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Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we have

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Speaker 1: fewer sleeps than fingers on one hand until the WNBA

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Speaker 1: season tips off. It's Tuesday, May thirteenth, and on today's show,

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Speaker 1: we're continuing with the shoot around our team by team

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Speaker 1: WNBA season preview, making sure you're all prepped and ready

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Speaker 1: for Friday's season tip off with all the stars, steaks,

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Speaker 1: stats and stories, a little history, a little lower, a

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Speaker 1: little gossip, and a little more. Today we're diving deep

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Speaker 1: on the Minnesota Lynx and the Las Vegas Aces. Plus

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Speaker 1: we got tired legs, egg beating legs, and one sleeved legs.

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Speaker 1: It's all coming up right after this welcome back slices.

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Speaker 1: Here's what you need to know today. Let's start with

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Speaker 1: water polo and those egg beaten legs. As the NCAA

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Speaker 1: Championship in that sport concluded on Sunday with Stanford winning

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Speaker 1: the program's tenth overall title, defeating Southern California eleven to seven.

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Speaker 2: With the win, Ryan Nushall made.

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Speaker 1: Some cool history concluding her college career with her fourth

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Speaker 1: NCUBLEA title, becoming the first four time NCUBLEA team champion

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Speaker 1: in Stanford history.

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Speaker 2: In any sport.

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Speaker 1: New Shoal, a member of the US Olympic team at

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Speaker 1: last summer's Paris Games, took two years away from the

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Speaker 1: Cardinal to train with Team USA to hockey where The

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Speaker 1: PWHL playoffs continue tonight with Game three of the Montreal

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Speaker 1: Victoire Ottawa Charge semi final series. The two teams are

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Speaker 1: currently tied up at one game apiece in the best

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Speaker 1: of five series, and it'll be interesting to see just

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Speaker 1: how tired those legs look after Game two. You remember

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Speaker 1: that game went into four, yes, four overtimes, the longest

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Speaker 1: game in PWHL history, with Montreal finally winning the stalemate.

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Speaker 1: And it's not just the players who are sore. Ottawa

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Speaker 1: coach Carla McLeod joked that she planned to wear flats

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Speaker 1: for tonight's game after spending seven periods in heels on Sunday.

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Speaker 1: Also for the Associated Press, Audawa players were slurping packets

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Speaker 1: of mustard to help prevent cramping, and both teams had

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Speaker 1: pickle juice on hand for the same reason. Tonight's contest

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Speaker 1: at TD place. That game gets underweight at seven pm Eastern,

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Speaker 1: and who knows how many overtimes this one's going to take?

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Speaker 1: The other semi final series between Minnesota and Toronto, a

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Speaker 1: series that Minnesota leads two games to one, continues tomorrow

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Speaker 1: Night to Soccer, where FIFA has announced it's sanctioned a

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Speaker 1: new team made up of refugee women from Afghanistan. Now

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Speaker 1: normally FIFA regulations required that a country's national federation recognize

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Speaker 1: a team before said team is allowed to compete, but

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Speaker 1: under the Taliban, women are.

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Speaker 2: Banned from playing sports.

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Speaker 1: This news comes after years of former afghan players calling

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Speaker 1: on the Global Soccer Federation to create a pathway for

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Speaker 1: them to continue representing their country, and the new refugee team,

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Speaker 1: which will begin play with a one year pilot program,

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Speaker 1: could include some of those players who previously competed internationally

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Speaker 1: for Afghanistan. Between twenty ten and twenty eighteen, Afghanistan fielded

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Speaker 1: a women's soccer team that played twenty two matches, but

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Speaker 1: that all ended in twenty twenty one when the Taliban

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Speaker 1: returned to power. Captain of that team, Fatima Yusufi, told

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Speaker 1: me in a twenty twenty three interview that members of

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Speaker 1: the team and female athletes in general in Afghanistan faced

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Speaker 1: some of the biggest risks from the new regime, as

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Speaker 1: the Taliban was first targeting educated women and women athletes,

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Speaker 1: those who were empowered in their bodies. fIF pro the

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Speaker 1: Global Players Association helped more than seventy five people associated

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Speaker 1: with the women's soccer team evacuate from Afghanistan, many of

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Speaker 1: them landing in Australia, and several of those players, including Yusufi,

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Speaker 1: now compete for a team called Melbourne Victory FC, Afghan

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Speaker 1: women's team, which is part of the sixth tier of

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Speaker 1: Aussie football. We're super excited that after all these years

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Speaker 1: of fighting, these Afghan women are finally going to be

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Speaker 1: recognized by FIFA. To the WNBA, where we have an

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Speaker 1: update on La Sparks player Deerica Hamby's federal discrimination lawsuit

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Speaker 1: filed last August. Hamby alleges that her former team, the

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Speaker 1: Las Vegas Aces, unlawfully traded her because she was pregnant

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Speaker 1: with her second child. Hamby's claims against the WNBA itself

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Speaker 1: have been dismissed, but friend of the show, Callie Finn

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Speaker 1: of the Las Vegas Review Journal reported that US District

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Speaker 1: Judge Andrew Gordon has ordered that the case against the

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Speaker 1: Aces be allowed to proceed. Per Finn, quote. The decision

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Speaker 1: to deny the Ace's motion to dismiss Hamby's discrimination claim

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Speaker 1: came down to two of her allegations that the Aces

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Speaker 1: failed to invite her to their White House visit celebrating

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Speaker 1: their twenty twenty two WNBA championship win. Ann prohibited the

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Speaker 1: team's videography staff from projecting her daughter on the video

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Speaker 1: screen at an Aces game.

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Speaker 2: End quote.

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Speaker 1: We'll keep you posted as we learn more, and we've

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Speaker 1: got plenty more to say about the Aces later in

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Speaker 1: today's show.

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Speaker 2: More Hoops.

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Speaker 1: Maryland standout Cheyenne Sellars has been waived by the Atlanta

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Speaker 1: Dream You remember Sellers was also waived by the Valkyries,

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Speaker 1: who drafted her with the seventeenth pick, and even more WNBA.

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Speaker 1: A few days ago, when previewing the Connecticut Sun, we

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Speaker 1: mentioned that the team had promised they had the full

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Speaker 1: backing and commitment of their owners, the Mohegan Tribe. In fact,

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Speaker 1: before last season started, team president Jennifer Rizzotti responded to

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Speaker 1: a fan who was worried that the team might be

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Speaker 1: looking to relocate after they promoted a game at TD

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Speaker 1: Garden in Boston. Rizzotti said, quote that was not part

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Speaker 1: of the reason for playing in Boston. I know people

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Speaker 1: like to talk about that, but the Mohegan tribe has

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Speaker 1: supported this team for twenty three years. They have poured

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Speaker 1: into it, they invested in it, and now they're at

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Speaker 1: a point where they can finally see the value of

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Speaker 1: all that investment. I feel proud to know that they

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Speaker 1: continue to step up to the plate and want to

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Speaker 1: have a successful franchise and want that to be in

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Speaker 1: Connecticut at the Mohegan Sun Arena. She continued, It's refreshing

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Speaker 1: to know that they're supportive of us doing this, knowing

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Speaker 1: that that could be the conversation. They're secure enough that

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Speaker 1: they're okay with us expanding into a different market in

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Speaker 1: New England, and even though we want to be known

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Speaker 1: as New England's team, we're still the Connecticut Sun.

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Speaker 2: End quote.

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Speaker 1: Well, that was then, and this is what we're hearing now.

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Speaker 1: Per Sportico's ebenov Williams and Kurt Badenhausen, the son of

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Speaker 1: hired investment bank Allen and Company, to explore the sale

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Speaker 1: of the franchise. We'll keep you updated as we get

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Speaker 1: more info. We got to take a quick break. When

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Speaker 1: we come back.

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Speaker 2: We're talking Minnesota links a team with revenge on the brain,

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Speaker 2: stick around welcome back slices.

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Speaker 1: Today's previews start with the Minnesota Lynx, who went thirty

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Speaker 1: to ten last season, winning the inn season tournament, the

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Speaker 1: Commissioner's Cup, and finishing the season as the second seed

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Speaker 1: before falling to the New York Liberty in a winner

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Speaker 1: take all Game five of the WNBA Finals.

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Speaker 2: Here's what you need to know about the Minnesota Links history.

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Speaker 1: The team began play during the nineteen ninety nine season

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Speaker 1: and shared an owner with the mnba's Minnesota Timberwolves Glenn Taylor,

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Speaker 1: but this year both teams are transitioning ownership to former

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Speaker 1: mlbstar Alex Rodriguez and entrepreneur Mark Lore. The Links have

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Speaker 1: made the postseason in fifteen of their twenty six seasons,

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Speaker 1: winning four titles in twenty eleven, twenty thirteen, twenty fifteen,

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Speaker 1: and twenty seventeen. A true dynasty. Great players of Links

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Speaker 1: past include Katie Smith, Simone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen, who's now

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Speaker 1: an assistant coach with the team, Maya Moore, Rebecca Brunson,

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Speaker 1: and Sylvia Fowls. The team's twenty twenty five tag line

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Speaker 1: one two Words revenge Tour. The Links were a single

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Speaker 1: overtime period away from winning the title last year, with

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Speaker 1: head coach Cheryl Reeves saying after the game that it

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Speaker 1: was quote unquote stolen by the officials. The team's relatively

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Speaker 1: quiet offseason reflects a belief in running it back with

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Speaker 1: the same pieces, hoping for a different result this time.

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Speaker 1: So let's talk additions and losses. Maisha heinz Allen left

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Speaker 1: the team in free agency to sign with the Dallas Wings.

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Speaker 1: Cecilia Zandalasini was selected by the Golden State Valkyries and

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Speaker 1: the expansion Draft, and Dorca Johas has elected to sit

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Speaker 1: out the twenty twenty five season to rest, citing a

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Speaker 1: year round schedule of playing in both the WNBA and

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Speaker 1: in Italy plus for the Hungarian national team. As for additions,

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Speaker 1: the most noteworthy was trading with the Mystics to acquire

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Speaker 1: Carly Samuelson. Perhaps the biggest changes for the Links came

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Speaker 1: at the front office and coaching level. General manager Claire

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Speaker 1: Duellius left to become the executive VP and GM for Unrivaled,

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Speaker 1: and assistant coach Katie Smith left to take an assistant

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Speaker 1: position at her alma mater, Ohio State opened up room

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Speaker 1: for the Links to hire Eric Tebow, most recently head

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Speaker 1: coach of the Washington Mystics, and Lindsay Whalen, a franchise

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Speaker 1: legend and former Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach. The team

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Speaker 1: boasts a couple of stars and certainly more household names

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Speaker 1: after last year's run to the finals, but it definitely

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Speaker 1: all starts with Nafisa Collier aka Fee, last year's Defensive

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Speaker 1: Player of the Year and runner up for MVP, a

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Speaker 1: four time All Star and former Rookie of the Year,

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Speaker 1: plus an unrivaled co founder, the inaugural Unrivaled MVP and

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Speaker 1: inaugural winner of the unrivaled one v one tournament, plus

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Speaker 1: a two time Olympic gold medalist. Then there's Courtney Williams.

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Speaker 1: After playing for five different teams in her first eight seasons,

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Speaker 1: she landed with the Links last year and was a

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Speaker 1: fantastic fit. A one time All Star with a ton

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Speaker 1: of swag and toughness, She's an absolute dog who wins

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Speaker 1: over fans and frustrates her opponents.

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Speaker 2: Kyla McBride is another standout for the Links. She was

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Speaker 2: the team's second leading scorer last year, putting up fifteen

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Speaker 2: points a game and shooting over forty percent from three.

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Speaker 2: The stakes are high for this team.

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Speaker 1: They want to avenge last year's finals loss, and they

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Speaker 1: want to win before they lose any of their best

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Speaker 1: players to free agency. The new WNBACBA expected to drop

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Speaker 1: ahead of next season means a ton of teams could

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Speaker 1: face a big roster shakeup as players have signed their

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Speaker 1: deals with the intention of being free agents heading into

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Speaker 1: next year. All the biggest names on this link's team

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Speaker 1: will be unrestricted free agents next season. Nafisa Collier, Kaylen McBride,

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Speaker 1: Courtney Williams, Alana Smith, Natisia Heideman, and Bridget Carlton. So yeah,

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Speaker 1: they want to win now before those pieces have the

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Speaker 1: chance to walk after that finals run last year. It's

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Speaker 1: basically win it all this year or be disappointed. Let's

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Speaker 1: talk some stats. The big one is rings one more

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Speaker 1: and this team is at five titles, getting them out

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Speaker 1: of a three way tie with the Seattle Storm and

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Speaker 1: the now defunct franchise the Houston Comets, and establishing sole

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Speaker 1: possession of most WNBA titles.

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Speaker 2: In league history.

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Speaker 1: Last season, the team posted the league's best defensive rating,

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Speaker 1: a huge jump after finishing tenth in that category in

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Speaker 1: both the two previous seasons. They also led the league

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Speaker 1: an opponent field goal percentage, opponent two point percentage, and

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Speaker 1: opponent three point percentage, so defense was a huge part

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Speaker 1: of the Links' success last year. They could stand to

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Speaker 1: improve their rebounding, though they were just seventh in total

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Speaker 1: rebounding rate. As for individual stats. Per her Hoopstats, Collier

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Speaker 1: can join an elite group if she puts up a

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Speaker 1: third season averaging at least twenty points, eight boards, and

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Speaker 1: two assists a game. Only Brianna Stewart, who's had four

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Speaker 1: such seasons, and Asia Wilson, who's had three, have ever

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Speaker 1: done it. Collier would also be doing it in her

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Speaker 1: first three seasons back from maternity leave, which is an

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Speaker 1: extra flex.

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Speaker 2: Let's get to some stories and low around this team.

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Speaker 1: We got to start with Courtney Williams dad Donalds, who's

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Speaker 1: a fixture at games and a very vocal hype man

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Speaker 1: for his daughter. He's always fun to catch sight of

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Speaker 1: during games. You also got head coach Cheryl Reeve, known

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Speaker 1: not just for her outstanding coaching, including Coach of the

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Speaker 1: Year honors last season, but also her advocacy and activism,

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Speaker 1: which is a through line for this franchise, which has

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Speaker 1: often been willing to be on the front lines of

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Speaker 1: may your social and political issues. Then you got super

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Speaker 1: fan prints and the infamous post championship after party at

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Speaker 1: Paisley Park. You can hear all about that in last

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Speaker 1: year's October seventeenth episode, as the moment was inducted into

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Speaker 1: our Good Game Hall of Fame. Fun fact about this team,

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Speaker 1: Cheryl Reeve is the longest tenured WNBA coach by a lot.

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Speaker 1: She's led the Link since December two thousand and nine,

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Speaker 1: a term that includes all four of the team's WNBA titles.

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Speaker 1: The second longest ten yured WNBA coach Noel Quinn, who's

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Speaker 1: been at the helm of the Seattle Storm since just

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Speaker 1: May of twenty twenty one. Producer Alex actually did the

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Speaker 1: math on this and found that Cheryl Reeve has been

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Speaker 1: in her job for nearly as long as every other

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Speaker 1: WNBA coach combined. As of today, it's been five thousand,

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Speaker 1: six hundred thirty five days that Reeve has been in

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Speaker 1: charge in Minnesota, versus five eight hundred and sixty five

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Speaker 1: days for the other twelve coaches combined. That's a difference

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Speaker 1: of just two hundred and thirty days less than a year. Unbelievable.

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Speaker 1: Meish that about some up the Links.

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Speaker 3: But what am I missing, Oh Sarah, what you're missing

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Speaker 3: is a big claim that I'm about to make. Okay, technically,

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Speaker 3: it's a claim that would work if the new CBA

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Speaker 3: wasn't about to be in effect. But I'll just say this,

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Speaker 3: the Links, after losing to the Liberty last year, having

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Speaker 3: arguably to me the best player in the world right

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Speaker 3: now in the Visa Collier, all the role players they

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Speaker 3: have that know what they're doing. You've got Courtney Williams,

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Speaker 3: who I still think is in the prime of her career.

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Speaker 3: They've got all the pieces, plus chl Reeve, who you

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Speaker 3: just mentioned one of the best coaches in the history

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Speaker 3: of the league. If we weren't about to enter into

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Speaker 3: a new CBA, I think we might be seeing the

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Speaker 3: second Links dynasty. They've got that kind of foundation. And again,

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Speaker 3: I mean the final series between them and the Liberty

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Speaker 3: was so beautiful to watch, and I don't think there

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Speaker 3: was a moment in there where I really thought that

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Speaker 3: this was a team that just was gonna lay down

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Speaker 3: and die in front of the right like FISA was

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Speaker 3: on a mission. Everybody else on her squad was on

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Speaker 3: a mission somebody else that I think we need to

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Speaker 3: talk more and more and more about this season. Kaylea

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Speaker 3: McBride was on a mission. Arguably the most underrated player

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Speaker 3: in the league. If we weren't about to enter into

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Speaker 3: a new CBA, if there weren't so many understrict different

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Speaker 3: agents on this team, Sarah, they would be dangerous for

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Speaker 3: years to come. And again, we don't know what they're

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Speaker 3: gonna do.

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Speaker 2: They might choose to stick around and want to be

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Speaker 2: a part of it exactly. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I get the feeling we're gonna see a lot of

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Speaker 1: shake up next season, and that's why there's gonna be

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Speaker 1: such an emphasis for so many of these teams to

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Speaker 1: try to get it done with the core that they

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Speaker 1: have now. I also think after watching Unrivaled, I was

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Speaker 1: convinced and I was gonna put my money down as

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Speaker 1: fee for MVP this season.

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Speaker 2: Ooh spicy, yup? I don't even think it was spicy.

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Speaker 1: And now I'm even more determined because right now she's

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Speaker 1: third in MVP odds behind Caitlin Clark and Asia Wilson,

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Speaker 1: and I think she's just fired up about losing fired

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Speaker 1: up about not being given the best odds for that

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Speaker 1: despite going off and unrivaled and being, like you said,

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Speaker 1: one of the best players in the league last year.

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Speaker 2: So I'm really excited to watch this Links team.

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Speaker 1: I think they're bringing back so many pieces that it's

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Speaker 1: championship or boss quite clearly.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it has to be. It has to be.

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Speaker 3: And I think the other thing that excites me about them,

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Speaker 3: we really haven't seen Alyssa Peelee hit her ceiling yet. Right.

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Speaker 3: Diamond Miller is back, a player that a lot of

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Speaker 3: folks were excited about when she came out of Maryland

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Speaker 3: in the draft just a couple of seasons ago. It

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Speaker 3: just feels like a perfect storm. And so this is

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Speaker 3: a well rounded team, This is a squad.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of eyes should be on them.

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Speaker 1: Look out for the Links. We got to take another

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Speaker 1: break when we come back. Should we still be looking

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Speaker 1: out for the Las Vegas Aces? Stick around, Welcome back Slices.

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Speaker 1: Let's talk Las Vegas Aces, a team that finished twenty

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Speaker 1: seven and thirteen last season, losing to the eventual champion,

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Speaker 1: New York Liberty in the semi finals and falling short

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Speaker 1: in their attempt at a three Peat. Here's the Ace's

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Speaker 1: history you need to know and settle in, because it's

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Speaker 1: a complicated one. The team was founded in nineteen ninety

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Speaker 1: seven as the Utahs Stars with two Z's of Salt

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Speaker 1: Lake City, one of the league's inaugural eight teams. It

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Speaker 1: moved before the two thousand and three season, becoming the

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Speaker 1: San Antonio Silver Stars, later shortening the name to the

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Speaker 1: San Antonio Stars in twenty fourteen. Before the twenty eighteen season,

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Speaker 1: the team relocated to Las Vegas and became the Aces.

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Speaker 1: They're now owned by Mark and Carol Davis, who also

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Speaker 1: owned the Las Vegas Raiders of the NFL. Tom Brady

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Speaker 1: is also a minority owner of the team. Between the

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Speaker 1: Stars with two Z's, the Silver Stars, just Stars and Aces.

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Speaker 1: The team has made it to the finals four times,

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Speaker 1: in two thousand and eight, losing to now defunct franchise

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Speaker 1: the Detroit Shock, in the twenty twenty Wubble season, losing

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Speaker 1: to the Seattle Storm, in twenty twenty two, defeating the

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Speaker 1: Connecticut Sun, and in twenty twenty three defeating the New

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Speaker 1: York Liberty. Top players in franchise history include Becky Hammond,

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Speaker 1: now the head coach of the Aces, Margodideck, and Deerica Hamby,

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Speaker 1: who's still playing in the league, but now with the

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Speaker 1: Los Angeles Sparks. There's also been a surprising amount of

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Speaker 1: controversy in the team's short history as the Aces.

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Speaker 2: We'll get to that a little bit later.

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Speaker 1: Their twenty twenty five tag line should we still bet

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Speaker 1: on Black? Here's why a new look Aces squad is

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Speaker 1: going to try to keep up with the best of

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Speaker 1: the league after they struggled for much of the regular

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Speaker 1: season last year and fell short in the postseason. Now

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Speaker 1: struggled as a relative term, that's just in relation to

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Speaker 1: the success that they'd had the previous two years. When

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Speaker 1: it comes to additions and losses, the biggest was the

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Speaker 1: three team trade that sent two time champ and three

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Speaker 1: time All Star Kelsey Plumb to the LA Sparks, bringing

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Speaker 1: two time champ, six time All Star, two time Olympic

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Speaker 1: Gold medalist, and former Rookie of the Year Jewel Lloyd

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Speaker 1: to Sin City. The Aces lost fan favorite Sidney Coulson

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Speaker 1: to the Indiana Fever and free agency, and saw longtime

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Speaker 1: VET Alicia Clark signed with the Seattle Storm. The Aces

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Speaker 1: also lost Kate Martin, a popular draft pick out of

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Speaker 1: Iowa last year to Golden State in the expansion Draft,

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Speaker 1: and Tiffany Hayes, last year's sixth Woman of the Year,

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Speaker 1: elected to go to the Valkyries and free agency. The

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Speaker 1: Aces did grab guard Dana Evans from the Chicago Sky

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Speaker 1: via trade, and they signed twenty twenty three All Star

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Speaker 1: Chyanne Parker Tias and free agency, but she recently announced

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Speaker 1: her second pregnancy and will miss at least the first

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Speaker 1: few months of the season. As for the coaching staff,

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Speaker 1: they experienced a bit of a brain drain this offseason,

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Speaker 1: a sometimes inevitable consequence of sustained success. Assistant coach Natalie

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Speaker 1: Nicasse left to become the first head coach of the

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Speaker 1: expansion Valkyries, and assistant coach Tyler Marsh took the head

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Speaker 1: job with the Chicago Sky. Also, GM Natalie Williams contract

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Speaker 1: wasn't renewed and the team hasn't yet filled that position.

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Speaker 2: The star of this Aces team is the brightest in

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Speaker 2: the Sky.

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Speaker 1: Three time WNBA MVP, two time champion, two time Defensive

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Speaker 1: Player of the Year, six time All Star, last year's

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Speaker 1: league scoring champion, and two time Olympic gold medalist Asia

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Speaker 1: Wilson she of the signature shoe that just sold out

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Speaker 1: in five minutes. She's kind of a big deal. We

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Speaker 1: also have new addition, Jewel Lloyd, who's a bona fide star.

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Speaker 1: You just heard her impressive list of accomplishments. And you

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Speaker 1: got Chelsea Gray aka the Point God, bringing a resume

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Speaker 1: with three titles, six Star nods, two Olympic Gold medals,

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Speaker 1: and an unrivaled Finals MVP Award.

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Speaker 2: After leading her roseby C team to the inaugural title.

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Speaker 1: And then there's Jackie Young, an Olympic gold medalist, two

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Speaker 1: time champion, and three time All Star.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, this team is pretty stacked.

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Speaker 1: The stakes are high for this team as well as

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Speaker 1: they try to stay among the league's best while teams

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Speaker 1: like the Indiana Fever add big pieces and look to

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Speaker 1: join the contenders.

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Speaker 2: The Aces have been the best team in the league over.

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Speaker 1: The last five years, and there was a lot of

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Speaker 1: dynasty talk last season before they ended up losing to

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Speaker 1: the Liberty. A win this season would still allow them

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Speaker 1: to lay claim to that dynasty title, but if you

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Speaker 1: put too much of a gap between their last two

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Speaker 1: titles and the next, it's a much tougher argument to make.

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Speaker 1: The Aces are another team, like most frankly set to

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Speaker 1: send a handful of players into free agency after this season,

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Speaker 1: including pretty much all those stars I just mentioned Wilson,

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Speaker 1: Lloyd Gray, and young stats. Let's start with coach Becky Hammond,

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Speaker 1: a two time champ as coach and a Hall of

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Speaker 1: Famer as a player. Her seven to fifty two win

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Speaker 1: percentage including the playoffs is the best of any coach

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Speaker 1: in WNBA history with at least a full season of

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Speaker 1: thirty games under their belt. No other coach in w

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Speaker 1: history has won more than sixty five percent of their games.

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Speaker 1: As for team stats, the Aces have led the WNBA

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Speaker 1: in offensive rating in each of the last five seasons.

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Speaker 1: Though there are one hundred five points per one hundred possessions,

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Speaker 1: last season was the lowest mark in that stretch. Per

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Speaker 1: her Hoopstats, there are only twenty one instances of a

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Speaker 1: team posting an offensive rating of one hundred and five

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00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:30,399
Speaker 1: plus in WNBA history, and five of them belong to

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Speaker 1: the Aces over the last five seasons. This team also

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Speaker 1: knows how to take care of the ball, boasting the

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Speaker 1: lowest turnover rate in the league in each of the

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Speaker 1: last four seasons. They do have to improve their offensive rebounding,

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Speaker 1: though they were dead last in offensive rebounding rate in

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty four and twenty twenty two, and finished eleventh

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Speaker 1: and twenty twenty three and ninth in twenty twenty one,

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Speaker 1: so it's been a problem for the duration of their

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Speaker 1: dynastic run. As for stories in Low, while the Asia

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00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:58,439
Speaker 1: lore is growing by the day and will keep growing

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00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:00,560
Speaker 1: as she cements her legacy as one of the greatest

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Speaker 1: of all time. She's already got a statue out front

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Speaker 1: of her alma mater, South Carolina. She's got MNBA players

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Speaker 1: rocking her shoes, including her boyfriend, the Miami Heats Bam Autobio.

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Speaker 1: She's a funko pop, a New York Times bestselling author,

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Speaker 1: a Time Woman of the Year for twenty twenty five.

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Speaker 2: I could literally go on.

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Speaker 1: There's also some less positive lore around this Aces team,

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Speaker 1: though mainly how often they seem to be embroiled in

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Speaker 1: a bit of controversy. Last year, the Las Vegas Convention

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Speaker 1: and Visitors Authority announced that they'd be providing one hundred

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Speaker 1: thousand dollars annual sponsorships to each player for both the

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty four and twenty twenty five seasons. Now, the

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Speaker 1: Aces claim the sponsorship doesn't violate the WNBA salary cap

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Speaker 1: because the club didn't orchestrate the deal, But the WNBA

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Speaker 1: is investigating that, just like they investigated allegations of workplace

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Speaker 1: violations and the providing of benefits outside of contracts back

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three, both of those allegations stemming from

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Speaker 1: a complaint filed by former player de Erica Hamby, who

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Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier in the show. Hamby claimed that some

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Speaker 1: of the alleged outside benefits were denied when she got

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Speaker 1: pregnant again. The findings on that issue led to the

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Speaker 1: team losing their twenty twenty five first round draft pick

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Speaker 1: and a two game suspension for Becky Hammond. And as

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Speaker 1: you heard, Hamby's suit against the Aces is ongoing.

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00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:14,520
Speaker 2: Fun fact for this team.

433
00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:17,280
Speaker 1: Last season, the Aces became the first WNBA team to

434
00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:20,320
Speaker 1: sell out every regular season home game in season. That

435
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,040
Speaker 1: included all twenty home games, eighteen of which were at

436
00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:26,199
Speaker 1: Michelobultra Arena and two at the larger T Mobile Arena.

437
00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:28,600
Speaker 1: All right, meish, I think that's most of it for

438
00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:32,879
Speaker 1: the Aces. But what am I forgetting Sarah?

439
00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:37,280
Speaker 3: I'm terrified for anybody who stands in the way of

440
00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:41,040
Speaker 3: Asian Wilson and this Las Vegas Aces team this season,

441
00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:46,800
Speaker 3: they liked the Minnesota Lynx. I think similarly because they

442
00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:48,639
Speaker 3: didn't have the season they wanted to have in twenty

443
00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:49,200
Speaker 3: twenty four.

444
00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:51,560
Speaker 2: They're also coming back with that same kind of venge.

445
00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:53,959
Speaker 3: It's that same kind of energy and like the Indiana

446
00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:55,919
Speaker 3: Fever who you talked about earlier this week, there are

447
00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:59,320
Speaker 3: a lot of mouths to feed on this roster. But

448
00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,479
Speaker 3: if there's anybody I trust to put all the pieces together,

449
00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,840
Speaker 3: it's Becky Haimmon. You just talked about her resume, and

450
00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,280
Speaker 3: she's not her mother mother, you not.

451
00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:12,320
Speaker 2: You hit to the kids lingos Sarah I find out.

452
00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:16,439
Speaker 3: But yeah, I just think the two of them, they're

453
00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:18,280
Speaker 3: in lockstep. And when you have a star and a

454
00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:20,840
Speaker 3: coach who are just in each other's pockets that way,

455
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,760
Speaker 3: it's always dangerous. But you mentioned the active offseason that

456
00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:27,159
Speaker 3: Asia had. I think last season, you know, you have

457
00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:29,119
Speaker 3: the Olympics, you have all this other stuff going on.

458
00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:31,520
Speaker 3: Now she's on the other side of that. I think

459
00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:34,919
Speaker 3: she's gonna be able to hone in on more leadership

460
00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,160
Speaker 3: with this new group, making sure that Juwel Lloyd feels

461
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,000
Speaker 3: comfortable on this roster. She'll have some help right in

462
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,159
Speaker 3: Chelsea Gray. The point God, she's gonna be healthy for

463
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,000
Speaker 3: a whole season, hopefully fingers crossed.

464
00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:47,720
Speaker 2: So you know, another team.

465
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:49,639
Speaker 3: I feel like we've said this ten different times for

466
00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:51,960
Speaker 3: ten different teams already, but another team you have to

467
00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,159
Speaker 3: be scared of come the regular season in the playoffs.

468
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:56,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, those are some really good points.

469
00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:58,840
Speaker 1: I think worth noting that the struggles that they had

470
00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:02,000
Speaker 1: early last season were tied to Chelsea Gray's injury and

471
00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:03,720
Speaker 1: they started to figure it out. Of course, pick things

472
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,439
Speaker 1: up later in the season, and then also Asia, busy

473
00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:10,320
Speaker 1: with her shoe and promoting things, took time off and

474
00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,680
Speaker 1: didn't plan unrivaled. She of course one of the greatest

475
00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:15,879
Speaker 1: best players in the league, and wasn't playing in that

476
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:18,600
Speaker 1: league along with so many of the other stars because

477
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:20,719
Speaker 1: she rested her body. We'll see if that helps her

478
00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:22,280
Speaker 1: come back. I don't even know how you come back

479
00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:24,639
Speaker 1: stronger and better. Yeah, it possible.

480
00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:28,080
Speaker 3: Improve, But I think that's something we forget about a

481
00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:30,840
Speaker 3: lot with these players. They've got so much happening even

482
00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,160
Speaker 3: off the basketball court, that when you have the time

483
00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:36,200
Speaker 3: in the space to really lock in and get into

484
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:36,720
Speaker 3: that zone.

485
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:38,240
Speaker 2: Oh man, oh buddy.

486
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,480
Speaker 1: I have to say, like your excitement around them is

487
00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:45,400
Speaker 1: reminding me that on paper they should be very much

488
00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:46,040
Speaker 1: in contention.

489
00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:49,399
Speaker 2: There is some part of my gut, though I don't

490
00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:51,359
Speaker 2: know why that is.

491
00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:55,800
Speaker 1: Wondering if as other teams get better, they don't get worse,

492
00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:59,080
Speaker 1: but they just struggle to be as dominant. When I

493
00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:01,359
Speaker 1: look at a team like Fever adding pieces, when I

494
00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:03,560
Speaker 1: look at a team like the Lynx that should be

495
00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:06,159
Speaker 1: as good, if not stronger than last year. When I

496
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:07,920
Speaker 1: look at a team like the Liberty that didn't really

497
00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:08,359
Speaker 1: lose anything.

498
00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:09,200
Speaker 2: I mean, there's a little.

499
00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:14,400
Speaker 1: Difference there with Salute versus Natasha Cloud, but I don't

500
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:16,359
Speaker 1: know why, and there's not a good reason for it.

501
00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:19,280
Speaker 3: But Sarah, the beauty of that you just mentioned all

502
00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:23,119
Speaker 3: the top teams, right everybody you kind of wondering. You're

503
00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,040
Speaker 3: taking everything with a grain of salt. It's a beautiful

504
00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:28,159
Speaker 3: thing for the game of women's basketball. When there's so

505
00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:33,360
Speaker 3: much parody, folks, it's gonna be locked. U absolutely sixth seasons.

506
00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:36,000
Speaker 1: So if you ask Mesh, her answer to my tagline

507
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:41,399
Speaker 1: should be still bet on black is absolutely Yeah. We

508
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:43,240
Speaker 1: always love that you're listening slices, but we want you

509
00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:44,840
Speaker 1: to get in the game every day too, So here's

510
00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:46,160
Speaker 1: our good game play of the day.

511
00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:48,280
Speaker 2: Fill out a college softball bracket.

512
00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,560
Speaker 1: The Ncaattorney gets underway with the regionals starting this Friday,

513
00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:52,600
Speaker 1: May sixteenth.

514
00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:55,280
Speaker 2: Now, we're not gonna lie to you. Slices. Filling out a.

515
00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:59,040
Speaker 1: Softball bracket maybe not exactly the easiest task, not just

516
00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:01,520
Speaker 1: because of the whole dumble elimination thing, but also because,

517
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:05,359
Speaker 1: as far as we've seen, there are no interactive versions online,

518
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:07,159
Speaker 1: which means you do got to break out a pen

519
00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:09,800
Speaker 1: and paper, or if you're super tech savvy, type in

520
00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:12,920
Speaker 1: your selections manually. We'll link to a printable bracket in

521
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:14,520
Speaker 1: our show notes. Go ahead and fill it out and

522
00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:16,879
Speaker 1: send us a photo. We always love to hear from you,

523
00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:18,920
Speaker 1: so hit us up on email good game at Wondermedia

524
00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:21,240
Speaker 1: network dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight

525
00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:24,440
Speaker 1: seven two two oh four fifty seventy, and don't forget

526
00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:25,679
Speaker 1: to subscribe.

527
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:28,320
Speaker 2: Rate and review, y'all. It really helps us, and it's easy.

528
00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:32,960
Speaker 1: Watch a recent WNBA story in the Onion rating ten

529
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:35,920
Speaker 1: out of ten two reel. Someone is going to take

530
00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:42,199
Speaker 1: this seriously review. State Department designates WNBA as terrorist organization.

531
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,320
Speaker 1: Reads the headline of a recent story in the satirical

532
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:49,639
Speaker 1: publication The Onion. A few choice lines from this story quote.

533
00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:53,000
Speaker 1: According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the organization has

534
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,280
Speaker 1: as many as one hundred and fifty six terrorists spread

535
00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:58,359
Speaker 1: across thirteen known cells in the United States, and several

536
00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,000
Speaker 1: of its members can be tied directly to the notorious

537
00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:04,520
Speaker 1: acts of basketball carried out last year at the Paris Olympics.

538
00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:08,840
Speaker 1: Their radical anti American ideology is centered on the empowerment

539
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:12,000
Speaker 1: of girls and women, said Rubio, while stressing that the

540
00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:15,359
Speaker 1: group's members are easily recognizable by their signature uniform of

541
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:19,159
Speaker 1: sleeveless jerseys and nylon shorts. The WNBA is a danger

542
00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:21,800
Speaker 1: not just to this nation, but the entire globe. They

543
00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:24,199
Speaker 1: won't stop until every woman on the planet believes they

544
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:26,760
Speaker 1: can do anything they want on the court and off

545
00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:31,360
Speaker 1: end quote. The story also cites key leaders including Asia Wilson,

546
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:35,320
Speaker 1: ri k Agumbwallee, Angel Rehese, and Caitlin Clark end quote.

547
00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:38,199
Speaker 1: The FBI named forty two year old Diana Tarassi as

548
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:40,760
Speaker 1: a senior ranking member who is believed to have helped

549
00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:43,959
Speaker 1: lead the organization for years, but whose current whereabouts are

550
00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:47,480
Speaker 1: unknown end quote. Also one more line, because it's just

551
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:52,040
Speaker 1: too good, referring to FBI Director Cash Patel, who quote

552
00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,879
Speaker 1: pointed to the Justice Department's open case against Skims, the

553
00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:59,399
Speaker 1: official underwear partner of the WNBA. If you want to

554
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,080
Speaker 1: cheer on the disturbing acts of Kennedy Carter, you will

555
00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:03,439
Speaker 1: do so from behind bars.

556
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:06,359
Speaker 2: He added, it's just so good.

557
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:08,680
Speaker 1: I want a link to the story, but it looks

558
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:10,679
Speaker 1: like it might be just a print edition. So I

559
00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:14,040
Speaker 1: guess you gotta subscribe like me and get the actual

560
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:17,640
Speaker 1: paper newspaper the Onion in your mailbox and all.

561
00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:19,119
Speaker 2: The good WNBA satire.

562
00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:23,439
Speaker 1: Also a bonus, the paper has fake ads and you

563
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:25,920
Speaker 1: can only get him in the print edition, which are

564
00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:29,680
Speaker 1: hilarious and often go very hard, particularly at Elon Musk,

565
00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:31,840
Speaker 1: who at one point considered buying The Onion so that

566
00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:35,080
Speaker 1: it wouldn't make fun of him. Like recently, there was

567
00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:39,600
Speaker 1: a fake ad for Twitter slash x that read threats eugenics, slurs,

568
00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:43,120
Speaker 1: dosing the Everything app, and then there's a fake ad

569
00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:45,680
Speaker 1: for a Tesla cyber tarp to put over your car

570
00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:50,680
Speaker 1: with the tagline hide your shame, It's just Bravo the onion.

571
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,119
Speaker 1: I love it now it's your turt rate and review.

572
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:55,680
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, y'all. See tomorrow when we continue to

573
00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:58,680
Speaker 1: shoot around by discussing the Seattle storm and Phoenix Mercury,

574
00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:02,600
Speaker 1: Good Game Links, Good Game Aces Hugh, the fact there

575
00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:05,320
Speaker 1: are no interactive women's college softball brackets in the year

576
00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:09,359
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an

577
00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:12,479
Speaker 1: iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports

578
00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,280
Speaker 1: and Entertainment. You could find us on the iHeartRadio app,

579
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:18,760
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by

580
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,639
Speaker 1: Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzi and Nisha Jones.

581
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:26,679
Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan,

582
00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:30,359
Speaker 1: and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez,

583
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:34,199
Speaker 1: Grace Lynch, and Gianna Palmer. Our associate producers Lucy Jones

584
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,160
Speaker 1: and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain