Speaker 1: What's up, guys.
Speaker 2: It's West and Sophie.
Speaker 1: If you've noticed, we are not an Indianapolis anymore.
Speaker 3: You're Action Arizona for the Women's Final Four, and we
Speaker 3: have some awesome guests. We have Holly Row and Alison
Speaker 3: Feastar with us today.
Speaker 4: That's right, and Show Me Something podcast with Mary Longboy
Speaker 4: checking in a lot from the Bracket. Some of the
Speaker 4: best game day memories don't happen on the court. They
Speaker 4: happen in hotel lobbies, over pregame meals, and in the
Speaker 4: moments before tipoff. As the official hotel partner of the NCAA,
Speaker 4: Mariot Bonboy sees it all from the bracket, Pep talks
Speaker 4: to fans bonding over shared rituals. It's the moments around
Speaker 4: the game that become the ones people remember this March Madness.
Speaker 3: Live from the Bracket brings those stories to life in
Speaker 3: a limited podcast series about college hoops, travel and fandom,
Speaker 3: with special guests and experiences along the way.
Speaker 4: From now until April fifteenth, Married Bonvoy members will be
Speaker 4: able to enter our Live from the Bracket sweepstakes for
Speaker 4: a chance to win a trip to the twenty twenty
Speaker 4: seven Final Four. Follow at show Me Pod on Instagram
Speaker 4: to learn more.
Speaker 3: We're talking March madness, above and beyond, and you'll want
Speaker 3: to stay tuned.
Speaker 2: Marriot Bomboy, we're game day.
Speaker 4: He checks in William Show Me Something Podcast live from
Speaker 4: Sophie's Phoenix Babies, Sylphe's Phoenix.
Speaker 1: Here we are.
Speaker 3: This is beautiful. First of all, who is outside? I'm
Speaker 3: not even that sweaty, which is surprising.
Speaker 2: We have fans over here to left. What's that fans?
Speaker 2: And we're about to have some freaking awesome guests.
Speaker 1: Yes, Holly Roe is gonna show up.
Speaker 3: Alison Feaster as his daughter is actually playing for you, Sehn.
Speaker 3: The city is popping full of great energy for the
Speaker 3: women's final four. Here Trophy cactuses the mural behind us.
Speaker 4: The incredible and beautiful, magnificent mural behind us was created
Speaker 4: by the renowned Phoenix based artist La Morena.
Speaker 3: I love that, so she teamed up with Marriott Bonvoy,
Speaker 3: j Ukraine O to Phoenix Travel and of course Women's
Speaker 3: basketball beautiful.
Speaker 2: The coloring is perfect, it's so phoenix y and I
Speaker 2: love a cactus. The girls nails are painted.
Speaker 4: It makes her set a little more extra special. But
Speaker 4: here's Lo Morena with more him.
Speaker 2: My name is listen to you know Hoos also known
Speaker 2: as La Morena.
Speaker 5: I'm a Phoenix based artist and I'm here with Marriott
Speaker 5: Boh Boy. I love Arizona. I'm born and raised here.
Speaker 5: I'm very proud of our Phoenix city. And so when
Speaker 5: they come across this mural, I want them to first
Speaker 5: be pulled in by the colors and then engage with
Speaker 5: the elements that are across the mural. And I think
Speaker 5: for little res girls seeing this, it means so much
Speaker 5: to me because I'm giving them a mural that they
Speaker 5: can see themselves in and see this journey a future
Speaker 5: potential them that they can also to play women's college basketball.
Speaker 5: I'm so excited for women's sports in general because we're
Speaker 5: on the rise and we're getting so much noise and
Speaker 5: excitement around women's sports. And now we're here, we are
Speaker 5: with the Final four women's college basketball, and this is
Speaker 5: the first time in Arizona history that we are hosting
Speaker 5: them here in Phoenix, so it's a huge deal for us.
Speaker 2: I hope little girls see themselves in this mureaum.
Speaker 5: And know that it's possible to play in the Final
Speaker 5: Four for women's college basketball.
Speaker 2: So final four.
Speaker 1: We have all one seeds.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, big dogs Ucla. We have Texas, we have Yukon,
Speaker 3: we have South Carolina.
Speaker 1: Yes we do. So.
Speaker 3: I do think this year you do have the very
Speaker 3: best top four teams in the nation. Sometimes you get
Speaker 3: a little Cinderella story or an underdog. I think these
Speaker 3: are the best, the best ones, and so it's gonna
Speaker 3: be good.
Speaker 2: Our first game is Yukon. South Carolina Yukon.
Speaker 1: We've seen each other a zillion times, which is gonna
Speaker 1: be like familiar foes.
Speaker 3: I love this, and I think it's so funny because
Speaker 3: in the W you have like your your.
Speaker 2: Game Cocks, you have your Huskies, and they.
Speaker 1: Go at it.
Speaker 4: You could argue Don Staley and Gino are like an
Speaker 4: iconic coaching rivalry at this point, you doo, But I
Speaker 4: mean that's like, those are two very iconic women's basketball
Speaker 4: coaches who I feel like see each other in March frequently.
Speaker 4: It gives me like Bill Bilichick, I guess he's Tony
Speaker 4: Dungee vibes in the in the two thousands.
Speaker 1: That's pretty special.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it's gonna be good.
Speaker 3: And then you have Texas and Ucla, which honestly, I
Speaker 3: think I'm not.
Speaker 2: Gonna lie to you.
Speaker 3: I thought Yukon is looking tough. They always look tough
Speaker 3: this time of year. Just the experience Gino. He's just
Speaker 3: a legend and is so so smart and pours into
Speaker 3: his players like no other.
Speaker 2: But again, I'm biased.
Speaker 3: I want an SEC SEC team school to win, and
Speaker 3: so I'm actually kind of pulling for Texas a little bit.
Speaker 4: Was your freshman year the first year of SEC you
Speaker 4: never played in the Big twelve?
Speaker 2: No, I did it, but they were the year before.
Speaker 2: So in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 4: Okay, they were, So you have good reason to be
Speaker 4: an SEC fan thousand percent. This is game day. Also,
Speaker 4: you can feel in the air, you can smell it.
Speaker 4: Even so, who you got give me an expert analysis?
Speaker 4: I know you have.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I truly do like all four programs. Yep, I
Speaker 3: like players from all four teams. If you would have
Speaker 3: asked me a little bit ago, I thought Yukon would
Speaker 3: take it, and they and part of me still thinks
Speaker 3: that they will take it. But a big portion of
Speaker 3: me is thinking that Texas is speaking at the right time.
Speaker 3: And I also went played against coach Schaeffer. His daughter
Speaker 3: we played against and now she's an assistant coach. So
Speaker 3: kind of a cool storyline there. But Texas is looking
Speaker 3: pretty dang good.
Speaker 4: So you think Texas wins today and they'll see either
Speaker 4: yukonnor sc.
Speaker 6: Yes, I do.
Speaker 2: I think. I think that Yukon South Carolina game. I
Speaker 2: don't even know who's gonna win that Yah Yukon. They
Speaker 2: they are athletic, they have the IQ.
Speaker 3: South Carolina is just so so athletic, and they have
Speaker 3: the experience having Don Staley knowing you know what she knows,
Speaker 3: and her being a player in the w playing overseas
Speaker 3: forever long. She really knows how to pour into her kids,
Speaker 3: and so that matchup I can't even predict.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but it's gonna be fun, Sophie.
Speaker 4: This pod will be dropping after we have crowned our
Speaker 4: women's Final four champion. Well, can you look into this
Speaker 4: camera for me and tell me who you got my
Speaker 4: future self?
Speaker 3: This has already happened. I think I almost just said Yukon.
Speaker 3: Is that my gut feeling?
Speaker 1: I thought you were gonna throw them You're gonna throw
Speaker 1: them up.
Speaker 2: I'm going Texas, all right, everybody.
Speaker 3: Our first guest today is one of the most respected
Speaker 3: voices in sports broadcasting.
Speaker 2: She is an award winning reporter covering college.
Speaker 3: Basketball, football, softball, and some of the biggest moments in sports.
Speaker 2: For over two decades.
Speaker 4: You've seen her on the sidelines to the final four
Speaker 4: college football playoff and countless championship games. She's known for
Speaker 4: her insight, storytelling and connection with players.
Speaker 1: Please welcome Holly Row everybody.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you, She's a Betsy lady.
Speaker 1: Everybody.
Speaker 4: Before we hop into women's college basketball, I have a
Speaker 4: question for you. You've done so many games for so long.
Speaker 4: Do they all Are they all kind of a blur?
Speaker 4: Or if I were to.
Speaker 1: Call out a game, would you remember the moment?
Speaker 7: I remember stories like I might not remember the score,
Speaker 7: but I will remember the situation or something that happened,
Speaker 7: or a story I told, like I it's locked in forever.
Speaker 1: I hope.
Speaker 4: Do you remember remember ninth grade? Oh god, well, you'd
Speaker 4: have been seventh grade. I'd have been in ninth grade.
Speaker 4: Missoo ku. Of course, Zire Taylor hit a shot back
Speaker 4: of the ram and then it bounced into missoo Biku
Speaker 4: to be Kansas.
Speaker 7: And I did the postgame interviews. Fans rush the field,
Speaker 7: and I asked him a question.
Speaker 2: He goes I can't. That's really so.
Speaker 4: I think everyone we watch on TV, we all have
Speaker 4: moments that like were a part of our lives.
Speaker 1: So we remember you from those moments.
Speaker 4: And I remember obviously that game was so important, but
Speaker 4: I remember you having to be like go celebrate. We
Speaker 4: can't hear each other, and that to me is like
Speaker 4: my Holly Row memory.
Speaker 1: I love that so much, Yeah.
Speaker 7: Because that is such an organic moment that we'll never
Speaker 7: have again. You know, the Kumazoo rivalry was one of
Speaker 7: my favorites ever. I know they've played again recently but
Speaker 7: kind of broke it up for a while, but I
Speaker 7: love that rivalry. One of my favorite games I've ever
Speaker 7: covered in my life was the Kim English.
Speaker 2: Eras that team.
Speaker 7: I loved that team, and the game Atmazoo against Ku
Speaker 7: like that was a wild one too.
Speaker 4: I missed that when they left the Big Twelve, Like
Speaker 4: those are like our childhood and so that was really special.
Speaker 1: We are here to talk.
Speaker 4: About women's college basketball, and obviously the women's college basketball
Speaker 4: fandom has been growing like crazy the last few years,
Speaker 4: and we're feeling it here in Phoenix. Obviously, we have
Speaker 4: a lot of fans with.
Speaker 1: Us right now.
Speaker 4: Players are front and center, and fans have traveled all
Speaker 4: over the world to come watch women's college basketball. What
Speaker 4: are your thoughts just on the state of women's hoops
Speaker 4: right now.
Speaker 7: I think it's the best it's ever been, and I
Speaker 7: think I'm an expert. I'm not saying that from a
Speaker 7: cocky standpoint, but I've been covering college basketball for thirty years,
Speaker 7: so when I say, I have watched this entire thing,
Speaker 7: and I hope have been a proponent in pushing this
Speaker 7: constant narrative. We've known forever that this is a really
Speaker 7: good product, and I feel like the general public is
Speaker 7: just now kind of catching up with us, and it
Speaker 7: feels really good, you know. And I don't want to
Speaker 7: have the attitude of like, well, we told you so.
Speaker 7: I want to have the attitude of like, Yay, finally
Speaker 7: you get to see what we've been loving for such
Speaker 7: a long time.
Speaker 2: So I think it's a really beautiful place.
Speaker 7: And the thing I'm proud of is women like Sophie.
Speaker 7: You know, the players that I get to cover, they're
Speaker 7: not disappointing. They keep uping their game and leveling up
Speaker 7: and getting better. The w is better than it's ever been.
Speaker 7: College basketball is better than it's ever been. And that's
Speaker 7: real credit to the athletes and the coaches.
Speaker 3: So we know that you travel all the time, like
Speaker 3: you'll be here today and then somehow you'll be in
Speaker 3: like Europe tomorrow covering a sport that I don't know,
Speaker 3: No one even knew what was going on, what sports
Speaker 3: team or town or city. Has the fandom just grown
Speaker 3: where you're like, wow, people need to know more about this,
Speaker 3: I would say that.
Speaker 7: So this is an obvious one because I'm talking to you.
Speaker 7: But Indianapolis. So, Indianapolis is a really cool sports town
Speaker 7: in that they have a lot of final fours there.
Speaker 7: They have a lot of men's and women's college backup
Speaker 7: basketball sports events there. But the WNBA and the excitement
Speaker 7: behind the Indiana Fever has completely changed that city. And
Speaker 7: I actually was doing some research with the Chamber of
Speaker 7: Commerce last year about the impact of fans traveling from
Speaker 7: out of state and coming in and it's hotel stays,
Speaker 7: hotel rooms, flights, and so like, we are really changing
Speaker 7: the face of Indianapolis right now.
Speaker 2: It's a WNBA. It is palpable.
Speaker 7: I mean we're talking millions and millions of dollars of
Speaker 7: economic impact because of the Indiana fevers. So I'm really
Speaker 7: proud for that team in that organization because they deserve it.
Speaker 1: Love that it's all going to get a women's team as.
Speaker 7: We used to have one. This is a sad story.
Speaker 7: So I have been working in the w ever since
Speaker 7: it started. I started out pulling cables for the Utah Stars.
Speaker 7: I worked my way up to be the color analyst
Speaker 7: for the Utah Stars.
Speaker 2: First woman, by the way right first, Yes, Turle Blazer.
Speaker 7: Yes, we had a really good team, Jennifer Az, Natalie Williams,
Speaker 7: Margo d Dick, like some of the true greats in
Speaker 7: the early w NBA. And then the team went to
Speaker 7: San Antonio to the Star to San Antona Stars, and
Speaker 7: it is now the Las Vegas Aces. So that is
Speaker 7: our franchise. So I feel sad because I'm like, I,
Speaker 7: we're just gonna have to love the Aces.
Speaker 3: Then, you know, I was gonna say, so, deep down,
Speaker 3: are you working the Aces whenever year?
Speaker 2: I don't.
Speaker 7: I don't because I want to be unbiased truth. But
Speaker 7: I do have a soft spot in my heart for
Speaker 7: them because that's my franchise. Yeah, and they're going to
Speaker 7: bring back and have a reunion in the end of
Speaker 7: July and I said to them, I'm like, you need
Speaker 7: to bring the old broadcasters, like we were a part
Speaker 7: of this when nobody really was paying attention.
Speaker 2: So bring us back.
Speaker 4: Seattle loss of SuperSonics, and I think that they're gonna
Speaker 4: get another team.
Speaker 1: So I think some cities and yeah, you just got hockey.
Speaker 2: TEMs got a hockey at NHL.
Speaker 1: Yes, show there's always hope.
Speaker 7: Yeah, there's hope. For sure, there's hope. But the aces
Speaker 7: are close. I think a lot of fans go down there,
Speaker 7: So I'm going to settle in for them right now
Speaker 7: in my heart there the Utah Stars slash pass.
Speaker 6: Good for you?
Speaker 4: Is there a moment for you, Holly, that you feel
Speaker 4: like clicked with women's basketball. It could be WNBA or college,
Speaker 4: but something that you think really set things apart, Like obviously,
Speaker 4: I think Caitlin's emergence is like a massive moment that
Speaker 4: we'll look back and be like, this changed the sport forever.
Speaker 1: But for you, is there something maybe earlier.
Speaker 7: It's a different moment for me because I remember working
Speaker 7: a game and to this day, I still believe it's
Speaker 7: the best WNBA game I've ever worked in my life.
Speaker 7: It was twenty sixteen Game five the LA Sparks at
Speaker 7: Minnesota Links and neko Oguma Kay had to put back
Speaker 7: basket to win the title for the LA Sparks. That's
Speaker 7: series because if you look at the rosters of those
Speaker 7: two series, they were like, I want to say, seven
Speaker 7: Hall of Fame players in that series, so Cannis Parker,
Speaker 7: neko Goomakay, Chelsea Gray, Alana Beard, and then from Minnesota
Speaker 7: Rebecca Brunson, Lindsay Waylan, Maya Moore, Simona Augustus, Sylvia Fowls.
Speaker 7: Like that's eight Hall of Fame maybe nine Hall of
Speaker 7: Fame players in one series.
Speaker 2: To me, that was the moment we really started to rise.
Speaker 7: And yes, I will always give Caitlin her for hours
Speaker 7: and credit because she did take it to a new level,
Speaker 7: but we were rising before that too.
Speaker 6: I like that.
Speaker 3: So I have a question for you because I know
Speaker 3: that the CBA has just gotten you know, kind of
Speaker 3: I don't even know if it's in right, and yet
Speaker 3: I have no idea.
Speaker 2: I know something. It's April third today. There you go, Holly.
Speaker 2: That's why you're the reporter and I'm just the athlete. Here.
Speaker 3: On a real note, I feel like you kind of
Speaker 3: hit on it with the family of like when they
Speaker 3: do have that reunion, bring back the people who were
Speaker 3: there from the very beginning. I think that you, Rebecca Ryan,
Speaker 3: you guys have really been in it with us. And
Speaker 3: I remember talking to you before the Ace's Finals. It
Speaker 3: was like Indiana verse Ace, and I was like, what
Speaker 3: should we Honestly, I'm.
Speaker 2: Just going to be you guys.
Speaker 3: Don't mean as being honest. I was like, how can
Speaker 3: we do better with the refs? They are part of
Speaker 3: our game, they are part of our family. They deserve
Speaker 3: to get three more.
Speaker 2: I no, no, I'm being for real.
Speaker 3: Like they are part of our family, and I think
Speaker 3: that we should be taking care of them. But you
Speaker 3: guys have such great insight because you are in it
Speaker 3: more than not more, but the same amount we are in.
Speaker 3: I feel you could be a GM or an owner
Speaker 3: or a coach by now.
Speaker 2: Don't you kind of feel that way? Well, we are
Speaker 2: invested for sure.
Speaker 7: Yes, I think we were all Like you should see
Speaker 7: our text chain for the last three months, like angsting
Speaker 7: over the CBA and are we going to have a season, and.
Speaker 2: Like we really is. It is a lifelong passion of mine.
Speaker 7: So the refereeing is an issue, and we saw that
Speaker 7: last season and it was a real issue last season.
Speaker 7: And I think where we're at right now is the
Speaker 7: problem is to become a ref at the highest levels,
Speaker 7: you have to start out, probably in high school, probably
Speaker 7: in a low college. So one of other ways I
Speaker 7: think we could improve refereeing is to get more former
Speaker 7: players who maybe didn't make it as a pro. I
Speaker 7: think we need more former players. So I'll give you
Speaker 7: an example. I covered a woman at the University of Utah,
Speaker 7: one of the greatest three point shooters in NCAA history,
Speaker 7: Julie Cromenhook. She has worked her way up to be
Speaker 7: a high level college referee. Right now, we need to
Speaker 7: be growing our own former athletes because they played the game,
Speaker 7: they know how to officiate.
Speaker 2: It a little differently.
Speaker 7: I want us to be growing former players into that
Speaker 7: referee ale And.
Speaker 3: This is my brought up because we had such a
Speaker 3: great conversation and I'm like, it's the inside because we
Speaker 3: are not against them.
Speaker 2: We want everyone to grow in our league.
Speaker 3: Let's talk about this Final four though, Like what excites you,
Speaker 3: what team do you think is peaking out the right time,
Speaker 3: what players are peaking out the right time and kind
Speaker 3: of give your insight on you just said like, hey,
Speaker 3: we got to go because I have you know, walkin.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I have coaches, rivals interviews right now, which isn't
Speaker 7: a lot of stress. But yeah, here's who I think
Speaker 7: is peaking is Texas. So if you would have asked
Speaker 7: me three weeks ago who was going to win it all,
Speaker 7: I said, Yukon and I believed that. I think they
Speaker 7: were the best team in the country. They had the
Speaker 7: best efficiency defensively, offensively, all those things they have not
Speaker 7: quite hit on all still in the first couple of rounds.
Speaker 7: Does that mean they're not still dominant? Probably not, but
Speaker 7: they've got to figure a few things out and they're
Speaker 7: going against a very athletic, physical South Carolina team. So
Speaker 7: a player that I think is really blossoming and on
Speaker 7: a really high trend right now is Raven Johnson. Yes, so,
Speaker 7: I think Raven Johnson is one of the greatest stories
Speaker 7: in all of college basketball right now because she stayed,
Speaker 7: tore her acl, fought back a lot of online criticism.
Speaker 7: Almost her mom shared with me that she almost quit
Speaker 7: after all the online criticism she faced, and she has
Speaker 7: all she's done is stay true, be resilient and show
Speaker 7: up for her team. And she is the best version
Speaker 7: of herself right now. And I'm loving that for Raven.
Speaker 4: But Texas has momentum aside from like in the Weeds
Speaker 4: college basketball. I'm curious if you have a moment and
Speaker 4: this is more about Holly than it is teams or
Speaker 4: other players, do you have a travel moment that you
Speaker 4: all like remember forever that, whether that's some hotel was
Speaker 4: booked and you didn't have anywhere to stay, or a
Speaker 4: fight got delayed and you ended up in some random
Speaker 4: city and had the best night.
Speaker 7: Ever, how long do we have for this podcast? So,
Speaker 7: like full disclosure, I am almost at four million.
Speaker 2: Miles right now on one airline. But here's what I'll say.
Speaker 7: So I know this is a Marriotte podcast, but one
Speaker 7: of the reasons I really wanted to come on other
Speaker 7: than you was I'm a.
Speaker 2: Marriott girl, like I am.
Speaker 7: And I'm not just saying this, I'm just I'm just
Speaker 7: meeting you. But I love Marriott because I I really
Speaker 7: I'm from Utah. It's a Utah company, and so I
Speaker 7: have really tried to build points with one company. So
Speaker 7: right now I almost have a million Marriott points right,
Speaker 7: I am like one hotel night away from the top level.
Speaker 7: So like when I tell you, I'm like psychotically.
Speaker 2: Mary, where do you live? And like how like are
Speaker 2: you how often are you there?
Speaker 7: Probably like about a week a month maybe, So I
Speaker 7: travel a lot because I'm covering so many sports. But
Speaker 7: I would tell you that my travel memories that have
Speaker 7: been really funny are three years ago, we were doing
Speaker 7: we were getting ready to have our very first ever
Speaker 7: college game day show on ESPN.
Speaker 2: First whenever. There was a young woman playing.
Speaker 7: Basketball that I thought was playing at such a high
Speaker 7: level and nobody was giving her any attention.
Speaker 2: And it was January.
Speaker 7: So I did an NBA game in Utah, did a
Speaker 7: red eye flight, and I slept on the floor at
Speaker 7: the Atlanta airport.
Speaker 2: I did that last night, Miami.
Speaker 7: Oh there we go. And I had no pride. I
Speaker 7: was like, I'm sleeping. I'm on the floor at the
Speaker 7: airport so that I could get the seven am flight
Speaker 7: to the location where I would do the interview with
Speaker 7: this young woman. And I did the first ever feature
Speaker 7: on her on first ever college game Day.
Speaker 2: Three months later, Angel Reese went in championship.
Speaker 7: That's awesome, So I'm really proud of that story because
Speaker 7: I had to sacrifice. I slept on the floor for
Speaker 7: the at the airport for Angel Reese because I believed
Speaker 7: so deeply in her and nobody was talking about her
Speaker 7: and I had the instinct and I was right. And
Speaker 7: so I'm really proud of that story because I had
Speaker 7: to sack to get there. I had to truly believe
Speaker 7: in this young woman, and I'm proud of her. Three
Speaker 7: months later, they won the national championship and I was like,
Speaker 7: I was onto something here, Like I was so proud
Speaker 7: of that.
Speaker 2: Wait, can I ask where is it? Your mom? Is
Speaker 2: your dad?
Speaker 3: Like why how do you have such a gift of storytelling?
Speaker 3: And like they're scouts in basketball they can tell a
Speaker 3: young talent who has potential, you have that, But with
Speaker 3: storytelling in the behind the scenes.
Speaker 2: Who do you get that from him? Why is that?
Speaker 2: Why are you so good at it?
Speaker 7: I appreciate you saying that, but I think it's just
Speaker 7: natural curiosity. Like I'm so curious about people, and I
Speaker 7: just you know, like I'll see something or i'll hear
Speaker 7: something and I'll be like, oh my gosh. So I
Speaker 7: had a funny story that happened last weekend, we were
Speaker 7: covering Michigan and we were out having a walk in
Speaker 7: downtown Fort Worth and we stopped at this park to
Speaker 7: watch the end of the Yukon Duke men's game. So
Speaker 7: I'm with Cheney and Andrea and Christine and Rebecca was
Speaker 7: there and we were like screaming in this park at
Speaker 7: the end of that game, you know that shot. And
Speaker 7: so this lady comes over to me and she's like, oh,
Speaker 7: my gosh, we love your work.
Speaker 2: My daughter plays for Michigan.
Speaker 7: And so she ends up telling me this incredible story
Speaker 7: about Brooke Courels Daniels, who is five seven and the
Speaker 7: leading offensive rebounder on her team.
Speaker 2: So like, how is she so good?
Speaker 7: Why is your daughter such a crazy offensive rebounder at
Speaker 7: five to seven? And she's like, well, her brother is
Speaker 7: six seven, and here's video of them playing in the driveway,
Speaker 7: and so we use that in our broadcast. That happened
Speaker 7: because we were walking down the street in the park, right.
Speaker 7: So those are the kind of things that I live for.
Speaker 7: Of like you just naturally curiously following.
Speaker 3: Can I also give you some props because I think
Speaker 3: that you do stories and you find people that everyday
Speaker 3: people can.
Speaker 2: Relate to and you give them hope that, like just
Speaker 2: a little bit of hope that maybe they could do
Speaker 2: that one day.
Speaker 3: Doesn't matter what they look like, where they're from, how
Speaker 3: tall they are, how much they weigh. Like that that
Speaker 3: gives a five to seven guard hope that, like, hey,
Speaker 3: I could go be the leading rebounder in the nation.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean.
Speaker 7: I can be the leading offensive rebounder on an Elite
Speaker 7: eight team.
Speaker 2: That's insane. But yeah, I think that we live.
Speaker 7: I love all the I'm the hopeful storyteller, Like I
Speaker 7: just want hope and encouragement and happiness. Like I don't
Speaker 7: love doing the hard stories.
Speaker 4: This is a little slight pivot, but you've got some
Speaker 4: kicks on today. Yeah. The basketball fashion world, ye is
Speaker 4: ever changing? Do you feel like you have to keep
Speaker 4: up with the the fashion?
Speaker 1: No, I don't know what.
Speaker 4: It's always growing and I feel like shoes are such
Speaker 4: a big part of it.
Speaker 1: And obviously I can tell you know what's going on.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well here's what I will say.
Speaker 7: So back in twenty twenty, I was in the WNBA
Speaker 7: bubble and I remember calling my boss and saying, hey,
Speaker 7: you know, like the fits are a thing like they
Speaker 7: keep coming in and we're doing tunnel fits and we
Speaker 7: don't ever broadcast it.
Speaker 2: We're not showing it on TV.
Speaker 7: And my producer was literally like, I don't understand what
Speaker 7: you're saying to me.
Speaker 2: What is a fit?
Speaker 7: So I had to explain to her or what a
Speaker 7: fit was, and so like, I'm I take a teeny
Speaker 7: bit of pride in that, Like I was the first
Speaker 7: one that got tunnel fits on TV in the bubble,
Speaker 7: like maybe we were doing.
Speaker 2: Before in games, but I don't really remember it.
Speaker 3: HOLLI I was walking in in like pajama's sweats. Now
Speaker 3: you can see people's like style, who they are personally
Speaker 3: of like walking in, you know, like she can be feisty.
Speaker 7: I love it personalizes players. I think it personalizes players
Speaker 7: and it really showcases whatever your vibe is. You get
Speaker 7: to be really personal with it. And I like it
Speaker 7: because it elevates fandom and I love it for the
Speaker 7: fans and I think it's fun for you guys.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 7: I know some players are like, Okay, now this is
Speaker 7: a hassle because it's a whole thing, but you can
Speaker 7: do it or you don't have to do it. And
Speaker 7: I think it's very personal, and I really love it
Speaker 7: because it shows personality and it's like I do think
Speaker 7: that the w is where fashion and culture, you know,
Speaker 7: it's intersectional, and so I really like.
Speaker 4: That, Ollie, how do you see travel impacting sports as
Speaker 4: we know it?
Speaker 1: Right now?
Speaker 7: My niece is a young basketball player, and so it's
Speaker 7: really my first relative that has wanted to be a
Speaker 7: college basketball player. So I'm pouring everything into her, Like
Speaker 7: I'm trying to sponsor her teams, and she's in you
Speaker 7: and she's here at the Final four.
Speaker 2: Her team has a tournament.
Speaker 7: Oh really, So like I will always like donate points
Speaker 7: so they can get hotel rooms for free. So I'm
Speaker 7: like staying in my Marriott so i can get points
Speaker 7: so then I can give them to my niece. I'm
Speaker 7: really trying to give back that way with my Marriot points,
Speaker 7: and I think it's really special.
Speaker 2: I've done that for them at the WNBA All Star Game.
Speaker 7: And then one other cool thing we're doing with our
Speaker 7: Merriot points right now is my son and I started
Speaker 7: a foundation, Joyous, So we are doing the Joyous Foundation
Speaker 7: where we are just like I was in the depths
Speaker 7: of stage four cancer. You know, it was a really
Speaker 7: scary dark place, and so we're trying to figure out
Speaker 7: how can we help people going through cancer find joy
Speaker 7: during this really scary time of their life. And so
Speaker 7: we are also using my Marriot points to bring cancer patients.
Speaker 7: So we have a woman that we've brought here. I've
Speaker 7: got her staying at a Sheraton right here to using
Speaker 7: my points so that we can bring her to a
Speaker 7: South Carolina game. She's a three time ovarian cancer survivor.
Speaker 7: But what's brought her joy is watching the South Carolina
Speaker 7: game Cocks play and she will get to see them
Speaker 7: play in person.
Speaker 2: That is.
Speaker 3: Do that That's incredible.
Speaker 4: I was reading you you kept a joy journal as
Speaker 4: you were going through treatment and stuff, and that I
Speaker 4: feel like little things like that we often don't. It
Speaker 4: seems maybe like fleeing in the moment, but I'm sure
Speaker 4: that's something that you look back on and like that
Speaker 4: was very powerful and like kept you positive through so
Speaker 4: many dark moments.
Speaker 7: It's it's really true because when you're in cancer, you
Speaker 7: can't control anything, Like I can't control what's happening in
Speaker 7: my body and I'm having another spread and another surgery
Speaker 7: and another bad scan, and it's really stressful, and so
Speaker 7: during that time, I was like, I can't control what's
Speaker 7: happening to me, but I can control if I'm.
Speaker 2: Joyful every single day.
Speaker 7: And so I still keep my joy journal and I
Speaker 7: will write down these things that bring me joy.
Speaker 2: So I'll give you an example.
Speaker 7: I wrote down last year at the w NBA Draft,
Speaker 7: this player for Yukon that had played at Princeton transferred in.
Speaker 7: I just believed in her so much, and so during
Speaker 7: the draft I said, I think Caitlyn Chen should go
Speaker 7: up and sit in the front row where the Yukon team,
Speaker 7: like they were all there watching their other Yukon friends,
Speaker 7: Paige Becker's get drafted, and I just had this instinct
Speaker 7: and I said to one of her teammates, tell Caitlyn
Speaker 7: to go sit in that front row right now. And
Speaker 7: like literally two minutes later, she got drafted to the Valkyries.
Speaker 2: She has played for.
Speaker 7: The valkyriese has been an unbelievable player in the WNBA.
Speaker 7: So that went in my joy journal because that brought
Speaker 7: me so much happiness.
Speaker 2: So that's that's kind of what I want us to do.
Speaker 7: Is if you're not experiencing joy every day, what are
Speaker 7: you doing?
Speaker 2: So that's kind of where we're trying to get to.
Speaker 3: Speaking of joy, I know, I just landed here in Phoenix,
Speaker 3: but I've lived out here for seven eight years.
Speaker 2: Now. I feel like women's basketball has.
Speaker 3: Kind of taken over downtown Phoenix a little bit. I
Speaker 3: love feeling that vide No.
Speaker 7: We literally said when we landed, like what a great
Speaker 7: spot for the final four. There's billboards everywhere, There're signs everywhere, like,
Speaker 7: I love it because we want to feel like this
Speaker 7: is a big event in big time. And I really
Speaker 7: am proud of sponsors. There's more money than there's ever
Speaker 7: been with sponsorships, like this opportunity you're getting, Sophie. We
Speaker 7: didn't used to have these, and so I'm really proud
Speaker 7: of how brands have gotten behind women's sports and the fans.
Speaker 7: You guys have always been here. You are so tried
Speaker 7: and true and we are literally nothing without you. But
Speaker 7: what I love is the money that is flowing into
Speaker 7: our sport. Women deserve it, and we're finally seeing it
Speaker 7: payback for us.
Speaker 3: I think I was in the league at the perfect
Speaker 3: time because I was in it when we were still
Speaker 3: like it was rough, and now I'm kind of getting
Speaker 3: to see the positive impact of how awesome the WNBA
Speaker 3: can be not only on our lives but for the
Speaker 3: next generation. And I feel like when companies truly get.
Speaker 2: To meet you or Asia or Angel.
Speaker 3: Caitlin Cameron, like all these people, they see how awesome
Speaker 3: us women really are outside of basketball and.
Speaker 2: They pour in.
Speaker 3: But I think the most important thing to me is
Speaker 3: you see these little girls out here, like we're making
Speaker 3: it better for them, and so when they're in lot
Speaker 3: of seats, they're gonna be probably doing what the men
Speaker 3: are doing. And that's like you were a trailblazer for that,
Speaker 3: and so it's so cool for you kind of full
Speaker 3: circle to be on this show when you've been around
Speaker 3: this entire time.
Speaker 7: Yeah, what I love for these young women is there
Speaker 7: are so many more opportunities. So I'm going to tell
Speaker 7: you one quick story. The last time that Yukon right now,
Speaker 7: they're on a fifty four game winning streak. The last
Speaker 7: time Yukon was on a long winning streak, they were
Speaker 7: on a one hundred and eleven game winning streak and
Speaker 7: the team that beat them was coached by Vick Schaeffer
Speaker 7: with a little tiny player that's five to four named
Speaker 7: Morgan william I remember, and Morgan william rises up and
Speaker 7: hits this shot to end at Yukon's one hundred and
Speaker 7: eleven game winning streak.
Speaker 2: What school was that, Mississippi State? Yeah, college era, Yeah,
Speaker 2: that show.
Speaker 7: And so she rises up hits this shot over a
Speaker 7: Gabby Williams coming out to block it. And when I
Speaker 7: went to do the postgame interview with Morgan, I said,
Speaker 7: what did you see when you rose up to take
Speaker 7: that shot?
Speaker 2: And she said opportunity And.
Speaker 7: Still to this day makes me want to cry and
Speaker 7: give me chills because all we ever, I'm gonna cry
Speaker 7: right now, all we have ever asked is opportunities for
Speaker 7: these little girls, for women, and so now that women
Speaker 7: are getting them, I just feel so so proud and grateful.
Speaker 1: I got yeah, it's okay.
Speaker 2: Right, yeah yeah.
Speaker 4: I think what's also really admirable is you've been in
Speaker 4: men's the highest level of men's sports spaces for a
Speaker 4: long time, and you still made the active decision to
Speaker 4: give back to women's sports when you very much could
Speaker 4: have taken more money or more opportunities to continue doing
Speaker 4: higher level men's sports. And I just think it's really
Speaker 4: admirable that you never left like what you cared about
Speaker 4: and giving back to women and highlighting women. And so
Speaker 4: I think you deserve so much credit for like always
Speaker 4: staying true and I think getting to see you do
Speaker 4: that has been very cool. But I am curious how
Speaker 4: continuing to cover women's sports and I guess watching it
Speaker 4: evolve and having like some skin in the game this
Speaker 4: whole time, how has that changed you personally or as
Speaker 4: a journalist yourself.
Speaker 2: Well, since I'm already crying out, yeah, that's sure. Oh
Speaker 2: my god, I'm really proud of that.
Speaker 7: I'm grateful that you even noticed that because in my era,
Speaker 7: you know, there would be a lot of sports casters
Speaker 7: and young reporters and they would start out on women's
Speaker 7: sports and then when they hit the big time, they
Speaker 7: would go on to the men's sports. And I am
Speaker 7: very proud I have never done that because I believe
Speaker 7: the big time is women's sports, and so I have
Speaker 7: really sacrificed. You know, I will do a college football
Speaker 7: game and I will be in an SEC city at midnight,
Speaker 7: and then I will be at a tip off at
Speaker 7: noon in Indianapolis for WNBA game and by and I
Speaker 7: got there by driving through the night by myself, Like
Speaker 7: I have gotten there by really truly being committed to
Speaker 7: women's sports.
Speaker 2: But it's more than that.
Speaker 7: It's like I'm that little girl that wished I had
Speaker 7: these opportunities, you know, like I played every sport growing
Speaker 7: up in basketball in high school, but I didn't have
Speaker 7: the opportunities in college that people have. And so really,
Speaker 7: I am that little girl that I am covering these
Speaker 7: sports for. So I keep doing it because that's who
Speaker 7: I am, and I love it, but should be more
Speaker 7: than I've ever changed it.
Speaker 3: That is not true, Holly is true.
Speaker 2: This is supposed to be a happy podcast.
Speaker 4: All right, guys, real quick, we're gonna do the perfect
Speaker 4: travel play. Okay, we're drawing it up late. Second time
Speaker 4: out to have a board of the fifty US states here.
Speaker 4: Actually no Hawaii and Alaska, so we got the continental
Speaker 4: forty eight and we're gonna jar a perfect road trip. Okay,
Speaker 4: four cities, mark them down. It could be about sports,
Speaker 4: it could be sight seeing related, it could be about food.
Speaker 1: You let me know. Safety seconds, let's get into it. Oh,
Speaker 1: you're excited. You want to go first.
Speaker 2: I'm excited about mine because mine is super specific. Can
Speaker 2: I go first? Yeah? Okay, I'm ready, all right, so
Speaker 2: here I am.
Speaker 7: I am starting here for the SEC Softball tournament in Lexington, Kentucky.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm driving up.
Speaker 7: In the through the night doing the semifinals, driving up
Speaker 7: through the night for the season opener WNBA game Dallas
Speaker 7: at Indiana.
Speaker 1: Oh Okay.
Speaker 7: Then I am that's to Oklahoma City for the Women's
Speaker 7: College world S. Then I'm going to Salt Lake City,
Speaker 7: Utah for the very first ever AUSL Pro Softball debut
Speaker 7: for the Utah Talents, before I take a vacation to
Speaker 7: Italy and New York.
Speaker 2: So that is a very important era.
Speaker 7: And this is a true story and I didn't even
Speaker 7: know I was doing this. I am staying in only
Speaker 7: Marriott properties in Italy. I'm going to the Lake Como. Addition,
Speaker 7: the Saint Regis in Florence and the Saint Regions.
Speaker 2: Everyone can.
Speaker 1: I gave a shout out to landlocked states. The coast.
Speaker 4: Guys, coast are overrated. I know people only care about
Speaker 4: the coast, but I still am from Missouri and everyone
Speaker 4: knows it.
Speaker 2: You know, coasts are not overrated.
Speaker 4: I love California, but I'm just saying you a lot
Speaker 4: of people would do Florida, California and that's a very
Speaker 4: I'm all sports central.
Speaker 1: Okay, here we got sports. Here's mine, guys. Okay.
Speaker 4: I started in Seattle because I was singing Pacific Coast
Speaker 4: Highway because it's a great road trip. But then I
Speaker 4: realized I'm not gonna get a lot of sports in
Speaker 4: on the coast of Oregon in northern California. But Seattle's
Speaker 4: good sports city. So we're gonna start there. We're gonna
Speaker 4: drive through Lake Cordelane and end up in Bozeman, Montana
Speaker 4: for a little Montana State podcast football game.
Speaker 1: That's where you boy went to undergrad.
Speaker 4: Then we're gonna drive straight down through the Rockies to
Speaker 4: Holly's hometown, Salt Lake City.
Speaker 1: Let's go also a reality TV capital of the world.
Speaker 1: People don't know about it.
Speaker 2: I have details.
Speaker 7: My hairstylist does the hair for the Real Housewives.
Speaker 1: Some thoughts.
Speaker 2: Can we have another hour and we can retails? I
Speaker 2: have details.
Speaker 1: We can watch NHL hockey and yes.
Speaker 2: Yes ausl Utah Talents and check.
Speaker 4: In with Holly if she's got any time off. And
Speaker 4: then we're gonna go one of the worst drives imaginable.
Speaker 4: I seventy straight through Colorado and Kansas to Kansas City.
Speaker 4: We're gonna get some barbecue and watch the Chiefs revamp,
Speaker 4: revamp their dynasty.
Speaker 3: Well, your guys is this is very Sophie driven. Okay,
Speaker 3: so they didn't put on here. I don't know if
Speaker 3: you guys can see fans, but I'm starting in Hawaii.
Speaker 2: Oh you should have thought there. We should have thought
Speaker 2: it out. Yeah, So I'm gonna go their little island life.
Speaker 2: That's right up my alley.
Speaker 3: I'm going to go straight up to Columbia, Missouri to
Speaker 3: get some booches and some barbecue. That's where I'm from,
Speaker 3: where my family's at. I'm going to Nashville to you know,
Speaker 3: listen to some country music, maybe mee a cowboy or two,
Speaker 3: and then I am going straight down to Florida to
Speaker 3: get a tan.
Speaker 1: Okay, any sports are you avoiding sports?
Speaker 2: Time off?
Speaker 1: Okay?
Speaker 7: That tells you how our brains are different. Like from
Speaker 7: my time off, I'm like, I'm going to all the sports.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm hitting family and beaches.
Speaker 1: I've been Nashville drive a lot of times. It's not bad.
Speaker 7: Speaking of which, I was doing a speaking engagement years
Speaker 7: ago and I was in Columbia and these two women
Speaker 7: came up to me and really bent my ear for
Speaker 7: like thirty minutes.
Speaker 2: And it was your mom and maybe your grandma. Oh,
Speaker 2: I don't know them. They were sending me pictures of
Speaker 2: when they used to play. They were so cute and
Speaker 2: know I was upsts and I love them very much.
Speaker 4: The University of Missouri women's basketball team at one point
Speaker 4: had four starters from our high school.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, that's amazing. Freshman year, it was fun.
Speaker 2: We got in Nashville. I thought we were going to
Speaker 2: get a team. I was so hopeful we were getting
Speaker 2: a team in Nashville.
Speaker 7: I feel like it could still happen because Kennith Parker
Speaker 7: had a group put together there, and I was literally like,
Speaker 7: if she gets a group, then I'm going to retire
Speaker 7: and work on that team.
Speaker 2: But I think that, you know, we'll have more expansion.
Speaker 7: I think Kathy has said that they want more expansion
Speaker 7: by twenty twenty eight, so I think we'd see more there.
Speaker 1: Come on, before we go. You had one more story.
Speaker 6: For us on a landge.
Speaker 7: Okay, so we were talking about travel and hotels and everything.
Speaker 7: So my son and I love to travel together, and
Speaker 7: we went to the Olympics. You know, he's thirty. Now
Speaker 7: I talk about him like he's twelve, but he's thirty.
Speaker 7: We talk about the Olympics. So I am a huge
Speaker 7: fan of the Olympics. So we went to the Paris
Speaker 7: Olympics just as fans, and we had the time of
Speaker 7: our lives. And we got to go to Team USA
Speaker 7: women's gold medal basketball game and be there when Stewie
Speaker 7: and Asia and Chelsea Gray and be there with all
Speaker 7: them at the celebration.
Speaker 2: You just got to enjoy it. We just got to
Speaker 2: enjoy it.
Speaker 7: We were just fans, Like I was painting my face red,
Speaker 7: white and blue, just being a fan, not a reporter.
Speaker 2: So I really do like travel for love.
Speaker 7: Of sports, and I've been all over the world and
Speaker 7: really using sports as kind of my lifeline for life.
Speaker 2: Wait, what makes a good hotel room to you? Okay,
Speaker 2: so to me?
Speaker 7: So right now, I'm super in love with the Additions
Speaker 7: on the Marriott brand because you walk into the lobby
Speaker 7: and there's a feeling. So one of my favorite hotels
Speaker 7: is the Addition Miami. It's Miami Beach and you walk
Speaker 7: in and it's like cream and wood and plants, and
Speaker 7: it's very natural and elegant. So I'm really picky about
Speaker 7: hotels because I stay in hotels more than I stay
Speaker 7: at my own home, So.
Speaker 2: I am very picky.
Speaker 7: But I would say the Marriott Editions are my favorite
Speaker 7: brand right now because there is a feeling when you
Speaker 7: walk in the door. So I'm really excited to go
Speaker 7: to the one in Lake Como. I think it's going
Speaker 7: to be gorgeous.
Speaker 1: So lake Como, Italy awesome.
Speaker 7: Then I also just stayed at the Saint Regis in Chicago.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm a stunny Have you ever stayed there? Oh
Speaker 2: my god.
Speaker 4: It's nice that despite how much you do travel for work,
Speaker 4: that you can still find time to, like because when
Speaker 4: you're airport not by choice always, it's it's a daunting
Speaker 4: idea to want to book your own plane tickets.
Speaker 1: But it's good that you're.
Speaker 4: Still finding time to like visit places that you want
Speaker 4: to see.
Speaker 7: Yeah. The second I don't have a game, I book
Speaker 7: a flight. So I'm like, I'm like, oh god, I
Speaker 7: can finally do something I want.
Speaker 2: Let me book a flight to this game.
Speaker 1: You're not a homebody.
Speaker 2: No, is your son in sports? He's not. He's an actor. Really, Yeah,
Speaker 2: he's an actor.
Speaker 7: He was actually in the Kurt Warner movie American Underdog.
Speaker 2: Did you ever watch that movie? Son is in that movie?
Speaker 1: Okay? Yes, Where does he live?
Speaker 2: New York?
Speaker 1: He lives in New York, New York City? Okay.
Speaker 6: Nice.
Speaker 1: Have you lived in any other state that isn't Utah?
Speaker 7: Have you? I lived in LA when I was doing
Speaker 7: my cancer treatment. I was getting treated at the UCLA
Speaker 7: Medical Center. So I lived in LA for four years,
Speaker 7: and then I lived in New York for four years.
Speaker 1: So you're the best guys.
Speaker 4: We for the first time on this podcast laughed and cried,
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, and so that that feels good.
Speaker 1: No, that's so awesome.
Speaker 4: And it's nice to ask someone questions and let someone
Speaker 4: share their story who is often sharing other people's stories,
Speaker 4: and so like, that's so cool.
Speaker 1: And we thank you very much. And you're going right
Speaker 1: back to work after this.
Speaker 7: I'm going to work right this minute. I'm formulating my
Speaker 7: questions right now. The arrival interviews for coach Don Staley
Speaker 7: and Gina Oriama.
Speaker 2: So I'm excited.
Speaker 7: I think we're going to get two really good games.
Speaker 7: I will be really surprised if these aren't two very
Speaker 7: competitive games.
Speaker 2: I think we have the four.
Speaker 7: Best teams in the country. So I'm really excited, and
Speaker 7: I just want to compliment you guys, because I really
Speaker 7: enjoy your show. I watch your show and I think
Speaker 7: it's so fun. But in my head I've been like,
Speaker 7: who the hell is this guy and why is he
Speaker 7: on with Sophie.
Speaker 2: High school friends. Yeah, but you do a good job,
Speaker 2: and do you like you really know work for Complex.
Speaker 4: And so I've been doing interviews and producing and stuff
Speaker 4: for a long time.
Speaker 2: He's very good at Your show is so fun, it's
Speaker 2: so cute. But this is my first time I've gotten
Speaker 2: to interact with you. So I will say I'm proud
Speaker 2: of you. You're doing a great job.
Speaker 4: I appreciate that. And you're part of my childhood core memories,
Speaker 4: all the MISERI games.
Speaker 2: So that's like all of our love that that I'm
Speaker 2: your childhood course.
Speaker 1: Thank you for coming, guys.
Speaker 4: Alison Feuster has played and traveled over the world and
Speaker 4: is a lifelong athlete. She's an executive for the Boston
Speaker 4: Celtics and the mother of an NCAA star athlete, and
Speaker 4: an advocate for the power of sports. She was a
Speaker 4: part of the first sixteen seed to beat a one seed.
Speaker 4: I knew you beat a one seedos.
Speaker 6: I'm sure if it was the first one actually only
Speaker 6: on the women's side.
Speaker 4: Incredible, only incredible when Harvard beat Stanford, what was it,
Speaker 4: nineteen ninety nine, ninety eight. She went on to play
Speaker 4: in the WNBA for the Sparks, the Charlotte Sting, and
Speaker 4: the Indiana Fever.
Speaker 2: Come right now.
Speaker 3: Now she's here with us in Phoenix for the twenty
Speaker 3: twenty six NCAAA Women's Championship where her daughter, which is
Speaker 3: absolutely amazing, full circle moment, Sarah Strong, who was just
Speaker 3: named the AP Player of the Year as a sophomore
Speaker 3: at Ukon.
Speaker 2: That is crazy, absolutely insane.
Speaker 4: But I do have to say one thing. I keep
Speaker 4: having nuggets before we hop into everything. I covered the
Speaker 4: McDonald's All American Game in Houston would have been two
Speaker 4: years ago. Yeah, Sarah, So we did like fun social
Speaker 4: content and stuff with her. So I actually get to
Speaker 4: hang out and meet Sarah two years ago. Did you
Speaker 4: in the moment when you guys were the first sixteen
Speaker 4: to win, did it just feel like I mean, obviously
Speaker 4: it's a tournament win, it's a bigger win than normal,
Speaker 4: But did you know in the moment, like what you
Speaker 4: had done or was it like, oh, big win, let's move,
Speaker 4: let's keep it moving.
Speaker 6: I think we were cognizant.
Speaker 8: I think the grainy, you know, barely color video that
Speaker 8: they show every year during the tournament. You know, you
Speaker 8: can see my teammates just losing it. We knew it
Speaker 8: that it would reverberate almost thirty years later. No, because
Speaker 8: it's just not hasn't been known the women's side, and
Speaker 8: it's just done twice in the man why humans, So
Speaker 8: it's not there the.
Speaker 3: Women's side, there's not even there's such a huge difference
Speaker 3: between a one seed and a two seed, like.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's his historic history.
Speaker 3: You don't see a lot of upsets or cinerell of stories.
Speaker 6: Not on the side.
Speaker 8: You still selection Sunday, we were given a sixteen seed.
Speaker 6: We had we thought we were much better.
Speaker 8: We found out we were going to go play at Stanford,
Speaker 8: which is number one seed, so we were going in
Speaker 8: with a chip on our shoulder. They had a fifty
Speaker 8: something game win streak, and we prepared these play cards.
Speaker 8: So because it was so loud, and I think because
Speaker 8: of the earthquake, there's some type of system where the
Speaker 8: it's just some type of shock system, so it's really loud.
Speaker 6: You can feel the court shake.
Speaker 8: I was a nation's leading scorer at the time, so
Speaker 8: there wasn't a ton of respect for Harvard player lead
Speaker 8: the nation and scoring. And I will say this in
Speaker 8: all fairness, Stanford did have two they were missing two starters.
Speaker 8: It only doesn't matter because you got to play the
Speaker 8: game one percent. We just chopped away at it and won.
Speaker 1: I'm probably I'm hitting YouTube when I get to the host.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I want to know.
Speaker 3: Was it you and then just like a bunch of
Speaker 3: other people or did you have some studs on your
Speaker 3: team too.
Speaker 6: That were like, could you know our college coach?
Speaker 2: And I'm not even trying to be disrespectful, I just
Speaker 2: want to.
Speaker 8: A college coach set the stage at the beginning of
Speaker 8: the year, act as if your role on the team
Speaker 8: is the most important role, and each and every person
Speaker 8: knew what she was supposed to do on the court.
Speaker 8: I just happened to, you know, want to be the
Speaker 8: best player on the team and score the most points.
Speaker 8: But my teammates, they knew what they were supposed to
Speaker 8: do and they did. One of my teammates hit a
Speaker 8: three pointer to seal the wins. So people were confident,
Speaker 8: you know what they had to do.
Speaker 2: You're saying that, and like, that's what we're trying to
Speaker 2: get in the.
Speaker 3: War that the championship team say the same exact thing,
Speaker 3: and it's absolutely know your role, own your role, and
Speaker 3: that even if it's getting two boards a game, own that,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean, the team needs that and
Speaker 3: so I absolutely love that it is.
Speaker 4: I wonder what the difference, like the feeling between that
Speaker 4: win versus if Sarah win didn't chap.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're both like very euphouric.
Speaker 6: Give me Sarah's wink.
Speaker 8: Yeah, you know, so we want the Celtics one in
Speaker 8: twenty twenty four.
Speaker 6: I was elated, you know, all all the things.
Speaker 8: And then when they won last year and Tampa, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 8: there's nothing like that.
Speaker 6: That's yeah, yeah, it was so great.
Speaker 2: First of all, you're All Star one year for the
Speaker 2: w R. Yeah yeah, heck yeah you are.
Speaker 3: So you played at the highest level college pros and
Speaker 3: now I was just asking you, I feel like, probably
Speaker 3: the most anxious you're ever going to be is being
Speaker 3: a mom on the sideline watching your baby girl do
Speaker 3: her thing on the biggest level of college hoops. Like,
Speaker 3: what are you truly feeling like being on this side
Speaker 3: of it, what did.
Speaker 1: You not know then?
Speaker 8: Beyond nerves like it's zero control on the game, on
Speaker 8: the outcome, whatsoever. I think we parents like to think
Speaker 8: that we have some magic word that we can say
Speaker 8: to activate.
Speaker 6: Something and our children but no powerless yea.
Speaker 8: And also positively optimistic that they're going to put their
Speaker 8: best foot forward. The best team is going to win today,
Speaker 8: and so that's really all you can hope for. That's
Speaker 8: easier said than done. I'm already sweating bullets thinking about it.
Speaker 8: Just trusting every step of the process we get caught
Speaker 8: up and hoping that we make the right decisions along
Speaker 8: the way. And you know, I know Geno and the
Speaker 8: staff habit.
Speaker 4: So as someone who's been involved with sports almost your
Speaker 4: whole life, do you do you find it hard to
Speaker 4: let go a little bit in moments like this because
Speaker 4: obviously you do know what you're talking about.
Speaker 1: You've been in these moments absolutely.
Speaker 6: Is it?
Speaker 4: Is it hard to tell yourself like, let Gino in
Speaker 4: the staff handle it, or do you it's easy to
Speaker 4: just hey.
Speaker 2: You know, I know Stone who.
Speaker 1: Knows what's going on.
Speaker 8: And as a mom, like I think we've gotten to
Speaker 8: a point this season especially and looking back at last season,
Speaker 8: like she her phone.
Speaker 6: Was off before the before the Final four.
Speaker 8: And we couldn't get to her anyway, and that and
Speaker 8: when we when she came out and to see her
Speaker 8: with that level of focus and just preparedness, like, yeah,
Speaker 8: they know what they're doing.
Speaker 6: So I'm definitely not one to push up on Geno
Speaker 6: like that.
Speaker 3: You've been around the game forever, still are with the
Speaker 3: Boston Celtics, which is huge not only for just being
Speaker 3: in the NBA, but as a woman trailblazing for people
Speaker 3: who might want to do that when they're done. What
Speaker 3: do you kind of see in this generation of players
Speaker 3: that maybe you didn't see when you were playing, And like,
Speaker 3: what excites you about even the next generation after Sarah's.
Speaker 8: Done with I'm excited about this next generation and I
Speaker 8: can tell you even the generation that's that's killing it now,
Speaker 8: you guys, and I include you in there because you're
Speaker 8: you know, you're an active player multi hyphenates, if I
Speaker 8: can use that phrase. You guys are so good at
Speaker 8: so many things, mastering the on court stuff, you are
Speaker 8: getting exposure to all types of things off the court,
Speaker 8: just building out that professional profile, so to speak, and
Speaker 8: you can do many things, and I think the younger
Speaker 8: generation is learning that in real time from you guys,
Speaker 8: and yeah, you're just ready.
Speaker 3: Well, I think it shows it's always been there. I
Speaker 3: think maybe it's just the platform, the opportunity, right. Social
Speaker 3: media is a good thing, could be a bad thing,
Speaker 3: but I think that's helped bring a lot of opportunity
Speaker 3: and eyes to our sport. But I think you were
Speaker 3: walking proof that the resume of us being more than
Speaker 3: just an athlete have always been there.
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's a different type of hustle, Like we definitely
Speaker 8: had to hustle back in the day to get what
Speaker 8: you guys are now getting very well deserved.
Speaker 4: Obviously we've talked we've talked a lot of women's basketball
Speaker 4: and women like players and people involved in the WNBA.
Speaker 4: But as someone who's in the NBA, what do you
Speaker 4: feel like your trailblazing is someone who you aren't in
Speaker 4: a women's field.
Speaker 1: You're in a men's field.
Speaker 4: But being a woman in such like a high level,
Speaker 4: male centered like office, what are you most proud of
Speaker 4: as far as being a woman in that space?
Speaker 8: And this is not this I say this with the
Speaker 8: utmost humility, Like if you're in a role like I am,
Speaker 8: if you're in a space that's male dominated and do
Speaker 8: you have some influence, you have to leverage that influence
Speaker 8: to open doors and provide exposure to the underrepresented. And
Speaker 8: I'm really proud that I embraced that role. I want
Speaker 8: young women, young girls to know that there is a
Speaker 8: place in men's sports for them. Yeah, because there's certainly
Speaker 8: a lot of men and women's professional sports, so we
Speaker 8: want to make sure that there is just that exposure.
Speaker 3: Everyone is focused on Sarah, right, But I think once
Speaker 3: you're in it, you realize that it takes a village
Speaker 3: in a community, in a small circle, some big st
Speaker 3: but mainly a small circle of really getting her to
Speaker 3: where she's at.
Speaker 2: And I think I'm just wanting.
Speaker 3: This isn't a question, this is just me showing appreciation
Speaker 3: that as an athlete, I just want to say thank
Speaker 3: you for pouring into women's sports, thank you for pouring
Speaker 3: into Sarah to show her what.
Speaker 2: It can really be like.
Speaker 3: Because I do think that you know, the kids and
Speaker 3: the athlete, they get all the credit.
Speaker 2: But the parents do so so much. And it's expensive.
Speaker 3: It's expensive to go and travel on the au circuits.
Speaker 3: It's expensive to travel to every game to be here
Speaker 3: in support. Because you say, you know, oh, her phone's off.
Speaker 3: She doesn't need to know. You bring her a certain
Speaker 3: comfort when she looks up in the stands and she
Speaker 3: makes eye contact with you.
Speaker 2: I just want to say.
Speaker 3: Thank you from a child perspective, from an athlete perspective
Speaker 3: of supportive, awesome parents that pour into your children.
Speaker 8: When I went to work with the Celtics, she stayed
Speaker 8: back in North Carolina with her dad. She wore the
Speaker 8: tires off his car going to tournament to pick up
Speaker 8: her friends basketball's in the back. And this past Christmas
Speaker 8: she bought him a car as a way to say
Speaker 8: thank you.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, yeah it was. It was pretty moving. Love that.
Speaker 3: Speaking of travel, did you have any rituals when you
Speaker 3: traveled back in the day, either here or yeah, tell.
Speaker 6: Me about that.
Speaker 8: I've always been one to kind of delve into the
Speaker 8: culture wherever I am and sitting outside on terrassa having
Speaker 8: a drink with friends, we need.
Speaker 1: Where did you play?
Speaker 6: I played in France six years in France, nine in.
Speaker 8: Spain, one, Italy, one, Portugal. Sarah is also a naturalized
Speaker 8: French citizen. Well she has it by birth, but her
Speaker 8: dad and I are naturalized. So yeah, having played there
Speaker 8: for so long, Oh that's amazing.
Speaker 4: Did your connections with the Celtics come from playing or
Speaker 4: going to school in Boston or.
Speaker 8: The kind disorda a little bit. When I at forty,
Speaker 8: I was like, it's time to retire what you played
Speaker 8: till you were forty?
Speaker 1: I did.
Speaker 6: I was playing overseas.
Speaker 8: I was, you know, it's didn't know what I wanted
Speaker 8: to do and just kept playing, working, hustling.
Speaker 6: Until I figured it out out.
Speaker 8: There was a program for former players at the NBA
Speaker 8: League office. It was called the Basket Operations Associates Program
Speaker 8: or something like that. The first cool heart were six
Speaker 8: of us, me, Stacey Lovelace of former Purdue boiler Maker,
Speaker 8: Ryan Cardinal, Drew Goodens, Corey mcgetty, and Troy Murphy. I
Speaker 8: want to say it was the last guy, but yeah,
Speaker 8: that's how I met Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens through
Speaker 8: that program.
Speaker 1: Was education growing up like a big part of like
Speaker 1: all of Yeah, it was.
Speaker 6: It was the only, really the only motivation.
Speaker 8: My mom was a single parent raising four kids, and yeah,
Speaker 8: education was the way to get a good job and
Speaker 8: make money to help the family. And that's why I
Speaker 8: chose to forego the scholarship and go to Harvard.
Speaker 4: Really yeah, because the IVY you cannot do it.
Speaker 6: Athletic scholarships.
Speaker 1: Athletic scholarships you had to.
Speaker 4: I lived with Harvard football guys my first two years
Speaker 4: in New York, and so I learned a lot about
Speaker 4: the IVY League sports. We asked Holly this earlier, is
Speaker 4: there a community right now and it can be w
Speaker 4: or college basketball that you think embraces women's sports like
Speaker 4: more than anywhere else, or some somewhere underrated that.
Speaker 2: You're like, this great question for like someone who's it could.
Speaker 1: Even be in Europe.
Speaker 4: Yeah, like somewhere where you're like, they they love women's basketball.
Speaker 6: You know what.
Speaker 8: So I was working with men like the NBA players.
Speaker 8: I'm around the guys all the time that they love
Speaker 8: the game. And I also want to shout out like
Speaker 8: the players who use their platform, like Kevin Durant who's
Speaker 8: always you know, repping and uplifting and watching the sport.
Speaker 8: You know, Kobe, May you rest in peace with the
Speaker 8: jert with the orange sweatshirt like that. That was a
Speaker 8: watershed moment for for the for the game, and so yeah,
Speaker 8: I would, I would call out the NBA players.
Speaker 1: That's awesome. Actually that's a really good answer.
Speaker 3: You know what's funny And I know you clearly just
Speaker 3: said this, but to piggyback off that we know that
Speaker 3: those guys support us.
Speaker 4: I mean, you're behind the scenes with those guys, but
Speaker 4: you also have played yourself. What do you feel like
Speaker 4: you have seen change the most in the women's game since,
Speaker 4: like you played to now.
Speaker 8: The amount of resources available, I think that's the obvious thing,
Speaker 8: but I the amount of I mean, the women today are.
Speaker 6: Just they don't have to work two jobs. You know,
Speaker 6: you can dedicate your livelihood.
Speaker 8: Your livelihood is basketball and being a professional and honing
Speaker 8: your craft.
Speaker 2: What is something you have.
Speaker 3: Like told Sarah in order to like help her, Like
Speaker 3: what's what's your pieces of advice to her?
Speaker 8: Because you've been in her shoes. I tell her she
Speaker 8: has to trust like the work that she puts in.
Speaker 8: If you're in any role, you you might your confidence might,
Speaker 8: you know, waiver at times. You have to trust that
Speaker 8: the little daily deposits that you put in over many many,
Speaker 8: many many years, Like she knows how to do it.
Speaker 8: That's where you get your confidence from. And also, you know,
Speaker 8: she's a she's a whole amazing person. If the basketball
Speaker 8: were not there.
Speaker 4: You've lived overseas, went to school in Boston in Boston now, yes,
Speaker 4: grew up in South Carolina.
Speaker 2: I thought we were going to get a W team
Speaker 2: in Boston.
Speaker 6: Yeah, we're close close. Keep our fingers crossed basketball aside.
Speaker 4: Do you guys as a family find like travel, vacations
Speaker 4: whatever it exploring the country, the world like an important
Speaker 4: part of growing as a person.
Speaker 6: Yeah, we travel a lot.
Speaker 8: Last year we went back to Spain for like a
Speaker 8: four day trip, Sarah, my husband, my mom, you know,
Speaker 8: in tow We also went to the British Virgin Islands.
Speaker 6: My husband from the Virgin Islands.
Speaker 2: I just got back from there, like this morning.
Speaker 6: Amazing St.
Speaker 2: Thomas Saint John.
Speaker 6: Yeah, my husband's from Thomas.
Speaker 2: Oh really yeah, spent eleven days there the past two weeks.
Speaker 8: That's amazing. So we do like travel is a big
Speaker 8: part of it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I think like everyone has their own reasons,
Speaker 4: But for me, I just think, yeah, from a young age,
Speaker 4: learning that people are different than you, like not everything
Speaker 4: is the way it is in your hometown and your
Speaker 4: family is so important. I'm just curious what lessons you
Speaker 4: think you learn being all over the place, and then
Speaker 4: also like getting to expose you know, Sarah to different
Speaker 4: places as well.
Speaker 3: She yes, I don't even know if she knows this,
Speaker 3: but she has such an advantage of being able to
Speaker 3: already explore Europe in different cultures or like bringing all
Speaker 3: the good of each culture and like creating your like
Speaker 3: yourself and.
Speaker 6: You know, that's so true, that's so true. You make
Speaker 6: a good point.
Speaker 8: I think that's one of the that's a skill, like
Speaker 8: being able to go to a country that the foreign
Speaker 8: country and figure out the language, make friends. It's like
Speaker 8: a survival skill that I'm I'm it was hard, you know,
Speaker 8: growing up and having to change schools every couple of years.
Speaker 8: But at the same time, that's that's what allows her
Speaker 8: to probably play and not look like she feels pressure
Speaker 8: or out of source because she's been under pressure and
Speaker 8: in adversity in other situations.
Speaker 6: So I think that's one of the things.
Speaker 8: That's one of the amazing things about traveling and living abroad.
Speaker 8: You get a chance to you can't speak the language,
Speaker 8: you have to find another way to communicate to find
Speaker 8: common ground.
Speaker 2: Two part question. First one, are you a hotel snob?
Speaker 6: Absolutely? Absolutely, the NBA does not.
Speaker 8: Oh gosh, there's nothing like being at a nice hotel, peaceful,
Speaker 8: the fragrance, all the things.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Wait, so that was my second part.
Speaker 3: Amazing what megs and you have to go into detail
Speaker 3: here what makes a great hotel room?
Speaker 8: The bed, you guys saw it with the bed, the comforter,
Speaker 8: the sheets, properly tucked up.
Speaker 6: Amnities in the bathroom.
Speaker 2: But you do get kind.
Speaker 3: Of bougie though, because now you have people like checking
Speaker 3: on you at night.
Speaker 2: Hey, do you need a little do you want your
Speaker 2: fire on.
Speaker 7: It?
Speaker 2: But what what are you excited.
Speaker 3: To see from like a basketball perspective from UCLA, from
Speaker 3: South Carolina, from Texas, because we know, we know what.
Speaker 6: You see from Yukon.
Speaker 2: Everyone sees that, you.
Speaker 1: Know what I mean.
Speaker 8: It's incredible to have four number one seats. This is
Speaker 8: going to be a crazy final four. I am excited
Speaker 8: to see all the seniors who are who have one
Speaker 8: more shot at at a national title. Lauren Bed's Kiki Rice.
Speaker 8: I mean I think they have six seniors that you
Speaker 8: know with.
Speaker 5: U C l A.
Speaker 4: That's the sad part. That's the other side too. Yeah,
Speaker 4: when it's over and it's so it's so heartbreaking.
Speaker 8: Yeah, Madison Booker, how tough is she? And Roy Harmon
Speaker 8: like that Texas team is stacked and they're and they're
Speaker 8: due as well. And then you turn to South Carolina
Speaker 8: and I mean Donald is a former teammate of mine.
Speaker 8: She's probably one of the teammate I I admire the most.
Speaker 8: And yeah, here we go again against against against South Carolina.
Speaker 6: So it's gonna be a great, great final four.
Speaker 4: We were talking earlier about that the Geno Don Staley
Speaker 4: matchup is kind of an iconic march. Rather like that's
Speaker 4: almost equally the storyline or as an important of a
Speaker 4: storyline is like the team's playing because.
Speaker 1: Those two have seen each other so much and are
Speaker 1: so storied.
Speaker 3: Like if you had to give advice to parents or
Speaker 3: players in this situation of where college sports are today,
Speaker 3: what advice would you would you give these kids that
Speaker 3: you know, maybe they are freshmen and they're not getting
Speaker 3: the stardom that they thought they would?
Speaker 2: Like, what what's it mean to say?
Speaker 1: What's it mean to maybe go?
Speaker 8: Yeah, you know, that's that's a tough one and I
Speaker 8: think it, And let me just say at the outset,
Speaker 8: it depends on the family and the player the situation.
Speaker 6: Each situation is unique.
Speaker 8: I would say, though, that there's something to be said
Speaker 8: about figuring it out.
Speaker 6: Figuring it out like you you did.
Speaker 8: Hopefully you did the research required when you made the
Speaker 8: decision to go to a school, that you have some
Speaker 8: semblance of confidence that you can work your way to
Speaker 8: a point where you need to work to.
Speaker 3: I just feel like you have such an underdog mentality
Speaker 3: and I think so many people lack that quality.
Speaker 4: Your story's so dope and how diverse, but it all
Speaker 4: comes back to ball.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, but Harvard, you got like Europe. It's all.
Speaker 4: It's all very cool and it fits like what we're
Speaker 4: trying to cover today, and so we think, thank you
Speaker 4: for pulling up.
Speaker 6: Thank you guys for having me.
Speaker 1: Yeah it was sick. Thank you, Holy freaking Molly, that
Speaker 1: was awesome. No, that actually so great.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So thank you to Holly, Thank you to Alison.
Speaker 2: We cried, cried, and we laughed, laugh, cry, We did
Speaker 2: all the emotions.
Speaker 3: And then a huge shout out to Merrit bon boy
Speaker 3: for being here in Phoenick.
Speaker 2: What's on?
Speaker 1: What were doing a rose.
Speaker 2: Amazing, amazing. You guys' team is amazing. The set was awesome.
Speaker 4: We're headed into the women's game and then we're going
Speaker 4: straight to Indy Live from the Bracket. We already gave
Speaker 4: away tickets to the twenty twenty sixth Tournament, but we're
Speaker 4: not done yet. Married Bonvoy is giving away a pair
Speaker 4: of tickets to the twenty twenty seven Men's and Women's Championships.
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