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Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're celebrating

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Speaker 1: our birthday. That's right, our first episode went live a

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Speaker 1: calendar year ago today. Apparently that means good game. Zodiac

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Speaker 1: sinus cancer, which is six days away from being Leo.

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Speaker 1: Close enough. It's Wednesday, July sixteenth, and on today's show,

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Speaker 1: we'll be bringing you my conversation with USA Today sports

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Speaker 1: columnist Nancy Armor. We'll talk about the upcoming WNBA All

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Speaker 1: Star Game, whether Caitlin Clark could be doing more and

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Speaker 1: not just on defense, and what three new expansion teams

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Speaker 1: say about the WNBA's relationship with the MNBA. Plus, a

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Speaker 1: fire is rekindled, a footy player makes your way back

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Speaker 1: to the States, and the Women's Euro twenty twenty five

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Speaker 1: soccer tournament breaks some records. It's all coming up right

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Speaker 1: after this welcome back slices. Here's what you need to

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Speaker 1: know today in WNBA news, we said we wanted to

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Speaker 1: hear more from the Portland WNBA team, and they delivered,

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Speaker 1: finally giving us the good Stuff name and branding. It's official.

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Speaker 1: The squad's going to be named the Portland Fire OGWNBA

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Speaker 1: fans will remember the Fire as the name the Portland

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Speaker 1: W team had in its short lived first iteration from

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Speaker 1: two thousand to two thousand and two, and they're bringing

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Speaker 1: it back for another run, this time in a new

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Speaker 1: era for the W. The franchise made the announcement on

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Speaker 1: Good Morning America Tuesday morning. And while the name is

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Speaker 1: staying the same, the logo is brand new. And that

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Speaker 1: new logo flames from the sides of my face, flaming, heaving.

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Speaker 1: I oh sorry, that's from clue. No, it's literally flames.

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Speaker 1: It's got a rose with petals that extend and resemble flames. Anyway,

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Speaker 1: we'll link to it in our show notes and you

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Speaker 1: could see it for yourself. Over an Athletes Unlimited, the

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Speaker 1: orgs AU Pro Basketball five on five league released its

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Speaker 1: first batch of signees for the upcome twenty twenty sixth season,

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Speaker 1: and they got some big names folks like Sid Colson,

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Speaker 1: Tahina Pow Pow, and Ariel Atkins. Now you might recall

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Speaker 1: Atkins played in the inaugural season of Unrivaled three on

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Speaker 1: three Nafisa Kallier and Brianna Stewart's league, but she decided

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Speaker 1: to make the switch to AU. A Chicago Skyguard told

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Speaker 1: the ESPN She's got no beef with unrivaled, but after

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Speaker 1: talking to players who had competed in AU, she wanted

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Speaker 1: to give it a shot, and she's excited about the

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Speaker 1: new opportunity. The twenty twenty sixth AU Pro Hoop season

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Speaker 1: starts up on February fourth in Nashville, Tennessee. Even more

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Speaker 1: athletes unlimited. The inaugural season of the AU Softball League

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Speaker 1: aka the AUSL has its second trade. Just like the

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Speaker 1: first trade, the Blaze are involved. The team sent infielder

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Speaker 1: Danielle Gibson Horton to the Bandits for right handed pitcher

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Speaker 1: Devin Nets. The move comes as the Blaze have struggled

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Speaker 1: on the mound. They've got the worst urn run average

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Speaker 1: in the league at seven forty, and they've given up

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Speaker 1: the most home runs with twenty three. In fact, the

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Speaker 1: Blazes have struggled pretty much everywhere. They're at the bottom

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Speaker 1: of the standings, which is five wins this season. Let's

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Speaker 1: head to a sports collab we love Indiana Fever forward

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Speaker 1: Aliah Boston is making a money move, purchasing an undisclosed

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Speaker 1: stake in the NWSL's Boston Legacy FC, an expansion team

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Speaker 1: set to begin play in twenty twenty six. The team

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Speaker 1: confirmed Boston's investment on Monday, while she and her Fever

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Speaker 1: teammates were in Boston preparing to play the Connecticut Sun

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Speaker 1: at TD Garden on Tuesday night. The WNBA star grew

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Speaker 1: up in Massachusetts, and in a statement shared by the

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Speaker 1: Boston Club, she said, quote, this city helped raise me,

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Speaker 1: and the support I felt here shaped so much of

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Speaker 1: who I am. I couldn't be more excited to have

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Speaker 1: the opportunity to invest in a franchise that's building something

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Speaker 1: special for its players, for the city, and for women's

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Speaker 1: sports as a whole. End quote And I mean, her

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Speaker 1: name is Boston, y'all. It just makes sense. Plus the

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Speaker 1: investment is that the only news to come from Eliah

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Speaker 1: Boston's time in the Northeast. She was also honored as

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Speaker 1: a hometown Hero at the Massachusetts State House, and the

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Speaker 1: city of Boston declared July fourteenth, Aliah Boston Day. We

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Speaker 1: love to see it more w On Monday, the Atlanta

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Speaker 1: Dream announced that guard Ryan Howard is out for the

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Speaker 1: remainder of July with the left knee injury. She sustained

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Speaker 1: it during a contest against the Indiana Fever on Friday,

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Speaker 1: after being named an All Star earlier this month for

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Speaker 1: the third time in her career, she was drafted to

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Speaker 1: compete with Team Collier and Indy. She'll now be replaced

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Speaker 1: by Minnesota Links guard Kayla McBride. Per the Dream, she

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Speaker 1: is expected to make a full recovery and will give

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Speaker 1: you a timeline for her return when we get it.

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Speaker 1: And a little more. WNBA veteran guard Tiffany Mitchell has

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Speaker 1: found a new home. The free agent guard in her

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Speaker 1: tenth year in the league, has signed with the Seattle Storm.

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Speaker 1: Mitchell started the season with the Las Vegas Aces and

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Speaker 1: averaged three point seven points and one point eight rebounds

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Speaker 1: in sixteen games, but she was waived at the end

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Speaker 1: of June in the team's trade for forward Melissa Smith.

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Speaker 1: And finally, we've got a soccer player on the move.

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Speaker 1: We've told you about lots of American players heading across

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Speaker 1: the pond to play, but now we've got one crossing

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Speaker 1: on back. The Seattle Rain announced that the club has

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Speaker 1: signed US national team forward me Official to a multi

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Speaker 1: year deal that runs through twenty twenty nine. The twenty

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Speaker 1: four year old began her professional career with Tigris uanl

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Speaker 1: of Mexico before spending the last two years in England

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Speaker 1: with Chelsea FC, though her appearances with the club were

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Speaker 1: limited because of an ACL tear she had in February

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Speaker 1: of twenty twenty four. Per ESPNS, Jeff Casoof Official's new

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Speaker 1: NWSL contract with the Rain is worth nearly two point

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Speaker 1: five million dollars over four and a half years, which

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Speaker 1: makes it the most valuable cumulative deal in NWSL history.

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Speaker 1: Glad to have you backstateside, Mia. We got to take

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Speaker 1: a quick break when we come back. Friend of the Show,

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Speaker 1: Nancy Armor is back, sit tight, joining us again here

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Speaker 1: on the show. She's been a sports columnist for USA

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Speaker 1: Today since twenty fourteen, previously spent twenty years with the

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Speaker 1: Associated Press and has covered every Olympics since nineteen ninety six.

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Speaker 1: She went to Marquette University for heading South to Land

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Speaker 1: in Chicago, and she never left. She's an award winning

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Speaker 1: journalist who's not afraid to tackle the tough topics in sports.

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Speaker 1: But she wasn't tough enough to withstand my book's ability

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Speaker 1: to make people ugly cry. It's Nancy Armor.

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Speaker 2: Hi, Nancy, Hello, Sarah, how are you?

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Speaker 1: I'm good. I assume I'll be seeing you at All

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Speaker 1: Star Weekend.

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Speaker 2: You will, Yes, I'm driving down on Thursday.

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Speaker 1: Okay, did oh we showed a carpoorld. I know, we relationship.

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Speaker 1: What would be the number one choice for music in

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Speaker 1: our carpool? What are you starting with?

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Speaker 2: Ooh? Well, we could do recap of podcasts, like all

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Speaker 2: of season one, because that's what I use like long

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Speaker 2: drives for is I saw a podcast and then I

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Speaker 2: listened to them on that Otherwise I have not had

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Speaker 2: a chance to listen to the.

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Speaker 1: New Bonnie Bear Okay album all the.

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Speaker 2: Way through, and so that might be it, which is

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Speaker 2: also kind of fitting for the W given his relationship

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Speaker 2: with the Links.

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Speaker 1: So I think I would start with that. What about you?

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Speaker 1: That feels very appropriate. I think we can start with

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Speaker 1: Bonyver due to the WNBA connection, but eventually a couple

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Speaker 1: hours in, when you're a little bit more delirious, you

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Speaker 1: need some sort of singles, so then we'll turn to

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Speaker 1: the Britney spears of it all. Yeah, that sounds good. Okay,

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Speaker 1: sounds like a plan. There are so many different activations

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Speaker 1: and events and parties and fan fests. There's no way

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Speaker 1: I can go to all of them, or even keep

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Speaker 1: track of all of them. Can you put into words

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Speaker 1: just how different things are in the WNBA than even

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Speaker 1: just a few years ago, based solely on looking at

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Speaker 1: this All Star weekend.

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Speaker 2: Oh my god, I mean you remember the All Star

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Speaker 2: Game was here in Chicago, what three years ago? Two

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Speaker 2: years ago, three years ago, and it is it's night

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Speaker 2: and day. Somebody had actually asked me a couple of

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Speaker 2: months ago, you know, hey, I'm booking travel, when do

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Speaker 2: I need to go.

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Speaker 1: Into All Star?

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Speaker 2: And I said, honestly, you can probably get there Thursday

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Speaker 2: night Friday morning for availabilities. They'll do something, you know,

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Speaker 2: Kathy will do something on Saturday. And now it's like,

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Speaker 2: oh no, you need to be there like Thursday morning

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Speaker 2: because there's so much stuff. I mean, it's it is

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Speaker 2: not quite at the level of an NBA All Star Game,

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Speaker 2: but it's getting darn close. And it's really cool to

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Speaker 2: see because it's not just the you know, traditional women's

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Speaker 2: basketball or women's sports media and no offense to any

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Speaker 2: of us, but these are big time sponsors and they

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Speaker 2: have gotten hip to the idea that this is a

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Speaker 2: major event. This is right up there with the Super Bowl,

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Speaker 2: the Men's All Star Game, Major League Baseball's All Star Game.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, it's really it's blown up. And I wonder

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Speaker 1: if the Chicago one did have any effect on choosing

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Speaker 1: cities and alerting them. I remember talking to someone from

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Speaker 1: Choose Chicago and the Chicago Sports Commission that was so

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Speaker 1: frustrated by how short the timeline was of when the

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Speaker 1: game was assigned and how long they had to prep

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Speaker 1: for it. There were some pretty big complaints levied at

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Speaker 1: the W for that when compared to what the city

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Speaker 1: knew they might get from an NBA because we had

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Speaker 1: hosted the NBA All Star Are not that many years before,

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Speaker 1: and they had such a long timeline. So hopefully the

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Speaker 1: league is giving cities a little bit more time to

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Speaker 1: work with now that there are so many things going on.

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Speaker 1: Speaking of that, what do you think the biggest challenge

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Speaker 1: for the W is in the next few years. We've

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Speaker 1: got three more expansion teams named. That's five new teams

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Speaker 1: in the next five years. Is the league ready for

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Speaker 1: this expansion both in terms of talent and front office readiness?

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Speaker 1: Is it ready for rosters to be full in all

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Speaker 1: those places? Like? What do you see as the next

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Speaker 1: big thing for the W?

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Speaker 2: Well, I think talent wise, there definitely is. In fact,

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Speaker 2: the links we're just in town and I asked Cheryl

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Speaker 2: read about this because they had to waive Llissa Pilly

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Speaker 2: and I said, I asked Cheryl, I said, you know

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Speaker 2: you're getting these you know, these five new teams, but

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Speaker 2: it's not going to be all fully scaled until twenty thirty.

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Speaker 2: Do rosters need to be expanded? And she said absolutely

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Speaker 2: yes that there are plenty of people. As she said,

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Speaker 2: you know, the first week of the season, there were

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Speaker 2: already teams getting you know, doing hardship contracts because of injuries. Uh,

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Speaker 2: just you know you've got national team duty. Is Camilla

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Speaker 2: Cardoso has just gone from the sky for a couple

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Speaker 2: of weeks for that. So yeah, I think the talent

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Speaker 2: level is there. I think it's time for if nothing else,

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Speaker 2: you know, creating a pot of practice players that you

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Speaker 2: could have even that. So I think that's the big thing,

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Speaker 2: one of the big things. But the biggest thing is

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Speaker 2: obviously the CBA. You know, this is that's the thing

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Speaker 2: that's hanging over this entire season. It's going to be

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Speaker 2: hanging over all Star week. This is a pivotal for

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Speaker 2: the w and I think everybody knows that. I think,

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Speaker 2: you know, the players you don't want what they're worth

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Speaker 2: and deserve to be paid. And well, the w says

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Speaker 2: that they recognize that. I'm not sure if they actually do,

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Speaker 2: so that to me is the biggest thing.

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Speaker 1: It's that's that.

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Speaker 2: Has got to get resolved before there's a lockout.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned the practice players, and I will point

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Speaker 1: out you know, in the past, obviously they weren't allowing

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Speaker 1: for players women players to be practice players because they

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Speaker 1: worried that teams might hoard someone that could be available

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Speaker 1: to another team. I think potentially there could be some

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Speaker 1: sort of rule wherein at any point a team can

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Speaker 1: steal a practice player for their roster in order to

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Speaker 1: allow for more of those players to stick around and

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Speaker 1: be around the league and playing in those places. But

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Speaker 1: you know, there's also some folks who have gone to

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Speaker 1: play in three x three leagues and other spots to

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Speaker 1: keep their games strong, and maybe that's a better opportunity

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Speaker 1: than feeling like you need to be on a practice

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Speaker 1: squad to be part of the pool for consideration and

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Speaker 1: suffering in terms of pay and everything else. So lots

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Speaker 1: for them to figure out when it comes to filling

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Speaker 1: out rosters and everything else. Yes, yes, you mentioned the CBA.

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Speaker 1: Negotiations for the CBA are underway and the players rejected

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Speaker 1: the league's first proposal. Didn't sound great, so too, soably

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Speaker 1: called it quote a slap in the face. You actually

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Speaker 1: penned a story about how the WNBA and its NBA

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Speaker 1: co owners won't be able to employ their usual tactics

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Speaker 1: of crying poor. For this, you wrote, the Golden State

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Speaker 1: Valkyries lead the league with a five hundred million dollar valuation,

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Speaker 1: which is a whopping ten times what owners Joe Lacup

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Speaker 1: and Peter Gruber paid to get the expansion team just

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Speaker 1: two years ago. The average valuation is two hundred and

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Speaker 1: sixty nine million, and six teams are worth two hundred

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Speaker 1: and fifty million or more. To put it simply, the

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Speaker 1: w is a growth stock, a rocket fueled one, and

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Speaker 1: the players know it. End quote. So I think if

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Speaker 1: you combine that with the public pressure that Shure decide

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Speaker 1: with the players, plus statistics showing that the W players

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Speaker 1: should be making a third to a quarter of NBA

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Speaker 1: player salaries but instead get about an eightieth of NBA

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Speaker 1: player salaries based on revenue sharing, that feels like a

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Speaker 1: pretty tough fight to win, at least publicly for the

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Speaker 1: w So, as you mentioned, they seem to get that

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Speaker 1: the players want more, but you're not sure they really

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Speaker 1: understand the battle that they're fighting here.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and I've said this to a couple of people

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Speaker 2: in the last week or so that this actually reminds

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Speaker 2: me a lot of the US women's national team in

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Speaker 2: twenty nineteen that for so many years the women had

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Speaker 2: you know, they knew that they weren't getting their full value,

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Speaker 2: but there were things that they absolutely needed, like healthcare benefits,

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Speaker 2: maternity care, you know, childcare provisions, and so they took

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Speaker 2: I don't want to say that they took what they

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Speaker 2: could get, but they picked, you know, they had to

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Speaker 2: pick their battles. But in twenty nineteen they'd had it.

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Speaker 2: You know, they knew they could see from the crowds,

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Speaker 2: they could see from ratings, they could see from people

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Speaker 2: asking about merch, they could see from the NWSL there's

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Speaker 2: a market here and we're being undervalued. And so that

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Speaker 2: that contract fight in twenty nineteen it was really the

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Speaker 2: players saying we've had enough. You know, you're going to

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Speaker 2: give us what we deserve and if not, you're going

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Speaker 2: to pay the consequences for it in terms of a

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Speaker 2: negative public perception. And I really feel like that's where

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Speaker 2: the W is right now. The players, and I think

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Speaker 2: that they've you know, they've known their value, but they're

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Speaker 2: really dug in. I don't want to say dug in,

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Speaker 2: but they're they're really in knowing that they have been

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Speaker 2: short changed and need better. And I don't know that

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Speaker 2: the W appreciates how much the players realize that and

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Speaker 2: how significantly the public is going to be on their side.

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Speaker 2: You know, if they have a walkout and you can't

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Speaker 2: see Kitlin Clark or Angel Reese or Pagebackers play, I mean,

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Speaker 2: there's gonna be like a riot from some you know,

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Speaker 2: W fans, And I don't, like I said, I don't

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Speaker 2: think that the W fully appreciates.

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Speaker 1: That right well. And also it's so hard to say

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, we can't afford that while acknowledging that m

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Speaker 1: NBA ownership groups are the ones that are getting these teams.

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Speaker 1: So when we look at the league's history, we know

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Speaker 1: that the WNBA might not have made it through some

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Speaker 1: of the lean years without the MNBA, obviously, but it

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Speaker 1: also often feels like the MNBA is holding the WNBA

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Speaker 1: back right now, especially because we have leagues like the

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Speaker 1: NWSL and the PWATL that succeed on their own without

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Speaker 1: needing ownership to be combined with a pro league. So

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Speaker 1: what message does it send about the crying poor of

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Speaker 1: it all? When three MNBA ownership groups were chosen to

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Speaker 1: lead the three new expansion teams, it's very clear that

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Speaker 1: the MNBA folks know that the WNBA is a meteoric

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Speaker 1: stock and they want in on it. So they can't

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Speaker 1: simultaneously argue that it's not a good business to be

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Speaker 1: in and they don't have the money to pay the

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Speaker 1: players more right.

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Speaker 2: And also too, I mean, if you look at their negotiations,

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Speaker 2: it's a tale as old as time. Anytime there's a

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Speaker 2: CBA negotiation, all of a sudden, the league is, oh,

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Speaker 2: we're not making money, or we've got X number of

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Speaker 2: franchises who aren't making money. I mean, we're still hearing

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Speaker 2: that from from Adam Silver, and we heard it from

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Speaker 2: David Strm before that. So don't tell me that, especially

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Speaker 2: when you've got this big TV contract coming in, you

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Speaker 2: have all these sponsors and we're seeing the valuations like,

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Speaker 2: you can't tell me that you don't have the money,

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Speaker 2: or that the league is not making money. That's just

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Speaker 2: it's and we've never expected that of men's leagues, whether

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Speaker 2: it's the NBA to NFL, Major League Baseball. Nobody cares.

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Speaker 2: Nobody ever asked that question. So why, I mean, I

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Speaker 2: know why we do it with the w.

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Speaker 1: But that's what I was going to say, is when

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Speaker 1: we say it in the women's side that the league

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Speaker 1: is losing money, it means the product sucks and get

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Speaker 1: rid of it. When we say it on the men's side,

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Speaker 1: we know it's a negotiating tool, so we don't say

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Speaker 1: the same things. You know, some some have argued pretty

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Speaker 1: well that the WNBA undervalued its most recent TV rights deal.

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Speaker 1: It's under to make claims when there's so little transparency

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Speaker 1: from the WNBA and the NBA about their books. But

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Speaker 1: how do you see the way Kathy Engelbert and Adam

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Speaker 1: Silver and company have handled the league's recent rise, whether

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Speaker 1: it comes to that TV deal negotiation or beyond.

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Speaker 2: I am one of the people who thinks that TV

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Speaker 2: deal is undervalued by how much? I don't know, but

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Speaker 2: we're seeing it with you know, we've seen it with

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Speaker 2: the ratings. We're seeing it in attendance. I mean, there

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Speaker 2: is a market there, and I think and I think

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Speaker 2: it's the same thing with the NC double A contract.

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Speaker 2: There are people who are doing these negotiations who still

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Speaker 2: don't buy it, or you know, it seems like they

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Speaker 2: think that, oh, this is still a brief moment in time.

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Speaker 2: It's you know, one of those those blips, and in

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Speaker 2: a year or two we're going to come back down

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Speaker 2: to earth. There's been sustained growth since twenty nineteen, So

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Speaker 2: don't tell me that you need a little more time

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Speaker 2: to figure it out. Now. Kudos to ESPN for going

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Speaker 2: all in on all of women's sports, but the w

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Speaker 2: in particular. But I think there was a way to

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Speaker 2: get more money. And I think maybe you know, whether

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Speaker 2: it was the NBA wanting, you know, having to deal

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Speaker 2: with its own negotiations for its contract too, I don't know.

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Speaker 2: I just I think anytime you bundle contracts together, I

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Speaker 2: don't think it's a good Somebody ends up coming out

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Speaker 2: the poor for it. And it was never going to

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Speaker 2: be the NBA, right, you.

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Speaker 1: Know, There's been so much talk in the last couple

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Speaker 1: of years about players of color and queer players not

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Speaker 1: getting the same marketing opportunities, sponsorship deals. I mean that

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Speaker 1: conversation has been going on longer than in the last

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Speaker 1: couple of years, but it's really been elevated in the

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Speaker 1: last couple of years. We have seen some good progress

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Speaker 1: on that front. Is it naive to expect a problem

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Speaker 1: that exists in society as a whole to be eradicated

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Speaker 1: in full in sports? Or should and can we demand

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Speaker 1: more from a women's professional sports league, especially one that

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Speaker 1: is so predominantly made up of women of color.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I don't think you ever give anybody a

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Speaker 2: pass on these on discrimination and erasure. You know it

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Speaker 2: wrong is wrong. I don't care what scenario you're talking

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Speaker 2: about here. And I think you know, the players themselves

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Speaker 2: talk about how important representation is, and they recognize that

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Speaker 2: anything that they are doing, or any benefits that they're

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Speaker 2: reaping right now are because of the Dawn Staley's, the

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Speaker 2: Tamika catchings, the Cynthia Coopers that you know, Asia was

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Speaker 2: wearing Cynthia Cooper's jersey the other day. They recognize that

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Speaker 2: this league was built on the shoulders in the backs

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Speaker 2: of women of and queer women, and they're telling people

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Speaker 2: anytime they've got the opportunity. Hey, we recognize that. You know,

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Speaker 2: we're carrying it forward. We are an inclusive league, and

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Speaker 2: shame on the fans who aren't recognizing that and who

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Speaker 2: are refusing to see quite frankly, the beauty of this

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Speaker 2: league that you know, it shows what's possible when you

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Speaker 2: don't put restrictions and labels on people just because of

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Speaker 2: what they look like or who they love.

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Speaker 1: Right, as I mentioned earlier, All Star Weekend is coming up.

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Speaker 1: You actually wrote a column arguing that Caitlin Clark could

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Speaker 1: quiet some of the worst of her fan base, some

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Speaker 1: of those people you were just referring to by selecting

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Speaker 1: Angel Rees to her All Star team, acknowledging that there

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Speaker 1: will be some who will still send all those horrific

385
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Speaker 1: racist messages to Reese and other players who are deemed

386
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Speaker 1: quote unquote enemies of Clark. But you wrote, quote Clark

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Speaker 1: and Reese being on the same All Star team, connecting

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Speaker 1: on the court, laughing together and high fiving one another

389
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Speaker 1: could show the still persuadable folks this animosity is the

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Speaker 1: stuff off of their own imaginations and it's time to

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Speaker 1: move on. And wouldn't it be nice if this All

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Speaker 1: Star Game was the catalyst for defanging the WNBA's worst

393
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Speaker 1: fans and making the league once again a place to

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Speaker 1: simply enjoy basketball. End quote. That did not happen. So

395
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Speaker 1: now missed opportunity in your mind that Clark didn't do that.

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Speaker 2: I think a missed opportunity. You know, it's an All

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Speaker 2: Star game. You know, nobody takes these things seriously anyway,

398
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Speaker 2: So yeah, I think it would have been a good opportunity.

399
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Speaker 2: I Angel and Caitlin can say all they want, We

400
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Speaker 2: are fine, we don't have beef. You know, Are they

401
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Speaker 2: the best of friends? Of course not. They're in different teams,

402
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Speaker 2: different cities, they grow up different places, whatever.

403
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Speaker 1: But I think it could have.

404
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Speaker 2: Quieted some people or made them rethink the animosity that

405
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Speaker 2: they have toward Angel and other players. But you know,

406
00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:59,119
Speaker 2: maybe the same thing could happen if they have a

407
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Speaker 2: nice moment during the game, or if there's something beforehand.

408
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Speaker 2: You know, I'm sure it's going to come up, It's

409
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Speaker 2: going to get asked. But yeah, I think it would have.

410
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Speaker 2: It would have been helpful if they would have been

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Speaker 2: on the same team.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, we saw that with Diana Tarassi. You remember she

413
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Speaker 1: made a completely innocuous and normal comment about Kaitlyn coming

414
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Speaker 1: into the league and like get ready for the different level.

415
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Speaker 1: Brook and certain folks blew that up as some sort

416
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Speaker 1: of you know, trash talking or being rude or mean.

417
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Speaker 1: But then when we saw them on the court together,

418
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Speaker 1: laughing and having fun, it sort of shut down that

419
00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,160
Speaker 1: whole narrative. So we could get the same thing even

420
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Speaker 1: if they're on opposing sides, which would be nice. But

421
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Speaker 1: not only did Kaitlin Clark not select Reese for her team,

422
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Speaker 1: thereby allowing that fire to continue raging for many folks,

423
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Speaker 1: she fanned the flames of another alleged rivalry with Cheryl

424
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Speaker 1: Reeve by trading coaches for this game instead of just

425
00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:52,439
Speaker 1: playing for the Minnesota Link's head coach. Now if Yousa Khalier,

426
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Speaker 1: I think later said it was her idea, but what

427
00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:57,600
Speaker 1: we saw on the broadcast was Caitlin Clark saying, we

428
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Speaker 1: don't really care what the rules are. We're trading coaches now.

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Speaker 1: I like Caitlin Clark. I like watching her play, I

430
00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:06,600
Speaker 1: like her fire. I like that she's a red ass.

431
00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:08,520
Speaker 1: That's how I played basketball. I don't expect her to

432
00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:10,359
Speaker 1: be nice to everyone, and I don't expect her to

433
00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:14,280
Speaker 1: answer to everyone who has created these insane narratives around

434
00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:17,359
Speaker 1: and about her. But I will also say I've given

435
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:19,960
Speaker 1: Clark a lot of patients and grace coming into this league,

436
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,840
Speaker 1: being a young woman under a microscope, trying to manage

437
00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:27,520
Speaker 1: an unmanageable amount of attention, being put into situations that

438
00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:29,800
Speaker 1: many young people would not be able to handle well.

439
00:22:30,119 --> 00:22:32,359
Speaker 1: But I have to ask, is it time to ask

440
00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:36,560
Speaker 1: whether she's really interested in tackling some of these narratives

441
00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:40,080
Speaker 1: or might she in fact agree with some of them?

442
00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know, that's a difficult question, and it's

443
00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,000
Speaker 2: one I've asked. I wrote that actually last year that

444
00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:49,960
Speaker 2: you know, was she meeting the moment? Was she doing

445
00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:52,439
Speaker 2: enough herself? I mean, and again let's start off by

446
00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:54,600
Speaker 2: saying she did not ask to be put in this situation.

447
00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:57,239
Speaker 2: And we are asking a lot of a twenty two

448
00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:01,720
Speaker 2: now twenty three year old to shut down some of

449
00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:05,000
Speaker 2: the worst, you know, some of these awful narratives. At

450
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,359
Speaker 2: the same time, you know, what's the old saying to

451
00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:11,399
Speaker 2: whom much is given much as expected? People are using

452
00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,400
Speaker 2: her for their narratives, and they're using her for some

453
00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:18,480
Speaker 2: really awful things. I mean, if you all you have

454
00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:21,080
Speaker 2: to do is go through somebody's social media if they've

455
00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:23,720
Speaker 2: had delivered a hard follow on Clark and it's it's awful.

456
00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:26,320
Speaker 2: I think she has tried to do it. You know,

457
00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:28,720
Speaker 2: she has answered it when people have asked her directly.

458
00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:31,200
Speaker 2: I think the strongest statement that she made was in

459
00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:34,400
Speaker 2: the Time Athlete of the Year article when she said, no,

460
00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,480
Speaker 2: you don't speak for me. You know that is not

461
00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:40,879
Speaker 2: those are not my beliefs. I think she's going to

462
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:42,760
Speaker 2: have to and I think it would be helpful if

463
00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:44,600
Speaker 2: she would come out stronger, and if she would do

464
00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:46,439
Speaker 2: it on her, you know, of her own volition, as

465
00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:50,800
Speaker 2: opposed to doing it in response to a question. You know,

466
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:52,240
Speaker 2: this is going to come up at All Star Week.

467
00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:54,359
Speaker 2: Somebody's going to ask her about why she was willing

468
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,040
Speaker 2: to trade share all or where were their ulterior motives

469
00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:59,680
Speaker 2: for it. I don't believe that there were. I think

470
00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:01,600
Speaker 2: it was just you know, for you wanting her own

471
00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:05,680
Speaker 2: coach and why wouldn't you? But yeah, she's got If

472
00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:08,760
Speaker 2: she doesn't know that this is fanning the flames, she's

473
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:12,280
Speaker 2: naive and she's past the point of being able to be.

474
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:16,840
Speaker 1: Naive, right, And that's how I feel it's that, Yeah,

475
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:19,280
Speaker 1: it's a lot to ask of someone, but also, there

476
00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:22,480
Speaker 1: are so many tiny little things she could do if

477
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:25,359
Speaker 1: it mattered to her that it feels like she doesn't

478
00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:29,400
Speaker 1: do so. Just saying once or twice when directly responding

479
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:31,320
Speaker 1: to something, yeah, those people don't speak for me. That's

480
00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:33,840
Speaker 1: not who I am isn't the same as any million

481
00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:36,399
Speaker 1: other things she could do. If she really didn't like

482
00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:39,520
Speaker 1: seeing all of this associated with her. It would kill

483
00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:42,120
Speaker 1: me to see all these people using me to represent

484
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,119
Speaker 1: something like that. And as much as she says she

485
00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:47,280
Speaker 1: just wants to be about basketball and everything else, like,

486
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:50,960
Speaker 1: let's take this other part of it. So your colleague

487
00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:53,720
Speaker 1: Christine Brennan was on this show last season talking about

488
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:57,840
Speaker 1: several alleged grievances that Clark should have with those around her,

489
00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:00,119
Speaker 1: not just Cheryl Reeve and Angel Reese, but also the

490
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:02,960
Speaker 1: players who didn't anoint her as the Second Coming before

491
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:05,840
Speaker 1: she'd ever played a game, or the WNBA itself for

492
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,880
Speaker 1: not properly preparing for her arrival. Now, there's a real

493
00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:10,960
Speaker 1: argument to be made on that last one, So let's

494
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:13,920
Speaker 1: start with that. How do you think the league did

495
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:16,960
Speaker 1: last year taking advantage of or not taking advantage of

496
00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:19,880
Speaker 1: the superpower that Clark brought with her, from the way

497
00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:22,280
Speaker 1: they handled airline travel to marketing to everything else.

498
00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:26,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, they were woefully unprepared. And you know that I

499
00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:30,760
Speaker 2: think was shown when you know Cathy's comments at the

500
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:32,639
Speaker 2: end of the season when she went I think it

501
00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:35,560
Speaker 2: was on CNBC when she somebody asked her about the

502
00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:38,879
Speaker 2: toxicity and she was like, oh, rivalries are great, and

503
00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:41,160
Speaker 2: then you know, pivoted to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird,

504
00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:43,960
Speaker 2: which was completely ignorant of the fact that, yes, rivalries

505
00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,800
Speaker 2: are great, but not when they are steeped in racism

506
00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:51,280
Speaker 2: and misogyny like this one has been. And so if

507
00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:54,080
Speaker 2: you had the commissioner of the league who doesn't understand it,

508
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:57,239
Speaker 2: how can you expect anybody else to be dealing with it?

509
00:25:57,480 --> 00:25:58,880
Speaker 1: So, yes, the league was.

510
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:07,040
Speaker 2: Woefully prepared from charter flight underprepared, underprepared. Yes, they just were,

511
00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:09,880
Speaker 2: and they shouldn't have been because they had a two

512
00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:11,600
Speaker 2: year run up or a year and a half run

513
00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:16,360
Speaker 2: up of seeing you know, this this phenomenon, this frenzy

514
00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:19,320
Speaker 2: around around Clark and also around Angel Reese, you know,

515
00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:24,560
Speaker 2: at the title game. They should not have been caught

516
00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:27,479
Speaker 2: unaware and yet it was like all of a sudden,

517
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:30,320
Speaker 2: you know, Clark just dropped in from out of the sky,

518
00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:32,720
Speaker 2: and that's that's that's my professional to.

519
00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:36,080
Speaker 1: Me, and I think having that conversation is completely fair.

520
00:26:36,119 --> 00:26:39,359
Speaker 1: I think it gets muddied by creating all the other grievances. So,

521
00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:42,680
Speaker 1: you know, Christine Brennan suggests the n WNBA has done

522
00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:45,080
Speaker 1: such a bad job that Clark and Nike could start

523
00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:50,320
Speaker 1: their own league to compete with the w NBA, amongst

524
00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:53,520
Speaker 1: other things. I feel like this constant hitting of Clark

525
00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:57,480
Speaker 1: against the league and against other players must be very

526
00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:00,040
Speaker 1: difficult for her. Like I know she probably loves the

527
00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:01,960
Speaker 1: public acknowledgment that she's in the league of her own

528
00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:04,800
Speaker 1: when it comes to popularity, which is true, but it

529
00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:08,320
Speaker 1: also feels so isolating and to isolate her from the

530
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:10,240
Speaker 1: rest of the players in her league and from the

531
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:13,200
Speaker 1: rest of the sport, to me, that feels like it's

532
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:16,000
Speaker 1: gonna be hard for her. Do you think that ultimately matters,

533
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:18,880
Speaker 1: both for her experience as a player and the impact

534
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 1: it might have on the w to keep trying to

535
00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:22,840
Speaker 1: create this fissure between her and everybody else.

536
00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:28,359
Speaker 2: Well, I think the larger issue is why the f

537
00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:32,679
Speaker 2: are we always pitting women against each other? Why? Like

538
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:39,000
Speaker 2: it is It's maddening to me because is she gonna

539
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:41,359
Speaker 2: like every single player in the league?

540
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:41,800
Speaker 1: Now?

541
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:43,800
Speaker 2: Is every player in the league gonna like her?

542
00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:44,200
Speaker 1: Oh?

543
00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:49,040
Speaker 2: Do we care when that is the same case in

544
00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:53,440
Speaker 2: the NBA or the NFL. No, we get a kick

545
00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:55,960
Speaker 2: out of it, you know, we like.

546
00:27:57,800 --> 00:27:58,359
Speaker 1: You know, when.

547
00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:01,680
Speaker 2: Lebron talks trash or you know, trying to decide if

548
00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:03,560
Speaker 2: he and Steph are buddies or not, or.

549
00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:06,960
Speaker 1: Like this, this need to.

550
00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:13,280
Speaker 2: Have women be cat fighting or this this narrative that

551
00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:18,360
Speaker 2: women are incapable of doing anything but cat fighting is

552
00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:24,040
Speaker 2: is so tired. It's like, these are unbelievable athletes and

553
00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:28,760
Speaker 2: they got where they are because they are insanely talented.

554
00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:32,120
Speaker 2: They're also competitive as hell, and that's a good thing.

555
00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:34,840
Speaker 2: Like that's if you are an elite athlete, that is

556
00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:39,760
Speaker 2: that's that's part of your DNA. And to pretend that

557
00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:42,560
Speaker 2: that's not the case, pretend or you know, try and

558
00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:45,920
Speaker 2: make it into something that it's not. It's like, again, why,

559
00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:48,920
Speaker 2: why why, why why do we always have to have

560
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:52,560
Speaker 2: somebody sniping at each other. Why is not it enough

561
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:58,120
Speaker 2: to just compare their games? And talk about you know,

562
00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:03,480
Speaker 2: how the discussion is is fee you know, is she

563
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:05,520
Speaker 2: the MVP this year or is it still going to

564
00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:07,480
Speaker 2: be Asia? Or you know, why can't we just have

565
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:08,400
Speaker 2: those discussions.

566
00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:11,000
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, and I think there's something to be said

567
00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:14,800
Speaker 1: for a little bit of the conversation and argument you

568
00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,440
Speaker 1: can have at the bar, right. We need that in sports.

569
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:19,640
Speaker 1: There needs to be a little bit of tension. But

570
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:21,840
Speaker 1: I think part of the reason that this bothers me

571
00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:24,680
Speaker 1: so much, and I've sort of moved past spending too

572
00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:28,440
Speaker 1: much time digesting or being critical of certain people covering

573
00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:32,160
Speaker 1: the league with whom I just completely fundamentally disagree and

574
00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:34,520
Speaker 1: with whom I think have lost the plot entirely. And

575
00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,960
Speaker 1: I've moved on to the impact of that, the impact

576
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,120
Speaker 1: of which voices break through and end up causing everyone

577
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:43,960
Speaker 1: else to have the conversations that they're having about the league.

578
00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:46,560
Speaker 1: It's already hard enough when the top search results are

579
00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:50,600
Speaker 1: AI generated garbage and slop with headlines that are like

580
00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,000
Speaker 1: this player breaks her silence on and it's like she

581
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:56,120
Speaker 1: said she didn't follow her and like that's the article.

582
00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:58,760
Speaker 1: It's just a waste of time and people who don't

583
00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,080
Speaker 1: have great digital literacy, don't don't know who they should

584
00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:02,920
Speaker 1: be reading and where they should be going. So instead,

585
00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:07,480
Speaker 1: the WNBA landscape in terms of content sucks. There's some

586
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,120
Speaker 1: really great people doing really great coverage, and a lot

587
00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:12,680
Speaker 1: of it is not getting down past the TikTokers and

588
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:15,320
Speaker 1: the loud voices that are creating controversy, and to me,

589
00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:17,640
Speaker 1: it takes some of the fun out of it. And

590
00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:20,040
Speaker 1: I think right now you can argue, oh, it's making

591
00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:25,000
Speaker 1: people interested, but eventually it will, I think, dim the

592
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,960
Speaker 1: light of the league and its players, take away from

593
00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:30,840
Speaker 1: the fun and the greatness and the excitement of sports

594
00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:33,960
Speaker 1: in favor of the fighting, and it will ultimately make

595
00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:37,200
Speaker 1: the product less valuable. And Caitlin too. I think when

596
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:41,000
Speaker 1: I was coming up watching Michael Jordan be this superstar

597
00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:44,280
Speaker 1: and later in his career, my favorite thing was watching

598
00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:49,160
Speaker 1: my DVDs and VHS's because I'm old of other players,

599
00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:53,400
Speaker 1: opponents of Michael talking about how great he was to

600
00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:56,200
Speaker 1: see these guys who were as competitive as all get

601
00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:59,400
Speaker 1: out putting that down for a second to say, man,

602
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:03,040
Speaker 1: that guy could fly. There were clips of opposing team

603
00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:06,360
Speaker 1: benches who had to catch themselves reacting to something Michael

604
00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:09,640
Speaker 1: Jordan did, and stopping themselves from like being too demonstrative

605
00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:11,840
Speaker 1: about how amazing it was. Because they were playing against him,

606
00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:15,200
Speaker 1: they won't worth be enjoying whatever he was doing. Imagine

607
00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:18,120
Speaker 1: if we had that instead. Imagine if when Caitlin was

608
00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:20,400
Speaker 1: doing the things she does and shooting from half court,

609
00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:23,440
Speaker 1: we could have the kind of atmosphere that allowed for

610
00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:25,480
Speaker 1: other players to say, man, I wanted to beat that

611
00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:27,720
Speaker 1: ass today. But did you see that like we saw

612
00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:29,880
Speaker 1: with Brianna Stewart and Caitlin in that one game a

613
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,600
Speaker 1: couple weeks ago where Brianna tried her best a garter,

614
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,400
Speaker 1: Caitlyn had a step back interface they kind of had

615
00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:37,960
Speaker 1: a laugh on the way down. That's more fun for me.

616
00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:39,880
Speaker 1: That's what I would like this to be. And I

617
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:42,160
Speaker 1: think the more we isolated, the less fund she'll have,

618
00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:44,840
Speaker 1: the less fun will have watching, and eventually it will

619
00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:45,880
Speaker 1: take a toll on the league.

620
00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:49,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't disagree with that, and I think, you know,

621
00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:57,320
Speaker 2: I have noticed there to be more discussions or more

622
00:31:57,360 --> 00:31:59,800
Speaker 2: people willing to come out and say I'm not a

623
00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:02,720
Speaker 2: Lark fan or I'm not a Fever fan because of

624
00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:06,080
Speaker 2: her fan base, not because of her. Yeah, it is

625
00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:09,840
Speaker 2: and I think two things. I think, you know, Clark, hopefully,

626
00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:13,640
Speaker 2: as she gets older and more comfortable, she will you know,

627
00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:16,720
Speaker 2: do her part to tamp that down. But I also think,

628
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:18,440
Speaker 2: you know the fact that we have Page coming in

629
00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:20,240
Speaker 2: this year, We're gonna have Juju in a couple of years.

630
00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:23,720
Speaker 2: The level of talent we're seeing it with Kiki Rif

631
00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:29,160
Speaker 2: and Sonya Cetron, the level of talent is getting so

632
00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:33,760
Speaker 2: high that I think that's you know, it's not going

633
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:35,920
Speaker 2: to be and it isn't right now, but it's not

634
00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:39,680
Speaker 2: going to be just this one player that everybody is watching.

635
00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:41,840
Speaker 2: I think you're you know, you're going to have people

636
00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:43,600
Speaker 2: who are Caitlin fans, You're going to have people who

637
00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:47,120
Speaker 2: are Juju fans. You're gonna have people who are Page fans.

638
00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:50,520
Speaker 2: And I think that is going to do a lot

639
00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:53,480
Speaker 2: to reset the narrative. At least that's my hope.

640
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:57,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, and Asy Fudd coming in, there's Yeah, there's just

641
00:32:57,680 --> 00:32:59,480
Speaker 1: a lot of talent that's going to be in the

642
00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:03,000
Speaker 1: league that's going to make it hopefully just simmer on

643
00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:05,120
Speaker 1: this stuff. And for those listening who are like, if

644
00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:07,000
Speaker 1: you hate it so much, why keep talking about it?

645
00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:10,600
Speaker 1: Good point? Agreed, I have been trying my best not

646
00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:12,840
Speaker 1: to engage too much in these conversations, but I do

647
00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:15,800
Speaker 1: think it's very hard when so many people who are

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00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:17,760
Speaker 1: not in the media space, or who are not super

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00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:21,440
Speaker 1: super diehards, keep coming to me with repeated narratives that

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00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:24,560
Speaker 1: are coming from some of these voices, and it reminds

651
00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:26,960
Speaker 1: me how much of a high percentage of the people

652
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:31,360
Speaker 1: watching are getting caught up in all this BS and

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00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:34,400
Speaker 1: it's hard. It's frustrating to watch. But a lot of

654
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:36,320
Speaker 1: folks are doing a great job of telling the right

655
00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:38,600
Speaker 1: stories and covering the league in a really cool and

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00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:41,080
Speaker 1: interesting and fascinating way. And I think as we continue

657
00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:43,960
Speaker 1: to give those people more of the mic and more resources,

658
00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:46,920
Speaker 1: hopefully we can offset some of the other stuff. And

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00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:49,040
Speaker 1: one of those people doing that great work is you, Nancy,

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00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:51,760
Speaker 1: So we always appreciate you coming out and chatting with us.

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00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:54,840
Speaker 1: I'll get the Britney spears ready and I'll see you

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00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:55,240
Speaker 1: in Indy.

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00:33:55,720 --> 00:34:01,480
Speaker 2: All right, sounds good, Take care, we have.

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00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:03,960
Speaker 1: To take another break when we return. I'll tell you

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00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:06,400
Speaker 1: where you can find me at WNBA All Star Weekend.

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00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:16,719
Speaker 1: Welcome back Slices. We always love to hear from you.

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00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:19,600
Speaker 1: Hit us up on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot

668
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:22,120
Speaker 1: com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two

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00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:25,840
Speaker 1: two oh four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe

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00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:29,640
Speaker 1: a rate and review, y'all. It's easy watch the Women's

671
00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:34,040
Speaker 1: Euro twenty twenty five tournament set in records, rating, Hella

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00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:38,279
Speaker 1: goals and Hella butts in seats review. Okay, this is

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00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:41,279
Speaker 1: pretty cool, y'all. YUWEIFA confirmed that the group stage of

674
00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:45,239
Speaker 1: Women's Euro twenty twenty five in Switzerland absolutely smashed the

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00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:48,439
Speaker 1: highest attendance record in the history of the tournament over

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00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:50,680
Speaker 1: the last two weeks. Now the previous show, we told

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00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:53,040
Speaker 1: you that the group stage attendance record was already broken

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00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:56,120
Speaker 1: through the first two match days. Well, four hundred and

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00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:59,240
Speaker 1: sixty one thousand, five hundred and eighty two people attended

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00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:02,319
Speaker 1: the twenty four game. That's over one hundred thousand more

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00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:04,759
Speaker 1: than the crowds who watched in England in twenty twenty two.

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00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,600
Speaker 1: That's not all. The group stage also saw eighty nine goals,

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00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:11,840
Speaker 1: the highest number ever scored in the group stage. The

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00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:15,399
Speaker 1: previous record, also set in twenty twenty two, was seventy eight.

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00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:18,600
Speaker 1: I think UEFA women's football director Nadine Kestler said it

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00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:22,480
Speaker 1: best quote. If it was not clear before, it is undeniable.

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00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:27,400
Speaker 1: Now women's football is unstoppable and here to stay. End quote.

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00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:30,839
Speaker 1: Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening, y'all.

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00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,200
Speaker 1: We'll see you tomorrow when the Woman, the Myth, the Legend.

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00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:39,600
Speaker 1: Megan Rapino joins us for a belated birthday celebration. Good Game, Nancy,

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00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:44,239
Speaker 1: Good Game, Boston and Boston, Hugh Spain, No Sarah Spain Day,

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00:35:44,719 --> 00:35:49,239
Speaker 1: Get on It. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an

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00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:52,560
Speaker 1: iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports

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00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:55,479
Speaker 1: and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,

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00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:59,200
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by

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00:35:59,239 --> 00:36:03,120
Speaker 1: Wonder Median Aptwork, our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones.

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00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:07,480
Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan

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00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:11,520
Speaker 1: and Emily Rutterer. Our editors are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez,

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00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:15,600
Speaker 1: Grace Lynch, and Gianna Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones.

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00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:19,720
Speaker 1: Production assistance from Avery Loftis and I'm Your Host Sarah

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Speaker 1: Spain