Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where after two
Speaker 1: days spent at the luxurious O High Valley in We've
Speaker 1: decided to move permanently to OHI, raise some horses and
Speaker 1: make olive oil.
Speaker 2: Somebody ship my dogs and husband.
Speaker 1: On today's show, we talked to Chicago Sky Center and
Speaker 1: WNBA Players Association Executive Committee.
Speaker 2: Member Elizabeth Williams about what's.
Speaker 1: At stake in the next CBA, why the union decided
Speaker 1: to opt out, and what players expect from journalists who
Speaker 1: covered the league. We'll get you caught up on all
Speaker 1: the latest headlines tomorrow, but today is all about our
Speaker 1: Elizabeth interview.
Speaker 2: It's coming up right after this joining us now.
Speaker 1: She's a forward for the Chicago Sky of the WNBA.
Speaker 1: After immigrating from England, she played college ball at Duke.
Speaker 1: Was drafted by the Connecticut Sun fourth overall in twenty
Speaker 1: fifteen and was traded to Atlanta the next year. She
Speaker 1: played for the Dream from twenty sixteen to twenty twenty one,
Speaker 1: spent a season with the Mystics, then joined the Sky
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three. She was the twenty sixteen WNBA
Speaker 1: Most Improved Player and an All start in twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1: She's the secretary of the WNBA Players Association Executive Committee.
Speaker 2: She's played in Turkey, China and Russia.
Speaker 1: She helped kick Kelly Loaffler's butt to the curb, elect
Speaker 1: Raphaele Warnock and flip the freak and said it it's
Speaker 1: Elizabeth Williams.
Speaker 2: What's up, Elizabeth, what's up.
Speaker 3: That's quite the intro, Thank you.
Speaker 2: It's quite the resume, especially that last part.
Speaker 1: I want to get to that later, but I want
Speaker 1: to start with an impressive ten years in the w
Speaker 1: Now you have seen it change dramatically from your rookie
Speaker 1: season to this year, and I'm really excited to pick
Speaker 1: your brain about a whole bunch of stuff. But I
Speaker 1: want to start with the biggest news of the week,
Speaker 1: besides the liberty winning at all, of course, the WNBA
Speaker 1: electing to opt out of the current CBA. I want
Speaker 1: you to take us behind the scenes of the executive committee.
Speaker 1: When did the conversations about opting out really get going
Speaker 1: in earnest.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, honestly, those conversations start pretty early. I mean,
Speaker 4: coming into last season, we started having some of the
Speaker 4: conversations because you know, you're saying, okay, at the end
Speaker 4: of next season, a decision has to be made, and
Speaker 4: then I would probably just say, you know, after All
Speaker 4: Star break is when we really like rep the engine
Speaker 4: as far as having more conversations and more phone calls.
Speaker 4: We also met with advisors at All Stars, so also
Speaker 4: was a good opportunity when all the players were around
Speaker 4: for us to communicate about, you know, what an opt
Speaker 4: out could look like, what our advisory team could look like.
Speaker 4: And so, you know, after All Star Break, I think
Speaker 4: that's when you know, the real conversations were at.
Speaker 1: What are some of the priorities for the players when
Speaker 1: you're heading into negotiations.
Speaker 4: Salary is probably the biggest one, just because when you
Speaker 4: think about the growth of our league, you know, the
Speaker 4: viewership has grown, Jersey sales have grown, all of those things,
Speaker 4: ticket sales, all that stuff, but the salaries haven't grown
Speaker 4: as well. So that's probably the first, like big ticket item.
Speaker 4: But in general, just you know, improving and having minimum
Speaker 4: standards for practice facilities, game facilities, and charter flights is
Speaker 4: another big one. I think a lot of people you know,
Speaker 4: saw that we got charter flights this year, but you
Speaker 4: know that's not currently in our CBA. It's nothing on paper.
Speaker 4: It's really just Kathy saying, you know, we've allocated these
Speaker 4: funds to charters, and it's like, okay, well we need
Speaker 4: to see that in writing if we're going to keep
Speaker 4: very smart forward. So, yeah, those are probably the top three,
Speaker 4: but I mean there are so many others, and yeah,
Speaker 4: so there's there's a lot of conversations we had.
Speaker 1: I think for the most part, barring trolls and morons,
Speaker 1: we've gotten past the idiotic conversation around WNBA players asking
Speaker 1: for the same dollars as NBA players. Everybody understands that's
Speaker 1: not a financial reality for the league. Yet we've gotten
Speaker 1: to revenue share, which is usually what we're pointing to
Speaker 1: now when the players are asking for a larger percentage
Speaker 1: of what the league is making.
Speaker 2: There's a cop iplication.
Speaker 1: There, and that the WNBA controls forty two percent of
Speaker 1: its cap table, the NBA controls forty two percent, and
Speaker 1: then an investment group that was part of this capital
Speaker 1: race a couple of years ago owns the remaining sixteen percent.
Speaker 1: So less than half of the revenue of the league
Speaker 1: doesn't flow directly back to the league itself. How does
Speaker 1: that impact the w's ability to increase the revenue percentage
Speaker 1: that goes to players even if they want to. Are
Speaker 1: they limited in their ability to give the players what
Speaker 1: they want sometimes as a result of that structure.
Speaker 3: Oh slightly.
Speaker 4: But fortunately with negotiating a new CBA, you can also
Speaker 4: change that structure. Like, we have a lot of flexibility
Speaker 4: in negotiating what that structure looks like. Now you know
Speaker 4: we can model based on other cbas. So I think,
Speaker 4: you know, we're cautiously optimistic in what that new revenue
Speaker 4: model could look like. And I think it's important to,
Speaker 4: you know, realize, for a league to be in existence
Speaker 4: for almost thirty years, like everything can't be failing, right,
Speaker 4: everything can't be gone I's wrong. So there are things
Speaker 4: that are increasing and there are ways that we can
Speaker 4: maximize that as players.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think it's hard that we're constantly
Speaker 1: talking about WNBA teams losing money and we completely ignore
Speaker 1: that NBA teams report losses regularly. The NETS loss fifty
Speaker 1: to one hundred million dollars in twenty twenty two. And
Speaker 1: the reason I have those generic numbers that are fifty
Speaker 1: million dollars up or down is because there's not a
Speaker 1: lot of transparency how difficult is it for y'all when
Speaker 1: there isn't a lot of transparency, at least publicly for
Speaker 1: us to really understand dollars in and out.
Speaker 4: It is very difficult. It's hard for us, hard for
Speaker 4: the advisors, and we're obviously going to ask for transparency
Speaker 4: for this negotiation process to go well. And I think
Speaker 4: when it comes to like yearly losses, it's it's funny
Speaker 4: that people consider it for us and not for you know,
Speaker 4: the MBA teams because in reality, you know, these owners
Speaker 4: of NBA teams are still owning those teams, which means,
Speaker 4: you know, the franchise values are going up. Like those
Speaker 4: are things that the millionaires and billionaires are considering that
Speaker 4: I think a lot of like the layperson doesn't consider
Speaker 4: when it comes to owning sports teams. And so we
Speaker 4: have all of these things in our mind in you know,
Speaker 4: trying to make sure that we're negotiating on our behalf.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Part of the reason the current CBA is no longer
Speaker 1: a fit and needs to be renegotiated a couple years
Speaker 1: in advance is because of the tremendous growth in recent
Speaker 1: years and especially this season, record attendance, viewership, merch sales.
Speaker 1: Interest in the league is exploding, which is positive, but
Speaker 1: with that comes from growing pains. How much of the
Speaker 1: increase in toxicity, the unhinged comments and unhinged commentary did
Speaker 1: you expect coming to this season, and how much of
Speaker 1: it came as a surprise.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's like how I see it, Like we've
Speaker 4: always kind of had the trolls, but I think it's
Speaker 4: changed from like stay in the kitchen. Now you guys
Speaker 4: are asking for too much, So it's like, Okay, well
Speaker 4: now you're watching. I guess you know, like like the
Speaker 4: trolls have always existed, but yeah, it's it's been way
Speaker 4: more intense, way more misogynistic, racist, like all those things.
Speaker 4: I mean, I think any player in this league could
Speaker 4: show you their DMS and people would be very surprised
Speaker 4: by the stuff they see. And I mean part of
Speaker 4: it is like just you know, the narratives around the
Speaker 4: rookie class. Part of it is the intense sports betting
Speaker 4: and how people just like bet with no sense and
Speaker 4: no regard for the humanity of players or.
Speaker 1: Their own bank accounts or their own bank accounts, like
Speaker 1: those are very problematic things.
Speaker 4: So that entire combination was not ideal, but at the
Speaker 4: end of the day, the numb like having you know,
Speaker 4: an increase in viewership is important, and I mean, I
Speaker 4: think there are some people that did consider the league
Speaker 4: before that have become true fans, and so you know,
Speaker 4: we try to focus on those people and not let
Speaker 4: the negativity, you know, drive the narrative, because at the
Speaker 4: end of the day, there's I mean, amazing players that
Speaker 4: are in now, amazing players that are going to come in,
Speaker 4: and you know, as someone who's part of the ec like,
Speaker 4: that's what you anticipate in negotiating, you're negotiating for the
Speaker 4: future as well.
Speaker 2: We got to take a quick break. Don't move a muscle.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: It's interesting the beginning of the league, there were high
Speaker 1: profiles men predominantly in sports that were used in the
Speaker 1: WNBA as a punchline. Then the league settled in and
Speaker 1: they started to just sort of ignore it, which wasn't good,
Speaker 1: but at least didn't contribute. And then this year it's
Speaker 1: like these high profile voices came back around to pay
Speaker 1: attention but didn't do the work to understand the league,
Speaker 1: didn't contribute to conversations a lot of meaningful ways, and
Speaker 1: actually contributed to some of the toxicity. So you've got
Speaker 1: what you said, which is like, we've always had trolls,
Speaker 1: but now we've got these super high profile voices with
Speaker 1: a big audience that were elevating and repeating narratives that
Speaker 1: were created by the trolls because they weren't doing the
Speaker 1: work and they weren't understanding the nuance. So they were
Speaker 1: creating or building off of stories that weren't vetted or
Speaker 1: coming from the right place. And I think that's what
Speaker 1: made it really challenging. I wonder we talked about on
Speaker 1: this show a couple different times how in the past,
Speaker 1: when the league itself or society wasn't getting something right,
Speaker 1: oftentimes the players of the W were the ones that
Speaker 1: came together and said, let's put our heads together and
Speaker 1: do something about it. I talked about kicking Kelly Loffler
Speaker 1: to the curb and helping change the Senate. That was
Speaker 1: like something that the W players came together, you included
Speaker 1: to do.
Speaker 2: I was a little bit surprised.
Speaker 1: That this season the league or the player didn't have
Speaker 1: more of a plan in advance, seeing the Caitlin Clark
Speaker 1: Angelry stuff coming down the pike and anticipating how that
Speaker 1: might continue to build and grow in snowball during the season.
Speaker 1: Have the players spoken behind the scenes about changing this
Speaker 1: season's environment or being able to change things going toward
Speaker 1: next year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's tough.
Speaker 4: I mean, I think we anticipated some of it, but
Speaker 4: not all of it. And I think they're the media
Speaker 4: has a duty, especially you know, the higher profile people
Speaker 4: in the media that hadn't necessarily covered the league before.
Speaker 4: I think they do have an obligation to report fairly.
Speaker 4: Like that's part of, you know, the integrity of being
Speaker 4: in the media space. And I don't think that always happened,
Speaker 4: And so for us, I think as players, it's like
Speaker 4: what can we do? I mean, we have to answer questions,
Speaker 4: like we have to be available and we can be as.
Speaker 3: Respectful as possible.
Speaker 4: I think there was definitely a disconnect in you know,
Speaker 4: how we communicate that we're frustrated and bothered by some
Speaker 4: of the things that are happening, but also, you know,
Speaker 4: we still want to show who we are and be
Speaker 4: you know.
Speaker 3: Respectful athletes. But yeah, I also.
Speaker 4: Think that things snowballed in a way that players didn't
Speaker 4: really have a lot of control over. And I think
Speaker 4: that that is where the league kind of had more
Speaker 4: of the duty than us, Like, realistically, our duty is
Speaker 4: to play and to put a good product out and
Speaker 4: other people write the stories.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: The reason we had that conversation was actually because we
Speaker 1: were just so used to oftentimes players being failed by
Speaker 1: the teams and leagues and having to step up. It
Speaker 1: was really after Kathy Engelbert's sort of fumbling of the
Speaker 1: question about the increase in toxicity and sort of spinning
Speaker 1: it into a positive around a rivalry, that we started
Speaker 1: to think, if leadership isn't going to be able to
Speaker 1: handle the enormity of this situation, it might come down
Speaker 1: to the players. So absolutely, your job is to play
Speaker 1: and not to have to deal with all that. You've
Speaker 1: just got such a good resume of doing the big
Speaker 1: things and handling the big things.
Speaker 5: And I think that's why we were all like, the
Speaker 5: players will fix it, they'll.
Speaker 3: Bigure something out.
Speaker 4: But I also think that's why we ended up with
Speaker 4: that statement towards the end of the season that Terry
Speaker 4: put out like that was absolutely backed by player leadership.
Speaker 4: She was just, you know, the person who signed off
Speaker 4: on it. But it was kind of like the Christine
Speaker 4: Brennan situation was kind of the last straw. It wasn't
Speaker 4: solely about her, but it just, you know, happened to
Speaker 4: be her in this situation and how things had gone
Speaker 4: on over the season, and that was I mean, but
Speaker 4: as to what you're saying, it probably came too late,
Speaker 4: and so I think that's why that situation got the
Speaker 4: feedback that it did, because it's like, why didn't this
Speaker 4: come sooner? But it's also like it shouldn't have had
Speaker 4: to come period, but players still felt like something had
Speaker 4: to be said.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the PA issued a statement about the work of
Speaker 1: Christine Brennan, particularly the interview with Djna Carrington about the
Speaker 1: incidental conduct she had with Kitlyn Clark in a playoff game.
Speaker 1: I'm wondering, you know, when the PA decided to put
Speaker 1: out that statement specifically Abrett Brennan. Were there also other
Speaker 1: outlets or journalists that contributed to these larger issues that
Speaker 1: you felt you wanted to speak on and felt like
Speaker 1: you couldn't before or My impression was that there was
Speaker 1: an expectation of Christine that you wouldn't have for some
Speaker 1: other outlets who will not be named on this show
Speaker 1: because I don't want anyone giving them clicks or going
Speaker 1: to look at them, but ones that you sort of
Speaker 1: expect that are shit posting that it never respected women,
Speaker 1: will never respect women, aren't attempting to do a good coverage,
Speaker 1: and in my opinion, is always best to ignore them
Speaker 1: and let them yell at the wall or the five
Speaker 1: people that they have paying attention. Is that why Christine
Speaker 1: was centered, because I imagine there's plenty of other outlets
Speaker 1: or people that kind of didn't do right by the
Speaker 1: work that was required to cover the team and the
Speaker 1: league this year too.
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely, I think that was the bigger issue, you know,
Speaker 4: like you have expectations for certain people in the media,
Speaker 4: and I think just because of how everything was handled,
Speaker 4: we were bothered that it came from her, because, like
Speaker 4: we mentioned earlier in the show, there are people that
Speaker 4: haven't necessarily watched or covered women's basketball extensively and use
Speaker 4: us as punchlines before and are now trying to spin
Speaker 4: the block, whereas she's someone who's kind of seen it
Speaker 4: all and got caught up in narratives, you know, and
Speaker 4: it's like, Okay, this is someone that we should be
Speaker 4: trusting to cover as.
Speaker 1: Properly right and there's a weight to what she says.
Speaker 1: Because of her tenure speaking for women and fighting for women,
Speaker 1: people will assume that it's coming from a place that's
Speaker 1: educated and informed, and so when it furthers certain narratives,
Speaker 1: it hits different than someone that you're sort of.
Speaker 5: Like, Ah, he doesn't know what he's talking about.
Speaker 2: He just got here. Yeah.
Speaker 1: You know, you and I spoke a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 1: and you said that the players can handle tough journalism.
Speaker 1: You can handle professional questions, you can handle being challenged.
Speaker 1: You don't want reporters to be fans or sick of fans.
Speaker 1: You understand that the growth of the league and growing
Speaker 1: women's sports means covering them like sports and not just cheerleading.
Speaker 1: Do you think that some folks have the wrong idea
Speaker 1: about what players are asking for when it comes to coverage.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I think that people do generally have the
Speaker 4: wrong idea on how we respond to criticism and proper journalism.
Speaker 3: I think for us in twenty twenty, to.
Speaker 4: Literally wear vote warn oct shirts and influence an election,
Speaker 4: we're pretty much built for anything. Because that's kind of
Speaker 4: the highest level of influence and controls and of difficult conversations.
Speaker 4: So yeah, I think we're open to all of it,
Speaker 4: and you know, growth definitely comes with that.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean at espnW, which I've been working on
Speaker 1: for fourteen years, we understood that a pivot was necessary.
Speaker 1: At the beginning of our work, it was really about supporting, spotlighting,
Speaker 1: highlighting women athletes, and there was a moment where we said, Okay,
Speaker 1: we got to really start to be covering these athletes
Speaker 1: in these leagues and these teams with the same critical
Speaker 1: eye that we do mends.
Speaker 2: That's how you advance it.
Speaker 1: And it feels like the w players understand that this
Speaker 1: exponential growth is huge and with it will come more criticism,
Speaker 1: more eyeballs, more people call in for someone to get
Speaker 1: benched or fired or whatever it is. And that's fine
Speaker 1: if it's done with an understanding and a nuanced respect
Speaker 1: for the players in the league itself. And I would
Speaker 1: assume that a lot of you, very very very smart,
Speaker 1: multifaceted people would actually welcome that. I actually think it's
Speaker 1: interesting to see the league covered in a way that
Speaker 1: feels more professional.
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely, and I think the discourse would for the
Speaker 4: most part reflect that. I think Briana Turner has the
Speaker 4: funniest tweets, and she made a joke like because somebody
Speaker 4: was talking about her minutes or something, and she's like,
Speaker 4: at least this is the conversation I'd rather have, is
Speaker 4: an he's talking about you know what I look at
Speaker 4: like her, you know, So it's like we'll welcome those
Speaker 4: for sure.
Speaker 1: That's what I always I'm like, if someone disagrees with
Speaker 1: my sports takes, bring it on. It's like, why does
Speaker 1: it always come back to like you're ugly, you're fat
Speaker 1: or whatever, you shouldn't even be here, Like, let's just
Speaker 1: argue about the shit I'm talking about. Yeah, have there
Speaker 1: been you know, conversations about how over the years access
Speaker 1: has changed and whether that's impacted the relationships you can
Speaker 1: have with reporters to make those conversations more informed and better,
Speaker 1: because I know the w move journalists out of locker
Speaker 1: rooms and into other spaces for interviews.
Speaker 2: We had a long time baseball.
Speaker 1: Journalist on the show, Melissa Lucky, helped fight for women
Speaker 1: to actually get access to locker rooms, and we asked
Speaker 1: her about some of that in the changing space, and
Speaker 1: she said she understands the desire to give athletes their
Speaker 1: own space understands that there's you know, that sort of
Speaker 1: special space just for the athletes, but she also said
Speaker 1: there's nowhere like a locker room to get the good stuff,
Speaker 1: the relationships, the vibes, the honesty, and to truly tell
Speaker 1: the story of a team.
Speaker 2: What's your response to that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So I've been been in the league a while,
Speaker 4: so I remember when the locker room was open, and
Speaker 4: I remember when it was closed, and I think just
Speaker 4: the changing dynamic of players as well and what they're
Speaker 4: comfortable with, you might not see the same results of
Speaker 4: opening the locker room as you did in the past.
Speaker 4: And so I think we have done a good job of,
Speaker 4: you know, making ourselves available to media. Just outside the
Speaker 4: locker room, we're available, you know, pregame shoot around, Like
Speaker 4: there are more times that were available that weren't before.
Speaker 4: So I could see how before it's like, oh yeah,
Speaker 4: I definitely need to get in the locker room, whereas
Speaker 4: now it's like I have so many different opportunities to
Speaker 4: see the players on the court, you know, last fifteen
Speaker 4: minutes to shoot around and then talk to them, not
Speaker 4: necessarily in our space. So yeah, I'm definitely a fan
Speaker 4: of keeping the locker room closed and still having a
Speaker 4: good line of communication with with our reporters.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's it's slightly different when newspapers ruled the
Speaker 1: day and that's where you had to go to get information.
Speaker 1: It was so based on deadline and really you almost
Speaker 1: had to hold players captive immediately after the game ended
Speaker 1: and as quickly as possible get folks in. That still
Speaker 1: exists and a lot of people want to turn their
Speaker 1: nose about that, but newspapers still have a pretty big role.
Speaker 1: And same with television. Television wanting to get in there
Speaker 1: and then immediately be able to have an after show
Speaker 1: or a post show where they're showing pressers, they're doing interviews,
Speaker 1: they're turning around clips. So as someone who's been in
Speaker 1: locker rooms, I totally get that. I also covered teams
Speaker 1: like the Chicago Cubs when Milton Bradley was on the team,
Speaker 1: and he would try to hide in the shower and
Speaker 1: stay in there until the time had passed and not
Speaker 1: talk to anyone. So like, it didn't fix all the problems,
Speaker 1: but it did fix a little bit people who were
Speaker 1: reticent to speak or would try to get around the.
Speaker 5: Necessity of engaging with journalists.
Speaker 1: And I know a lot of people who don't like
Speaker 1: the media will say that's their prerogative, but I always say, like,
Speaker 1: part of the reason that you get to be paid
Speaker 1: a lot as a pro athlete is that your stuff
Speaker 1: is covered by TV and TV rights deals and so
Speaker 1: like that's part of the game, is like, you know,
Speaker 1: being in a relationship with journalists. So I'm torn on
Speaker 1: this because there's also a lot of creepers in the
Speaker 1: WNBA and women's sports in general. There are people, and
Speaker 1: we learned this this season, even from the very beginning
Speaker 1: with Greg Doyle and Caitlin Clark and the dumb hearthands.
Speaker 1: People do not know how to behave around women, and
Speaker 1: so I respect that it is a very different thing
Speaker 1: to be in a woman's space as a male journalist,
Speaker 1: particularly not all men or just men. I'm sure there
Speaker 1: are some creepy women too, but yeah, I mean, I
Speaker 1: think it's going to be a continuing conversation, and the
Speaker 1: w is a place that shows that that is a
Speaker 1: conversation between the league and its players. And now the
Speaker 1: NFL is reaching out to the w to ask about
Speaker 1: that practice and seeing whether they will embrace it. So
Speaker 1: I think ultimately it ends up just being a mutual respect.
Speaker 1: Do you find that you're able to get to know
Speaker 1: newer media members despite them not being able to just
Speaker 1: have that time and space to communicause that's one of
Speaker 1: the things that reporters have said. If they can't just
Speaker 1: have some side chat with you, that's not for a story,
Speaker 1: it's hard for them to create a relationship so that
Speaker 1: if something tough comes up, they can come to you
Speaker 1: with it.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: No, I mean they're they're definitely around enough that you
Speaker 4: can have conversations with them. I think again, closing the
Speaker 4: locker room but still opening up the availability allowed for
Speaker 4: extra time for them to just be around period.
Speaker 3: So that's also.
Speaker 4: Why I'm like, we have to be available even if
Speaker 4: we're not like quote unquote on the record, like they're around,
Speaker 4: so you start to see familiar faces and get more
Speaker 4: comfortable with people, for sure.
Speaker 1: Do you have a message to newbies to the league,
Speaker 1: whether they've just been assigned and listen, there's I think
Speaker 1: some pretty broad strokes being used for people who are
Speaker 1: new Some of them are people who just needed to
Speaker 1: get paid in order to cover the team or the league, right,
Speaker 1: and like now that there are newspapers and outlets actually
Speaker 1: paying for those jobs. Great, awesome, Welcome to the w
Speaker 1: Do your research and show up and be great and
Speaker 1: we'll be super welcome. Do you have any ideas or
Speaker 1: tips for them on getting to know players in the
Speaker 1: league and contributing to the coverage in a good positive way.
Speaker 3: Just don't be creepy a good start.
Speaker 1: We have a show title with Elizabeth Williams.
Speaker 4: Just just show that you're informed, Like, actually this is
Speaker 4: because I was watching ear League. It made me think
Speaker 4: of this, But like, have an awareness if you know
Speaker 4: players have played overseas or you know, asking about those seasons,
Speaker 4: like those little things show that you have a level
Speaker 4: of interest in the woman's game. That might make us
Speaker 4: relax a little bit and say, Okay, Like this person
Speaker 4: is doing their research, they care, they want to get
Speaker 4: to know more, and I'm more likely to disclose like,
Speaker 4: oh yeah, I played for this team. I played Like
Speaker 4: a lot of questions were about me playing with Marina
Speaker 4: last year overseas and then bringing that into Chicago, right, So,
Speaker 4: like having just an extra knowledge about where players are
Speaker 4: coming from and what they want to bring. I think
Speaker 4: it brings our guard down a little bit.
Speaker 1: I love that, Gosh, I look forward to the soliloquies
Speaker 1: we're going to get from reporters now, dropping all of
Speaker 1: your knowledge before they get to a like yes or
Speaker 1: no question, just to prove that they've got their credentials. Elizabeth,
Speaker 1: so great to talk to you. Thank you for the time.
Speaker 1: Enjoy overseas. You're in Spain.
Speaker 4: Now, Yeah, but this is just for vacation, so oh fun,
Speaker 4: kind of a nice yeah, just chilling.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much to Elizabeth for taking the time, especially
Speaker 1: since she was chatting with us from out in Spain.
Speaker 2: We got to take another quick break.
Speaker 1: But when we come back, a feel good story.
Speaker 2: Welcome Backslices. We love that you're listening, but we want
Speaker 2: you to get in the.
Speaker 1: Game every day too. So here's our good game play
Speaker 1: of the day. It's actually more of a gift from
Speaker 1: us to you in the form of feel good progress
Speaker 1: and inspiration. This is the thirteenth year of the Global
Speaker 1: Sports Mentoring Program the GSMP, a collaboration between espnW and
Speaker 1: the US State Department that harnesses the pop positive power
Speaker 1: of sport and mentorship to connect accomplished women leaders from
Speaker 1: around the world with female executives at leading organizations.
Speaker 2: In the US.
Speaker 1: Over its thirteen years, the program has created a global
Speaker 1: network of over one hundred and seventy five women from
Speaker 1: seventy plus countries who support efforts to expand access to education,
Speaker 1: economic equity, and societal opportunity and inclusion through sports now.
Speaker 1: I had the honor of hosting the tenth anniversary celebration
Speaker 1: of the GSMP in DC a few years ago with
Speaker 1: Billy Jean King and First Lady Jill Biden, plus a
Speaker 1: collection of GSMP alums from years past and every year
Speaker 1: at the espnW Summit, the current delegates arrived to kick
Speaker 1: off their time in the States, start their mentorships, wear
Speaker 1: the traditional garb of their country to get on stage
Speaker 1: and share how they're using sports to make change back home.
Speaker 1: These women are making a difference from advocating for social
Speaker 1: welfare policy in Brazil to using boxing to teach life
Speaker 1: skills and self defense to Kenyan women and girls. This
Speaker 1: is a truly powerful and inspiring program and I promise
Speaker 1: you will not be able to stop smiling watching them
Speaker 1: start their journey and talk about what they plann to
Speaker 1: do with their time here in the States. You can
Speaker 1: watch the video of the twenty twenty four delegates on
Speaker 1: stage at this year's espnW Summit will put the link
Speaker 1: in our show notes. We always love to hear from you,
Speaker 1: so to hit us up on email Good game at
Speaker 1: wondermedianetwork dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight
Speaker 1: seven two two o four fifty seventy and don't forget
Speaker 1: to subscribe, rate and review and tell your friends too too.
Speaker 2: Like producer Alex Alex review something.
Speaker 6: When this podcast becomes so intertwined with your life that
Speaker 6: you almost say you to people in real life. Rating
Speaker 6: three out of five bleeps review. I recently joined a
Speaker 6: tennis league, meaning I played doubles on the regular. Now
Speaker 6: it's a super fun, read non competitive league, but every
Speaker 6: week I almost get myself in trouble. That's because at
Speaker 6: the end of every match, we all shake hands in
Speaker 6: tap rackets, and that's when what should be a nice
Speaker 6: moment of sportsmanship becomes dangerous. Picture me turning to my
Speaker 6: doubles partner, usually at RANDO that I met just one
Speaker 6: hour earlier, in saying good game, and then approaching the
Speaker 6: net to repeat the phrase good game to whichever opponent
Speaker 6: is closest to me. And that's when I feel the
Speaker 6: words forming in my mouth. A nice, hearty you right
Speaker 6: on the tip of my tongue, ready to land on
Speaker 6: unlucky opponent number two, who did nothing except ace my
Speaker 6: beginner asked about half a dozen times. Don't say it,
Speaker 6: don't say it. I find myself thinking it's gotten to
Speaker 6: the point where the post match handshake is way more
Speaker 6: stressful than the match itself. So if I get kicked
Speaker 6: out of my doubles, leak for cursing opponents. All you
Speaker 6: slices that are have my back.
Speaker 2: I love that.
Speaker 5: You know I got you, l I got you. I
Speaker 5: could take those tennis ladies.
Speaker 1: Now it's your turn. Slices, Rate and review. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: See you tomorrow. Good Game, Elizabeth, Good Game.
Speaker 2: Unions You Accidental Fuse.
Speaker 1: Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
Speaker 1: production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
Speaker 1: can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Meat Network,
Speaker 1: our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
Speaker 1: producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Speaker 1: Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Speaker 1: Lindsay Craterwell.
Speaker 2: Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain.