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

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Speaker 1: why there are so many complicated plot devices used in

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Speaker 1: heist movies like Ocean's Eleven when all you need to

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Speaker 1: rob the louver is seven minutes in a ladder. It's Tuesday,

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Speaker 1: October twenty first, and on today's show, we'll be chatting

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Speaker 1: with softball player Aaron Koffel about being part of the

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Speaker 1: historic inaugural season of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League AUSL,

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Speaker 1: earning the first ever league MVP, honors her transition to

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Speaker 1: the pros, and why she still gets starstruck meeting legends

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Speaker 1: of the game, plus killing in the best way. Hometown

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Speaker 1: heroes get their due, and there's no Midwest nice once

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Speaker 1: you step on the ice. 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. Let's start in soccer and a few loose

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Speaker 1: ends from a very busy weekend of NWSL games. A

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Speaker 1: handful of teams punched their tickets to the postseason this weekend,

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Speaker 1: and the North Carolina Courage and Lowell Racing stayed alive

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Speaker 1: with their playoff fate set to be decided on the

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Speaker 1: final regular season match day November two. Meantime, Angel City

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Speaker 1: FC officially eliminated just before Sunday's game with the Portland Thorns,

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Speaker 1: still had plenty to show up for, with two local

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Speaker 1: players taking the pitch one last time at home. Kristin

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Speaker 1: Press was subbed in around the sixtieth minute to a

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Speaker 1: giant ovation and nearly gave the crowd a reason to

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Speaker 1: go crazy with an on target shot that was stopped

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Speaker 1: by Thorns keeper Mackenzie Arnold. Then in the eighty second minute,

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Speaker 1: captain Ali Riley entered the match to a stirring ovation

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Speaker 1: of her own. The duo got their flowers literally and

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Speaker 1: figuratively after the two nil lost to Portland, with tears

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Speaker 1: flowing freely on the pitch and in the stands. Former

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Speaker 1: teammate Alyssa Thompson flew back to be there for their

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Speaker 1: final game, and family and friends surrounded the two players

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Speaker 1: as they said they're goodbyes. Said Press in her remarks

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Speaker 1: on the field, in part quote, this sport has grown

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Speaker 1: and blossomed in my fourteen years as a professional. This

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Speaker 1: community in club marks all of the work my teammates

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Speaker 1: with the US women's national team and I I did

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Speaker 1: over a decade to fight for equity, progress and opportunity

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Speaker 1: for the next generation, to the young people. When I

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Speaker 1: was your age, I didn't get to come to games

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Speaker 1: like this, and I hope, in some small way the

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Speaker 1: work that we did allows you to dream your wildest dreams.

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Speaker 1: End quote, said Riley. In part quote, as I look around,

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Speaker 1: all I can think is that this truly is a

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Speaker 1: city of angels. I feel so lucky to stand here

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Speaker 1: surrounded by coaches from all different parts of my career.

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Speaker 1: It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve

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Speaker 1: this club, but I could have never done it without

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Speaker 1: all of you, So thank you so much. She went on,

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Speaker 1: I'm grateful and hopeful to know that there are young

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Speaker 1: people in this stadium and on my team who only

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Speaker 1: know a club like this, a career like this, and

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Speaker 1: a beautiful life like this. End quote. Congrats to the

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Speaker 1: former Stanford teammates on career successes that go well beyond

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Speaker 1: what you accomplished on the field. Speaking of the field,

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Speaker 1: Press once said she wanted to end the season walking

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Speaker 1: on the pitch in bare feet, and the lasting image

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Speaker 1: of Sunday for me is Press and her wife Tobin Heath.

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Speaker 1: Last ones on the pitch stadium, emptied out, arm in arm, press,

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Speaker 1: walking in bare feet. More soccer and speaking of hanging

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Speaker 1: them up. As the year's second to last international window

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Speaker 1: kicks off this week, a handful of players are going

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Speaker 1: to play in their final national team games, making room

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Speaker 1: for the folks who will factor in next year's qualifiers

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Speaker 1: for the twenty twenty seven World Cup. One of those

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Speaker 1: players Seattle ray and midfielder Jess Fishlock, the all time

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Speaker 1: top scorer for the Wales national team, who announced last

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Speaker 1: week that her time at the international level is coming

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Speaker 1: to an end. Shel Donna Dragon's kit one last time

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Speaker 1: against Australia next week, ending a nineteen year international career.

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Speaker 1: As part of the announcement, Fishlock posted referring to her

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Speaker 1: team's qualifying for their first major women's tournament at the

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty five European Championship. Quote, the Euros was the

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Speaker 1: pinnacle of my football career. Seeing the Dragon on the

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Speaker 1: world stage for the first time will be a memory

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Speaker 1: that will stay with me for a lifetime. End quote.

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Speaker 1: More soccer, specifically soccer up North. The NSL AKA, the

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Speaker 1: Northern League, handed out its first ever supporters shield this weekend,

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Speaker 1: the award that goes to the team with the best

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Speaker 1: regular season record. AFC Toronto earned this year's honor thanks

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Speaker 1: to a sixteen win, six loss and three draw record,

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Speaker 1: including a two to one victory on Sunday over the

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Speaker 1: Montreal Roses to close out the regular season. The NFL

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Speaker 1: Playoffs get underway in just under two weeks. Toronto and

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Speaker 1: Montreal will rematch in one half of the semi final bracket,

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Speaker 1: while Ottawa and Vancouver will match up in the other

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Speaker 1: semi to hockey ahead of the four game rivalry series

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Speaker 1: between the US and Canada gets underway next month. Team

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Speaker 1: USA announced its thirty player roster on Monday. A lot

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Speaker 1: of familiar folks will be suiting up in the Red,

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Speaker 1: White and Blue, as all twenty five members of the

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Speaker 1: US's twenty twenty five World Championship winning team are returning,

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Speaker 1: with five new editions rounding out the group. Every player

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Speaker 1: boasts senior national team experience except one, so congrats goes

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Speaker 1: out to Ohio State senior captain Emma Peschel. This event

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Speaker 1: will mark the defender's debut at a full senior national

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Speaker 1: team event. The series starts with a game November sixth

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Speaker 1: in Cleveland, Ohio, followed by a game November eighth in Buffalo,

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Speaker 1: New York. Then the series shifts up north for a

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Speaker 1: pair of games December tenth and thirteenth in Edmonton. With

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Speaker 1: the Olympics less than four months away and centralization camps

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Speaker 1: gone in the new PWHL era, this year's Rivalry Series

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Speaker 1: games take on new importance as both the US and

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Speaker 1: Canada will be looking to fine tune strategy and solidified

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Speaker 1: lineups before naming their final rosters to college hockey. Following

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Speaker 1: Friend of the Show Nicole Hasey alerted me to an

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Speaker 1: end of game brawl in the second of two contests

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Speaker 1: between number two Ohio State and number three Minnesota. So

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Speaker 1: after dropping their first meeting with the Buckeyes four to

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Speaker 1: one on Saturday, the Gophers grabbed a six to three

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Speaker 1: victory in the rematch on Sunday, and that win was

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Speaker 1: punctuated by a brawl that started with just seconds remaining

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Speaker 1: on the clock. Two players ended up getting tangled up

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Speaker 1: on a face off, Teammates raced in shoving, pushing, couple

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Speaker 1: light punches were thrown, and when all was said and done,

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Speaker 1: nine players were penalized. Two received disqualifications. And seven got

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Speaker 1: game misconducts. We'll link to the video of the brawl

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Speaker 1: in the show notes, and y'all got to follow Nicole

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Speaker 1: to hear about, you know, fisticuffs, goals and saves right

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Speaker 1: when they happen to college vibs. Pitt Junior Olivia Babcock

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Speaker 1: broker programs individual match kill record on Sunday, recording forty

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Speaker 1: one kills during a five set victory over Louisville to

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Speaker 1: break the previous record held by Anne Marie Lukhani, who

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Speaker 1: played in the early nineties. Babcock, last year's AVCA National

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Speaker 1: Player of the Year, has the most kills this season

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Speaker 1: in Division one VIBS and is one of just four

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Speaker 1: players since twenty nineteen with forty kills or more in

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Speaker 1: a match. During the broadcast of that match, the NCAA

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Speaker 1: Women's Volleyball Committee also announced the in season Top sixteen rankings,

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Speaker 1: which feature Nebraska and number one Texas at number two,

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Speaker 1: Pitt at three, Kentucky at four, SMU at five, and

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Speaker 1: Louisville at six. The n season rankings, which are different

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Speaker 1: from the weekly rankings done by the American Volleyball Coaches Association,

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Speaker 1: are meant to offer an early preview of seating for

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Speaker 1: the NCAA Tournament, which gets underway in December. Slices wanted

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Speaker 1: to let you know we won a Signal Award for

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Speaker 1: Best Daily Podcast. Wanted to say thanks to all who voted.

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Speaker 1: We so appreciate it. And while we didn't win the Voters'

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Speaker 1: Choice Award, we did get honored with that Silver Signal

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Speaker 1: Award by the Judging Academy. I've always wanted to say

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Speaker 1: thank you to the Academy, and this is obviously just

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Speaker 1: practice for my inevitable oscar right, So thank you to

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Speaker 1: the Academy and also to our iHeart and Wonder Media teams, sponsors,

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Speaker 1: partners and all of you. Slices Alex, Misha and the

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Speaker 1: rest of the team and I are so thrilled to

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Speaker 1: receive this kind of recognition just a year and a

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Speaker 1: half into creating and launching our show, and even though

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Speaker 1: Misha is gone, of course, they know that they're a

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Speaker 1: big part of creating this thing that somehow is already

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Speaker 1: winning awards just a year and a half in so fun. Also,

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Speaker 1: big congrats to iHeart Podcasts, who won the Podcast Company

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Speaker 1: of the Year award for earning the most Signal awards

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty five. Shout out to the big bosses.

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Speaker 1: All Right, we got to take a quick break when

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Speaker 1: we come back. It's Aaron Koffel. I got up with

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Speaker 1: her a couple of weeks ago, fresh off her MVP

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Speaker 1: season with the AUSL. Stick here joining us now. She's

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Speaker 1: a pro softball player for the Bandits of the AUSL

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Speaker 1: Athletes Unlimited Softball League and the first ever MVP of

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Speaker 1: the league, earning the honor in ausl's inaugural season in Indiana.

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Speaker 1: Native and former two time Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year,

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Speaker 1: she played her college softball at Kentucky, where she graduated

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Speaker 1: as the school's all time leader in home runs, RBI

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Speaker 1: and walks. She helped the twenty twenty three US national

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Speaker 1: softball team to gold in the Pan American Games. She's

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Speaker 1: a dog mom to Jack, the Golden Retriever. It's Aaron Koffl.

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Speaker 1: Hi erin.

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Speaker 2: Hello, how are you.

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Speaker 1: I'm good, Thanks for joining us. I'm excited to chat

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Speaker 1: with you. We are a couple months removed now from

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Speaker 1: the end of the very first AUSL season, and we

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Speaker 1: wanted to have you on to talk about what it

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Speaker 1: was like to be a part of history to be

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Speaker 1: a part of what hopefully is a long running, super

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Speaker 1: successful women's professional softball league in the US. So what

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Speaker 1: are your biggest and fondest memories of being a part

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Speaker 1: of that first season?

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Speaker 3: I mean, to say the least, I think this was

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Speaker 3: my favorite summer ever of playing softball, and just coming

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Speaker 3: off college, you know, those can be some long years,

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Speaker 3: and then coming into my rookie year right after my

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Speaker 3: senior season of softball, it was long and it was hard.

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Speaker 3: So this past summer was so refreshing. Getting to play

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Speaker 3: with the same girls like you did when you were

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Speaker 3: younger and while you're in college show it was so

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Speaker 3: good to create relationships that will, you know, last a lifetime.

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Speaker 3: And also just you know, be coached by Stacey Newman Denise.

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Speaker 3: She was awesome and to learn from her was everything.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned getting to play with the same players.

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Speaker 1: So last year you played in the previous version of

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Speaker 1: Athletes Unlimited Softball, which is a league with an individual

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Speaker 1: leaderboard individual winner. Players switched teams based on who the

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Speaker 1: captains are each week and they select their squads. So

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Speaker 1: you already played in a different version of pro softball.

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Speaker 1: What was your reaction to learning that they were going

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Speaker 1: to start the AUSL, a more traditional league with set teams.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I was thrilled, and I think I could

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Speaker 3: everybody could say that too. That's you know, that's the

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Speaker 3: type of softball everybody is used to, and everybody loves

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Speaker 3: to play because they get to play with the same

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Speaker 3: girls and they get to connect and you know, get

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Speaker 3: close with the people next to them. But I mean

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Speaker 3: the format that au originally started with is so unique

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Speaker 3: and so cool, and I truly think that's what set

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Speaker 3: you know, this pro softball league apart from the other

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Speaker 3: ones that have kind of, you know, dwindled off. So

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Speaker 3: I think that you had to be different and you

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Speaker 3: had to be unique to get started. But when they

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Speaker 3: announced that they were going to be going into like

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Speaker 3: a league format.

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Speaker 2: I was.

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Speaker 3: I was thrilled, and it exceeded my expectations and more.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, someone who didn't play softball and isn't quite as familiar,

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Speaker 1: but talking to friends like Jess Mendoza and others from

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Speaker 1: the sport, one of the things that kept coming up

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Speaker 1: was this idea of not just the camaraderie that you

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Speaker 1: feel as teammates playing alongside the same players for an

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Speaker 1: entire season, but that so much of softball as ritual.

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Speaker 1: It's chants and habits and things that the team creates

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Speaker 1: organically throughout the season that really tie them to each

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Speaker 1: other and to your fans. And I think that maybe

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Speaker 1: there wasn't as much awareness that that was missing from

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Speaker 1: the original au leagues until you started AUSL and saw

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Speaker 1: some of the player intros, the little mascots, the cute

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Speaker 1: little things that evolved over the course of the season.

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Speaker 1: Was it a no brainer for you to join AUSL, because,

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Speaker 1: like you mentioned, there are some other offshoots, there are

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Speaker 1: some other opportunities to play pro right now. Obviously AUSL

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Speaker 1: the biggest and best funded and had the best names.

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Speaker 1: But was there ever any part of you that looked

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Speaker 1: around to see if there was a different option, either

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Speaker 1: overseas or in the States.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely not.

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Speaker 3: I just I think my mind was right on au

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Speaker 3: because we are backed by people who believe in us

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Speaker 3: as professional athletes and as women outside of softball, and

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Speaker 3: I think that's what you need. They don't they care

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Speaker 3: about us, you know, in the community, but they also

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Speaker 3: care about us tremendously on the field as well, So

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Speaker 3: there was it was absolutely a no brainer for me.

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Speaker 3: A lot of the girls go to play in Japan.

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Speaker 3: I just don't think I'm ready for that yet. I

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Speaker 3: have a dog obviously that you said, I just don't

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Speaker 3: think i can leave him yet.

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Speaker 1: So it's expensive to take Jack to Tokyo exactly.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that's not happening quite yet. So I just think

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Speaker 3: it was a no brainer for me.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. You were drafted sixth overall to the aus L

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Speaker 1: in January, understanding that the first year of the league

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Speaker 1: would be a barnstorming schedule going to different cities. None

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Speaker 1: of the teams would be affiliated with any cities. Did

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Speaker 1: you have a preference for who would select you or

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Speaker 1: is it sort of doesn't matter because nothing really exists yet.

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Speaker 3: You know, it's kind of crazy. The Bandits, you know,

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Speaker 3: the original Chicago Bandits. They're from Chicago. And then when

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Speaker 3: I saw that Newvie and Jenny Dalton the Hill were

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Speaker 3: going to be a part of the Bandits, I was like,

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Speaker 3: you know, I would really really like to go play

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Speaker 3: for them. And then when I just saw their their

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Speaker 3: draft order, I was like, oh my gosh, please draft.

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Speaker 2: Me, come on, please shraft me.

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Speaker 3: So it was super cool, and yeah, if there was

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Speaker 3: a team that I wanted to go to. It was

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Speaker 3: definitely definitely the Bandits, and it's also because they're most

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Speaker 3: likely the team that's going to be in Chicago, yeah

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Speaker 3: the next years. And I'm and two hours away from there.

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Speaker 3: That's where my hometown is in Indiana. So yeah, that's

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Speaker 3: that's the team that I wanted to play for.

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Speaker 1: We'll get to new v Stacy Neuvemin Denize and Jenny

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Speaker 1: Dalton Hill. But yeah, to your point about Chicago, they've

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Speaker 1: got a history. They were part of the National Pro

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Speaker 1: Fast Pitch League of previous iteration of professional softball, and

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Speaker 1: so the Chicago Bandits Jenny Finch Way, which is the

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Speaker 1: street that the stadiums on the location, Folks like me

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Speaker 1: in the Chicago area have been going to watch that

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Speaker 1: team for a long time. Did you help your teammates

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Speaker 1: learn about that legacy of the Bandits those who weren't familiar,

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Speaker 1: And did you haven't grown up so close go to

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Speaker 1: any of those old Bandits games when you were grown up?

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Speaker 3: You know?

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Speaker 2: I never, I never really did.

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Speaker 3: My family grew up more watching the MLB, so weird

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Speaker 3: big Chicago White so fans.

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Speaker 1: I'm a Cubs fan.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, but anyway, I just I mean, obviously, I I

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Speaker 3: Britney Servante. She played for the Chicago Bandits for a

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Speaker 3: little bit. She's a director of ops for Kentucky, so

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Speaker 3: she taught me a little bit about that. So I

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Speaker 3: myself was learning more about the Chicago Bandits along the way.

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Speaker 3: And I'm sure that this year, as we, you know,

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Speaker 3: submit our place in Chicago, we'll learn we'll learn a

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Speaker 3: lot more about their history and you know, about Rosma

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Speaker 3: and everything.

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Speaker 1: So I think it was really smart of the league.

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Speaker 1: And I've said that while you are going to create

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Speaker 1: a new legacy for each of these teams, to have

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Speaker 1: one that has the kind of roots that the Bandits do,

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Speaker 1: it just makes sense to build off of that, especially

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Speaker 1: when you have a stadium built for softball in a

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Speaker 1: place that is guaranteed whether they've announced it or not,

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Speaker 1: to be one of the one of the cities and

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Speaker 1: one of the hosts. That just makes sense. Hell of

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Speaker 1: a first AUSL season for you. You hit four ten with

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Speaker 1: twenty five hits, five doubles, four triples, five home runs

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Speaker 1: in two ate RBI. It's a very short season, so

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Speaker 1: for those looking at those numbers, that is a lot

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Speaker 1: in the short amount of time. That this that this

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Speaker 1: league got started. You led the league in triples, RBI,

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Speaker 1: hit by pitch, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. You

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Speaker 1: one Hitter of the Year league MVP, and you made

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Speaker 1: the All Defensive team. So why do you think you

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Speaker 1: were so easily able to transition from your final college

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Speaker 1: season to the pros?

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Speaker 3: You know, I think we had a We had probably

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Speaker 3: an eight month off season and we do again this

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Speaker 3: year as well. So I had a lot of time

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Speaker 3: to rest and recover after my rookie year, and I

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Speaker 3: truly think I needed that for both my mental my

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Speaker 3: mental sanity, and my physical you know, my body. So

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Speaker 3: just needed it a lot. And I was really able

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Speaker 3: to go back and just like reset and look at

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Speaker 3: what I truly needed to get better at. And I

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Speaker 3: think I went. I worked extremely hard over the off season,

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Speaker 3: and I didn't want to repeat what happened last year,

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Speaker 3: just not even you know, looking at my stats. Put

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Speaker 3: my stats aside. It was more of like how I

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Speaker 3: was working up here mentally, I just didn't want that

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Speaker 3: to happen again. So I really went to work.

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Speaker 2: On that as well.

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Speaker 3: And then it goes to without you know, the people

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Speaker 3: that I was playing with They made it so easy

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Speaker 3: to just play so freely and be who I really

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Speaker 3: wanted to be as a player, and I truly cannot

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Speaker 3: thank them more for that. And I had people around

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Speaker 3: me like Scotta Wallace Morgan's circle who truly pushed me,

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Speaker 3: and you know, they're so competitive in their in their

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Speaker 3: own nature, and I think that's exactly what I needed,

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Speaker 3: was someone to push me and to just, you know, say,

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Speaker 3: who cares, Just go play softball, you know So I

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Speaker 3: think that's truly what it's all about. Especially when you

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Speaker 3: get to this level, you can't take yourself so seriously.

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Speaker 3: And I think they truly made me look at the

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Speaker 3: game differently and have a lot of fun.

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Speaker 1: If you're willing to share, what were some of the

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Speaker 1: tools that you went to to help improve your mental performance?

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Speaker 2: I think for me.

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Speaker 3: It was come it came back to my self talk.

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Speaker 3: My self talk was I wouldn't say it was horrendous,

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Speaker 3: but it definitely was not. You know, it was not

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Speaker 3: good by any means. And I think that started from

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Speaker 3: when I was really really young. You know, when you

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Speaker 3: play the game of softball and baseball, you expect perfection,

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Speaker 3: and it's not a game of perfection.

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Speaker 2: It's game of failure.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so I and I had gotten better at that

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Speaker 3: throughout my career, especially at Kentucky. But I just think

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Speaker 3: when I was truly in a slump, I was like,

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Speaker 3: that was all I thought about, and I brought it

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Speaker 3: home with me and it just truly took over my

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Speaker 3: life in a way, and I had to figure out

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Speaker 3: how to separate myself as a player and a person.

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Speaker 3: And I think I did a really good job of that,

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Speaker 3: and I left what I did at the field at

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Speaker 3: the field and then I, you know, when it was

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Speaker 3: time to reflect at home or to watch film at home,

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Speaker 3: that's when I had the time to truly reflect on

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Speaker 3: my performance. So I think it was just the matter

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Speaker 3: of separating myself as a player and a person, and

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Speaker 3: also just talking to myself in a way that was

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Speaker 3: you know, encouraging and motivating and all of that. So

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Speaker 3: those are probably some of the tools that I took

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Speaker 3: home with me.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, for those of us who never played baseball or softball,

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Speaker 1: it is a very different mindset. Understanding that the majority

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Speaker 1: of the time at the plate, it's not going to

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Speaker 1: go well for you, and so to hit four ten

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Speaker 1: is frankly unbelievable for a sport where it's good to

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Speaker 1: hit about a third as many as you get. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: it is fascinating to think about how the self talk

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Speaker 1: and the mental side of the game has to differ

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Speaker 1: in a sport where you're so often going to fail

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Speaker 1: and that doesn't mean you're actually failing in the larger

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Speaker 1: sense of the word. It's fascinating to think about your

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Speaker 1: team came up just short in the championship series, losing

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Speaker 1: to the Talents. What's your favorite memory from this first season,

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Speaker 1: even though it didn't end up in triumph.

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Speaker 3: You know, I think it was our second series against

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Speaker 3: the Volts. We were in Louisiana and it was so

390
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Speaker 3: disgustingly like hot and humid, and it was our It

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00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:05,520
Speaker 3: was in sulfur Louisiana, and I think it was the

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Speaker 3: first game of the series and we went into extra innings.

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Speaker 3: We were up at the beginning and we gave it

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Speaker 3: away kind of, so we went into extra innings and

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Speaker 3: the girl who actually made the throwing air came up

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Speaker 3: big and walked it off for us, so or got

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Speaker 3: us into put us into extra innings to tie it,

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Speaker 3: and then we walked it off. So I think that

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Speaker 3: was kind of the point where I was like, this

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Speaker 3: is gonna be a fun season. You know, this is

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Speaker 3: gonna be really fun. I felt like we were all

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Speaker 3: just gelling at that moment, and I feel like from

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Speaker 3: that moment on, we really pushed forward and got even

404
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Speaker 3: closer and continued to get better and better every day.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned your coach, Stacy Neuveman Denise, who had a

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Speaker 1: storied playing career, including winning a national championship at UCLA,

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Speaker 1: two Olympic Golds, and a silver for Team USA. What

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Speaker 1: did you learn in season one under such a Hall

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Speaker 1: of famer.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I didn't.

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Speaker 3: I didn't know much about I mean, obviously I knew

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Speaker 3: of her, you know, because she was a stud when

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Speaker 3: she played, but I never I didn't know much about

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Speaker 3: her outside of that. So getting to meet her, she

415
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Speaker 3: is I've never really had a coach like her before.

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Speaker 3: She's just super chill, She's super even killed, and you know,

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Speaker 3: she shows up the same every day for you, and

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Speaker 3: I think that was so admirable to see, especially she

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Speaker 3: has her own other softball team she's coaching at San

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Speaker 3: Diego State. She has her own family, two sons and

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Speaker 3: a husband, and you know, to see her show up

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Speaker 3: for us every single day was so cool to see,

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Speaker 3: and I think I kind of looked up to that

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Speaker 3: in aspect and I was like, you know, she just

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Speaker 3: came off along college sheet and kind of like what

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Speaker 3: I did last year. And it was probably a lot

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Speaker 3: for her, but she truly gave us everything that she

428
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Speaker 3: had and she wanted she wanted us to be better,

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Speaker 3: and she constantly pushed us to continuously, you know, get

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Speaker 3: better every single day. You know, never expect, never settle,

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Speaker 3: And I think that's what I loved about her.

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Speaker 1: You're GM another stud Jenny Dalton Hill, three time College

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Speaker 1: World Series champ at Arizona, part of a really impressive

434
00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:02,639
Speaker 1: life line up of gms and advisors to this league.

435
00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:07,000
Speaker 1: Kat Ostrovan, Jessica Mendoza, Lisa Fernandez, Jenny Finch, Natasha Wattley

436
00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:09,840
Speaker 1: at the top, the great Kim Ang coming in to

437
00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:12,000
Speaker 1: lead this league. I assume that some of these are

438
00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:13,600
Speaker 1: the players that you grew up idolizing.

439
00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:14,840
Speaker 2: Absolutely.

440
00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:17,359
Speaker 3: I mean I grew up, you know, dreaming to be

441
00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:19,760
Speaker 3: Jenny Finch one day. Even I was never a pitcher,

442
00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:23,120
Speaker 3: she was just everything and I think she truly set

443
00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:25,639
Speaker 3: the standard, and you know, everybody all those gms. They

444
00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:28,159
Speaker 3: truly set the standard for you know, a U s

445
00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:31,560
Speaker 3: L and for the people before that came before us,

446
00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:34,600
Speaker 3: and I think that's what we're doing for future generations

447
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:38,320
Speaker 3: as well. So and Jenny, she actually lives in Lexington.

448
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,320
Speaker 3: Not to give away her location or anything, but.

449
00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:42,240
Speaker 2: She lives in Lexington.

450
00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:44,560
Speaker 3: So I got a chance to meet her throughout my

451
00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,920
Speaker 3: playing career. She called a few of our games, so

452
00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:49,280
Speaker 3: she was just an awesome.

453
00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:50,080
Speaker 2: Awesome human being.

454
00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:53,600
Speaker 3: And I love how you know, she brings a sense

455
00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:57,000
Speaker 3: of realness and she's she can be so serious, but

456
00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:00,240
Speaker 3: she also brings a funny side in a lot after

457
00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:03,199
Speaker 3: to our team as well, So she really balances out

458
00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:03,920
Speaker 3: the team really well.

459
00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,240
Speaker 1: Did you get starstruck around any of them? Maybe if

460
00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:09,080
Speaker 1: it was the first time meeting one of them.

461
00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:11,200
Speaker 2: Maybe maybe Nubie a little bit.

462
00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:13,040
Speaker 3: I mean, you hear so much about her and then

463
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:15,160
Speaker 3: you finally get around her and you're like, oh, she's

464
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:17,800
Speaker 3: just she's just another She's a girl. You know, she's

465
00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:20,760
Speaker 3: just awesome, she's one of us, exactly exactly.

466
00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:23,560
Speaker 1: What would you say? It surprise you the most about

467
00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:25,720
Speaker 1: Season one of the AUSLM.

468
00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:29,040
Speaker 3: How many sellouts we had? I mean, every single game

469
00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:32,960
Speaker 3: that we showed up to, it was just a stadium.

470
00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,520
Speaker 2: Full of people. You know, we played in we.

471
00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:42,440
Speaker 3: Played in Soul for Louisiana, obviously, Chicago, Wichita, Omaha, Austin, Texas,

472
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:46,080
Speaker 3: which that crowd was I think had like sixty five

473
00:22:46,119 --> 00:22:48,200
Speaker 3: hundred people. And my dad actually told me a pretty

474
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:53,240
Speaker 3: cool story that Jenny told him the GM or the

475
00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:55,639
Speaker 3: manager of that minor league.

476
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:56,960
Speaker 2: I think it was a Triple A team.

477
00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,160
Speaker 3: They never get that many people, so they're like, hey,

478
00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,400
Speaker 3: if you guys want to bring a team down to Texas,

479
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:07,800
Speaker 3: I mean, we'll get you here. Yes, yes, So, I

480
00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:10,240
Speaker 3: mean it was so cool to see. Obviously they were

481
00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:12,199
Speaker 3: all cheering for the vaults there because they have a

482
00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:15,520
Speaker 3: bunch of Longhorns on their team. So but it was

483
00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:17,600
Speaker 3: seriously so cool to see. And that was probably the

484
00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:19,119
Speaker 3: biggest crowd I ever played in front of.

485
00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:22,919
Speaker 1: That's awesome. Yeah, were there traditions from the first season

486
00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:23,960
Speaker 1: that you hope will carry on?

487
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:28,840
Speaker 3: I just think the what everybody does behind the scenes,

488
00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:30,439
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm sure I don't see half of it,

489
00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:32,959
Speaker 3: even probably you know a third of it. I think

490
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,080
Speaker 3: there's just so much work that goes in behind the scenes,

491
00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,800
Speaker 3: you know, to the broadcast team and how they put

492
00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:41,880
Speaker 3: together everything on the scoreboard, and.

493
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:42,679
Speaker 2: You know the ESPN.

494
00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:45,440
Speaker 3: I don't even really watch the games I'm playing in them, obviously,

495
00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,640
Speaker 3: but I hear so many people talk about how cool

496
00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:52,280
Speaker 3: it is to see pro softball on while they're you know,

497
00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:55,720
Speaker 3: eating at a local restaurant in town. I think that

498
00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:57,320
Speaker 3: is seriously so cool to see.

499
00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:01,840
Speaker 1: Well, I think the saloon doors from the opening games

500
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,040
Speaker 1: need to be full time. They need to travel. I

501
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,080
Speaker 1: was obsessed with those walkouts with the smoke coming out

502
00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:10,200
Speaker 1: of the saloon doors and each player having their own

503
00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:13,119
Speaker 1: little like fake you know, spinning of a gun or

504
00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:16,080
Speaker 1: you know, hole string like it was so good. I

505
00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:18,879
Speaker 1: request I'm putting in a request to the Johns who

506
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:24,239
Speaker 1: run Athletes Unlimited, that the saloon doors travel. What are

507
00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:26,360
Speaker 1: you hoping to see change or improve in season two?

508
00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:32,159
Speaker 3: I think just to see the two new teams that

509
00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:35,639
Speaker 3: are going to come into play. I can't wait to

510
00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:38,920
Speaker 3: see how also the cities play out, I mean, and

511
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:43,000
Speaker 3: how they develop their home crowds and everything to that

512
00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:43,800
Speaker 3: like that.

513
00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:45,680
Speaker 2: I just it's going to be so cool to say.

514
00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:48,480
Speaker 3: Obviously, Chicago has their crowd already, but you know, to

515
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:50,280
Speaker 3: see I don't even know where the other cities are yet,

516
00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:52,480
Speaker 3: but I really feel like they're going to show out

517
00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:55,800
Speaker 3: because they're going to choose cities that, you know, cities

518
00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:59,679
Speaker 3: that love softball and love to watch softball. So I

519
00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:01,840
Speaker 3: just think that I'm really excited to see that play

520
00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:04,959
Speaker 3: out and see everyone develop their home crowds and as

521
00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,959
Speaker 3: an away team go to their city and watch you know,

522
00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:10,880
Speaker 3: how they you know, start to from the beginning, how

523
00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:14,360
Speaker 3: they start to really get fans in and you know,

524
00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:16,280
Speaker 3: bring an environment that's fun to be at.

525
00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:18,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was very smart for them to do the

526
00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:22,080
Speaker 1: sort of barnstorming tour, be able to see which cities

527
00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:25,119
Speaker 1: show up and show out for softball and can be

528
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:28,600
Speaker 1: able to build a sort of tradition there. How much

529
00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,040
Speaker 1: do you think the support from MLB and the major

530
00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:34,320
Speaker 1: monetary investment that they made in the AUSL will impact

531
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:36,400
Speaker 1: the league's stability and future success.

532
00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:40,679
Speaker 3: I mean, I think that's truly what AUSL needed, and

533
00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:44,600
Speaker 3: I think that really turned people's heads all over the world.

534
00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:47,640
Speaker 3: You know, people didn't the people that didn't know about AUSL,

535
00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:50,840
Speaker 3: who are MLB fans now know about the AUSL, And

536
00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,320
Speaker 3: I think what the MLB is doing for us in

537
00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:56,480
Speaker 3: return kind of what we're doing for them and a

538
00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:58,240
Speaker 3: little bit, you know, we're showing them the sport of

539
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:01,959
Speaker 3: softball and how it is for you know, women to

540
00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:04,200
Speaker 3: be able to play at this stage and on ESPN

541
00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:07,080
Speaker 3: and in front of thousands of people. And it's going

542
00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:08,920
Speaker 3: to continue to grow every year because of the people

543
00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:12,000
Speaker 3: that we have, you know behind us, John, Jonathan and Kim.

544
00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:15,920
Speaker 3: But what they're doing for us, you know. I again,

545
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,280
Speaker 3: people have told me, they're like, hey, I have the

546
00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:20,480
Speaker 3: MLBP my phone and your name popped up on a

547
00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:23,199
Speaker 3: notication and they're like, that's that's just so cool to

548
00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:25,520
Speaker 3: see and so cool for the sport of softball.

549
00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:29,399
Speaker 1: Yeah, especially as someone who grew up watching what is

550
00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:32,560
Speaker 1: technically an MLB team at least in practice, if not

551
00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:36,840
Speaker 1: in record, it's pretty cool for you. Are you signed

552
00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:38,720
Speaker 1: to a multi year deal with the Bandits?

553
00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:40,960
Speaker 2: It's like a one year deal pretty much. It's a

554
00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:43,040
Speaker 2: two year deal, but you have to re sign each year.

555
00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:45,320
Speaker 1: I don't really, Okay, So there's like an option on it,

556
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:47,920
Speaker 1: so you know for sure no matter what that you'll

557
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:52,520
Speaker 1: be on the Bandits next season at least. Yeah, Okay,

558
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,480
Speaker 1: because that's an interesting wrinkle too when you have expansion,

559
00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:59,280
Speaker 1: whether players will be on a different team in the

560
00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:03,640
Speaker 1: second season and then also once they are assigned to cities.

561
00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:07,520
Speaker 1: Has Ausl told any of the players whether they'll try

562
00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:12,160
Speaker 1: to be helpful in having them be on a team

563
00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:14,200
Speaker 1: that's near where they live or near where they want

564
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:16,920
Speaker 1: to be or is that it's always I think difficult

565
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,800
Speaker 1: in the early stages of women's sports in nascent leagues

566
00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:22,880
Speaker 1: where they want to please the athletes. But also it's

567
00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:26,240
Speaker 1: a professional sports league where you can't just choose where

568
00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:29,240
Speaker 1: you want to play in affect the competitive balance or

569
00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:31,960
Speaker 1: the draft or whatever else. So have they talked to

570
00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:33,639
Speaker 1: you all about what that's going to look like when

571
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:34,440
Speaker 1: the cities are set?

572
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:39,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, so, since they're calling it so, but you get

573
00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:43,160
Speaker 3: you get a number of saves per team and then

574
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:45,600
Speaker 3: the rest of the people go into this little pool people.

575
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:49,400
Speaker 3: But you also get a geographical save, and the geographical

576
00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:52,840
Speaker 3: location can either be from your hometown or from where you.

577
00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:54,360
Speaker 2: Played in college.

578
00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:59,320
Speaker 3: So I'm pretty fortunate enough to be located, you know,

579
00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:03,520
Speaker 3: near Chicago, so I will be playing in Chicago most

580
00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:06,640
Speaker 3: likely next year. It's not everything is set in stone yet,

581
00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:08,560
Speaker 3: but that's kind of cool what they did. And when

582
00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:10,240
Speaker 3: I heard they were doing and I was like, that's

583
00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:13,640
Speaker 3: so smart of them. So and I'm sure that each

584
00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,320
Speaker 3: year that the league continues to grow, you know, it'll

585
00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:19,320
Speaker 3: the number of saves will go up in that aspect.

586
00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:23,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, the NWSL had the Homegrown Players Rule, which tried

587
00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:27,520
Speaker 1: to incentivize teams to help players from their hometown or

588
00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,960
Speaker 1: from local colleges to stay there, knowing that they would

589
00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:33,879
Speaker 1: attract fans, which totally makes sense. And then the saves

590
00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:38,000
Speaker 1: are pretty common protected players when expansion drafts happen, so

591
00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:40,160
Speaker 1: it feels like they're they're doing it that way too. Well.

592
00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:42,160
Speaker 1: We look forward to watching with the bandits at least

593
00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:47,040
Speaker 1: ninety in season two. And thanks so much for joining us.

594
00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:48,760
Speaker 1: Congrats and all the success in your one.

595
00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:50,479
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. I appreciate you.

596
00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:54,640
Speaker 1: Thanks again to Aaron for hanging out with us. We

597
00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:57,120
Speaker 1: got to take another break. When we come back. That

598
00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:02,239
Speaker 1: request and info is loading, quasted info is loading, their

599
00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:15,840
Speaker 1: requested info is loading that rat quest ed ed. Welcome back, slices.

600
00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:17,400
Speaker 1: We love that you're listening, but we want you to

601
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Speaker 1: get in the game every day too. So here's our

602
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Speaker 1: good game play of the day. Follow Aaron and the

603
00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:25,120
Speaker 1: AUSL on social media. We'll link to those Instagram accounts

604
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Speaker 1: in the show notes. And of course we always love

605
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606
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623
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625
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