Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're putting
Speaker 1: two hundred candles on the cake and celebrating our bi centennial.
Speaker 1: But we don't think we look a day over one
Speaker 1: hundred and ninety nine. It's Monday, April twenty eighth, and
Speaker 1: that's right. Today's show is our two hundredth episode. What
Speaker 1: the actual, y'all? We've been giving you the good stuff
Speaker 1: since July seventeenth of last year, and time has literally
Speaker 1: flown by. We've enjoyed every second that we've spent creating
Speaker 1: the women's sports hangout you always wanted, cultivating the women's
Speaker 1: sports community you've always needed, and bringing you the star
Speaker 1: stake stats and stories of the athletes, teams, and leagues
Speaker 1: you simply must know about. So today, in honor of
Speaker 1: the beautiful community we've all built together, we want to
Speaker 1: celebrate our longtime slices and welcome the new slices, the rookies,
Speaker 1: the seedlings who are just starting to sprout with the
Speaker 1: little show education to catch everyone up on what they
Speaker 1: might have missed. Our big old Celebrication episode is coming
Speaker 1: up right after this. Welcome back Slices. That's you, the
Speaker 1: lovely listener, you're called slices, like the orange slices handed
Speaker 1: out at halftime or at the end of a good game.
Speaker 1: Get it. And here's a little bit more you might
Speaker 1: need to know to follow the show. The Everyday Good
Speaker 1: Game team is Me Mesh and Alex. Mesh is a
Speaker 1: DMV loyalist and a former college hooper who didn't care
Speaker 1: much for defense. When they're not working on this show,
Speaker 1: they're a color commentator for their alum William and Mary,
Speaker 1: among other places. She's also a child, and because she's
Speaker 1: still in her twenties, often doesn't get my references. Sometimes
Speaker 1: I'm too old for producer Alex too. They keep me
Speaker 1: in check and remind me to explain things to our
Speaker 1: younger listeners. You know, old fashioned stuff like rotary phones,
Speaker 1: dial up internet, and how it's possible to have an
Speaker 1: attention span longer than a goldfish. Alex is a research
Speaker 1: fiend who enjoy deep dives into collective bargaining agreements and
Speaker 1: knowing everything there is to know about obscure Olympic rules
Speaker 1: and regulations. If you ever have a burning question about
Speaker 1: the top five closest Olympic lose races, she's your girl.
Speaker 2: Did you know that Louis is the only sliding sport
Speaker 2: in one of the only sports in general that measures
Speaker 2: all the way to the thousandth of a second.
Speaker 1: She's also an artist and enjoys lurking on message boards
Speaker 1: and in chat groups, including one called dorm Room Mama's,
Speaker 1: even though she doesn't have a child in college or
Speaker 1: a child at all. I'm from Chicago and I was
Speaker 1: a heptathlete at Cornell. I'm obsessed with Michael Jordan and
Speaker 1: equally obsessed with my three dogs and husband Brad. I
Speaker 1: was briefly a minority owner of the Chicago Red Stars.
Speaker 1: I tore my achilles and improblematically competitive. All of these
Speaker 1: things somehow tend to come up regularly. Collectively, we're known
Speaker 1: as Big Citrus. So how did we get that name? Well,
Speaker 1: back in December, we got kinda tired of having to
Speaker 1: say each of our names every time we introduced ourselves. Plus,
Speaker 1: since y'all had such a cute name, we were kind
Speaker 1: of jealous, so we put it to a vote Iago style.
Speaker 1: Of course, vote early vote often you slices narrowed our
Speaker 1: options down to coaches, senior slices, the grove, Orange Blossoms,
Speaker 1: good gamers, good Sports and peels, and in episode one
Speaker 1: O eight, which dropped December sixteenth, the three of us
Speaker 1: did our final deliberation, settling on Big Citrus. In hindsight,
Speaker 1: it's a pretty cool name. Just know that we've got
Speaker 1: better morals than Big Pharma, Big Tech and all those
Speaker 1: other guys. We only use our powers for good. We
Speaker 1: regularly have Big Citrus conversations now dissecting happenings in and
Speaker 1: around women's sports competition. Alex brings for research and Olympic expertise,
Speaker 1: Mech brings their basketball player slash analyst knowledge, and we
Speaker 1: all bring our opinions, lots of opinions. It's truly one
Speaker 1: of my favorite things about our show, and you slices
Speaker 1: who have been around have told us repeatedly how much
Speaker 1: you love those conversations too, so we'll keep bringing them
Speaker 1: to you now. Most shows we start out with the
Speaker 1: need to know the women's sports news of the day
Speaker 1: that you frankly can't get anywhere else. As the only
Speaker 1: daily women's sports show of any kind, we just want
Speaker 1: to make sure you're updated on the trades, scores, business
Speaker 1: deals and more going on every single day in the
Speaker 1: women's sports world. So in a twist on that. Last
Speaker 1: week we asked you longtime slices what you think new
Speaker 1: listeners need to know about our show, and we got
Speaker 1: some awesome responses. So here's what you need to know today,
Speaker 1: Good Game with Sarah Spain Edition. Let's start with the
Speaker 1: glossary of terms things you might hear us say on
Speaker 1: the show or talk about on the show. Mish and
Speaker 1: Alex help me out with this one. One of my favorites.
Speaker 1: Hoops and gay shit and footy in gay shit and
Speaker 1: fucks and gay shit, and you get the point. All
Speaker 1: the great gay moments you can only find in women's sports,
Speaker 1: where teammates and opponents share wedding vows, beds, babies and
Speaker 1: breakup stories. It's not good sportsmanship. They're lesbian stacy google
Speaker 1: it newbies.
Speaker 3: Friend of the show what we call former and repeat guests.
Speaker 2: And we also got are not friends of the show.
Speaker 2: Those are transphobes, people who abused animals, politicians who use
Speaker 2: women's sports as a way to promote fear and misogyny,
Speaker 2: and cheaters.
Speaker 1: We've got unfiable, which is kind of my own personal
Speaker 1: mantra that I've brought to the show. A state of
Speaker 1: mind really like no one gets to live rent free
Speaker 1: in my head, and you can try, but you can't
Speaker 1: fight with me. Too centered to serve myself, too unfiniable.
Speaker 3: The Slices our end of the year awards, voted on
Speaker 3: by the slices.
Speaker 2: We've got Tits to the turf, volvet to the velodrome,
Speaker 2: mount to the ground, and lots of other varieties. All
Speaker 2: entries from slices answering our question, what's an equivalent to
Speaker 2: the old idiom balls to the Wall, which we assumed
Speaker 2: was about men, But it's actually about cars, so we're
Speaker 2: still going to use the alternates.
Speaker 1: We've got stars, steak stats, and stories. This is my
Speaker 1: go to approach to teaching folks about a new league.
Speaker 1: We're welcoming new fans to a sport or a team.
Speaker 1: You'll hear it come up often on the show, and
Speaker 1: I Frank should trademarket before someone steals it. Thanks to
Speaker 1: super Slice Amanda Vallo, who chimed in with a few
Speaker 1: more of our go to phrases and reminded us of
Speaker 1: some that we might have forgotten. Here's what she wrote.
Speaker 1: Ceist a slang term producer Meiche might use when she's
Speaker 1: psyched or excited about something. No, niche didn't invent it,
Speaker 1: but she did introduce us to it.
Speaker 3: Vib's younger hip version of volleyball in a sentence, can't
Speaker 3: go to the mall.
Speaker 1: I got Vibes practice tonight.
Speaker 3: And for the record, Sarah tried to hate but now
Speaker 3: she's using it, and now it's in our glossary just saying.
Speaker 2: We've got the n NBA the Men's National Basketball Association,
Speaker 2: a distinction made to point toward league equity for the
Speaker 2: Women's National Basketball Association WNBA. See also Men's World Cup.
Speaker 1: We've got giant rice crispy treat table, a somewhat mythic
Speaker 1: piece of college apartment furniture, a young Dinah Tarassi used
Speaker 1: in the styling and preparation of her iconic hair bunon
Speaker 1: tater pigs think pigs in a blaket.
Speaker 3: A hot dog stuck inside a hole drilled into a
Speaker 3: baked potato.
Speaker 1: Now, if you're wondering how that came up in the show,
Speaker 1: then you clearly missed darch Madness, a very special potato
Speaker 1: based event that we had. All Right, I think that's
Speaker 1: most of them, but let us know if there are
Speaker 1: any glossary terms we've forgot. Now let's talk episodes. We
Speaker 1: often hear from folks about our Christine Brennan episode from
Speaker 1: October third. It's a show that doesn't really fit our
Speaker 1: usual format, but it was definitely a compelling listen and
Speaker 1: an important topic, So definitely check that one out. As
Speaker 1: for which episodes you slices think our little seedling should
Speaker 1: listen to in order to truly catch our vibe, here
Speaker 1: are some of our faves that you suggested. Pamela Mudway said,
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Good Place, the very first episode definitely
Speaker 1: sets the tone, and August thirtieth, Hoops and Gayshit, which
Speaker 1: is not only a great episode but the start of
Speaker 1: a must know good game phrase.
Speaker 2: Amanda chimed in here again with Big Citrus Energy from
Speaker 2: December sixteenth. It's a bit seasonal, gives a great flavor
Speaker 2: and feel for the producer vibes and origin of the name.
Speaker 2: Also biased toward the nature of co ed adult sports
Speaker 2: etiquette code. I thought that was great. Amanda also enjoyed
Speaker 2: the Human Condition with Big Citrus from March fourth, saying,
Speaker 2: more serious but definitely impactful vibe takes listeners' brains out
Speaker 2: and squishes them around for a while in a good way.
Speaker 2: I love a good brain squish.
Speaker 3: Andrea Vie said, Group chat Bag of Joy with Aaron
Speaker 3: Foley and Morgan Murphy from July twenty fifth and Tits
Speaker 3: to the Turf with Big Citrus from March twenty fourth.
Speaker 3: She also added, good game, Big Citrus, Good game, Women's Sports.
Speaker 3: You only allowed to choose two favorite episodes, just two
Speaker 3: out of two hundred. That's a terrible conversion rate.
Speaker 1: That's fair. That's fair, Andrea, Last, but not least, use
Speaker 1: Lights was offered up some great general advice about Slice life,
Speaker 1: so Pamela Mudwey chimed in again. She said, quote the
Speaker 1: best part of the show is it not only highlights
Speaker 1: the power of women's sports, but brings a real human
Speaker 1: touch to the stories, the guests, the players, and the
Speaker 1: chaos still occurring in the world of women's sports equity.
Speaker 1: Sarah Meish and Alex bring knowledge, empathy and laughter each episode.
Speaker 1: There really is nothing like it out.
Speaker 2: There, Amanda Vallo said, to remind everyone of our show
Speaker 2: side the Minnesota Aurora, a community driven women's soccer club
Speaker 2: built for community by community. Here at the show, we
Speaker 2: encouraged anyone interested to get some skin in the game
Speaker 2: and become a team owner with us to help grow
Speaker 2: and build women's sports. We give regular updates on the team,
Speaker 2: which competes in the Heartland Division of the usl W League,
Speaker 2: a pre professional women's soccer league that gives players a
Speaker 2: place to keep competing and helps prep some other players
Speaker 2: to go on to the NWSL or pro leagues abroad.
Speaker 3: Mary Ze says, my basketball wife and I laugh at
Speaker 3: how just when we think we won't be that interested
Speaker 3: in the day's episode, we end up loving it and
Speaker 3: learning something new. I feel like every day your guest says, wow,
Speaker 3: that's a really good question, and your intros are also epic.
Speaker 2: From a producer, some behind the scenes secrets, there are
Speaker 2: a lot of times when guests say that was a
Speaker 2: really good question, and we end up cutting it because
Speaker 2: they've said it four times in a row and it
Speaker 2: gets kind of tired after a while.
Speaker 1: So you know you're doing it right. And Sandra Robinson
Speaker 1: reminded us that fandom is a lifelong adventure. She wrote,
Speaker 1: my wife and I are mystics founding fans and season
Speaker 1: ticket holders since the beginning of the franchise. I want
Speaker 1: to shout out truly older fans of women's sports, like me,
Speaker 1: age seventy five, still physically active in fighting for opportunities
Speaker 1: our generation never had. I love that you never take
Speaker 1: the current gains for granted. We love that, Sandra, you're
Speaker 1: an og and a trailblazer, and we love that you're listening.
Speaker 1: All right, we got to take a quick break. When
Speaker 1: we come back, we crack open our history books, stick around,
Speaker 1: welcome back slices. Now here a good game. We do
Speaker 1: a handful of recurring segments, many of them aimed at
Speaker 1: helping folks learn the history of women's sports, passed highs
Speaker 1: and lows of their favorite leagues, maybe the stories of
Speaker 1: the athletes who paved the way. What good is knowing
Speaker 1: a record was broken if you don't know who's said
Speaker 1: it the first time. Right, So here are a few
Speaker 1: segments you can expect to hear pretty regularly. First, there's
Speaker 1: yes and now this one's all about giving props on
Speaker 1: a recent accomplishment while simultaneously honoring those who did it
Speaker 1: first and aren't given enough flowers, or paying homage to
Speaker 1: the folks who laid the groundwork for it to be possible.
Speaker 1: Because what's happening today only matters in the context of
Speaker 1: what's come before it. For example, one of our faves
Speaker 1: was from our December twentieth episode, A Yes and about
Speaker 1: USC superstar Juju Watkins take a listen. Last season, in
Speaker 1: the final year of the Pac twelve Conference, Watkins let
Speaker 1: a resurgence in SoCal, helping the Trojan to their first
Speaker 1: number one seed in the NCAA Tournament since nineteen eighty six,
Speaker 1: and she scored nine hundred twenty points. That's good for
Speaker 1: the most points by a freshman in D one history.
Speaker 1: Speaking in nineteen eighty six, though, what was going on
Speaker 1: back then? Who led that team to a number one
Speaker 1: seed in the attorney Well, that would be Cheryl Miller,
Speaker 1: arguably one of the best to ever lace them up.
Speaker 1: The forward was a four time All American and three
Speaker 1: time Naysmith Award recipient, and to this day she still
Speaker 1: holds USC records for career scoring with threeenty eighteen points,
Speaker 1: rebounds fifteen hundred and thirty four, rebound average twelve rebounds
Speaker 1: per game, and free throws mate seven hundred. Miller led
Speaker 1: the Trojans to back to back NCUBA championships in nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty three and eighty four, and she dominated with Team
Speaker 1: USA as well, winning a gold medal at the eighty
Speaker 1: four Olympics. For her impact on the game, she's been
Speaker 1: recognized as both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer
Speaker 1: and a Women's Basketball Hall of Famer. Now, if you recall,
Speaker 1: we also told you yesterday that another recent college hoops superstar,
Speaker 1: Caitlin Clark, will have her jersey retired at Iowa at
Speaker 1: the beginning of February when the team faces off against
Speaker 1: what a coincidence USC. Of course, that honor is extremely
Speaker 1: well deserved. Clark changed the trajectory of the entire Hawkeyes
Speaker 1: program and of women's basketball at large. Pretty cool, right,
Speaker 1: We'll get this, folks. Miller had her jersey retired too,
Speaker 1: during the eighty six season while she was still playing.
Speaker 1: Miller's was the first basketball jersey USC retired ever, regardless
Speaker 1: of gender. Shout out to the delightful and insightful Jordan
Speaker 1: Robinson for reminding us about this through a post on
Speaker 1: Blue Sky. We'll link to that in the show notes.
Speaker 1: So yes, ju Ju Watkins, Yes, Caitlin Clark, and Cheryl Miller.
Speaker 1: Because Cheryl Miller was her and frankly still is, she
Speaker 1: got her Flowers at WNBA All Star Weekend this summer
Speaker 1: and was selected to coach Team WNBA. During the All
Speaker 1: Star Game, her squad won one seventeen to one oh nine,
Speaker 1: beating a team of players roster for the US national
Speaker 1: team that went on to win gold in Paris. Now,
Speaker 1: the WNBA didn't exist when Miller graduated from USC, and
Speaker 1: her career was also cut short by severe knee injuries.
Speaker 1: But ask your favorite player's favorite player who their favorite
Speaker 1: player is, and we bet at Cheryl Miller. All right,
Speaker 1: so we've also got our what the Facts presented by
Speaker 1: elf Beauty. We use these segments to illuminate shocking or
Speaker 1: infuriating stats and facts, you know, the things that make
Speaker 1: you say, what the fact. A great example of this
Speaker 1: was our segment from November fifteenth discussing USA Hockey's complete
Speaker 1: and total muck up of their twenty fourteen Olympic jersey
Speaker 1: design and unveiling. This honestly still chaps my ass. Take
Speaker 1: a listen, let's go back to twenty fourteen. USA Hockey
Speaker 1: is hyping the unveiling of the Nike design jerseys that
Speaker 1: the men's and women's hockey teams will wear at the
Speaker 1: upcoming Sochi Olympics and Paralympics, and in a press release
Speaker 1: and in a press conference with men's players, they didn't
Speaker 1: invite anyone from the women's team. USA Hockey excitedly announces
Speaker 1: some of the details on the jersey, including the fact
Speaker 1: that they had paid homage to pass USA gold medal
Speaker 1: winning teams by stitching the years nineteen sixty and nineteen
Speaker 1: eight inside the collar. So cool, right, Only problem they
Speaker 1: didn't include the year nineteen ninety eight, the year the
Speaker 1: women won gold in Nagano, Japan. Incidental, Accidental, doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: What matters is that a whole room of people at
Speaker 1: USA Hockey, a whole other room full of designers at Nike,
Speaker 1: and god knows how many other rooms of pr people
Speaker 1: and marketing and everyone else simply did not consider the
Speaker 1: women's team. These were the jerseys that they would be wearing,
Speaker 1: jerseys that they would put on to represent their country
Speaker 1: and to realize the accomplishment of their life stream, and
Speaker 1: they were forgotten about entirely. And how about the sled
Speaker 1: hockey team that won gold in two thousand and two
Speaker 1: and twenty ten. They would be wearing those jerseys at
Speaker 1: the Paralympics without their accomplishments honored either. This is just
Speaker 1: part of a long pattern from USA Hockey, and this
Speaker 1: slight was one of many that inspired the twenty seventeen
Speaker 1: women's team to threaten a boycott. Just two weeks ahead
Speaker 1: of the World Championships that were set to take place
Speaker 1: on home soil in Michigan, the players announced they were
Speaker 1: boycotting quote unless significant progress has been made on the
Speaker 1: year long negotiations with USA Hockey over fair wages and
Speaker 1: equitable support end quote. USA Hockey tried to get scabs,
Speaker 1: it didn't work, and ultimately the women got a four
Speaker 1: year contract with most of their demands met, and went
Speaker 1: on to win not just those World Championships in Michigan,
Speaker 1: but gold the next year at the twenty eighteen Olympics.
Speaker 1: They shouldn't have needed to fight so hard for basic
Speaker 1: respect and acknowledgment. Truly, what the fact? Next up a
Speaker 1: segment we call the Good Game Hall of Fame, where
Speaker 1: we shine a light on great women's sports stories that
Speaker 1: should be known, spread widely, and chatted about regularly over
Speaker 1: beers at the local bar. There are endless examples of
Speaker 1: men's sports lore becoming common knowledge for sports fans from
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan's flu game, to Wilt Chamberlain claiming to have
Speaker 1: slept with two thousand women, to MLB Hall of Famer
Speaker 1: George Brett poop and his pants, and the lobby of
Speaker 1: the Blagio. It's about time we start sharing women's sports
Speaker 1: Lord too. So in the ten months that we've been
Speaker 1: doing shows, we've put up eight plaques in the Good
Speaker 1: Game Hall of Fame. Sylvia Fowls dunking in her final
Speaker 1: All Star Game at the age of thirty six, her
Speaker 1: first in game dunk in thirteen years, the first US
Speaker 1: women's national team in nineteen eighty five who set the
Speaker 1: stage for years of US soccer dominance. Cheryl Swoops and
Speaker 1: Candace Parker returning to the court after pregnancy. Superfan Prince
Speaker 1: throwing the Minnesota Links a postgame party at Paisley Park
Speaker 1: after their twenty fifteen WNBA title win. Former NWSL star
Speaker 1: Merit Matthias's legendary tweets about her acl being torn by
Speaker 1: another player. Legendary Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summit racing
Speaker 1: back to Knoxville to give birth to her son, Tyler
Speaker 1: so she wouldn't give birth an enemy territory, Carolyn Peck
Speaker 1: gifting South Carolina coach John Staley with a piece of
Speaker 1: the NCAA Championship net after leading Purdue to the title,
Speaker 1: and Staley continuing and extending that tradition with other black
Speaker 1: head coaches in basketball, Anne Wisconsin's Kirsten Simms calling her shot,
Speaker 1: asking for the penalty show in the NCAA Hockey Championship
Speaker 1: and burying it. Now, there's one story in particular that
Speaker 1: inspired the Good Game Hall of Fame, and it's who
Speaker 1: else but the ninety nine Ers. Take a listen from
Speaker 1: our very first episode, the traffic Jam and the ninety
Speaker 1: nine Ers women's soccer team. The players were stuck on
Speaker 1: their bus complaining about all the traffic that they were
Speaker 1: in as they were trying to get to their World
Speaker 1: Cup opening game at Giant Stadium, only to find out
Speaker 1: that the traffic was for them seventy eighty nine hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy two fans en route to watch their game.
Speaker 1: That's such a cool story, Faudy talks about it. Julie
Speaker 1: Foudy of the ninety nine Ers team, sitting on the bus,
Speaker 1: what is all this traffic? We're going to be laid
Speaker 1: to the game. Oh, my God, it's for us.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: If we need to know about I don't know Derek
Speaker 1: Jeter's infamous gift bags and a Rod's alleged centaur painting,
Speaker 1: then I think we should know about the ninety nine
Speaker 1: Ers traffic jam. And finally, we don't just love to
Speaker 1: dish on women's sports, lower we loved to read about
Speaker 1: it too. So we've got the Good Game Book Club.
Speaker 1: It's a chance to plug and catalog books that we
Speaker 1: love and books written or suggested by our guests. That
Speaker 1: list has included Locker Room Talk, A Woman Struggle to
Speaker 1: Get Inside by Melissa Ludkey, Hail Mary, The Rise and
Speaker 1: Fall of the National Women's Football League by Frankie de
Speaker 1: la Creta and Lindsay Darkangelo, Slaying the Trolls by David
Speaker 1: Berry and Nefertid Walker, and The Fast Track Inside the
Speaker 1: Surging Business of Women's Sports by Jane McManus, and so
Speaker 1: many more. And if you want to see the full
Speaker 1: list of book wrecks in the Good Game Book Club,
Speaker 1: you're in luck. All because of the hard work of
Speaker 1: one particular super slice, Aaron raw who has compiled not
Speaker 1: only all the books we've recommended so far, but also
Speaker 1: all the podcasts, documentaries, essays, shows and stories that we've
Speaker 1: shouted out, and all the merch we've highlighted, from Moolah
Speaker 1: Kicks to Play a Society to our very own Good
Speaker 1: Game with Sarah Spain merch. This spreadsheet that she sent
Speaker 1: us might have made Alex cry full tears, and it
Speaker 1: definitely made the entire team get a little misty eyed.
Speaker 1: You rule the most Erin. We'll link to the spreadsheet
Speaker 1: again in our show notes so you can catch up
Speaker 1: and keep up with everything we've recommended. By the way
Speaker 1: Erin for all your hard work, I'm going to be
Speaker 1: sending you a little surprise as the unofficial show historian.
Speaker 1: You more than deserve it. Now we've got a couple
Speaker 1: more repeating segments that you'll come to know when you listen.
Speaker 1: When we shout out positive facts, good game, good Game
Speaker 1: fact you, and where else where we spotlight things that
Speaker 1: only happen in the good place that is women's sports.
Speaker 1: But for now you get the picture. Basically, we relish
Speaker 1: the opportunity to teach and learn more about women's sports,
Speaker 1: how we got here, who the major players are, and
Speaker 1: what obstacles still stand in our way. It's great to
Speaker 1: know where we are and get excited about where we're going.
Speaker 1: But we can be so much more tactical and intentional
Speaker 1: about growing and expanding when we know our history too.
Speaker 1: We got to take another break when we come back
Speaker 1: the good place, the correct number of stars, and a
Speaker 1: call to action welcome back slices. As we reflect on
Speaker 1: two hundred episodes, I thought about the very first brainstorming
Speaker 1: sessions that we had about the show, and I actually
Speaker 1: went back and found some old notes and emails, and
Speaker 1: as we thought about what the show would look like,
Speaker 1: there were a bunch of words that we wrote down
Speaker 1: like what we wanted it to feel like. Some of
Speaker 1: those were welcoming, inclusive, warm, safe, funny, fair, honest and starky,
Speaker 1: not annoyingly earnest, and not constantly griping about how unfair
Speaker 1: things are. We thought, if our listeners were going to
Speaker 1: hang out with us every day for thirty to forty minutes,
Speaker 1: it should be fun and funny while also sometimes rightly
Speaker 1: complaining about shit. Our north Stars at the beginning were
Speaker 1: Tina Fay, Amy Poehler, Samantha Bee, Don Staley, Chelsea Handler,
Speaker 1: Sue Berd, Michelle Obama, Billy Jean King, all these really smart, badass, successful, funny,
Speaker 1: unfuckiable women with a very clear point of view and perspective.
Speaker 1: We wanted the show to highlight that athletes and women's
Speaker 1: sports are multi to me, and that when we let
Speaker 1: them be authentically themselves, everybody wins. Same goes for fans.
Speaker 1: We can all be masculine, feminine heroes, villains, funny, serious, competitive, physical, loving, mothering,
Speaker 1: fashionable everything. We can be men or women or non
Speaker 1: binary folk who just love women's sports. We wanted to
Speaker 1: be sure we showed that women's sports can be X's
Speaker 1: and O's game recaps, strategy and tactics, and also be
Speaker 1: stories about a player's favorite clothing brand or beauty rituals
Speaker 1: or dating life. It can be about demanding more investment
Speaker 1: and better coverage, and about celebrating the team's leagues and
Speaker 1: networks that are getting it right, changing the game, and
Speaker 1: shaping the future in ways that should be applauded. Now.
Speaker 1: I said on the very first show that women's sports
Speaker 1: is the good place. That's actually what I wanted to
Speaker 1: name the show, and I thought that because going to
Speaker 1: a game in the women's sports world means being in
Speaker 1: a place that's inclusive, fun, kind, competitive, exciting, and full
Speaker 1: of a diversity of people, all of whom you just
Speaker 1: know that you'd want to party with after the game ends.
Speaker 1: I always think that, looking around the stadium, everyone here
Speaker 1: looks cool and awesome, and I want to party with them.
Speaker 1: So as we were noodling around that, we thought, how
Speaker 1: do we create the podcast version of the Good Place?
Speaker 1: What would it look like to create something new? What
Speaker 1: do we take from other shows and men's sports podcasts
Speaker 1: that we like, and what do we leave behind that
Speaker 1: doesn't serve us? How do we create a community that
Speaker 1: inspires folks to belong to it without relying on toxicity
Speaker 1: or meanness to rally people together. You might already know this,
Speaker 1: but research sadly shows that people respond to negativity and
Speaker 1: engage more with anger and criticism than positivity. And of course,
Speaker 1: we know way too many examples of shows and websites
Speaker 1: that have big fandom basically centered around cruelty and or ignorance.
Speaker 1: So we wanted to really work to bring people together
Speaker 1: around a shared love of something instead. And that's why
Speaker 1: on the very first show we were already soliciting names
Speaker 1: for you slices. We knew you would be a huge
Speaker 1: part of this show, and we do want to keep
Speaker 1: hearing from you, collaborating with you, and hopefully more and
Speaker 1: more in the future actually meeting you and getting everyone
Speaker 1: together at games and events. You all bought in so
Speaker 1: fast and you made this a real community so quickly.
Speaker 1: It's genuinely tough to express just how grateful we are.
Speaker 1: From Slice Joey Maldonado making women's sports schedules so we
Speaker 1: all know where and how to watch stuff, to Aaron
Speaker 1: roj Show spreadsheet of our suggestions to sixty plus abuse
Speaker 1: slices helping invest nearly two hundred thousand dollars in Minnesota
Speaker 1: Aurora FC. From your hilarious emails, your great guest suggestions,
Speaker 1: and your delightful voicemails, it has all been just so incredible.
Speaker 1: And of course all the folks rock in the good
Speaker 1: game with Sarah Spain merch, especially the ones I got
Speaker 1: to see in person at the Final four, and all
Speaker 1: of you sending me your photos wearing the merch. It's
Speaker 1: just an amazing feeling. By the way, if you haven't
Speaker 1: gotten yours yet, Breaking Tea dot Com, slash Spain is
Speaker 1: where you go, and we are planning to roll out
Speaker 1: another color or two soon, so keep your eyes out
Speaker 1: for that. You are all a mass part of the show.
Speaker 1: You basically are this show, So we thank you so
Speaker 1: much for listening. In fact, every show we tell you
Speaker 1: that we love that you're listening, But we also tell
Speaker 1: you we want you to get in the game every
Speaker 1: day too, So slices and seedlings, this is the call
Speaker 1: to action that's part of pretty much every show, the
Speaker 1: good Game play of the day. If you're new here
Speaker 1: and you haven't already done so subscribe to the podcast.
Speaker 1: We've done a lot of awesome stuff in two hundred episodes,
Speaker 1: and we don't plan on slow and down. And if
Speaker 1: you're not new, can you please send one episode you
Speaker 1: really like to a friend, a colleague, a family member,
Speaker 1: just anyone you think might love our show. If we're
Speaker 1: going to keep building this Good Game community, we need
Speaker 1: your help. Also, we're always fielding suggestions for guests and
Speaker 1: segment topics. Do you really want to hear from someone?
Speaker 1: Do you have some bizarre what the fact? A guess?
Speaker 1: And maybe a submission for the Good Game Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame or the Good Game Book Club. We want all
Speaker 1: of them. Send them our way. You can hit us
Speaker 1: up on email, good game at wondermedianetwork dot com, or
Speaker 1: you can always get at me on social Spain two
Speaker 1: three two three on Instagram, Sarah Spain on Twitter, slash
Speaker 1: xan Sarahspain dot com on Blue Sky. We also always
Speaker 1: throw the contact info for producers me Alex in the
Speaker 1: show notes too, and we always tell you this on
Speaker 1: every episode. Ratings and reviews help our podcast so much,
Speaker 1: and on every episode we give you this reminder, don't
Speaker 1: forget to subscribe, rate and review, and then we show
Speaker 1: you just how easy it is to review stuff like this.
Speaker 1: Folks who subscribe rate and review our show, rating five
Speaker 1: out of five stars, just like they're given us review.
Speaker 1: We love a slice you can take direction every show
Speaker 1: we tell y'all to subscribe, rate and review, and so
Speaker 1: many of you have listened, like Abina two, who gave
Speaker 1: us five stars and wrote best part of my day.
Speaker 1: And this podcast has everything smart, questions, funny people, great
Speaker 1: takes on women's sports and gets me excited to watch
Speaker 1: new sports and Happy Transfer, who wrote in part no
Speaker 1: episode disappoints and a must in the library of anyone
Speaker 1: wanting to be up to date and in the know
Speaker 1: about everything happening in in sports. Also shout out to
Speaker 1: TeX's NYC, who said, in part, thank goodness I found
Speaker 1: this podcast and telling all my college friends about it,
Speaker 1: reviewing and spreading the word about the show. Now that's
Speaker 1: a super slice. I know you've heard the phrase subscribe,
Speaker 1: rate and review so much that it might at this
Speaker 1: point basically sound like the adults in the Peanuts movies
Speaker 1: like the waw Waw waw Waw. But honestly it really
Speaker 1: helps us, y'all, especially when there are still jamokes chiming
Speaker 1: in with the one star and saying, you know, go
Speaker 1: Trump liberal trash. Yeah, so let's go ahead and get
Speaker 1: enough fives to drown out that one star. What do
Speaker 1: you say? Now, it's your turn, rate and review. If
Speaker 1: you're not sure how, just go to the show's main
Speaker 1: page on Apple Podcasts, scroll down until you get to
Speaker 1: the stars, and click ratings and reviews. Thanks y'all, and
Speaker 1: thanks to all of you for listening, whether this was
Speaker 1: your two hundredth listen or your first. We'll see you
Speaker 1: tomorrow when we shine a light on Throttle Therapy with
Speaker 1: Catherine Legg, one of the other awesome shows on the
Speaker 1: iHeart Women's Sports Network. We'll be spreading the love for
Speaker 1: the rest of the week, so make sure you tune
Speaker 1: in Good Game slices, Good Games Seedlings, you time. Can
Speaker 1: you just chill for like one second? At this rate,
Speaker 1: We're gonna be on an episode four hundred before we
Speaker 1: know it. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart
Speaker 1: Women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 1: You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
Speaker 1: our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
Speaker 1: producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Speaker 1: Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez, and Grace Lynch.
Speaker 1: Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm Your host
Speaker 1: Sarah Spain