Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're basking
Speaker 1: in the glory of correctly predicting the Women's College World
Speaker 1: Series winner.
Speaker 2: I'm not the kind of person to say I told
Speaker 2: you so, so.
Speaker 1: Who am I kidding? I'm absolutely that person I told
Speaker 1: you so. It's Monday, June ninth, and on today's show,
Speaker 1: Big Citrus will reconvene to talk Texas's first Softball National
Speaker 1: Championship Athletes, Unlimited Softball Leagues opening day, Coco Goff's French
Speaker 1: Open win, and we'll check in on happenings in the WNBA.
Speaker 1: Plus the House versus NCAA settlement is done, NWSL expansion side,
Speaker 1: Boston Legacy FC has its logo, and one team's new
Speaker 1: tradition is so good it should be illegal. It's all
Speaker 1: coming up right after this. Welcome back Slices, Happy Monday.
Speaker 1: Here's what you need to know today. In tennis, Coco
Speaker 1: Goff took home her first French Open title and second
Speaker 1: major title on Saturday, defeating world number one Arena Sablenka
Speaker 1: in three sets. Goff's victory marks the first time the
Speaker 1: French Open trophy has been hoisted by an American since
Speaker 1: Serena Williams did.
Speaker 2: It back in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 1: Goff actually dropped the first set of the final, but
Speaker 1: she bounced back to win the latter two handily. It
Speaker 1: made the twenty one year old the first woman in
Speaker 1: tennis history to rally from a set down to win
Speaker 1: their first two major titles. The other was at the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three US Open, also a win over Sabolenka.
Speaker 2: If you didn't catch the match, you missed a.
Speaker 1: Lot, including the elation that Coco Goff displayed after the
Speaker 1: final point.
Speaker 2: It was so pure.
Speaker 1: We'll link to a slow mo video of that moment
Speaker 1: in our show notes. You also have to check out
Speaker 1: her adorable celebration with the French Open ball kids. We'll
Speaker 1: link to that one too. After the contest was all
Speaker 1: said and done, runner up Seblanka gave Golf her props
Speaker 1: in the on court interview, saying, quote to Coco, you
Speaker 1: deserve it. You're a hard worker, a fighter.
Speaker 2: End quote.
Speaker 1: But then in the press conference, Sablenka made some interesting comments.
Speaker 1: She told reporters in part, quote, I think she won
Speaker 1: the match, not because she played incredible, just because.
Speaker 2: I made all of those mistakes. End quote.
Speaker 1: Sablenka also alluded to the idea that fellow WTA superstar
Speaker 1: Egas Fontech might have defeated Goff had she been the
Speaker 1: one to make it to the final. This, of course,
Speaker 1: set off alarms across the tennis space, but Sablenka took
Speaker 1: to her Instagram story on Sunday to try to make
Speaker 1: things clear. She wrote, in part quote, she was the
Speaker 1: better player yesterday, and I want to give her the
Speaker 1: credit she earned.
Speaker 2: You all know me.
Speaker 1: I'm always going to be honest and human, and how
Speaker 1: I process these moments. I made over seventy unforced errors,
Speaker 1: so I can't pretend it was a great day for me.
Speaker 2: But both things can be true.
Speaker 1: I didn't play my best, and Coco stepped up and
Speaker 1: played with poise and purpose.
Speaker 2: She earned that title respect end quote.
Speaker 1: And you know what, I like that because Golf did
Speaker 1: step up and play her ass off, and I liked that.
Speaker 1: Sablenka decided to make things right by saying, so what's
Speaker 1: off to you, Coco, and thanks for breaking the curse
Speaker 1: for American women at Roland Garros. Some college sports news,
Speaker 1: the House versus NCAA anti trust settlement has officially come
Speaker 1: to a conclusion. On Friday, Judge Claudia Wilkin formally approved.
Speaker 2: The deal that will allow schools to.
Speaker 1: Pay their athletes directly ending three federal antitrust lawsuits that
Speaker 1: claimed the NCAA was illegally limiting college athletes earning power. Now,
Speaker 1: you might remember we did a very in depth episode
Speaker 1: about this not too long ago, So if you want
Speaker 1: the real nitty gritty, go back and listen to that.
Speaker 2: For now.
Speaker 1: The gist of it is, athletic departments will be able
Speaker 1: to dule out roughly twenty and a half million dollars
Speaker 1: in name, image, and likeness revenue to athletes over the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five to twenty sixth season. The NCAA and
Speaker 1: the Power conferences also agree to pay out nearly two
Speaker 1: point eight billion dollars in damages over the next ten
Speaker 1: years to D one athletes that weren't allowed to sign
Speaker 1: NIL deals dating back to twenty sixteen. The Women's Sports
Speaker 1: Foundation released a statement about the House Versus NCAA ruling
Speaker 1: being done, writing in part, quote, while it fails to
Speaker 1: remedy the concerns raised by WSF and others that class
Speaker 1: members are prohibited from bringing Title nine claims regarding the
Speaker 1: allocation of damages. The settlement does specifically state that Title
Speaker 1: nine claims can be brought regarding any new benefits and
Speaker 1: compensation made under the settlement if schools violate the law.
Speaker 2: End quote.
Speaker 1: Will be of course, keeping an eye on how Title
Speaker 1: nine intersects with this ruling and the future of college
Speaker 1: sports to softball. Congratulations to the Texas Longhorns, who won
Speaker 1: the school's first ever softball national championship. They beat lone
Speaker 1: star state foe Texas Tech ten to four in Game
Speaker 1: three of the Women's College World Series Championship series on
Speaker 1: Friday night. The Longhorns bats were hot from the start.
Speaker 1: They scored five runs on five hits in the bottom
Speaker 1: of the first inning against Texas Tech. Star pitcher Nijerie Kennedy,
Speaker 1: who had thrown six hundred and eighty six consecutive pitches
Speaker 1: for the Red Raiders over forty eight innings dating to
Speaker 1: the start of Superregionals on May twenty second, Superwoman finally
Speaker 1: met her match and it was too many pitches. Kennedy
Speaker 1: was subbed out once the inning ended. In the bottom
Speaker 1: of the fourth, the long Horns had their second best
Speaker 1: inning of the game when Mia Scott hit a home
Speaker 1: run to center field, good for a Grand Slam. This
Speaker 1: win has got a taste extra suite for the Longhorns,
Speaker 1: as they were championship runner ups in two of the
Speaker 1: last three seasons. It's also the first ever title win
Speaker 1: for Texas head coach Mike White, who'd previously been to
Speaker 1: the Championship Series on eight occasions as a coach at
Speaker 1: both Texas and Oregon. Less than a week after losing
Speaker 1: her grandmother, sophomore pitcher Teagan Cavan won Most Outstanding Player honors,
Speaker 1: allowing no earned runs in all thirty one and two
Speaker 1: thirds innings that she pitched. While we feel for Nijorie
Speaker 1: Kennedy taking the l she's still rake it in the dollars.
Speaker 2: Yeall.
Speaker 1: She was the first softball player to sign a million
Speaker 1: dollar nil contract, and now she's the first to sign
Speaker 1: two million dollar nil contracts. She inked another seven figure
Speaker 1: deal with the Mattador Club the Red Raiders Collective. With
Speaker 1: this smooth the two time National Fast Pitch Coaches Association
Speaker 1: Pitcher of the Year put any and all transfer rumors
Speaker 1: to rest.
Speaker 2: She'll be returning to play for Texas Tech.
Speaker 1: Add this new bag of bucks to the fire in
Speaker 1: her gut from the championship loss, and she's going to
Speaker 1: be more motivated than ever next season. I can't wait
Speaker 1: to see what that brings for Kennedy More Softball. Saturday
Speaker 1: saw the first games of the brand spankin new AUSL
Speaker 1: Pro Softball League, with each of the four teams in action.
Speaker 1: On opening day, the Bandits defeated the Talents three to
Speaker 1: one in Rosemont, Illinois, jumping into the lead on a
Speaker 1: two run triple from Aaron Koffel and hanging on for
Speaker 1: the first win in league history. The first home run
Speaker 1: in league history went to the Talents, though courtesy of
Speaker 1: outfielder Sierrasaco, who hit a solo shot in the top
Speaker 1: of the third in her very first professional at bat.
Speaker 1: On Sunday, the Talents got their revenge in front of
Speaker 1: another sellout crowd in Rosemont, earning their first win of
Speaker 1: the season six to three in a balanced effort that
Speaker 1: saw every Talents player record at least one hit in
Speaker 1: the win over the Bandits. Saturday night, in Whichita Can,
Speaker 1: the Volts and Blaze played in the second game of
Speaker 1: the two game opening night, and the Volts beat the
Speaker 1: Blaze five to one in extras a three run homer
Speaker 1: from Mackenzie Clark was part of a four run eighth
Speaker 1: inning for the Volts, and on Sunday, the Volts made
Speaker 1: it two in a row with a second straight win
Speaker 1: over the Blaze in Wichita. Lots to share later in
Speaker 1: the show about my day at the ballpark in Rosemont
Speaker 1: checking out all the AUSL opening Day festivities to soccer.
Speaker 1: After a five month design process, NWSL expansion franchise, Boston
Speaker 1: Legacy FC, unveiled its official logo at a fan event
Speaker 1: on Boston Commons Saturday afternoon. The crest includes a swan
Speaker 1: with eight feathers inside a black and green shield with
Speaker 1: the Boston name across the top. The club told The
Speaker 1: Boston Globe that the swan's feathers represent the eight teams
Speaker 1: that competed in the NWSL's debut season back in twenty thirteen,
Speaker 1: including the now defunct Boston Breakers. Its feathers are angled
Speaker 1: to reflect the lines of the Zakim Bridge. But why
Speaker 1: the swan well, Per the team's social posts, quote from
Speaker 1: the swan boats in the public garden, to the and
Speaker 1: the Charles and the Mystic, to Romeo and Juliet, who
Speaker 1: spend their winters at the Franklin Park Zoo. Swans have
Speaker 1: been a fixture in Boston for over one hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty years end quote. Legacy controlling owner Jennifer Epstein also
Speaker 1: told the Boston Globe, quote, Swans encompass are core club
Speaker 1: values of integrity, grit, and style. They are famously loyal,
Speaker 1: relentless in defending their territory and iconic residence of our
Speaker 1: waterways and green spaces end quote. I think I got
Speaker 1: to give these Swans a minute to grow on me.
Speaker 1: I love the colors, and I think the logo is
Speaker 1: actually super elegant and clean. I just kind of have
Speaker 1: to get used to the idea of a Swan as
Speaker 1: a sports mascot. I'm not used to it, but I
Speaker 1: feel like, like Angel City and Racing and the Valkyries
Speaker 1: used colors that we didn't often see in sport, the dusty, rose,
Speaker 1: lavender and violet that I really love. Now I got
Speaker 1: to be open to the idea of previously ignored animals
Speaker 1: and birds getting their moment in the sun, or I
Speaker 1: guess I should say moment in the shield. I also
Speaker 1: googled swan mascot just to see if I had forgotten
Speaker 1: any notable examples of the bird making it big in sports.
Speaker 1: And apparently there's a mascot named Cyril the Swan who
Speaker 1: is iconic in the United Kingdom. He's the mascot of
Speaker 1: SWANSEAFC in Wales, and I highly recommend that you look
Speaker 1: up this wonky ass, nine foot tall, freak show waking
Speaker 1: nightmare of a mascot. Per his Wikipedia quote, Cyril was
Speaker 1: voted best mascot by readers of the BBC's Match of
Speaker 1: the Day magazine. His antics have got him into trouble
Speaker 1: with the police on several occasions, mainly for fighting with
Speaker 1: other mascots and stewarts, and he has been accused of
Speaker 1: bringing the game into disrepute. Highlights of his trouble sem
Speaker 1: antics include removing the head of Millwall mascot Zampa the
Speaker 1: Lion and drop kicking it along the ground on a
Speaker 1: Dutch TV documentary. When asked what he said to Zampa,
Speaker 1: he replied, don't with the Swans. The Swan was fined
Speaker 1: one thousand pounds for the incident.
Speaker 2: End quote.
Speaker 1: We could only hope that ba Swan brings that same
Speaker 1: energy with considerably less drop kicking of heads. We'll put
Speaker 1: a link in the show notes to a frankly fascinating
Speaker 1: medium dot com story about the man inside Cyril. Worth
Speaker 1: noting the story says that Cyril the Swan is allegedly
Speaker 1: now reformed and married to.
Speaker 2: His wife Sybil. Apparently she's calmed him down.
Speaker 1: More footy May's NWSL awards are out, and first up
Speaker 1: it was Kansas City current forward ten whewinga earning Player
Speaker 1: of the Month honors. The striker scored in three straight
Speaker 1: games to finish the month of May. She also passed
Speaker 1: Sophia Wilson formerly Sophia Smith to become the fastest player
Speaker 1: in league history to notch twenty five goals with her
Speaker 1: game winner against the Orlando Pride on May sixteenth. Took
Speaker 1: her just thirty four games to reach that milestone. Rookie
Speaker 1: of the Month award went to Angel City forward Riley Tiernan,
Speaker 1: who leads all rookies in scoring and this is the
Speaker 1: second straight Rookie of the Month honor for Tiernan. She's
Speaker 1: currently fifth in the Golden Boot race with six goals
Speaker 1: in total on the season.
Speaker 2: Last, but not least, Coach of.
Speaker 1: The Month went to first Your San Diego WAVEFC head
Speaker 1: coach Jonas Idavol. His Wave went undefeated in the month
Speaker 1: of May and at one point sort as high as
Speaker 1: second in the league standings to the WNBA, where the
Speaker 1: Chicago Sky got the news many expected but hoped wouldn't come,
Speaker 1: and MRI on Sunday revealed an ACL tear for point
Speaker 1: guard Courtney van der Slut, who went down in the
Speaker 1: sky seventy nine to fifty two loss to the Indiana
Speaker 1: Fever Saturday night at the United Center. Vander Slute is
Speaker 1: out for the remainder of the season. The injury occurred
Speaker 1: in front of a Sky single game record crowd of
Speaker 1: nineteen thousand, four hundred ninety six, surpassing Chicago's previous high
Speaker 1: of sixteen thy, four hundred and forty four back in
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen. It was the first WNBA game ever held
Speaker 1: at the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls and
Speaker 1: Chicago Blackhawks. More, WNBA got to give a couple shoutouts
Speaker 1: to WNBA players Satu Sabili and Angel Reese, who both
Speaker 1: debuted player editioned.
Speaker 2: Shoes over the last week.
Speaker 1: Sabily, a Jordan brand athlete until she signed with Adidas
Speaker 1: in January, showed off her Don Issue six un Corn
Speaker 1: kicks for the first time ahead of her Phoenix Mercury's
Speaker 1: game against Seattle on Saturday. Those shoes aren't available for
Speaker 1: retail sale, which is a bummer because they're and.
Speaker 2: Fly Chicago sky Ford.
Speaker 1: Reese's PE is rebox engine a pretty gritty colorway, and
Speaker 1: it dropped for one hundred and twenty dollars retail sale
Speaker 1: in the company's website on Wednesday. The shoe is complete
Speaker 1: with their new signature logo as well, which was unveiled
Speaker 1: late last month. If you haven't seen that, it's pretty slick,
Speaker 1: go check out that logo. Reese also has a signature
Speaker 1: shoe in the works, which is currently slated for release
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2: We'll link to.
Speaker 1: Both pes and our show notes so you can check
Speaker 1: them out for yourself. And I think we might have
Speaker 1: mentioned this before, but I sometimes even forget, so just
Speaker 1: in case you don't remember. A signature shoe is a
Speaker 1: shoe that is designed in collaboration with and named after
Speaker 1: a specific athlete, while a pe A player exclusive shoe
Speaker 1: is a custom version of an existing shoe, often with
Speaker 1: some sort of unique design or graphic or colorwave, that's
Speaker 1: created for a specific player but not generally released to
Speaker 1: the public as you see it with Angeoresa's sometimes it
Speaker 1: is and you can buy it more. WNBA money moves
Speaker 1: as the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the LVCVA
Speaker 1: is once again sponsoring Las Vegas Aces players, giving everyone
Speaker 1: on the roster a one hundred thousand dollars sponsorship deal. Now,
Speaker 1: you may remember, after last year's deals from the LVCVA,
Speaker 1: the WNBA announced an investigation into the team, the results
Speaker 1: of which have still not yet been revealed. Per friend
Speaker 1: of the show, Callie Finn of the Las Vegas Review Journal, quote,
Speaker 1: the league's investigation, the cause of which has not been
Speaker 1: publicly addressed, most likely intends to determine whether the Aces
Speaker 1: conspired with the LVCVA to go over the WNBA's salary
Speaker 1: cap and pay players under the table end quote. LVCVA
Speaker 1: president Steve Hill told the Review Journal that his organization
Speaker 1: has not heard from the WNBA regarding the status of
Speaker 1: the investigation into last year's payments to hockey slices. The
Speaker 1: PWHL expansion draft is finally here. PWHL Seattle and PWHL
Speaker 1: Vancouver add pieces to their inaugural rosters tonight, beginning at
Speaker 1: a eastern Both squads signed the max of five players
Speaker 1: that were permitted during the league's exclusive signing window, with
Speaker 1: Vancouver adding Claire Thompson, Sophie Jake's Emirates mash Meyer, Sarah Nurse,
Speaker 1: and Jen Gardner, while Seattle signed Hillary Knight, Danielle Sir Dakney,
Speaker 1: Kayla Barnes, Alex Carpenter, and Corin Schroeder. Tonight, each of
Speaker 1: those teams will make seven more picks to reach a
Speaker 1: twelve player roster. Coverage of the draft will be hosted
Speaker 1: by Friends of the Show and Jackson Jill's hosts, Julia
Speaker 1: Toscherry and Tessa Bonham, and you can watch it all
Speaker 1: happen live at the PWHL dot com and on the
Speaker 1: PWHL YouTube channel. We'll also link to where you could
Speaker 1: track the picks in our show notes slices, we got
Speaker 1: to take a quick break.
Speaker 2: When we come back, Big.
Speaker 1: Citrus is serving up a glass a juicy conversation pulp optional.
Speaker 2: Welcome back, slices.
Speaker 1: I hope you had a gate gay weekend.
Speaker 3: Happy pray.
Speaker 2: I did have a gay weekend. That's all right, We're
Speaker 2: it's great, We're keeping it in. Welcome back. I hope
Speaker 2: your weekend was gay or great or both.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna welcome in my producers, Alex, Hi, Alex.
Speaker 2: Hello, and me. She's crying. Hi, Mesh, Liza.
Speaker 1: We're gonna have a little big Centrius conversation about a
Speaker 1: weekend chock full of sports news and games and gays
Speaker 1: if you were Mesh, I want to.
Speaker 2: Talk about the Boston Swans first.
Speaker 1: First of all, I really enjoyed doing a deep dive
Speaker 1: into Cyril the swan, and I really recommend everyone else too,
Speaker 1: So kind of a sad story actually about the man
Speaker 1: inside the swan, but just the pictures alone are worth
Speaker 1: it because.
Speaker 2: It looks like his wings are on backwards.
Speaker 1: But anyway, back to the Boston Swans, what do y'all
Speaker 1: think about it? Because I'm trying not to be critical
Speaker 1: for no good reason. It just is weird for it
Speaker 1: to be a swan, But I also think it's pretty
Speaker 1: so I'm reserving judgment.
Speaker 3: So it's so funny to hear your reaction to it,
Speaker 3: because swans actually are kind of a symbol of Boston,
Speaker 3: and I realized that that information was just ingrained in
Speaker 3: my brain in a way that I thought was common
Speaker 3: knowledge for the rest of the world. But apparently it's not.
Speaker 3: So I think it's fine, but I cannot stop thinking
Speaker 3: about fans just honking like a real Swan, and I
Speaker 3: cannot stop laughing. I just want like a whoa.
Speaker 2: First of all, that's a really good Swan. It's a
Speaker 2: great wait, do it, do it again? Do it again?
Speaker 3: Hold on, hold on stage right? Seriously.
Speaker 4: Ha ha, You're just full of surprises, Alex.
Speaker 2: You just really good. It's a really good Swan.
Speaker 1: I do worry now that you said that, that they
Speaker 1: might have like a Vouzela situation where they think that
Speaker 1: that's close enough to a bunch of swan talking, because
Speaker 1: the Vouzelas are no good in my book.
Speaker 3: No, I agree, I mean, I listen. I just think
Speaker 3: you gotta embrace the weirdness of your mascot, regardless of
Speaker 3: what the mascot is. So I guess we'll see.
Speaker 2: Me swan thoughts.
Speaker 4: So I have an unfair bias against swans because I
Speaker 4: had a teacher named miss Swan who was not very
Speaker 4: nice to me.
Speaker 1: Oh well, don't hold that against the birds.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so's it's tough. It's tough.
Speaker 4: It's just when I hear the name Swan. There's one
Speaker 4: thing but two and I kind of fell on the
Speaker 4: same side of the line as you.
Speaker 2: It's like, I don't I don't immediately think of a swan.
Speaker 4: What I think of sports or mascots. I think of
Speaker 4: just literally anything else, just beauty and grace, beauty, maybe.
Speaker 2: Beauty and grace. I don't know.
Speaker 4: I think when I saw the controlling owner's comments saying
Speaker 4: that they're gritty, immediately I thought, no, but you told us,
Speaker 4: what did you tell us about you as well?
Speaker 2: In the campus?
Speaker 1: So these are not swans, these are geese. But I'm
Speaker 1: just thinking to myself, I've never approached a swan in
Speaker 1: the manner that some have a roach to geese, and
Speaker 1: they've learned real quick that you don't with geese. Like
Speaker 1: ESPN had to put up signs all over the Connecticut
Speaker 1: campus that were like, we're not kidding, stay away from
Speaker 1: the geese because when they're mating or when they have babies.
Speaker 2: They will few up.
Speaker 1: And I feel like maybe swans are the same, and
Speaker 1: we just don't approach them in the same manner because
Speaker 1: they stay in the water more and the geese are
Speaker 1: always kind of like in our business. So I'm willing
Speaker 1: to afford them the benefit of the doubt that swans
Speaker 1: can be as gritty and territorial as geese, and we
Speaker 1: just don't know it because we're usually looking at them
Speaker 1: from afar, floating along on the surface, looking beautiful.
Speaker 4: And I will say, you know what, Boston has an
Speaker 4: opportunity to prove us all wrong. They have an opportunity
Speaker 4: to in so many legacy, in.
Speaker 2: So many ways of the swan.
Speaker 3: Okay, one final note on this, because I just googled
Speaker 3: swan reputation birds. Fun fact about swans, y'all. A study
Speaker 3: into the reputation for aggressiveness of swans found that they're
Speaker 3: more likely to be hostile to their own kind to
Speaker 3: other birds. Boy, I sense a team full of drama.
Speaker 1: Oh, we're gonna have a lot of juicy tea coming
Speaker 1: out of that locker room in fighting.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I also whenever I don't even really watch a lot
Speaker 1: of Adam Sandler, but they're all ingrained in my head
Speaker 1: as a result of it just being part of the
Speaker 1: societal lexicon.
Speaker 2: So I always think of Billy Madison and he says.
Speaker 1: Stop looking at me, swan, And so that's the first
Speaker 1: thing I thought of when I saw the shield, and
Speaker 1: I was like, I'm going to use that in every
Speaker 1: social post about this team every time, and it's just
Speaker 1: gonna it's just gonna be a regular thing. Okay, So
Speaker 1: we're we're excited, enthusiastic, patient about how the whole Swan
Speaker 1: thing will work out for them. I want to talk
Speaker 1: AUSL Opening Day because it was the bulk of my
Speaker 1: weekend and it was a frickin' blast. I didn't end
Speaker 1: up getting to watch a ton of the final Women's
Speaker 1: College World Series game. They were playing it live at
Speaker 1: the party that I co hosted alongside a handful of
Speaker 1: legendary players on Friday night here in Chicago for the AUSL.
Speaker 1: And the fun part about that is that Kat ostrav
Speaker 1: And was there watching the TV and just erupted into
Speaker 1: joy and then tears and was like so emotional about
Speaker 1: her Texas team winning it all for the first time.
Speaker 1: And I know she would have loved to be there
Speaker 1: in person, but it was pretty cool to be at
Speaker 1: the opening night party for a professional league that she
Speaker 1: really helped build with her legacy, and to get this
Speaker 1: moment to celebrate with all of us just literally like
Speaker 1: staring at her. We were all watching, like, what's Kat doing?
Speaker 2: Oh, she's so happy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's so funny because I think back to your
Speaker 3: interview with Kat and it's like she literally still owns
Speaker 3: all the records that you forget that she didn't actually
Speaker 3: win a national title when she was in college.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's kind of amazing that they didn't considering her greatness.
Speaker 1: But she was super pumped. The party was really fun.
Speaker 1: It was actually cool. A couple athletes unlimited basketball players
Speaker 1: were in town with the Fever or the Sky, which
Speaker 1: had a game the next day, so Kia Nurse and
Speaker 1: Sidney Colson and a couple others ended up coming for
Speaker 1: the AUSL party as well. So that's always anytime I
Speaker 1: get to talk shit with sid is a good time.
Speaker 2: So the party was really fun.
Speaker 1: And then the next day, opening Day, there was a
Speaker 1: brunch in the morning and a big fan fest before
Speaker 1: the game started, which was really cool. There were interviews
Speaker 1: with me and a handful of players on a stage.
Speaker 1: There was a live band, a lot of games and activities.
Speaker 1: Each of the teams had their own little tent with
Speaker 1: something different, which was fun. The talents had these like
Speaker 1: bird wings and mask and like talents that you could
Speaker 1: wear for photo ops. The Volt had it felt very
Speaker 1: like kid like, but a lot of the kids were
Speaker 1: enjoying it. This like demonstration of electricity using like these
Speaker 1: like volts and hair and the Blaze had face painting,
Speaker 1: and the Bandits had this cool like sort of like
Speaker 1: horseshoe toss thing, and they were all kind of interacting
Speaker 1: with all the different kids that came. They also had
Speaker 1: a hair braiding station, lots of merch that people.
Speaker 2: Were really gobbling up.
Speaker 1: My friend makes these bracelets called Changed by the Game
Speaker 1: and you could keep track of the outs on your
Speaker 1: wrist while you're playing the different logos and stuff. And
Speaker 1: then there's like these little strips that you move to
Speaker 1: remind yourself how many outs, which is pretty cool. So
Speaker 1: they were selling those. And then there was just I mean,
Speaker 1: it was like legends everywhere you look. Joe Torre was there,
Speaker 1: legendary MLB manager. So he let me wear his World
Speaker 1: Series ring and his Hall of Fame ring, which was
Speaker 1: no offense to my husband, but way more diamonds than
Speaker 1: I've ever had.
Speaker 2: Oh, very great.
Speaker 1: I have a great wedding ring, but this middle diamond
Speaker 1: in this Yankees World Series ring was wow. Kenny Williams,
Speaker 1: former White Sox GM was there. They were there to
Speaker 1: support Kim Eng the commissioner, Sue Anquist, legendary UCLA coach
Speaker 1: and my personal life coach was there, Lisa Fernandez. All
Speaker 1: just I mean everywhere you looked were legends and what
Speaker 1: was really cool. You guys heard it on this show,
Speaker 1: both from Jenny Finch and Jessica Mendoza, how excited they
Speaker 1: are about this league, Like it almost brings them to
Speaker 1: tears to think about everyone pulling in the same direction
Speaker 1: for the sport and the amount of attention, money, resources,
Speaker 1: time coming in from both MLB's agreement with them and
Speaker 1: everything that Athletes Unlimited has built to this point.
Speaker 2: So it was just awesome.
Speaker 1: It was just a really great day and it was
Speaker 1: a total sellout, and I'm just really excited for them.
Speaker 3: So, Sarah, I'm curious for your thoughts on this because
Speaker 3: I think, as we've discussed on this show before, Athletes
Speaker 3: Unlimited has done some really cool stuff before, from basketball
Speaker 3: to lacrosse, to volleyball to softball. Also with their a
Speaker 3: youth style format before where an individual player is winning
Speaker 3: to now this more traditional league format, and it feels
Speaker 3: to me like this is a real pivot point for AU.
Speaker 3: I don't want to say the start of the foundation,
Speaker 3: because they clearly already have the foundation, but it feels
Speaker 3: like a turning point, and I'm curious if you got
Speaker 3: that sense from the folks that you spoke to over
Speaker 3: the weekend.
Speaker 1: Certainly for this sport, and I think it's necessary for
Speaker 1: this sport where they're not a secondary league in any
Speaker 1: sense of the word. They are the main professional league,
Speaker 1: and even in the last couple of years they were
Speaker 1: the main professional league even using their au individual player model.
Speaker 1: I don't know if this signals a change that they'll
Speaker 1: look to make in their other sports.
Speaker 2: I don't know if they think it's.
Speaker 1: Necessary in basketball to pivot to a traditional team model.
Speaker 1: I don't know if they feel that way in volleyball either,
Speaker 1: As they try to separate themselves potentially from the pack
Speaker 1: with the PVF and love volleyball, maybe they think it's
Speaker 1: better to have a model that is a little bit different.
Speaker 1: I think just in terms of awareness, size.
Speaker 2: Resources, investment.
Speaker 1: The MLB part of this, which is rumored to be
Speaker 1: like a seven or eight figure investment, and the fact
Speaker 1: that every single game will be on MLBtv, the app
Speaker 1: and streaming is huge.
Speaker 2: I did not. I talked to both Jonathan's who run it.
Speaker 1: I didn't talk to them about whether they'll plan to
Speaker 1: do this with their other leagues. But I think the
Speaker 1: thing that I've talked to Jonathan patrick Off about the
Speaker 1: most is how does AU step into being a little
Speaker 1: bit cooler and a little bit edgy, because it does
Speaker 1: tend to read, in my opinion, and has read the
Speaker 1: last couple of years as a little bit more of
Speaker 1: a traditional old school model where it's about kids watching,
Speaker 1: and the graphics and the vibes and the social all
Speaker 1: sort of sent that message. And I think they know,
Speaker 1: and you could see it in this iteration of basketball
Speaker 1: that they had this year that it started to change.
Speaker 1: They started to understand the power of having more interesting
Speaker 1: and funny and clever and smart socials and getting the
Speaker 1: player personalities out more and having it be a little
Speaker 1: less infantalizing. So I hope that that's their plan with
Speaker 1: this league too. One of the things I loved was
Speaker 1: that the teams are already starting to establish little traditions
Speaker 1: the talents. Player who hit a home run had the
Speaker 1: like two fingers out and made it look like sort
Speaker 1: of eagle talents that were like coming out as she
Speaker 1: was running around the bases. The Bandits had the most
Speaker 1: insane player intros, coming through some swinging saloon doors and
Speaker 1: then doing a variety of different like spinning fake guns
Speaker 1: or like shooting things. I just I love that they
Speaker 1: are starting to find those moments early in this league
Speaker 1: because that's part of the joy of softball and something
Speaker 1: that Jessica Mendoza told this member. She said, basically, like
Speaker 1: trying to have individual winners in a sport that people love,
Speaker 1: the team interaction so much of maybe.
Speaker 2: Wasn't the way to go.
Speaker 1: So I like that they're already establishing some of those,
Speaker 1: like routines and habits and traditions so fun.
Speaker 3: I'm jealous that you got to be there for it.
Speaker 1: It's fun how many firsts we were having of late
Speaker 1: and getting to like experience.
Speaker 2: It's such a great sign for women's sports.
Speaker 1: Alex, I think that you had texted me something about
Speaker 1: the Women's College World Series. Was there something that you
Speaker 1: wanted to say about that other than just enthusiasm for
Speaker 1: Texas winning it all?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think it's interesting because even earlier in the show
Speaker 3: you mentioned it in talking about Nigerie Kennedy and her
Speaker 3: one million dollar an IL collective. And after that series
Speaker 3: ended with Texas Tech losing. Of course, their coach, Jerry
Speaker 3: Glasgow spoke about how he thought it was quote almost
Speaker 3: insulting to Canady how often that one million dollar ANIL
Speaker 3: deal was brought up. I'm going to continue the quote here.
Speaker 3: I think it's interesting. You watch Ohio State in the
Speaker 3: men's football game National Championship game. You don't hear any
Speaker 3: announcers talking about nil. They just don't talk about it.
Speaker 3: And yet you know, Ohio State had won the highest
Speaker 3: two or three nil payouts last year in college football.
Speaker 3: I wonder why we talk about it for a female athlete.
Speaker 3: And I thought it was interesting. You know, he equated
Speaker 3: it to being a double standard, just how often it's
Speaker 3: talked about. I do think that because it was in
Speaker 3: softball for the star pitcher to transfer, it's a different
Speaker 3: type of situation here. But I thought it was interesting,
Speaker 3: and I was just curious if you guys had any
Speaker 3: thoughts on that.
Speaker 2: I see both sides of it.
Speaker 1: I think, on the one hand, it's great to talk
Speaker 1: about women making money, getting paid, bringing victories to schools,
Speaker 1: bringing revenue to schools. Because of the conversations were likely
Speaker 1: to be in the future about NCAA versus House and
Speaker 1: all of the money being dumped into men's sports because
Speaker 1: they believe that's the only space that will bring something back.
Speaker 1: On the other hand, I see his point too, that
Speaker 1: being if it's being talked about as sort of Texas
Speaker 1: Tech wouldn't be here if they hadn't just thrown a
Speaker 1: bunch of money at the best player kind of bs.
Speaker 1: We don't see that as often on the men's side.
Speaker 1: We see it as congratulating a school when they can
Speaker 1: wrangle a big star, and it feels like, potentially, he
Speaker 1: thinks in this case, it's being held up as an
Speaker 1: abuse of the system, So I can see where he's
Speaker 1: coming from there. Okay, let's move on to tennis, because
Speaker 1: I want to talk Coco. Golfs win so much fun,
Speaker 1: all the moments coming out of that win.
Speaker 2: There's just so much joy and mesh.
Speaker 1: I know we talked earlier in the show about breaking
Speaker 1: this sort of curse or this long drought since the
Speaker 1: last American twin it was Serena ten years ago. But
Speaker 1: I don't think we need to compare Serena and Coco here.
Speaker 1: I think it's okay to mention that and then just
Speaker 1: be like, let's talk coc and not bring it all
Speaker 1: the way back to ten years ago.
Speaker 4: Exactly my thoughts exactly to a Tea Sera, because first
Speaker 4: of all, I'm thinking about Coco being twenty one, being
Speaker 4: so early on in her career, having so much talent,
Speaker 4: and being her own person, right, I feel like it's
Speaker 4: worth appreciating what she's done, aside from everybody else and
Speaker 4: all the accomplishments that we want her to reach because
Speaker 4: Serena did it, because so and so did it. And
Speaker 4: at the same time, I want people to remember what
Speaker 4: Serena did was a decade's long process of excellence, like
Speaker 4: we haven't seen to me, she's top two athletes period
Speaker 4: of all time. We simply haven't seen anybody with that
Speaker 4: kind of longevity in women's tennis, and frankly to me,
Speaker 4: to me, okay, in tennis in general. I know we've
Speaker 4: got Novak, I know we've got Rafa, I know we've
Speaker 4: got all them.
Speaker 2: I'm not worried about them.
Speaker 4: So I think Serena's legacy we have to put it
Speaker 4: in context and remember how freaking outstanding that was, and
Speaker 4: also know that Coco just got here for real, she
Speaker 4: just got here stopp putting that pressure on her. You
Speaker 4: can compare in that, Yes, she won a French Open,
Speaker 4: and she's the first one since Serena to do it. Yes,
Speaker 4: in full stop, keep it it ends there right now.
Speaker 2: And that's not a knock on Coco.
Speaker 4: It's just we're talking about two completely different, completely different
Speaker 4: plan It's completely different atmospheres right now. But I want
Speaker 4: to give Coco her props because I love what she's
Speaker 4: been doing. I love watching her play, and I really
Speaker 4: love the joy that she plays. With that slow mode
Speaker 4: video that we told you guys to go listen or
Speaker 4: go watch, we linked to it in our show notes,
Speaker 4: I'm telling y'all it's as a basketball player, I don't
Speaker 4: really have a desire to play tennis, but watching that
Speaker 4: moment it makes me say, you know what, I should
Speaker 4: be watching a little bit more. I should be paying
Speaker 4: more attention. I should be locked in a little bit more.
Speaker 4: And it's little stuff like that that we've seen kind
Speaker 4: of turn women's sports into what we've just talked about
Speaker 4: having all the first having so many people excited about it,
Speaker 4: and in that moment there was just so much joy,
Speaker 4: so much black joy, which means so much to me personally.
Speaker 1: So yeah, and that's what I want to say, is
Speaker 1: what you had to say about her. And Serena reminded
Speaker 1: me a little of Mariah Stakos coming on and saying,
Speaker 1: it's great that people were excited about me as a
Speaker 1: young black golfer, but immediately it was like and Tiger Woods.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and she's like, no, don't do that. Tiger Woods
Speaker 2: is this whole thing different.
Speaker 1: Great that I'm a young prodigy black golfer, but like
Speaker 1: that is too much pressure.
Speaker 2: And I feel like that's the same for Coco.
Speaker 1: It's great, we love to see it the black joy,
Speaker 1: especially in a sport that you want to bring more
Speaker 1: eyeballs too that you want to bring more young black
Speaker 1: players to. But not if we're going to force the
Speaker 1: pressure on her of being the next Soreena.
Speaker 4: Yes, because then what inevitably happens is if she doesn't
Speaker 4: live up to Serena, then she's a bust, which is
Speaker 4: completely untrue in and of itself as well. So yeah,
Speaker 4: I gotta give left to Coco and to Serena because
Speaker 4: that WNBA collab with the Toronto Tempo, her being an owner.
Speaker 4: I love that. I love her having her hands all
Speaker 4: over that. But yeah, she's She's one of a kind.
Speaker 3: I think what stood out to me the most about
Speaker 3: Coco's win is something that I feel like I saw
Speaker 3: a lot covering the Olympics, which is that when you
Speaker 3: win the first time, I often see a lot of joy.
Speaker 3: Sometimes there's some relief in there depending on what the
Speaker 3: stakes were, but I think sometimes winning the second time
Speaker 3: is so much harder. Obviously this is a different tournament
Speaker 3: than the one that she won before, but right there's
Speaker 3: always a question of like was it a fluke? Can
Speaker 3: I get back to that same stage, can I meet
Speaker 3: the expectations? And so I think seeing her breakthrough for
Speaker 3: a second time to win a Grand Slam, it just
Speaker 3: makes me really excited for what's to come for her,
Speaker 3: while simultaneously not trying to put more pressure on her.
Speaker 1: I agree there is a little bit of that like
Speaker 1: relief plus joy of like I did it again.
Speaker 2: I wasn't a one hit wonder. I want to quickly
Speaker 2: talk about the WNBA from this.
Speaker 1: Weekend too, because Mesh, I was thinking about you as
Speaker 1: I was texting Front of the Show Jess Smith about
Speaker 1: the big win that the Valks got over the Aces
Speaker 1: three players in double digits, and some like serious statlines
Speaker 1: Kayla Thornton twenty two points, eleven boards, Veronica Burton fourteen points,
Speaker 1: career high, twelve assists and seven rebounds, and Monique Billings
Speaker 1: fourteen points eleven boards, like a real team effort.
Speaker 2: But the aces, Sarah, you've been officially it's officially.
Speaker 4: Time to worry. I was, I was holding off on
Speaker 4: the worry. It's officially time to worry.
Speaker 2: Okay. They got worked. They got worked.
Speaker 4: They've got so much connectivity work to do on the
Speaker 4: defensive end, which surprises the hell out of me, and.
Speaker 2: Rebounding the ball.
Speaker 4: Let me not forget to mention that they were negative
Speaker 4: twelve minus twelve on the boards against the Valkyries.
Speaker 2: You mentioned it.
Speaker 4: Three players in double double territory. That's you cannot be
Speaker 4: given that up under Becky Haam and she's obviously upset
Speaker 4: about that, she had some comments about it in the
Speaker 4: postgame press conference.
Speaker 2: But offensively too. They're missing that fourth dog.
Speaker 4: Remember Monica McNutt coined Jack the Jack Crew for them
Speaker 4: when it was you know, when they had Kelsey Plumb
Speaker 4: on this roster. They need Jewel Lloyd to be that
Speaker 4: fourth player. And frankly, Asia Wilson's doing what she does.
Speaker 4: She's second best in scoring average right now in the WNBA.
Speaker 4: Jewels got to step up. Chelsea Gray doesn't have the
Speaker 4: assist numbers that she's had and granted, team, you know,
Speaker 4: players got to hit shots for you to get the assists.
Speaker 4: But it's just a lot of things that still need
Speaker 4: a lot of work, and I feel like I was
Speaker 4: expecting them to be a little bit further along. We're
Speaker 4: still very early in the season, haven't even hit the
Speaker 4: All Star break yet, but they got to get They
Speaker 4: gotta get Jewel.
Speaker 2: I think she's she's the answer.
Speaker 4: She's shooting twenty nine point four percent right now, which
Speaker 4: is worse than any season average field goal percent and.
Speaker 1: Get some time hopefully. Yeah, and that's part of it.
Speaker 1: It's just getting used to a new system. I do
Speaker 1: have to say, and Asia is not at fault for this,
Speaker 1: but if the Aces don't do that well, and Asia
Speaker 1: has already won a couple MVPs, it does support my
Speaker 1: preseason prediction that voters might think it's time for a
Speaker 1: new MVP or should I say fee P because I
Speaker 1: just want to point out then if it's a Collier
Speaker 1: heading into the Links game against the Dallas Wings, was
Speaker 1: putting up over twenty one points per game on fifty
Speaker 1: two point five percent field goal percentage, forty point nine
Speaker 1: percent three point percentage, and ninety point seven percent free
Speaker 1: throw percentage, making her the first scoring leader in WNBA
Speaker 1: history to average fifty forty ninety efficiency eight games into
Speaker 1: the season.
Speaker 2: Again, it's early.
Speaker 1: I'm just pointing out that my chip on her shoulder
Speaker 1: feeling a little ragie after losing in the finals and
Speaker 1: getting second in the MVP voting might end up all
Speaker 1: being what we see this year.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think there's some merits to that, but man
Speaker 4: Ace has got to figure it out.
Speaker 2: They gotta figure it out.
Speaker 1: Okay, last WNBA, we have to talk about the Studs
Speaker 1: Buds because it is Pride.
Speaker 4: This is my new favorite thing in the world. If
Speaker 4: y'all are paying attention to this, I need you to
Speaker 4: go follow them immediately. It's at stud Dot Buds with
Speaker 4: a Z on Instagram and the stud Buds are Courty
Speaker 4: Williams and Natisha Heideman. It's it's my favorite thing to
Speaker 4: come out of Pride month. So far, We're not even
Speaker 4: halfway through and I'm obsessed I'm obsessed.
Speaker 2: They just get on there, shoot the shit.
Speaker 4: I love having two masculine presenting players have a friendship
Speaker 4: that's visible to people, especially at a time like this.
Speaker 4: So if you're not following them, go follow them and
Speaker 4: get yourselves a laugh.
Speaker 1: So far, there's been some good moments, for instance, asking
Speaker 1: Elana Smith when she knew she was straight, or maybe
Speaker 1: they were telling her when they knew she when they
Speaker 1: knew she was straight. Either way, the stud buds are
Speaker 1: are a good watch and absolutely just in time for Pride.
Speaker 3: I just need to say that I googled stud buds
Speaker 3: and the first thing I found was a stud Finder,
Speaker 3: which also in time for Pride.
Speaker 1: Thank god, that's what you said, because I was gonna say.
Speaker 2: I don't know where you were going.
Speaker 1: Sometimes I google stuff out of the context and my
Speaker 1: brain just isn't hasn't gotten there yet, and then whatever
Speaker 1: comes up, I'm like, oh, yeah, I deserve that. I
Speaker 1: deserve the results I just found. And I was worried
Speaker 1: about you with stud buds with a Z, but thankfully
Speaker 1: just a good old Studfinder.
Speaker 2: We got to take another break, y'all.
Speaker 1: When we come back, a brand new tradition has already
Speaker 1: lassoed our attention and shot right through our hearts.
Speaker 2: Stick around welcome back slices.
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 once again. Tune into the
Speaker 1: PWHL expansion draft tonight. It's been so much fun watching
Speaker 1: the league and the teams navigate expansion, so make sure
Speaker 1: you follow along for the culmination of all that shuffling
Speaker 1: and signing as PWHL Seattle and PWHL Vancouver round out
Speaker 1: their rosters at eight thirty pm Eastern. We'll link to
Speaker 1: the PWHL dot com and the PWHL.
Speaker 2: YouTube channel in our show notes.
Speaker 1: And we always love to hear from you, so hit
Speaker 1: us up on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com
Speaker 1: or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two
Speaker 1: o four fifty seventy. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review, y'all.
Speaker 1: We ask you every show because it's so easy. The
Speaker 1: bandits player intros at the first ever AUSL game, rating
Speaker 1: ten out of ten best player intros in Sports Review.
Speaker 1: You heard me mention it earlier, but I can't say
Speaker 1: it enough. The bandits player intros are the best.
Speaker 2: New thing in sports.
Speaker 1: We'll link to them in the show notes so you
Speaker 1: can watch them and keep an eye out, in particular
Speaker 1: for the spinning fake guns into the Holster move and
Speaker 1: my personal favorite the Rhdam Cowboy slash Pony by Genuine
Speaker 1: Dance just insane. Also, there's smoke blasting out of the
Speaker 1: saloon doors when they run through them, which really took
Speaker 1: things up a notch. Just ten out of ten. I
Speaker 1: love it so much. Now it's your turn, y'all rate
Speaker 1: and review. Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow. Good Game
Speaker 1: Texas Softball, Good game Coco Golf. A few injuries and
Speaker 1: illnesses we can't watch Kaitlin Clark or Pagebackers or Courtney Vanders.
Speaker 1: Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
Speaker 1: production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
Speaker 1: could find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
Speaker 1: our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
Speaker 1: producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rutterer.
Speaker 1: Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Brittany Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Speaker 1: Gianna Palmer. Our associate producers Lucy Jones and I'm Your
Speaker 1: Host Sarah Spain