Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're congratulating
Speaker 1: the neighbors down the street with the year round giant
Speaker 1: skeletons in their yard. It only took three hundred and
Speaker 1: forty four days, but your commitment to bones is finally
Speaker 1: seasonally appropriate again. On today show, we'll be talking with
Speaker 1: Renee Stubbs, former tennis great now a commentator and host
Speaker 1: of the Renee Stubs Tennis Podcast.
Speaker 2: We'll talk about the China Open.
Speaker 1: Golf versus Osaka, and the biggest talents on the WTA Tour,
Speaker 1: plus positive vibes and rat sex.
Speaker 2: It's all coming up right after this. Welcome back, my
Speaker 2: little slices. Here's what you need to know today.
Speaker 1: The WNBA Semi Finals rolled on with the New York
Speaker 1: Liberty Top in the Las Vegas Aces eighty eight eighty
Speaker 1: four Tuesday night at the Barclay Center to take a
Speaker 1: two zero lead in the best of five series. Sabrina
Speaker 1: Nescu dropped eleven of her twenty four points in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter and finished with nine rebounds while shooting fifty
Speaker 1: percent from the fet Brianna Stewart flirted with the triple double,
Speaker 1: putting up fifteen points eight assists and seven rebounds. Asia
Speaker 1: Wilson attempted a season low four field goals in the
Speaker 1: first half, but ended up with twenty four points and
Speaker 1: seven rebounds to lead the Aces in their losing effort,
Speaker 1: while Jackie Young had seventeen so Liberty row at the
Speaker 1: Barclays was poppin' and Alesia Keys even paid a visit
Speaker 1: to the New York locker room after the game, Rocket
Speaker 1: a Liberty off white jacket to.
Speaker 2: Lead the team in a little sing along concrete jungle
Speaker 2: where dreams I'm made?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 2: Hold up? Do we have to pay someone if I sing? Anyway?
Speaker 1: The Liberty take a two oh lead to Vegas for
Speaker 1: Game three on Friday, needing just one win in three
Speaker 1: games to advance to the WNBA Finals. After the game,
Speaker 1: Becky Hammond was asked about calling Game two a must
Speaker 1: win and responded.
Speaker 2: Quote, did I say it was must win? I was lying.
Speaker 1: I was trying to bring the drama end quote. History
Speaker 1: doesn't bode well for Hammin and the Aces in this series.
Speaker 1: WNBA teams are eighteen to zero in the postseason when
Speaker 1: leading a series to nothing. The second game of the
Speaker 1: night was a low scoring defensive battle at the start
Speaker 1: but the minute, so the Links ultimately pulled away and
Speaker 1: held off multiple pushes from the Connecticut Sun, winning seventy
Speaker 1: seven to seventy to even the series at a game apiece.
Speaker 1: Nafisa Collier was quiet again, shooting just three or fourteen
Speaker 1: from the field for nine points, and was even held
Speaker 1: without a single shot in the second quarter, but Courtney
Speaker 1: Williams picked up the slack, putting up seventeen points for
Speaker 1: Minnesota in the win. You remember, Link's coach Eryl Reeve
Speaker 1: was on this show right here telling us that this
Speaker 1: team needed a dog, so they went out and got
Speaker 1: Courtney Williams.
Speaker 2: Well, Williams did her job. Tuesday night.
Speaker 1: Elena Smith and Kaylea McBride added fifteen and eleven points respectively,
Speaker 1: and the Links Electric slided right on out of there
Speaker 1: with a dub the Wind snapped a seven game losing
Speaker 1: skid for the Links against the Sun on their home
Speaker 1: court in Minnesota, given the credits first chance in quite
Speaker 1: a while to chant our house, our house as the
Speaker 1: clock wound down. Alissa Thomas led four Sun starters and
Speaker 1: double figures with eighteen points, ten boards, and seven assists,
Speaker 1: while Dewana Bonner had seventeen points in the loss, she
Speaker 1: passed to make a catchings for a third place on
Speaker 1: the all time playoffs points list in the process. That
Speaker 1: series heads to Uncasville, Connecticut, for Game three on Friday
Speaker 1: in the NWSL. The Houston Dash announced in a statement
Speaker 1: on Tuesday that the team has parted ways with head
Speaker 1: coach fran Alonso, three months after he disappeared from the sidelines.
Speaker 1: Alonso hasn't coached a match for the club since June
Speaker 1: twenty second. The Dash initially said his hiatus was due
Speaker 1: to illness, and has more recently called it a leave
Speaker 1: of absence. Team reps still haven't elaborated further on the
Speaker 1: reason behind it. Ricky Clark will continue serving as the
Speaker 1: interim coach for the rest of the season, a role
Speaker 1: he's held since the team's June twenty eighth match against
Speaker 1: the Kansas City Current Clark is the sixth person to
Speaker 1: coach the Dash since the start of twenty twenty two.
Speaker 2: That's a lot of turnover.
Speaker 1: Houston also said that the team will hire a general
Speaker 1: manager soon and that person will be responsible for hiring
Speaker 1: the next head coach. The Dash has been without a
Speaker 1: GM since Alex Singer was fired in late July. Houston's
Speaker 1: currently last in the NWSL standings with four games left
Speaker 1: to play. Also, an NWSL News voting for the Lauren
Speaker 1: Holiday Impact Award is now open. The award honors the work,
Speaker 1: community involvement and ex sample set by the two time
Speaker 1: Olympic gold medalist, FIFA Women's World Cup champion, and recipient
Speaker 1: of the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian SB Award. Teams are
Speaker 1: already lobbying for their players, so if you want to vote,
Speaker 1: go ahead and get to it.
Speaker 2: Oh and you can.
Speaker 1: Vote daily, So if you really feel strongly about someone,
Speaker 1: set your alarm, vote for them every day while you
Speaker 1: make your coffee. The voting closes on Halloween and we'll
Speaker 1: link to where you can make your selection in our
Speaker 1: show notes. Also, our thoughts are going out to all
Speaker 1: of those impacted by Hurricane Helen. The NWSL's North Carolina
Speaker 1: Courage announced that significant proceeds from this Saturday's home match
Speaker 1: against the San Diego Wave will be donated to United
Speaker 1: Way relief Funds to help those impact it in western
Speaker 1: North Carolina. NWSL Players Association Executive Director Megan Burke, who's
Speaker 1: based in Asheville, has also been letting people know how
Speaker 1: to help. She wrote that her community is especially in
Speaker 1: need of baby supplies.
Speaker 2: Will link to places where you can donate in the
Speaker 2: show notes.
Speaker 1: In tennis, Coco Goff advanced to the quarterfinals with the
Speaker 1: China Open on Tuesday after Naomi Osaka retired with a
Speaker 1: back injury. The pair split the first two sets before four.
Speaker 1: Osaka bout out were guarded four. We wanted to see
Speaker 1: that one go the distance. We'll talk a little bit
Speaker 1: more about that match and the China Open with Renee
Speaker 1: Stubbs in a little bit. In college volleyball, there are
Speaker 1: quite a few top twenty five teams in action tonight,
Speaker 1: including number seven Texas hosting South Carolina in an SEC showdown,
Speaker 1: and number nine Wisconsin panavisit to Rutgers, both at seven
Speaker 1: thirty Eastern. Over in the acc it's rivalry Time, UNC
Speaker 1: takes their talents to Cameron Indoor Stadium to face Duke
Speaker 1: at six thirty pm Eastern. We'll link to the full
Speaker 1: volleyball schedule for the night in our show notes. Finally,
Speaker 1: shout out to Los Angeles Sparks forward Cameron Brink. On Monday,
Speaker 1: she revealed her engagement via some gorgeous picks on social
Speaker 1: and good job to her fiance Ben Felter, a former
Speaker 1: Stanford rower, who popped the question on the rooftop at
Speaker 1: the Shango La Hotel in Paris Ooh La La Trei chic.
Speaker 1: According to People magazine, Brink was attending a Balenciaga show
Speaker 1: and Felter flew out the surpriser after fibbing and saying
Speaker 1: he had to stay back in the States for work.
Speaker 1: Also her caption, yes in every lifetime, so cute. Speaking
Speaker 1: of cute, those two are like super athlete, super tall,
Speaker 1: Barbie and Ken go.
Speaker 2: Look at the posts. We got to take a quick break.
Speaker 2: When we come back, we say gooday and talk tennis
Speaker 2: with my friend from down on da Renee Stubs. We'll
Speaker 2: be back in a jiff. Welcome back Slices.
Speaker 1: Just want to let you know that this segment includes
Speaker 1: a brief mention of allegations of sexual assault. All right,
Speaker 1: let's talk a little tennis and the China Open. She's
Speaker 1: the host of the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast right here
Speaker 1: on Iheartwomen's Sports. A tennis commentator for multiple outlets including ESPN,
Speaker 1: A four time Olympian, a former number one doubles player
Speaker 1: in the world, with sixty tournament wins, including six Grand Slams,
Speaker 1: to her name. She's a New York Liberty season ticket holder.
Speaker 1: We went wild in the South of France's summer popp
Speaker 1: and bottles and pretending we were Flage's tech crew. And
Speaker 1: I can't wait to ask her a question that sets
Speaker 1: her up to say, nar it's our favorite Aussie Renee Stubbs.
Speaker 2: What's up or day?
Speaker 3: Well, it's uh, Sarah, nice to see you, my friend.
Speaker 2: You too.
Speaker 1: I'm wondering right now what the percentage of tennis watching
Speaker 1: versus WNBA playoffs watching is.
Speaker 3: It's a bit fifty to fifty right now.
Speaker 4: I got to say my intensity for the WNBA is
Speaker 4: a little bit higher than the than the tennis. Believe
Speaker 4: it or not, because you know, as you can see, let's.
Speaker 3: Go in New York.
Speaker 2: You know I am.
Speaker 4: I am fully into the Liberty they're playing against tonight.
Speaker 4: It's been a great series already because we are up
Speaker 4: one zero. But I of course am watching the tennis.
Speaker 1: Yes, tennis and WNBA. We got a double screen thing happen.
Speaker 1: And the good news is the tennis was a is
Speaker 1: early and is in a completely different country, so fewer
Speaker 1: conflicts you have to start with the question that we
Speaker 1: are going to ask every tennis guest on this podcast.
Speaker 2: What color is a tennis ball?
Speaker 3: A tennis ball is a very highlighted green. Yet I
Speaker 3: don't know.
Speaker 4: Actually, it's like a lime like it's like a it's
Speaker 4: like a it's like a highlighted it's like a wham color.
Speaker 2: Yeah, nobody knows if it's green or yellow. It's kind
Speaker 2: of brat.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's more yellow.
Speaker 2: It's more yellow.
Speaker 3: It's yellow.
Speaker 2: Let's talk China Open.
Speaker 1: I want to zoom out and ask about the reaction
Speaker 1: to the tournament because I saw a handful of tweets
Speaker 1: about poorly attended matches in the early rounds.
Speaker 2: Is that often an issue for this tournament?
Speaker 1: Because I've also seen some of the Chinese players draw
Speaker 1: some big crowds in these later rounds.
Speaker 2: What's the vibe around this tournament?
Speaker 4: Yeah, listen, I mean, it's it's usual in China because
Speaker 4: people work, you know, and they don't tend to go
Speaker 4: to the tennis in the day.
Speaker 3: It's just a thing.
Speaker 4: And you know, because they are they're working class people
Speaker 4: and they don't have a lot of money, and the
Speaker 4: people that do have money tend to go at night,
Speaker 4: and so you know, that's not a surprise. Honestly, that's
Speaker 4: the way it is in Mexico as well. Mexico gets
Speaker 4: unbelievable fans at night and barely anyone in the day.
Speaker 4: You know, Sarah, people have jobs and so particularly right now,
Speaker 4: trust me, in China, they're looking if you're doing your
Speaker 4: as well, so you better be at work and not
Speaker 4: in the stand.
Speaker 3: So that's a bit of a problem.
Speaker 4: I mean, Yanick Sinner was playing the other day at
Speaker 4: first match and there was nobody in the crowd as well,
Speaker 4: and then at night it's packed, So that's a little
Speaker 4: bit of the issue.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: When I heard about the China Open, I was thinking,
Speaker 1: I don't know a lot about that tournament, and I
Speaker 1: remember hearing so I went back to look and I
Speaker 1: remember that at one point the WTA actually suspended events
Speaker 1: in China. There was an issue with a player named
Speaker 1: Peng Shui who publicly posted accusing a retired Chinese vice
Speaker 1: premiere of raping her.
Speaker 2: The news got censored in China.
Speaker 1: She disappeared and there was a lot of concern about
Speaker 1: her well being. The WTA actually suspended events when there
Speaker 1: wasn't any proof that she wasn't being mistreated or made
Speaker 1: to disappear, quote unquote. She's made limited public appearances since then.
Speaker 1: She announced her retirement. The WTA kind of wasn't satisfied
Speaker 1: with how things went, but still announced that they would
Speaker 1: return to play in China last year. Do you ever
Speaker 1: hear anything from players about concerns going there or lingering
Speaker 1: effects of that, or is it just a simple matter
Speaker 1: of I guess time has passed and we want that
Speaker 1: money back.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Unfortunately, it's all about the money.
Speaker 4: That's why the WTA are also going to Saudi Arabia
Speaker 4: to play the WTA Finals. I mean, you can't have
Speaker 4: two worse countries really for human rights than the UAE,
Speaker 4: the you know, Saudi's and of course China, so on
Speaker 4: that front.
Speaker 3: Unfortunately, they also offer a lot.
Speaker 4: Of money because as we know, people like to wash
Speaker 4: the money, as they say, when it comes to sports,
Speaker 4: and that's why we're seeing the WTA go back into China. Clearly,
Speaker 4: we don't still know where pun Shui is or how
Speaker 4: she's doing, and that's you know, a concern for every
Speaker 4: single player.
Speaker 3: Of course, it comes up from time to time. But
Speaker 3: at the same time, unfortunately.
Speaker 4: You know, these these women have to work, These women
Speaker 4: have to make money, and the WTA is to make money,
Speaker 4: and so we fall into these issues, which has been
Speaker 4: my sort of gripe for a number of years, really
Speaker 4: is where are the WTA and where are they not
Speaker 4: getting sponsorship from?
Speaker 3: And you think about the great companies.
Speaker 4: Like Ally for example, and you know, Deloitte and all
Speaker 4: these thanies are putting a lot of money into women's sports.
Speaker 4: Why aren't they putting it into tennis. Why aren't we
Speaker 4: going after the allies? Why don't we going after the Deloittes.
Speaker 4: I don't know if we are or we're not, but
Speaker 4: certainly I could think of a few American companies that
Speaker 4: have a few billion dollars that could offer a sponsorship
Speaker 4: to you know, WTA finals for example, and certainly end
Speaker 4: of year schedule when I played, certainly for the first
Speaker 4: let's say twelve fifteen, twelve thirteen, fifteen years of my life,
Speaker 4: the last last couple of tournaments of the year. We're
Speaker 4: always in the United States indoors. So if we can
Speaker 4: find a way get tournaments back here. We have the
Speaker 4: likes of Cocoa GoF, we have the likes of you know,
Speaker 4: Jessica Bogoula. There's so many women in the top twenty
Speaker 4: in the world, why don't we have more tournaments here
Speaker 4: in the US So I would like us to find
Speaker 4: some money coming from US companies rather than China and
Speaker 4: from Saudi Arabia in the future.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the US Opens the last major of the year.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's changed since when you played,
Speaker 1: but right now, do you feel like a majority of
Speaker 1: players feel like the handful of tournaments in the later
Speaker 1: months at the end of the season are sort of
Speaker 1: a letdown. It feels like a strange thing to ramp
Speaker 1: up to the Open and then over the last few
Speaker 1: months be predominantly in Asia and also not have any
Speaker 1: majors or bigger tournaments.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I've talked about this on my podcast A couple
Speaker 4: of the last couple of weeks is just not playing
Speaker 4: tournaments after the US Open. Maybe finding one or two
Speaker 4: here and there, But bottom lineers, why don't we play
Speaker 4: some exhibitions, play the Billy Jean King Cup, the Davis Cup,
Speaker 4: and really make a World Cup kind of thing after
Speaker 4: the US Open, because it feels like mentally everyone shuts down. Look,
Speaker 4: Serena never played for the last like seven years of
Speaker 4: her career, she barely played after the US Open, and
Speaker 4: I thought that was a good move from her, to
Speaker 4: be quite honest. But you know, the lower ranked players,
Speaker 4: or the players ranked from say ten to one hundred
Speaker 4: or certainly ten to two hundred and fifty, they need
Speaker 4: to play. They need to make money. So if you
Speaker 4: put tournaments on, they're going to go. So, you know,
Speaker 4: we have to find a better way. After the US Open,
Speaker 4: I feel certainly for the top players to see what
Speaker 4: we can do for them that's not as taxing and
Speaker 4: not as stressful, and give them a real season where
Speaker 4: they have a time off.
Speaker 1: Speaking of top players, Coco GoF versus Naomi Osaka, we
Speaker 1: were so excited for this round of sixteen match up,
Speaker 1: their first meetings since Golf one six four, six four
Speaker 1: and twenty twenty two. They alternated wins over their four
Speaker 1: prior meetings, both coming in with new coaching teams and
Speaker 1: an unfortunate finish to this when Osaka broke Golf to
Speaker 1: lead six three, four to three. Golf then won the
Speaker 1: next three games to level the match where it's sixty
Speaker 1: three sixty three heading into a third set. It's exciting
Speaker 1: Osaka retires due to a back injury. What are the
Speaker 1: two sets that we saw teach you about these two
Speaker 1: players and how they're playing right now?
Speaker 3: Well, both playing better, there's no questions.
Speaker 4: You know, a coaching change was important for the both
Speaker 4: of them, just to get fresh eyes, fresh ideas. And
Speaker 4: you know, any player will tell you that a new
Speaker 4: coach will give you some fresh ideas and just give
Speaker 4: you a different perspective. And sometimes that different perspective makes
Speaker 4: you play better just because you're not happier, but it's
Speaker 4: just fresh and so certainly that both of them that
Speaker 4: has helped them. I think Naomi's had a better draw
Speaker 4: than she's had over the last couple of months.
Speaker 3: She's had some shocking draws at.
Speaker 4: The Grand Slams and lost early in those events, losing
Speaker 4: to Makova at the US Open, for example, where I
Speaker 4: thought she would do really well. And Coco, you know,
Speaker 4: Coco has been really consist but she's lacked that, you know,
Speaker 4: big win over the last few months, and so it
Speaker 4: was interesting to see who was going to win it
Speaker 4: when it went to a third, but I could tell
Speaker 4: that Naomi were struggling in the second set.
Speaker 3: Was something you could just tell on her.
Speaker 4: Face and she started serving, like I could see that
Speaker 4: she wasn't getting the bend in her back. I wasn't
Speaker 4: sure if it was her back or stomach muscle strain,
Speaker 4: and so when she pulled the plug after the second set,
Speaker 4: you could tell that there was something wrong.
Speaker 3: It was a shame that we didn't get to.
Speaker 4: See the third set because it would have been interesting
Speaker 4: because when they've played each other, they've played really quick matches,
Speaker 4: and so it would have been nice to see them
Speaker 4: go the distance. But certainly good news for Cocoa, not
Speaker 4: great news for Naomi.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Naomi looked to be in better form before the
Speaker 2: injury picked up. What have you seen from Naomi and
Speaker 2: her return to the court since she took time after
Speaker 2: injuries for the birth of her first child, Like, does
Speaker 2: she seem like the player from before or how has
Speaker 2: her game changed?
Speaker 4: Certainly hitting the ball as well as she ever has,
Speaker 4: you know, but the consistency is still not there. I
Speaker 4: just feel like when it gets to five, six, seven
Speaker 4: balls into the point, and we saw that today in
Speaker 4: the latter part. Now, it was also an issue with
Speaker 4: the back, because she was missing quite a few back
Speaker 4: ends towards the end.
Speaker 3: As well.
Speaker 4: So the bottom line is she just has to get
Speaker 4: the consistency back. Once she gets the ability to make
Speaker 4: a seven eight ten ball rally, then she's going to
Speaker 4: be as good as we've seen her. Is it going
Speaker 4: to be physical, yes? Is it going to be a
Speaker 4: physical issue for her going forward? Possibly?
Speaker 3: You know, I've not had a baby, but I'm sure
Speaker 3: it changes.
Speaker 4: A lot of things down in that area of the back,
Speaker 4: the pell many.
Speaker 3: Are kinds of things.
Speaker 4: Sure, yeah, yeah, So we'll see how she can recover.
Speaker 4: But certainly having her back, you know, she's in the
Speaker 4: top sixty now, so but having her back inside the
Speaker 4: top sort of twenty or ten would be ideal for
Speaker 4: the Women's Tennis Association and certainly for every top player.
Speaker 4: I don't want to play her earlier in the tournament.
Speaker 2: Well, that's why I want to wrap.
Speaker 1: When you're in the end of this twenty twenty four season,
Speaker 1: when you look back at this year's action and you
Speaker 1: look ahead to twenty twenty five, what is the stat
Speaker 1: of American women's tennis? To me, it feels better than
Speaker 1: it's been in years in terms of number of players
Speaker 1: that are making a run.
Speaker 3: Well, hold, they calm the farm on that, Sarah, because
Speaker 3: the women the United States, no Astro no is better. No,
Speaker 3: I disagree, nonis.
Speaker 4: Australia tennis is definitely not better since Ash Party, the
Speaker 4: world number one, decided to go into retirement at like twelve.
Speaker 4: But look, the bottom line is American tennis women's tennis
Speaker 4: has been amazing for a long time. We've had Venus, Serena,
Speaker 4: Sloane Stevens, Madison Keys. I mean the list is long
Speaker 4: for Sophia Kennon, who won a Grand slams you know,
Speaker 4: Sloan won a Grand Slam. Of course, what Serena and
Speaker 4: Venus have done in their career. Danielle Collins has had
Speaker 4: a great year. She's been in the finals of a
Speaker 4: Grand Slam in the last couple of years. The women
Speaker 4: have been great for a long long time, and I
Speaker 4: don't see that going anywhere at any time soon. Jessica
Speaker 4: Bogola just made the US Open finals, so and Coco
Speaker 4: won it last year.
Speaker 3: So the women are doing great.
Speaker 4: The great news is the men are doing better, and
Speaker 4: so they finally kind of got themselves into gear as well,
Speaker 4: with Taylor getting to the.
Speaker 3: Final, Taylor Fitz getting to violent the US Open.
Speaker 4: So I'm not worried about the women. Don't worry, Sarah.
Speaker 4: They're going to be around for a long time.
Speaker 2: It feels like it.
Speaker 1: I mean, going to the US Open was very cool
Speaker 1: to see how many Americans were advancing on both sides,
Speaker 1: and yeah, it's fine. It's fun to get some of
Speaker 1: these stories and we love it to see the daughters
Speaker 1: of billionaire's face off and remind everyone the tennis really
Speaker 1: is for everyone. Renee, what's coming up on your show,
Speaker 1: The Renee Dub Tennis Podcast. I heard your dog in
Speaker 1: the Labor Cup in the most recent episode talking WNBA
Speaker 1: and golf, Like, you're expanding what you're discussing. But what
Speaker 1: can we look forward to on the pod?
Speaker 4: You know, Sarah, I love to talk about obviously tennis.
Speaker 4: That's my thing, that's my go to. We're about to
Speaker 4: start one right now with my buddy Caitlin Thompson. We
Speaker 4: are going to talk a little bit about well, China
Speaker 4: obviously what's happening there. We're going to talk about the
Speaker 4: Wider decision and what they're doing with Yanick Sinner because
Speaker 4: that's a little bit of a hot ticket and a
Speaker 4: hot just discussion right now in men's tennis, certainly going
Speaker 4: to talk about, you know, just some young players coming
Speaker 4: through and.
Speaker 3: Various different things.
Speaker 4: But you never know what's going to come out of
Speaker 4: either of our mouth, so stay tuned on that front.
Speaker 4: The bottom line is, Sarah, I will be at the
Speaker 4: Liberty game tonight. I will continue to talk about the
Speaker 4: WNBA and anything women's sports because you know me, I
Speaker 4: love it.
Speaker 2: We love it. Thank you so much, Renee for the time.
Speaker 2: Appreciate it.
Speaker 3: We welcome see you later.
Speaker 1: We got to take another break when we come back.
Speaker 1: We haven't dipped into the mail bag in a little while.
Speaker 1: Let's indulge, shall.
Speaker 2: We welcome back slices. Feels like a lot of folks
Speaker 2: in the WNBA space have been trying to offset some
Speaker 2: bad vibes with good ones, and we're here for it.
Speaker 1: Last week we asked you to send some of your
Speaker 1: favorite players a nice message, a shout out, some sort
Speaker 1: of positive note, and that same day friend of the
Speaker 1: show Jordan Robinson started a tweet thread asking folks to
Speaker 1: share some of the good things that happened this w season.
Speaker 2: Here are a few that folks came up with. Charter flights,
Speaker 2: the Toronto Portland expansion teams, the Skims campaign, a new
Speaker 2: media rights deal, more merch, more coverage, a sold out
Speaker 2: TD Garden game, sneaker deal, announcements for Asia Wilson, Caitlin
Speaker 2: Clark and Sydney Colson. The Valkyries selling seventeen thousand plus
Speaker 2: season ticket holder packages. Dina Tarassi getting her flowers. The
Speaker 2: new Phoenix Mercury practice facility may be the best All
Speaker 2: Star weekend ever. Sky Guy out in Chicago. Okay, that
Speaker 2: was mine. And record breaking attendance in viewership, which brings
Speaker 2: me to a much needed good game. Good game fact.
Speaker 2: You a positive statistic, and we've got plenty to choose
Speaker 2: from this w season, but let's go with these three
Speaker 2: percentages forty eight, two, forty two and six to SOHO one.
Speaker 1: The WNBA averaged nine eight hundred and seven fans per game.
Speaker 1: That's up forty eight percent from last season, and the
Speaker 1: league's one hundred and fifty four sellouts marked a two
Speaker 1: hundred and forty two percent increase from last season, which
Speaker 1: saw forty five sellouts. And finally, WNBA merchandise sales both
Speaker 1: online at wnbastore dot com and the flagship location in
Speaker 1: New York City were up a combined six hundred and
Speaker 1: one percent from.
Speaker 2: Twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: We love to see it, and we love those positive
Speaker 1: threads so much to celebrate this season. We also love
Speaker 1: all the slices who continue to send us messages and
Speaker 1: thought the show. We really do love to hear from
Speaker 1: you guys, Like seriously, it's awesome to know that you're
Speaker 1: invested in what we've got going on here, and we're
Speaker 1: always down for guest suggestions, feedback, whatever else is on
Speaker 1: your mind. Okay, enough of the sappiness, let's get to
Speaker 1: the material. First up, After Mesh took a few turns
Speaker 1: handling our need to know segment this week, Hagi Altser
Speaker 1: tweeted that they're the cool babysitter and said, imagine how
Speaker 1: much fun the kids would have with at Mesh the
Speaker 1: journalist as substitute coach.
Speaker 2: We got candy instead of orange slices. We didn't have
Speaker 2: to play any defense.
Speaker 1: Okay, first, I got a note here that Mish was
Speaker 1: quick to let us know that they're not a pushover,
Speaker 1: and especially not as a coach. Mish is sweet, but
Speaker 1: not too sweet. Candy is a hard yes for them, though,
Speaker 1: and I'm also going to ignore that if Misha is
Speaker 1: the cool babysitter. That makes me the uncool mom, and
Speaker 1: I need y'all to note there are no rules in
Speaker 1: this house.
Speaker 2: I'm not like a regular mom. I'm a cool mom. Right,
Speaker 2: Please stop talking.
Speaker 1: Next up, Whitney Corlis, send us an email that reads,
Speaker 1: love this show.
Speaker 2: Really need a hoops and gay shit shirt? I'll pay
Speaker 2: good money.
Speaker 1: That's interesting, Whitney, because we've been thinking a lot about
Speaker 1: merch too.
Speaker 2: Who else wants some like a cool shirt that says
Speaker 2: I'm a.
Speaker 1: Slice with like oranges on it and like maybe like
Speaker 1: a whole series of hoops and gay shit, pucks and
Speaker 1: gay shit.
Speaker 2: All Right, we're on it. We're on it.
Speaker 1: We love that you're listening, but we want you to
Speaker 1: get in the game every day too. So here's our
Speaker 1: good gameplay of the day.
Speaker 2: Send us what merch you want to rock.
Speaker 1: We'd love to hear your ideas, and of course, subscribe
Speaker 1: to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcasts. And please don't forget
Speaker 1: to send me those malort faces. Find something to celebrator,
Speaker 1: maybe more appropriately, find something to mourn and pass along
Speaker 1: the mi alort Send me those reaction shots at Sarah
Speaker 1: Spain on Twitter. We love to hear from you to
Speaker 1: hit us up on email, good game at wondermedianetwork dot com,
Speaker 1: or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two
Speaker 1: oh four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, rate
Speaker 1: and review. It's easy slices. Watch being jealous of New
Speaker 1: York City rats rating zero out of five Pizza Rats review.
Speaker 1: In an effort to control its rat population, New York
Speaker 1: City City Council has approved a measure that will feed
Speaker 1: ratituian friends birth control. The program approves putting a contraceptive
Speaker 1: pellet called ContraPest in special rat accessible containers across the city.
Speaker 1: They hope that the measure will sterilize the rats and
Speaker 1: limit the population without having choose poison to kill them,
Speaker 1: which endangers pets and kids and other animals. You remember Flocco,
Speaker 1: That was that beautiful Eurasian eagle owl that escaped the
Speaker 1: Central Berg Zoo and was living amongst the people of
Speaker 1: New York but later sadly died after crashing to a
Speaker 1: building and had rat poison in his stomach.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so thankfully they're trying to avoid that. And apparently
Speaker 2: this rat birth control is delicious. Per a council member, quote,
Speaker 2: it's salty, it's sweet, and it has fatty materials within it.
Speaker 2: End quote. The rats won't be able to resist that.
Speaker 1: You're telling me that New York City rats not only
Speaker 1: get better healthcare than the women of America, their birth
Speaker 1: control is delicious too, Free sweet and salty contraceptives for.
Speaker 2: Rats, but not for us brats. How rude. Don't forget
Speaker 2: to vote in November, slices, or you and your sex
Speaker 2: positive friends might have to go scavenging for rap bait.
Speaker 1: Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening
Speaker 1: as always, see you tomorrow. Good game, Renee, good game,
Speaker 1: and congrats cam Brink you people trying to control women's
Speaker 1: reproductive rights. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart
Speaker 1: women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 1: You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
Speaker 1: our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones.
Speaker 2: Our executive producers are.
Speaker 1: Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder. Our
Speaker 1: editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch and Lindsay Cradowell.
Speaker 2: Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain.