Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're stocking
Speaker 1: up on hot Off the Press's PWHL gear.
Speaker 2: That Victoire logo is fire.
Speaker 1: On today's show, we're gonna be chatting with the athletics
Speaker 1: Meglenahan about Alex Morgan's final pro game, the legacy she
Speaker 1: leaves behind, and why the Orlando Pride are so damn good. Plus,
Speaker 1: the PWHL has team names, the Music City is getting
Speaker 1: some hoops, and it's the Taylor Swift crossover we all deserve.
Speaker 1: It's all coming up right after this. Welcome back, my
Speaker 1: little slices. Here's what you need to know today. The
Speaker 1: Professional Women's Hockey League aka the PWHL revealed its six
Speaker 1: team names and logos yesterday. Here they are the Boston Fleet,
Speaker 1: Minnesota Frost, Montreal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge, and
Speaker 1: Toronto Scepters. The teams are keeping their primary colors from
Speaker 1: season one, and the league plans to unveil jersey designs
Speaker 1: closer to the start of the season. We hear a
Speaker 1: good Game are already huge fans. The Toronto Scepters. Shout
Speaker 1: out to Twitter user Sarah Jenkins, who noted that the
Speaker 1: team logo, which is an intertwined TNS, looks pretty similar
Speaker 1: to the logo on the cheerleading uniform. Taylor Swift warn
Speaker 1: the music video for Shake It Off, So I don't
Speaker 1: care if they're pandering the t Swift fans. That T
Speaker 1: and thats look pretty good Toronto. And for those of
Speaker 1: you who don't like the names your logos, just know this.
Speaker 1: The players are gonna play play, play, play play, and
Speaker 1: the haters are gonna hate hate, hate, hate hate. Baby,
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake shape. Also in
Speaker 1: PWHL news, Toronto captain Natalie Spooner, who ended last season
Speaker 1: with the n Acltair, has revealed that her rehab is
Speaker 1: going well and she's returning to the ice this week.
Speaker 1: Basketball news, Athletes Unlimited is announced its twenty twenty five
Speaker 1: season will be held in Nashville, Tennessee, with games being
Speaker 1: played at the Municipal Auditorium, which seats about eight thousand fans.
Speaker 1: The first Athletes Unlimited basketball season was held in Vegas,
Speaker 1: while Dallas played host the last two years. The twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five season will run from February fifth through March second.
Speaker 1: League officials also said that twenty nine of the forty
Speaker 1: players signed on have WNBA experience. This year, AU faces
Speaker 1: a bit of competition in signing players because of Unrivaled,
Speaker 1: the new three on three league founded by Brianna Stewart,
Speaker 1: and the FISA Collier. A bunch of big names have
Speaker 1: already been announced by Unrivaled, but we do know folks
Speaker 1: like Sid Colson have announced their return to Athletes Unlimited
Speaker 1: as well. We're just psyched either way that players have
Speaker 1: more options to play stateside during the WNBA offseason. Speaking
Speaker 1: of the WNBA, we all know that Diana Tarassi is
Speaker 1: nearing the end of her career, but just how close
Speaker 1: is it to ending? Because on Monday, The Phoenix Mercury
Speaker 1: posted a cryptic message on social media.
Speaker 2: It was a compilation video of DT over the years,
Speaker 2: with the.
Speaker 1: Caption, if this is it, you have two more opportunities
Speaker 1: to see the greatest of all time at home.
Speaker 2: Now what the fuck? Come on? That can't be how
Speaker 2: we find out now listen.
Speaker 1: If you think this is impossible, like DT would for
Speaker 1: sure have some sort of season long retirement campaign, think again,
Speaker 1: because back in twenty twenty two, when she was asked
Speaker 1: how long she plan to keep playing, she told reporters quote,
Speaker 1: when I'm done playing, I'm just gonna stop playing. I'm
Speaker 1: not going to ease my way out. So yeah, maybe
Speaker 1: this is it, And it is actually what Sue Bird
Speaker 1: predicted when she came on the show a few months ago.
Speaker 1: Let's run the tape. How much longer you think she's
Speaker 1: going to play?
Speaker 2: Gone to my head? This is probably it, But okay,
Speaker 2: I don't know. It gets tricky when you're older and
Speaker 2: you're still playing at a high level.
Speaker 3: Listen, you wouldn't want it the other way. You wouldn't
Speaker 3: want to be like stinking it up or god forbid injury,
Speaker 3: Like you wouldn't want any of that.
Speaker 2: But it does make the decision. You're kind of like, oh,
Speaker 2: I can still do it, But I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think she has other thing she might want to
Speaker 1: get to, So we'll see. I mean, those two are besties,
Speaker 1: but I'm not ready. We said this a few shows ago.
Speaker 1: Can we get no more legends hanging them up?
Speaker 2: This season? We have cried all of our tears DT No,
Speaker 2: not yet.
Speaker 1: Also, I'm a little bit worried, guys, because we talk
Speaker 1: about this on a previous show. She is perilously close
Speaker 1: to getting another technical and missing a game. Like if
Speaker 1: she gets a tech in the second to last game
Speaker 1: and then she's sitting on the bench for her last game.
