2: good and interesting. I have been joking that like any
Speaker 2: matchup out of these semifinals also gets you like a
Speaker 2: good pr team too, Like all the four meeting teams
Speaker 2: are easy to work with, which is like a benefit
Speaker 2: to the reporters.
Speaker 1: But they've all got names, they've all got stars.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean there's no I think that there is
Speaker 2: obviously the sentimentality in Marta potentially winning a championship in
Speaker 2: this league, but really, you've got the narrative of Gotham
Speaker 2: going back to back. You've got the narrative of the
Speaker 2: spirit kind of coming back and having the head coach
Speaker 2: of FC Barcelona come in mid season and the way
Speaker 2: that they've you know, survived injuries that you have Kansas
Speaker 2: City and everything with Kansas City to watchewinga right, like
Speaker 2: at their.
Speaker 1: Stadium, the first purpose built stadium for women's team, Yeah right,
Speaker 1: really at a million times and getting to lift the
Speaker 1: trophy at that stadium in front of the crowd that
Speaker 1: sold out every game this season.
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, I mean there's no I don't loss, there's
Speaker 2: no losers. It's it's all going to be just like
Speaker 2: I hope, truly enjoyable soccer to watch from here.
Speaker 1: I'm headed to Spain here, which means I will actually
Speaker 1: be in a foreign country when these games hit, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna have to figure out how to watch them and
Speaker 1: how to see what happened. But I'm going straight from
Speaker 1: there to KC four Championship weekend. And I haven't been
Speaker 1: to an NWSL Championship weekend since the Red Stars fell
Speaker 1: to the Spirit and a Thriller in Louisville in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one. That was a blast. I was making pyramids
Speaker 1: at three in the morning the night before the game
Speaker 1: with you know, the head of the NWSLPA and causing
Speaker 1: trouble little on the next morning, not gonna lie, Yeah,
Speaker 1: and then immediately got on a plane after the game
Speaker 1: and had to fly home from my husband's birthday party
Speaker 1: that I was potentially gonna miss if I didn't, if
Speaker 1: I didn't high tail it back. But I've heard even
Speaker 1: in the couple of years since then, it's gotten even better.
Speaker 1: There's more going on, there's more events, there's more activation.
Speaker 1: So tell us a little bit about what goes down
Speaker 1: at the at the championship weekend and what you've heard
Speaker 1: about plans specifically for Casey.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I do think obviously Casey is a
Speaker 2: little bit of a smaller town like Louisville, right, I
Speaker 2: think it's it's going to be pretty easy. Casey's also
Speaker 2: just like a soccer town, So I do feel like
Speaker 2: Ndbusel is going to take over for that weekend a
Speaker 2: little bit. But yeah, I mean there's actually just compared
Speaker 2: to I mean I was at the first end of
Speaker 2: b Cell Championship. It was lame as hell and there's
Speaker 2: nothing right. It was literally the game and that that
Speaker 2: was it. And so to have more events to have,
Speaker 2: you know, I think a lot of podcasts are going
Speaker 2: to be recording Sam Muis, Kelly O'Hara, like all of
Speaker 2: these folks are going to be in. There are parties,
Speaker 2: there are you know, like there's the Skills Challenge, there's
Speaker 2: obviously like the media, we all have a million things
Speaker 2: to run around and do. But also just the fact
Speaker 2: that Kansas City has its own stadium, like you can
Speaker 2: actually have stuff. In the fact that they're right on
Speaker 2: the river, there's going to be space to spread out
Speaker 2: a little bit. And so I will say, like I
Speaker 2: have finally learned my lesson in terms of trying to
Speaker 2: be irresponsible adult and not drink my way through that way,
Speaker 2: because like early endsl championships were very rough for me,
Speaker 2: and I'm a little too old for that now, but yeah,
Speaker 2: it really like especially for when you're working, you know,
Speaker 2: twelve plus hour days and it's like, okay, I can't
Speaker 2: get up the next morning and function. But yeah, it's
Speaker 2: honestly like, I know the Blue Crew Casey supporters group
Speaker 2: is going to be all out. They've got some spaces
Speaker 2: already planned for this sort of thing too.
Speaker 1: But I would like to see I mean, we've all
Speaker 1: been talking about river goals all season. You know how
Speaker 1: they always have these like fan activations where you can
Speaker 1: like try to score a goal. We need to do
Speaker 1: a fan time river goal. I mean you could put
Speaker 1: some nets out there so the balls don't you know, actually.
Speaker 2: They fish them out, like the one, the one that
Speaker 2: tem Wall scored, they fished it out so they got
Speaker 2: it all right.
Speaker 1: Well, I would like I would like that instead of
Speaker 1: like a dribble around the cones, I would like a
Speaker 1: river goal participation element to this.
Speaker 3: This is that there's still time to address.
Speaker 1: Only I'm gonna call it Jessica Berman. I'll give her
Speaker 1: my pitch. Okay, final question. There's only two weeks left
Speaker 1: in this season, and while I hate to do this.
Speaker 1: I have to ask you, do you know what next
Speaker 1: your schedules coming out?
Speaker 2: I do, yeah, hopefully sooner, hopefully. But this is I mean,
Speaker 2: like to turn it more. Are serious for a second, like,
Speaker 2: this is the challenge, right, And we saw this in
Speaker 2: San Diego at the end of the year with the
Speaker 2: fact that the stadium conditions were not ideal enough to
Speaker 2: even play a game. NBSEL has very limited availability in
Speaker 2: those stadiums, and so I think it does as the
Speaker 2: league expands to it only gets harder. And I will
Speaker 2: tell you I do not envy all.
Speaker 1: The schedule makers.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it goes through a machine first. Yeah, the after
Speaker 2: part where you have to go to like every team
Speaker 2: and you're like, what does this work?
Speaker 3: Does this work?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 2: That sounds like my nightmare. So kudos to Vicky and
Speaker 2: crew at the end of USEL who it is a
Speaker 2: very thankless job and obviously there's a lot of complaining
Speaker 2: that happens around it.
Speaker 1: So well, Meg, we always love to have you on.
Speaker 1: We know you're so busy and you are have been
Speaker 1: for a long time sort of single handedly holding up
Speaker 1: the women's soccer infrastructure in our country. Thankfully, more people
Speaker 1: are joining the party, but you're still the go to
Speaker 1: and I know so many people try to get your
Speaker 1: services and your insights. So thanks for coming on. Everyone,
Speaker 1: go listen to Full Time with Meg Lenahan, read her
Speaker 1: work on the Athletic and get a Bingo card. Right.
Speaker 1: You guys put out full time Bingo cards for people
Speaker 1: to play along with the playoffs.
Speaker 2: So I do think we are refreshing the Bengo card
Speaker 2: for this week. So and I think we'll have some
Speaker 2: awards chat on full Time so I think we might
Speaker 2: have a little awards card as well. But we're trying
Speaker 2: to come up with our own awards, so if anybody
Speaker 2: has any ideas, okay, well we are open to them, okay.
Speaker 1: Love that. We've also been considering an end of the
Speaker 1: year awards ceremony here at Good Games, so we will
Speaker 1: all be thinking together and looking for those updated Bingo
Speaker 1: cards to play along. Thanks Meg, Thank you, Thanks again
Speaker 1: to Meg for joining us. We got to take another break.
Speaker 1: Stick around, Welcome back slices. We've got some news from
Speaker 1: the grove. The Good Sports. Y'all are coming through with
Speaker 1: some good name suggestions for our little trio. Keep them coming. Okay,
Speaker 1: So the news we've made the leap to Blue Sky
Speaker 1: producer Alex and Meglenahan got the party started and I
Speaker 1: followed belatedly, Sure, but I followed and Mish has two
Speaker 1: so you can now follow all of us over there.
Speaker 1: I haven't yet deleted Twitter slash x, but I'm hoping
Speaker 1: to be part of a larger migration and be able
Speaker 1: to find all my favorite teams, leagues, athletes, reporters and
Speaker 1: fun follows over under bluer less Fascist Skies. Join us.
Speaker 1: We'll link to our accounts in the show notes, and
Speaker 1: besides following us there, we've got one more good game
Speaker 1: play of the day too, play nwsl bingal with the
Speaker 1: full Time with Meglenahan crew. The quarterfinal round card included
Speaker 1: some fun spaces like hal Hirschfelt, Yellowcard, Brandy Chess, Dain Sighting,
Speaker 1: check and check. We can't wait to see what's on
Speaker 1: the card for the semis. We'll link to the full
Speaker 1: Time Instagram account in our show notes and we'd always
Speaker 1: love to hear from you, so hit us up on
Speaker 1: email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave us
Speaker 1: a voicemail eight seven two two oh four fifty seventy
Speaker 1: and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. It's easy.
Speaker 1: In fact, listener Matt Douglas emailed us to give us
Speaker 1: a review of sorts. He responded to another Slice, Alexandra Hand,
Speaker 1: who rode in and admitted to being new to the
Speaker 1: w but wondered if the Connecticut Sun might ever move
Speaker 1: to a bigger city. Well, Matt has thoughts his review,
Speaker 1: know nothing new, w fans trying to take the Connecticut
Speaker 1: Sun away from us. I have to assume his rating
Speaker 1: would be zero one of five stars, Matt continues. Number one,
Speaker 1: the Sun are the only professional sports team owned by
Speaker 1: a native tribe. Please keep your grubby colonizer hands off
Speaker 1: our team. Two. Yes, it's an arena that's under ten K,
Speaker 1: but I've never seen that arena at less than seventy
Speaker 1: five percent capacity in the ten plus years I've been
Speaker 1: going to games there. Three, there's support for women's basketball
Speaker 1: and Connecticut from the Sun and Yukon all the way
Speaker 1: down to high school. The arena has been used for
Speaker 1: tournaments and state championships for quite a bit. Now, hope
Speaker 1: this helps Matt from Connecticut and unasked for unofficial Good
Speaker 1: Game Connecticut's un correspondent, Thank you, Matt, check is not
Speaker 1: in the mail. Just you know, FAYI, we don't have
Speaker 1: a budget for correspondence yet, but we'll hang on to
Speaker 1: your resume. Oh and by the way, Matt, you might
Speaker 1: want to talk to your girl Djen A. Carrington. She
Speaker 1: posted on Twitter in response to a report that Jason
Speaker 1: Tatum might be trying to get a WNBA team in
Speaker 1: Saint Louis. Quote, what about a bid to move a
Speaker 1: team to Boston? Smiley faced Djona. I know you're a
Speaker 1: free agent, but the Sun still has your rights. You
Speaker 1: better be careful girl. All right, now, it's your turn slices.
Speaker 1: Head to Apple Podcasts, scroll down to stars, give us
Speaker 1: a five and review. Please, thanks for listening. See you tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Good Game, Meg, Good Game, Women's Lacrosse League. You you redactions
Speaker 1: in juicy investigative reports. Good Game with Sarah Spain is
Speaker 1: an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue
Speaker 1: Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Production by
Speaker 1: Wonder Media Network. Our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones.
Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan
Speaker 1: and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez,
Speaker 1: Grace Lynch and Lindsay Cratowell. Production assistants from Lucy Jones
Speaker 1: and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain