Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're wondering
Speaker 1: how much negative feedback it'll take for the new NWSL
Speaker 1: Boston team to change its name marketing approach.
Speaker 2: In hold general five cool colors though.
Speaker 1: On today's show, we'll be talking with longtime ESPN writer
Speaker 1: Michael Voppel about the WNBA Finals ahead of Game three.
Speaker 2: Plus we ask why too many Balls dot Com is
Speaker 2: a thing.
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty four, we hear from you Slices, and
Speaker 1: we embrace the beginning of hoodie season. It's all coming
Speaker 1: up right after this. Welcome back, Orange Slices. Here's what
Speaker 1: you need to know today in WNBA News. Game three
Speaker 1: of the Finals is tonight and the Minnesota Links are
Speaker 1: at home for the first time in the series. They'll
Speaker 1: try to avoid drop it a game in front of
Speaker 1: the crowd at Target Center after they stole one on
Speaker 1: New York Liberty Turf in Game one of the series.
Speaker 1: Coverage begins with WNBA Countdown on ESPN at seven thirty
Speaker 1: East and the game tips at eight. We'll have more
Speaker 1: on that matchup with our interview later in the show.
Speaker 1: A cool note, by the way, the duel between Minnesota
Speaker 1: and New York is currently on pace to set a
Speaker 1: viewership record for a five game series, so last Thursday's
Speaker 1: game on ESPN had the largest audience for Game one
Speaker 1: of a WNBA Finals series in league history, with one
Speaker 1: point one four million viewers.
Speaker 2: Pretty awesome.
Speaker 1: In NWSL news, NWSL Boston, set to begin play in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six, has a name Boss Nation Football Club BOS.
Speaker 1: It's an anagram for the term Bostonian. The team revealed
Speaker 1: that championship green will be the primary color, with several
Speaker 1: accent colors per news release, quote Relentless, Raspberry, Loyal, Charcoal, Daring, pink, Rise, yellow,
Speaker 1: and orange press, which speak to the rich diversity of
Speaker 1: Boston's neighborhoods and the team's values and signal a new
Speaker 1: era in the city's sports landscape. The name, the hype
Speaker 1: video the landing page, which was too many balls dot
Speaker 1: com are getting mixed reviews to put a kindly more
Speaker 1: on that in a moment. Meantime, more soccer news, we
Speaker 1: told you about the three point deduction and two hundred
Speaker 1: thousand dollars fine Angel CITYFC received for exceeding the league's
Speaker 1: salary cap this season, while on Monday, the club pushed
Speaker 1: back a little. ACFC released a statement expressing disappointment with
Speaker 1: the three point deduction and more. The statement reads, in part, quote,
Speaker 1: we disagreed with one aspect of the league's conclusions. Our understanding,
Speaker 1: based on the league's salary cap rules, was that childcare
Speaker 1: payments do not count against the salary cap. The statement continued,
Speaker 1: we believe that ACFC did not exceed the salary cap
Speaker 1: and formally requested a reconsideration of the three point reduction
Speaker 1: end quote. The league stood firm on the deduction, denying
Speaker 1: acfc's appeal, and the NWSL rules are actually pretty clear
Speaker 1: cut on this, so it's surprising that ACFC used this defense.
Speaker 1: According to step Young of the Athletic per last year
Speaker 1: and this year's competition manual, it hasn't changed. Players with
Speaker 1: kids can receive a dependent care stipend up to the
Speaker 1: IRS maximum five thousand dollars without a hit to the
Speaker 1: salary cap, but quote any amount in excess of the
Speaker 1: IRS annual maximum will count against the team's salary cap.
Speaker 2: End quote.
Speaker 1: We'll keep you updated on this story as more reporting
Speaker 1: comes out in hockey news. The PWHL just released its
Speaker 1: regular season schedule and the season gets underway one month
Speaker 1: earlier than last year. The first puck drops November thirtieth,
Speaker 1: and the league's six teams will each play thirty games
Speaker 1: in the regular season. That's six more than last year.
Speaker 1: Regular season wraps up on May third, twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: Last season, Minnesota won the Walter Cup, beating Boston in
Speaker 1: a five game final series for the Ages, and I'm
Speaker 1: expecting more drama this season and hoping for some fresh
Speaker 1: jerseys along with the new team names and logos that
Speaker 1: dropped in the offseason. College hoops were getting close to
Speaker 1: one of the most anticipated women's college basketball seasons ever,
Speaker 1: and the AP dropped its preseason top twenty five list.
Speaker 1: Don Staley's reigning champions South Carolina game Cocks are in
Speaker 1: the top spot, followed by Yukon, USC and Texas. Notably, Iowa, Stanford,
Speaker 1: and Tennessee all received votes but didn't crack the list.
Speaker 1: This year feels primed for some historic for mitzs and
Speaker 1: don't worry, we'll get you all the news and notes
Speaker 1: you need before the season tips off on November fourth,
Speaker 1: just nineteen days from today. Also interesting tidbit conferences are
Speaker 1: releasing their picks for preseason player awards and the SEC
Speaker 1: has three, yes, three co preseason Players of the Year.
Speaker 1: There was a three way tie in the voting between
Speaker 1: Texas's Madison Booker and Flaje Johnson and Anissa Morro, both
Speaker 1: from LSU. Morow and Johnson were number two and number
Speaker 1: three in scoring behind Angel Reese for the Tigers last season,
Speaker 1: and Booker.
Speaker 2: Led the way for the Longhorns.
Speaker 1: Five other players in the conference also received Player of
Speaker 1: the Year votes.
Speaker 2: Finally, a quick correction.
Speaker 1: The other day we said the Seattle rain hadn't missed
Speaker 1: the postseason since twenty thirteen. They were actually last on
Speaker 1: the outside looking in in twenty seventeen. We apologize for
Speaker 1: the error. Those responsible have been sacked.
Speaker 2: And another note from me here.
Speaker 3: When we talked Liberty on Monday, I mentioned Benijelni Hamilton
Speaker 3: played for the Libs during their Westchester County Center days,
Speaker 3: but she actually got to New York in twenty twenty one,
Speaker 3: one year after the franchise started laying a Barclay Center.
Speaker 3: We apologize again for the error. Those responsible for sacking
Speaker 3: the people who have just been sacked have been sacked.
Speaker 1: And if you're confused, watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Speaker 2: You Heathens.
Speaker 1: All right, before we get to today's interview, we have
Speaker 1: to talk Boss Nation real quick.
Speaker 2: Okay, the team name, the logo of the brand.
Speaker 1: They were all introduced using the campaign too Many Balls
Speaker 1: upun about the number of famous men's sports teams in
Speaker 1: Boston and the need.
Speaker 2: For more women's sports.
Speaker 1: Now. First, the video is conspicuously missing any mention of
Speaker 1: the town's women's professional hockey team, PWHL Boston.
Speaker 2: And the unusual team name Boss Nation.
Speaker 1: It's, like I said, an anagram of Bostonian and per
Speaker 1: statement quote doesn't just represent the fans, it signifies a
Speaker 1: collective identity made up entirely of its fan base. Hmmm, Alex,
Speaker 1: We're gonna get into more of this tomorrow, but as
Speaker 1: a greater Boston area fan, I'm gonna need your first
Speaker 1: reaction to me.
Speaker 4: My first thought was, this is the bad name that
Speaker 4: you put in the mix to make your good name
Speaker 4: or your mediocre name stand out and really shine.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 4: It's like the throwaway, like I just need some fluff
Speaker 4: in here to make sure the people like the thing.
Speaker 4: I like that being said Jennifer Epstein was on CBS
Speaker 4: Morning's Plus to announce it. Wearing I thought a pretty
Speaker 4: cool jacket with the Boss Nation logo in a circle,
Speaker 4: Like I like that branding. I think the name is weird.
Speaker 4: I'm not usually somebody that feels really strongly one way
Speaker 4: or the other about new names, you know, I think
Speaker 4: it's hard actually to come up with a team name
Speaker 4: in the year twenty twenty four. We look back on
Speaker 4: old men's team names and it's like, if you were
Speaker 4: to name a team the Red Sox this year, like
Speaker 4: people would be so mad, like what a stupid name.
Speaker 4: So I think the bar is a lot higher. That
Speaker 4: being said, I think the campaign is way worse than
Speaker 4: the name. The fact that PWHL Boston is totally erased,
Speaker 4: the fact that bos and it has been a women's
Speaker 4: hockey city even before the PWHL, with the Boston Pride
Speaker 4: winning titles and having banners like it just is so
Speaker 4: bad to me that they erased another women's pro team
Speaker 4: in order to focus on a too Many Balls campaign.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, the name's just weird to me. I
Speaker 1: don't hate it. I'm not like offended by it, but
Speaker 1: it's just weird. It makes me think it'd be like
Speaker 1: sponsored by like Hugo Boss. It just sounds like it'd
Speaker 1: be more of like a a like a fashion campaign
Speaker 1: than a sports team like Boss Nation. Also, I agree
Speaker 1: with you on the too Many Balls, it feels like
Speaker 1: we're so far past that, Like that feels very late nineties,
Speaker 1: early two thousands, like fempower was about, like we.
Speaker 2: Don't need that anymore now.
Speaker 1: Not only does it feel like there's so much for
Speaker 1: women's sports to stand on on its own that doesn't
Speaker 1: have to be a pushing back on men, but also,
Speaker 1: like with the whole trans conversation, like getting rid of
Speaker 1: balls thing also just feels touchy and unnecessary. Like I
Speaker 1: said this on tw but like for the olds among us,
Speaker 1: it feels like there'd be a website called too Many
Speaker 1: Balls dot com that would be competing with the other
Speaker 1: BROI sports blogs that were like the beginning of the
Speaker 1: wild Wild West of sports blogs back in the day
Speaker 1: the Kissing Susie Colber with Leather Sports by Brooks, where
Speaker 1: it was like half hot chicks and half sports content.
Speaker 1: Like it feels of that time, so it's very strange
Speaker 1: to see it right now. And like I'm all for
Speaker 1: dick jokes and ball jokes, it just doesn't feel like
Speaker 1: the way to best professionally and maturely and in a
Speaker 1: cool way offer up a new product, so that I
Speaker 1: didn't like. I do love the colors, but I'm confused
Speaker 1: because they look like they're black and green, and then
Speaker 1: based on the press release, it's green and then like
Speaker 1: eleventeen other colors, So I'm not sure where that's gonna.
Speaker 4: Go, which are also the same colors as PWHL Boston,
Speaker 4: which is also now Boston Fleet. I have to get
Speaker 4: in the habit of saying that name.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so they picked the same colors but didn't acknowledge
Speaker 1: their existence. And also worth noting there was a Boston
Speaker 1: Breakers soccer team. I understand wanting to separate yourself from
Speaker 1: that team how the franchise went everything else, but there
Speaker 1: almost feels like there could be at least a reference
Speaker 1: of sort of Phoenix rising from the Ashes thing, as
Speaker 1: opposed to a complete elimination of the existence of that team.
Speaker 2: It just the whole thing feels.
Speaker 4: Even the press release has a line that is playfully
Speaker 4: pointing out that in a city filled with championships, it's
Speaker 4: sports heroes need not all be male, Like, okay, well
Speaker 4: what about Hillary Knight?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 4: Oh, I think it's Honestly, it's getting back to your point, Sarah,
Speaker 4: of like what era this feels like it's from, and me,
Speaker 4: it just feels like a red flag of if this
Speaker 4: is the campaign, what is it signifying about? What else
Speaker 4: is happening behind the scenes in terms of the professional
Speaker 4: layout of this team.
Speaker 2: Completely agree.
Speaker 1: We don't want to make any snap judgments, but it
Speaker 1: does feel like it's a try hard from a different
Speaker 1: time and it feels like we're in a different place now,
Speaker 1: and I really hope that this is not indicative of
Speaker 1: how the larger team and franchise will be run and managed.
Speaker 2: Okay, much more on this tomorrow.
Speaker 1: We got to take a quick break, But first I
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Speaker 2: It's really important to us.
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Speaker 1: Thank you when we come back.
Speaker 2: Michael Voppel on who's got the edge in Game three?
Speaker 2: The Links or the Limps?
Speaker 1: Joining us now an ESPN senior writer who has reported
Speaker 1: on women's sports for the Worldwide Leader since nineteen ninety six.
Speaker 1: A mazoograd that first cut his teeth in newspapers. In
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, he received the Kurt Gouty Media Award
Speaker 1: for Print Media from the Nasmith Memorial Basketball Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame for contributions to basketball media. He's a lifelong Saint
Speaker 1: Louis Cardinals fan, but we'll try not to hold that
Speaker 1: against them.
Speaker 2: It's Michael Volpol what's up, Michael?
Speaker 5: How you doing, Sarah? I think we were both equally
Speaker 5: unhappy during this baseball season.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I heard it's still going on, but who could
Speaker 1: eat track of those things.
Speaker 2: I'm just ready for spring training next year.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's talk hoops because on Monday you dropped a
Speaker 1: comprehensive history of the Liberty franchise.
Speaker 2: You've been covering ball.
Speaker 1: Since the mid nineties, so I want to know what
Speaker 1: stands out to you from those early days of the
Speaker 1: Liberty because I loved reading about you know, Rebecca Lobo
Speaker 1: telling you Rosy O'donald, Tyra Banks, Gregory Hines, Jone Jet,
Speaker 1: Penny Marshall, all these folks courtside, and there were huge
Speaker 1: fan bases then, like it was really a thing in
Speaker 1: the nineties to be a Liberty fan.
Speaker 2: What stands out to you from back then?
Speaker 5: It was a lot of fun going to those games,
Speaker 5: and I think those teams were teams that embodied New York.
Speaker 5: And the interesting thing about that, Sarah is there was
Speaker 5: only you know one where I say, true new york Er,
Speaker 5: Sue Wix, who's this new York is new York gets
Speaker 5: But you had people from all over the country, including
Speaker 5: Teresa Weatherspoon from very little town Pineland, Texas, and they
Speaker 5: all came to New York and became New Yorkers. Stu
Speaker 5: Wicks told me something I thought was sort of you
Speaker 5: could use this as an example of any occupation. She said,
Speaker 5: people go to New York to become who they are,
Speaker 5: and I think that's what that group did, and you're right,
Speaker 5: there was so there were a lot of celebrities there.
Speaker 5: They were a fun team to watch, and it was
Speaker 5: an atmosphere that I think really helped propel the early
Speaker 5: years of the w.
Speaker 1: On a recent show, we talked about an excerpt from
Speaker 1: Those Guys Have All the Fun, the book about ESPN
Speaker 1: the Oral History, and one of the things that came
Speaker 1: up was that a ESPN exec was intentional about trying
Speaker 1: to bury the WNBA, wasn't a fan, wanted to put
Speaker 1: it on the side channels, and was effective in sort
Speaker 1: of preventing the growth that might have had happened. Do
Speaker 1: you think that that's the main reason that when we
Speaker 1: hear some of these statistics like biggest audience sense and
Speaker 1: it's usually the late nineties or highest attendance sense, and
Speaker 1: it's sometimes back in the early years that those Halcyon
Speaker 1: DAEs for the Liberty and other teams that were early
Speaker 1: in the WRE could have. You know, it resulted in
Speaker 1: even more growth, and we could be even further along
Speaker 1: than we are now if not for some of the
Speaker 1: intention of people in holding the league back.
Speaker 5: I think that's a fair thing to say, Sarah, when
Speaker 5: you understand the culture that we were dealing with, which
Speaker 5: was openly hostile. It's one thing for television executives to say,
Speaker 5: you know what, I'm not sure this is going to
Speaker 5: work we've got to make business decisions. I don't feel
Speaker 5: like a lot of the decisions that got made and
Speaker 5: unfortunately sometimes still get made with women's sports is coming
Speaker 5: all the time from people who don't have other agendas.
Speaker 5: They may not, I will give them some credit. They
Speaker 5: may not always understand their own biases, but there's definitely biases.
Speaker 5: And I found it interesting people. You know, you mentioned
Speaker 5: that people can figure out who this was because this
Speaker 5: gentleman was right.
Speaker 2: We already mentioned it on the show. Yeah.
Speaker 5: What I find interesting in sort of a fun ironic
Speaker 5: way is he went to the University of Iowa, and
Speaker 5: I think we know that somebody from the University of
Speaker 5: Iowa has really helped these days. Sometimes I'm not sure
Speaker 5: it would go the same, Yeah, exactly, but the way
Speaker 5: that you described that, which is very true, that at
Speaker 5: least initially there was so much positive forward momentum and
Speaker 5: then there was some intentional actions that stopped.
Speaker 2: That moment Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's interesting, and we talked about it
Speaker 1: when I was still full time at ESPN and now
Speaker 1: even part time at ESPN, that it's both such a
Speaker 1: massive part of the rights packages and highlighting women's athletes
Speaker 1: and giving amazing storytelling, and also it feels like there
Speaker 1: are other ways that it could be using its power
Speaker 1: and its influence, and certainly feels like maybe it did
Speaker 1: at that time. And so we're looking at incredible, huge
Speaker 1: growth now, but we also maybe could be further along
Speaker 1: if not for some of those stretches where people were
Speaker 1: acting with intention to hold it back. In that Liberty
Speaker 1: story that you wrote, you accurately dubbed the Liberty franchise
Speaker 1: history as tortured. Nineteen playoff appearances, five finals appearances, and
Speaker 1: no titles yet for the Libs, what has to change
Speaker 1: for New York to finally get the victory this year?
Speaker 5: They have the talent, you know, we've seen that the
Speaker 5: last two years by bringing in especially bringing in bringing
Speaker 5: a store, you know, at in her prime years, the
Speaker 5: biggest free agent signing we've seen in the league. And
Speaker 5: the fact that you have an another MVP and John
Speaker 5: will Jones who's really adjusted her game to play well
Speaker 5: with Brionna scort. I think Sabrina Yanesque has grown up
Speaker 5: so much right before our eyes in her game, Sarah,
Speaker 5: because you know how good she was in college, but
Speaker 5: that game had to evolve. She's done that and I
Speaker 5: also think she's just a really good, smart leader for
Speaker 5: this group. Can they get past the can they get
Speaker 5: past their history? And this is what I think. You
Speaker 5: know this as a fan. It's almost, I would say,
Speaker 5: eerie sometimes how franchise is in different sports. Even though
Speaker 5: everybody who was involved in that history twenty five thirty
Speaker 5: years ago is no longer with the team, those histories
Speaker 5: can still weigh on teams and it can take a while.
Speaker 5: They have slain one demon, if you will. They got
Speaker 5: past the Las Vegas asis, but that didn't get him
Speaker 5: a championship, right. They still have to jump one more hurdle.
Speaker 1: It's interesting you say that because I actually remember on
Speaker 1: Around the Horn talking about the Cubs during their twenty
Speaker 1: sixteen World Series run and saying to all the fans
Speaker 1: who were losing their minds about the deficit they had
Speaker 1: dug for themselves and how they were all going to
Speaker 1: feel the weight of one hundred plus years of not
Speaker 1: having won. And I said, the longest tenured person on
Speaker 1: the team is Anthony Rizzo, which I believe at the
Speaker 1: time was eight years. He is not carrying around your
Speaker 1: seventy years of disappointed fandom, right, like most of these
Speaker 1: people have only been around for a couple years, and
Speaker 1: of course they get it, but it's not the same.
Speaker 1: And I hope that that's the case for the Liberty
Speaker 1: as well, that yes, they know that they're trying to
Speaker 1: end this streak of no franchise titles, but also they
Speaker 1: in particular folks like Brianna Courtney Vanderslo like people have
Speaker 1: won elsewhere and they come to this perhaps with a
Speaker 1: little bit less of these sphincter tightening than the fans
Speaker 1: of the Liberty who have felt this way for the
Speaker 1: entirety of the franchise's existence.
Speaker 2: You know you mentioned Sabrina and Nescu. Gosh, you're so right.
Speaker 1: Her game has changed this year in ways that have
Speaker 1: been so important to this team, and in this series.
Speaker 1: She was decent numbers in Game one, but terrible shooting percentage,
Speaker 1: and then in Game two effective as a scorer in
Speaker 1: the first half and then became a facilitator and defender
Speaker 1: in the second half, which was just what the team
Speaker 1: needed as other folks like Benija Laney Hamilton and Brianna
Speaker 1: Stewart were scoring well. Can you put in perspective how
Speaker 1: important her improvement was for this year's team, particularly during
Speaker 1: stretches where Courtney Vanderslut had to be out and wasn't
Speaker 1: available for the team, and sab stepped up as more
Speaker 1: of a point guard type player.
Speaker 5: That's exactly what happened, you know. Unfortunately, very sadly, Courtney
Speaker 5: Vanderslute lost her mom did have a long battle with cancer.
Speaker 5: So Courtney was out for several games, and during that time, Sabrina,
Speaker 5: you know, really had to be a rock for the
Speaker 5: franchise in terms of playing the point guard role. Is
Speaker 5: it is so insightful that you bring up the differences
Speaker 5: between in games one and two because you could look
Speaker 5: at I think Sabrina only took one shot in the
Speaker 5: second half and in tours and some people, if you
Speaker 5: just look at a box score, you might say, oh, well,
Speaker 5: you know what happened, she had fourteen points. Well what
Speaker 5: happened is she adjusted to the defense that Minnesota was playing,
Speaker 5: and as you said, she became a facilitator and defender.
Speaker 5: I think that made a big difference, because when you're
Speaker 5: somebody who can score the way she does, sometimes you
Speaker 5: have to realize they're really selling out on me. I
Speaker 5: can I can help this team win other ways? And
Speaker 5: she said something actually today, right before the Liberty practice,
Speaker 5: she said, I don't want to be the type of
Speaker 5: player that teams can say, if we stop her from shooting,
Speaker 5: we can beat the Liberty And that is exactly what
Speaker 5: you're talking about.
Speaker 2: Yeah, being a multi threat. Yep, yep, that's great that
Speaker 2: she gets that. All right.
Speaker 1: Game three shifts to Minneapolis. What do you see changing
Speaker 1: as the target center?
Speaker 5: Obviously you're going to have the different vibe, but this
Speaker 5: is a Liberty team that had the best road record
Speaker 5: in the league, So I think that they're not, you know,
Speaker 5: going in intimidated, but it is going to be very loud,
Speaker 5: very huge crowd. I think they're hoping they're going to
Speaker 5: get a sell out for this. But from a strategy standpoint,
Speaker 5: it'll be interesting to see what Minnesota tries to do
Speaker 5: in this case. Two take away Sabrina's facilitating, Like you know,
Speaker 5: they're going to say, look, maybe now we're going to
Speaker 5: try to force her back into a little bit more
Speaker 5: of a scoring rule. What are they going to do
Speaker 5: with Benije Lani who turned out to be, you know,
Speaker 5: a player who really really hurt them in Game two.
Speaker 5: That's what's so interesting about series, isn't it. It's like
Speaker 5: you really do see well team. Teams will talk about
Speaker 5: adjustments sometimes and you're like, I'm sure what they adjusted
Speaker 5: in this series, we really have seen them adjust both
Speaker 5: game to game and in the course of games. So
Speaker 5: that'll be really interesting to see because you know, whoever
Speaker 5: wins this game obviously then becomes a favorite because it's
Speaker 5: a fine series.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: New York Liberty are a super team, and you kind
Speaker 1: of just alluded to that, like good luck, am I
Speaker 1: going to stop sab or Brienna or John Quell or.
Speaker 2: Even Salute or Bendija.
Speaker 1: They are a constellation of stars that excelled in Seattle
Speaker 1: and Connecticut and Chicago before joining the Liberty.
Speaker 2: The Links are a more balanced roster.
Speaker 1: These are great players that are supporting one true superstar
Speaker 1: in Nafisa Collier. Can you talk about the job that
Speaker 1: Cheryl Reeve has done with this team making it to
Speaker 1: the finals tied one one so far with a very
Speaker 1: different kind of team than what the Liberty have.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, they started the free agency. You look
Speaker 5: at what they were facing, which is they bring five
Speaker 5: players back. You know, those are five good players because
Speaker 5: they include Nafisa Collier and Calea McBride and Bridget Carlton,
Speaker 5: but they had to make the right decisions in free agency.
Speaker 5: And Cheryl Reeve has you know, she's been in her
Speaker 5: her job for fifteen years, which, as we know now
Speaker 5: in pro sports is you know, several feels like several lifetimes.
Speaker 5: There are very few coaches in any of the other
Speaker 5: sports pro sports in the United States that have been around
Speaker 5: that long. She has stayed true to this philosophy that
Speaker 5: you need to play our style of basketball. When she
Speaker 5: went away from that, it's kind of burned her. And
Speaker 5: I think she realized that she went to Courtney Williams
Speaker 5: and said, I know you don't think your point guard.
Speaker 5: I think you are and I want you to be
Speaker 5: our point guard. And that she's responded, you know, fantastically
Speaker 5: to that same way with somebody like Alana Smith. She
Speaker 5: understond Alana Smith was a really really good defensive player
Speaker 5: coming into her own. So the bottom line is, are
Speaker 5: they a super team? Maybe not as one word super team,
Speaker 5: but are they a super team?
Speaker 2: You can describe them as such. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: This series features two teams with a bunch of long
Speaker 1: athletic players six four and up running the floor, making
Speaker 1: graceful plays hitting threes. You know, you got Brianna Stewart
Speaker 1: bringing the ball up the court, Leoni Phoebich strain in
Speaker 1: threes and if you sa Kyle your effortless fadeaway js
Speaker 1: that I call feed aways. Are we looking at the
Speaker 1: future of the W in this series, Like, is it
Speaker 1: going to be a necessity to have these unicorns going
Speaker 1: forward in order to be successful?
Speaker 5: I think so. And I think those unicorns again, like
Speaker 5: with any other sport, they start popping up, you know,
Speaker 5: they become less rare because people pattern their games after
Speaker 5: those types of players that they see. And you know
Speaker 5: it also we're seeing we saw this with the Aces
Speaker 5: two star in the last two years. You have to
Speaker 5: have five scorers on the court. Now you can say
Speaker 5: with the Ace since Stokes wasn't really that, but it's
Speaker 5: almost like their four scores are so good it made
Speaker 5: up for her not being a fifth scorer. I think
Speaker 5: that's part of it. You have to have, you know,
Speaker 5: those scoring threats from every position and stretch the defense
Speaker 5: out the way that I think both of these teams
Speaker 5: are able to do.
Speaker 4: Hmm.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is interesting how even Fee has talked about
Speaker 1: how watching maya more help to turn her into the
Speaker 1: player that she is, and now there will be players
Speaker 1: coming up watching players like Fee and pri and everybody
Speaker 1: else and realizing that that's going to.
Speaker 2: Be a necessity. I wish i'd had that when I
Speaker 2: was coming up. I was so tall.
Speaker 1: They were like, just stand in the paint, you'll figure
Speaker 1: it out. We don't need to work on your ball handling.
Speaker 1: Would have been would have been helpful.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's exactly what it was like. They wouldn't They
Speaker 5: wouldn't let you do anything else. I would imagine.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, Cheryl reeves so much turnover in the
Speaker 1: w and we've seen it even this season as we
Speaker 1: wait the news of some new coaches at some at
Speaker 1: some at some teams. But she's managed to stick around
Speaker 1: for fifteen seasons in Minnesota. How does she keep winning
Speaker 1: with different players and stars and looks.
Speaker 5: She's a really good coach who's spent, you know, most
Speaker 5: of her career at the professional level. She started like
Speaker 5: most coaches do, so certainly most women coaches her age.
Speaker 5: You know, there wasn't a pro league to go to,
Speaker 5: so she started in college, but then made that transition
Speaker 5: and really believed that that was that was where she
Speaker 5: was going to make her mark as a coach. So
Speaker 5: she's worked with you know, you look back to, you know,
Speaker 5: early in her career working with Bill Lambier. She's worked
Speaker 5: with a lot of different types of coaches, and I
Speaker 5: think it just the way she breaks down gains. I mean,
Speaker 5: I feel like Cheryl could coach anybody at any level
Speaker 5: because she just understands basketball that well. But she's also
Speaker 5: has a really good relationship obviously with Glenn Taylor, the
Speaker 5: owner of the Timberwolves and the Lynx, and you know,
Speaker 5: she's been able to as an executive help shape the
Speaker 5: team that she coaches. So it's worked well.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 5: I know she's not the GM now, she's President of
Speaker 5: Basketball Operations, but she was in a GM role and
Speaker 5: she still obviously has a lot to do with the
Speaker 5: makeup of the months.
Speaker 1: When that works, it works great when you've got the
Speaker 1: person deciding the talent they want and how to work
Speaker 1: with it, and then working with it well. Before Game
Speaker 1: one of the WNBA Finals, commissioner Kathy Engelbert announced that
Speaker 1: the final starting next season will be best of seven.
Speaker 2: Do you approve of that change?
Speaker 4: I do.
Speaker 5: I think it's nice to have it be uniform. You
Speaker 5: know with the other pro sports men's coat books leets
Speaker 5: in the United States.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I just want more basketball, especially the way
Speaker 1: this series has been so far. The first round is
Speaker 1: still a best of three, but the format is going
Speaker 1: to be one one one, giving each team at least
Speaker 1: one home playoff game. A lot of folks are going
Speaker 1: to say this is the Caitlin Clark effect, and that's
Speaker 1: probably part of it.
Speaker 2: But I've been rallying for this.
Speaker 1: For years, I feel like, and I was only a
Speaker 1: couple of years in an ownership role with a team,
Speaker 1: but being in the meetings and talking about what a
Speaker 1: big deal it is for the bottom line when you
Speaker 1: can host a playoff game, make playoff merch, get fans
Speaker 1: through the doors for the playoff experience, and make them
Speaker 1: want to come back to the regular season because they
Speaker 1: remember what it was like during those heightened moments of
Speaker 1: playoff play.
Speaker 2: Is huge.
Speaker 1: And I think this is an absolutely slam dunk decision.
Speaker 1: Now that they have an ability to travel and they've
Speaker 1: got the charter flights and more money for it, do
Speaker 1: you agree with that?
Speaker 2: Changed to yeah?
Speaker 5: One hundred percent, as you know, you know, when they started,
Speaker 5: you know, because the league's had a couple of different
Speaker 5: playoff formats. When they started, it was you started the
Speaker 5: lower seed and then games two and three would be
Speaker 5: at the higher seed, and that way you guaranteed you'd
Speaker 5: have games at both places. But that really didn't it
Speaker 5: didn't seem really fair when no higher seed you have
Speaker 5: to start out on the road.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Then they went to the format in twenty sixteen when
Speaker 5: they stopped having the conference the conferences be split, so
Speaker 5: you just took top eight seeds and they went with
Speaker 5: a single elimination game in the first two rounds. And again, Sarah,
Speaker 5: that's a problem because there's no guarantee of having a
Speaker 5: home game. Then this year, you know, then when they
Speaker 5: switched back and made it you know, got rid of
Speaker 5: the single elimination, which I never liked the single elimination
Speaker 5: no format. Then they have the issue of, like you said,
Speaker 5: not only do you you maybe you have to go
Speaker 5: three in order to get a home game if you're
Speaker 5: the lower seed. Then if you're the higher seeds, you
Speaker 5: might have to win a series on the road, you know,
Speaker 5: best of three. This is the best way to do it.
Speaker 5: It's more travel. But as you said, you really don't
Speaker 5: want to have a team make a playoffs and their
Speaker 5: fans don't even get to see them played.
Speaker 1: Once at I like the decision. I also think, you know,
Speaker 1: you're moving to forty four games. We're trying to keep
Speaker 1: up with textualizing all the records being broken as they
Speaker 1: change the number of games being played. But they keep
Speaker 1: moving it on us forty four games starting next year.
Speaker 1: But it feels necessary with the expansion that's coming next year.
Speaker 1: We're gonna have Golden State Valcyiriees, We're gonna have two
Speaker 1: more teams in twenty six. So does that also feel
Speaker 1: like sort of a necessity for the league to keep
Speaker 1: expanding the length of the regular season.
Speaker 5: Yes, it does, And I thought for a while maybe
Speaker 5: fifty is like an ultimate sweet spot for the league.
Speaker 5: It you know, it's unless the league changed the calendar completely.
Speaker 5: They're never going to go to like an eighty game, right,
Speaker 5: the eighty two game like the NBA. But it's it's
Speaker 5: still gonna be tough, Like, you know, you're still talking
Speaker 5: about having to start you know, mid maybe even they
Speaker 5: may move it up a week to the first week
Speaker 5: of May and then ending you know at the at
Speaker 5: the end of October. And the women obviously a also
Speaker 5: have to deal with the Olympics and the World Championship,
Speaker 5: so every other year you have an international event that
Speaker 5: you have to work into the schedule as well. But yeah,
Speaker 5: I think I think the expansion of games, expansion of
Speaker 5: the lead, those are all things that show a healthy growth.
Speaker 1: Michael, you have been at it for a very very
Speaker 1: long time, and I don't think you get the credit
Speaker 1: you deserve for all the work you've done, so at
Speaker 1: least on our show, we're giving you all the flowers.
Speaker 1: I mean, working in women's sports since ninety six and
Speaker 1: holding it down at ESPN while plenty of other people
Speaker 1: get a little bit more shine, you are doing yeomen's work.
Speaker 2: So thank you so much for coming on.
Speaker 5: Well, thank you, Sarah, and you didn't call me a tomatohead,
Speaker 5: which a lot of my all time Cubs fan friends did. Okay, Yeah,
Speaker 5: thank you, Thank you very much for having me. I
Speaker 5: appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much to Michael for hopping on with us.
Speaker 1: Excited for the game tonight, we have to take another break,
Speaker 1: but when we come back, porta potty run ins of
Speaker 1: the pleasant variety stick around. Welcome back orde slices we've
Speaker 1: been hearing from y'all a lot, and we absolutely love it.
Speaker 1: The other day, Alex asked whether you've overheard some unexpected
Speaker 1: folks talking about women's sports. We still want more of
Speaker 1: those stories, but Stacy wrote in with a story that's
Speaker 1: a little less eavesdropping, more participating. She says, I went
Speaker 1: to the Gotham game recently and stayed in a hotel
Speaker 1: in New Jersey near the stadium. I met two women
Speaker 1: in the hotel elevator who clearly were also going to
Speaker 1: the game. We set our pleasantries go bats and that
Speaker 1: was kind of bit. After the game, I ran into
Speaker 1: one of the women in the lobby and we started
Speaker 1: talking about the game. Turns out she lives a few
Speaker 1: miles from me in Boston and doesn't have anyone in
Speaker 1: her immediate life to talk women's sports with, so of
Speaker 1: course we became instant pals and are now texting during
Speaker 1: the WNBA games and catching up on the NWSL and
Speaker 1: soon to start up PWHL, making plans to watch a
Speaker 1: game out soon. She is my first three hundred and
Speaker 1: sixty degree women's sports friend.
Speaker 2: Stacy. We freaking love this.
Speaker 1: Also, Alex and Misha heard from Twitter user at lac
Speaker 1: nine who made friends with the guy while waiting for
Speaker 1: the porta potty at a music festival in Boise, Idaho.
Speaker 1: She wrote, quote, neither of us have any South Carolina connections.
Speaker 2: Just both really love Asia Wilson. Love that.
Speaker 1: Send us more folks also in parent Trap and I'm
Speaker 1: not alone here updates. Shout out to at Saffron Monsoon
Speaker 1: one on Twitter who wrote to me quote, I was
Speaker 1: also horrified Misha and Alex were too young or something
Speaker 1: for parent Trap, but wanted to let you know. Hailey
Speaker 1: Mills was at the D twenty three Disney Expo this
Speaker 1: summer and sang Let's Get Together live on stage. Lots
Speaker 1: of people uploaded it on YouTube. I think you'd enjoy it.
Speaker 2: You know what. I did enjoy it because I looked
Speaker 2: it up. And thank you Saffron Monsoon.
Speaker 1: Also Veronica I, who sent me the clip of the
Speaker 1: Hailey Mills twins singing Let's get Together on Insta.
Speaker 2: You get it, Veronica, you really get it.
Speaker 1: Finally, Slices Dogs, We asked you all a lot of
Speaker 1: questions about dogs, and you had answers on Twitter. Sixty
Speaker 1: nine percent of you said you can be a gluegal
Speaker 1: and a.
Speaker 2: Dog, which is wild. To me disagree.
Speaker 1: Sixty nine percent of you said you can be a
Speaker 1: superstar and a dog, twenty percent said dogs are role players,
Speaker 1: eleven percent said Kelsey Plum aka plum Dog is the only.
Speaker 2: One that can be both.
Speaker 1: And to the question is there a place for cats
Speaker 1: on the court, the leading vote getter with forty one
Speaker 1: percent was Stop It.
Speaker 2: Producer Alex.
Speaker 1: Though I did like Randon Potkey's answer the place for
Speaker 1: cats officiating now love that shout out to front of
Speaker 1: the show Shimmy Gray Miller, who said she and her
Speaker 1: wife and broadcast partner Lisa Byington talk about dogs all
Speaker 1: the time. She said in part quote, Yes, you can
Speaker 1: be a dog and a superstar Slash all Star, DT,
Speaker 1: Kobe Caitlin, Sabrina, Kelsey Angel, you can be a dog
Speaker 1: and a good or a role player Maybrey, Courtney Benija.
Speaker 1: You can't be a dog and a glue player two
Speaker 1: totally different categories and types of players.
Speaker 2: Alicia Clark is a glue not a dog. FYI end quote.
Speaker 1: Also kurf build Thrasher on Instagram said, wisely of a
Speaker 1: place for a cat on the court, quote maybe a
Speaker 1: cat dog like fee could be considered cat like she observes,
Speaker 1: doesn't waste energy, carefully makes remove and goes in for
Speaker 1: the kill before you see her coming.
Speaker 2: But Fee still has a dog in her.
Speaker 1: You know what You're onto something curve build thrasher because
Speaker 1: Fee is basically a big cat, which is like a
Speaker 1: cat dog, a lion, a tiger, a lynx.
Speaker 2: Yep, Fee being on the links is perfect. Thanks y'all.
Speaker 1: We love that you're listening and we want you to
Speaker 1: get in the game every day too. So here's our
Speaker 1: good gameplay of the day for today.
Speaker 2: Easy one.
Speaker 1: Clear your schedule tonight, make sure you're tuned in for
Speaker 1: Game three of the WNBA Finals, and while you're watching,
Speaker 1: fill out our survey. We've linked to it in our
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Speaker 2: Forget to subscribe, Rate and review. It's easy.
Speaker 1: Watch The Arrival of Hoodie Season rating five out of five.
Speaker 1: Cozy's review, Love Me Some summer sun. I love warm weather,
Speaker 1: but that first stretch of fall when you throw on
Speaker 1: a hoodie in some soft pants and take a crisp
Speaker 1: walk outside and then don't really wear anything but.
Speaker 2: A hoodie for like the next four months. Perfection.
Speaker 1: Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening, slices,
Speaker 1: See you tomorrow. Good game, Michael, good game, all the
Speaker 1: dogs out there, fuck you, tired old ball jokes, but
Speaker 1: not all ball jokes.
Speaker 2: Time and a place people.
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: can 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 Rudder.
Speaker 1: Our editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Speaker 1: Lindsay Crawdawell.
Speaker 2: Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah
Speaker 2: Spain