Speaker 2: Ever, I mean to.
Speaker 1: Be fair, that would be a very Dina Troossi way
Speaker 1: to go on, just double middle fingering everybody on her
Speaker 1: way out of the arena.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I'd rather see her play, but there is something very
Speaker 1: special about picturing DT just teching her.
Speaker 2: Way out of the league. Oh.
Speaker 1: I just remembered though, that the Mercury in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: So even if she misses the last regular season game,
Speaker 1: she would still play in the playoffs and technical's reset.
Speaker 2: So I don't know. Now, I sort of hope that she.
Speaker 1: Ends up spending the last game of the regular season. No,
Speaker 1: because the fans are going to travel to see her
Speaker 1: at home. All right, all right, fine, no more tex
Speaker 1: DT hould off for right now. All right, we got
Speaker 1: to take a break. When we come back, we talk
Speaker 1: foody with the Athletics Meglenahan. She's a senior writer for
Speaker 1: the Athletic who covers the US women's national team, the NWSL,
Speaker 1: and all things women's soccer. She also co hosts the
Speaker 1: Fantastic Weekly podcast Full time with Meg Lenahan. She loves
Speaker 1: skiing Vermont and her dog, DeWitt, who fits nicely in
Speaker 1: a little doggy backpack.
Speaker 2: It's Meg Lenahan. What's up, Meg?
Speaker 3: Oh, not too much, just hiding from the heat in
Speaker 3: San Diego in my hotel room. Right at the moment, I.
Speaker 1: Have heard extremely hot. But we have to start with
Speaker 1: the most important question first. What is the origin of
Speaker 1: the name DeWitt?
Speaker 3: Actually the TV show Dollhouse, which is a very deep
Speaker 3: cut so not familiar. That was yeah, no, it was
Speaker 3: an old Eliza Dashkou fronted TV show. That's where it
Speaker 3: comes from.
Speaker 2: When DeWitt does something bad, do you ever say do what? No?
Speaker 3: She does have many nicknames though, and we did just
Speaker 3: decide recently that she has advanced to her final Pokemon form,
Speaker 3: which is a Gremlin perfect.
Speaker 1: So yes, great, yep, you mentioned you're in Sandygo. You
Speaker 1: were there for Alex Morgan's final game. She assists in
Speaker 1: the thirteenth minute. She subs out in the thirteenth minute,
Speaker 1: tears in her eyes. Big crowd twenty five thousand plus
Speaker 1: other than a loss for the wave, sort of a
Speaker 1: storybook ending for number thirteen, but it.
Speaker 2: Felt too sudden.
Speaker 1: For me, I it just the news of I'm pregnant
Speaker 1: and by the way, this is my last game, and
Speaker 1: then I'm just done.
Speaker 2: I didn't have time to process it.
Speaker 1: So take us to the stadium on Sunday, Like what
Speaker 1: stood out to and did it feel that same suddenness
Speaker 1: to you?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I mean I think we're also so used to
Speaker 3: getting these kind of farewell tours. I mean you think
Speaker 3: about Megan Rapino or Ali Krieger or Carly Lloyd, like
Speaker 3: we've gotten kind of that big, long farewell for sometimes
Speaker 3: both club and country, and then yeah, it's Thursday, like
Speaker 3: midday we get the video, and then Friday the press conference,
Speaker 3: Sunday the final game. So there really has been I
Speaker 3: think this heightened emotional state too, because all of it
Speaker 3: is so sudden, and to be fair, I think part
Speaker 3: of it for Sunday was I mean, it was like
Speaker 3: one hundred and two degrees when the game started, so
Speaker 3: everybody's also just kind of like, Okay, we're out here,
Speaker 3: we're doing it for Alex. Great. But what I think
Speaker 3: I was really struck by is on Friday she talked,
Speaker 3: you know, Alex Morgan has done a lot of media
Speaker 3: over the years. For sure, but on Friday, hilariously prompted
Speaker 3: by Naomi Germa in her final press conference, pregame to
Speaker 3: kind of think about what her final or like her
Speaker 3: favorite memory was, and she talked about some of those
Speaker 3: celebrations where she could finally smile and be a human
Speaker 3: and to see that really come through on Sunday, Obviously,
Speaker 3: I think she was very attuned to her own emotions,
Speaker 3: but I think also trying to be very intentional about
Speaker 3: I'm going to smile my way through this because I
Speaker 3: also denied myself smiling for so much of my career.
Speaker 3: And being able to be on the field with a
Speaker 3: camera and kind of get that close up view of
Speaker 3: her just really going through those emotions was very special.
Speaker 3: And to have such a rambunctious crowd all of those
Speaker 3: signs there was a lot happening, And again I think
Speaker 3: it was really just this heightened state because everybody only
Speaker 3: had four days to process, and I think a good
Speaker 3: everyone had like a day to figure out how they
Speaker 3: were getting the San Diego.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I was thinking about this because there are
Speaker 1: people who have played pregnant through and far deeper into
Speaker 1: their pregnancies than whatever we assume her pregnancy is.
Speaker 2: That since it's not showing yet.
Speaker 1: But I was wondering if if I were coaching the
Speaker 1: opposition to a team where someone was playing her last
Speaker 1: game and had announced her pregnancy, I would be like, listen, y'all,
Speaker 1: I want to win, and also I don't want y'all
Speaker 1: to get caught in a clip where it looks like
Speaker 1: you're roughing up a pregnant lady.
Speaker 2: Do you think there was a directive to be like
Speaker 2: just a little bit extra.
Speaker 3: Just like give her a little bit of space, Yeah,
Speaker 3: I mean there never really was. I mean, also, she
Speaker 3: just so good at running off of someone's back shoulder,
Speaker 3: So I think there was kind of the sense of, well,
Speaker 3: when when San Diego get corner kicks, I did sort
Speaker 3: of notice that she was in her own little pocket,
Speaker 3: and I was just like, could you just maybe back
Speaker 3: up a little bit, Like you don't have to you
Speaker 3: don't have to like go up for contested header right now, Like,
Speaker 3: let's maybe not do that. And I think she knew
Speaker 3: like what her own physical limitations were. I mean, that
Speaker 3: was something that she had talked about of just making
Speaker 3: that decision to retire and knowing like, okay, there's only
Speaker 3: I've lost a little bit of my touch over the
Speaker 3: past few weeks, and so knowing that she was going
Speaker 3: to play limited minutes, obviously that symbolic like we've got
Speaker 3: to get her to thirteen. It took her another couple
Speaker 3: of minutes to actually like make it off the field.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I think everybody was kind of mentally being like, okay,
Speaker 3: just don't. Also, the field was so bad in San Diego,
Speaker 3: which is this ongoing problem, so it was just also
Speaker 3: like can we not have a Megan Rapino? Yeah, like
Speaker 3: a repeat of like a torn achilles No, no, we not.
Speaker 1: Do that pregnant and rehabbing an achilles either, Like you
Speaker 1: don't Yeah? Those Yeah, so many awards accomplished on the
Speaker 1: football side and off the field.
Speaker 2: What is Alex Morgan's legacy to you?
Speaker 3: I mean, I think the off the field stuff is
Speaker 3: as much as you know, like the Caps and the
Speaker 3: goals and assists like she's on I think every top
Speaker 3: ten list you could probably be on for the national
Speaker 3: team and for a lot of the the NWSEL list too.
Speaker 3: But between the equal pay fight and everything having to
Speaker 3: do with the NWSL, like, I think there's kind of
Speaker 3: three wings of the Alex Morgan legacy. There's the on
Speaker 3: the field stuff. There is the fight of equal pay
Speaker 3: and player safety and NBSEL. But then there's also that
Speaker 3: like commercial weight that she had and how important And
Speaker 3: this was also at a time where a lot of
Speaker 3: people weren't putting money in a women's We weren't on
Speaker 3: the rocket ship yet twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen, right.
Speaker 1: And if anyone knows what it looked like before the
Speaker 1: rocket ship, it's Meg, because Meg has been there since.
Speaker 1: It's been like two other people trying to get a
Speaker 1: postgame interview made.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So there there was this sense of Alex Morgan
Speaker 3: being the face of a program, and that is both
Speaker 3: you know, there are pluses and cons to it. I
Speaker 3: think there were some resentments from other players even of
Speaker 3: like why does Alex get all of this attention, but
Speaker 3: then her using that part of her power to bring
Speaker 3: that back around for either the national team for players
Speaker 3: in general. She's also just I think a very underrated
Speaker 3: labor leader as well, Like everything having to do with
Speaker 3: the equal pay fight, she does. She does love a fight,
Speaker 3: like I think that is built into her personality. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I mean, like you think about that that final Columbia
Speaker 3: game AM seven coming in a little testy, and so
Speaker 3: she's got that spark to her. But I think a
Speaker 3: lot of the stuff, both on the field and off
Speaker 3: the field, doesn't really happen without that commercial part. And
Speaker 3: that is not like it looks really attractive. I think
Speaker 3: if you're on the outside, you're like, oh, yeah, you're
Speaker 3: on the cover of all these magazines and cool, and
Speaker 3: that is not always there is a cost to that
Speaker 3: and so, and there's also a way to use that
Speaker 3: for something better. So I think you have to consider
Speaker 3: all of those pieces of her legacy together because she
Speaker 3: used all She used the performance on the field to
Speaker 3: unlock the commercials. She used the commercial to unlock the
Speaker 3: fight stuff. The fight stuff fueled the performances on the field,
Speaker 3: and so all of them are so intertwined, and no
Speaker 3: one else I think has a legacy across all three
Speaker 3: of those wings the way that Alex Morgan does.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe Pino at Pinoso.
Speaker 3: But like even in Like Later I think too.
Speaker 1: On the Heead the door was open to her in
Speaker 1: part because of the palatableness of Alex that allowed us
Speaker 1: allowed us to have a more complicated figure.
Speaker 2: As the Hunter.
Speaker 3: Two.
Speaker 1: Yeah, your coverage of Alex's last game was of course
Speaker 1: filled with important context and thoughtful analysis and impactful quotes
Speaker 1: and even your own photography.
Speaker 2: ESPN's a recap, on the other hand, not so much. Now.
Speaker 1: They had plenty of coverage from actual reporters and human writers.
Speaker 1: But we talked about these AI recaps when they were
Speaker 1: first announced, and this was a good opportunity for them
Speaker 1: to show us that they did have humans overseeing the
Speaker 1: process and that they would be meaningful and useful, and
Speaker 1: not so much if the recap of that game doesn't
Speaker 1: mention Alex Morgan, You've been in the soccer media space
Speaker 1: for a long time. You were writing about soccer before
Speaker 1: there were other people doing it. Now there's AI robots
Speaker 1: trying to take the job of those new people that
Speaker 1: came into the space. I get that they want recaps
Speaker 1: instead of none, but if they're going to be like this,
Speaker 1: what does it mean and how do you see it?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I mean it is tough because also, I mean
Speaker 3: I work for an outlet that I was supposed to
Speaker 3: be in DC for the Washington Spirit Portland Thorns game
Speaker 3: and literally we on a moment's notice changed and flew
Speaker 3: me across the country right, which takes a lot of money,
Speaker 3: and so there is a real investment. They were the
Speaker 3: first outlet hire a full The Athletic was the first
Speaker 3: outlet to hire a full time women's soccer writer. My
Speaker 3: job didn't exist before I got it in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 3: And so I think there is the sense of and
Speaker 3: I try to ask this on Twitter too, like in
Speaker 3: the most good faith reading of what ESPN is trying
Speaker 3: to do, which is they wouldn't do these game recaps
Speaker 3: otherwise they have human beings, right. They pointed to Jeff Kasouf, who,
Speaker 3: to be fair, had a whole bunch of great coverage,
Speaker 3: wasn't on the ground, but had a great story about
Speaker 3: Alex Morgan's final game. They did have ESPN folks on
Speaker 3: the ground. I saw them with my own two eyeballs,
Speaker 3: so they did have people here. But there is this
Speaker 3: sense of we are still just absolutely scrapping for every
Speaker 3: single little bit of coverage that we can get with real,
Speaker 3: live humans for the sport. Like we've seen all this
Speaker 3: explosive growth on women's soccer over the past couple of years,
Speaker 3: and we have not seen that outside of the broadcast sphere.
Speaker 3: And this was my own struggle too, being at that
Speaker 3: game of flying in and kind of having mental expectations
Speaker 3: of what I would actually be able to do on
Speaker 3: the ground, and like, I'm super glad that we got
Speaker 3: to talk to Alex after the game. Obviously she was
Speaker 3: going to be in super high demand Landon Donovan interim
Speaker 3: head coach. But I was kind of thinking, like, we'll
Speaker 3: have a mixed zone. Surely I'll be able to talk
Speaker 3: to Naomi Germa or Kaylen Sheridan, all these players who
Speaker 3: have known her a very long time.
Speaker 2: Nope.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And so it was just kind of like, you,
Speaker 3: you are going to get the NBSEL is going to
Speaker 3: get a big bump from this game no matter what. Obviously,
Speaker 3: everything that they did with that broadcast of CBS agreeing
Speaker 3: to have it on ESPN and Amazon Prime Video and
Speaker 3: all the like spectacular stuff. But at the same time,
Speaker 3: you can't only service your broadcast partners. You've got to
Speaker 3: think about media coverage as a larger hole. And that's
Speaker 3: where unfortunately I put my little nerd hat on. I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 3: how do we because now we are being confronted with
Speaker 3: AI creeping into this space and knowing what we immediately
Speaker 3: saw that first product, and also you know, someone went
Speaker 3: through all those recaps too, and was like every time
Speaker 3: they're saying like this is what where a team is
Speaker 3: playing next weekend, it is not correct, which should.
Speaker 1: Probably because yeah, the NWSL uses the opposite format of
Speaker 1: predominantly American sports, which will show the second team is
Speaker 1: the one the game is at.
Speaker 3: But also they're not even doing proper pairings.
Speaker 2: For this, not even the right matchups.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, it's all it's all completely bad.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so this is this is the thing.
Speaker 1: It's like, like you said, the best faith explanation is
Speaker 1: to say I'm glad they're trying to do something instead
Speaker 1: of nothing and to continue adding coverage. On the other hand,
Speaker 1: there has to be this better balance of the resources
Speaker 1: put into something with the expectations of what you're getting
Speaker 1: out of it, and in women's sports, that has always
Speaker 1: been the flaw. And so as we're seeing these products
Speaker 1: and these leagues put more investment, put more money in
Speaker 1: the media, coverage has a tremendous impact on how people
Speaker 1: see the value of that product. And when you have
Speaker 1: outlets that aren't willing like ESPN has a once a
Speaker 1: week women's soccer showed out great, but if you're going
Speaker 1: to have that then we should also be able to
Speaker 1: trust you as a place that we're going to for
Speaker 1: something as simple as game recaps.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think, you know, it's tough. I haven't
Speaker 3: written a game recap probably in about five years, so
Speaker 3: like there is a sense of like what is useful,
Speaker 3: what can add value to the space, And sometimes game
Speaker 3: recaps really are like yeah, I want to know the
Speaker 3: story of what happened in a game, And so I
Speaker 3: think there is still a demand for them. But the
Speaker 3: problem is, and I see this even in my own
Speaker 3: role of when you are working in women's sports, you
Speaker 3: have to fulfill so many different things all the time.
Speaker 3: Like I have to do analysis, I have to do
Speaker 3: breaking news, I have to do columns. I have to
Speaker 3: do you know, like big field photographer.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Like and to be fair, I wanted to do that,
Speaker 3: like that's going back to my og roots. But also
Speaker 3: there is a sense of like you get to specialize
Speaker 3: in men's sports in a way that you don't get
Speaker 3: to in women's sports.
Speaker 2: Ever got to be a one woman band.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that pressure too of like oh, if I'm not
Speaker 3: doing this, who's going to do it? And we're trying
Speaker 3: to take that part out of your brain and being like, no,
Speaker 3: actually you can.
Speaker 2: Go to bed.
Speaker 3: Yeah, after being outside for like ten hours and one
Speaker 3: hundred degree heat, Megan, please eat a meal and go
Speaker 3: to bed Like that was something that I even had
Speaker 3: to work on myself, being five or six years into
Speaker 3: the shop.
Speaker 1: Now this brings us nicely to our next question, which
Speaker 1: relates to the players feeling like that, like a little
Speaker 1: bit overworked. This season has a lot of in season
Speaker 1: tournaments and competitions in addition to the NWSL schedule of
Speaker 1: course the Olympics, but also NWSL, Times League, MX, Feminial
Speaker 1: Summer Cup, CONKA, caf W Champions Cup.
Speaker 2: Is it all too much? How do you.
Speaker 1: Reconcile the demand without getting in the way of player recovery, bodies,
Speaker 1: all that stuff.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think, And this is what we're going to
Speaker 3: start seeing too in the CBA as well, right, Like,
Speaker 3: the CBA is going to play a big role in
Speaker 3: trying to at least I think, limit some of this
Speaker 3: and to be fair, part of to go back to
Speaker 3: this bigger theme of commercialization, This is kind of the
Speaker 3: natural outcome where everybody's figuring out like, Okay, we can
Speaker 3: make We've got to make money together. How do we
Speaker 3: do that, and on the other part of that is
Speaker 3: the player's safety side. And it's not just about recovery
Speaker 3: or how many games they're playing in the minutes they're
Speaker 3: piling up on their bodies. It's also like, how are
Speaker 3: you flying players to places? Right? And I don't know
Speaker 3: if the NWSL has a great solution for this yet.
Speaker 3: And you get kind of these external places like fIF PRO,
Speaker 3: which is the Global Players Union, that try to do
Speaker 3: these studies, which I think are really good helpful data points.
Speaker 3: But the one place where I am encouraged for the
Speaker 3: end of BSEL is they just actually announced a pair
Speaker 3: of hires. But one of them is Sarah Gregorias, who
Speaker 3: was the former director of women's football at fIF PRO,
Speaker 3: and she's coming at this from a very specific point
Speaker 3: of view. And Sarah Gregorias is a person that I
Speaker 3: truly trust to have players at the heart of what
Speaker 3: she wants to accom and so I think that higher
Speaker 3: to me, really does show there is real intent from
Speaker 3: the NWSL of like, Okay, we want to make as
Speaker 3: much money as possible, and also the players are going
Speaker 3: to benefit off of that money making now, but how
Speaker 3: do we do this in a way where we're not
Speaker 3: actively destroying people at the same time.
Speaker 2: And the product.
Speaker 1: The product is the players, so if they're injured or
Speaker 1: unable to play, that's a huge part of selling it
Speaker 1: the game as well. Since you brought up the CBA,
Speaker 1: lots of changes coming as results of that new CBA.
Speaker 2: What do you think will end up being the most
Speaker 2: impactful part of the agreement.
Speaker 3: I mean, there's there's a lot to dig into, and
Speaker 3: we still actually haven't even really seen the full version
Speaker 3: of the CBA. But I think what the players wanted
Speaker 3: to accomplish with this new CBA is freedom of movement,
Speaker 3: and that is what they have achieved. And I think
Speaker 3: we're going to eventually have bigger questions of like, did
Speaker 3: they maybe give up some money in order to get
Speaker 3: the wins on freedom of movement that they wanted? And
Speaker 3: I think the answer will probably be yes. But they
Speaker 3: might be okay with that trade because it is total
Speaker 3: free agency. There's no discovery list, waiver lists, like all
Speaker 3: of that stuff is now gone. You can't get traded
Speaker 3: without knowing about it, right, which is the terrible Lynn
Speaker 3: William's story, amongst others. And so I think that is
Speaker 3: going to be the defining piece of this because also
Speaker 3: there's no drafts, right Like, teams are really going to
Speaker 3: have to work to attract and retain talent in a
Speaker 3: way that they have never been forced to before. But
Speaker 3: at the same time, they're probably going to make more
Speaker 3: money down the line, so they're going to be able
Speaker 3: to like afford more talent. So it is going to
Speaker 3: reshape this league.
Speaker 1: It'll be interesting to see the haves and have nots
Speaker 1: in a league that has very clear ones right now,
Speaker 1: how that will shake out when it's kind of required
Speaker 1: that you need to actually have good facilities, good resources,
Speaker 1: people want to play for you, all of that stuff quickly.
Speaker 1: What is a crucial item left on the to do list?
Speaker 1: There has been so much progress for this league, but
Speaker 1: what do you see as being something that's going to
Speaker 1: come up in the next couple years that still needs
Speaker 1: to be addressed beyond what we talked about with maybe
Speaker 1: try and player health.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think there is still the sense of, you know,
Speaker 3: we've had a whole generation now I players retire that
Speaker 3: I think we're some of the really big household names
Speaker 3: and now the NWSL has to figure out how do
Speaker 3: you turn Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith, Mouse wantson even to
Speaker 3: some extent like a lot of these players and teams
Speaker 3: like this is now maybe the chance to build some
Speaker 3: of these storylines and individual and team narratives. I mean,
Speaker 3: we've obviously seen team valuations skyrocketing and all that sort
Speaker 3: of stuff, but I think there is still the sense
Speaker 3: maybe of people watching in Europe being like, okay, but
Speaker 3: what is angel City? It's yeah, Manchester City or Manchester United, right, Like,
Speaker 3: there's no there is both a blessing and a curse
Speaker 3: of not having some of this history. And so now
Speaker 3: with having a deal that runs through twenty thirty, you
Speaker 3: can maybe take that step back and say, who do
Speaker 3: we want to be as a league? Right, Like, what
Speaker 3: is the five year vision for the n of USEL
Speaker 3: would still love to know what that is?
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, so that is containing people for that long?
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 1: When there's as much turnover as there has been throughout
Speaker 1: the start of the league, whether that's teams, owners, commissioners,
Speaker 1: et cetera, then it is always just a we're refreshing now, Okay,
Speaker 1: well what does the new look look like? And then
Speaker 1: it lasts for a couple of years and then we're
Speaker 1: like and we're starting again, which makes it really hard.
Speaker 3: Yeah. And also, you know, post twenty twenty three World
Speaker 3: Cup where the US crashed out so early, there was
Speaker 3: such a focus on how do you bring in all
Speaker 3: this international talent? And now the question has to be
Speaker 3: how do you retain all of the international talent? How
Speaker 3: do you keep bringing in more? Are you making sure
Speaker 3: that you can still compete with some of these skyrocketing
Speaker 3: salaries over in Europe? And now also you've got free
Speaker 3: agency that matches with that, so you've set up a
Speaker 3: lot of the like roster stuff of it. But now
Speaker 3: we've got to think about Okay, you've said you want
Speaker 3: to be the best league in the world. For a
Speaker 3: long time, the NBSEL kind of coast it on claiming
Speaker 3: that title, and now I think they actually have to
Speaker 3: prove it, and that's a big, big challenge.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: One of the first things I thought about when I
Speaker 1: joined the Red Stars ownership group was how do you
Speaker 1: create organic tradition and nostalgia for a product that's very young.
Speaker 2: It's very cool that you could.
Speaker 1: Start inventing that, but it feels difficult to do. And
Speaker 1: I would look at the spaces around Chicago, like the
Speaker 1: Cubs and say, there's so many built in things that
Speaker 1: you just know are a part of going to a
Speaker 1: game and being a fan. That are really hard to
Speaker 1: do both in soccer because there aren't that many breaks
Speaker 1: and moments throughout the game with pauses where you can
Speaker 1: have things happen, but also just people can feel when
Speaker 1: it feels inauthentic. So I think the league needs to
Speaker 1: continue to figure out how to establish who it is
Speaker 1: and why it's a part of your identity instead of
Speaker 1: just something you buy a ticket to every once in
Speaker 1: a while. That's the real shift, is when sports become
Speaker 1: your identity and not just one of your many entertainment options.
Speaker 1: And I think the NWSL, I think some of the
Speaker 1: players are going to help. And you mentioned the international players.
Speaker 1: On an individual level, a couple of those players have
Speaker 1: taken the league by storm. You look at the CAC Currents, Temwashuwinga,
Speaker 1: you look at the Pride Barbara Banda. That's two of
Speaker 1: them extraordinary in the NWA sell and outside.
Speaker 2: Where do you rank them.
Speaker 1: As the as the best forwards currently I guess and
Speaker 1: potential in the future that you could see from.
Speaker 3: Them, Yeah, I mean they have immediately just come in
Speaker 3: and I think revolutionized this league. Both of them potentially
Speaker 3: could set and break the single season scoring record set
Speaker 3: by Sam Kerr. But I think there is this real
Speaker 3: sense of those are two players that not only can
Speaker 3: you build, but then the NWSL is a league can
Speaker 3: be like, look at what we have done right, bringing
Speaker 3: in this international talent and using them as a framework
Speaker 3: to build upon and show how important we can be
Speaker 3: to an international framework. But I mean Barbara Banda and
Speaker 3: Tim much having seen them both in like, they are
Speaker 3: just on a completely different level. I mean, honestly, I
Speaker 3: know you just said like you've got to have it
Speaker 3: be an identity, but like, if you can buy a
Speaker 3: ticket and see either of these players play, you have
Speaker 3: to do it. And there is a sense here of
Speaker 3: this could really just be the start, right, like this
Speaker 3: is their first season. To be fair, they have immediately adjusted.
Speaker 3: But what happens in year two and Orlando Pride to
Speaker 3: like Kansas City current? Obviously Tim Wuchunga is like the Star,
Speaker 3: but Orlando Pride is the most complete NWSEL team I
Speaker 3: have ever seen in this league. And also with Marta
Speaker 3: as well, just immediately becoming this vintage version of herself
Speaker 3: the season and unlocking just scoring a goal even this
Speaker 3: past weekend and like we're watching something very special in
Speaker 3: the NWSEL this year. I don't know how it will end,
Speaker 3: but I think this is one where we just kind
Speaker 3: of have to sit back and be like, we're never
Speaker 3: going to see anything like this again.
Speaker 1: Your tea and me right up, because I have to
Speaker 1: ask the Orlando Pride used to be a team that
Speaker 1: was the punchline of jokes about where you would get
Speaker 1: traded if you played poorly, Like nobody wanted to go
Speaker 1: to the Pride top of the table unbeaten since THENTO
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, can anyone beat them?
Speaker 2: And how do you explain this turnaround?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Again, it's so that very easy answer is just
Speaker 3: investment and someone caring, right, and Hailey Carter as a
Speaker 3: GM coming in someone who had played in this league,
Speaker 3: knows this league so well. I think has just kind
Speaker 3: of come in with this very clear eyed approach of
Speaker 3: like I know what this team can be. Very much
Speaker 3: helps seb Hines becoming a coach that has just led
Speaker 3: this team into uncharted territory. But for Orlando, I think
Speaker 3: this simple answer is just like someone finally said, like, okay,
Speaker 3: let's start on the money and see what happens. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and so part of that is ownership. Part of that
Speaker 3: is having a plan for that money. And I think
Speaker 3: you know the piece now too is Okay, we haven't
Speaker 3: quite seen we've seen all the performances on the field.
Speaker 3: How do you get attendance into that place where the
Speaker 3: team deserves That is still again a much bigger question
Speaker 3: that the end of Busel has never really unlocked the
Speaker 3: answer to it. But from an on the field point
Speaker 3: of view, it's just really I think you could see
Speaker 3: it brewing at the start of twenty twenty three. Adding
Speaker 3: in Barbara banda immediate game changer. But they have a
Speaker 3: strong defensive unit as well. I mean like they are
Speaker 3: just they're clicking. And usually I would say like, oh,
Speaker 3: you don't want to be that team heading into postseason
Speaker 3: looking like this, because that's that's where you get tripped up.
Speaker 3: And this year I'm actually like, I don't, I don't know, man,
Speaker 3: Like it might not make a difference. Yeah, I think
Speaker 3: the game, like I said this on my podcast, but
Speaker 3: that game against the Spirit on October sixth, like that's
Speaker 3: the one I have circled because currently that's the one
Speaker 3: and two teams. So that's the one where you're like,
Speaker 3: well maybe maybe uh, but they just look unstoppable.
Speaker 2: They look pretty good. We're running out of time here.
Speaker 1: So I got to ask you, though, how many teams
Speaker 1: do I have to give you for you to say
Speaker 1: that's the number that I believe could truly win it
Speaker 1: all this year?
Speaker 3: I would say, I mean this year. Every the twenty
Speaker 3: twenty three narrative was parody, right, and that is not
Speaker 3: the narrative of twenty twenty four. I do think this narrative. Yeah,
Speaker 3: there's there's like a clear top. I mean there's Orlando Pride,
Speaker 3: and then there's like three or four teams, and then
Speaker 3: there's like a mid pack and then there's the rest.
Speaker 3: But I do think, you know, once you get in
Speaker 3: the playoffs, it can be really tough, totally predicted. It
Speaker 3: also just depends on like who's hosting, what's the weather,
Speaker 3: like what are we getting in ourselves into. But I
Speaker 3: think there's probably a good four teams that I'm like, yeah, no,
Speaker 3: I could believe it. But also I think anyone not
Speaker 3: the Orlando Pride is still going.
Speaker 2: To have Yeah, it's Pride versus the field basically.
Speaker 3: This Yeah, I would I think that's still pretty fair.
Speaker 2: All right. Last question.
Speaker 1: We have a segment on the show called No Dumb Questions,
Speaker 1: and we invite listeners to send us questions things that
Speaker 1: are on their minds. But we actually have a dumb
Speaker 1: question ourselves this time because we don't know the answer.
Speaker 1: Producer Alex asked us and we were like, we don't know.
Speaker 1: Does Alex Morgan's retirement before the end of the season
Speaker 1: open up salary cap space for the wave?
Speaker 3: I would assume so. I would assume so. But the
Speaker 3: problem is is that the win did just close at
Speaker 3: least the trade window, but in theory they should I
Speaker 3: think be able to add because the roster freeze date
Speaker 3: has not happened yet.
Speaker 2: Right, Okay, so probably maybe likely?
Speaker 3: Yes, I would. I would, That would be my initial.
Speaker 3: That's a good one to be, like, Hello, NWSL, can
Speaker 3: I just verify this for you? But like I would,
Speaker 3: guess that's right.
Speaker 1: Thanks Meg for coming on. I always appreciate talking to you.
Speaker 1: Are go to source for everything, so keep up the
Speaker 1: good work. And even though I do want you to
Speaker 1: sleep and take naps, I also do want you to
Speaker 1: work like all the time so that I always have
Speaker 1: the content that I want.
Speaker 3: Okay, I'll keep that in mind. That's what I'll use
Speaker 3: to justify it to my wife. And I'm like, actually,
Speaker 3: I need to work this weekend because Sarah Spain wants
Speaker 3: me to.
Speaker 2: Sarah Spain said, so you can blame me. You can
Speaker 2: blame me.
Speaker 1: Thanks again to Meg for taking the time we got
Speaker 1: to pay the bills. Stick around, welcome back slices. As always,
Speaker 1: we love that you're listening, but we want you to
Speaker 1: get in the game every day too.
Speaker 2: So here's our good game play of the day.
Speaker 1: We want to hear what you think about the PWHL
Speaker 1: logos and names.
Speaker 2: What's your favorite? Is there one you're not feeling?
Speaker 1: Do you think the Ottawa Charge logo looks just like
Speaker 1: the Calgary Flames logo? Because if so, you're not alone.
Speaker 1: Tell us what you think. Which jersey are you pre ordering?
Speaker 1: And do you think the new names are an improvement
Speaker 1: over the names that were leaked last year? Because last
Speaker 1: year there were names trademarked and there was a lot
Speaker 1: of response to them. They were Toronto, Torch, Montreal, Echo, Ottawa, Alert, Minnesota, Superior, Boston,
Speaker 1: Wicked and New York Sound. I think we're better off
Speaker 1: with the new ones. I mean I think we're all
Speaker 1: happy that the league didn't go through with the Ottawa Alert.
Speaker 1: I know they were honoring history and a previous women's
Speaker 1: team called the Ottawa Alerts from like nineteen fifteen, and
Speaker 1: that's a noble idea, but that just doesn't sing as
Speaker 1: a name Ottawa Alert.
Speaker 2: No. We're a little torn on them.
Speaker 1: Ditch in Boston Wicked though, because on the one hand,
Speaker 1: there's an opportunity there for a lot of Witch content.
Speaker 1: It's the title that we have reclaimed and we now celebrate,
Speaker 1: and the opportunity to hear Boston people saying their team
Speaker 1: is Wicked, good, Wicked, smart. I like that, but I
Speaker 1: do worry that people would think they're buying tickets for
Speaker 1: the musical and not the hockey games. I guess they're
Speaker 1: right on that one. I guess we can say goodbye
Speaker 1: to the Boston Wicked, but let us know what you
Speaker 1: think of the new ones. Hit us up on email
Speaker 1: good game at wondermedianetwork dot com, or leave us a
Speaker 1: voicemail at eight seven two two oh four fifty seventy.
Speaker 1: Hit me up on Twitter at Sarah Spain or on
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Speaker 1: how many times I gotta tell you? Subscribe, Rate and review,
Speaker 1: scroll down, find the stars, hit five, leave a review,
Speaker 1: tell us you love us. It's super easy. Watch vet
Speaker 1: bills rating one out of five. Review Like, we get it,
Speaker 1: it's necessary, and we know healthcare is expensive, and we
Speaker 1: definitely think vets deserve to get paid they're basically heroes.
Speaker 2: But also doesn't it feel.
Speaker 1: A little bit like taking advantage of our love for
Speaker 1: our furry babies. I mean, there is nothing like getting
Speaker 1: a clean bill of health from a pupper, but the
Speaker 1: bill of expense is too grand. Like I can't even
Speaker 1: be as excited as I want to be for my
Speaker 1: little fur child when it cost me two thousand dollars
Speaker 1: to find out he's perfectly fine. And don't even get
Speaker 1: me started on private equity buying up animal hospitals.
Speaker 2: Big vet is a real thing, y'all. Look it up. Sucks,
Speaker 2: but my pup is healthy. Now it's your turn.
Speaker 1: Rate and review, Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow. Good game, Meg,
Speaker 1: Good game, pwhl you loopy pet post vet poopin.
Speaker 2: In your bedroom TMI.
Speaker 1: Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
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