Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain. Where what's that
Speaker 1: we hear? Double the we woos.
Speaker 2: It's Wednesday, August vint and On today's show, actor Brendan
Speaker 2: Hunt aka Coach Beard joins us to celebrate the season
Speaker 2: four premiere Ted Lasso. We discussed the show's decision to
Speaker 2: focus on a women's club this season. Try to get
Speaker 2: him to reveal any celebrity cameos, Ask how the hell
Speaker 2: he found himself introducing the Bebes during the FIFA Men's
Speaker 2: World Cup halftime show, and discuss why the Beatles mean
Speaker 2: so much to him. Also a speed round of lesser
Speaker 2: known facts about Brendan's Lasso cast mates and Malala use
Speaker 2: off Size, got a theory about the show, plus showing
Speaker 2: off in a new home, Fouts, gets Outs and decoupling
Speaker 2: and then doubling up the double doubles. It's all coming
Speaker 2: up right after this Welcome back slices. Here's what you
Speaker 2: need to know today. Let's start with the WNBA, where
Speaker 2: the league's Cleveland based expansion team unveiled its name on Tuesday,
Speaker 2: the Cleveland Sirens. Per a press release, the team was
Speaker 2: quote named for Lake Eries, Power and Pull. The logo
Speaker 2: was unveiled at the same time, and it features a
Speaker 2: water inspired siren aka the mythological creature known for its
Speaker 2: alluring voice.
Speaker 1: Now, in some.
Speaker 2: Source material, a siren is actually part woman, part bird.
Speaker 2: In others, it's more of a mermaid and based on
Speaker 2: the logo and a really spectacular name intro video, looks
Speaker 2: like Cleveland is leaning heavy into the fishtail version. Now,
Speaker 2: it's worth noting that Cleveland won't be the first team
Speaker 2: to use the name Sirens. The PWHL's New York team
Speaker 2: also uses the name, though they've leaned more into the
Speaker 2: emergency vehicle side of things. Then there are also the
Speaker 2: Monterey Bay Sirens of the USLW. Friend of the show,
Speaker 2: Sabrina Merchant of The Athletic, asked Cleveland's President of Business Ops,
Speaker 2: Alison Howard, about sharing a name with a PWHL team,
Speaker 2: and while Howard Setter Group had a conversation about the overlap,
Speaker 2: they decided it wasn't a concern given that the teams
Speaker 2: are in different sports in different cities.
Speaker 1: I have to admit I don't love the name overlap,
Speaker 1: but I.
Speaker 2: Do love the spookiness of the imagery in Cleveland's rollout video.
Speaker 2: You've definitely heard me in our unrivaled team drafts, singing
Speaker 2: the praises of the Phantom BC logo and bemoaning the
Speaker 2: general lack of spookiness in sports. Well, it seems like
Speaker 2: the Cleveland Sirens might be here to serve my spooky
Speaker 2: sporty needs. So I do also have to assume a
Speaker 2: little Mermaid cross overnight for the kids is likely to
Speaker 2: be on the docket, Perhaps even a thingamabob Who's it
Speaker 2: and What's it?
Speaker 1: Giveaway?
Speaker 2: Anyway, More on that new franchise and the rollout to
Speaker 2: come more WNBA news. On Monday, the Dallas Wings announced
Speaker 2: they'll play their twenty twenty seven season at American Airline Center,
Speaker 2: home to the NHL's Dallas Stars and the mnba's Dallas Mavericks.
Speaker 2: Moving to a twenty thousand plus seat arena is a
Speaker 2: major upgrade for the Wings. They've played home games since
Speaker 2: twenty sixteen at College Park Center at UT Arlington, which
Speaker 2: seats just over sixty two hundred. More WNBA Over the
Speaker 2: last few days, we've seen a couple of players settle
Speaker 2: into their new team's POSTWNBA trade deadline. That includes Kelsey Plumb,
Speaker 2: who made her Phoenix Mercury debut Monday night, putting up
Speaker 2: twenty points off the bench in the Marks one oh
Speaker 2: six one oh one victory.
Speaker 1: Over the Chicago Sky.
Speaker 2: Alyssa Thomas had a nineteen point fifteen rebound, twelve assist
Speaker 2: triple double in the win, and Kalia Copper led Phoenix
Speaker 2: and scoring with thirty one points.
Speaker 1: Copper and the.
Speaker 2: Rest of the Mercury players and staff were all in
Speaker 2: the hotel lobby on Monday to greet Plumb as she
Speaker 2: arrived in Chicago post trade from the La Sparks. Meantime,
Speaker 2: on Tuesday, the Toronto Tempo introduced their newest player, Anissa Morrow,
Speaker 2: who was acquired via trade with the Connecticut Sun. Now
Speaker 2: we're recording this before Tuesday's Tempo Valkyrie's Contest, so we'll
Speaker 2: let you.
Speaker 1: Know if she made her Toronto debut in a future show.
Speaker 1: More WNBA. There are four games on the schedule Tonight.
Speaker 2: The Atlanta Dream will host the Phoenix Mercury Dream, coming
Speaker 2: off a one oh nine eighty seven loss against the
Speaker 2: Las Vegas Aces on Sunday. Jackie Young paced the Aces
Speaker 2: in that one, recording a twenty eight point eleven rebound
Speaker 2: tennisis triple double meantime, Angel Reese put up twenty three
Speaker 2: points and sixteen rebounds for her twentieth day double the season.
Speaker 2: She's put up a twenty point double double in five
Speaker 2: of her last six games. No doubt she'll be gun
Speaker 2: in for another one tonight against the Mercury. The New
Speaker 2: York Liberty are also back in action tonight. They're second
Speaker 2: of two straight with the Seattle Storm. The Liberty one
Speaker 2: Monday's contest ninety five eighty three their fifth win in
Speaker 2: six games, and they did it in front of a
Speaker 2: crowd at the Barclay Center that included Hillary Clinton, Steve Kerr,
Speaker 2: and Emily Sailors from.
Speaker 1: The Indigo Girls to.
Speaker 2: The NWSL, where the league is set to welcome back
Speaker 2: US women's national team defender Jenna Nicewanger. BFC is signing
Speaker 2: the fullback from Arsenal in a deal worth around two
Speaker 2: hundred thousand dollars, according to ESPN reports. Got them FC
Speaker 2: transferred Nicewanger to Arsenal back in January of twenty twenty
Speaker 2: five for a fee of about one hundred k. The
Speaker 2: former NWSL Rookie of the Year struggled in her time
Speaker 2: in England, playing in just five matches for Arsenal before
Speaker 2: spending the first half of this year on loan, with
Speaker 2: aston Villa, playing in just eight matches there. Aston Villa
Speaker 2: declined the option to buy Nicewanger's contract when the loan concluded.
Speaker 2: One game tonight in the NWSL as the Denver Summit
Speaker 2: host the North Carolina Courage that to nine pm Eastern
Speaker 2: kickoff in Colorado. Some are coming off a one to
Speaker 2: one draw with the Boston Legacy on Sunday, a game
Speaker 2: that saw a spectacular Casey Murphy goaltender assist. The Boston
Speaker 2: Legacy keeper served up a field length pass to striker
Speaker 2: Sammy Smith, who nutmeg Denver Summitt goalkeeper Abby Smith for
Speaker 2: the score. Murphy's assists marked just the fourth time in
Speaker 2: NWSL regular season history that a goalkeeper has recorded and
Speaker 2: assist more soccer, we mentioned on a previous show that
Speaker 2: European Soccer Confederation UEFA threatened to boycott all future FIFA
Speaker 2: competitions if the organization went forward with its plan to
Speaker 2: create a spinoff org and sell a twenty percent stake
Speaker 2: in it to private investors. The AFC and CONCA CAFF
Speaker 2: representing Asia and North America respectively, joined YUEFA in criticizing
Speaker 2: the proposal, and several FIFA higher ups resigned, forcing fifahead
Speaker 2: Gianni Infantino to announce that the proposal has been shelved.
Speaker 2: With the FIFA presidential election in March and support of
Speaker 2: Infantino waning, his future with FIFA is very much up
Speaker 2: in the air. To softball, just one week after pitcher
Speaker 2: Montana Fouts led the Utah Talents to victory in the
Speaker 2: AUSL Championship, she did it again for Team USA at
Speaker 2: this weekend's USA's Softball International Cup in Oklahoma City. The
Speaker 2: five day tournament featured six top international teams, plus the
Speaker 2: US national team and a US developmental team. The US
Speaker 2: national team and developmental team actually met in the semis,
Speaker 2: with the national team winning six to two to earn
Speaker 2: a spot in the championship. During the final against Japan
Speaker 2: on Monday night, Fouts delivered a near perfect performance in
Speaker 2: the circle, leading the US to a two zero victory
Speaker 2: and finishing the night with eight strikeouts.
Speaker 1: Fouts was named Most.
Speaker 2: Valuable Pitcher of the tournament, while Maya Brady, who posted
Speaker 2: a five to thirty eight batting average and recorded two
Speaker 2: home runs in five games, was named tournament MVP.
Speaker 1: To lacrosse.
Speaker 2: The US won its fifth consecutive and tenth overall world
Speaker 2: title over the weekend at the twenty twenty six Women's
Speaker 2: Lacrosse World Championship in Tokyo, Japan. After going three JO
Speaker 2: and group play, Tmusa moved on to the knockout round,
Speaker 2: defeating Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals, Israel in the semifinals,
Speaker 2: and then Canada in the championship final. To tennis, twenty
Speaker 2: one year old Alex Siala of the Philippines captured her
Speaker 2: first WTA title at the DC Open on Monday, besting
Speaker 2: American Jessica Pagoula four six six, four six to oh
Speaker 2: in a match that began on Sunday but finished on
Speaker 2: Monday due to rain delays. Yala is the first Filipina
Speaker 2: to win a WTA five hundred event. Finally to the WPBL,
Speaker 2: where Kelsey Whitmore and the San Francisco Firebells defeated Ali
Speaker 2: Schroeder and the Boston Hunters eleven to three on Sunday
Speaker 2: in the second half of the Women's Professional Baseball League's
Speaker 2: opening weekend.
Speaker 1: The Hunters are back.
Speaker 2: In action tonight against the La Queens, a seven thirty
Speaker 2: PM Eastern First Pitch.
Speaker 1: You can watch that game on ESPN Select. We got
Speaker 1: to take a break. When we come back, you better
Speaker 1: believe it's Brendan Hunt.
Speaker 2: I caught up with him a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 2: just as the Men's World Cup was winding down to
Speaker 2: talk about the long awaited season four of Ted Lasso.
Speaker 3: Joining us now Coach Beard.
Speaker 2: He's an actor and writer known for films including We're
Speaker 2: the Millers and Horrible Bosses Too. TV shows including Key
Speaker 2: and Peel, Community, Parks and rec and How I Met
Speaker 2: Your Mother. He's the co host of the World Cup
Speaker 2: podcast After the Whistle, and he's put up multiple one
Speaker 2: man shows, including the most recent smash hit fantastic show,
Speaker 2: The Movement You Need. And of course, he's best known
Speaker 2: as co creator, writer and cast member of ted Lasso.
Speaker 2: A Second City alum, he fell in love with soccer
Speaker 2: while in Amsterdam performing with Boom Chicago. We've downed pints
Speaker 2: together in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Australia so far, and
Speaker 2: I acquired him a bowling trophy from his very first job,
Speaker 2: Set and Pins at Southport Lane's that now lives proudly
Speaker 2: on a shelf with Emmy's and SAG Awards where it
Speaker 2: should be, and he's pointing to it in the back
Speaker 2: there it's Brendan Hunt.
Speaker 4: Hi bred Hi Sharah, thanks coming on, thank you, thank
Speaker 4: you for having me.
Speaker 2: I'm amazed you're upright. I mean you're not, you're sitting down.
Speaker 2: I'm glad you're sitting down. I'm amazed you're sitting upright.
Speaker 2: Because boy, between the World Cup and prep for this
Speaker 2: new season of Ted Lasso, are you sleeping at all?
Speaker 4: Uh?
Speaker 5: Yeah, yes, yes, So I just got reunited with the kids, so,
Speaker 5: like I was gonna say, you also have children, Yeah,
Speaker 5: they weren't with us in New York, so we were
Speaker 5: kind of sleeping there and that was great Shannon, Shannon,
Speaker 5: because I left earlier than her and she was still asleep.
Speaker 4: And then later she texts me like Shannon being my wife, y'all,
Speaker 4: I slept till eleven. I slept till eleven. I slept
Speaker 4: till eleven.
Speaker 2: Oh, don't get used to it, Shannon, because uh August fifth,
Speaker 2: Apple TV brand new season of Ted Lasso. There will
Speaker 2: be parties, there will be premieres, there will be a
Speaker 2: constant stream of texts. I can imagine congratulating you on
Speaker 2: yet another fan tastic season. But before we get to
Speaker 2: season four, we have to start at the beginning because
Speaker 2: I quickly want you to tell us about the day
Speaker 2: back in twenty thirteen, you and your friend Jason Sadeikis
Speaker 2: are sitting down to write a Premier League ad campaign
Speaker 2: for NBC Sports inspired by your years in Amsterdam, hanging
Speaker 2: out playing the FIFA video game together before and after
Speaker 2: your comedy shows how much of what we see and
Speaker 2: have seen across the years in ted Lasso came out
Speaker 2: of that first day of writing how much of the
Speaker 2: root is really in there?
Speaker 4: I mean a fair amount of the DNA. The thing
Speaker 4: is at that time we were writing a sketch essentially
Speaker 4: like that first ad. I mean holds up pretty well.
Speaker 4: But it holds up, I think for the exact possible
Speaker 4: length of what you could get out of it, which
Speaker 4: is like, you know, six minutes, and now we've done. However,
Speaker 4: you know, almost a thousand thousands, got to be thousand
Speaker 4: thousands of minutes have last over by now because because
Speaker 4: it got modulated, so the parts that are in there,
Speaker 4: that are are still part of it are won. And
Speaker 4: this is an analogue of like what I was doing.
Speaker 4: You know, for Jason and all my other friends when
Speaker 4: when they would move to Amsterdam, because I've been there once.
Speaker 4: I was there, I got into soccer, and when the
Speaker 4: American sports fans would come over, I would like try
Speaker 4: to explain soccer to them. So Beard doing that that,
Speaker 4: that's still part of the show because that's that's really
Speaker 4: the kernel of it in a way. And Beard not
Speaker 4: talking much is in there because you know, it was
Speaker 4: me and and Jason and our buddy Joe Kelly. And
Speaker 4: Joe Kelly was the one who early on was like,
Speaker 4: I would like to say that he was good enough
Speaker 4: friend to couch it by saying Brendon, I've got bad
Speaker 4: news for you. But he didn't do that. He just
Speaker 4: pulled the band aid right off and said, yeah, I
Speaker 4: don't think you should talk. He's a monologue and coach.
Speaker 4: So you should say like one thing at a time
Speaker 4: and just get it in and be done with it. Oh, yeah,
Speaker 4: you're right, Okay, great, let's do that. Those things are eternal.
Speaker 4: But yeah, oh and the desire, the desire is not
Speaker 4: quite not quite there at the word. But so the
Speaker 4: the comfort with making fun of ourselves, not just ourselves personally,
Speaker 4: but also our our our two hundred fifty year old,
Speaker 4: incredible nation. So those things are all still part of it.
Speaker 4: But if it had just remained what it was at
Speaker 4: the time, you know, we wouldn't be talking about it now,
Speaker 4: because yeah, we squeezed damn near all we could out
Speaker 4: of that lemon. And then even when it came back
Speaker 4: the next year, it was already starting to change in
Speaker 4: the direction of where it is now, but not not
Speaker 4: very far, just a couple of baby steps, but those
Speaker 4: baby steps open the door. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I remember seeing even the ad for it being a
Speaker 2: TV show and I was like, huh, like, how are
Speaker 2: you going to make this a TV show? And not
Speaker 2: excited and then immediately becoming completely and utterly obsessed. What
Speaker 2: if I told Brendan on that first day of writing
Speaker 2: what was going to happen to him over the next
Speaker 2: ten years or so as a result of that little sketch, Well,
Speaker 2: would the response have been.
Speaker 4: It would have been the end of our friendship. And
Speaker 4: I know that mathematically that would have been the first
Speaker 4: day we met, So yeah, maybe that would would have been.
Speaker 4: That would have been like, no, no, this lady's full
Speaker 4: of shit, I'm out here, We're done.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm glad we didn't meet back then because it
Speaker 2: gives me a chance of fighting, chance to stick around.
Speaker 1: So let's talk about you.
Speaker 2: You wrap season three, there are some great teasers at
Speaker 2: the end there, you tease the women's team, you tease,
Speaker 2: you know, the meet cute again between Rebecca and the
Speaker 2: man from the house boat. There's a lot of things
Speaker 2: that were left for fans to cling to as proof
Speaker 2: that you couldn't possibly just leave those dangling.
Speaker 1: You would have to come back.
Speaker 2: And yet a lot of the press was that it
Speaker 2: was done at least for a while, if not forever,
Speaker 2: breaking the hearts of so many who literally clung to
Speaker 2: the show, especially during COVID and the diarist moments of
Speaker 2: our existence, which seemed to be every morning when I
Speaker 2: wake up to fresh new horse and I'm like ted
Speaker 2: Lasso again, did you think you were done with season three? Like,
Speaker 2: was there a point at which you really believed.
Speaker 1: That that was it?
Speaker 4: We thought, I mean, I can't speak for others, but
Speaker 4: I thought it was very possible that we were done,
Speaker 4: but also accepted that, you know, there we sure liked
Speaker 4: doing it. We like doing it more than we ever
Speaker 4: thought we would. When we sort of you know, to
Speaker 4: some degree mapped out, you know, a three season art
Speaker 4: of it, and we way underestimated the degree to which
Speaker 4: people would would like watching it for you know, that
Speaker 4: that was for sure, but also you know, it's just
Speaker 4: very full on gig and like we definitely were going
Speaker 4: to take a break, and you know, at that point,
Speaker 4: it's down to the whims of Jason, and like I
Speaker 4: just very easily could see Jason saying, you know, let's
Speaker 4: do it again or not. I really am done. I
Speaker 4: really am done. You know, I'm tired of having a mustache.
Speaker 4: Like he's not a natural He makes it work, but
Speaker 4: it's not his natural state. So yeah, it truly could
Speaker 4: have gone either way. I certainly was hoping we'd come
Speaker 4: back and and obviously maybe not obviously, but I'm glad
Speaker 4: we did. But yeah, I didn't know for sure. I
Speaker 4: was trying very actively trying not to think about it,
Speaker 4: but we did leave ourselves those a couple of breadcrumbs
Speaker 4: that you mentioned, just to make sure that you know,
Speaker 4: if we did have somewhere to go, or if we
Speaker 4: do want to come back, we would have somewhere to go.
Speaker 1: So we'll get to the decision to come back.
Speaker 2: But I want to talk about how you spent some
Speaker 2: of the time in between. I know of one thing,
Speaker 2: your incredible one man show, The Movement you Need, which
Speaker 2: I saw in a little test run in a smaller
Speaker 2: theater and then saw at Steppenwolf, which is for those
Speaker 2: who don't know, this storied theater in Chicago.
Speaker 1: Was so much incredible history.
Speaker 2: And you sold that okr out over and over again
Speaker 2: and people raved and cried and laughed and it's a
Speaker 2: really beautiful show.
Speaker 1: And do you have any Broadway news to break yet?
Speaker 4: No, no Broadway news to break. We remain in state
Speaker 4: of Broadway aspiration. But uh yeah, it just it just
Speaker 4: might might be a minute, is all. But that's still
Speaker 4: still the hope. I mean, the run at Steppenwolf went
Speaker 4: as well as I possibly could have hoped, such a
Speaker 4: thrill to be on that stage in particular. So yeah,
Speaker 4: there's there, there's life in this yet. But it's just
Speaker 4: it's just not not right away.
Speaker 2: It's a life story that involves a lot about your
Speaker 2: family and your career and comedy and the Beatles, and
Speaker 2: very much about Paul McCartney.
Speaker 1: Have you gotten sir Paul to this to the theater yet?
Speaker 4: No? He didn't make it out to Chicago. But that's
Speaker 4: one of the reasons why I want to get to Broadways,
Speaker 4: because I'm pretty sure he hangs out in New York
Speaker 4: at fair amount. Uh. But you know what, I forgot
Speaker 4: to ask Jason about this when I saw him at
Speaker 4: the you know, for the for the World Cup final,
Speaker 4: the last time him and me and Shannon maybe she
Speaker 4: was with him in Kansas City, firstman in Kansas City
Speaker 4: for a quarterfinal, the the Argentina sitcially quarterfinal, and apparently
Speaker 4: he whispered to Shannon somewhere in there. I was at
Speaker 4: a wedding or something like that, and I saw Paul
Speaker 4: McCartney and the dance floor and I told him about
Speaker 4: the show on the dance.
Speaker 1: Floor, and so he knows it exists.
Speaker 4: He knows it exists, but he heard it. It was
Speaker 4: a wedding, so it was on dance. How many times
Speaker 4: had somebody come up to you in a dance floor
Speaker 4: with a pitch and and like you've like clung to that.
Speaker 4: He's like, yeah, I'm Paul McCartney. I'm always looking for
Speaker 4: new information.
Speaker 1: One man show out of Chicago a moment.
Speaker 4: Oh wow about me, Paul McCartney. So who knows if
Speaker 4: it landed, and but I haven't. I've not gotten Jason's
Speaker 4: version of that story. Yet we're at least inching ever
Speaker 4: closer to Paul. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well it's fantastic. Did you get any surprising feedback or
Speaker 2: moving feedback? I feel like a lot of people felt
Speaker 2: deep personal connections and found some part of it that
Speaker 2: they really saw themselves in.
Speaker 4: Yeah. So the show is about my mom, Me and
Speaker 4: my mom's relationship. My mom was an alcoholic for me
Speaker 4: being a young age. She was divorced when I was
Speaker 4: very young and eventually getting married, but it was always complicated,
Speaker 4: and we had this one avenue of of sort of
Speaker 4: you know, cohesion and understanding, which was a mutual love
Speaker 4: of the Beatles that she had instilled in me. And like,
Speaker 4: I got a lot of people after shows saying that
Speaker 4: it was, you know, a little analog of their relationship
Speaker 4: with their mother or father. That weird, That seems like
Speaker 4: there's a lot of alcoholic parents in Chicago. I don't
Speaker 4: know how that it's.
Speaker 1: Full of Irish Catholics. That can't be.
Speaker 4: It's strictly anecdotal, but yeah, that they had complicated relationship
Speaker 4: with their parents and that not just music, but specifically
Speaker 4: the Beatles was something that they could still connect over,
Speaker 4: which you know speaks to the power of their music.
Speaker 4: So yeah, it was. It was kind of a good
Speaker 4: feeling to be like, you know, I got to tell
Speaker 4: the specifics of this story and what's unique about it,
Speaker 4: but then to have it come back to me is
Speaker 4: you know, this story is more more broadly, you know,
Speaker 4: lived out there.
Speaker 2: They always say, Actually, the specifics tend to be more relatable,
Speaker 2: So dive in as deep as you can, and that's
Speaker 2: where people find themselves. You're also writing a book. Are
Speaker 2: you going to say what it's about? Or do we
Speaker 2: keep that under wraps for now?
Speaker 4: We keep it under wraps for now. It's kind of
Speaker 4: leaking out there. But I don't need to keep letting
Speaker 4: it leak, So.
Speaker 1: Stop the leak.
Speaker 4: Another biographical thing, but this time more about Chicago baseball
Speaker 4: than Liverpudley and music.
Speaker 1: Love it Okay.
Speaker 2: So you're doing these side projects and all the while
Speaker 2: you're wondering if Sadeikis is going to call up and
Speaker 2: say he's getting the itch. When did you come together
Speaker 2: and decide Season four? What happened and what did the
Speaker 2: time off give you? In terms of perspective for how
Speaker 2: you wanted the show to go this time.
Speaker 4: Trying to remember, example, the timeline was, so we finished
Speaker 4: filming in twenty twenty two and then there was still
Speaker 4: post for a while. That took us into the new year,
Speaker 4: and let's see, we started writing again in what years
Speaker 4: of now? Twenty twenty six we shot it. So he's
Speaker 4: there somewhere arom there. I don't know, I guess late
Speaker 4: twenty twenty three, Jason, you know startling I missed. You know,
Speaker 4: his idea of doing it with the women's team is
Speaker 4: is really is really sticking with me? And so somewhere
Speaker 4: in there we had like a mini writer's retreat. We
Speaker 4: grab some of the staff and we went out to
Speaker 4: OHI and hung out there for a little bit. Yeah,
Speaker 4: and just through through it against the wall, not even
Speaker 4: with the idea of like finding stuff that that could
Speaker 4: end up being in the show per se, but just
Speaker 4: to see if this was still fertile ground, you know, like,
Speaker 4: is there is there something to be you know, still
Speaker 4: tilled here, and like you know, just the amount of
Speaker 4: ideas that people had, not just about new characters and
Speaker 4: and and the and the new team, but also you know,
Speaker 4: still still plenty to unravel about the characters that were
Speaker 4: were you know, we had been around from the beginning,
Speaker 4: so just left there with a feeling like okay, yeah,
Speaker 4: there's there's there's something here, and then yeah, and then
Speaker 4: soon enough it was we were gathering for real as
Speaker 4: a whole staff. And then we were off to the race.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because I think when I saw you in Chicago,
Speaker 2: you were going to Kansas City. When we got coffee,
Speaker 2: I think you're going to Kansas City, and then you
Speaker 2: were going back out to Richmond, England area.
Speaker 4: Yeah. We filmed the first episode in Kansas City. Yeah,
Speaker 4: and uh, you know, because you know that's where Ted is,
Speaker 4: That's where we leave him, so we got to go
Speaker 4: back there to get him out. And then I think
Speaker 4: the spoiler is clear, since there are nine episodes after
Speaker 4: that episode, you get him back. I don't want to
Speaker 4: shock you, but the remaining episodes are filmed in Richmond.
Speaker 1: Well, he can't be a fish out of water if
Speaker 1: he's in water. So that it's so true.
Speaker 4: So true. He's not not flopping around nothing good to
Speaker 4: watch there.
Speaker 2: No, he's never drinking bubbly water by mistake and spitting
Speaker 2: it out. He's just perfectly capable of handling all the
Speaker 2: water in Kansas City, and what's the fun in that?
Speaker 1: So we hear a good game.
Speaker 2: In particular, are exceedingly excited that this season is centered
Speaker 2: around the Richmond Women's Club.
Speaker 1: What are you legally allowed to tell us about season four?
Speaker 4: Let's see, here's my version of an eight mile rap. Like,
Speaker 4: I know that some liberties were taken with some structural stuff,
Speaker 4: and some passionate soccer fans like, that's not what happens,
Speaker 4: and they'll they'll be right, but we did it anyway.
Speaker 4: But hey, I don't want them to think it was
Speaker 4: because we didn't know. No, we knew, but you gotta
Speaker 4: tell the story and sometimes you got shoe hornes and
Speaker 4: facts in there. So, for one thing, this team starts
Speaker 4: out in WSL two, which there's some precedent for that,
Speaker 4: because I believe when Man You got their team going,
Speaker 4: they just were magically because if they were Men United,
Speaker 4: and there was probably some money involved, they were in
Speaker 4: the WSL two. And that can't happen anymore. If you're
Speaker 4: the starting a team, even if you're attached to PREMI
Speaker 4: league club, you start further down. Well, we ain't got
Speaker 4: time for that. So we're in WSL two.
Speaker 2: Also, I mean, Brendan, most of us are still learning
Speaker 2: what soccer is, so the majority of your American fans.
Speaker 1: Won't be like, I don't know about this. This isn't
Speaker 1: how the Premier League works.
Speaker 4: Uh, the deeper cut yet we we uh we play
Speaker 4: a little fast and loose with the schedule of the
Speaker 4: Women's f A Cup. Uh. The will be at least
Speaker 4: one Women's a Cup match. It will not take place
Speaker 4: at the time that it's supposed to take place. The
Speaker 4: draw is at a weird time. We we have we
Speaker 4: have taken great liberties with the calendar and that we
Speaker 4: did not take with with our previous seasons. And it's
Speaker 4: not because not because that was the men's game. There's
Speaker 4: the women's game, which is we gotta we gotta thing.
Speaker 4: We got we had a we had a Sorry, Sorry
Speaker 4: about that, Sorry about that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, No.
Speaker 2: We're used to how our storylines being secondary to the
Speaker 2: storylines of the men at the center of life.
Speaker 1: Really, so if you need.
Speaker 2: To just move us around willy nilly where we don't
Speaker 2: even fit in order to accommodate you, we get it.
Speaker 4: It's so good to talk to seminar. Thank you, thank you, thankfully.
Speaker 1: Again.
Speaker 2: Most of us will not know unless we are watching
Speaker 2: enough to learn how the calendar works out there were
Speaker 2: probably not probably not aware. What players or legends did
Speaker 2: you lean on for the women's storylines. Can you reveal
Speaker 2: anyone that you went to and said, hey, we do
Speaker 2: want to get this part right, so make sure we're
Speaker 2: helping helping us out.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we just by total happenstances. While we were shooting
Speaker 4: season three, Jason and I both separately met England captain
Speaker 4: and Arsenal stalwart Leah Williamson and and we remained in
Speaker 4: touch with her, and she's she's real good people and
Speaker 4: she was someone we were able to turn to a
Speaker 4: fair amount cool and also nomadic American soccer exec Karen Nortman,
Speaker 4: someone were able to go to a lot of a
Speaker 4: lots for like the business side.
Speaker 2: Of things for those who don't know, one of the
Speaker 2: co founders of Angel City and also Monarch Collective, which
Speaker 2: is a massive fund for women's sports. And she bounces
Speaker 2: around all over the globe doing a ton of that stuff.
Speaker 2: So that's a great person to chat with.
Speaker 4: So yeah, those two, I believe or will be credited
Speaker 4: as consultants on the show. They're certainly supposed to be
Speaker 4: if they're not somebody but it wasn't me, But yeah,
Speaker 4: they were. They were both invaluable.
Speaker 1: That's awesome. I'm sure you can't reveal any cameos.
Speaker 4: I cannot. I cannot. I'm not even sure there are any,
Speaker 4: but that I cannot if.
Speaker 1: There were very very well played.
Speaker 2: Let's say that this show were to go on for
Speaker 2: more seasons after this, you're something you're certainly not committing
Speaker 2: to or announcing here and now, unless you want.
Speaker 1: To hoping for Okay, great for I'll take that answer.
Speaker 2: Okay, so season five, season six, future cameos, So you're
Speaker 2: not revealing anything about this season. Is there someone that
Speaker 2: you've either tried to get on and hasn't yet come on,
Speaker 2: or a dream cameo that you would like to reach
Speaker 2: out and see if you'll be able to wrangle them m.
Speaker 1: Other than sir Paul of course.
Speaker 4: Yeah, pretty much, just Paul and Yoko there and and
Speaker 4: like hash it out, you.
Speaker 2: Know, like playing soccer hopefully, Yeah, suit them up.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm afraid I cannot answer that question because that
Speaker 4: that touches on the other question.
Speaker 2: So fair, fair, fair, fair, which then would then reveal
Speaker 2: to us that there already are cameos, even though you
Speaker 2: said you didn't even know if there were any. Anyway,
Speaker 2: it seems like the cast of the show gets along
Speaker 2: really well. You've got old friends like you and Jason.
Speaker 2: You also have this collection of people who have seen
Speaker 2: their lives completely change because of the show's popularity since
Speaker 2: maybe day one when you're on set with them, to
Speaker 2: them being these big stars.
Speaker 1: Now, what's the onset vibe?
Speaker 4: Like?
Speaker 1: Is it as fun as it seems from the outside.
Speaker 4: It's fun, that's for sure, you know, like a we
Speaker 4: pretty early on realized that a problem that we used
Speaker 4: to have when we were shooting scenes in the men's
Speaker 4: locker room, that we were gonna have the exact same
Speaker 4: problem in the women's locker room, which was all the
Speaker 4: team are having too much fun together and they need
Speaker 4: to shut the up. Like it was like three seasons,
Speaker 4: three seasons, like it crept up slowly, like you know,
Speaker 4: like a frog and boiling water, you know, like it
Speaker 4: was like a little bit season one and then seeing
Speaker 4: two a little bit more and season three, like Jesus, guys,
Speaker 4: come on, what's happening here? We got it?
Speaker 1: We were filming a show.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so this time we saw it coming a little
Speaker 4: bitarly on like oh right, okay, hey gang, this is
Speaker 4: not your fault, but there's this is a thing that's
Speaker 4: gonna happen, and it'll be better if it didn't, right, fair,
Speaker 4: But it still happens all the time. Like they you know,
Speaker 4: both teams just loved hanging out with each other and
Speaker 4: the energy was always great for it. And you know,
Speaker 4: also across the board consummate professionals and like you know it,
Speaker 4: when alerted to the fact that they were unwittingly causing
Speaker 4: a bit of a distraction, uh, you know, everybody, everybody
Speaker 4: clicked in the gear right away. But but yeah, everybody's
Speaker 4: having having fun for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I realized by the way, that was an unfair question.
Speaker 2: It was a very when did you stop beating your wife?
Speaker 2: Journalistic malpractice? Is it as fun as we think it is?
Speaker 2: Like what you're supposed to say? No, Actually, it turns
Speaker 2: out a lot of us do hate each other, which
Speaker 2: I'm going to reveal right now here in the center.
Speaker 1: So poor question from me, and yet handled perfectly by you.
Speaker 4: Well you, David sterned me. Oh boy, it.
Speaker 2: Really did you film a lot in the actual town
Speaker 2: of Richmond upon Thames. Have you heard much about if
Speaker 2: that city has gotten a sort of Ted Lasso bump,
Speaker 2: whether positively or negatively, Like everyone's showing up and going
Speaker 2: to the pub now.
Speaker 4: It was already starting in season three when we were
Speaker 4: shooting season three, which was slightly problematic for me because
Speaker 4: after season two was done, which was which was the
Speaker 4: hardest COVID year. Like, you know, a lot of things
Speaker 4: were closed almost the whole time that we were filming.
Speaker 4: They just started open up as we were done, and
Speaker 4: I was like, you know what, I like Richmond. I
Speaker 4: want to live in Richmond. I want the pub from
Speaker 4: from the show to be my local. Richmond's beautiful. Let's
Speaker 4: go to Richmond, because like it seemed like the UK
Speaker 4: had not yet caught up to the show. Unfortunately, by
Speaker 4: season three it had. I can no longer go to
Speaker 4: the pub from the show, and if I go to
Speaker 4: Richmond Green, I have to be very stealthy about it
Speaker 4: because yeah, people people are flocking there. Frankly, you know,
Speaker 4: mostly Americans, but a lot of folks. There's now an
Speaker 4: official Ted Lasso shop that is in the alley where
Speaker 4: Ted's department was the real club is still there? The
Speaker 4: pub who used to you know after the after season
Speaker 4: one came out. If you were to go to the
Speaker 4: pub and be like Last, they'd be like, sure, yeah,
Speaker 4: there was. There was a thing called the Last. Have
Speaker 4: it fine. Now they have a booth that's basically a
Speaker 4: shrine to the show.
Speaker 1: There. I'm gonna make it worse. All of us are
Speaker 1: going to make it worse.
Speaker 4: The Prince's Head, ladies and gentlemen, all right on Richmond Green,
Speaker 4: but please enjoy some of the other establishments like the
Speaker 4: Cricketers excellent excellent little pub and Richmond Green, for the record,
Speaker 4: is truly a magical place. Like me and Jason, while
Speaker 4: we were all still writing Season one, me and Jason
Speaker 4: went to go watch some auditions in London for Rebecca's.
Speaker 4: It was six really really good people for Rebecca and
Speaker 4: none of them we were quite right. But our last
Speaker 4: stop because they wanted to show some locations on our
Speaker 4: last day before we're going to the airport at like two,
Speaker 4: and they showed us, you know, the river and this
Speaker 4: and that, and then you know, we still had a
Speaker 4: little while and it was Wednesday at two and like
Speaker 4: I've been to Britain before I know what they're like,
Speaker 4: and so a little surprise, no one was mentioning this,
Speaker 4: and so I realized, oh, they're waiting for us to
Speaker 4: give permission. So well, everybody, since we've we've seen all
Speaker 4: the locations, should we get a beer? Yes, yes, that'd
Speaker 4: be love me. Let's do that. That's do that. Like
Speaker 4: eight of us around a bench outside and like got
Speaker 4: to sit next to Richmond Green on a beautiful day,
Speaker 4: and Richmond Green is just it's awesome. It's a perfect
Speaker 4: little park. It is used in the perfect ways, you know,
Speaker 4: by by the locals. And then you're just off the river.
Speaker 4: The river's beautiful there like Richmond's great. And one last
Speaker 4: Richmond recommendation for those who go start your tour at
Speaker 4: the top of it of Richmond Hill, there's a pub
Speaker 4: called the Roebuck and if you come outside, they let
Speaker 4: you just grab a beer and pull it outside. And
Speaker 4: incredible view of the Thames which was immortalized in someone's painting,
Speaker 4: maybe a Hogarth, just with this particular curve in the river,
Speaker 4: just one one. That view is like a protected government view.
Speaker 4: There's like a law like that comes back up every
Speaker 4: hundred years.
Speaker 2: I love the fact that you actually tried to live there,
Speaker 2: and so that people there were like, nah, It's like
Speaker 2: when a guy wears his own jersey.
Speaker 1: I think it was Matt Stafford.
Speaker 2: Who wore his own jersey for Halloween, and people like, well,
Speaker 2: it can't really be him, or no it was it
Speaker 2: was a juju Smith's shuster. I think Halloween Trigger treated
Speaker 2: in his own jersey and everyone was like, well, that's
Speaker 2: not him, and that's you wandering around Richmond after season two,
Speaker 2: They're like, well, surely.
Speaker 1: The actor who plays Coach Beard wouldn't be so ridiculous
Speaker 1: as to move.
Speaker 2: Here and live here permanently, and yet that you are,
Speaker 2: and it would be shanin for a man to do.
Speaker 1: Okay, quick speed round.
Speaker 2: Tell us something we don't know that would surprise us
Speaker 2: about Jason Sadegas.
Speaker 4: He has no sense of smell, literally physically, no from birth.
Speaker 4: He has no sense of smell.
Speaker 1: Oh that's such a shame. I love good smells.
Speaker 2: I hate bad smells, though, so maybe it's not always
Speaker 2: a shame. Tell us something we would be surprised to
Speaker 2: know about Brett Goldstein.
Speaker 4: I don't think he sleeps. I don't think he sleeps.
Speaker 1: Actual vampire just doesn't need it.
Speaker 4: Just his engine is running forever and he always needs
Speaker 4: to be doing something, which.
Speaker 5: Is why he's this business so prolific, admirably prolific in
Speaker 5: his output of all things.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Juno Temple.
Speaker 4: This might not be that surprising, but the greatest collection
Speaker 4: of vintage clothes you've ever seen outside.
Speaker 1: Now I want to see all of them. Okay. Finally,
Speaker 1: Hannah Wattingham.
Speaker 4: Mouth like a sailor, perfect as.
Speaker 1: It should be. I feel like she and I would
Speaker 1: get along quite well.
Speaker 4: Oh you would, yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean you'd literally
Speaker 4: see eye to eye, which is good novel enough to few,
Speaker 4: but yeah, yeah, you two would hit either of your
Speaker 4: native towns in memorable fashions.
Speaker 2: Speaking of the cast, just a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 2: you lost to Anthony had who played Rupert. What a
Speaker 2: perfect role, perfect ability for him to just be charming
Speaker 2: in a prick at the same time, which is very
Speaker 2: difficult then yet he nailed it. What will you remember
Speaker 2: most about spending time in filming with him?
Speaker 4: His glee? You know, he was He's very like inauspiciously great,
Speaker 4: you know, and he he for as negative as his
Speaker 4: energy was on camera, off camera, it was always like
Speaker 4: Anthony's here today, here today who and like you could
Speaker 4: you could feel it, you know, just so gracious with
Speaker 4: everyone and yeah, just a real, real goddamn gentlemen, and
Speaker 4: pleasure to work with.
Speaker 1: Sorry for your loss.
Speaker 2: He was quite a delight at the role, which is
Speaker 2: hard to do sometimes, but certain people can pull off
Speaker 2: being the enemy and also sort of twinkle in their
Speaker 2: eye making you like them a little bit.
Speaker 1: We're running out of time. I have to ask you.
Speaker 2: About introducing Bieber at the World Cup Final, because what again,
Speaker 2: I'm going back to that stoned kid in Amsterdam just
Speaker 2: looking around and one day I'm like, hey, hey, I'm
Speaker 2: Sarah from the future. Just wanted to let you know
Speaker 2: you're going to introduce Justin Bieber ahead of the World
Speaker 2: Cup Final halftime, which, okay, there's my bat. It's right
Speaker 2: after the hydration Breakwait, I'm sorry, lady. You're definitely full
Speaker 2: of shit. First of all, what and how was that?
Speaker 4: It was a surreal blast, So Jason tells me a
Speaker 4: couple of months ago, Hey, I got a call from
Speaker 4: Chris Martin. He asked if I would do to last
Speaker 4: on the halftime show. Awesome, yeah, yeah, Chris Martin. Cole
Speaker 4: played who was who was administering the entire thing, and
Speaker 4: but asked if you would do Ted last and the
Speaker 4: halftime show, and he says yeah, And in a classic
Speaker 4: Sedakas style move, Jason says, but Ted last is there?
Speaker 4: Kind of feels like Coach Beard should be there too, huh.
Speaker 4: And I'm not sure Chris Martin had anticipated that reply,
Speaker 4: but after after a bit of a cijura, he's, I
Speaker 4: think that's amazing. So it's been cooking for a while
Speaker 4: and I've been biting my tongue not telling my loved ones.
Speaker 4: I told only Shannon and my manager, and uh, finally
Speaker 4: got to it, got to do it, and like it was,
Speaker 4: it was for charity, you know, this for Global Citizen,
Speaker 4: which is a pretty fantastic charity to cast four billion
Speaker 4: eyes upon. None of this, however, means that I am
Speaker 4: now suddenly a proponent of halftime shows for soccer games, uh,
Speaker 4: particular the World Cup final, especially if they had a
Speaker 4: little unwieldy time wise, which I'm told this one did.
Speaker 4: I was in my place in the right time. I
Speaker 4: don't know we kneeled our tunes, but but if it
Speaker 4: was gonna happen, I'm glad I got to be part
Speaker 4: of it. It was weird as hell and uh no,
Speaker 4: I did not meet Madonna nor the Muppets. But Beaber
Speaker 4: was great. Beaber was great due to mel great, Takira great.
Speaker 4: Turns out, Shakira's people call her Shack, which before I
Speaker 4: knew that, I thought actual Shaquille O'Neil was going to
Speaker 4: be part of the halftime show because of course he is. Yeah,
Speaker 4: of course he is.
Speaker 2: We got Ronaldo the World Cup final halftime. I feel
Speaker 2: like Shak's always involved in that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, now I'm surprised he wasn't, but so yeah it was.
Speaker 4: It was trippy as hell, but but an absolute blast.
Speaker 2: You also had me thinking, I love that you always
Speaker 2: have a line for Sadaikas now that he always has
Speaker 2: to bring his beard with.
Speaker 1: Him, which could work in many many occasions.
Speaker 2: Levels to that, did you get to say hi and
Speaker 2: or shut up to TIERI on?
Speaker 4: No, not this time.
Speaker 1: That's a shame. Yeah, keep that for the show.
Speaker 4: I'm sure I'll see him at the Emirates yet again.
Speaker 4: You know, we both slum it over there quite awesen
Speaker 4: love that.
Speaker 2: Okay, the coolest thing so far that ted Lasso has
Speaker 2: allowed you to do.
Speaker 4: Sing the theme to the show with Mumford and Sons
Speaker 4: at a concert in Kansas City.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's awesome. That's really cool.
Speaker 2: And what's your alter ego that you often perform at as.
Speaker 4: There my Elvis Costello tribute act Elvis Prestello, who's an
Speaker 4: Elvis Presley persader who only sings Elvis Costello songs.
Speaker 2: I was like, my brain is saying Elvis Presley, but
Speaker 2: I don't think that's quite right.
Speaker 1: And it isn't It is Elvis.
Speaker 4: Prostello, Presto Prestello.
Speaker 1: Pressed Prestello, Elvis Prestello.
Speaker 2: Perfect. Okay, that's a pretty good one. All right, last
Speaker 2: question for you. You need to give us one little
Speaker 2: Easter egg, completely out of context for season four. That
Speaker 2: will mean absolutely nothing to us now, but we'll make
Speaker 2: it to give a little squeal and pop up on
Speaker 2: our couch when it shows up in an episode this season.
Speaker 4: My favorite Chicago set novel.
Speaker 2: Oh, there are Devil in the White City? What's the
Speaker 2: one about the the stockyards?
Speaker 1: It's famous. Sorry to my teacher, that's.
Speaker 4: Not how you know it. Just the the egg is there.
Speaker 4: You gotta hunt for it, you know, if it's under
Speaker 4: something or behind something, if there's.
Speaker 2: A lot of slaughtered animals relating to it.
Speaker 1: Upton, Sinclair, hold on, it's coming, It's coming.
Speaker 2: It's in there somewhere, the something anyway, that's where we're
Speaker 2: gonna So we're gonna end this with the egg still unfound.
Speaker 1: Brendan, you are the fucking best. Thank you so much
Speaker 1: for doing this. I am so excited for this season.
Speaker 2: I can't decide it if I want to binge it
Speaker 2: or meet it out slowly when most needed. But I'm
Speaker 2: just I'm just so thrilled that you guys have found
Speaker 2: so some success.
Speaker 1: You've really deserved it.
Speaker 4: No, thank you very much. It's been a pleasure. And
Speaker 4: thanks again for my bowling trophy. It's right over there.
Speaker 1: I love that it's still there. Context yes, okay.
Speaker 2: So Brennan's first job was as a pin setter at
Speaker 2: Southport Lanes, a bowling alley in Chicago, and it also
Speaker 2: accounted for his very first television appearance, where he did
Speaker 2: an interview about working there as a young teen. And
Speaker 2: years later, when we were having our first interview, I
Speaker 2: want to say I told him that Southport Lanes was
Speaker 2: being auctioned all the different pieces because it was finally
Speaker 2: going under despite having survived like the Spanish flu and
Speaker 2: prohibition and every other thing, and had been around forever
Speaker 2: and never hundreds and hundreds of years, and finally COVID
Speaker 2: was taking it down and what a shame. And do
Speaker 2: you think that maybe you and Sadakas could just buy
Speaker 2: it in the auction the whole damn place?
Speaker 1: And he said, I think it's too late for that.
Speaker 2: So I went on the auction site and I saw
Speaker 2: that they were selling bowling trophies, and I thought, this
Speaker 2: is a little piece.
Speaker 1: That he can have, And there it is, right.
Speaker 4: Alongside the MPort lanes.
Speaker 1: Never forget where you came from.
Speaker 2: Where you came from, that first TV spot is the
Speaker 2: reason it all happened.
Speaker 1: Never forget it.
Speaker 2: Thanks again to Brendan for taking the time during a
Speaker 2: very busy stretch between the World Cup and Lasso premieres
Speaker 2: and probos.
Speaker 1: Don't forget.
Speaker 2: You can now watch full length good game interviews on
Speaker 2: the Iheartwomen's Sports YouTube channel and you definitely want to
Speaker 2: watch this one to check out the bowling trophy, so
Speaker 2: go subscribe.
Speaker 1: We have to take another break when we return. Can
Speaker 1: you get a Nobel Prize for a television review? Welcome
Speaker 1: back slices.
Speaker 2: We love that you're listening, but we want you to
Speaker 2: get in the game every day too. So here's our
Speaker 2: good game play of the day, perhaps our easiest slice
Speaker 2: work yet. Watch the new season of ted Lasso. The
Speaker 2: premiere is available now and new episodes will drop weekly
Speaker 2: until the finale scheduled for October seventh, and follow Brendan
Speaker 2: at Brendan Hunting on Insta.
Speaker 1: We'll put it in the show notes too. We always
Speaker 1: love hearing from you.
Speaker 2: You can send us an email good game at wondermediaetwork
Speaker 2: dot com or leave us a voicemail calling eight seven
Speaker 2: two two oh four fifty seventy and y'all don't forget
Speaker 2: to subscribe, rate and review.
Speaker 1: I tell you this all the time. It's real easy
Speaker 1: and it helps the show.
Speaker 2: Watch Malala use of size side hustle as TV critic,
Speaker 2: rating ten out of ten for accuracy review. I had
Speaker 2: the honor of interviewing Nobel Prize winner and co founder
Speaker 2: of a women's sports investment fund, Malala during WNBA All
Speaker 2: Star Weekend. First, I have to say she was predictably
Speaker 2: brilliant but surprisingly well versed in women's sports, especially since
Speaker 2: she just started the fund and got involved last year.
Speaker 2: She wasn't present for the previous panels at the conference,
Speaker 2: and yet she repeated so many of the major messages
Speaker 2: of earlier speakers and really understood the opportunity and the
Speaker 2: biggest barriers to growth in the women's sports ecosphere. I
Speaker 2: especially enjoyed her answer to my most pressing question. You've
Speaker 2: had access to and convened with some of the most
Speaker 2: powerful people in the world.
Speaker 1: How do you balance the.
Speaker 2: Good that can be done when we harness the power, wealth,
Speaker 2: and influence of certain folks with the fact that they
Speaker 2: may have views or opinions that aren't in line with
Speaker 2: your mission. And malalassentially said, it's not necessary to work
Speaker 2: with people who aren't aligned. It's not worth muddying the
Speaker 2: waters of your mission. It will ultimately be counterproductive and
Speaker 2: slow you down. And the work can be done without
Speaker 2: dirty money and without abandoning your principles. I love to
Speaker 2: hear it, and it was an especially great message for
Speaker 2: a room full of team owners and presidents to hear.
Speaker 2: She's not even thirty years old yet, and she's just
Speaker 2: fantastically impressive. Anyway, while we were discussing the importance of
Speaker 2: female ownership. She paused the conversation to bring up Ted
Speaker 2: Lasso and talked about how much she loves the show,
Speaker 2: but that she thinks it should be called Rebecca. The
Speaker 2: way she sees it, Ted's unorthodox techniques, sense of humor
Speaker 2: and rapport with the players are only possible because Rebecca
Speaker 2: is at the helm.
Speaker 1: She posits that a male.
Speaker 2: Owner would immediately fire Ted in favor of a more
Speaker 2: traditionally tough and masculine manager. I ran into Jason sadeikis
Speaker 2: ted Lasso himself no fewer than five times in Chicago
Speaker 2: during All Star, and I finally stopped him to ask
Speaker 2: what he thought of Malala's take.
Speaker 1: He said, they're not changing the name.
Speaker 2: But that doesn't mean he doesn't agree. Meantime, I asked
Speaker 2: Brendan about it too, and he said, quote, she's incredible,
Speaker 2: and the day I found out she was a fan
Speaker 2: of the show, I literally gasped. Everything she says makes sense.
Speaker 2: But we probably can't rename the show at this point
Speaker 2: because Warner Brothers wouldn't want to relabel all the merch
Speaker 2: heavy sigh end quote. Fair point, Brendan. It will just
Speaker 2: have to be Rebecca in our minds now it's your turn, y'all,
Speaker 2: rate and review, Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow. Good Game, Brendan,
Speaker 2: Good Game, Malala view. The fact that none of the
Speaker 2: ideas I gave Brendan over Coffee ended up in this
Speaker 2: Ted Lasso season, Well wait, I haven't seen it yet,
Speaker 2: so technically there's still a chance. Good Game with Sarah
Speaker 2: Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with
Speaker 2: Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on
Speaker 2: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2: Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are are Alex.
Speaker 1: Azzi and Bianca Hillier.
Speaker 2: Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan,
Speaker 2: and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Lucy Jones,
Speaker 2: Brittany Martinez and Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery Loftus
Speaker 2: and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain